Inspiring Women in Hospitality

🎙 On this episode we hear from Wendy. She is CFO and executive VP of a hospitality group listed in Japan. In university she studies cultural management and history, and she started her career as a co-founder for a young adult summer school. And it was here she discovered the importance of understanding finances to make decisions for the business. So she re-educated herself as a CFA and CPA. Which then landed her a role in real estate and during this part of her career she was exposed to the hospitality industry. And or those who do not want to become CFO but also want to have a good grasp on the financial of a business, she recommends using AI as a tool to not only increase your efficiency but also broaden your horizon. I love how she says that AI can be the study partner, but they can never be the teacher. She very openly admits that she did not have a career plan, but she is grateful for it because it go her to where she is today by staying open to opportunities. She shares with us her experience of moving to Japan as a young female foreigner, which was hard to begin with but now she has found her footing bother personally and professionally.

What can you reach out to Wendy for:

• About Japan, hotel and real estate market.

• Going through a career transition

Who inspires Wendy? : Other people's strengths

🎙 On this episode we hear from Carmen. She introduces herself with these three words: Curious, catalyser and connector. The three C's for Carmen. She was always good at math and started her career as an investment banking business analyst and it was during a tax structuring project that she was introduced to the world of hospitality. And till this day she says her tax colleagues are her favourite people to work with. She credits mentors and sponsors who created space for the pivots in her career by giving her stretch opportunities. Her pivots have taken her from Morgan Stanley, Host Hotels, Booking.com to now to my favourite, her Power Pause. When it comes to mentorship she says, "ask", work your network and find the common value or cause, And when starting a new opportunity, approach it with curiosity, ask lots of questions and listen.

🤗 What can you reach out to Carmen for?: Business going from start up to scale up. Challenges closing the innovation gap with AI. Engaging people through change and storytelling.

Great food, travel and dance!

🤩 Who inspires Carmen: Her mother.

Why me, why Sydney, why now?

In this special solo episode of the Inspiring Women in Hospitality Podcast, Naureen shares the story behind Inspire Influence Live ANZ, taking place on 30 April at the InterContinental Sydney.

From her journey across Asia and Europe, to building a career in hospitality, revenue and data, to ultimately founding Inspiring Women in Hospitality, Naureen reflects on the experiences that shaped her mission to champion gender balance and support the next generation of leaders in the industry.

She also shares:

• why Sydney felt like the right place to bring this workshop to life
• how the advisory board helped shape the content

• the gaps and opportunities identified for women in the ANZ market
• why financial fluency, confident communication and authentic networking became the pillars of the day
• and why learning to harness her own voice was the turning point in her career

This episode is for anyone curious about the heart behind the workshop, the purpose behind the platform, and what attendees can expect to gain from joining us on 30 April.

To learn more about Inspire Influence Live – ANZ or secure your place: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

🎙 On this episode we hear from Julie, director at WMK Architecture. And did you know that she started her working life as a nurse? Listen to the whole story to find out how she ended up in hospitality and director of a design firm. And what I loved about her story is how she shared that she was destined for a career lifestyle and the many people who inspired her along the way. She shares very honestly that some of the career choices she made was to fit her life around her work as a single parent, so she designed to make it work for her. It was a risk she took, with her own choice and enjoying each experience.

🤗 What can you reach out to Julie for: A non-judgemental chat. A safe space to talk about your "club sandwich of fears"

🤩 Who inspires Julie: a group of women who have become each other's advisory board

🎙 On this episode we hear from Fungai. She came into hospitality when she started working in it during her studies and then she ended up staying. Because she saw the diversity of career paths she could have within hotels and the opportunity to travel. She eventually found her calling in the numbers side of the business and has made a career in finance. She also credits the relationships she built at work and good mentors, who created safe spaces that helped progress her career.

🤗 What can reach out to Fungai for?

• Early career advise

• You can also get her book "Ladies hear me, I am done"

🤩 Who inspires Fungai - different leaders who supported her at different stages at her career. And her own experiences inspire her.

