Rosanna Maietta shares her path from reporter to hospitality industry executive. She also discusses the work of the AHLA Foundation, which she leads, and its DEI vision, “to build an industry as diverse as the guests we serve.” Rosanna also shares the lessons she’s learned along the way, including the importance of public speaking skills, advocating for yourself while also finding champions to advocate for you, and how and why you should continue to focus on your personal and professional growth.
Rosanna Maietta shares her path from reporter to hospitality industry executive. She also discusses the work of the AHLA Foundation, which she leads, and its DEI vision, “to build an industry as diverse as the guests we serve.” Rosanna also shares the lessons she’s learned along the way, including the importance of public speaking skills, advocating for yourself while also finding champions to advocate for you, and how and why you should continue to focus on your personal and professional growth.
I am Rachel Humphrey on behalf of D E I advisors, and today it is a pleasure for me to welcome Rosanna Maietta. She's the E V P of Communications and Public Relations for AHLA, and also president and c e o of the AHLA Foundation. Welcome Rosanna.
Rosanna Maietta:Thanks for having me, Rachel. It's good to see
Rachel Humphrey:you. We're gonna jump right in. We've got about 30 minutes to visit today and wanna take full advantage of that. As there's a huge push now for more women in executive roles within the hospitality industry, and you actually hold two of those titles right now, but your path is a little bit different than some others starting, I believe, as a rep. Porter for Bloomberg, and now as the president and c e O of the foundation, and also leading communications for H L A. Can you tell us a little bit about your path here, your journey to leadership?
Rosanna Maietta:Sure. Definitely unlikely journey to hospitality. Although I'm so glad I made it here. I did start as a reporter early on in my twenties. Grew up in Canada, left after I graduated and moved overseas with the goal of becoming a foreign correspondent, which was something I was just so you know, it was the dream job and I thought the. Easiest and fastest path to doing that is to go live somewhere else. Rather than start up through the ranks. I was always looking for those shortcuts. And so ended up in, in Rome, Italy, where I lived for seven years, and I worked for a variety of outlets, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg Market News Watch, covering a lot of financial reporting, political reporting, but also international reporting. Because Rome tended to be a hub for a lot of Un focused events, programs and whatnot. So it was a really exciting time. I loved my time in the news world and I brought all of those skills to everything that I've done since. I ended up moving to New York and from there entered the world of public relations. First. Working for a national news magazine in the PR department. It's really where I learned what PR was and how to do that job. And then eventually moved to Washington DC where I joined a global public relations firm and worked for a variety of clients, fortune. 500 companies as well as embassies and foreign governments, a lot of nonprofits. I was always attracted to complex challenges and issues. A lot of crisis communications, media relations, because that was my background. But then also organizations that, that do good and want to make a difference. And that's something that I was able to do when I When I finally did start working for the foundation, one of my clients introduced me to A H L A and then c e o Catherine Luer, who was coming into the job. And she and I met. And the, that's the story to A H L A and hospitality. And I've been with the organization for eight years. I've loved every minute of it. A lot of it difficult. Challenging times particularly the last several years. And then the journey to the foundation was really because one of the key things you do in communications is tell your story and was doing that on for the industry for our issues. What how do we. Really tell the story of what this industry does at the community level, at the national level, but also what we do for employees and the path to the American dream that this industry provides. And that's the story of the foundation as well. And took over the foundation with the goal of better telling the story. And as we started to look at the mission of the foundation felt that the foundation could do a lot more could really expand what it was doing for employees, but also for the reputation of the industry and how could we attract talent to the industry. And so that's it's been a journey, but it's been a really good one.
Rachel Humphrey:Before we go on to some of the lessons that you've learned along the way, I actually wanted to talk about the HLA Foundation for just a minute, and I wanna read it to get it exactly right. But the h l A foundation made a five year commitment to D ei. To build an industry as diverse as the guests we serve. And I loved that. And I wondered if you could tell us a little bit about what is the foundation doing? What is that five year commitment to D e I look and why is it so important for the industry right now? Sure.
