Cora Montgomery’s passport has a lot of stories it could tell.

More than 25 countries, thousands of nights spent in hotel rooms, encounters with exotic animals (including being encircled by sea lions in the ocean), and enough frequent flier miles to plan a trip around the world.

And now Montgomery wants to plan your next dream vacation. Looking at a globe and determining where that needs to happen is in Montgomery’s DNA.

Before she was even 12 years old, Montgomery planned her own European vacation. She has been planning trips ever since, following the lead of her parents who own their own travel agency. She has used these skills as a springboard directly to being named the Sterling Scholar in Business & Marketing for Highland.

It all started in the months before her 12th birthday.

As part of the Montgomery family tradition, she was told to choose a parent, choose a destination, utilize a given budget, and with a little bit of guidance from her parents, plan her own trip to wherever she wanted to go.

Montgomery decided that she wanted to go to Italy, and then noticed that around the time that she would be turning twelve, her mom was going to be in Switzerland for a work convention.

And even at her young age, Montgomery was able to figure out on her own how to utilize that knowledge in a way that made for the most efficient travel experience.

“She, as an 11-year-old, was like, ‘Well wait a minute, if you’re already in Switzerland, and if I want to go to Italy, and you’re already in Europe, then your airfare won’t count toward the budget,’” Montgomery’s mom, Erynn said.

From there, all she needed was a gentle nudge in the right direction before Montgomery realized that she could fly direct from Salt Lake City to Paris. By herself. As a new 12-year-old.

“‘Well, what if our trip starts in Paris? Even if I want to go to Italy, what if our trip starts in Paris, and that way, you can pick me up in Paris, and then we’ll have a couple days there before we go to Italy.’” Erynn quoted her daughter.

To be able to figure out the most efficient way to get to Europe, and then to fly on a plane for eight hours alone while still just a child is incredibly remarkable and truly courageous.

“She really took a risk there and was rewarded.” Erynn said.

And that story perfectly illustrates the type of person that Montgomery is. Detail oriented, committed, efficient, and willing to take a risk if she sees a reward on the other side of that risk.

These qualities that Montgomery possesses are all exactly what one needs in the business world–the world that she has a real passion for and is already prepared to enter.

Montgomery has allowed her many travel experiences to help shape her into someone who sees the world differently than anyone else could. Her unique love of the earth with its many exotic locations and intriguing cultures full of people from all walks of life gives her an outlook that will send her flying towards success.

“I have grown up visiting lots of hotels,” Montgomery said. “And I didn’t understand that the business aspect of it was really what I was interested in for a long time, but I always was really drawn towards them, and was really confused as to how they could do such incredible things, like save rainforests, change the structure of government, and environmental protection, and how they could give communities a real chance to progress, and then kind of understanding the business aspect and the behind the scenes of it gave me a huge passion, like, ‘I want to do this.’ and this is really really cool.”

Not only is Montgomery a fountain of knowledge and experience, but she also has an incredible attitude. She’s optimistic and fearless.

“She isn’t afraid of a challenge, and recognizes that things can be hard, but she gets to choose what kind of experience she’s going to have.” Erynn Montgomery said.

Montgomery uses everything as an opportunity for growth. She doesn’t give up. If someone tells her no, she wants to know why. And she isn’t afraid to advocate for herself, which will make her a powerful asset in the business world.

“I really love to share new experiences with people.” Montgomery said. “And I think that really does tie back into [business and marketing]. Honestly, all my passions really come together in the industry I’ve chosen. And I think that’s a really good reflection of how entrepreneurship works. Because you can pick the things that you’re passionate about and turn it into a sustainable business. You have to find the right market, and if there’s not a right market, you need to create it, which can be very very difficult, and I wouldn’t say impossible, but very unlikely but, I think like, in entrepreneurship, you can take whatever passion you have, and well, make it legal, and really turn it into a career.”