A Hole in the Clouds

Join Maryles Casto in conversation with Elaine Petrocelli
This event, originally scheduled for Saturday, January 22nd, has been postponed.
Book Passage Corte Madera 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, CA 94925

About the author
Maryles Casto is a pioneering travel industry executive and entrepreneur, with 48 years of experience in founding and leading companies to profitability. A former Philippine Airlines flight attendant, Casto created and helmed Silicon Valley-based Casto Travel, the largest privately owned travel management agency on the West Coast. She sold the company to Flight Centre Travel Group of Australia in 2019.
She is the founder and owner of Casto Travel Philippines, Inc., and is chairwoman and CEO of MVC Solutions, which provides travel industry businesses with back office support, accounting, and other services. Casto Travel was frequently ranked among the Top 100 Fastest Growing Businesses in Silicon Valley and San Francisco and was also ranked second in revenues in Silicon Valley women-owned businesses by the Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2006.
Maryles has served on many business, civic and philanthropic boards including the Commonwealth Club of California; was International Chair of the Committee of 200, an invitation-only group for the world’s most successful entrepreneur; and is a founding member of the Northern California branch of the International Women’s Forum.
Praise for A Hole In the Clouds
A sneak peek of A Hole in the Clouds
“Are you ready for this?”
My brother Gus and I stood on the steps in front of the double doors of Harvard Business School. It was 1997. We had flown from San Francisco to Boston the night before, checked in at nearby hotel, eaten a desultory dinner. After a morning devoted to our separate projects, we had reunited here, in front of the great red brick and white wood colonial-style building, with its four-columned portico and distinctive cupola rising far above us.
Am I ready?
Gus’ question transported me back to our flight to Boston. Buckled into my seat, I had watched the flight attendants move back and forth between the galley and their passengers, pouring drinks, delivering meals, handing out blankets. That was me, I thought. At eighteen years old, during the golden age of airline travel, I became a stewardess, as we were called then, for Philippine Airlines. Suddenly I could see my past as if I were watching a movie: tucked into my smart uniform, commanding the galley, striding the aisles, anticipating each of my passenger’s needs. Now I was in the passenger seat, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, founder of a global travel company, invited to Harvard Business School, where Casto Travel would be presented as a case study. It was a surreal moment—as if I had blinked and become the person I am today.