🎙 On this episode we hear from Teresa. She started her career as cabin crew and later moved into hospitality tech sales. It was when she realised that she did not want to be serving the champagne, but drinking it was when she had first turning point in her career. She made an interesting observation from her time in start up, hospitality teaches us perfection and now she was learning to try, fail if needed, learn from it and try something else. Another distinction she made between corporate and start up, is that 60% of her time was spent with internally networking with the stakeholders. Now as she starts a new decade she comes to another turning point, which she calls "Purposeful Reinvention". She is now building her career as a stand-up comedian.

What can people reach out to Teresa for?

- Career transitions

- Adjusting to different cultures in a global environment

- Mentoring women in their 40s

- Learn how to be bold

Who inspires Teresa: Elizabethe Hernandez whom she calls an authentic achiever.

🎙 On this episode we hear from Fay. She is from Hong Kong and she is in the business of creative place making. Born out of her own search of identity and now offering the opportunity to others to search and develop a sense of belonging in the city. She has had several career pivots and now she has embarked on her entrepreneurial journey. Her career turning points were influenced by moments when she doubted her connection to work and was out of alignment to meaning and purpose. Each career pivot was an experiment to figure out who I am and what I am meant to do in this world.

What can you reach out to Fay for?:

🏔️ For collaboration on all the exciting creative place making projects.

🏔️ Topics around well-being and health are a passion of hers too.

🤩 Who inspires Fay?: Anyone who are authentically themselves really inspire me. They have this quiet confidence, level of peacefulness and at ease with themselves.

🎙 On this special podcast episode, which was recorded live at the launch event hosted at the Amadeus offices in Bangkok on the 27th of January 2026 ,Founder of Inspiring Women in Hospitality Naureen Ahmed shared with the attended what they can expect from the upcoming workshop - Inspire Influence Live in Bangkok at the 137 Pillars Suites & Residences on the 17th of March 2026.

Naureen shared the three areas that will be focused on the day:

⛰️ Confidence

⛰️ Empowerment

⛰️ Art of courageous conversations

Each section will start with a panel discussion for inspiration and what a powerhouse of women have been lined up for this.

💚 We also recorded a very special fireside chat with Khun Panawan from Amadeus who shared with influence means to her and who were her inspirations.

📣 Be sure to register your interest here and Save the Date: subscribepage.io/J7DjwD

🤗 This launch event was just a taster of what we will experience together on the 17 March at 137 Pillars Suites & Residences. It is important to note that this is a closed event, no media or press will be attending, so it allows for full openness and creates a safe space for exchange and professional development. There are no sponsors, to allow for neutrality and openness, anyone can attend by purchasing a ticket.

👉 Tickets are now available and you can secure your place here: subscribepage.io/2wQERn

On this episode we hear from Leora. She is a hospitality marketing professional and has released a book from her years of experience, both in corporate, as a consultant and professor. We spoke about the importance of networking, reframing it to build connections and sometimes even turn them into genuine friendships in the industry. She shares her moments of imposter syndrome and what she said to herself at the time. If she does not take the role someone else with, so lets go for it and create it on my own. She is also an advocate for taking breaks in your career and it could actually be healthy for you. And choosing when to say yes or when to say no, with a focus on your wellbeing.

She has recently written a book and you can find it here: https://leoralanz.com/

Who is her inspiration? Her students

In the latest episode of the Inspiring Women in Hospitality podcast, host Naureen Ahmed engages with industry experts to explore the multifaceted concept of success in the workplace. With unique perspectives from seasoned professionals, this discussion sheds light on how success is not merely defined by titles or positions but rather by personal fulfillment and impact.

The insights shared by Naureen, Janet, Salomé, and Alessandra offer a rich tapestry of thoughts on success in the workplace. Success is not a one-size-fits-all concept; it is a personal journey defined by individual values, strengths, and the impact one has on others. By cultivating self-awareness, embracing failure, and celebrating strengths, women can navigate their careers with confidence and purpose.

🎙 On this special reflective episode. I invited Ambika Gandhi back to the podcast, after she was a guest for the first time 3.5years ago. We reflected on how we have both grown as entrepreneurs, how we found our value and impact we want to make. We talked about how we have worked well together as being Ambika's coach, I am so proud of the growth I have seen in here during our time together. Shei s also a Founding Member of the Inspire Community and she describes her experience of it as 'spirit of commonality.'

