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Vela McClam Mitchell is one of the founding partners of Market Designs.  Vela and her partner, Terriann Shockley, created Market Designs after they saw a considerable need for advisors to travel industry leaders who are currently restructuring through innovative products and marketing programs.  Vela has more than 20 years experience in product marketing and business development.  She has demonstrated expertise in business unit management, planning, competitive analysis, business turnarounds, partner identification and international expansion.

 

Prior to forming Market Designs, Vela was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Worldspan’s Worldwide Travel Supplier Solutions Group, including marketing and sales to airlines, hotels, car rental, tour and cruise companies.  Under her management, the group signed agreements for Worldspan’s Rapid Reprice product with United Airlines, created agency access agreements with Hotels.com, developed a cruise line booking product while increasing business unit revenue year over year. 

 

During her tenure at Worldspan, Vela was charged with the creation and development of the company’s eCommerce strategy and business unit.  As Vice President of eCommerce from 1999 to 2002, Vela and her team were responsible for initial contracting of significant customers, including Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, and Site 59.  She developed the eCommerce sales and marketing organization, which also included business development of the company’s Trip Manager product line.  Vela’s team grew the Trip Manager corporate customer base from 15 customers to more than 600.  During her management of eCommerce the company’s online bookings market share grew to more than 60% of total market bookings.

 

Vela’s long marketing career includes a role as Director of Industry Sales Programs at Northwest Airlines, Manager of Strategic Defense Systems Business Development and Market Analysis for Hughes Aircraft Company, and market management roles at Honeywell and Data Transformation.  She is a former member of the board of directors of ET-China in Guangzhou, China, Jetspan in Singapore, Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association and the Ron McNair Foundation for Science and Technology.

 

Vela began her career on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to a United States Congressman from her home state of South Carolina.  Vela has an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University, a MS from Howard University and a BS from Claflin University.  She has received certifications in Global Enterprise Management from Kellogg College at the University of Oxford, Oxford England and Strategic Business Management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Vela McClam Mitchell

Founding Partner, President and CEO

vela@marketdesigns.biz