Navigating Today's Challenges in Leadership (and life)

Guest: Maria Grasso, Senior Vice President, Convention Division, Philadelphia CVB

What kind of challenges are leaders facing today? Maria Grasso, senior vice president of the Convention Division at the Philadelphia CVB, shares her experience with managing remote employees, caregiving for an aging parent and investing in her community.

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Podcast sponsored by Myrtle Beach Convention Center and Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Listen to more Dare to Interrupt podcasts: www.MeetingsToday.com/Dare-to-Interrupt.

Meet Our Guest

Maria Grasso is the senior vice president, convention division at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB), leading the business development divisions, convention sales and destination services team in growing convention bookings, while positioning Philadelphia as a premier destination for meetings, conventions and events.

Actively involved in Philadelphia's hosting of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Maria serves as the hotel accommodations expert, representing the PHLCVB in direct contact with FIFA and U.S. Soccer. She has served in similar capacities for other historic events including the 2015 World Meeting of Families & Papal Visit, 2016 Democratic National Convention and the 2017 NFL Draft.

A more than 20-year veteran of the organization, Maria joined the PHLCVB in 1999 as senior director of national accounts, quickly establishing herself as the organization's top-producing sales director. She most recently served as vice president of sales and convention services, a customer-facing role focusing on organizational growth in key industry verticals. 

Connect with Maria: 
LinkedIn
Instagram: @mariaheppgrasso
Facebook
Twitter: @kittygrasso
Website

More About Our Host
Courtney believes that transforming past experiences into impactful conversations through raw, authentic storytelling challenges the status quo, connects people from all walks of life and results in great change for the world.

Courtney is the youngest member to have ever been elected to Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) International Board of Directors.

She is the recipient of Smart Meetings’ Entrepreneur Award, MeetingsNet’s Changemaker Award, the Association for Women in Events (AWE) Disruptor Award, the MPI Chairman’s Award and MPI RISE Award.

Named Collaborate and Connect Magazine’s 40 under 40 and a Meetings Today Trendsetter.

Recognized as one of the event industry’s most impactful change-makers, Courtney serves on the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, AWE’s Board of Directors, MPI’s Women’s Advisory Board, is a Meetings Mean Business Ambassador and is the co-founder of the award-winning movement, #MeetingsToo.

Courtney was named as a 2020 Meetings Trendsetter by Meetings Today.

Connect with Courtney:
Website
LinkedIn
Instagram: @courtneyonstage
Twitter: @courtneyonstage
Facebook

Transcript:
Editors note: The following transcription was facilitated by AI program Otter.ai and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Courtney Stanley  
This episode of dare to interrupt is brought to you by the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and the Philadelphia Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

Courtney Stanley  
Hello, everybody, this is Courtney Stanley and welcome to another episode of Dare to Interrupt, the only podcast made by women for women in the world of events, hospitality, tourism and beyond. We hope you feel empowered as you listen in on honest unfiltered conversations with leaders who are considered to be the most influential, inspiring and innovative women in business today.

Throughout their careers, these leaders have dared to interrupt conversations, their own comfort zones, and sometimes even societal norms to hustle toward their greatest levels of success. 
Please welcome today's guest here with me. I have Maria Grasso, Senior Vice President of the Convention Division at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Welcome Maria, how are you?

Maria Grasso
Hi, Courtney. I'm great. So thrilled to be here today.

Courtney Stanley  
I'm happy to have you here. And I know we were just talking about how busy things have been in Philadelphia, what is the most exciting event that you've been working on lately?

Maria Grasso
Oh my goodness. We're gearing up for quite an important time in Philadelphia, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence signed in 2026. So we are full steam ahead. Preparing most of our work is done with solidifying the meetings and conventions that are coming in that year, along with the FIFA World Cup and Major League Baseball All Star game. But we still have some holes to fill and hotels to fill. So the work is not done yet. But we're well on our way.

Courtney Stanley  
That is amazing. And what an exciting time to have the FIFA World Cup there. That's incredible.

Maria Grasso
It really is. You know, I've been fortunate in my time here at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitor's Bureau to work on so many great events, the DNC, the RNC, we have the NFL Draft here in 2017. But this is different, the FIFA World Cup. I mean, it's the most watched sporting event in the world. And I think it will put Philadelphia on a global stage and like we've never been before. So it's really exciting.