🎙 On this episode we hear from Samantha. Vice President of Hospitality of AppleOne Group, in the Philippines and proud to be representing the second generation of the family business. She shares how three H's of her life have shaped her: hospitality, heart, humility. This is centred around the family's vision to uplift the lives of the communities within which they operate and bring out the best of the Philippines. What was very refreshing to hear was her perspective on how to handle rejections. She used each experience as an opportunity to explore, learn with humility and build her resilience. She took each rejection as inspiration that something else was meant for her.

What can you reach out to her for?

⛰️ She is ready to mentor the next generation of hoteliers

⛰️ Or if you are going through a quarter life crisis, she can help you through it

⛰️ And supporting women who want to know their why

Who inspires her? Her parents, Cleofe Albiso from Megaworld and Mariana Zobel de Ayala from Ayala Land Hospitality

🎙 On this episode we hear from Ying Ying. She describes herself as the kind of person who gravitates towards challenges. She has worked across different industries across government, private sector, startup and now is looking after a portfolio of 500 hotels in Greater China, She studied economics at uni, later in her hospitality career she found herself in HR and now managing a brand portfolio. She attributes many of the turning points of her career to mentors and sponsors, who all saw something in her and knew that she was going to go far. Equally important was having the courage to ask questions. Another key turning point she highlighted was moving to Shanghai from Singapore with her family. She describes this experience as "embarking on the university of life" and at this point it was important they made a decision for her career as a family unit.

What can you reach out to Ying Ying for?: Mentoring conversation about a new challenge when you are at a cross roads.

Who inspires Ying Ying?: Little acts of kindness and her Dad.

On this episode we hear from Rin. She started her career as an auditor, and it was when she was auditing the Holiday Inn Silom that she was drawn into the hospitality industry. After pursuing her masters degree she started with Thai conglomerate owners of hotels , then consulting and then with hotel brands, first in corporate finance before moving into development. Moving into development was an important career point that Rin highlighted, where she had to take a deeper look, step out of her comfort zone and break her own barriers. She ended up making a pitch to position herself for this role and convinced the hiring manager at the time that she was the right person for the role, and did not allow that this was a pre-dominantly male dominated environment to stop her. At her core she believes in acting in the best interest of all parties involves, because when they win, she wins too with heart and soul.

What can you reach out to Rin for?

When you need inspiration on how to break your own barriers, reach out to Rin.

Who inspires Rin?

Bill Barnett and Serena Lim

Time to turn the spotlight on me for the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November. Who has spent the last three years becoming a woman of influence.

👉 Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

Over the past few weeks I have been highlighting stories of the women who will be facilitators running the workshop on 'How to pitch a business case' and I am so grateful to each woman who put their trust in me. tag

But what I have forgotten to highlight, is that on the 7th of November, you also get to spend the day with me. Yes I will be guiding you through the day and running a masterclass on self-advocacy. So time for me to set an example and advocate for myself.

Why should you spend the day with me?

⛰️ I create safe spaces for honest and real conversations

⛰️ Where you can be authentically yourself

⛰️ I lead inspiring conversations on topics that we should be speaking on to impact our performance in the workplace

⛰️ I have also spent time in corporate and grown my own career.

⛰️ I have taken the brave step to turn my passion into a business, and will inspire you to take action to go after your own success.

👋 To the men seeing this, sorry woman only this time, but you are not forgotten. I will create spaces for you too and the meantime you can support the women in your network by sending them to spend the day with me.

Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly

🙋‍♀️ And you get to spend the day with me!

Get to know Debbie Flynn, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November. Who says that 'influence is everywhere and everything'

👉 Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

This is what Debbie had to say about influence:

⛰️ It is about relatability and the trust you can build through it

⛰️ Influence can create happiness

Debbie is the OG "influencer" as a PR practitioner and I would like to give a shout out to the women who made the connection possible: Sarah Wilson and Anita Mendiratta.

Listen to our full conversation here and get to know Debbie's experiences, that she will be bringing with her to the table

Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly

🙋‍♀️ And you might be lucky to get her on your table as your facilitator.

On this episode we hear from Woon. And I love how she introduced herself as a "respectful rebel and from then on out, it was as if our lives mirrored each others throughout the rest of the conversation. The thread in her career has been to "consistently try to stop the death of good ideas". She shared an interesting insight on how we view experiences as the backbone of our industry with both fascinates her and frustrates her. She likens her approach to finding the right role to match her, like that of a marriage and to be prepared to accept the warts and the joys of the job. Knowing what is important to her has allowed her to say 'No' with more confidence.

