Leadership in Action: How These 6 Women Drive Group Market Success in Texas

 

Galveston-born Kay Bailey Hutchison started out as a lawyer and legal correspondent for a Houston television affiliate before serving in the Texas House of Representatives. In 1993, she became the first female U.S. senator in Texas history, and later served as an Ambassador to NATO.

In 2013, in recognition of Hutchison’s contributions to Dallas through federally funded projects such as the Trinity River development, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system and renovation of Love Field airport, the Dallas City Council reflagged the city’s convention center after her, marking the first major U.S. convention venue to be named after a woman.

Speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new $3.7 billion Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center this June included Dallas City Council member Gay Donnell Willis. In a follow-up LinkedIn post, the fifth-generation Texan highlighted “the focus on having so many women-owned businesses contributing to its construction.” 
Count women among the chief designers, architects and builders of Texas’ multibillion-dollar meetings and events industry. Here are six leaders talking about what it takes to get the job done.

Marla Roe, Executive Director, Visit Frisco 

In 1994, following nine years in the hotel industry, Marla Roe joined the Arlington CVB as state association sales manager. A decade later, following promotion to executive vice president, Roe and her family took a spin around “this little city north of us where we heard things were happening.”

That city was the former farming community of Frisco, where the “happenings” included plans for a CVB. Seeing the opportunity and “ready to bring my passion, thoughts and expertise to molding, shaping and running a successful organization,” Roe joined the nascent bureau as its first employee and executive director.  

Few, Roe included, foresaw Frisco’s exponential transformation ahead. Her instincts were right on, though. 

“I did see the visionary thinking and growth mindset of our city leaders and elected officials,” said Roe, a South Texas native born in Harlingen and raised in Brownsville. “They understood the value of tourism and building products for residents that would be as valuable for visitors. I was thrilled to be on board with the program.”

Embracing her own vision of the future, Roe set to growing the “one-and-a-half-person CVB.”

“Initially lacking the financial and personnel bandwidth, I wore five hats those first two years, outsourcing public relations, our visitor guide and website while hosting fams, handling sales and marketing and more,” Roe said. “Our first convention booking and the first published article about Frisco were successes that made it all worthwhile.” 

Building on its base as “Sports City USA,” Frisco today is a major league player in the group market.

Taking stock of the “amazing high-quality growth and redevelopment” of the past 20 years, Roe credits “shared passion” with Frisco’s success and the continuing rewards of her role. 

“What could be better than marketing and selling the city you live in and love so much?” she said. “As I learned early on from our Economic Development Corporation, tourism partners, city leaders and chamber leadership, Frisco is a community of collaboration that you want to be a part of. We are Team Frisco and truly like working with each other.”

Relying on “integrity, honesty, transparency and trust,” Roe leads by example as she focuses on the next development wave, which includes more high-end hotels, while devoting more time to mentorship.

“As I tell rising stars in my organization and in the community, go into meetings with confidence and strength, work your hardest every day to bring your value and worth to your organization, and success will follow,” she said. “And never fear being the only woman at the table. When you get there, you have earned it.”

[Related: These 5 Texas Museums Are Inspiring Event Spaces]

Janet Holliday, President and CEO, The CE Group, San Antonio 

Janet Holliday’s childhood memories include a famous family trip in June 1964 to New York City for the World’s Fair. “Our hotel, Park Central, put us on the penthouse level after messing up our reservation,” she recalled. “The two other guests on the floor were Jackie Gleason and Mick Jagger. The Stones were playing Carnegie Hall on their first U.S. tour. The hotel was filled with screaming teenagers and my mother was horrified by Jagger’s long hair. Who knew that years later I would be making major events and hospitality moments happen!”

Sixty years later, and like Jagger, Holliday still has the moves. Born in Beaumont, Texas, she took her master’s degree in planning and administration from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and spent 10 “blessed” years working with Special Olympics’ founder Eunice Kennedy Schriver, helping to bring the iconic non-profit to Texas and chairing the state chapter’s board.

Having “known nothing” of tourism marketing and events at UT, her experience sparked a new career direction. “Planning meetings and events, handling public relations and running promotional campaigns for Special Olympics ignited my passion for events,” said Holliday, who was also inspired by industry insight from her husband, then vice president of PR and marketing for the Coca Cola Company. “When we transferred from Houston to San Antonio for his work, I resolved to reinvent myself by transforming my passion into a business.”

In January 1990, Holliday and her former partner Lainey Cohen Berkus co-founded The CE Group with a clearcut vision and unique approach.

“The world’s greatest event won’t fly if nobody knows about it or it is poorly run,” Holliday said. “Communication and events go hand in hand, and thus our name, CE, and core philosophy since day one.”

As San Antonio’s only accredited DMC, The CE Group has established an unrivalled reputation for high-impact local, regional and national success. 