Rosanna Maietta:It's, it was really interesting for us. The initiative was born out of the very difficult summer and the wake of the murder of George Floyd and I started talking to a lot of our trustees, but a lot of industry leaders from various backgrounds. About the need and the desire to do more and be more public about what the industry was doing. I think the industry has had a long legacy of working hard on de and I. But it wasn't something that we really. Talked about or led with and many companies have in place programs to advance people. And I think if you look at any property, you see that diversity very clearly. But we knew that there was a challenge at the seniormost levels. Particularly for women. I think, you're doing a great amount of work in that space as well. And so is David. And it's gonna take all of us to keep the pressure on, but we recognize that we could, as a foundation, devote some significant financial resources towards this effort and really start thinking about how do you get more people into the C-suite? First of all, why aren't there more women in a C-suite? What are the challenges? What are the barriers? Is some of it systematic, is some of it, barriers that the women put on themselves, right? Not seeing themselves in their, in those roles, or maybe not even wanting those roles because of the pressure, the time commitment. Maybe there's less flexibility in their minds, or maybe they need to move and relocate and they're also caregivers in whatever capacity. And so really trying to understand some of that. Some of that requires research. Some of that also requires programs. Some of that requires. Pushing industry leaders to recognize this is a priority. And we felt that we should make a five year commitment that we should put 5 million towards that commitment and then really set up a task force of industry leaders to help determine. What programs do we need? What's missing? And some of that in year one which I'm so pleased that we've already accomplished, was putting together an inclusive leadership training on behalf of the industry. Some companies have done that and continuously do that, but we know that our industry is varied and segmented, and so we wanted to be the. Place that could provide these tools and resources to those organizations that couldn't do them themselves. And we worked with Korn Ferry for over a year and our task force to develop a curriculum that we felt really was unique to our industry around inclusive leadership. And it's challenging, it's difficult. There are tough conversations. You have to really be. Introspective and really think about how are you leading, what are your blind spots? How do you overcome those blind spots? Who is in your inner circle? Why are those people in your inner circle who's missing from that inner circle? And so we earlier as. Year launched our first cohort of 60 industry leaders. And it was a fascinating experience. And many people after that said to me, do you know, did this meet your expectations? And I have to say, I didn't have expect, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how the program was going to be received. It's one thing when you put something on paper and then another when you put it into practice. And I think we had really terrific. Moderators who helped facilitate. They were people who were experienced in these conversations. And I think that was the key to delivering a really unique experience and what we've done since is those 60, that first class of 60 has been meeting throughout. And since the early spring and will continue throughout this year. And so that they now have a peer set that's different than the peer set that maybe they had been relying on. And it's outside of their inner circle. And so the goal is that they can maintain those conversations and those those friendships even Born out of some of those challenging times and difficult conversations. And our goal now is we have this tool and this terrific resource that each of those 60 will send more people next year, but also that they can take this package it and have it. Within, share it within their own companies. And so that we're expanding the number of people at the seniormost levels in the industry who are exposed to this type of training. And that's just one of the pieces that we've done. But I think that's a really critical component. And then some of the other pieces, again, are really looking at how do we bring mid-level talent to that next level and what does that look like? And a lot of that was born out of our merger with a Castell project, which I'm so proud of. I think Peggy has done a phenomenal job in the industry to really push leaders to think differently about advancing women. And she's created some really phenomenal programs that we hope to scale up now that they're part of the foundation. That's
Rachel Humphrey:great. We're certainly very appreciative to the foundation for leading in this important area. One of the things that you mentioned a second ago, there is one of the barriers somewhat responsible on ourselves for putting ourselves out there, advocating for ourselves when we want things. I think you and I I've noticed have a. Similar trait in sometimes questioning who me? You want to talk to me? Tell us a little bit about how you, what you're seeing, maybe some trends right now for people who aren't necessarily advocating for themselves, the importance of it. Any recommendations you have on making sure that you are taking some personal responsibility in that growth.
Rosanna Maietta:Yeah, that, that's, I think the biggest challenge when it comes to women in particular. You're so right. I I have to remind myself to take my own advice. I think I'm Much more concerned about everyone else and on my team and pushing them, out of their comfort zone, helping provide that guidance. And I think that's important for leaders to do and for people in our. Capacity and who our connections and networks are. You always wanna be being supportive in advocating for others, and I think that the key is to really both individually. Remind yourself that you are deserving, that you have expertise, that you have credibility, that you've earned your right to be in the room or at the table. And there's sometimes daily reminders. I think it's important to for women who are pulled in many directions to daily, take some time before you start your day, look at your day, what is on your calendar. Think about those meetings and what your. Personal goals are for those meetings. It really requires an intentionality that takes time and effort and energy. And sometimes we don't give ourselves that time and energy. And I think that is really critical. I also think it's important to have advocates, to find those advocates. I I grew up in the newsroom environment when there were still very few women in the newsroom, and the women who were in the newsroom were some of the hardest people to befriend. And I just remember thinking like, why? Aren't they being the ones to help push you forward? And I shouldn't generalize cuz that's not always the case, but it, in my experience, it was, I had more more luck getting having male advocates support me and promote me than I did the women in the newsroom. And it just made me see that I don't want to be like that. And so how can I make it easier for the people that you know are, I'm responsible for? And so I think that's important. Find the people in your network and outside of your network doesn't always have to be, a close circle of friends. I think it's important to have diversity in who your advocates are, because you're gonna get different perspectives and that's really important as well.
