Eja Thomas

I attribute my success to pivoting and being flexible. COVID taught us all how to become masters at it, but I'm even better at it now. I've realized that it's okay to do things differently. You're still going to succeed, you just have to look at it differently. I think understanding that mistakes are just mistakes, not catastrophes, has been crucial. Early in my career, a director of HR told me something I've held onto my entire life: 'The hotel didn't open because of you, it's not gonna close because of you.' That taught me to allow myself grace, because that's the only way to learn and keep moving forward, as opposed to getting caught up in self-deprecation or giving up.

The best career advice I ever received was from a director of HR when I was really young and had made a mistake. She said to me, 'The hotel didn't open because of you, it's not gonna close because of you.' I've held onto that my entire life and have told it to I don't know how many people. I think sometimes we get caught up in mistakes and we can't get past it, and we can't get out of our own way. Understanding that it was just a mistake, putting something in place to not do it again, and moving forward keeps you out of self-deprecation and tearing yourself apart. Allowing yourself grace is very important because that's the only way to learn and keep moving forward, as opposed to getting caught or giving up.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to find a good mentor. That mentor does not necessarily have to be in your field, but I do think we as women have a very unique perspective, so finding a woman in a leadership position as a mentor is important. Sometimes it is helpful if you're of a specific cultural background for that mentor to be of that same cultural background, because that's a different perspective and that is extremely helpful when you're young. Also, be open to change and always keep an open mind. You can learn something from everyone, even the people that you think can't teach you anything. They can, even if it's just you learning about yourself. The hard people, you can learn from them. The easy people, you can learn from them. There really is learning in every situation, so just make sure to keep open to that.

I think women have broken the ceiling in certain disciplines in our field, but there is still a lack of women in hospitality finance and hospitality operations. A lot of times you see women in sales and in HR, but being assertive or aggressive when it comes to the operation or the profitability of a hotel is still kind of a thing for women. It's still appreciated more from men, and when it comes from women it's not looked at as a strength, it's looked at as aggressive versus a strength. On the opportunity side, this industry is dynamic and unique in that you can come in the door and because it has several disciplines inside of itself, you have so many avenues. You could go hospitality finance, hospitality sales, operations, risk management, even legal. You can start in one area and decide to pivot to another, and your skill set goes right with you. There's the hotel side of hospitality and food service, and both of those entities cross-train each other. It's a really great industry for young people who either don't have the ability to go to college but are still looking for a successful life.

I think people undervalue the importance of nurturing both your professional and personal life. You can only really be your best self if you are taking care of both sides. You can be successful all day at work, but if home is not fun, it will affect you at some point. That's why I enjoy spending time with family and friends, traveling, and not really doing much of anything sometimes, just having those social connections. I think it's really important to slow down and remember that balance, because we worry too much about a life that could end at any point in time, so we've got to remember to live.