Courtney Stanley  
And I have to say, I know the audience can't see what's in your background right now. But I have to say, I'm loving the life-size. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, cut out that's happening behind you. You said that you just hosted WrestleMania as well.

Maria Grasso
We did it. We haven't had it for 25 years, and it just ended last or two weeks ago now. And what an amazing event for the city. Over 100,000 people came through Philadelphia for five days to major events and my team knows I love Dwayne The Rock Johnson. I offered to take care of him personally while he was here, but I wasn't needed. So they do get me this life size cut out that I've been carrying around the office with me for the last few weeks.

Courtney Stanley  
That is hilarious. What is your favorite movie that stars the rock?

Maria Grasso
Oh my gosh. That's hard. I like The Mall. I'm not a huge movie watcher. But he just makes me laugh. And I mean, it's the highest paid actor nowadays. I just cannot watch him.

Courtney Stanley  
It was great. I have to say I loved him in the tooth fairy movie.

Maria Grasso
I didn't see that.

Courtney Stanley  
Oh my god. I mean he. I mean you get to see him in a tutu, just kind of like prancing around. So it's, it's a whole other side and style of the Rock. And it's just really fun.

Maria Grasso
I wrote it down. Check it out on Netflix. Perfect.

Courtney Stanley  
So I have to ask because I've spent some time in Philly, but I really haven't spent enough time to immerse myself in the culture of the city. I'm truly curious, how would you describe what differentiates Philadelphia from other cities?

Maria Grasso
I would say if you if you ask me to do it one word, I would say it's a vibe. I mean, Philly--it's just Philly. We're not even a hidden gem anymore. But, you know, when I'm selling the destination nationally, people think it's a very industrial city still. They don't know that we're a restaurant city, cultural mecca. 

I mean, it's just the city offers everything. I'm just so impressed. You know, we've got 1.5 million people that live in Philadelphia, you probably wouldn't think that either. It's just a very vibrant downtown. And I think it surprises a lot of people.

One of the most fun things in my job is when people come in in Philadelphia and they say I've never been here before. And then we get to showcase the city for them for like two days. And they leave like, wow, you can just see it on their face. They're just shocked at what this destination can offer. So that's one of my most favorite things about Philadelphia. It's just the vibe.

Courtney Stanley  
I love that. I think that was such a cool way to wrap it up to summarize the city, it's a vibe. Well, I'm going to try to make myself available for the World Cup and get down there. So we'll say, Yeah, we will see. Now I know that you you've worked at the Convention and Visitor's Bureau for almost 25 years. What keeps it interesting? What do you love about it?

Maria Grasso
It's just the greatest job. I've always been in hospitality. I started in hotels, back in 1986. And I love that too. And then a job became available at the convention bureau in 1999. And I moved over here. And I think, I think what's most important about this work that we do is we impact so many. 

When I first started here, I was just focused on my own sales efforts. I had a market that I had to represent Philadelphia in and I had to bring conventions back here to Philadelphia. So it was very, me, by myself, I felt like, you know, kind of doing my job and do my thing. 

But now, you know, being here for so long and moving into this, this role as the SVP, you know, it just gives you a different perspective of the work that we do here. And COVID really shined a critical light on the work that we do, you know, when the city shut down, as all cities did, across the country, and there were no meetings or conventions, you really felt the impact of restaurants closing and hotels closing. And it was just the most horrible feeling ever. 

And, you know, people weren’t at work. You know, housekeepers aren't working, because we don't have visitors here. And restaurant staff aren't busy. And when you see how we came back, this city is just so resilient. It truly is like the Rocky story, you know, the true Rocky story. 

Philadelphia being such an underdog, but coming back and being on top, and we're back to our 2019 levels, the city's thriving again. And when we are able to do our jobs and fill the city with conventions; we put people to work. And it makes a difference in our community. So it's a great; it's a great job.

Courtney Stanley  
Oh my gosh, yeah. And I mean, what a time that was, I think it was such it was such a difficult moment for the tourism industry, specifically, the conventions industry specifically. Do you feel like a lot has changed within the CVB world? Since the pandemic have strategies changed? Have the way you done business changed? What's different now?

Maria Grasso
Yeah, everything really? We did. You had to--I don't want to use the word pivot anymore. I swear I wasn't gonna use it. But you really we did, right? I mean, we, we are funded through hotel tax. And when there's no hotel tax and our visitors, your funding goes away.

