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AAHOA Lodging Business JULY 201252

A Foundation For The FutureA long-term Carlson executive and an industry pioneer, Nancy Johnson shares the story of her journey to success, how she’s mentoring a new generation of hoteliers and Carlson Rezidor’s road map for the future

Nancy Johnson, who serves as executive vice president of Development, Americas,

Limited Service Brands, for the Carl-son Rezidor Hotel Group, reached an important milestone in 2011 when she became the chair of the American Ho-tel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), adding to her already-impressive list of career achievements.

“When I started in the business, I was in development construction. It was kind of a lonely place for a woman,” Johnson said during an in-terview in May with ALB. “I identified with AH&LA. It was a place I could go to get educated on what’s going on.”

In 2003, Johnson was the found-ing chair of AH&LA’s Women In Lodging Council.

“The initial mission of the coun-cil was to really create a network of executive women who could become more visible in the industry to show students and young women coming up in the industry that there were role models of women who have made a successful career in hotels,” she said.

Today, there are nearly 1,700 members from several state chap-ters across the United States partici-pating in Women In Hotel Leader-ship (WIHL).

“It really is so women can net-work [and] be educated on devel-oping their careers by women who have been through it,” Johnson said. “It is a great opportunity for the in-dustry to identify a new workforce [and] new leadership.”

In recent years, the women of AAHOA have become more visible within the association, with ris-ing participation at WIHL sessions at Regional meetings and annual WIHL conferences. Johnson sees second and third generation women hoteliers attempting to strike a bal-ance between what they’ve learned in the United States and the rich, cultural heritage they inherited from first generation hoteliers.

“What I see with this new generation of women coming up is they do want to make their mark on society. They want to do it hand in hand with their spouse but they’re not going to be taking a second position. They will be doing it in partnership,” Johnson said. “The women have been shown to be very smart business people and I see a lot of this new generation will make the Indian culture proud of what they leave.”

Johnson said that many women in the industry try to strike a good balance between work life and home life but encouraged women to take advantage of the growing op-portunities before them.

By Jonathan Springston, AAHOA Lodging Business

“Women have to realize that the opportunity is there should they choose to have it. They can have what they want. They can be the top executive of a corporation.”

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“Women have to realize that the opportunity is there should they choose to have it. They can have what they want. They can be the top executive of a corporation,” she said. “There have been more small businesses started over the last 10 years by women than by men. There are opportunities for women to own hotels, run hotels [and] to be in-volved in vending to hotels. Women are seeing that they don’t necessar-ily have to give up the family life, the balance in their life, whatever that might be. They can still be ex-ecutives who give a lot back.”

An Occupation of NecessityJohnson knows well the challenges of balancing work life with duties at home. As a single mother of two, Johnson went to work for a hotel in St. Cloud, Minn. that allowed her to work nights while keeping her children during the day.

The hard work paid off, afford-ing Johnson a stream of new oppor-tunities rather quickly. When she became a vice president of market-ing, Johnson enrolled in marketing courses. When she started in real estate acquisition, Johnson earned a real estate license. When she didn’t understand how to read blueprints, Johnson enrolled in drafting courses.

“I started educating my-self and doing whatever it took to reach the positions I was being handed,” she said. “I was given so many opportunities and people were so good to allow me to grow and do things. That’s probably one of things I see a strong need for - the ability to lift people up, whether that be employees, whether it be peo-ple in your church or society.”

The sense of community is one trait about AAHOA that impresses Johnson most.

“Nobody can replicate the bond they have in helping one another,” she said. “They are so giving and so open about helping their fellow Asians up into the business, to edu-cate them. That is what we need in society in general.”

The ability to meet kind and

talented individuals, each fueling the passion of the other, is what led Johnson into hospitality.

“One of things about this indus-try is you meet so many wonderful people. You really have to have a passion for helping people,” she said. “If you’re going to do any-thing, you should make sure you’re having fun doing it, which brings an intensity to it. You should care deeply about what you’re doing.”

Family MattersWhile working for the Sunwood Inn & Convention Center, a full service hotel in St. Cloud, Johnson had a chance en-counter with the presi-dent of Brutger Companies, Inc., a local firm

getting into the business of hotel construction, who offered her a job.

“I was with them for 10 years and built 48 hotels,” Johnson said. “I wore a hard hat, dealt with plumbers, electricians, carpenters - you name it, zoning, municipal approvals. The education was amazing.”

Johnson held various leadership positions with Brutger before mov-ing on to eventually become vice president and COO of Hospitality Development Corporation.

In the late 1980s, Johnson reached out to Carlson, a

family-owned, Min-nesota-based com-

pany launching the Country Inns & Suites brand at

around the same time AAHOA came

“I was given so many opportunities and people were so good to allow me to grow and do things. That’s probably one of things I see a strong need for - the

ability to lift people up, whether that be employees, whether it be people in your church or society.”

