Marka Jenkins Waechter

Marka Jenkins Waechter has spent over 25 years in the C-suite, not just leading but transforming businesses. As CEO of two companies, she successfully navigated both to acquisition by Fortune 100 giants. The first, Highwire, known as Travelport, was built from the ground up—from an idea sparked by her visionary thinking—into an acquisition by Cendant, one of the world’s largest corporations at the time. A second success story, Metropolitan Travel, caught the attention of Expedia, leading to its acquisition due to rapid growth and market dominance driven by Marka’s strong sales leadership and ability to spot trends, transforming them into thriving, meaningful enterprises.

Her third tenure as CEO began in 2014 at SHWorldwide and as CEO of Seattle Hospitality Group, where she helped the company return to profitability in a short period of time. Through 2020 and 2021, SHW’s innate resilience helped clients reimagine their in-person events, producing outstanding virtual experiences. SHW emerged from the pandemic as a certified woman-owned business. Marka is a strong partner for her customers, thinking holistically about their business challenges and desired outcomes.

Marka’s unique edge? She’s not just focused on the bottom line—she's built her success within frameworks of healthy, best-in-class company cultures, consistently recognized by Puget Sound Business Journal and Seattle Magazine as some of the best places to work. She understands the intricate challenges of navigating startups and scaling them into successful, sellable companies, all while fostering cultures where employees thrive and innovation flourishes.

Now, as the Executive Chair of SHW, Marka is shifting gears to share her wealth of experience through executive coaching. Her coaching blends the deep insights from her Jay Shetty certification with her vast real-world experience. When you hire Marka, you’re not just tapping into 30+ years of leadership—you’re getting a proven framework for building effective company cultures, scaling businesses, and creating teams that perform at their highest potential. Her coaching of individual executives fosters greater awareness, improving decision-making and enhancing team effectiveness.

Marka’s recipe for business success combines strategy, culture, and human-centered leadership, all aimed at helping you and your team achieve breakthrough results. Her approach isn’t driven by ego but by integrity, transparency, and truly valuing every team member—creating equity through respect.

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