My Journey to GM: Lessons in Leadership, Culture, and the Power of Resilience - Hazel Hagans Farris, Le Meridien Washington, D.C., The Madison

Emily: Hazel, tell me, you originally studied chemistry and had plans to become a dermatologist. What was going through your mind in 2008 when everything changed and what made you say yes to that first role at the W Atlanta Buckhead?

Hazel: Of course. What was going through my mind? Oh, so many things. As a recent college grad, the recession was tough and it was really hard to find someone to take a risk on a new grad during that year. And to make ends meet at the time as a freshly graduated student, I was working in the mall and there was a recruitment center for W Hotels right across from the store I was working. And I went over there because retail was just not for me. And I absolutely loved the hospitality field. It was great. It was for W Atlanta Buckhead. And it was for a PBX agent. And I really said to myself, again, I wanted to be a dermatologist. I said, I'm just going to do this to make ends meet and see where I go from there. As a young 20-something-year-old, you have so much in life to figure out. And I am glad that I landed there because I found my career.

Emily: Did you have a moment like that where you were like, I'm hooked, this is where I'm meant to be, or it happened more gradually over time?

Hazel: It happened more gradually over time. I wish I had a beautiful story that a lot of hoteliers and a lot of hospitality graduates have and that wasn't my field in college. That's not what I studied, but I found myself loving it because of the first job that I received at the W and I spoke with some of the supervisors and managers and I'm like, all of them have college degrees and some didn't and what can I do to better myself? What can I do to promote myself in hospitality? I just put my best foot forward. My parents really instilled in me strong work ethics. So I just worked extremely hard whenever there's a shift that need to be picked up, a different department to be worked. Whether it be banquets, mini bar, in-room dining. I did it all. So I found myself moving up pretty quickly in hospitality and at the W because of that.

Emily: Great. And then did you stay in Atlanta or you moved around? I know you moved around, but how did it happen? Walk me through what was your next role or your roles after being PBX operator?

Hazel: Absolutely. So I went from PBX operator to supervisor. So W has such a cool culture and none of the titles were just normal standard titles. They were always like, what do you do? So I went in and it wasn't a PBX operator. It was called a whatever, whenever agent. So I was a whatever, whenever agent. And my GM at the time was Mary Louise Fitzgibbon and I believe she's still in hospitality and she was wonderful. And I was so blessed to have a female general manager at my first hotel, that really inspired me a lot. But she would explain a whatever, whenever agent as someone who will do whatever you want, whenever you want it, as long as it's not illegal, immoral, or just plain wrong. So that was great. And so I went in as a whatever whenever agent and I left as a director of style, which is director of housekeeping in W lingo. But I had strong mentors. I had great mentors that really trusted in me. I went from a guest service manager, which is a whatever never manager to a director of housekeeping, which was style. And that's because my leaders had a lot of faith in me. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I trusted them, they trusted me, and I learned pretty quickly, which definitely worked in my favor, but the five years that I was working at the W Atlanta Buckhead, it really shaped my career.

Emily: I mean, that hotel, I think it's quite a busy one. I mean, you run fairly high occupancy there. So was it challenging? I mean, was that aspect of it quite hard?

Hazel: Oh, yeah. And I believe it's called Hotel Cali right now. But yeah, it was hard. I opened, I helped open the hotel. So that was a challenge within itself. Going through the recession, there were times where as an hourly associate, I was not getting full time hours, which was pretty tough for me personally, but I stuck it through and the economy improved, thank goodness. But I would say the most challenging roles for me, and again, as a young 20-something-year-old who just freshly graduated college, there were a lot of life lessons learned working at that property, as well as career lessons. But from going to the guest services manager, managing people, managing people from different generations was pretty tough. I had to learn how to flex my style there with them, learning a completely new set of skills that I had no idea how a housekeeping department, let alone operated, being the director over that without much experience, just knowing that I was a good leader and I would learn quickly. And you have to kind of humble yourself and learn from the line level staff, which are extremely amazing. I have so much respect for room attendants and all, everyone who works in the housekeeping department. That is such an underrated department. And they need all the love because without them we cannot operate our properties.

Emily: And how did you develop as a leader? Did they offer you training within W or was it more learning on the job?

