Inspiring Women in Hospitality Naureen Ahmed

On this episode we hear from Debbie. She has been in the travel industry since she was 16 years old and that was with British Airways. In 1995 she started her own PR agency in hospitality and travel, which she then sold to FINN Partners six years ago. She now heads up the travel team for FINN Partners globally. Reflecting on her first business she started as a promotion’s agency, she recalls that she really had no fear, one of the benefits of being young. She talks about how when she started her PR agency, it was all about the relationships you had with the media and now with great content and the right channels there is so much more you can do. What I also particularly admired from her story is her transition from entrepreneur back to employee, when she sold her business and her reasoning behind it as she went into this next phase of her life. One of her biggest learnings she shared was protecting your network and being kind to people.

On this episode we hear from Rosina. An intercultural trainer and DEI consultant with a focus on the hospitality industry. She started in hospitality at a young age and all throughout her uni years. She says that it taught her so much about problem solving, thinking on your feet and social skills which she then used later in her PR career. During this time, she worked at an agency where the CEO was of Indian heritage and it was the first time she had a person of colour as her boss, which she was extremely proud of. She then went onto spend a few years in the charity sector working in the UK. She then moved to Berlin, where she spent the next 12 years, where she has had her two kids, career with Design Hotels and then starter her own business. During her time at Design Hotels the one thing she is very proud of is creating cross-departmental campaigns for newly opened hotels. When it comes to intercultural communication, she says it’s a combination of intention and being aware of it, that helps you to understand other people and then how to communicate in that environment.

On this episode we hear from Tabatha. Grown up in Adelaide Australia, it was studying tourism that took her to work in seven different countries, across a wide range of companies and roles. A career in hotels that started in the UK, took her to Japan, Australia and then a long stint in Asia. She has worked in big organisations like Starwood to smaller independently owned hotel companies like Vihn Group in Vietnam, which then tapped into her tourism experiences. A wide range of experience in commercial roles in a wide range of types of businesses in our industry. She had different learnings across these companies, like Starwood was great for people, skills and branding and her time at IHG taught her about revenue and technology. Tabatha says that it was her curiosity and desire to experience new things and new cultures that took her on this career journey.

On this episode we hear from Jeannette. She started her career as an economist for the government and then turned to the travel industry, where she spent 30 years of her career, which lead up to a CEO role with Saga. She now has her own portfolio of business advising travel leisure hospitality businesses and a podcast 'Brave, Bold, Brilliant'. She shares her experience and advise on growing your career and that you must be proactive about it. Speak up, put your hand up, volunteer for projects, work hard, network internally and externally and do not let your career progression up to chance or anyone else. In her mid 40s, she decided it was time for a change in her life and started her own entrepreneurial journey in search of more freedom, choice and flexibility. Her podcast which started in July 2020 has become her personal brand with her work with leadership and executive strategy. She also credits the support of her partner, another 'hospitality husband' with the success that she has experienced in her career and someone to believe in her, when she would not. Some of the key learnings she had to share were around not being afraid to fail, do not let fear hold you back and self-belief.

On this episode we hear from Stephanie. It was french toast in New York city and Home Alone 2 that got her hooked into hospitality. From a young age she loved to travel and so she started working to be able to make the money to travel. This theme carried on in her career, she chose destinations based on where she could learn a language, learn culture or work for organisations she admired. She ended up moving across to seven countries during her 20 year career thus far. Even though she is not a risk taker, she shares with us two experiences when she took the risk to leave jobs without having a new one lined up. She did this knowing two things, in hospitality you will always find a job and second, she believed in herself.

On this episode we hear from Kseniia. She has made marketing her profession in hospitality and has worked across Fiji, Samoa and Australia. She studied law for her degree, but then got into hospitality as a student when they were recruiting for the big stadiums in Ukraine around the time of the Euro Cup. She saw this as an opportunity to practise her English and meet people from different countries. She then found herself in Fiji, pursuing a hospitality career fulltime and it was the people that she admired. They were so warm and welcoming, gave her a sense of belonging. She came into marketing by volunteering her time at the hotels she was working at and then eventually made it her career, where she found her passion. Her time in Fiji gave her a great admiration and respect for the Fijian people and their sense of hospitality. She spoke of them with the highest regard. Four years ago she moved to Australia, still with hotels and then recently with a desire to grow she joined a dmc to promote Brisbane