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We tell employees to make eye contact and have empathy for what the customer went through to reach the hotel

to life. The connection between Carlson and AAHOA was immedi-ate and powerful.

Carlson Chairman Marilyn Carlson Nelson and her family in the earliest days of the association invited the AAHOA Board of Direc-tors to her home in Minneapolis. Johnson recalls fondly that meeting.

“It was the Carlson family say-ing we know what you’ve been through,” Johnson said. “It was Carlson saying we believe in the immigrants from India coming in and we believe in what you have contributed to the hotel industry and we support and applaud it. [Carlson] at that time was so family-oriented and AAHOA is family-oriented. It was a magic connection that took place.”

In addition to serving as an AAHOA Founding Member, Carl-son set up the idea of an educa-tion fund, to which the company contributes every year, and helped

women develop their role in the industry.

“The philosophy of helping people is something we believe in,” Johnson said. “The contribution we make every year to the educational

fund for AAHOA is purely because we love the people. We want the next generation to be just as enlight-ened and innovative as the past has been.”

Country PrideFor 22 years, Johnson has attended

each AAHOA Annual Convention. “When I come to AAHOA, I

always get energized because peo-ple are so positive,” she said. “You always feel like you’re coming home when you come here because they

are a great boon for us.”Indeed, 33 percent of all Country

Inns & Suites licensees are Asian American.

“They have really helped us grow the brand. We feel they have a vested interest in making sure we stay successful and we just love that,” Johnson said.

Country Inns & Suites has proved wildly popular with the traveling public and inspires an intense loyalty from its employees.

“The building embodies some place you would like to sleep. The ‘home-iness’ of the product touches people’s spirit. The people who work there feel passionate about it,” Johnson said. “We have a culture within Country that has been there forever and that we call now ‘Be Our Guest.’ We train for it. We tell [employees] when you see a cus-tomer walk through the door, you make eye contact. We want you to have that empathy, that passion for what they’ve been through to get to your hotel.”

The Carlson Rezidor Group is in the middle of its Ambition 2015 strategy that calls for a clear identity for each flag in its portfolio while accelerating growth and driv-ing revenue. Within this strategy, Country has evolved to become the first midscale product to serve its breakfast offering with real silver-ware and dining ware.

“It’s one of those things that has gained so much attention and now our owners are saying once you get it in, it is no more expensive,” Johnson said of the new dining ware program,

Johnson on Country: “The building embodies some place you would like to sleep. The ‘home-iness’ of the product

touches people’s spirit. The people who work there feel passionate about it.”

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ter relationships because of that.”While she believes a recovery is

upon the industry, Johnson said the effects of the downturn will shape the future for some time to come.

“The unfortunate thing is you won’t see as many novices come into the industry as we’ve had in the last 10 years,” she said. “You’ll see people with multiple hotels be able to get financing. I think you will see a steady growth but I don’t think you’ll see any dynamic growth.”

Running a hotel is no easy task but Johnson loves it because it’s never boring.

“If you have a passion for the industry and you take care of your customers, business dollars will come. I believe if you take care of [the guests] and your hotels, you will be successful,” she said. “Don’t over-leverage your property. Have the best brand you can for your property. Don’t rule with emotion, rule with intelligence. Allow people to advise you. If you listen to the advice of people who have been through it, you will learn a lot.”

which came to life in late 2011. “Our customers go, ‘Wow, a real plate, real silverware. Thank heavens!’ In your own home, you wouldn’t serve someone breakfast on a styrofoam plate and styrofoam cup. Not only is it environmentally irresponsible, you wouldn’t do it to your guests.”

Carlson Rezidor is working on the Generation 4 prototype for Country that executives believe will propel the brand into more urban markets while keeping it fresh for guests.

While the second year of Ambition 2015 put much focus on refreshing Radisson properties and launching the Radisson Blu brand, some Country Inns & Suites owners may feel like their brand has taken a temporary back seat. But Johnson looks at it differently.

“Country is their homegrown brand. Carlson loves Country and what it has done,” Johnson said. “It’s one of things where if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Country isn’t broken. It will go through its evolu-tion. One of the things I’m proud of

is the evolution that has taken place naturally internally from our own-ers and operators.”

Carlson launched its sweeping Ambition 2015 during a time of great economic difficulty but the

company has worked diligently with franchisees to help them weather the storm.

“We did a lot of forgiving, putting online, drawing out. We had improvements in place we relieved,” she said. “If one of our licensees works with us, we help them make it through. We helped wherever we could and we’ve come out with bet-

If you listen to the advice of people who have been through it, you will learn a lot

“One of things about this industry is you meet so many wonderful people. You really have to have a passion for helping people.”