It was the final day of the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference.
While I, like most attendees, was a little tired from all the hustle and bustle, thinking about the flights we needed to catch and the emails we should catch up on, there was also excitement to bring back all the conversations that were heard through the week.
And there was one in particular from a panel titled "Perspectives on Leadership," which I will have a full article on in the coming days, that really woke me up.
Julienne Smith of IHG Hotels & Resorts was recalling how when she first started attending industry conferences 20 years ago, she was just about the only woman in the women's lavatory during breaks.
But now, and I see it for myself too, it's not that way anymore.
"It's a little simple thing, but we're not the minority anymore. There's many more women in this business, and I enjoy being part of that," Smith said.
While it's encouraging that increasingly more women are attending the conferences of an industry that is historically dominated by men, speakers on that panel said the narrative of women on panels also must change.
During this year's Hunter Conference, Smith moderated the AHLA ForWard@Hunter panel, which had Ama Romaine, Andrea Foster, Cartarwa Jones, Jyoti Sarolia and Lori Tirado as speakers.
Though the panel was by women for women, Smith said they didn't talk about women's issues like some women-only panels tend to focus on. Instead, each of them spoke about their subject matter expertise. I don't think that's to say we can't bring up issues we face if we feel like it; we just need to remind ourselves that we have more to share beyond that.
"What we should no longer have is panels just about women's issues. ... We should have a variety of leaders talking about their subject matter expertise," Smith said. "Bringing that knowledge base is so important; it creates a togetherness."
Mitch Patel of Vision Hospitality, who sat in on the panel that Smith moderated, said there were "incredible, smart people who happen to be women who were talking about the subject of hotels" on stage.
I really loved that comment. The focus should not be on what we look like or who we are but on our knowledge of the industry.
This also served as a much-needed nudge for me in my reporting. We can often get caught up on only highlighting certain individuals during a "themed" month. Instead, pushing to diversify sourcing all year long is how we can contribute to the collective effort of pushing change.
However, I don't regret the work I've done during this particular month to highlight incredibly passionate, intelligent and capable hoteliers — who happen to be women.
Here's a look back at some of that content, which I hope can serve as inspiration to those entering the industry or hoping to rise in the ranks.
- Sarah Dinger of My Place Hotels, Brittney Jones of Raines and Dawna Comeaux of Spire Hospitality share why being surrounded by leaders and peers with the same vision and values is critical to success.
- Sharilyn Toko-Alfonso, general manager of the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, explains how she went from being immersed in the tourism industry as a child to a career in hospitality.
- Lynette Montoya, president and CEO of the Latino Hotel Association, lays out what steps she feels the industry must take to expand the community of Latino and Hispanic hotel owners and operators.
- Katie Ward, general manager of Embassy Suites by Hilton Minneapolis Airport, details why her daughters inspired her to go above and beyond in her career and create an even greater culture of inclusion at her hotel.
- Carly Skinner, general manager of the newly opened Palmetto Hotel, shares her knowledge of opening a hotel and how she's changed as a leader during the pandemic.
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