As we wrap up presents and 2021, we tend to think about what fills us with gratitude and warmth. The holiday season offers a free pass to be sentimental. I’m going to redeem mine now and tell you why I’m grateful for this group, with a story, of course.

Twas the night before flying to Dallas for the Women Leading Travel & Hospitality Roundtable, and I was getting my nails done. The technician asked if there was an occasion, and I happily told her about the event. She asked if I traveled often for work, and I said two weeks prior I’d been in Orlando, and before that Miami and New York. I hoped I didn’t sound too brag-y.

“That’s cool,” she said, “for someone who doesn’t have a family, of course.”

I have a husband and a two-year-old. Oof.

Though I’m comfortable sharing this encounter here, I would never post about it on social media. Facebook loves stuff like this … when there’s a moral, or the narrator has some great retort or has a heartfelt conversation with the stranger where they both learn something. But I didn’t have a revelation, and I don’t have some speech or rant prepared. A random human’s comment rattled my resolve, despite myself. I wish I didn’t think about it on the plane ride down, but I did. That’s it. No awakening in Dallas, no fairy god-cowboy visiting with words of wisdom in the night.

But somehow, sharing my story in this space brings me, well, tidings of comfort and joy. Why would we come to each other with things we already had the answers to? If all was meant to be shared publicly, we wouldn’t need safe communities like this one. The fact I can reveal how I actually reacted is what makes this group so valuable. A viral post demands a tidy story with satisfaction wrapped up in a bow at the end. But that’s not what life is, you know? 

This is where we share real life. