CEOs and women often are not found in the same sentence. Positions of power are not usually afforded to women and when you factor in being a minority, life as a CEO can have its peaks and valleys. While dominating in the boardroom, Black CEOs feel the pressure to succeed and the unspoken expectation to be the example on ethnicity many others may not have had the opportunity to meet.
Sanya Weston, CEO of a family-owned company, Your Premier Travel Service, one of the oldest African American travel companies in the city of Detroit, has leadership in her DNA. The travel agency which specializes in wedding travel, youth experience, corporate incentive programs and other types of travel, helps plan the logistics for trips including hotel and excursions. The agency was the dream of her mother and a legacy she has continued to carry.
“My mother started our agency about 50 years ago and the parent name was Caribbean International Travel. We changed the name in 2014,” says Weston.
A full-service travel company offering affordable plans for all, the travel agency is known for its layaway program. Through this measure, those who have never had an opportunity to experience a get-away can pay for their trip making their finances stretch.
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One of the great things we’re known for is putting your trip on layaway which is something my mother started years ago. I like to say ‘you’re one payment away from your dream experience’ and we have always maintained that,” says Weston.
During the pandemic, travel came to an immediate stop. With the spread of the coronavirus, travel agencies and airlines lost money at a stark rate. With no foresight into when travel would resume, travel agencies continue to take a loss even one year after the start of the pandemic.
“We went from 100 to zero. It went from our most thriving year that we’ve ever had and we were expecting even more accomplishments with our sales and it went down to zero in a matter of days,” says Weston. “Because of that, we could not close our doors because we had clients that were still in travel.”
Aside from clients in travel, other customers were distressed as services were paid for and trips were booked, but the pandemic had other plans.
“We had to maintain our professional service during this time even though we we’re also going through what the world was going through,” says Weston.
The pandemic also led to building a new network of support and encouragement. Ushering in the help of others in the same position, Weston was able to reach out to her peers to help make it through the pandemic proving CEOs can reach across causes and work together.
“I reached out to other entrepreneurs, other CEOs that I knew were going through some really hard times, just like myself, and we were able to just come together even closer to assist each other,” says Weston. “What made that kind of easy is I’m an alumni of the Goldman Sachs small business program and they immediately reached out to all of the alumni bringing us together so that we would be able to talk our way through what was going on.”
Using the information learned, Weston helped small businesses over the hump. “I was able to reach out to other CEOs for smaller companies who did not have access to that type of support and actually support them. They needed the information and they needed someone to support them,” says Weston.
A recipient of the 2020 Women of Excellence Award presented by The Michigan Chronicle, the entrepreneur’s dedication to the city and exposing youth to experiences via travel is paramount. Going on to found a non-profit called the Young People Travel Global Edge Foundation during the pandemic, pouring passion and work into a new avenue helped to ease the tensions caused by COVID.
“I channeled my energy into other areas of the community and that brought joy to my heart. It also allowed me to be very creative and that allowed me to create the non-profit … and that’s really what kept me going throughout the entire time,” says Weston.
Now, through the travel agency, this entrepreneur is leading the charge for her company, extending into the community and laying the groundwork for generations to come.
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