It was a moment that would become an epiphany for Steve O’Malley, a defining moment in a life that had already been devoted to service to others.
Diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized in his neck and the back of his throat in 2011, O’Malley came to a realization. After surviving a nearly eight-hour surgery and 30 days of radiation, he knew how he wanted to live the rest of his life.
“It really opened me up in many ways to what life really is about,” he says. “I came out of it with this experience that if I’m going to be given today, then I’m going to do everything that I possibly can with it. The idea of how you do anything is how you do everything.
“It became crystal clear to me that if I’m going to be here, I am going to make the best that I can of what I do and for the people that are around me,” he says. “It opened me up in many ways to something I did not know existed and it was right at my fingertips the whole time, but a tragedy can open you up in that way. ‘How you treat anyone is how you treat everyone’ just fits in perfectly in our industry. I wouldn’t want to repeat [cancer treatment] for the world, but it changed me for the better.”
It is this outlook on life that will propel O’Malley as he begins his tenure as chair of MPI’s International Board of Directors (IBOD) in January.
O’Malley, division president at Maritz Travel in St. Louis, where he has worked for 29 years, has served on MPI committees including Audit/Finance and the MPI-MD Advisory Board.
Amanda Armstrong, current chair of the IBOD, says she is impressed by O’Malley’s compassion.
“He cares about others and the world we live in,” she says. “He prioritizes his family, co-workers, our industry and social issues like human trafficking. He wants to make a positive impact wherever he is involved. He is a true servant leader, who builds trust and values the contributions of others.”
Brian Stevens, CEO at ConferenceDirect, says O’Malley has a “balanced approach to work, but with a sense of humor. He takes charge and makes a decision. No ego.”
Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, says O’Malley is “approachable, genuine and enjoys being able to share his time with people. That means every single MPI member should feel they can go to him and say hello and share their ideas with him. He listens and empathizes. These are leadership skills for leaders with vision.”
That’s high praise from the three industry leaders who preceded O’Malley as chair of the IBOD. Here’s what Steve Maritz, chairman of the board and CEO of Maritz Holdings, says about him.
“Steve is a guy with a big heart and people love him for it,” Maritz says. “He has a passion for the people at Maritz, but also for the industry and its people. He has experience throughout Maritz, and in all parts of our event business. We’re lucky to have him, and you’re lucky to get him for a time!”
Growing up in North Carolina, O’Malley remembers being asked in kindergarten to pick a profession to act out on stage.
“I think I ended up saying racecar driver,” he says. “I’ve strayed from that, certainly.”
After graduating from the University of North Carolina with a degree in criminal justice and psychology, O’Malley went on an interview for a bank job.
“I got into the interview process and realized I had zero passion for it,” he says. “I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
O’Malley “lucked” into a program that was sending volunteers to Kenya to teach high school. He hitchhiked his way to the northwest province of Kenya, and went into the Anglican Archdiocese, where the archbishop told him: “Steve, you’re the answer to my prayers” and that day drove him to a school near the Ugandan border.
“It’s kind of odd because I had really never been out of the [U.S.], and I decided to go big the first time,” O’Malley says. “Even in that experience it taught me a lot about hospitality. I would walk four kilometers each way to and from school from where I lived, and in the rainy season the rain would just come down and you find the closest door to knock on and the Kenyan families would open their doors and they would literally give you the last bit of sugar to put into your tea that they would make because you showed up as a visitor. It thoroughly impressed me and really sort of opened my eyes to what hospitality was.”
He returned from Kenya in debt, so he and a friend headed to Colorado where he got a job as concierge at the Keystone Lodge. Mind you, this is a ski resort and he had never skied in his life. Then one day, he was sitting at his hospitality desk when a meeting group came in and set up beside him. The travel director for the group shared stories of a recent trip to Paris and talked about an upcoming trip to Africa.
“I’m sitting in my desk and I’m thinking, ‘I’m making five dollars an hour and no one is tipping me,’” O’Malley says, and told his new acquaintance, “I need to do what you’re doing.”
O’Malley would apply to Maritz Travel and started working there in 1990 as a travel director, a job that would take him around the world. Not only would it be the start of his career with the company, but his first day on the job will forever be etched in his memory for another reason.
He started at Maritz on Jan. 15, 1990. The woman sitting in front of him that day, Jorie, would become his wife.