Hazel: A little bit of both. I had wonderful mentors. I enlisted one. Another one is Onel Kuchuk, who was my director of operations at the time. He did send me to his previous property in Chicago to train with his number two, who took over his role as director of housekeeping. So I learned a lot of organizational skills from her and just how her department was run. The other factor, I worked for Starwood, which had so many great trainings, in-person trainings. We had Starwood University, where different leaders throughout Atlanta, it would be just for the Atlanta, greater Atlanta area, but we would have our regional VP, we would have different general managers and directors of revenue, and they would teach us about the different aspects of hospitality, whether it be revenue management, critical thinking, conflict management for managers. And that was really my bread and butter. The younger managers, I remember at the W Atlanta Buckhead, we would compete and who would have the most credits or the most classes. So it was really nice to actually go to different properties in the greater Atlanta area. You got to learn the properties, you got to learn the people. It was really a big networking opportunity as well. So I really miss that. I feel like that's something that we've shifted away from as an industry and just over time. Everything is virtual now, which is great, but it's really nice to have that personal connection and to learn together. My general manager would send me to conferences. Starwood had something also called Rooms University. They would host once or twice per year, and I attended that. I learned so much. I know how to break down and put together a Karcher vacuum cleaner. We had a competition who could do it the fastest and how to take the parts and put them back together. And we learned about pest control and bed bugs. And because that was a big thing back when I attended, we learned about more about the loyalty program, which is a transition from SPG to now Marriott Bomboy. So it was so much learning and opportunities for me going through the ranks, especially during my time there in Atlanta, which I appreciated. But most of my molding came from that era of my career.

Emily: It's so interesting the point you make about gathering people in the same positions for the same training and how you enjoyed the networking and now how a lot of that has moved online. I do think people will miss that and I hope that some of that comes back. Do you see that coming back? I mean, do you think you'll have those opportunities again?

Hazel: We do have them in a different capacity now. I am a member and part of the Women in Leadership Council for HEI, started by our Chief Operating Officer, Rachel Moniz, who's been my biggest mentor and has helped me fill my GM seat since I've been with HEI. That was started back in 2018 to combat gender parity. We found that we had about 70, 80 properties and only four female GMs back in 2018. And she said, hey, something needs to change here. These women who are smart, they're sharp, they can be general managers. We just need to get them together and see what we need to do to get them to that GM seat. And I was a director of operations at the time. And it was so rewarding having someone like that in your corner, someone that's pushing for you, someone getting you FaceTime in front of owners and helping you with build your resume. I really appreciate that as well.

Emily: So from Atlanta, how did you get to New York and some of these other opportunities that you then went on to do?

Hazel: Yeah. So at the time my sister graduated from college and she wanted to go to grad school at New York University and she got in and I helped her move. I remember in, I believe it was August, September of 2013, and I helped her move to New York. And we stayed, and I'm just like, oh, this is amazing. I love the energy here. Wouldn't it be so cool to work here? Our grandmother actually attended a program at Columbia University when she was younger in New York. It's always been on my bucket list. I always wanted to live there for a minimum of a year, just experience it. And just moving her there, I'm like, I think this is the time, so start looking for career opportunities to transfer within Starwood. And the W, New York Times Square had an open position and I took that. So that's how I ended up in New York. I was roommates with my sister. Best idea at the time, but I don't regret anything. It was a great bonding for us, especially during that, the 20 series of our lives. She was, we have about a five year age difference. So it was really good connecting with her and really learning the New York market and just a different experience for me. It was so...

Emily: What role did you take when you went to the W Times Square?

Hazel: Yes, I was a front office manager. So I worked the overnight shift as well. So I was the overnight front office manager, which they called the welcome desk manager. So yeah, there's so many stories, I could probably write a book. But it was a fun time and the coolest thing about the W, New York Times Square, I hope they're still doing this, but a lot of the front desk agents or the welcome desk agents were performers, they were actors, and they performed on Broadway and whenever they were between gigs, they were working with us. And they could all sing, and they just had the best personalities. And it was just so fun. So every night during night audit, whenever we had downtime, I was always singing and just joking with the agents. And I really miss that camaraderie. But it was an amazing experience.

