Mentorship builds confidence in and opens doors for the next generation of women leaders
By Cathleen Draper
Although women represent more than half of the U.S. hospitality workforce – 52 percent, to be exact – less than 29 percent of executive positions are held by women, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Diversity Survey. That number shrinks to less than 20 percent at the C-suite level.
The number of women in leadership roles has increased in the past decade, but the pipeline isn’t the problem. Women fill hospitality classrooms and entry-level jobs. But somewhere between the front desk and the boardroom, they thin out.
Mentorship and education are powerful tools to bridge that gap. Mentors are a form of educator – they share their experiences, wisdom, and guidance, challenge their mentees, and teach new skills, helping other professionals to make decisions while creating opportunities for growth, building confidence, and offering support. Studies have shown that, for women, mentorship can help to increase retention rates, further promotions, minimize feelings of loneliness, and maximize engagement.
Suzanne Bagnera, PhD., sees the start of that pipeline every day. As director of executive education at Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and executive producer and co-host of the podcast No Vacancy News, she watches more women than men move through hospitality programs.
“It’s frustrating from an educator standpoint because once they’re getting into the industry, there are a variety of different barriers that present themselves,” she said.
One problem, she continued, is that too few women are visible in senior roles to demonstrate how to succeed and navigate challenges. A mentor who hasn’t faced those struggles might not be able to guide someone through them. It’s a vicious cycle – one where there are too few women in leadership positions, preventing more women from rising to the top.
However, Bagnera said, “there have been people who have had no mentors and they’ve still succeeded, so I don’t think having a mentor is a requirement.” But a mentor, she added, can offer “a perspective that you’re not necessarily considering.”
A Personal Board
Jagruti Panwala understands that cycle well. Before she joined AAHOA in 2001, she owned a single small property and felt alone. Then, she found the association.
“There are so many people, but such a small community,” she said. “I felt like I was part of something. I know I can rely on my colleagues for mentorship.”
Mentors followed throughout her career, in the hotel world and in financial services – Panwala is president & CEO of wealth management firm Wealth Protection
Strategies. Many of those mentors she met through AAHOA, including women who had paved the path for someone like her.
In 2011, she joined the AAHOA Board of Directors, and in 2016, she was elected as an officer, a four-year journey that culminated with her stepping into the highest leadership role as AAHOA’s first chairwoman.
“I just felt like if it’s not now, when, and if it’s not me, then who?” she recalled.
When Panwala assumed the role, she knew one thing for certain: A trusted support circle was key to success as chair.
“Nobody walks into this role and expects to know all the answers,” she said. She had seen other chairs making decisions alone and in a vacuum because they did not surround themselves with advisers they could count on.
So, she built her own personal board of advisers, made up of industry titans she had come to know through AAHOA. She spoke to them every week throughout her chairwomanship. And when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the final months of her tenure, her group of advisers helped her to keep both AAHOA and the industry united.
For Heidi Anaya, director of education at Russell Partnership Technology, mentorship shaped her career at two turning points. The first came when she moved from an early-career operational role to the sales side of hotels. She often thinks back to the impact the director of sales, a woman Anaya is still in touch with, had on her.
“She saw something in me that maybe I didn’t know that I had at the time, and it gave me the confidence to realize that I could really do the job and do it well.”
The second came after she was put up for a general manager position – and she turned it down. At the time an assistant general manager, Anaya didn’t love the role as she felt it didn’t mesh with her skills, personality, or goals. Rather than push her into it, a leader at the time asked what she wanted to do instead. Her answer? Training and development. He helped her to get there.
That opened the door for Anaya to pursue a career in hospitality education. Today, she works for a company that specializes in hotel simulations, in which students and professionals alike step into the various roles of running a hotel and call the shots in a safe, and fun, environment.
Mentorship Is Giving Back
Shaped by the mentors who have guided her through her career – and who continue to do so – Panwala views mentorship and leadership as inherently intertwined.
“There are many times when you need mentorship, and there are many times that you’re providing mentorship to people around you,” she said.
Panwala also sees mentorship as a core leadership responsibility.
“If you are a true leader, any opportunity that you are receiving, you should be opening up the doors for your colleagues, for the next generation at the same time,” she said. “If you’re not doing that, then you’re really just doing it to serve yourself.”