While O’Malley and Jorie, who worked at Maritz for 20 years, understood the demands of the job, that did not stop them from balancing work and family when they welcomed Jack, now 20, and Pete, now 18, into the world. He coached his sons in basketball and baseball and “had the opportunity to really develop an incredible relationship” with both of them. He’s proud that they chose to attend college together at the University of Alabama.
For their 25th wedding anniversary, O’Malley and his wife bought each other bicycles for day trips to the countryside and seeing parts of Missouri they haven’t seen before, and they plan to spend time hiking with their black lab Rosie.
“We are excited to rediscover our relationship because we’re not running kids around or attending their practices and games—which we loved every minute of—so we’re really looking forward to this next chapter in our marriage,” he says.
O’Malley joined MPI at the urging of former IBOD Chair Christine Duffy, who at the time was president at Maritz Travel and now is president of Carnival Cruise Line.
“I’m so glad to see Steve take on the chair of the MPI IBOD,” she says. “I’m a big believer that those of us who lead should give back to the industry, and I think this is a natural step for Steve to take on this role. I know he will be a great chair and I’m very proud of all that he has accomplished and will accomplish going forward.”
O’Malley’s leadership has also caught the attention of industry icon Ray Bloom, chair and founder of the IMEX Group.
“I’ve always found Steve, in both professional and personal settings, to be an incredibly pleasant, bright and supportive person,” Bloom says.
“People get drawn to him because of this. They want to collaborate with and support what he’s doing, because he’s there for others in our industry.”
O’Malley doesn’t mince words when it comes to his passion for the meeting and event industry.
“I just love the industry that we’re in,” he says. “I love the clients that I get to work with, I love my teammates, I love the suppliers that we get to work with, and this really is to a degree my calling and, you know, I feel blessed that I was fortunate enough to hear and actually live in that calling. We take care of people, and what we do really does change people’s lives.”
Get to Known Steve O’Malley
Employer: Division President, Maritz Travel
MPI Position: Chair, MPI International Board of Directors
Born: Sept. 23, 1965, Chicago
College: University of North Carolina, B.A. in criminal justice, psychology
Wife: Jorie, recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary
Children: Jack, 20, and Pete, 18, both students at the University of Alabama
Pet: black lab Rosie
Fun Fact: Just after college, Steve spent a year teaching as a volunteer in Kenya, in the northwest province 20 miles from the Uganda border
Past Chairs, MPI International Board of Directors
Amanda Armstrong, 2018
Brian Stevens, 2017
Fiona Pelham, 2016
Kevin Kirby, 2014-15
Michael Dominguez, 2013-14
Kevin Hinton, 2012-13
Sebastien Tondeur, 2011-12
Eric Rozenberg, 2010-11
Ann Godi, 2009-10
Lawrence Luteran, 2008-09
Angie Pfeiffer, 2007-08
Mark Andrew, 2006-07
Christine Duffy, 2005-06
Hugh K. Lee, 2004-05
M. Theresa Breining, 2003-04
George A. Aguel, 2002-03
Jerry A. Wayne, 2001-02
Evelyn Laxgang, 2000-01
Ed Simeone, 1999-00
Bob C. Moore, 1998-99
Anna Lee Chabot, 1997-98
Kathleen M. Ratcliffe , 1996-97
David Kliman, 1995-96
J. W. Boyd, 1994-95
Coleman , 1993-94
C. James Trombino, 1992-93
Beverly W. Kinkade , 1991-92
Marjorie V. Hamilton, 1990-91
Weldon D. Webb, 1989-90
Edward E. Scannell, 1988-89
Marta L. Hayden, 1987-88
Albert B. Sears Jr., 1986-87
Dwight D. Loken, 1985-86
Joseph W. Bow, 1984-85
Stephen D. Powell, 1983-84
Lincoln H. Colby, 1982-83
Rudy R. Wright, 1981-82
Robert C. Green, 1980-81
Stuart R. Clarkson, 1979-80
Raymond J. Hall, 1978-79
G. Joseph Strickler, 1977-78
James E. Jones, 1976-77
James Goebel, 1975-76
Ralph K. Wynn, 1974-75
Paul Barsaloux, 1973-74
Marion N. Kershner, 1972-73