So we had to find new revenue streams and look at doing business differently and tighten up our contracts to protect this destination, when things happen like that. Or people just want to move and go to a different location. 

So we have changed a bunch of things, as our industry has. But I can tell you, I think this industry came together quite well. Because we all had to adapt how we were doing business. And it's really a joint effort. 

One of the greatest things about this job is we work with so many different key people in this city and this destination to make everything work, right? We have our partners at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and our partners that visit fill in our hotel partners, and you need all of those things to work seamlessly together to provide the experience that these customers expect when they come to your destination. And we got through it together. And I'll tell you, it's been great. And we came up well on the other side.

Courtney Stanley  
Yeah, we definitely did. And I'm so happy to hear that the city is just thriving. And I know we talked about this a little bit before we hopped on here, but I see the same thing in Detroit; the city is there's so much going on all the time. Tourism numbers are definitely up, the big events that the city's hosting are just incredible. They're mind blowing. And it's so amazing to see that story taking place now after such hardship that the industry in general was facing just a couple of years ago. 

Now, I do want to ask you a little bit about your career journey because you've been in the industry for a while for a long time. What do you feel like were some of the most influential factors in you earning the success that you have today? What really made a difference in your career?

Maria Grasso
Yeah, Courtney, you just made me sound very old.

Courtney Stanley  
Gosh, definitely not.

Maria Grasso
I think you know, I would probably before I even got into the hospitality, I got hit by that hospitality bug. I think maybe some of the most influential people, for me, were leaders that I had at a very young age. My third grade teacher played a big role in my life, she was just amazing, and gave me such confidence. And I was very bubbly in school, I couldn't sit still. 

So school was not like my favorite thing, but she made me enjoy going to school every day. And then I think, equally as important was one of my coaches. And then the coaches became, you know, all of my coaches became very important, but I played soccer my whole life. And I still talk to some of this coaches, and they become mentors. 

You know, they're, they're different. They're not business mentors, but they shape you and they, they provide you with character building skills, and, you know, some of those things that you might not learn right away in the in the office. So I feel like I've been touched by a bunch of different people in different areas of my life, that I've been able to kind of grab on to something that I learned there, and hold on to it. 

And then I think you go into the business world, you know, and there's, I, I think with women in particular, you know, mentorship is so vitally important, but it's so hard to find, you know, we should have a matchmaking site does. I want to have a matchmaking site for mentorship, where you connect people in your industry, someone that's willing to give and someone who's wanting to learn. I would love to see something that came together like that, like a dating site, but for mentorship. But I think it's so critical. 

And we as women need to not only find mentors early on in our career, and don't be afraid to ask for help, because you want to learn. But also equally as important is to kind of reach back and grab somebody that might need that same learning that you were able to take advantage of. 

So I've really been blessed with with great mentors and leaders. And my family. Of course, my dad was a great leader. And I think I learned so much from him, like tenacity, and you know, just work hard, good things will come. So at the end of the day, I think I've been surrounded by a bunch of really great people.

Courtney Stanley  
I love to hear that. And I do before we dig a little bit deeper into mentorship, I do want to go back for a second and ask you about your third-grade teacher because I've never heard anybody say that before we asked, you know what, we wouldn't help shape your career, blah, blah, blah. And you went to your third grade teacher? I mean, clearly that person made such an impact on you. So what what was that impact? What was that experience like for you?

Maria Grasso
She was hooked--Mrs. Armbrister? What's her name, and she was just so amazing. And she just had some for something about her. I was drawn to her. I don't know if I could really put it into words. 

But she, she made me feel like I was, you know, she knew I didn't really like to be in class because I could hardly sit still. And I probably didn't diagnose her when I was young in school, but I probably had like a DD or something like that. But, you know, she found a way to help me learn. I got straight A's that year, never have them again. But if she was my favorite teacher, that she saw something in me. And I think she she knew well enough to kind of water that seed and helped me grow. 

So that's what I remember about her. And I would write her for years later. She's She's no longer with us. But I would write her and just say, Hey, I was just thinking of you I you know, as in 11th grade at that time, but just wanted to remind her the impact she made in my life. That's

Courtney Stanley  
incredible. That's incredible. She's awesome. Do you feel like her ability to not just see your potential, but also bring out the best in you? Do you feel like that's something that you are also skilled in as a leader and as a mentor? That's something that's important to you to really look for those people that you think just need a little bit of support, or just a different approach in general?