Woon also spoke passionately about the challenges of being an Asian female in middle management and what kind of 'sandwich' it is these days. Woon talked about the lack of managing upwards, putting pressure on your teams as a result and then conflict avoidance.

You can reach out to Woon to talk about:

⛰️ What is it like to be an Asian female manager

⛰️ How to drive change and innovation in a way that doesn’t burn bridges

❤️ Who inspired Woon: Her maternal grandmother

Get to know Marion Schonkeren, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November. Who says that 'every person has the power to influence'

👉 Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

This is what Marion had to say about influence: Let us make influence a word that is approachable as she believes that every single person has the power to influence. Most importantly it to stay true to yourself and your values, use your voice, raise people up and everyone can participate in influence.

Listen to our full conversation here and get to know Marion's experiences, that she will be bringing with her to the table

Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly

🙋‍♀️ And you might be lucky to get her on your table as your facilitator.

Erika shares how influence is about trust and relationship.

Find out more about Inspire Influence Live London here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

Introducing Jane Lees, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November.

With a career in operating real estate valuation in both Hong Kong and the UK, Jane not only is a well recognised and respected professional in our industry, but someone whowill always invest in her team. Every person who has had the privilege to work with her has said the same thing.

And on the 7th of November, you might be that lucky person who gets a seat at her table and learn from her career.

Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly

On this episode we hear from Delnaz. And at her core she describes herself as someone who is drawn to the idea of creating experiences that people remember. This isalso how she chose hospitality because she wanted to be part od an industry that is about creating things for people that stay with them emotionally, rather than selling a product. In the past five year within the same organisation she has been able to move her role several times. It was not easy finding a role during covid, but what was important to her was to get her footin the door, say yes and then once in get noticed and ask for theopportunities. Even if it is daunting, ask.

From podcast to community to global movement — Inspire has been a journey I never could have predicted when I first hit record five years ago.

In this special episode, I reflect on how it all began: the conversations that shaped the Inspiring Women in Hospitalitypodcast, the small roundtables that sparked bigger ideas, and how it grew into a worldwide network of women supporting each other.

It’s a story of growth, connection, and the belief that together, we can change the face of leadership in our industry.

Check out the website for more details: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/

On 7 November 2025, we’ll be gathering in Londonfor the inaugural Inspire Influence Live — a fully immersive one-day workshop designed to equip women in hospitality with the skills, confidence, and influence to make a real impact.

With guidance from an incredible advisory board and inspiring facilitators, this closed-door event will give you the chance to:

⛰️ Build and pitch a business case with live feedback

⛰️ Practise self-advocacy through role-play in a safe space

 ⛰️ Connect across generations, roles, and companies

 ⛰️ Be mentored by influential leaders in our industry

Seats are limited to keep it intimate and impactful — secure your spot today!

🌍 And if this goes well, we’ll be bringing it to more cities in 2026.

👉Learn more & book your place: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events

In this episode, Naureen reflects on the importance of setting boundaries, sharing personal and professional moments that taught her the necessity of caring for herself while pursuing the mission of gender balance. 🌟

She discusses how this theme will continue in upcoming Inspire Community sessions, inviting listeners to join the Q3 2025 cohort by July 10th. 🌸

Listen now:

Apply to join the Inspire Community: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

Episode Summary:
In this reflective solo episode, Naureen shares her personal journey over the past five years—from starting the Inspiring Women in Hospitality podcast to building a thriving global community dedicated to gender balance.

She explores:

• What it means to be a changemaker

• The role of community and mentorship in transforming ideas into movements

• Her experience building the Inspire Community and its growing impact

• How imposter syndrome and self-doubt often accompany leadership and innovation

• An invitation to join a free taster session on June 30th

Whether you're a long-time listener or new to this space, this episode is an invitation to reflect on your own role in creating change—and to consider how you might step into it more fully.

