🎙 On this episode we hear from Ying Ying. She describes herself as the kind of person who gravitates towards challenges. She has worked across different industries across government, private sector, startup and now is looking after a portfolio of 500 hotels in Greater China, She studied economics at uni, later in her hospitality career she found herself in HR and now managing a brand portfolio. She attributes many of the turning points of her career to mentors and sponsors, who all saw something in her and knew that she was going to go far. Equally important was having the courage to ask questions. Another key turning point she highlighted was moving to Shanghai from Singapore with her family. She describes this experience as "embarking on the university of life" and at this point it was important they made a decision for her career as a family unit.
What can you reach out to Ying Ying for?: Mentoring conversation about a new challenge when you are at a cross roads.
Who inspires Ying Ying?: Little acts of kindness and her Dad.
On this episode we hear from Rin. She started her career as an auditor, and it was when she was auditing the Holiday Inn Silom that she was drawn into the hospitality industry. After pursuing her masters degree she started with Thai conglomerate owners of hotels , then consulting and then with hotel brands, first in corporate finance before moving into development. Moving into development was an important career point that Rin highlighted, where she had to take a deeper look, step out of her comfort zone and break her own barriers. She ended up making a pitch to position herself for this role and convinced the hiring manager at the time that she was the right person for the role, and did not allow that this was a pre-dominantly male dominated environment to stop her. At her core she believes in acting in the best interest of all parties involves, because when they win, she wins too with heart and soul.
What can you reach out to Rin for?
When you need inspiration on how to break your own barriers, reach out to Rin.
Who inspires Rin?
Bill Barnett and Serena Lim
Time to turn the spotlight on me for the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November. Who has spent the last three years becoming a woman of influence.
👉 Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
Over the past few weeks I have been highlighting stories of the women who will be facilitators running the workshop on 'How to pitch a business case' and I am so grateful to each woman who put their trust in me. tag
But what I have forgotten to highlight, is that on the 7th of November, you also get to spend the day with me. Yes I will be guiding you through the day and running a masterclass on self-advocacy. So time for me to set an example and advocate for myself.
Why should you spend the day with me?
⛰️ I create safe spaces for honest and real conversations
⛰️ Where you can be authentically yourself
⛰️ I lead inspiring conversations on topics that we should be speaking on to impact our performance in the workplace
⛰️ I have also spent time in corporate and grown my own career.
⛰️ I have taken the brave step to turn my passion into a business, and will inspire you to take action to go after your own success.
👋 To the men seeing this, sorry woman only this time, but you are not forgotten. I will create spaces for you too and the meantime you can support the women in your network by sending them to spend the day with me.
Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly
🙋♀️ And you get to spend the day with me!
Get to know Debbie Flynn, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November. Who says that 'influence is everywhere and everything'
👉 Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
This is what Debbie had to say about influence:
⛰️ It is about relatability and the trust you can build through it
⛰️ Influence can create happiness
Debbie is the OG "influencer" as a PR practitioner and I would like to give a shout out to the women who made the connection possible: Sarah Wilson and Anita Mendiratta.
Listen to our full conversation here and get to know Debbie's experiences, that she will be bringing with her to the table
Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly
🙋♀️ And you might be lucky to get her on your table as your facilitator.
On this episode we hear from Woon. And I love how she introduced herself as a "respectful rebel and from then on out, it was as if our lives mirrored each others throughout the rest of the conversation. The thread in her career has been to "consistently try to stop the death of good ideas". She shared an interesting insight on how we view experiences as the backbone of our industry with both fascinates her and frustrates her. She likens her approach to finding the right role to match her, like that of a marriage and to be prepared to accept the warts and the joys of the job. Knowing what is important to her has allowed her to say 'No' with more confidence.
Woon also spoke passionately about the challenges of being an Asian female in middle management and what kind of 'sandwich' it is these days. Woon talked about the lack of managing upwards, putting pressure on your teams as a result and then conflict avoidance.
You can reach out to Woon to talk about:
⛰️ What is it like to be an Asian female manager
⛰️ How to drive change and innovation in a way that doesn’t burn bridges
❤️ Who inspired Woon: Her maternal grandmother
Get to know Marion Schonkeren, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November. Who says that 'every person has the power to influence'
👉 Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
This is what Marion had to say about influence: Let us make influence a word that is approachable as she believes that every single person has the power to influence. Most importantly it to stay true to yourself and your values, use your voice, raise people up and everyone can participate in influence.
