Veronique Deblois is the senior director of global partnerships at Hilton. She’s also a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member! In this member spotlight, we asked Veronique a series of questions about both her professional role and personal life, including the woman who inspires her, her leadership style, her advice for the next generation of female leaders, and much more.

  1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
    Every Christmas, my mom gives me a book in French so I can try to retain my native language. I was born in Quebec, Canada, and while French is my native language, we moved to the U.S. when I was 12 years old, so it’s a constant struggle to stay fluent. This last holiday, she gave me a book by Esther Gagné, an author from a town near mine in Quebec, called “À L’Orée de la Frontière.” My town is very near the border of Maine and the book is about a midwife living in 1925 in a border town. Really neat to see all the references to places I know and to read about how people made do with what they had during the long winter months, including maternity and childbirth.
  2. What do you love most about the industry?
    The relationships with clients and fellow suppliers. It’s a small circle and a client can end up being a colleague or peer or vice versa. I enjoy being able to visit interesting destinations as part of my business travels.
  3. What is something the community may be surprised to learn about you?
    I’m a food and wine blogger. I started the blog to safekeep my grandma’s heirloom recipes then started doing restaurant reviews for places that catered well to solo dinners, something I did a lot of while business traveling. It’s morphed into something fun over the years; it has allowed for many neat connections, dinners and wine tastings!
  4. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
    For me it’s always been delegating. It comes from having humble beginnings in the industry where my first employer went through Chapter 11 restructuring and our marketing team went from 40 to seven members and I had to do a lot of tasks on my own. To this day, it’s still difficult to not think, “I can do it myself faster.”
  5. What personal skill or attribute do you believe is most responsible for your success?
    Relationship building. Having strong industry relationships opened so many doors when I did a couple startups and needed support (favors) as well as when I was seeking different career opportunities. It’s how I was brought on at Hilton. Hilton was my client and when someone retired after 25 years, I was asked to join the team.
  6. What woman inspires you right now and why?
    The three nurses in my life constantly inspire me: my mom, my sister and my friend, Eileen. How each can have those types of difficult job responsibilities while raising a family and still making time for a social circle, including me, has me in awe.
  7. What is one industry trend you’re closely tracking and why?
    Wellness and finding ways to disconnect while traveling for leisure. With as much business travel as I do, I’m so interested to see how others fit in wellness into their business travel — how travelers are disconnecting and enjoying, often through blended travel, the destinations they’re traveling to. Definitely something I need to get better at!
  8. What is one thing you look for when interviewing a job candidate?
    I try not to pose the old standard interview questions and instead have a conversation. A key quality I look for is how the candidate will fit in within our culture. While a candidate can be incredibly qualified for the role in terms of experience, what’s equally as important is if he/she will fit in and not bring drama to the team.
  9. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year?
    That I really love being home and don’t have to be at every event all the time. Seems intuitive, but I truly focused on some quality of life this past year and I did a good job cutting down from 41 hotel stays in 2023 to what will likely be 25 stays in 2024.
  10. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
    On my first business trip going to a conference, one of my leaders told me to not be “the woman who others still talk about at next year’s conference/event.” It really sunk in that when you’re at a work event, don’t overindulge and be a great representative of your company. It’s served me right over the years.
  11. What values are most important to you as a leader?
    Lead by example and be authentic. Doing so really resonates and people see right through fakeness anyways.
  12. What’s the most important thing people should know about you?
    I’m loyal, work hard and realize I’m not for everyone but I try!
  13. Do you prefer to work in the office, at home, or hybrid? Why?
    I haven’t worked in an office in 20-plus years and enjoy working from home when I’m not traveling for work. I think if I wasn’t a business traveler I’d likely enjoy a hybrid environment to get facetime with colleagues and have a level of social interaction.
  14. Where is your favorite place you’ve traveled to? Why?
    I loved Thailand for the breathtaking landscape, incredibly welcoming people, and amazing food!
  15. What is the top item on your bucket list?
    I’m really hoping we make it to Croatia this year and Israel in the next couple of years — a trip that was cancelled due to the pandemic.
  16. What do you do to recharge?
    Visit my family, read a great book and meditate. I highly recommend HeadSpace, a meditation app.
  17. What is your biggest accomplishment?
    Personally, having a great relationship with my family although we’re far apart. Professionally, successfully doing two travel startups and winning the Susan D. Tanzman Inspiration Award, which recognizes contributions within the travel industry and celebrates the individuals and organizations improving the world of travel.
  18. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
    Don’t tolerate disrespect. If you don’t feel your employer respects you and your efforts, move on to a company that does. Put in many efforts to ensure you have a good work/life balance, unlike previous generations.
  19. What gets you up in the morning?
    Besides a great cup of java, the idea that I can make a difference and can accomplish so much personally and professionally.
  20. What do you like most about being a member of Women Leading Travel & Hospitality?
    I love being in a group of like-minded women who share some of the same struggles and who I can network with and ask advice of if it’s needed.

Interested in connecting with women like Veronique? Apply today to become a Women Leading Travel & Hospitality member!