On this episode we hear from Andrea Belfanti. She took an intro to hospitality course in university and she was hooked. She went onto work in events in clubs, art museum and hotel companies before joining ISHC, where she is now CEO. We discussed how we were both attached to our jobs and associated it with our identity, while its still a learning journey she has learnt to incorporate more boundaries into her life. She talked about the mentors who have supported her along her career and how to look at networking to build genuine relationships. How diversity has evolved in hospitality both across the industry and at ISHC. One of the learnings she shared was how she views leadership from being having to know all the answers to being transparent. And most important, we all need to get better as women to celebrate the wins.

On this episode we hear from Philippa. We bonded on our shared experiences of being a third culture kid, the highs and the lows. In some ways you do not belong anywhere, but then you are lucky to have many homes. Her first experiences in hospitality was when her parents bought a B&B in the english countryside and that became her home. She loved interacting with the guests and meeting new people. She went onto to study languages and her first job was in recruitment. But then she did find her way back into hospitality with a boutique consulting firm. Her advise was to find someone who you want to learn from and that is how she got her role. A common thread throughout her studies and career has been communication. Languages, communicating with clients and across different cultures. She shares how she has had to learn and adapt her communication style both personally and professionally.

On this episode we hear from Cristhian. She chose a career in hospitality because she likes to travel and being exposed to different cultures. Her career journey took her to ten different countries and she has made herself a career in operational excellence. She shared with us some early experiences on being on the executive committee and using data to support her insights, to come across confident. In her career in operational excellence you put the client in the centre to find areas of improvement. We also discussed that keeping your employees happy are the key to achieving your goals. Listening has been an important part of her role to ensure that she hears the point of view of all the departments , being that neutral person to bring the team together.

On this episode we hear from Bousserind. Because of her father's job their family moved every few years and it was one of those roles that brought her to Switzerland, which she loved so much that she decided that she wanted to go back someday. The way she saw of going back was to study hospitality management. Whilst she did not manage to get back to Switzerland, she stuck with her choice of hospitality and studied in Paris. She took on a sales role in the Intercontinental in Paris, which she was apprehensive about, but with the support of a great mentor she was able to learn and settle well into the role and went onto having a career in sales. Her career then took her to Dubai for eight years and now she is back in her home country of Thailand. We discussed how its sometimes hard to make the decisions, especially when we are in our comfort zone, but when we get out of it is when the growth happens. It takes courage to make the decision, but there are good things on the other side.

On this episode we hear from Melissa. Her love of event planning took her to a career in hospitality. After graduating from EHL she went to work from Quintessentially in Singapore. It was here she identified a gap in the market, to connect brides with vendors from the wedding industry via a market place. So together with her co-founder at the age of 25, she started her own business - Delegate. Upon reflection she believes she had more courage to try out her entrepreneurship journey vs when one is older with more responsibilities and higher opportunity costs. Which I likened to my fear of driving as an adult. She shares her journey into the tech space, her learnings and observation of gender balance in this space. Three learnings she shared: start fast, fail fast ; do not forget about your life outside your career ; having an optimistic view on life.

On this episode we hear from Daphne. Being the eldest of four from an African family there was a lot of expectations from her, like going to medical school. Which she did not do, but she has successful career in hospitality which started with Disney and most of her working career in the US. She then moved back home to Ghana to start a new chapter in consulting, educating, training, advocating for tourism and hospitality. She also co founded AAWTH with a goal to up-skill 2500 African women by 2023 for leadership roles. She shares with us the various challenges she faced when she became a mother and combine it with work, which went away once she moved to a more female led executive team. She is inspired by those who have overcome challenges and she hopes to be as courageous.

On this episode we hear from Patrizia. With one parent being in hospitality, she did not think this was the route she was going to take, but eventually it became inevitable. You can have a variety of careers with a hospitality education both within and outside of the industry, our quality of putting people first is highly valued. She shared how it was graduating in the midst of covid. Whilst it was challenging to find any kind of role, it also took the pressure off to find that perfect job, that is often placed on student upon graduation. We talked the importance of your values lining with the values of the company you aspire to work with and how interview cultures are changing with each generation. She got her current role in development, because she was vocal about her aspirations and one day her mentor shared with her a job opening in the area that she wanted to go into.

On this episode we hear from Sophie. She grew up and started her career in Argentina before moving to Europe. After a few years in operations she did an MBA to change the direction of her career and that is when she started her professional life at HVS. First in the Madrid based office before moving to London where she has been for the past 16 years. We both agreed that we appreciated the diversity of hospitality in terms of the careers you can have and the people you get to work with, from all over the world. Over the years she has learnt resilience, perspective and to be kind to yourself. Having a supportive partner is also incredible to the success of your professional and personal life, its all about team work and not necessarily that the woman has to take on the bulk of the responsibilities at home. The real estate finance space is still male dominated, but she is starting to see the changes and hope more women will continue to be attracted to this space.

On this episode we hear from Victoria. She had guidance early on her life to direct her towards a career in hospitality. She greatly values her experience to study abroad as it opened her world view and pushed her outside of her comfort zone. She was inspired to go into consulting as she wanted to work in hospitality real estate. Real estate being a very valued commodity to every Singaporean. She shared some stories of travelling as a woman to various locations, which also further enhanced her cultural view. One of her important learnings is not to be afraid to speak up and share your opinion, it matters and you bring value to the conversation. Yes, we both agreed, that being Asian sometimes finding this confidence is hard, but it is worth pushing yourself. She also shared the value of learning from not only your seniors, but your peers and those junior to you. There is something to be taken out from every interaction.

On this episode we hear from Jane. The root of her career is in real estate and valuation. At that start of her career she spent some time in Hong Kong, where she grew up, before coming back to the UK, where she spent the remainder of her profession. She has worked across different sectors in real estate, but its the operational business such as healthcare and eventually hospitality that she stuck too. She reflect on her time from when she first joined the working world and some of the changes, such as more diversity in entry, more conversations on gender, opportunities for feedback and appraisals. She has had to ask for promotions, which taught her to speak up and ask for what she wants. Not always easy to learn, but takes constant practise to build. We discussed flexibility and how it can play a positive role for both employer and employees such as the four day work week. Working together to identify what works, its more valuable to keep an existing employee than try to find a new resource.