Alicia Lechtenberger

I attribute my success to always going back to my why, especially during the difficult times. When I was younger and very impoverished - my family was on food stamps - I told myself I was going to go all the way with my education and finish my PhD one day. It took me two decades to do it, but I did it because I wanted to take my expertise and contribute back to the younger generation, specifically women, because there's such a low percentage of women in our industry. I wanted to be that mentor for those young women. When I started 20 years ago, I was the only woman in a room of 20 men, and it was so intimidating. I was sexually harassed daily, and it was extremely difficult. I used to come home and cry and ask myself why I was doing this. But I went back to the why - I was not going to cave and give in to this system or this societal norm. I was going to change this subculture. Just yesterday, two females came into my office and said they're so glad I'm in this executive role because I'm literally changing the culture of the company. Those little wins give you that high and remind you why you went through all that pain and struggle. My advice to women is to align yourself with a company or organization that aligns with your values, because it comes from the top. My CEO now has an initiative to place women into leadership roles, and 75% of our executive leadership team is women. That change is incredible and refreshing.

My advice to women is to align yourself with the company or organization or college that aligns with your values, because you'll find that it comes from the top. I've seen so many times where women aren't allowed to move up - it happened to me just 2 years ago when I was the obvious person who wanted to move up and they would not allow me. I fought all the way up to the CEO, and he had that sort of toxic masculinity. He told me I was a pretty young lady and should just keep selling. I said no, I'm more than that, I'm not gonna settle for that. Which is why it was good that I left, because as soon as I left, my career took off. You have to get with the right company. My CEO now has an initiative to place women into leadership roles, and 75% of our executive leadership team is women. What a change that does for an organization. It's incredible to see that synergy between women in leadership. It's a nice mix when you do have men in there as well, but when it's not just purely 99% male executives, it's refreshing. I wanted to be that mentor for young women because I didn't have any female leaders when I started. It was just me in a room of 20 men, and it was so intimidating. I was sexually harassed daily, and I said I don't want anybody else to have this experience that I'm having. I'm doing this because I am not going to cave and give in to this system. I'm going to change this subculture.

The biggest challenges in my field right now are the low representation of women in casino leadership and some of the lingering cultural dynamics tied to the industry’s history. At the same time, there are significant opportunities through company initiatives focused on advancing women into leadership roles and the rapid expansion of fintech solutions transforming how casinos operate and serve customers.

The values most important to me in my work and personal life are mentorship, gender equity, perseverance, and education.