Maria Grasso
Hmm, yeah. You know, that's, that's a really good question. I think it's really difficult to manage people nowadays, right? They're not always in front of you. It could be over Zoom, people are working remote. So you don't have that immediate connection that you would have in a peer to peer sitting at a lunch table relationship. 

But I do think I work really hard at trying to see everyone's uniqueness, and meeting people where they are. And it could be in that day or in that month. And trying to grab on to that, and I'm reading Adam Grant's book right now hidden talents. And it's really all about that. It's like a potential it's called, excuse me. It's really finding that that little thing that makes that person tick, and finding a way to make that great in them.

Courtney Stanley  
I love Adam Grant. Oh, he's so amazing.

Maria Grasso
Is it? He's a Philly guy. He's right here. Yeah.

Courtney Stanley  
Yeah. And he's absolutely fantastic. I find that the research that he does, and the knowledge that he shares around leadership and management and just employment in general, is so valuable, so valuable. Yeah. That's interesting, though, something that you said around it being maybe a difficult time to manage people, I would love to just hear a little bit more about that.

Maria Grasso
I think, you know, as managers now it's not, you know, I run a sales division. So we're very number centric, and goal driven. But it's jobs are, it's different today, it's different, we have to you people have gone through a lot, you know, and you have to really figure out where they are, to make them tick. And I think you've got to be keenly aware of the issues that are surrounding us and mental health issues and overworked issues and at home issues, you know, whatever they are, you just have to manage differently today than you did years ago. If they manage the whole employee thinking not just what the task is in front of them.

Courtney Stanley  
Yeah, I would agree with that. And, you know, we've seen studies that have shown and discussed the importance of people having that type of environment that where they do feel cared for, they feel valued. And they feel heard. 

So I think it's, you know, it's, I think it's great to hear that you, as a leader in your organization, recognize the need to see that person as a whole person, and not just the person that's coming in from nine to five, Monday through Friday, or working crazy hours on the weekends for events, or whatever, you know, the moment calls for, but I think that's really great to hear. And actually, I do want to I want to dig in a little bit more into that, you know, work life balance conversation, 

I know that when we spoke prior to today, you mentioned that you are a caregiver for your mom, what has that experience been like for you?

Maria Grasso
Yeah, um, I think, you know, I think just in general, women, we, we deal with so much, right, I'm not a mother, but a lot of people that work with, for me and with me and friends of mine, you know, they're they care for their children, and they still go do their full time job. I think there's the parents aging, living longer, and aging and that we're left to, to care for them. Plus everything else in life, you know.

But I can tell you this, I, because I don't have children, I think I'm probably handling a little bit better than if I had, you know, a fuller plate than I already do. But my mom has Alzheimer's, and she's lived with us for just about 17 years, but she's only been experiencing Alzheimer's for like the last two or three years is come on. 

So, you know, she can't remember very much of anything of the day to day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it's helped me prioritize things in my life. And maybe I needed that, right? Because I am the kind of person that will just work, work, work, I do charity work, I do my regular job. And again, maybe because I have a little bit more time on my hands. 
But I think she's helped me realize what's important in life. And it's okay to say no to things. And it's also helped me remove some drama, from my life that I didn't need in my life, because it's not what like it takes. I put things in a different perspective. And I look through things with a different lens now. 

So I think that's what it's forced me to do. And it's been a blessing in that respect. But as far as mom she's happy, she laughs all the time. We have a wonderful life. So like I said, I wouldn't trade it. But it it certainly impacts all of your decisions that you make at your work life and that your personal, you know, life. 

And when you say work life balance, like I always kind of get like this little giggle when you say work life balance because like Is there really such a thing? I do try. I do try to find that balance, whatever that is for me, however, and I think it's probably a very personal thing, the work life balance. Because what looks like, you know, it works for me might not work for you.
But I'm feeling good about where I am today with mom and my job and everything else.

Courtney Stanley  
Yeah, she's I mean, she's very lucky to have you, you know, and likewise, and I'm sure like you've said her experience with Alzheimer's and your experience as a caregiver has given you a different perspective on. I think it a lot of times takes those moments and those shifts and those challenges that maybe come out of left field for us to take a step back and reevaluate, and also just be forced, in some ways to prioritize differently. 

