Her Story
About Heena
I've been working in hospitality for about 10 years across academic, corporate, and government sectors of hospitality and hotels. Currently, I'm at Microsoft as a vendor doing corporate events. My journey into this field started from childhood - my mom used to have a lot of events at home, and I loved hosting people and making them feel very happy. Seeing how happy they would feel after eating so much food and having a great time at our house made me realize this is something I want to do for the rest of my life. I never thought I would be able to have a job with events - I thought this was just something I'm doing at home, and then I discovered there's a degree for this called Hospitality Management. When I was an event manager at a hotel, new owners came in and there used to be a team that would support everything, but then I had to do all the contract management, negotiations, marketing, social media - everything landed on me. I got my CATM certification 3 years ago, and that's when I discovered I really love project management and wanted to further develop my skills. So I studied for the PMP, which is a globally recognized certification - if I went to Canada, Singapore, wherever, that certification is still highly valued. I'm very proud that I was able to accomplish getting that certification. It gives me a push in the right direction and helps me manage everything because I think of every event as a project within itself. In events, definitely a lot of problems arise, and you can't just go back to your office - if 10 extra people showed up to your event, you're hands-on getting an extra table, picking out some extra linen, talking about getting more food. You don't have that extra time to call a meeting about it. Staying organized and having great communication skills with all of your colleagues is always important.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Heena
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say the support I got from my sister Sonia, who I think always saw what I was good at before I even saw it. She's the one that guided me towards pursuing an education in hospitality management versus just a typical MBA or something. She's like, if you loved it, pursue it even further. My big sister is kind of like a second mom to me, and her belief in me made all the difference.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You can make a career out of your passion. I never thought that I would be able to have a job with events - I thought this is just something I'm doing at home, and then I discovered there's a degree for this called Hospitality Management. There were other jobs I could have got that paid much higher, but I think if you love something, stick with it. The money will come. Follow your passion and don't look at it just for the financial, because when you follow your passion, even through the challenges that may arise in your career, it's fulfilling to you.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In events, definitely a lot of problems arise, and you can't just go back to your office and say, let me go ahead and talk it out with my team or see if we have a budget for it. If 10 extra people showed up to your event, you're hands-on - you're getting an extra table, picking out some extra linen, talking about getting more food. You don't have that extra time to go back to the office and call a meeting about it. You're definitely way more hands-on, so that does become stressful, but I think staying organized is always great, and having great communication skills with all of your colleagues is always great as well.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Believe in yourself. Nobody else has to believe in you, but you need to believe in yourself. I've had a lot of people, even family, say things like 'oh no, you won't be able to do that,' and I think that kind of lowered down the confidence I had in myself. I wish, growing up, somebody was able to tell me, no, you're smart, you're pretty, and I would be able to have that confidence. But it's okay, I can't blame it on other people. I need to just believe in myself and know everything will be fine. Sometimes people would tell me not to be overconfident, and I'm like, okay, I guess I won't really be too much of this or get too much knowledge of that because I don't want to be overconfident. But I think that just put me down a lot because then I never believed in myself.
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