Emily: All right, I have to hear one story. Give me one story from working the night shift at the W in Times Square, because I'm sure you have some great ones.

Hazel: Oh, my goodness. I think the most memorable one is I had a call, a noise complaint on one of the floors, and security asked me to go up with them. Walked up with them, and these four grown adults had a pillow fight. And they were causing all this noise and they're every feather pillow there were probably eight in the room because they were in the double room was busted wide open and these guests had feathers covered from head to toe. It was all in their hair, in their eyelashes, in their eyebrows. It felt like there was like a two inch thick, like sea of pillow feathers all over the room. So I tried not to laugh, but sternly I said, you're causing a lot issues for our other guests surrounding you and just so you're aware we will have to charge you for a cleanup fee and for replacement of the pillows. And I had to warn them if they continue to make noise we would have to ask them to leave but it was hilarious because I always see the picture my head with the guest and standing there with just feathers all over their eyes and hair and in their outfits. And I'm just, yeah, that's what I remember the most of all that time. The whole incident.

Emily: That's a fun one. And then they checked out and everything was fine. Did they calm down after that?

Hazel: Everything was fine. Yeah. Housekeeping was not pleased to say the least, but they were happy that we charged them for the damages. That was a piece of work.

Emily: So, and then you spent how long in New York before transferring to Washington? Or you went somewhere else in between?

Hazel: No, I, by way of Chicago and then Dallas. So, I was in New York for about a year and a half. And then I received a call from my director of operations who challenged me to take the director of housekeeping role in Atlanta. He became a general manager of his own hotel in Chicago, and he needed a number two. He wanted to see if I was open to moving to Chicago to work with him again. I was so excited for the opportunity. I was sad to leave New York, but at the same time, I really understood how hard it is to get a position like Director of Operations in a market like New York or anywhere because sometimes when a door or window opens, you take that opportunity if you can. So I took the opportunity and I ended up at the Hotel Lincoln in Chicago and I was there for a solid year as Director of Operations.

Emily: Wow. And then from there, you went to Dallas?

Hazel: Yes. So from there, I went to Dallas. It was a lateral move, but at the time, I moved because of a relationship to Dallas.

Emily: Okay. And then what brought you to D.C.?

Hazel: So unfortunately, my father passed in 2019. And I had been trying to get back to Washington, D.C. before that, but I'm originally from Virginia Beach. And I wanted to be closer to my family. My mother's still in Virginia Beach. My brother at the time lived here in DC. And my sister is still in New York. So I wanted to be closer to them. And the funniest thing is, I got the job at the Le Meridien, Arlington. And two weeks later, my brother decides to move in with his girlfriend in New Jersey. So he left as soon as I got here. But they come down and they visit. He's now married, which he made the right decision to to move in with her. So, yeah, it's been an awesome experience. I love D.C. I feel very connected to my father. He went to Howard University. And anytime we would come up here, it was the best time of his life. He loved it up here. So I feel very connected being up here, have a lot of family up here. So it's like a second home.

Emily: Great. I mean, that's a wonderful reason to move. And now tell us how you became GM of the Meridian, the Madison.

Hazel: Of course, yes. So again, back to women in leadership. Again, that was the council started by Rachel Moniz, who is our chief operating officer. So to combat gender parity and the general manager role. So I was a director of operations for the Lee Meridian Dallas, the Stonely Hotel, which is a beautiful property built in 1923. Lots of history there. So after a good two years, I received a lot of opportunities to task force GM, benchmark GM. But at the time, I was just going through the passing my father and I, it was a tough decision, but I wanted to stay in the Director of Operations role for a little bit longer. And as soon as a position in near home, which in Arlington, Virginia, about three hours away from Virginia Beach, presented itself, I did apply and I got the job. It was just a no-brainer for me. At the time, my time at the Le Meridien, Dallas to Stonely, I went through about three general managers, and by the third one, I said that I'm doing a lot of this work. I'm doing a lot. I know how to run this hotel. So the most important person to listen to is yourself, to push yourself. You have to push yourself. When you're in a place where you're comfortable, it's time for you to grow. And I've learned that a lot of people, a lot of mentors have pushed me, but sometimes you do need to push yourself too. So when it was time, I did apply and it's so funny. I task force at the property and the role actually went to another person when I applied. They wanted someone with more experience, rightfully so and the day before I was due to depart back to Dallas, I got a call saying the person decided to go with another opportunity, and they wanted to know if I was still interested. And I said, absolutely. And looking back, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm really proud to have made it from a PBX operator to general manager. And one of my passions is building teams. And everywhere I go, that's what I do. I'm really good at it and I love it and the guests are great, the properties are beautiful, but my team is what really keeps me going here. So I went to Le Meridien, Arlington, built my team there and three years later another opportunity presented itself here at the Le Meridien, Washington DC, the Madison. So that's how I ended up here and I absolutely love my property.

