Making Waves: A Woman's Rise to the Top Using Smarts, Heart, and Courage

by Lisa Lutoff-Perlo

Making Waves follows the incredible career journey of Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, from her stories as an ambitious young woman, to vice chairman for external affairs at Royal Carribean Group.

Lutoff-Perlo’s story will inspire women to be courageous against stormy seas—while staying true to oneself as you navigate your life and career.

Lutoff-Perlo is a shining testament to the value of being an authentic leader, and never sacrificing your integrity as she details throughout this book the ins and outs of her extraordinary forty-year career. She has risen to the top in what has been a male-dominated industry while refusing to compromise her values, and bringing countless others along with her. “To thine own self be true” was and continues to be Lutoff-Perlo’s guardrail, keeping her centered as she’s climbed the corporate ladder from the very bottom and overcame countless obstacles to reach the top of the cruise industry.

Lutoff-Perlo walks us through her triumphs, hardships, and teaching moments. She breaks down her unique leadership style as former CEO of Celebrity Cruises that catapulted the company to heights no one thought possible. Readers will learn her biggest secrets and how she used her superpower to set herself apart from other leaders and that has guests and employees in awe of her authenticity and kindness. She has soared to great heights while caring deeply for people and putting others first.

Readers of all kinds will take heart and gain insights they can apply to their own lives and careers—to have integrity, to pay it forward, and to make waves, wherever and whoever they are.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2024

Reviews

[Lory Sakay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked LLP's acknowledgement in that helping others in her leadership role encapsulated many of her memorable moments. I liked learning a bit of her journey to becoming CEO of Celebrity Cruise Lines. I liked that this book was kind of a good-bye letter to this chapter in her life, as she has recently retired. I liked that the book was organized in a way that was easy to read, not to technical, and was more about what worked for her as opposed as what others should do.

I didn't like that it was a bit redundant. I didn't like that she often said she never saw herself as a woman breaking a glass ceiling and that she rarely considered gender but then, contrarily, told several stories of helping woman move into leadership positions. I didn't like that she spent so much of the book to the process of building the Celebrity Edge brand and less on her career journey, before becoming CEO. I disliked the writing style, it seemed choppy and fragmented.

I would have liked for her to elaborate on errors she'd made throughout her career, although she did acknowledge making some. I would have liked her to include a bit more about her personal life as that often has more to do with our professional life than we realize. This would have also facilitated her retirement announcement at the end; that came unexpectedly as it appeared throughout that her "life" was Celebrity.

Overall, a quick read about a woman who persevered and made it to the top in her profession.

[Joseph Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring read

Reading Lisa’s story explains why we love Celebrity so much. Her amazing leadership nurtured Celebrity into becoming a one-of-a-kind successful company. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet her in person on a President’s cruise and have loved her ever since

[Kim Roeder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for her book and liked the woman empowerment but did t really learn much.

[John McVay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I do like these stories of CEO’s getting to the top of their game. I will admit however when I bought the book I thought I would be reading about a female captain climbing the ranks to take command of a cruise ship. When I realized that wasn’t what the book was about I was slightly disappointed. Not the fault of the books.

[Alice Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read! If you want to be a better boss, a better business owner, a better manager, a better employee, a better person, learn from the best! This book allows you an insight on what it takes to succeed even when the odds are not in your favor! Leading with smarts, heart and courage will take you places you never thought possible!!

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciate that the author has been a wavemaker in a male dominated industry and has helped usher in an era change to help others shatter glass ceilings and improved corporate environments by creating inclusion and diversity, this book was unfortunately a dud for me.

The book just didn't flow. The author talked about herself in a way that just felt like she was egocentric, and it was a turnoff. While my favorite genre of books is memoirs/biographies/non-fiction, this book was a disappointment.

The way the book was laid out was choppy and didn't give much in the way of her personal life and what led her down the path to her career.

I had really looked forward to reading this book, but it was unfortunately a missed opportunity for so much more.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Working in the cruise industry, I was interested in this book. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo was a successful President, as she took Celebrity to new heights. And this book does offer some interesting, touching stuff in the book-like how the author cared for her sister while she was launching a new ship-during the pandemic.

That said, the author is sort of full of herself-she doesn't seem to make any mistakes. The one mistake she acknowledged, when she launched another brand in 2008-even that she blamed on others. Other then that, The book is a collection of the usual well-published platitudes that have been covered countless times in business bios.

[Sharon Summerfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked hearing Lisa Lutoff-Perlo share her story. My husband follows Captain Kate McCue on social media and gave me this book to read for a beach holiday. I like how the author shared her journey and lessons in wisdom. How she helped to open doors for others, where those doors were closed.

Great to see the author celebrate others as she shared her journey.

This was an easy read and one I hope others will pick up.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a must read for me as a cruise junkie, with Celebrity Cruises being one of my favorite lines.

It's a combination memoir/business leadership and motivation book. While insightful to those with cruise industry knowledge (I learned a couple behind-the-scenes tidbits), it's certainly not a tell-all type book and the leadership content would be applicable for women in any industry.

Fairly quick read - I started at the end of one trip and finished at the beginning of another trip.

[Brooke Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a female skipper in the marine industry and loved to hear about her story. She is an amazing person and leader, you can see that through all the staff that love her and how she have effected people’s lives. I believe she might be a bit humble about the effect she has made on women in the industry though.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been wanting to read/listen to this for ages and it didn’t disappoint. I am a big fan of celebrity cruises and captain kate and Lisa’s career is amazing. A true inspiration. Do you have any jobs??

[Dawn Cassulo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish

[Madelyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sucked

[Donna M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found LLP's journey interesting, especially when faced with the pandemic. As a new travel advisor, and one who likes the Celebrity Cruise Line, I enjoyed hearing about putting the ships together, etc. I was a little taken back when she decided to raise the price for the cabins on the new ship, just because she could. It can be frustrating when price increases feel more about profit than improving the experience for guests or crew. Celebrity does have a premium product, but it’s always a balance between business strategy and customer loyalty.

[John Tolliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book about a month ago as I've always been a fan of Ms Lutoff-Perlo and decided this book would be a great read on my upcoming voyage onboard Celebrity Beyond.
I always love reading books like this that give me insight to what makes people tick inside. What their leadership model is. Lisa's story is a fascinating one on so many levels. Having traveled on Celebrity quite a few times (40+) , I've never seen a person that was so respected by her peers, but just as importantly by every cleaner, asst waiter, maintenance person or any other job onboard or port based. The key you always heard about LLP is she listens and cares about us
The book has a beautiful trajectory. Small town hard worker, not really sure where she's headed but loves a challenge, so she takes some. Not really comfortable at first stepping out of her wheelhouse, but when pushed realizes she can do pretty much whatever she puts her mind to. She always reminds me of the tale of the little engine that could.
She singularity changed so much in the industry and continues to do so. She's a true believer in giving back to her industry and community. Her big heart just keeps growing.
I remember a few years back during the pandemic I had emailed Lisa after going on one of the first sailings of Apex after covid. She always looks at what she can do rather than what she can't. Her discussions about the Celebrity Beyond and the changes they made to it took a terrific product (Edge Class), and escalated it much more than I thought they could.
Sitting here on Beyond I raise my glass to what you've created here on Beyond and thank you for sharing your incredible journey. Can't wait to see what's next!