Listen to our full conversation here and get to know Marion's experiences, that she will be bringing with her to the table
Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly
🙋♀️ And you might be lucky to get her on your table as your facilitator.
Erika shares how influence is about trust and relationship.
Find out more about Inspire Influence Live London here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
What was suppose to be a 5 minute conversation, became a 25 minute one. That is how important influence is to Laura.
Get to know Laura Brinkmann, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November.
With 20 years of professional experience in the investment and asset management in hospitality.She has like many women found herself as the only woman in the room, but she did have one great example to share from her time at Brookfield as a board director at a boardroom table with both women and men. This is when she felt'we are making a difference.'
Laurashares stories of what she calls both proactive and reactive influence from hercareer. How being naïve and curious early on in your career is your path to influence. And how working together collectively you can influence thematernity policy.
Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly
Introducing Jane Lees, facilitator at the upcoming Inspire Influence Live in London on the 7th of November.
With a career in operating real estate valuation in both Hong Kong and the UK, Jane not only is a well recognised and respected professional in our industry, but someone whowill always invest in her team. Every person who has had the privilege to work with her has said the same thing.
And on the 7th of November, you might be that lucky person who gets a seat at her table and learn from her career.
Find out more here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
Register your interest here: https://subscribepage.io/RXANly
On this episode we hear from Delnaz. And at her core she describes herself as someone who is drawn to the idea of creating experiences that people remember. This isalso how she chose hospitality because she wanted to be part od an industry that is about creating things for people that stay with them emotionally, rather than selling a product. In the past five year within the same organisation she has been able to move her role several times. It was not easy finding a role during covid, but what was important to her was to get her footin the door, say yes and then once in get noticed and ask for theopportunities. Even if it is daunting, ask.
From podcast to community to global movement — Inspire has been a journey I never could have predicted when I first hit record five years ago.
In this special episode, I reflect on how it all began: the conversations that shaped the Inspiring Women in Hospitalitypodcast, the small roundtables that sparked bigger ideas, and how it grew into a worldwide network of women supporting each other.
It’s a story of growth, connection, and the belief that together, we can change the face of leadership in our industry.
Check out the website for more details: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/
On 7 November 2025, we’ll be gathering in Londonfor the inaugural Inspire Influence Live — a fully immersive one-day workshop designed to equip women in hospitality with the skills, confidence, and influence to make a real impact.
With guidance from an incredible advisory board and inspiring facilitators, this closed-door event will give you the chance to:
⛰️ Build and pitch a business case with live feedback
⛰️ Practise self-advocacy through role-play in a safe space
⛰️ Connect across generations, roles, and companies
⛰️ Be mentored by influential leaders in our industry
Seats are limited to keep it intimate and impactful — secure your spot today!
🌍 And if this goes well, we’ll be bringing it to more cities in 2026.
👉Learn more & book your place: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/events
On this episode we hear from Iana. Having started her career in education, she then decided to transition to becoming an entrepreneur and training soft skills and English language skills in hospitality based out of Cambodia through herdigital learning start-up LX Labs. She really believes that it is through training that you can have an impact on someone's career. She is on a mission to multiply this impact by making it accessible through all.
You can contact her via LI or email for discovery calls about LX Labs or for women who want to start their own business.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iana-galai/
Email: iana_galai@lxlabs.org
Her inspiration are the young generation, the energy they bring, willing to grow and how fast they learn.
Guest: Sucheta Rawal
On this episode we hear from Sucheta. A multi-passionate in food and travel. She is a writer, founder of a non-profit to travel sustainably and a speaker. But she started her career more traditionally as an investment banker in the US,before she transitioned into what she loves doing today. It was a journey of discovery and identifying the values of her life and leaning fully into them. It was when she was sharing about her inspiration, her grandmother, was whenshe was exposed to travel and how they can be 'windows to the world'.
Sign up to Sucheta's substack here: https://suchetarawal.substack.com/p/the-pr-relationship-rollercoaster
Connect with heron LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchetarawal/
Her inspiration is her grandmother.
