Marguerite Ashby
Marguerite Ashby graduated with honors from the School of Food, Hotel and Tourism Management at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1986. She was initially inspired to enter the tourism industry from a three-week extensive itinerary to six countries throughout Europe while in high school. Marguerite gained much of her work experience as an undergraduate student from co-op opportunities with Xerox Corporation, Walt Disney World and Piedmont Airlines. Marguerite worked for Wegmans Food Markets from 1986-1989 as their Corporate Travel Manager.
On January 15, 1990, Marguerite opened Five Star "Personalized" Travel located in a Rochester suburb. Five Star "Personalized" Travel proudly served customers including: Wegmans Food Markets, Local Universities and several businesses located in Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Boston, and Los Angeles. Five Star "Personalized" Travel offered many innovative travel services such as private aircraft charter, travel policy controls, travel reporting systems, meeting planning services, "personalized" world travel itineraries as well as several other professional travel services. Marguerite hired full-time travel counselors as well as college co-op students and was proud to provide a professional atmosphere to mentor her employees.
While continuing to run her business, in 1993 Marguerite completed the MBA program at RIT. In 1989, William J. Stolze published the business plan written by Marguerite in his book titled "Start Up: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching and Managing a New Business".
After owning Five Star "Personalized" Travel for almost 10 years Marguerite sold the business to pursue other personal and professional opportunities. She is grateful for the more than 1,000 repeat customers that utilized the services of Five Star "Personalized" Travel. Marguerite has traveled to several world destinations and has a keen sense of the many cultures around the globe.
After selling her business Marguerite launched a career as an International Consultant. While in this capacity she completed the necessary credentials and is a Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM). Marguerite also finished a two-year full-time "Business" teaching position at Genesee Community College. She then accepted a contract position as a Director of Sales and Marketing for the College of Business Graduate Programs at RIT where she increased enrollment for the Executive MBA program by 300% and saved the program from failing. A long time fried contacted Marguerite for the purpose to conduct feasibility and marketing studies for Real Estate Metro Circuits. In June 2008 a long time friend advised Marguerite of an opportunity to work with her for a local C.P.A. firm. This current position allows Marguerite to utilize her strong Math and Analytical skills and do what she does best "foster professional relationships" and help to grow a business.