Rachel Humphrey:I love a couple that points me on advocating for ourselves the intentionality. I really like that. I think sometimes we get so busy on the hamster wheel of life and work that we don't step back to really be intentional in those decisions. And. As far as champions go, I think my experience has been very similar to yours, that some of my greatest champions have been men. Currently one, one or many of your coworkers gave me opportunities, promoted me in opportunities, and seeing that this industry really. Promotes having champions and mentors and there's so few people that if you reach out and just say, I wanna ask you a question or I wanna talk to you for a few minutes, I've been always shocked at how available everybody is regardless of title and level or connections may be. And so I think that identifying those people and really I. Taking the opportunity to connect with them. We went back earlier when you were talking about the start of your career to being a reporter. And certainly with your training, one of the elements that a lot of people see is necessary to become a leader, to have that C-suite position or even to continue to grow into leadership that might not be quite as, Public facing is an ability to speak publicly. There's a couple of things here I wanted to ask you about. One is, if someone has an interest in public speaking, whether it's internally at team meetings or it is on the largest of stages in the industry, how should they go about letting that be known? And then when you do One of the character traits of yours that I admire so much is the poise and ease with which. It appears you speak when you speak publicly, and I know that it's not, I know that it's training and preparation and all of these things, but how do you prepare? How would you recommend that others do when given those opportunities so that the opportunities keep coming?
Rosanna Maietta:This is, I think, critical to an individual success really in no matter what role you're in, if you think about even in particular, the last two years and the Zoom and it. Being able to share your points, be heard and talk and add value is not easy and you really have to be thoughtful about what you're trying to say when you're saying it, and how you. Come across. It does take skill and I do credit my training as a reporter in that, it was a lot of practice. Certainly, but there are some tricks, I think first to answer your question about how do you get in, how do you get information? How do you share that, how do you tell people? You, anyone listening should definitely Talk to their supervisors about wanting to do something like this. I, there is a multitude of resources now available that I don't think existed previously, but there are podcasts that you can listen to there. There are videos online and I think it's easy to find some. Online courses that don't take a lot of time, that will give you some really smart tips that anybody can do if it's not something that's available at your company or where you're working currently. So I would recommend doing that. I was I laughed. I was in a was on a work trip. And was in a, an Uber and the gentleman was listening to a podcast about public speaking training. So you can really do these. There are short little seminars that you can take in whatever format is comfortable to you to help you prepare and get better at it. It does take practice. I've been doing this for over 20 years, and every time I have to present, I practice. And I think that's important. I think I would say early on in your career practice in front of a mirror. But the key is really, what are you saying, right? Because some of it is how you look and feel. What are you doing with your hands and, are you all over the place? And so learning to have some composure and be aware of your body is one of the things you learn when you're doing sort of presentation or media training. But this the more. Critical component is what are you saying? And I think people have a tendency, particularly people who are nervous to memorize. And that is the number one failure right out of the gate. Because when you are nervous, your brain does not recall things easily. And some of the tricks there are really to think about. What are the points you wanna make? What, and not word for word verbatim, but what do you want this audience to remember? When you are done and when you distill it into that, the words and the order of the words you say them don't really matter. But your brain will remember the three things you want the takeaways to be, and then you, it becomes more conversational, it becomes more authentic to you, and those are the things that I always remind myself when I'm gonna speak. Sure. I also have a system in which I write out my talking points and I, and then I think about it and then, and so it's. It's a sort of a shorthand for me to remember what do I wanna say? And then I'll step back before, say I go on stage or before an important presentation, and I'll think, okay, how do I take what I wrote and distill it into what I want the takeaways to be? And then it flows naturally.
Rachel Humphrey:I think yours in my training, while very different fields is very similar because as a trial lawyer, it was the same thing. You have to be prepared. You have to know who your audience is, what you want the takeaways to be at the end. But you also need to be able to pivot if something comes up that you don't expect. Or there might be even on a panel or something, a topic that you're not ready for, but you're very well versed in. So for me it was. As much preparation as I, no one was ever gonna be more prepared than I was. But then once you know it, it doesn't matter where the context or conversation goes because you're speaking from what you know. You mentioned the Uber driver and listening to podcasts and that touched on one of the things we wanted to ask about too is continuous growth. So whether it is to continue to be learning in one specific area or identifying. Where you want to end up, and then maybe what skills do you need to develop? How do you get there when you are working with your current teams or when you look at your path, how did you continue to develop the skills that you identified would be important for your current roles? And then how do you translate that into developing the teams around you so that everyone is constantly growing.