🗓 Join the free taster session on June 30th: subscribepage.io/c7TcY4
🌍 Learn more about the Inspire Community:https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

Why I Created the Inspire Community – And Why Now Is the Time to Join

🎧 Listen Now

💬 Episode Summary:
In this episode, Naureen, Founder of Inspiring Women in Hospitality, shares the story behind the creation of the Inspire Community—a global space built for connection, visibility, and growth. With Q3 2025 membership applications now open, Naureen reflects on the personal gaps she faced in her own career and how those experiences shaped the structure and purpose of the community today.

She dives into the need for deeper conversations, tailored mentorship, and support that goes beyond surface-level networking. Whether you're growing into your leadership, looking to clarify your identity, or seeking a space where your voice is heard—this episode is for you.

✨ In This Episode, We Cover:

• What was missing from traditional networking spaces

• How the Inspire Community supports your leadership growth

• Why mentorship, visibility, and shared experiences matter

• The power of collective growth and giving back

• An invitation to apply for Q3 membership

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Apply to the Inspire Community: subscribepage.io/9Aqnth

• Learn more: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

• Follow Naureen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naureen-ahmed-28253a35/

💡 Takeaway Question:
What action will you take today to grow your leadership and expand your visibility?

n this heartfelt solo episode, Naureen explores a deeply personal and universal theme—community. Sparked by conversations, interactions, and her own reflections while preparing to reopen her membership community for Q3, she takes us on a journey through isolation, belonging, and the healing power of human connection.

Naureen shares:

• Her experience of fierce independence and the isolation it brought, especially during COVID

• How loneliness during lockdown led to the birth of this very podcast

• The value of family, friends, and even salsa as communities that brought joy and connection

• Why she felt the absence of a professional community during her corporate career—and how it inspired her to create the Inspire Community

• The evolution of her events from intimate roundtables to global gatherings

• A call to action: show up, engage, and be visible in your community

Whether you find community in your family, your local café, a sports club, or your industry, this episode reminds us that we are not meant to do this alone.

🧭 Questions to reflect on:

• Who or what is your community?

• Where do you go to feel connected?

• What will you do to create or nurture your own community?

💬 Let’s connect: Tag me and share your story of community. I’d love to hear it!

Apply now to be part of the Inspire Community membership here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

How to create an introduction? One that is memorable and impactful. Throughout your career you are going to need to prepare different introductions for difference scenarios.And the question comes up - "Tell me about yourself". This could be for a job interview, networking event, speaker on stage or being a guest on a podcast.

As part of the upcoming changes I am introducing to the podcast, I want to help you craft that strong introduction. We will work on one that we will use for the podcast, butalso several others that you can use in other moments.

In this podcast episode I share a couple of examples of how we can formulate the introduction, taking inspiration from various sources.

Ready to be a guest on the podcast? Sign up here: subscribepage.io/4MxV42

What changes are coming up?

⛰️ 'Live' online broadcast of each episode

⛰️ Multiple guests on different topics

⛰️ Sharing more from my own journey and learnings

⛰️ Strong and solid introduction coaching

On this special podcast episode recorded live at the THAIFEX conference in Bangkok in March, I had a chance to speak with Rachael. On her panel at the conference she sharedhow with technology she was able to save a client's stock take from 4 days to half a day. This is the power of technology and how we can use it to redesign our jobs. Ultimately it is a people business and we need to work with the teamsto change the mindset and not just rely on the technology. We talked about the advantages that women can bring to a leadership role. Her inspiration is her mom, who has always allowed her to be herself.

On this episode we hear from Reneé. Based in South Africa she offers hospitality and tourism academic solutions. She fell in love with hospitality and tourism at a young age when she was travelling with her parents. One of her earliest memories is the view of the Eiffel Tower from a hotel room in Paris. After her education and to pay off the student roles she took a role as a teacher's assistant, which then lead her down the path of learning & development within hospitality and tourism. She then continued working full time and studying part time for the next 15 years till she gained her PhD. This took commitment, resilience and was not always easy, but she wanted to prove to herself that she can take on this challenge and succeed. Throughout the rest of her career learning, education and training continues to be a theme and her curious nature means she will never stop studying.

On this episode we hear from Jeannette. She introduces herself as a woman in travel and media. Driven by a passion to show to others how beautiful this world is. As she grew into her professional career she noticed there was not enough women in these spaces and was looking for more representation in particular for the Latina women in the industry. She shares the story of the positive impact she felt when she saw Jennifer Lopez on the cover of Cosmo Girl at the age of 16. She went onto study broadcast journalism and while she put in her hours in television news, she did not give up her dreams of being in travel and would attend industry conference whenever she could. She has also had some great mentors in her career who have pushed her and made her believe in herself.

