Maggie Mojica

The most important thing has been having mentors and people believing in me. I left home very early, and if it weren't for the kindness of people, I would be living a different life. By any measure, I should not be living the life I have now, but I was intelligent enough to recognize the help and guidance being offered and to accept it. It's people helping people. Beyond that, I've been described over and over again as tenacious and assertive. I think perseverance has been key - I'm a lifelong learner who's never stopped wanting to grow. Even when I didn't know something, I made sure everybody understood that once I figured it out, I would own it. The combination of having people believe in me and my own tenacity has made all the difference.

The best advice I ever received was 'What more could you do?' When I first started in sales, I was a rock star booking all this beautiful business, and once the contract was signed and I sent it over to the hotel to execute, I thought my job was done. But when something would go wrong - which inevitably it always does, whether small or big - my boss would always ask, 'What more could you have done?' It really forced me to dig deeper. I learned that just because your day job is done doesn't mean the job is done. You have to see it through to its successful end. Stay close to your clients, because their success is your success - they'll come back, they'll give you more business, they'll send you referrals. This advice has carried into my personal life as well. The caveat is that you're not going to do so much that you're doing someone else's job or it's to your detriment - you're teaching your team how to get to success, you're guiding, you're aware, you're foreseeing obstacles or challenges for them and with them. But at the bottom of it all is: what more could I have done, and have I done everything I could to make sure this is a success?

Don't be in such a rush to be the CEO. Learn to be the room service attendant, the housekeeper, the coordinator, because there's grit in that. There's knowledge, exposure, and skill set building opportunities in working your way up from the bottom. I had the great fortune of starting from the bottom up, and I learned so much along the way. The fun stuff, the good stuff, the development - the things that develop your personality, your thought process, your outlook - that's all in the minutiae, in working your way up. Don't always look for the easy way or the quickest way to get where you want to go. Give it a chance. There's something to be said for the person who went to Cornell School of Hospitality, which is amazing, but there's also something to be said for the person who started as a housekeeper. You'll never learn who you are until you go through it - everybody wants to go around it, but you have to go through it. That experience develops your personality so well and helps you figure out what you're made of. I remember working as an assistant manager in food and beverage in Puerto Rico with a godawful tan, wearing sneakers and polo shirts, doing paperwork, when three ladies walked by with spectacular hair, beautiful dresses, heels, and manicured nails. I remember thinking, I don't know what they do, but I want to do that. I want to work in an office and I want to be pretty. That's how it happens - but you'll never learn that until you go through it.

I find that the younger generation - and right, wrong, or indifferent, I don't know the answer to that - everyone is looking for the easy way, the quickest way to get to where they want to go. Sometimes the fun, the good stuff, the development, the stuff that develops your personality and thought process and outlook, is in that minutiae, in working your way up from the bottom. There's also a lot of shrinking going on today - not so much confidence and ownership. There's a certain level of shrinking that the younger generation has, especially women. I see imposter syndrome, people who don't want to take up space in the room or don't believe they belong there. It makes me bananas. Why do you speak like you're asking for forgiveness? This is business - let's be assertive in our message and how we communicate. Be assertive in a way that shows confidence and builds ownership. I am the expert in my field - allow me to show you why, and do it with confidence. If you're shrinking back there in the corner, I may miss out on the opportunity of a brilliant idea. Everybody has a voice, and everybody should have the opportunity to express themselves, and do it confidently.

First and foremost, integrity. I always operate with the intention of ensuring that no one's getting hurt and you're not getting hurt. You have to say what you mean and mean what you say, but do it with integrity and kindness, always. Beyond that, I believe in not being afraid to ruffle feathers and be tough. People respond to that type of assertion - not aggression, but confidence. When you speak with confidence, acknowledging that you don't know everything but owning what you do know, that's powerful. I also value empathy deeply. It's about teaching, guiding, being aware, and foreseeing obstacles or challenges for your team, with them, and for yourself. At the bottom of everything is asking: what more could I have done, and have I done everything I could to make sure this is a success? It's people helping people - that's what matters most.