Laura Howell, Senior Director of Partner Success and Sales at Vrbo
Laura is Senior Director of Partner Success and Sales at Vrbo, part of Expedia Group. Her tenure consists of sales and operational leadership roles with extensive P&L ownership in B2B organizations with consumer-facing products. She has a track record in scaling organizations and implementing practices designed for optimization, operational efficiencies, and the development of leaders. On a personal note, Laura is passionate about helping others with career advancement and building and leading great teams.
Q: Why do you choose to spend your time mentoring others?
A: Early in my career, I struggled with being authentic. I remember being incredibly calculated so much of the time, and slow to take risks. Because there was so much pressure to do things right, but very little coaching opportunity for leaders, risk-taking, and vulnerability felt, and was often perceived as, weak. This also made the feedback loops uncomfortable and it was difficult to accept and act upon. This is still very much an issue for many leaders and professionals. Mentoring provides a way to address these issues.
Q: What do you personally gain from mentoring?
A: My mom was an amazing educator and my dad was the best salesperson I knew, the most charismatic person I've ever met. I was so conflicted when I was selecting a career path because I wanted to be like both of them! Today, my role as a leader in a sales and customer success environment allows me to do exactly both, and mentoring takes it a step further as I have the ability to teach and coach others in the community, not just within my direct remit.
Mentoring also provides a place for me to release my creative energies. I get all of my energy off of others, and the engagement and the relationships built during mentoring are so personally rewarding. Combine that with the fact that I really love to win, I am so competitive; it’s incredibly rewarding, and so very very exciting, when one of my mentees experiences a win!
Most importantly, it's what I learn from my mentees. It may be that I find myself experiencing a situation I’ve already helped a mentee through or, without even really recognizing it, we might reverse roles. I always learn from mentoring others and find a place, in my personal or professional life, to apply those learnings.
Q: To what do you attribute your success?
A: A long time ago, I set out on a very specific mission: to teach in a sales environment and represent products or services that I'm personally passionate about, preferably consumer goods products and services. Those were the two most important things for me. My success is 100% attributed to me committing to that very specific intention.
I didn't know I'd land in travel and had no idea I’d find myself passionate about e-commerce and two-sided marketplaces, and I didn’t set out specifically to work with and impact global teams. Getting to where I am now has been a journey, full of unknown paths with lots of turns and surprises that couldn’t have been planned to the “t.” But, I did have a mission and, committing to it, intentionally, and staying true to it, authentically and honestly, is why I'm successful.
Q: How has mentoring impacted your own journey?
A: Mentoring has made me comfortable with being vulnerable and it consistently provides the tools for me when I’m overcoming my own challenges. I feel that if I am going to expect my mentees to be vulnerable, I have a responsibility to display that skill regularly as well. Mentoring forces me to continually exercise that muscle, which makes me the best leader I can be. The leaders and mentors that have guided me throughout my career were always consistent in asking me questions and challenging me. They have given me the tools to overcome challenges and tackle obstacles. Today, I am no longer dependent on them. I absolutely take advantage of the opportunity to work with my mentors, but I also am confident that I have the skills and tools to problem solve on my own.
Q: What does good mentoring look like to you?
A: Good mentoring is specifically designed or tailored for the mentee. I go into it intentionally knowing that it’s designed to help this person next to me, and it’s only good if it's focused on long-term intentions or long-term solutions. Teaching the strategies and practicing the tactics together is what sets up a mentee for long-term success.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in mentoring?
A: Three pieces of advice: first, allow for flexibility. It's so important to understand that every person learns differently. As mentors, we need to be prepared to help our mentees in a way that's most suitable for their learning journey. Some of my mentees bring their own pre-communicated topics and our discussions are rigorously structured, by them, while others have a specific problem they are working to solve for and there’s not a huge agenda.
Secondly, lean on the listening and question-asking skills that we, as mentors, have. It's really easy to go into tell mode: "Let me tell you what I've done. Let me tell you what's worked for me." And I would advise very strongly not to let yourself go there, first. There is a place for this type of sharing, but when helping a mentee solve, while the answer that worked for you may feel like it will help save time, it may not be the right answer for your mentee. Arming mentees with the skills needed to problem solve on their own is our responsibility, as mentors.
And, lastly, set the expectations for the time together, to make it productive and results-driven. I love the framework that I'm given when I work with Ceresa but there are also ad-hoc, on the fly, needs at times. Without setting expectations, a missed opportunity to discuss something very important may exist. I have my own framework that I like to use, and I articulate this at the beginning and end of every visit. Sometimes there’s no update or context to go into, but the opportunity to discuss and work through is always anticipated and available.
Q: Why do you choose to mentor with Ceresa?
A: A few years before joining Ceresa I made a commitment to accept invites or make introductions for anyone that was seeking help with mentoring. Ceresa’s approach takes all of that so much further with the resources, programs, and accountability, and then of course the corporate sponsorships. It just takes it to a much grander level than I could ever take it through my personal network. It's a pleasure to be a part of something that brings so much benefit to not only the mentees and their employers, but myself as well.
Mentorship: integral to the Ceresa whole-person approach
At Ceresa, mentorship is an integral part of our leadership development process. The mentor-mentee relationship is a key component in providing the structure, and at the same time fluidity, necessary to facilitate pointed leadership and career growth for both the participant and the mentor.