Emily: That's great. I actually, when my time working at Lowe's Hotels, it was, it was a Lowe's at one time. And I think it's changed flags a few times. So it's great. It's so fun to like have this connection about that hotel, which is beautiful, and it is in a great location. But let's, I love how you talk about building teams. Tell me a little bit about that. How do you go about building your teams? I mean, what's your strategy or methodology for that?

Hazel: Well, the first thing is just making sure that we're all aligned. I always tell my team when I'm interviewing candidates, this is a two-way street. What you'll learn about me throughout us speaking here is, times my strategies may be a little unorthodox or just a little bit from the norm. I grew up throughout the hospitality field with a lot of male influence, a lot of men who are GMs, and they had different ways of doing things, and I always like to look outside of the box to say, is there a way that this could work better? Does this work for you, really? And there are a couple of things that I've heard from my male general manager. Some of them like to be the first ones in and the last ones out. I'm like, how the hell do you have a great work-life balance when you're here from 6, 7 in the morning to 6, 7 at night? That's a lot. There's times to work hard. I'm a very hard worker, but sometimes you have to shift and pivot and figure out what works best for you, what works best for your team. And what I've also learned is, if I'm here all the time, how am I grooming my team for their next role? How am I showing that I trust in them to make the right decisions? I say that you're empowered. We say that a lot in hospitality. You're empowered to make your decisions. But if I'm always here, you're going to lean on me all the time, and you're not able to make your own decisions when it comes to our operations. So that was one of the things that I said, I'm not gonna be that type of general manager. If I want to coach, I want to lead and tell my team to have a good work-life balance, it has to start with me. Another example is I had one general manager tell me, you don't tell your team how great they are all the time, you just save little tibbits to give throughout time and i'm like why would you do that? If somebody's amazing you should be telling them that, you should give them praise when praise is due. So I manage this just like a two-way street. I'm not perfect, but at the same time I strive for perfection and I expect the same of my team. When candidates are interviewing, I say, it's not just about making sure that you're the right fit for us. We need to make sure that we're the right fit for you. That is so important because culture has been an overused term, but culture is important. And it's important for my team to feel like they enjoy their work. I want them to genuinely enjoy their work. And if there's a reason why they don't, I want them to be open with me. I don't want to be the general manager that everyone just smiles at and everything's great all the time because that's not the truth. We have good days, we have bad days, but I want my team to look forward to coming in to work. I want them to be honest with the challenges that they're facing. I want them to enjoy their time here. So culture is very important to me. And that's why I feel like I've been successful, and I try to trickle that down to my department heads, other managers, they should be treating their team the way that they want to be treated. That's just the golden rule. And take great care of them. They're the ones who are taking care of our guests. They're the reason for our success. They should be praised for a job well done. And I don't wanna also say that we also hold each other accountable. Just because I'm a general manager, I also hold myself accountable too. And I tell my team, if there's something I told you that I would do, and maybe I forgot that I was supposed to do it, call me out. It's totally fine, it's okay to say, hey, Hazel, you remember you said we were gonna do this? And I'm gonna say, oh, yes, thank you for reminding me. Let's get it done. So that's just the culture that I have, not so intense because Hazel's the general manager. I want everyone to feel like they can come and talk to me about anything and that we can hold each other accountable.

Emily: I love that. I love that focus on communication, really, and being very open with one another and being open with your priorities and your goals. Now that you're in a position to lift others up, as you were, you had mentors along your career, how do you approach that, especially for women and maybe underrepresented voices in your team?