Front-row  seats at virtually every major activation, transformation and event in San Antonio include the openings of the Alamodome and the Mission and Museum extensions of the River Walk; expansions of San Antonio International Airport and the Henry B. González Convention Center; and five San Antonio Spurs national championship parades. Appointed by Visit San Antonio, The CE Group project-managed last year’s hugely successful hosting of the U.S. Travel Association's IPW event.

Fearlessly “coloring outside the lines” to ensure that every event is exceptional and unforgettable, Holliday likens her ever-entrepreneurial style to San Antonio itself. “As we have evolved into an experience marketing company with five core divisions, we have stayed true to our roots, just as San Antonio continues to innovate and grow while retaining its authentic culture and heritage.”

Holliday is proudest not of what she has done, but how she has done it.

“I lead with gratitude and humility for the privilege of creating unforgettable experiences and lasting memories for people,” she said. “Love what you do, own your success and always be learning.”  

Monica Paul, Executive Director, Dallas Sports Commission 

Competitive by nature and with a strong work ethic instilled by her grandparents and parents, Monica Paul was a multi-sport athlete while growing up on a farm near College Station, Texas. Volleyball springboarded her into the wide world of athletics, sending Paul on a decade-long global journey in technical, planning and director-level roles with USA Volleyball, including the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics with the U.S. Women’s National Team, as well as USA Taekwondo, the National Senior Games and other organizations.

In 2008, she brought her event hosting and management, contract negotiation, guest services, technology, publishing and other skills to the Dallas CVB (now Visit Dallas) as director of sports marketing. In October 2014, she was named executive director of the standalone Dallas Sports Commission.

“I like a challenge,” said Paul with the characteristic humility that belies her extraordinary accomplishments in elevating the North Texas sports market to global prominence. Since 2008, she has been instrumental in bringing 570-plus sporting events to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), generating more than $4.3 billion in economic impact.

Scoring nine 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup matches for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the most of any host city, is her “proudest” moment to date.

“The stadium’s opening in 2009 paved the way for where we are today,” Paul said. “With the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV in 2011 and 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four and Championship game on the books, the venue opened up a whole new field of opportunities for the region.”

Along the way, she expanded her focus beyond booking venues and securing room nights to making sporting events work for all stakeholders, the local community included.

“You don’t secure the bid and then walk away,” Paul continued. “It’s about having an end-to-end vision built around operational efficiencies, service excellence, record results, unforgettable memories and making our city a better place to live, work, play and visit.”

From transportation, operations, security, branding, marketing and ticket sales to partnering with major DFW event venues, hotels and other local stakeholders, Paul and her team manage multiple global and local events at any given time. 

“Call me the coach who quarterbacks us down the field while continually refining the event playbook.”

Her game plan puts locals, or her “internal stakeholders” at the forefront.

“Our major event success has allowed us to attract a broad range of recurring youth, grassroots and amateur competitions and tournaments,” Paul said. “For kids, that means team participation, access to clinics and equipment, and tickets to international sporting events they may otherwise never see. The feedback we get from parents and kids is truly special. Providing the opportunities and instilling the values that come with sports are ancillary, trickle-down benefits that motivate me as much as anything.” 

Having worked “harder than ever” on the prior FIFA World Cup bid that went to Qatar in 2022 and again on the successful 2026 campaign, seeing the final go to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was “hard to stomach” for Paul. 

“On to the next challenge,” she said. “The sky is the limit for new opportunities. Sports Business Journal just named us the No. 1 sports business market in the nation. I love that title—now I must keep it!”

[Related: Frisco, Texas, Has Arrived Via Major New Meetings Offerings]

Maura Gast, Executive Director, Visit Irving 

Maura Allen Gast’s career would make quite a movie. Following sales, services and special events roles in Dallas and San Antonio, she joined the Irving CVB, now Visit Irving, in 1991 as assistant director of the Irving Texas Film Commission. 

“I did not even know that the job and organization existed,” recalled Gast, whose efforts in attracting film projects and promoting the area presaged her later starring role in rescripting, recasting and redirecting the Irving group story. She saw her future clearly through her Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) lens.

“Opening my eyes to who we were and who we could be, with mentors and friends helping to shape my perspective and broadening my horizons, the CDME program showed me the big picture of the role we could play in building a strong and stable community,” she said. 

Rising to executive director in 2003, her vision for Irving “finally clicked” in 2009 after chairing Destinations International. 

“Having seen our past efforts get repeatedly squashed for an array of reasons, I landed on ‘Building Blocks’ as my organizing principle for investing in our community for the benefit of residents and visitors alike,” said Gast, reciting her highly influential, widely emulated formula for success as follows.

“Build a place where people want to visit, and you’ll build a place where people want to live. Build a place where people want to live, and you’ll build a place where people want to work. Build a place where people want to work, and you’ll build a place where business has to be. Build a place where business has to be, and you’ll build a place where people have to visit. It all starts with the visit, and the visit starts with us.”
With landmark developments under her leadership including the Irving Convention Center (ICC) at Las Colinas, Westin ICC headquarters hotel and Toyota Music Factory, teamwork makes the dream work.

