A 29-year veteran of the Irving CVB, Maura Gast is a well-known leader and mentor in the destination marketing world/meeting industry nationwide.

What traits define a great leader?

Persistence, patience, humility, an unending desire to learn and, probably most importantly, an openness to being wrong, to making mistakes, to learn from those mistakes and to share those mistakes.

What strategies can help women achieve a more prominent role in our industry?

Step up, step out, listen to hear (not always to respond) and be heard when you have something to say. Ask questions. Tackle the tricky things that others are afraid to touch. In every challenging situation, ask yourself, “What’s the worst possible outcome if I make the wrong decision?” and act accordingly. Don’t fear failure.

How does social media play a role in your job?

I love so many things about what social media can be, and I’m grateful for the team that handles our corporate presence on social media and does it so well. I love that it’s easy to see what other destinations and organizations are doing. For me individually, I can’t shake my work persona online and therefore don’t share much that’s personal. I’m decent at Facebook, lousy on Twitter and Instagram, and keep saying I want to do more on LinkedIn. But then reality gets in the way.

How do you manage stress?

I have become the “Queen of Compartmentalization,” which is not necessarily a good thing. But I don’t know that it’s bad—it just can’t be the only solution. I do know, though, as “life” outside of work has happened and the ups and downs that go with that, that I’m better able these days to assign stress where it belongs, to not waste energy on things that I can’t change and that ultimately—on the scale of what’s important, really, in life—some things just don’t matter.

What do you do for fun?

Not enough. Truly. I’ve realized these past few years that I need a life outside of work. For a long time, my industry volunteer work has been my de facto hobby, and most of the time it’s been fun. But one of my resolutions for 2020 is to figure out what I want to do for fun, to find a real hobby that isn’t necessary things like yardwork framed as “gardening.”