Hazel: Absolutely. I love when I find that someone has untapped potential and I try to bring it out of them by allowing them to blossom, to listening to their ideas, allowing them to drive a meeting instead of me being the one driving it all the time. You can say, hey, would you like to run our guest satisfaction meeting today? Would you like to run our labor meeting today? Tell me why this happened instead of trying to point fingers or say, labor is our number one expense. Instead of saying, you have too much overtime. You need to cut this down. Please tell me why we had to go into this overtime situation, something that we could have done better. That's how I like to mold my team. If there's someone that I really feel has a great potential and it's untapped and I want to get to know them more, I have one-on-ones with them. I buy books. A lot of my mentors gave me leadership books and that really helped me. So I would just go and buy a book and say, hey, I think this would really help you. Some of my associates, they're a little younger and they may need to improve in emotional intelligence. And that's one of the things that I had a challenge with when I was a young leader at the W Atlanta Buckhead. And I give them a book of emotional intelligence, just say you have the right makings of a leader. You just need to work on this, and just being very upfront about what they need to perform on and what they need to do better on. I really love straightforward feedback. I don't want anyone to sugarcoat anything with me. I have tough skin and a lot of people do. And I think throughout time, sometimes certain managers may try to be a little too nice or they try to not be too nice, but they're not as transparent as I think they could be. And I like to tell them, hey, you're doing I always list the great things that you're doing. But these are the things I really want you to focus on. And I think it would help round you out a little bit better. So we do have honest communication. This is a big as you see the trend with me. I'm always honest with my team about the things that I think that could be improved on. And I always tell them I'm not a perfect person, but this helped me and I think this can help you. And I always like to give them just a tidbit of my history so they know they're not alone. Like I had this problem too and I think this can help you. So that's how I grew my team for the most part.

Emily: Yeah, I think the way you phrase it too, you start with this sort of very positive approach. And I think people probably respond well to that. And then maybe whatever the challenges are, they don't seem so bad, because it's like, well, I was doing all this stuff, right? I just need to work on this and this.

Hazel: Yeah, especially generationally, the Gen Y and Z, they're just are. Hold on. I'm Gen Y. Yeah. Yes, that's me. Okay, Gen Z. They're just different and I don't want to say that they have so many great things, like they're positive, great features. They're positive. They like to inspire each other. They're uplifting. They're very inclusive, but I want to make sure that I'm able to reach out and touch them. And my generation, I think, is a little more tough love. But if I can soften my tone, if I can talk about the positives with them and just say, this is great, but this is really what I want to talk about today. I appreciate showing that you appreciate the things that they are doing right, but these are just the things that they need to work on. So that's gotten me a long way with that generation.

Emily: And being in Washington, I mean, it's such a unique market and can be quite cyclical. And of course, we have a new administration. I mean, any things you're seeing in terms of what's happening in D.C. right now? And have you, any changes you've had to make for the guest experience or anything along those lines?

Hazel: The biggest thing that's happening with the market right now, and I see it happening nationwide, is just the uncertainty. Funding is being cut, departments are being cut in the government. Our clients really don't know how to plan ahead of time. So we're not seeing the biggest impact right now, but I can definitely see it for the future. We're not booking as much further out. But what we're trying to do is look for other business. We have some time to fill in the gaps and the need periods and to re-strategize. But right now the toughest part for us or the toughest thing for us is to book future business with so much uncertainty.

Emily: That makes sense. That makes perfect sense. Pivoting a little bit, you mentioned to me before we started recording that you are a new mom and you have a six month old. Everybody who's listening to this call will know how demanding it is to be a general manager. So what, how has it been for you coming back from maternity leave and what tips could you offer?

Hazel: Absolutely. I thought working while pregnant was extremely hard, but coming back to work has been such a big challenge, emotionally and physically, to be honest with you. And I'm a proud mother, I'm a proud general manager, and doing both is tough to balance. And I can see, I've read a lot of books, I've done a lot of seminars where a lot of women typically like to stay at home or they're so career-focused, but after they have their first child, they may take some time off of working. I've never saw that for me, but having my first child and daughter, even this morning is like leaving her is the hardest thing I have to do every day. And when I see her again at the end of the evening, it's just makes my day so much more special. And a great piece of advice that was given by my asset manager was give yourself grace. And I do that. And I lean on my team a lot. I do. I empower them. I trust them. I'm here. But having to not be able to come in the first time she's sick or having to take her to a special doctor's appointment, It's tough for me, but you take it one day at a time. There's some wonderful, amazing women out there that are very planned. Something that I've learned about children is you can set up so many plans. They just, they don't work.

