AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake recently joined M3 host Casi Johnson to share valuable industry insights, how the HerOwnership initiative is championing women hoteliers, and the plans to elevate the AAHOA Convention & Trade Show next year. Below are some excerpted highlights of the discussion:

Casi Johnson: What can other companies or other organizations do to improve diversity within their leadership teams?

Laura Lee Blake: Maybe it was not seen as a field that they wanted to get into because the initial thought was, “I don't want to work at a hotel, because I'd have to either be at the front desk, or a housekeeper, or room service. And I don't want to work in those positions,” not realizing the full breadth of all the opportunities in the industry. As women start taking these positions, and start encouraging other women to consider it, the men are starting to see the true benefits of having women in some of these leadership roles and hearing these different perspectives. Initiatives like AAHOA's HerOwnership conference help expand membership beyond the Asian American community. As women, we have to continue to pursue it, speak out in favor of it, support it, and then celebrate every success along the way.

Casi Johnson: What can people look forward to for the Fall 2023 [HerOwnership] Women’s Conference?

Laura Lee Blake: We're hoping that we turn this women's conference into an opportunity, to figure out, how do I find the right location. Who do I need to talk to? How do I get financing? That's a huge issue. Should I be looking at a franchised hotel? Should I be looking at an independent or a boutique? How many partners do I need? Do I need a male partner to help me have these discussions with the banks or the lending institutions? These are a lot of the questions that first-time potential owners have, and it would really be to help them address the [questions]. Last year, for example, I also did - just me personally - a little session on the art of negotiation for women. Because as women, we tend to negotiate with a different focus sometimes. Even that type of opportunity to learn things that might even apply in other areas of your life, even if you're not just looking at becoming a hotelier, those opportunities are available.

Casi Johnson: In a clip of you during your [2023 HerOwnership Conference] negotiation speech, you said you could not negotiate well if you’ve not done great discovery along the way. I’d like you to expand on that. What do you mean by discovery? Where do people start?

Laura Lee Blake: With negotiation, it's always so important to first step into the shoes of the other person to figure out, what are their true motives. What are their concerns? What are their goals, what are their hot buttons, so that you have a much better sense of why you're there, and what needs to be done in order to properly reach a resolution? 

Casi Johnson: Do you think women have an advantage when it comes to empathy and trust-building?

Laura Lee Blake: Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons I wanted to even offer this session because I think sometimes as women, we fall into the thinking that we have to act like men in order to get things done. We have to go in there, we have to be strong, we cannot compromise on anything, we have to show them who's the boss. We take a very firm position, but then we don't accomplish it. I think everybody has to find what they're most comfortable with, find their own strengths and weaknesses, and then use those to their advantage.

Casi Johnson: What can we expect for the 2024 AAHOACON convention? 

Laura Lee Blake: Our goal is for everyone to surpass previous achievements. In my first AAHOACON role in Los Angeles, I was immensely grateful and blessed. We have an amazing team here, and they pulled it off. We set historic record levels of trade show floor sales, the largest in AAHOA history. And then we sold it out! I remember it was a few days before the start. I went to the sales team and suggested repurposing the remaining booths, but they were sold out by the first day of AAHOACON, and then we were completely sold out. It was definitely a cause for celebration. I have talked to our officer Miraj Patel, the current Vice Chairman who will be the chair for the Orlando Convention. He has set a mark, he wants 10,000 attendees, striving to make it the biggest ever. Our plan is to consistently elevate the event each year.

You can listen to the full episode today!

See M3's post on LinkedIn about the episode

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