Presented by the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UMKC and Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC

 Flying after Passion

 For Young Sexton, travel was always in the cards, even if it wasn’t always in the hand she was dealt.

“I’ve always loved to travel,” Sexton told budding entrepreneurs and business leaders at April’s Entrepreneur Speakers Program. The monthly series is sponsored by Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC and the Bloch School’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UMKC. “As a young girl, I always wanted to open up a travel agency.”

But the dreams of booking passage to exotic locals took a jump seat to reality.

A native of Seoul, Korea, Sexton came to the United States in the late 1960s to pursue her master’s in international affairs. Not satisfied with a teaching career, she abandoned her doctoral studies and landed a job as an executive intern with Cigna, a health insurance benefits company.

“That period of my life was really well spent,” said Sexton, who learned a lot about how a big company operates. But selling insurance wasn’t her passion, so in 1990 when her company closed their Kansas City office, Sexton grabbed her proverbial parachute, and a health severance package, and jumped.

“I decided I wanted to do something for myself, on my own,” she said.

Fifteen years later, Sexton turned that moment’s caprice into an award-winning travel agency. Today, WingGate Travel is the second largest locally owned travel agency in Kansas City, boasting 67 employees over 19 locations with more than $110 million in revenues. She’s been named by both Ingram’s and the Business Journal as one of Kansas City’s top 25 fastest growing companies.

But the road to multimillions wasn’t a easy ride.

In WingGate’s early years, Sexton struggled with naysayers, competition, decreasing airline commissions, and, later, increasing presence of online agencies. Once she cleared those hurdles, she grew the company to a steady $3 million in sales, but couldn’t seem to budge the company beyond that threshold. She approached the Helzberg Mentoring Program—and was rebuffed. Then, she approached American Express for a partnership, and was denied. But Sexton wasn’t giving up so easy. Not this time.

For a year, she pursued American Express, insisting on her own potential. Finally, American Express relented, and even though Sexton didn’t get exactly what she wanted, she did get brand recognition. She then turned to government contracts and WingGate exploded to $25 million in 2005 and then $100 million in 2006.

The adventure is far from over. Sexton sees the challenges for the travel industry coming from both sides: the businesses she works for and the airlines she books with. In a soft economy, noted Sexton, the travel and marketing budgets are the first to be cut. Rising fuel costs, excess capacity, challenges of profitability have put the kibosh on more than one airline. Sexton predicted that the fallout will result in three to four major carriers who will then reduce their capacity and index their prices.

So how does Sexton approach the future? The same way she always with tenacity, persistence, and an eye toward the opportunities that wait on the horizon.

About ESP

The Entrepreneur Speakers Program, held monthly throughout the year, brings the region’s most innovative business leaders to UMKC to discuss ideas and opportunities. The series highlights experiences, lessons learned and unique issues and challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the creation of a new enterprise.