On this special podcast episode recorded live at the THAIFEX conference in Bangkok in March, I had a chance to speak with Olesia. On her panel session she had shared that she was afraid of the robots that were going to take over her jobs, until the day came she went to work for one of the robots. All joking aside we bonded on our shared experiences of manual data entry and how technology improves our working life. We agreed there is still work to be done for women representation in the industry, as at another industry conference, she was theonly female panellist on the topic of technology during AHICE in Singapore. Her inspiration is her 55 year old mother, who had to relocate and re-invent her life in Ukraine showing us anything is possible even under the most challenging circumstances.

On this episode we hear from Mara. She put her languages degree to good use with internships in hospitality and that is how she got started. It is how she ended up in London but was not ready for the culture shock when she arrived in the city to start her career. She has always been ambitious and worked hard for her promotions. It was during covid, when we all had to hit reset, that she had time to reflect about where her ambition was going to take her in her career? It was at this point that she found a role with the Hospitality People Group with recruitment and found it to be the right fit for her. Which was also fuelled by a need to contribute more and make an impact in this life.

On this special podcast episode recorded live at the THAIFEX conference in Bangkok in March, I had a chance to speak with Bou, just before she went on stage. We talked aboutdata, in particular how the F&B data shapes the operations of a hotel business. We talked about the evolving landscape of the role of women in F&B. Her inspiration is her inner child and a reminder to us all to enjoy every moment in our lives a way a child would.

On this episode we hear from Shannon. Inspired by her travels she puts together experiential dining experiences in Tulsa. Her first career was that of a custom seamstress, she came into hospitality later in her career after learning culinary. On her travels she will spend most of her time in the local markets, meeting people and learning their recipes. It is from these travels that she has now written a recipe book called The Hidden Table. She is curious, finds people who love to cook as much as she does, ask them questions and when they see her passion they are willing to share. Besides her own career, she has taken her skills to empower women in different part of the world to provide a source of living to their families.

On this episode we hear from Maya. She studied to be a lawyer before coming into hospitality, which started in Dubai in 2002. She studied law to please her family, but she chose hospitality for herself as she knew this is where she would excel in her career. Beauty of hospitality is that you can have a creative career. She started as a hostess at a Lebanese restaurant at the JW Marriott in Deira and now she is in a CDO role with Accor for the middle east region. She credits a mentor she had early on in her career and her own desire for learning that has guided her path. She has had a few "battle scars" along the way, but it was also what pushed her to get to where she is today. When asked about the evolution of women in leadership in hospitality of what she has seen over her 20 years career, she said there has been changes and there is still some work to be done. And for those women who want those roles in a male dominated environment is not to be deterred and go for it, it is possible. When it comes to men and women working together, instead of competition she invites us to look at it as complementing each other. Another invitation she has for us is to embrace vulnerability and be authentic to ourselves.

On this episode we hear from Hala. We immediately start the conversation around 'who we are' and we agree that who we are does not drastically change after a certain point, but our perspective changes. She had to hide from her parents that she as working in hotel operations when she chose to follow hospitality instead of choosing to be a lawyer, but happy to share that they eventually came around. After completing an MBA where could focus more on strategy and finance, she went into consulting, advisory and now has had a 21-year career with HVS which start in London and now past 15 years based in Dubai. We shared our experiences of being the only woman in the room or having no female role models to look up to. How it is encouraging that things have certainly changed during our careers, but still a lot more to be done. More than being a woman in the workforce, what Hala has found working in hospitality and in a global environment is embracing the cultural diversity and being sensitive to it. When it comes to attracting talent, it is the employers that have to do more to communicate their values that align with the applicants they want to employ.

On this episode we hear from Samira. She helps places and brands with development, community engagement, strategy and marketing while travelling full time for the past 8 years. She started her career in tourism and hospitality at an early age, working in hotels to earn money that allowed her to travel. She realised early on in her career that she liked marketing, and after graduating she worked in agencies in both Singapore and Stockholm, before starting her own business. Which came about when she had this sense that something was missing in her life, even though she had everything. She decided to choose a life of freedom, become location independent by starting her own business and helping her clients with their marketing and strategy. She calls it living a life where you feel that you are aligned with who you are. And you do this by spending time on understanding what matters to you.

