{"id":16755,"date":"2015-06-13T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-13T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=16755"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:35:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:35:04","slug":"expedia-tech-profiles-tracy-grilliot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/expedia-tech-profiles-tracy-grilliot\/","title":{"rendered":"Expedia tech profiles: Tracy Grilliot"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a technology company with a passion for travel, Expedia has a dedicated team tirelessly working to make vacations and trips easier. This month, I sat down with Tracy Grilliot, director of product management, to chat about how Expedia is working to create solutions for travelers that makes Expedia.com a one-stop, holistic travel shop.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tarran Street (TS)<\/strong>: How long have you worked at Expedia and what made you want to work for the company?<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracy Grilliot (TG)<\/strong>: About 4.5 years, I was hired by an old friend and colleague of mine who had some new, different roles that seemed like an exciting fit for me.<\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: You have a wordy title; describe your day job for us in layman\u2019s terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: When my 8-year-old asks, I say, \u201cI talk to people.\u201d This means I analyze the value of new ideas for scoping and prioritization. As a product manager I consider things such as revenue, scalability, customer experience, and legal liability. I work on a team that entices you to purchase other items after you\u2019ve booked something with us. I also work with another group that analyzes travel marketplace trends on a vast scale and alerts customers about changing trends in inventory to help them make better decisions about when to book a trip.\u00a0 So when you see messages on Expedia that say \u201c5 people looking at this hotel right now,\u201d or, \u201c27 people booked,\u201d you\u2019re looking at one of our products!<\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: What is one of your proudest accomplishments at Expedia?<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: I\u2019d say working on our payment platform to give our customers more ways to book: With different payment methods, with different currencies, and avoiding fees if possible. It was a big effort across a lot of teams to build the first proof-of-concept for that, but since then I\u2019ve seen it enable more and more functionality across our sites with great efficiency. And it\u2019s cool to know there\u2019s more to be done in this space.\u00a0 Seeing your baby go live and watching it evolve, then realizing how it helps customers\u2014that is a good day.<\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: With so many potential areas to offer that level of detail for customers, how does the team decide what to focus on?<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: Well, our biggest goals are to ensure customers are aware of all their travel options as the market changes, and to give them all the information they need to make a confident decision to book their next trip. We try one thing and see how it does, then move on to another and compare the results. We\u2019re constantly building on what we know and adding more tests to understand the ripple effects. You\u2019ve got to start somewhere, so taking that first step is easy because we know we could expand on it afterward.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: Where did you go to school? How did it prepare you for your job at Expedia?<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: I went to University of Cincinnati. I studied biology, funnily enough. I moved to Seattle when I was 30. Previously, I was working in a sales position, but I found a company out here that was moving that service online.\u00a0 I had no idea what it meant when they told me they were \u201cpre-IPO.\u201d As I started learning more about software, I fell in love with the logic. Knowing, \u201cif this can happen, then that can happen,\u201d I love the connections between decisions.<\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: So what would you recommend to others looking to get into the industry?<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: On the education front and potential hires: Be curious, curious, curious. Understand why things work and how they work. Ask questions without shame. If you can understand why something is, you can apply it to the next thing. I also wish more of us were trained to trust logic. To trust data. It doesn\u2019t have to be perfect data, but good data will point you from one idea to the next. And in the business world, having data is incredibly compelling. <\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: Name a tech product example you are addicted to? Or any tool that motivates you?<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: I feel like I\u2019m on 17 different communications systems: Skype, email, Lync, Telegram, Messenger, and plain old text are ways you can get a hold of me.<\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: Favorite travel destination?<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: I\u2019m a food-and-drink kind of traveler so New Orleans is definitely high on the list. I have a huge fondness for that place, I\u2019ve been probably 10 times. I love it; it\u2019s like nothing else in the United States.<\/p>\n

TS<\/strong>: Complete this sentence: A vacation isn\u2019t complete without ::____.<\/span><\/p>\n

TG<\/strong>: A glass of wine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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