Rosanna Maietta:Sure. I'm a big believer in constantly learning, plus I feel like, you're only as smart as the people that you surround yourself with. And I'm a big believer in hiring people who know more than me. It's important to constantly be learning and being open to learning. And I, I de and I is. Is a terrific example. When I first set up the task force, I told everyone, this is not an area I'm familiar with. Yes, I'm the daughter of immigrants, I'm an immigrant here in the us but my knowledge is not deep. And so I wanted to surround myself by people who were experts in their field, and I'm still learning throughout this. Process. And so it is so important to open yourself up to things that not just are areas of interest to help you do your job, but other things because that tra that they always come to play in what you end up doing. And so one example of that is as a. Former reporter and wanna be writer. I entered journalism because I was a failed writer and the goal of being, living in Paris and writing novels. But that has fueled my ongoing interest in. Just I'm a voracious reader. I read everything from a variety of news outlets and not just, ones that I agree with, but I'd like to see what other people are producing, writing, talking about. And I think that content constantly helps you form opinions or, find other pieces of research that maybe are of interest. I stay connected with. I have a writer's group and we meet once a month, and whether we're writing or sharing, writing, we're talking about writing, we're talking about other things. I think that always comes to play in other conversations that I'm having around the work table. And I have a lot of friends who are artists and so how do they view the world and. And how does that change what I'm thinking or doing? Or how do I bring some, some color and light into what we're doing and think creatively about, about problems. I think it's really important to surround yourself. By with other people who are not so different from you because that's continuous growth and learning. And they will be people who say, oh, have you read this book? And it might be something that I never would've picked up. At the I was gonna say the bookstore, or I should say order on. But I still love a good bookstore because you like to, you go and things that maybe you wouldn't wouldn't have been put in front of you. Podcasts are the thing did you are now and. I love listening to a variety of different speakers and journalists and everything from comedy to food, to economics. So a variety, just so that you never know where inspiration's gonna come from. You never know where you're gonna find a solution that maybe has been denying on. In the back of your mind around a problem that you can't figure out, and then all of a sudden, in some sec su circuitous route you get an answer. So I, and I encourage my team, we make sure we have budgets for training and professional development, and I encourage them. And it's funny because Most often by the, the end of the year, I'll roll around and you'll notice that very few people have taken advantage of that. And I push my team all the time to find an online course or find something fun that you wanna do that that allows you to have some growth because that's so important and it changes your perspective on things in ways that you wouldn't otherwise imagine. Look, I wanna follow
Rachel Humphrey:up on something that you said at the start of that, because say, when you say out loud, I know that I am not an expert in something and I wanna surround myself with people who are, or go out and find people who are, that's an incredibly confident skill to say as a leader in front of others, I'm not. The smartest person in the room on that. How would you advise others who maybe are feeling less secure or less confident in saying out loud? I don't know a lot about that. I could learn it or I can find people who do, because I think that is one thing that holds everybody up regardless of gender or where you are in your leadership is not wanting to communicate that maybe you don't know something and how that reflects on you.
Rosanna Maietta:It's a great question. I mean you say it comes from confidence to me it's just about honesty. There are a lot of things I know, but I'm happy to share what I don't know and I wanna learn and just cause you don't know, that doesn't mean that you won't become an expert at it someday either. I certainly did not know anything about running a foundation, but that doesn't mean that I. It wasn't a quick study. And that's where the continuous growth comes. Talk to people. What I started doing was talking to people who ran foundations and so that's how you expand your network at the same time. I think it's important to be honest with people who you work with. What, and again, it doesn't mean that you're not knowledgeable in other things. You're at the table already because. You have a right to be there and someone said, this is, you're an expert in this. But expand your horizons and and always look for those opportunities that push you out of your comfort zone. I think it's important. I have the opportunity to be a leader and I wanna make sure that I'm pushing my team outside of their comfort zone. Not because you want them to fail, although failure is good. I, you learn so much from things that go sideways. And those are the lessons that you take and grow from. But it's in an effort to let them see what they are able to accomplish when they take on something that maybe scares them at first. And my wish for everyone is that they have the opportunity to be pushed by someone to try something and if it doesn't work, that's fine. Then you go in a different direction.