Emily: That's very accurate.

Hazel: So I think as being a general manager, I'm very good with improvising and figuring things out. But this has been a challenge for me. But I think going back to that grace, I strive for perfection, but sometimes good and being great is just is good enough. Sometimes you can't have everything can't be perfect all of the time. And a lot of women are like that. We are perfectionists sometimes, and you have to let go of that. As long as our guests had a great experience, our associates are in a good place, and the hotel is running well, it's okay. It's okay. And, but I have an amazing team. I trust in them so much. We've been working together for quite a while, which, I feel so blessed because I've never had worked with a team this long before. And some of them came over with me from my last property because I normally change entire markets and I can't bring my whole team with me. But I've been blessed to have some people follow me over to the Madison after Le Meridien Arlington, and we've been working together very well, and they know me, I know them, and we get a lot of things done. For my new team, it's a little tougher, but I have those one-on-ones that really keep us focused. And again, it's not just about what I need from them, it's about what they need from me. How can I help you? What do you need help with? What can I do to help you grow? What can I do to help your team? And I think that mutual respect and accountability go a long way with that, too.

Emily: Yeah, that's amazing. And you do bring up a point that also it is a challenging time to have a new child and to get a comedy work and being a new mom and all that. And you do see many women drop out of the workforce at that time. And you, you, but at the same time, I know how ambitious you are. And you can see how important your leading a team and being a GM is to you and how much you put into your career and your success. It's interesting to me also that you've mentioned that at HEI they've also put a lot of intentional training and development for women to help more women become general managers. Tell me a little bit more about that and how that's helped you and motivated you to, after having a baby staying in with your job and your career.

Hazel: Absolutely. To be honest with you, we have an annual Women in Leadership conference at different properties throughout HEI. Our property just hosted the last one in September, right before my maternity leave.

Emily: Did they? Amazing.

Hazel: It was awesome. But I appreciate Women in Leadership so much because We always have a guest speaker. We talk about, we have open forums and sessions. And one of our speakers mentioned how she has to balance things as a mom. And I've learned a lot over the years how to just feel complete, even though things aren't going your way, even though things aren't exactly how you really want them. You have to relinquish some of that control. You have to trust in your partners and your community as well. That's so important. Without my husband and partner, I wouldn't be able to get through this every day. He's been just a tremendous partner and father. So I feel so blessed to have that, too. It takes a whole community.

Emily: It does. It's not easy at all.

Hazel: I just had a conversation with a gentleman that works for AGI. He was telling me that his wife, he had an issue, too, going back to work. First, she took some time off and didn't decide to go back to work. And this is what we hear a lot. Sometimes one of the partner's salaries just covers the child care, and but still do it, OK, it covers the child care, but still take that risk and do it if that's what you want to do. Because as you grow, hopefully your salary increases or it's worth it, in my opinion. It's so hard to balance. And I've even felt guilt as a mother leaving my child in the care of someone else every day while I come to work. And it took me a while and a lot of conversations with other female general managers and friends to really get over that hurdle and just say, I really do it for her. I do it for my daughter. I want her to see women in strong roles. I want her to see that, that she's able to do anything that she puts her mind to. And I want her to grow up seeing that. So that's really why I work so hard and I try to get through this difficult period of time because once I get the hang of it, I know that it will stick. It's tough for us ladies and women in leadership. We also go to the Ford Conference for AHLA each year, and it's the same thing. We see so many phenomenal women just talk about having these open, very transparent dialogues about how they make things work for them and their career and balancing their life and with their families. And it's tough for us all. That's the truth. If someone tells you that I mastered this, I'm acing it, I'm refreshed and I come in fresh every day and I want to be here every day. And they're lying to you. Something is off about that. We all are struggling together. And in that struggle together, we bond. And we just try our best to make it work. That's what we do.

