Alyssa Sarno is director, global employee experience at Royal Caribbean Group. She’s also a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member! In this member spotlight, we asked her a series of questions related to her career, including what she values most as a leader as well as the accomplishment that she’s most proud of. Check out the full interview below so you can get to know Alyssa better.

  1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
    As a mom of two, my favorite topic of books seems to be around parenting philosophies; “Memory-Making Mom,” “The 5 Love Languages of Children,” etc. My all-time favorite that I just came back to right before my youngest was born is “Bringing Up Bebe,” an observational account of French philosophy from an American mom’s perspective.
  2. What’s a tip you have for productively leading a remote or hybrid team?
    As a leader with global team members, my tip is really understanding that all of your team members have different life priorities so take the extra step to see what time gives them that life flexibility. As a personal WFH tip, find your space. I came to find out that putting my desk near my kitchen or laundry room only increased my desire to not stay focused, so into my bedroom my home office went!
  3. What’s a mistake you made early on in your career?
    Believing I was entitled to promotions and thinking that every action in work settings that I didn’t like was a personal attack on me. I wasn’t ready to be promoted. They weren’t attacks on me. Honestly, growing in my career I’ve found that removing that mindset has been the fastest way to personal success.
  4. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
    Not doing it all yourself. We have a get sh*t done kind of team. I just need to make sure I give them the opportunities to do it!
  5. What’s the best way you motivate team members?
    Making sure they feel safe in expressing their passions, frustrations and everything in between to me.
  6. What are you looking forward to the most for the travel and hospitality industry?
    The revenge vacation; these extreme opportunities to relax after years of being gone. I’m looking forward to them as a leader in the industry, but maybe more so as a guest. 🙂
  7. What’s one thing you look for when interviewing a job candidate?
    The interview process to me is all about finding the person’s spark and seeing if a candidate has a passion for finding the unnoticed. I’m constantly asking candidates to tell me about a great experience they had traveling or what made them have a great day at work recently. These questions will personally always tell me more than asking the number of direct reports. Not by the answer given, but what they elicit from the candidate.
  8. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year?
    I learned that I truly love this industry. I’m so deeply passionate about what we can achieve and ultimately how important the experiences we develop for our guests are. These memories we create can end up being the most important memories they make with their families, friends and loved ones. We’re so lucky to be able to do what we do and I don’t take that lightly.
  9. What’s your favorite podcast?
    I actually don’t currently listen to any podcasts, which is so un-millennial of me.
  10. What values are most important to you as a leader?
    Passion and innovation. We’ve all been through the ringer the last few years, yet every day we wake up still ready to solve challenges in the industry and deliver great vacations.
  11. What’s the most important thing people should know about you?
    I live and breath experiences. The experience I create on a daily basis for my family. A belief that we should be just as meticulous with the experience we deliver for our employees as we do for our guest. I find the time when I’m the most well-rounded version of myself, professionally and personally, is when I’m thinking through the details of those experiences and not letting the moments slip away.
  12. What’s one habit you adopted while working from home that you kept/would like to keep with you as you return to the office?
    Going to the pool for my lunch break. As a Florida resident prior to COVID I MAYBE went to my building’s pool one random Saturday years ago. During COVID, I started to ultimately take time to break away and find mini-vacation-moments in my daily life. It was fabulous and I would be lying if I said that hasn’t continued sporadically on WFH days.
  13. How would you describe yourself in a single sentence?
    I’m someone who strives to bring passion and focus to every part of my life, eager to leave my imprint on everyone I meet and everything I touch.
  14. What’s your favorite app?
    My favorite app would absolutely be BetterSleep. It has a plethora of ambient noises that you can blend together. Great for sleep, focus. It literally has become the background soundtrack of my life.
  15. What do you do to recharge?
    Make memories. Take the weekend trip to Disney, find a last-minute flight to Chicago, randomly dress up and go to a fancy dinner with the family. My soul is recharged when I break my routine.
  16. What’s your biggest accomplishment?
    Making it back to Australia for work at the age of 29. In high school, I got an opportunity to be a student ambassador traveling to Australia, Fiji and New Zealand. Standing by the Sydney Opera House, I made a pact with myself at 16 that I would get a job that brought me back to Australia. That trip led me to meeting my husband and ultimately having two beautiful babies, led me to studying international business at Marquette University, led me to a job at Royal Caribbean, and ultimately led me back to Australia to work at developing a private destination for the Australian market. To say I didn’t stand back at the Sydney Opera House once I made it full circle balling my eyes out would be a lie.
  17. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
    Find your perfect balance of being unapologetic while still being authentic to who you are.
  18. What gets you up in the morning?
    The good answer would be something super inspirational; the real answer would be coffee … lots of coffee.
  19. What do you like most about being a member of Women Leading Travel & Hospitality?
    Having a network of supportive women that inspire, drive and push to make us all stronger, more represented leaders in the industry.

If you would like to become a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member or need additional information about our organization, click here.