Michael Cain (Bus’93)
President, Cain Travel
As the president of a business travel agency, Michael Cain considers himself lucky to have ridden out the worst of the global COVID-19 lockdowns.
But he also believes you create your own luck, and when a longtime client decided to start a nursing placement company—to deploy nurses to states hit hard by the pandemic—Cain’s agency was able to help manage transportation and quickly get healthcare workers where they were needed.
“Our ability to pivot was great, but really, the small role we played in helping to work toward a solution for COVID is a huge source of pride for me and our whole staff,” Cain said.
The president of Boulder-based Cain Travel said surrounding himself with University of ֱ Boulder alumni played a key role, also: His CFO, “who squirreled away enough cash to help us manage through the worst,” is a Leeds graduate, as is one of his top salesmen, who he first hired as an intern. He’s served as a mentor to several Leeds students, and two of this three children are currently studying business at ֱ.
“Leeds is a stepping stone to a fantastic career.”
Michael Cain (Bus’93)
“Leeds is a stepping stone to a fantastic career,” Cain said. “As a mentor, I enjoy being able to tell students that I have so many friends and contacts who have gone on to incredible success as a result of a well-rounded Leeds education.”
For Cain, who in 2004 became president of the company his parents started, the well-rounded education he received at Leeds helped him turn what he expected would be a short stay with the family business into a career. A collaborative class project that challenged him to use data gave him a head start on tech-driven changes that would soon transform the travel industry. The growth of the business gave him reasons to stay on, in marketing, sales and technology roles.
While many Leeds grads go on to careers in consulting, finance and entrepreneurship, Cain enjoys demonstrating how his company faces the same kinds of challenges as the Fortune 100, to help them think about the sorts of issues they will confront at work. That also goes for the two business Buffs he’s raised alongside his wife, Jennifer, herself an alumna from the Class of 1995.
“We’ve entrusted our children to Leeds, and they’re going to come out not just with a fantastic education, but as great people who will be well prepared for tomorrow’s workplace,” Cain said.