Guest: Jamie Cooperstein
On this episode we hear from Jamie. Originally wanted to be a journalist, it was a conversation with her cousin who sold her on the joy of service when she pivoted to hospitality and made a career out of it. She started as a concierge thatallowed her to showcase the fabulousness of the city. Later she transitioned into luxury residentials, motivated by a desire to have better working hours socially. After her master and experiencing teaching as an adjunct professor,she learnt her love of providing education. This w as the catalyst for her to start her own business as a consultant.
You can find the link to Jamie's book below:
https://jcoopconsulting.com/book/
Speaking, training, consulting or working on policies and procedure are all reasons you can get in touch with Jamie via her website as well: https://jcoopconsulting.com/contact/
Her inspiration are the front line staff of hospitality.
Guest: Andreea Bodea
Title: Investment Director @ Pygmalion Capital Advisors
She shares her journey in hospitality that started in Romania working with her parents at their vegetable farm where she learnt the talent of customer service. Three phases of her career include operations, advisory and now investment. Turning points in her career are moving abroad to study, moving from operations to advisory and having key mentors in her career to support her journey.
You can contact Andreea for help with the technical side of excel and building models. She is also happy to openup her network to you depending on where you need support.
Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreea-bodea-01167a83/
Her inspiration is her grandmother.
In this episode, Naureen reflects on the importance of setting boundaries, sharing personal and professional moments that taught her the necessity of caring for herself while pursuing the mission of gender balance. 🌟
She discusses how this theme will continue in upcoming Inspire Community sessions, inviting listeners to join the Q3 2025 cohort by July 10th. 🌸
Listen now:
Apply to join the Inspire Community: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership
Episode Summary:
In this reflective solo episode, Naureen shares her personal journey over the past five years—from starting the Inspiring Women in Hospitality podcast to building a thriving global community dedicated to gender balance.
She explores:
What it means to be a changemaker
The role of community and mentorship in transforming ideas into movements
Her experience building the Inspire Community and its growing impact
How imposter syndrome and self-doubt often accompany leadership and innovation
An invitation to join a free taster session on June 30th
Whether you're a long-time listener or new to this space, this episode is an invitation to reflect on your own role in creating change—and to consider how you might step into it more fully.
🗓 Join the free taster session on June 30th: subscribepage.io/c7TcY4
🌍 Learn more about the Inspire Community:https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership
Why I Created the Inspire Community – And Why Now Is the Time to Join
🎧 Listen Now
💬 Episode Summary:
In this episode, Naureen, Founder of Inspiring Women in Hospitality, shares the story behind the creation of the Inspire Community—a global space built for connection, visibility, and growth. With Q3 2025 membership applications now open, Naureen reflects on the personal gaps she faced in her own career and how those experiences shaped the structure and purpose of the community today.
She dives into the need for deeper conversations, tailored mentorship, and support that goes beyond surface-level networking. Whether you're growing into your leadership, looking to clarify your identity, or seeking a space where your voice is heard—this episode is for you.
✨ In This Episode, We Cover:
What was missing from traditional networking spaces
How the Inspire Community supports your leadership growth
Why mentorship, visibility, and shared experiences matter
The power of collective growth and giving back
An invitation to apply for Q3 membership
🔗 Links & Resources:
Apply to the Inspire Community: subscribepage.io/9Aqnth
Learn more: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership
Follow Naureen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naureen-ahmed-28253a35/
💡 Takeaway Question:
What action will you take today to grow your leadership and expand your visibility?
n this heartfelt solo episode, Naureen explores a deeply personal and universal theme—community. Sparked by conversations, interactions, and her own reflections while preparing to reopen her membership community for Q3, she takes us on a journey through isolation, belonging, and the healing power of human connection.
Naureen shares:
Her experience of fierce independence and the isolation it brought, especially during COVID
How loneliness during lockdown led to the birth of this very podcast
The value of family, friends, and even salsa as communities that brought joy and connection
Why she felt the absence of a professional community during her corporate career—and how it inspired her to create the Inspire Community
The evolution of her events from intimate roundtables to global gatherings
A call to action: show up, engage, and be visible in your community
Whether you find community in your family, your local café, a sports club, or your industry, this episode reminds us that we are not meant to do this alone.
🧭 Questions to reflect on:
Who or what is your community?
Where do you go to feel connected?
What will you do to create or nurture your own community?
💬 Let’s connect: Tag me and share your story of community. I’d love to hear it!
Apply now to be part of the Inspire Community membership here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership