Elaine Macy

I attribute my success to resilience, determination, and the lessons learned through both achievement and adversity. One of my defining milestones was carrying $18 million in sales at Merits, an experience that expanded my global perspective through travel, speaking engagements, and meaningful connections with people around the world. I am deeply passionate about the hospitality industry because it is rooted in creating memorable experiences and genuine human connection. A pivotal moment in my life came when I returned to San Francisco after a personal setback with very little, which became the turning point where I made a firm decision to rebuild and pursue success with clarity and purpose, ultimately transforming the direction of my life.

The best advice I received was when a hotel company told me, 'Macy, you're like a brand, go ahead and open your own company.' I thought about it and said, you know what, maybe I will. If it doesn't work, I can close it, right? It's mine. That encouragement to set off on my own and run and operate my own business doing what I love the most has been transformative. I love hospitality and have never wanted to leave the field, and now I get to do it on my own terms.

I believe that young women can do anything they want in this world. Anything. Any woman that puts her mind to it can do anything they want. It doesn't matter what it is - it could be climb Mount Everest, it could be sail around the world, whatever it is. You can do exactly what you want. You just have to believe in yourself. And that, in today's world, is the hardest thing. Not just young women, but young men and women have trouble believing in themselves. I work a lot with young women, and I'm sort of the mom. I'm certified with abused women, and I work to empower them. I want young women to know that with hard work and dedication, you can be a business owner. I never thought I would own my own company, but here I am at this stage of my life, running a successful global business.

The world is changing tremendously in the hospitality and travel industry. When you look at incentive travel, it's totally changed. The incentives are smaller, and there's not such a way of throwing money around like there used to be in Silicon Valley. You really have to know your market. I've also learned that weddings are now a week long and the whole family goes on a trip together, which is different because young millennials and Gen Zs are living at home, so of course they're traveling with their family. The business is very personal - it's small and extremely personal. We want to know what our clients want and what they're looking for. We don't want to waste anyone's time selling hotels they would never book because the average daily rate is too high. One of the things I found was that these little, privately-owned, very high-end hotels could never really meet the really high net worth client because they were behind so many larger, beautiful hotels. That's why I decided to open a company for very high-end luxury, small, privately-owned boutique hotels. The challenge now is that I thought I'd have 10 or 12 hotels, but I have 30, which is very exciting but also pretty scary. I have more coming in and I have trouble saying no, but right now there's nobody but me running the company.

I'm very passionate about mentoring and empowering women. I'm certified with abused women, and I work a lot with young women. I'm sort of the mom to them. I believe that young women can do anything they want in this world if they just believe in themselves. I also deeply value giving people experiences that create lifetime memories - that's what the hospitality business is all about. It's a business of people who have big hearts. I love to travel and experience new cultures, new culinary experiences, new things all over the world. I like to be on the street, in the street, eat in the street. I love being involved in the culture and the ethnicity of every place I go. I like to learn about the people, and I'm fortunate enough now to have friends all over the world - they're some of my best friends in the world. I also think it's important to value people at every age. I see that I give women in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s a reason to work and feel valued. I don't think many people over 60 feel very valued in this country - you become invisible. The Asian countries value their seniors, but Americans don't. If I can encourage them and show them they can still be valuable and have fun, even walk barefoot in the fountain at the Eiffel Tower, that's what I want to do.