Special episode with Jane Lees and Sigrid Stelling on the topic of Ageism

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Ageism impacts us at all ages.
• Transition not retirement
• Have you considered micro-retirement?
• Speak up and claim your space at any age
• Create your own personality
• Adapt your language
• Cross generational mindset

On this episode we hear from Saloni. Founder of Paras Corporation which is a PR agency specialising in hospitality and travel sector. When she started, she identified a gap in the market and has continued to grow the business from there and now has two physical offices in India and in Dubai. She describes her work as promoting the soul of the property. We went onto having a great conversation about women in leadership and as entrepreneurs in India. The topic of balance came up, but not in the way we normally speak about. It is actually the balance of culture and tradition, and how women are born to wear multiple hats. We also discussed the evolving Indian traveller who are now looking for the non-conventional travel destinations, one that is worth taking note of.

On this episode we hear from Tely. Born and raised in Mexico, she moved to the US as single mother of two in 2001, where whilst learning the language educated herself to get her real estate licence. With her husband Jim, they bought the Drake Oak Brook hotel in 2013 and from there began her career in hospitality. As you will hear through her story, Tely was always meant to be an entrepreneur, which takes courage and a lot of self-motivation and something she inherited from her family. She has always had the support of her children throughout her journey as she followed her entrepreneurial pursuits and put in the long hours to be successful. She shares one of her core leadership principals is that service is love. Showing their team appreciation, recognition and love and this in turns mean they are showing their customer the best service, anchored in love and appreciation. And if you are ever fortunate enough to have Tely as your mentor, be prepared to answer this question: What do you really love to do in this life?

On this episode we hear from Anne. She knew at the age of 11 she wanted to be a journalist, and it was when she something on TV, she found a way to make it a reality. At the height of her political journalism career, she had a realisation that something was missing in her life and sitting in the meditation room at the Phoenician she began her spiritual journey. She translated her career into that of an advisor in tourism for governments. in 2006 she then went on to found Healing Hotels of the World, a brand for people who are looking for something deeper. It was not an easy journey, but she was determined to change the world. She wanted to show that hospitality, luxury and healing can be one. Took her guts, trust and standing up to the naysayers. And to anyone else who is thinking of changing the world, do not give up. You may just need to make a few tweaks along the way.

On this episode we hear from Sofia. It was a female alumnus from her hotel school that inspired her to get into hospitality, because she wanted to be just like her. Her education was impacted by covid and had an interesting time entering the workforce, but as we will hear in her story, it all worked out. What started as a LinkedIn reach out because she was curious about how you run a pop-up hotel ended up her becoming co-founder of this business. And as a young co-founder she has recognised that she will need help and so she has created her own advisory board, which now also includes that same alumnus who inspired her to get into hospitality int he first place. While it has been a steep learning curve, what she has learnt is to embrace the unknow and be proud of what you are already capable of.

On this episode we hear from Victoria, who is a hospitality wellness consultant based in Bangkok. Her love of hospitality came from a young age when she was playing the restaurant game with her childhood friends. Her love of wellness also started at a young age with her family and that grew as she was studying. After graduating, recognising she did not want a corporate career she started her own business that combined her two loves. She has pivoted her business twice, once during covid and second when she moved to Thailand. She adapts according to what is happening in her life and finds new opportunities. She is also a believer of personal development leads to business success. We also talked about wellness when it was not trendy and now to where we have too much information.

On this episode we hear from Khun Natty. She studied engineering for university and was inspired by her family's textile business to pursue this education. It was when her family started building their second hotel in Thailand, she joined the hospitality business and was able to put her engineering skills to use during the construction. She then turned to sales, marketing and revenue management to understand the financials of the hotel. She is continuously learning because now she is now involved in solar roof projects. She shares the balancing act she faces when both operating and owning the hotel, especially when you are reporting up to your Dad. She add that when it comes to working with your family you have to do a lot of communicating and trust. When it comes to her own leadership style, she believes in listening to her team and encouraging them to speak up.