“Working with and for extraordinary people at the CVB, convention center and throughout the city and community inspires, enthralls and sustains me, along with the idea that every single day is going to be different, no matter what, challenges included,” said Gast, a self-proclaimed “impassioned destination definer and evangelizer” for whom “willingness” is a leadership essential.

“Be willing to learn something new every day, ask questions and be open, flexible and comfortable with change,” she began. “To fail, but smartly and safely. To get your hands dirty and do what is necessary when necessary—no task is below anyone. To open doors and let others in. To take the long-horizon, big-picture  view. To understand that achieving a goal or a vision matters most, not who gets credit for the win. Above all, listen and hear what is being said—and not said.”

Trisha Tatro, Director, Austin Convention Center Department 

With a passion for athletics from her upbringing in Tucson, Arizona, Trisha Tatro pursued sports management at the University of Texas at Austin as a pathway into the event management industry. Needing an internship in her final semester to complete her degree, she applied to the Austin Convention Center, then doubling in size, drawn to the venue’s roster of sporting events. In 2002, she joined the newly expanded venue as event coordinator—and never left. 

“I knew right away that I was meant to be in events and hospitality,” related Tatro, who “soaked up knowledge like a sponge” as she rose up the organization in escalating roles as an event supervisor and manager. Promoted to facility manager in 2016, she was named assistant director two years later, and in 2020, became the first woman director of the Austin Convention Center Department, where nearly 40% of full-time team members, many in leadership positions, identify as female.

“My journey from intern to director meant a great deal to me, signifying that I had earned the respect of my peers, employees, clients and customers,” said Tatro, who counts Alycia Sparkman, ACCD’s since retired division manager for events and exhibitor services, among the mentors who helped direct her career.

“She taught me invaluable lessons for succeeding in this industry,” recalled Tatro, who is guided by her own service heart.

“I find fulfillment in caring for and uplifting others,” she said. “We have exceptional employees in our organization who are experts in their respective fields. My role is to remove obstacles and provide them with the encouragement and opportunities they need to succeed.”

Patient, settled and collaborative by nature, she leads by example.

“My feathers are not easily ruffled,” Tatro continued. “I assist others in staying calm and focused, reminding them that we are capable problem solvers who can tackle any challenge together. Our industry is demanding and takes grit and determination, but we never quit while having fun along the way.”

As Tatro prepares for the venue’s unprecedented shut down and rebuild next year, she proudly remembers how the department responded during the pandemic.

“We shifted from hosting events to sheltering and addressing our community's needs while working diligently with our city to develop a safe plan to confidently host events again,” Tatro said. “That resiliency is among the many reasons why I love this industry.”

[Related: Major Texas Developments Keep Pace With Tourism Growth]

Aileen Ramos, Director, Visit Laredo 

Born in the State of Mexico, Aileen Ramos comes from three generations of hospitality professionals, including her grandfather, who traveled the world working for a travel magazine. In 2010, following sales and marketing roles in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing and telecommunications industries, she joined Visit Laredo as marketing manager and convention sales representative for the bi-cultural border city, founded in 1755.

“Back then, people were hesitant to travel because of the changing perception of border destinations,” she recalled. “Working with local associations and chapters, we were able to start attracting state and national meetings and conventions though.”

Since becoming director in 2017, Ramos has seen the perspective shift. “People are beginning to appreciate the cultural richness of border communities,” she said. “Challenges remain, including our lack of a convention center, but now we offer much more as a destination. Our unique experiences give meetings and events the feeling of a special occasion and drive strong repeat business.”

Engaging the community in tourism awareness has paid dividends.

“We remain focused on getting locals more attuned to the idea of bringing in more visitors, especially for meetings and sports tournaments,” Ramos said. “Partnering with local organizations and community leaders has been the way forward in raising awareness of the cultural richness of our city and developing the best products. Bringing quality of life improvements to the community and creating positive visitor experiences go hand in hand.”

Her leadership pillars include integrity, which “informs my every decision,” along with self-awareness and self-confidence.

“The ability to look beyond and rebound from challenges is also key,” Ramos said. “And I have learned the importance of having a clear and consistent vision and guiding my team toward our goals and objectives while giving them space to grow and do their best work. Analyzing and learning from mistakes, I gain more resiliency and confidence with each challenge and experience and strive to instill these attributes in my team.”  

Personal milestones include earning her master’s degree in tourism management and relocating the bureau to an expanded location with a visitor center and a gift shop. 

“Recognition by the Mexican Consulate and Mexican House of Representatives in 2022 for our program which helps Mexican citizens return home from the United States and Canada for the winter holidays was a major honor,” said Ramos, who offers young women in the industry this advice. “Be yourself, let your personality show and your voice be heard, treat everyone with kindness and respect, take nothing personally and be the best advocate of your work.”

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