And you mentioned, you do some charity work, too. I would love to hear more about that.

Maria Grasso
I do. I do. I lost my dad to colon cancer. Gosh, it's been about 19 years now. And I lost my grandfather on my maternal. So my maternal grandfather, my mom's dad, also to colon cancer, years prior to that. So we have colon cancer on both sides of the family. And honestly, I really didn't know too much about colon cancer before my dad passed away. But he only lived 10 months with the disease. And he was 67 years old, very young nowadays. 

And I was so angry, I was really just in a very dark place. Because like, why me, why take the best dad out there, you know, that kind of thing. And I needed to do something. I was looking at Philadelphia in the tri-state area for some colon cancer type of work, and there wasn't really anything out there. And it's the second leading killer of cancer related deaths. So I thought I should easily be able to find something to throw myself into. And I found this colon cancer challenge race in New York. And I went up there and did for my run. And I raised the most money. So they did a hospital tour for me. And I really got excited about I can do this. 

So I, of course, the two friends of theirs, like oh my gosh, you do not even have a thing on your plate. I'm like, No, I'm gonna do this. So the next year, I started a run in Philadelphia called Get Your Rear in Gear Philadelphia. 

Yeah, so today, it's been we just had our 13th year, and we've raised a little over $3 million for colon cancer, mostly around research and patient care. But it was my way of finding a way through that sadness, to help people in my own community, that might be afraid to get a colonoscopy or socio economic barriers, you know, all of those things that stand in the way of people getting a screening that they should have access to, that we can help them gain access to or pick them up, if they have transportation issues, or pay for their prep if they can't afford it, or so it's really rewarding work. 

And it's just one of my passion projects that I just probably will keep doing until I'm no longer here.

Courtney Stanley  
And that's incredible. That's incredible. And I love, I'm a firm believer in the opportunity to turn pain into purpose. And that's exactly what this sounds like, you know that you took something that was really difficult and you made it into an opportunity not just to immerse yourself and educate yourself about colon cancer, but to also create a community and, and do things to support that community and their families too. 

So I really admire that a lot. Thank you. You, I have to say throughout this conversation, I just feel like you're a lovely person. I'm like listening to everything. You're saying, Listen, I'm hearing you know, about the third grade teacher, I'm listening to your leadership style, you know, hearing some of these personal things from your own life that you're sharing. 

What do you hope you're remembered for? What do you want your legacy to be?

Maria Grasso
I think that I genuinely care, whether it's something I do in charity work, or if you're my friend, family, or you know, my work life that I care, and I'll give 150% effort to whatever I kind of have in front of me, whether it's you or you know, my child, but I just feel very blessed. So I feel like I need to give it back.

Courtney Stanley  
Yeah, I love that. Well, that's a sign of a great leader. That's for sure. I want to ask you just one final question. As we wrap up our conversation today. We've got a lot of people tuning in to these conversations, and they're tuning in, in hopes to learn from you and be inspired by you. What do you want to leave them with, what words of wisdom? Any final pieces of advice as they're advancing in their lives and in their careers?

Maria Grasso
Someone once said to me, exceed your own expectations, and don't worry about anybody else's. And it was such great advice. When you think about it, you know, just quiet the noise around you. And looking at yourself and look at what you want to achieve and your goals in front of you. And, and just go for it. 

So I think quieting the noise is probably really difficult for many; it was for me. But I think if you can put your eye on the prize and just look at all the support that you have around you and put your head down and grind it out that you can that you can do it.

Courtney Stanley  
Yeah, I love that. I appreciate that. And actually, when I had prepared our outro for today, I had written quiet the noise. So that's really interesting that you just brought that full circle here today. 

This was so great. Thank you so much Maria. Honestly, just hearing and learning more about you for sharing your story with us today. This was a real pleasure,

Maria Grasso
Courtney, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Absolutely.

Courtney Stanley  
Our pleasure. And audience of course, thank you all for listening. Share what you took away from this episode with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by following @MeetingsToday and @CourtneyonStage, and be sure to never miss an episode by subscribing to Dare to Interrupt on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google podcasts and more. 

Be tenacious, quiet the noise and keep daring to interrupt my friends. Until next time.