Panwala found opportunities to serve as a mentor through AAHOA and the Castell Project, an initiative launched by Peggy Berg that elevates women into hospitality leadership positions. She’s spoken at universities and held weekly Zoom calls with students who are graduating and unsure of their next steps.
“If you give them that holding hand and make them feel that they’re not alone and they belong here, you’re really doing a service, not just for this generation, but generations after generations,” she said.
Anaya, on the other hand, connects with students through competitions, including the Collegiate Championship, hosted by AAHOA and powered by Russell Partnership Technology, and she also works with established industry leaders looking to hone their skills or understand a different side of hotel operations.
When she connects with students and career professionals, Anaya focuses on a two-way exchange – taking the time to ask questions and answer them.
She doesn’t automatically give people the right answer but instead asks them “to come up with what they think is right to help them to build the confidence, rather than just spoon feeding the answers.”
It also means changing how she frames her feedback. “So often, we’re very quick to point out the stuff people don’t do right,” she said.
In competitions, someone always comes in last, and she helps them focus on the positive by saying, “Maybe it didn’t go exactly the way that you planned, but tell me what you learned and what you’d do differently if you had the opportunity. It’s finding ways to motivate them, to encourage them, to remind them that they learned something along the way.”
A Seat at the Table
The most telling result of mentorship, education, and training is confidence, and with it, a voice at the table, Anaya said.
“If you can speak up and you can confidently talk about how to read a financial statement or how to understand pricing strategies or the cause and effect of making certain decisions as it might relate to capital investment or marketing and advertising or staffing, you become a more powerful voice at the table,” she said.
That matters, she added, because “as women sometimes our voices aren’t maybe as loud as some of the men.”
Knowledge gained through firsthand experience and guidance from a more senior individual helps close that gap.
One former industry professional and mentee of Anaya’s stands out in her memory. She facilitates a certification course through the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, with online modules and a simulation component.
A director of sales enrolled in the course reached out to Anaya, telling her she felt she was in over her head and that she didn’t think she could complete the certification. Anaya stepped in and offered her support and guidance, and the confidence she was lacking, which convinced her to stick it out.
The woman did: She didn’t win the simulation, but she was in the mix, and she earned her certification. Five years later, she became a vice president of commercial strategy. Still in touch, she has told Anaya more than once, “You gave me the confidence when I didn’t have it.”
Show Up, Speak Up, Take Action
To find a mentor and move up the ladder, women need to show up, speak up, and take action.
Show up. “Nobody is going to come and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to give you this opportunity.’ You really have to just go and ask, and you have to show up,” Panwala said.
That means networking with everyone, not only with other women. “It’s scary when you walk into meetings or a boardroom and you’re the only female in that room, and that happens even now,” she continued. But showing up, introducing yourself, and connecting with others is advice she doles out over and over.
That effort can start small and close to home. The experience can be nerve-wracking – it was for Panwala, who was shy growing up. “You’ve got to find that inner strength. Once you get your foot in the door and really connect with people, you’ll find that mentorship just by speaking with them.”
Speak up. For women already in the industry who want to move forward, Anaya recommends asking for help and talking to someone, whether a leader, human resources, or an outside adviser. “Don’t wait for someone to say, ‘oh, I think you’re great, let’s move you into this role,’” she said. “Don’t be afraid to have a voice, to say, ‘I really am ambitious, I’d like to do this. What are the steps that I can take to get there?’”
Take action. Bagnera points to a structured approach. Mentorship groups pair mentees with professionals who align with their career goals and backgrounds. Some hospitality associations run mentorship programs, too. Conferences are another route, and for students, so is the classroom. Her new [CLIC] Media a podcast, Ripples of Impact: The New ROI, features mentor-mentee pairs interviewing each other and covers how each relationship began.
When approaching a potential mentor, she suggests not asking on the spot. Follow up by email or social media, keep getting to know them, and then ask if they’d be willing to guide you. “The worst they can tell you is no,” she said, and if they do, ask whether they know someone else with a similar story or background who you could learn more from.
Bagnera also advises looking for a mentor who isn’t too close in age, because age brings experience and wisdom, but who also isn’t so senior that they’ve lost touch with what you’re going through. And don’t limit yourself to one.
“Look at some different aspects that you want to emulate from a mentor,” Bagnera said. “Then, see how you can connect with an individual to learn more from and how they can guide you when you’re challenged or needing reassurance or when you’re struggling.”
Image: David/stock.adobe.com
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