Emily: Yeah. And do they pair you with other women throughout the organization? So you have these smaller networking circles or colleagues that you can call from different hotels or how to, is it a structured program or is it more loose based on, having been to the conference?

Hazel: So the structure is actually the actual conference, having forums and we have panel discussions and we have guest speakers. The just similar to the Starwood University that having that networking, the networking is what works the best for me. It's because we're sitting in these conferences and we're getting to know one another as female general managers or as a female general manager, I may be sitting beside a director of operations or director of rooms who wants to be a general manager. And now I know her and she knows me. And anytime we exchange information, anytime we have these conferences and we just build that network. And I tell my team, I just had my director of rooms just became a general manager of her own property literally two weeks ago. And I always tell her, I said, call me anytime. And she's like, how am I going to do this? And I say, It takes a village. You have all the tools you need, and you have all the people that you need to talk to for guidance. They're all in your phone. You call me if you need any assistance. That's how I got through it. I had a strong general manager, and she was one of the four general managers I referenced back when Women in Leadership started in 2018. And I called her so many times as a first-time general manager to ask questions or if I needed advice. And that's how we get through these things. If someone says that they're doing everything on their own, again, I would question that because it really does take a good, strong community of mentors to help each other to get through it.

Emily: Yeah. And so they went from having four female general managers, would you say back in 2019 to how many do you have now?

Hazel: So that was in 2018. I don't know the exact number and I can find that out for you, but our goal, our goal for women in leadership was to get to 20% by 2020 and you did achieve that.

Emily: Okay. So we have now we have a roughly a hundred properties and I want to say we have somewhere between 20 and 30 but I will definitely get the exact number.

Emily: Yeah no but that's amazing progress.

Hazel: It is. Yes.

Emily: Really commendable.

Hazel: Yeah, I'm very proud and I feel like it came at a time where, kind of before the rest of the industry follows suit. So I really appreciate, again, the chief operating officer was looking at my resume, giving me tips on how to improve it so I could get to my role. And just spending that time, there's nothing in my opinion that's more valuable than time. And when someone gives you your time, I think that that's invaluable. And I so appreciate her and I try to pass that on with anyone that I mentor. Let's take the time to talk. Let's sit down. Let's go have a coffee. It's really important to give back and to pass it on.

Emily: Just curious, how did you get that original connection to her? Because she's in the C-suite and at that point you were like a rooms person. How did you make that connection?

Hazel: It's HEI. Even those that are in the C-suite, they really do try their best to touch base with the property managers. Again, she founded the Women in Leadership Council. So just being a member of that council, I was privy to her access, which was amazing. Funny enough, right when I became a director of operations for HEI at the Stoney Hotel in Dallas, Rachel had just got promoted from general manager at the Liberty Hotel in Boston to a regional vice president. So I feel like each ranking, we kind of grew under her throughout my career with HEI. And I'm just really proud to have a female leader as a chief operating officer. And it really does, they say just have that's that's in my opinion why I'm trying to think of the word. Oh, sorry.

Emily: No, it's OK. I mean, it sounds like just having this representation of having women.

Hazel: That's the word I'm looking for.

Emily: That really inspires you because you can envision yourself to be her one day or something like that. Not necessarily her, but like her.

Hazel: No, that's wonderful. No, I've had that throughout my career, which I'm really proud of. And like I've said, I've been blessed. My first general manager was a female. My general manager at the Stonely was also a female. I had Rachel. So I've had a lot of strong women mentors in my career.

Emily: That's amazing. I know I don't want to take too much of your time. We're coming up to the close. So thank you so much, Hazel, for really sitting down with me and having this chat. We do like to do a quick fire at the end. And I'm going to bombard you with a few quick questions. What's the best advice you've ever received?

Hazel: The best advice I've ever received is really just to do my best. And that came from my father and my mother and really my father. I used to have walks with him in the morning. And when I went to visit in Virginia Beach and he asked me, what's the meaning of life? And he just, I couldn't figure it out. I said, love, he said to serve, to serve others. And that's what I'm doing here. Every day I serve others. And that's the biggest advice that I take with me every day.

Emily: Hazel, it's been a real pleasure. Thank you so much.

Hazel: Thank you, Emily.

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