Signature Travel Network Names Karryn Christopher as President, Expands Leadership Model
Christopher’s appointment introduces a dual-leadership model as Signature strengthens support for members, partners, and coworkers.
Karryn Christopher. Photo: Joshua Martinez / Hawaii Media Collection
Signature Travel Network marked a milestone at its annual Owners’ Meeting in San Diego today with the appointment of longtime executive Karryn Christopher as president. Effective immediately, Christopher steps into a newly created role alongside CEO Alex Sharpe, part of an expanded leadership structure designed to bolster support for members, partners, and coworkers across the $11 billion cooperative.
The announcement formalizes a shared leadership model, with Sharpe continuing as CEO to guide Signature’s long-term strategy and Christopher assuming a more outward-facing presence with members, supplier partners, and industry stakeholders. Christopher, who joined Signature in 2001 and most recently served as executive vice president of marketing and preferred partnerships, is widely credited with shaping the organization’s collaborative culture and elevating its partner programs.
“Our coworkers, members, and partners adore and respect Karryn because she leads with both head and heart,” Sharpe said. “With Karryn stepping into this role, our leadership capacity and ability to serve our members is stronger than ever.”
Speaking with Luxury Travel Report on Wednesday in advance of the official announcement, Christopher stressed that while the titles may be shifting, the dynamic she and Sharpe share will remain the same. “Alex and I already work very, very closely together. I don’t think anything will change in terms of our working relationship or leadership style,” she said. “But I’m excited because it will create a little more space and an opportunity to realign across all of our departments in a new way.”
For advisors, she expects little visible change at first. “I don’t think advisors will notice anything different immediately,” she explained. “Our conference in November will be the first time they’ll see me on stage in a bigger way.” On the supplier side, Christopher anticipates continuing her long-held practice of directing conversations to the most relevant team leaders while stepping into more partner-facing opportunities as needed.
She pointed to technology as the first area where members, partners, and staff are likely to feel the effects of the leadership expansion. “Currently too much falls to [EVP of Technology] Karen Yeates and her team,” she said. “She is driving and reshaping everything we do—whether it’s our preferred partnerships, our events, our training programs, our marketing, or sales analysis. I think the first change you’ll see is how we get support within and across teams so technology isn’t carrying it all.”
That focus is particularly relevant as Signature continues to invest in data integration and centralized systems to better serve its members. Some of those projects, Christopher noted, will still be underway a year from now. “We’ll be making progress, but I’ll be happy if members are starting to feel the impact of all that realignment and change in how we support them,” she said.
Despite the excitement around her new title, Christopher was quick to anchor the conversation in what she sees as Signature’s enduring ethos. “It’s members first,” she said firmly. “That doesn’t mean we don’t value our partners or coworkers, but everything we do—our marketing programs, our technology investments—has to prove its return for the member. Keep it simple: serve members first, and you don’t go wrong.”
It’s a philosophy that has guided her nearly 25 years with the organization, beginning with her first Owners’ Meeting just weeks after 9/11. Now, as she prepares to step onto a broader stage, Christopher’s mandate is clear: reinforce the systems and relationships that will keep Signature resilient, while giving its members the confidence that the cooperative will continue to do “anything and everything” on their behalf.
