Despite the fact that over half of the hospitality workforce comprises women, only one woman has a leadership position for every six men, according to The Castell Project, Inc. After over twenty years in the hospitality and travel industry, Emily Goldfischer noticed something was missing for women and has launched Hertelier to give back to the community of women in hospitality. Hertelier (https://www.hertelier.com/) is an online platform inspiring and educating women in hospitality on navigating and developing their careers in the industry from advice columns to interviews with successful women in the field. The website was launched just two months ago and since then has grown immensely, reaching readers all around the world and formed a partnership with Cornell University. In this article Emily shares her experience of launching the platform and her hopes to use it to elevate the narrative of women in lodging.
What inspired you to create Hertelier?
After more than two decades working for a major hotel company and writing for travel trade magazines, I realized there wasn’t a place online to feature industry research, news and issues important to women working in hotels. That needed to be fixed! My mission at hertelier is to change the narrative for women working in hotels, showcasing career paths at all levels and covering topics relevant to work and life, presented in a fun and interesting way. We also aim to offer spaces for women to exchange ideas, learn and engage, which is so important now as both women and hospitality have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
What have you enjoyed most about the experience?
Though only virtually, I have really enjoyed “meeting” and interviewing so many interesting and ambitious women, I love hearing their stories and sharing them with hertelier readers. I also have loved deep diving into current academic research and industry trends, synthesizing the information into shorter news briefs relevant to busy women.
What are the main challenges you have faced and lessons you have learnt about starting a business?
There have been many! Though I had been writing for various websites for the last 10 years, I never actually started one myself. Naively, I had no idea what it actually entailed to build a website, so underestimated what was involved. There was a big learning curve in terms of selecting a web hosting company, format for creating the site, and supporting online marketing through social media. Also, I had never done any kind of graphic design, so I had to learn about choosing colours and fonts. Of course, I could have hired people to do these things, but I figured if I learned these skills myself, I wouldn’t be beholden to anyone to keep my site going.
What new skills have you learnt in the process?
I have learned basic graphic design (thank you, Canva!), basic website building skills, blogging, email marketing, and improved my social media skills. I think my writing has improved too, just by increasing the sheer volume of content I am putting out weekly.
What are your hopes for Hertelier in the future?
The site has been really well received by women in the hotel industry, which is thrilling! We are building our audience at a good pace and I hope this continues so we can grow into a thriving news portal.
