Calgary 2026 CEO Mary Moran on why she rarely celebrates a win

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Mary Moran, chief executive officer of the Calgary 2026 Winter Olympics bid, is seconded from her position as head of Calgary Economic Development. This month, she presented a $5.23-billion plan for hosting the Games to Calgary City Council. She attended Seneca College and York University in Toronto, and the University of Calgary before obtaining an MBA from British Columbia’s Royal Roads University.

I come from a family of five kids, four boys and then me. There are six years between the top and the bottom. So needless to say, I grew up in a competitive family.

The year I was supposed to try out for the Ice Capades, I broke my foot … and started working. It changed my life for the better, set me in a new direction into private-sector business where I’ve been learning every single day. The good news: I still get to travel and skate.

I did my entire postsecondary education part-time. When you are going to school and working, you learn a lot about time management and work ethic.

My first professional first job was at the Buttonville airport in Markham, Ont. It was actually at the time the fourth-busiest airport in Canada – even busier than Calgary. I worked for a chartered airline [Toronto Airways] as the charter manager. It was like a startup; a really entrepreneurial spirit, but a highly regulated industry and highly competitive.

I went on to work for Wardair. It was a young organization dedicated to a cause, a really inspiring place to work. Part of that was Max Ward’s lifelong ambition to create an airline in this country in a very difficult environment. Never give up on the fight.

I was offered a job with Delta Hotels in Whistler. It was 14 weeks before [the hotel] opening. Resort hotels are typically sold 18 months out in advance and I had to hire a sales team. It was a feeling of being in the fire, like our Amazon bid [trying to win the competition for the company’s second headquarters for Calgary] where we had four months. It was very much like the job I’m doing right now, with a tight timeline.

Telus offered me a job back in Calgary. It was a “hop” so I had to make a decision about telecommunications and I thought, “This is great, I get to learn something new.” It was in an interesting era in a highly competitive environment with four major players.

At Telus, Wade Oosterman [then executive vice-president] would always give me airtime and let me fight until I was blue in the face. I would fly from Calgary to Toronto and say: “Here’s why I think we need to do it our way.” He taught me a few things: 1) You always need to present your case very well; 2) It’s really important to listen.

I’m a fact-based person. I often have a strong intuition and a great feeling about a project. But having facts to back it up is very important.

With the Olympic bid, we can’t do this without fact. We need a responsible bid. Responsible means: Are we getting leveraged dollars? Are people being willing to invest in this community? And if we’re going to ask government to invest, is there going to be payback – a boost in GDP, employment growth, training and investment opportunities? The rubber hits the road with: Is this a wise investment?

When I hire, I try to compensate for my weaknesses. I like to ask questions about what [the candidate] thinks are solutions for the organization. Have they done enough research? I’m not everyone’s cup of tea so I want people to come in eyes wide open.

I love working. I really enjoy working. It gives me purpose. It makes me feel like I’m making a contribution. The sense of intrinsic reward is very important to me.

I’m not much of a celebration person. I’m just on to the next thing. The opening of the hotel, or starting a new airline route, or finishing the Amazon pitch, or winning a client for Calgary Economic Development. I’m more on to: What do we need to do next?

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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