Rachel Humphrey:That's a perfect segue. I know we're getting short on time. I have so much I wanna cover. So I'm gonna do a little bit of rapid fire picking up, moving out of the country relocating as an immigrant to the United States, all things that take tremendous risk and that you have seen successes and probably some that were less successful in doing. What would you tell people about the importance of taking risks in their career to get where they wanna go?
Rosanna Maietta:It's critical. I will say I never. Considered them risks. They were just opportunities. And I think risk sounds scary but I looked at everything as an opportunity. Sure. Looking back at it now, I think, oh my gosh, there wasn't even internet when I moved. To, I didn't have a place to stay. I didn't have a job. I was just like, let's see what happens. And I could always come back with what I told myself. I could always go home and I still feel that. I I think you have to try new things and meet new people and experience different things. It adds so much to your life. It makes it rich. And it in, to me it, first of all, it introduced me to my husband, so that worked out really well. But also I have a wealth of friends who are not like me, who didn't grow up like me who have made my life so rich. And so I, I think that anytime you can Give something a try. You should, and nothing is forever and that's what we have to remind ourselves. Sometimes I think people think if I do this, then I'm stuck. Actually, no, you're not.
Rachel Humphrey:That's great advice. All right, last two. This is my all-time favorite question that when I'm asked on panels and part of it is because of that idea of continuous growth, cause of the importance for me of reflecting on the past and how that leads me where I wanna go. I'm curious what your advice would be to your younger self. I've told people a lot lately that in my. Retirement. My answer has changed completely. From what it would have been for many years, which was accurate and truthful at that time. But now looking back and having a different off that hamster wheel, I think that we are just talking about what would be the advice that you would give to your younger self, reflecting on those challenges, the growth where you started, where you are today. Amen. This is really
Rosanna Maietta:hard. And you're right. I've thought about this a lot and I've had a million different answers on a variety of different things. One aspect would've been as a young mother, I wish I had told myself, no, it's okay. You don't have to be in the office all the time. Don't miss that. Performance at school. So that's one thing. But I think generally speaking, and I did this recently be, just before covid we, that summer before Covid, we went back to Rome and I hadn't been there in a while. And I remember walking by one of my offices where I worked as a reporter and just thinking to myself how my life had come sort of full circle. And here I am now visiting and I was in, it's such a different, Place in my life and two, two boys who were on their way to doing really well and just feeling so different. And I thought to myself, I wish I had told myself then that it would be okay. Calm down some of that anxiety that you have when you're young and where am I gonna end up and what's it gonna look like? But some of that anxiety is what drove me to continuously move and change and evolve. And I dunno.
Rachel Humphrey:I'm gonna tell you I did not know that answer. And you can to our audience, I had no idea. That is the advice I. To give to my younger self that it is gonna be okay. You are going to find love, you are going to be a good mom. You are going to find success in not one but two careers. You are gonna have financial security, whatever it was that, that I worried about so much. And I think you're right. I think some of that is the driving factor. For how you end up there. But I just saying everything is gonna be okay at the end of the day and I try to impart that on my daughters now who are older and, I easier said than done. I think, I guess they have to figure that out along their path as well. I will tell you that the one that I pivoted to over the last year or so is I wish I had prioritized self-care now and I always thought that I wa by taking care of everyone else, whether it be. Coworkers, colleagues, family, friends, whatever, that somehow I was in service to others, but not realizing how critically important. Exercise and hydration and sleep and reflection and all of these things were that again, on that hamster wheel. I thought those were the things you put last if you can't fit everything in and now having an opportunity to do it differently, I'm just so much healthier and stronger and I know that my best self in all of those things in work and family and all would've been greatly improved by. Taking a little bit of care. All right. I know we are over time, but I'm not gonna let you go quite yet. D e i, advisors of course, is about empowering personal success. How do each of us find what we need to take our careers and ourselves to the level we wanna be? So keeping in mind the motto of empowering personal success. Do you have any final advice for everyone? I
Rosanna Maietta:think my advice would be to keep moving forward and surround yourself by different people and different voices because they will make you better and they will push you and you will push them. And I think that will lead to a more inclusive environment for everybody.
Rachel Humphrey:I love that. I know we didn't get to talk about support systems and work life at all, but I feel like there are all these nuggets through what you've said that have dovetailed so nicely into that by surrounding yourself with so many different people in so many different facets of your life. For Z, it is delightful to sit down and talk with you. Thank you so much for your leadership within the industry, your tremendous support of elevating women and others in the industry as well. And thanks for being a part of d e I
Rosanna Maietta:advisors. Thanks, Rachel. This is, this was more fun than I thought. I was a little nervous, but made it easy. I appreciate that.
Rachel Humphrey:Thank you so much.