In fact, according to the 2023 benchmarking report Women in Hospitality, compiled by the School of Hospitality Management at Pennsylvania State University with support from the AHLA Foundation, females accounted for almost 70 percent of students who graduated with a hospitality degree in recent years. The industry is starting to see this statistic play out, as the number of women rising to executive roles increases. Women now hold one in four chief-level positions at hotel companies, and a strong pipeline exists that will ensure the trend continues.
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But it hasn’t always been this way. The struggles women have encountered, particularly in an industry long dominated by men, are real. And even now, statistics are skewed when it comes to technology careers, with females remaining underrepresented in the industry’s IT arena. HU recently talked with three women who have reached the top of their professions in the industry: Priya Rajamani, vice president of implementation and support at Stayntouch; Kristi White, vice president of reporting, data and analytics at Groups360; and Jill Wilder, president of Aptech. These women discussed their career paths, challenges they encountered along the way, and the importance of mentors to their success.

Moving beyond the challenges

Wilder began working in hospitality in the early 1980s. A recent college graduate with a business degree, she took a job in the accounting department of a suburban Pittsburgh country club. At the time, few females held management positions in the industry. After five years, she joined Aptech, a provider of enterprise accounting and financial solutions for the hospitality industry. “I realized that I could only move up so far at a country club, and I was eager to spread my wings,” she said, noting that her previous employer had been an Aptech client. Wilder accepted a position in the company’s support department and steadily climbed the corporate ladder, eventually being named a vice president in 2001. In that position, she oversaw operations, product development and client relationships. Still, those years weren’t without challenges. She recalls one situation, in particular, in which she encountered gender bias. “In the 1990s, we partnered with a company that was owned and managed by two men, and they didn’t want to work with me,” she said. “They only wanted to do business with a man.” If they thought Wilder wasn’t up to the task, they soon learned
they had underestimated her skills, tenacity and business savvy.
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She navigated the relationship with aplomb and ended up not only gaining the respect of the men but also learning a lot about herself.
“I realized that I could handle just about anything.” Rajamani has also faced gender bias. Years ago, at a previous company, she was being considered for a promotion at the same time that she was expecting her second child. “The other candidate was a man, and my boss actually suggested that I didn’t need the promotion because I was about to have a baby,” she said. “Even now, his words sting in my ears.”
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Although her colleague got the job, Rajamani didn’t let it slow her down. “I used that time to gain knowledge and build networks with my customer base,” she said. “I made myself more valuable to the company. My boss didn’t prevent me from learning and moving forward.” And move forward she did. She soon joined Stayntouch, a global provider of cloud hotel property management systems and guest-centric technology, where she leads the company’s implementation and support teams. Her innovative approach has resulted in significant reductions in training and implementation times for hotel customers and she has received numerous accolades for her
initiatives.
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White has worked in hospitality for almost 30 years. Interestingly, she wanted to pursue a law degree when a temporary position at a hotel turned into a longer-term opportunity. She soon discovered she was good at numbers and computers, and she enjoyed the industry. Although she hasn’t encountered outright gender bias,
there were times when male developers ignored her suggestions, telling her that what she wanted to do simply wasn’t possible. In response, she took it upon herself to prove them wrong. “I locked myself in my office, did my own research, and figured out how to do the thing that I was told couldn’t be done,” she said.
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Also, like many career women, White, who frequently speaks on revenue management topics and advises hotels on how to improve performance and profitability, has experienced pushback for being assertive. “I’ve been called the ‘b’ word more than once,” she laughs, noting that a male in the same situation would probably be referred to as a go-getter. “I just say that I’ve been called worse by better people. I don’t let them steal my power.”

Mentors helped build confidence

Despite these and other challenges, all three women continued to advance their careers and said the tough times made them more resilient. “I learned early on to stand up for myself,” Wilder stated. “The trials just made me stronger.” Rajamani agrees. “Each time I overcame an obstacle, I gained more confidence.” She also grew professionally from every difficult experience. “If you look at challenges through a lens of opportunity, you’ll find ways you can improve.”

Additionally, mentors—both male and female—played a role in helping these women gain self-confidence and reach their career goals. Wilder says her earliest champion was her mother. “She told me I could achieve anything I wanted.” Later, her longtime boss at Aptech, Jay Troutman, became her biggest mentor. “He taught me how to solve problems, take care of customers and be a good leader,” she said, adding that he was an early proponent of women in the workforce. “He never wavered in his support of me, and he trained me for the job I hold now. He’s still a trusted friend and advisor.”
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Similarly, White credits hospitality veteran Bob Post with supporting her career goals. “He helped me grow, but in a way that allowed me to be me,” she said. “He
believed in me, challenged me and helped me reach my potential.” As a young woman in the early phase of her career, Rajamani received support from two female senior managers who displayed the kind of behavior she wanted to emulate. “They truly led by example.”
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In recent years, two other colleagues made a difference in her career. The first was a female CFO who advised Rajamani to demand higher compensation. “Although the recognition of my work was there, the money was not,” she said, adding that even today women often have to fight for equal pay. The second was a male supervisor who recognized her value and gave her the autonomy and encouragement to grow. “He urged me to get involved in every aspect of the company,” which expanded
her career horizons and changed the trajectory of her life.

A growth industry for women

Rajamani, White and Wilder all see a bright future for women in the hospitality space, and in technology positions in particular. “I definitely see hospitality as a growth industry for women,” White said. “We have vision and clarity, and we’re detail-oriented by nature, which lends itself to technology.” She also notes that young women today take a more fearless approach to challenges than their older counterparts. “Their attitude is: ‘Fake it till you make it.’ They’re determined
to figure things out.”
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Rajamani agrees. “Things have changed so much and for the better,” she said. “When I began my career two decades ago it was almost an oddity for a woman to be in hospitality technology, but the table is now filled with women. It’s so refreshing and hopeful to see.” Yet, there’s still room for improvement. “In a male-dominated industry, it can be hard to break into the inner ranks,” Wilder said, noting that women often have to go to extra mile to prove themselves. “The ‘old boy network’ still stands in some circles,” Rajamani concluded. Her solution? “We’ve got to get an ‘old girl network’ going!”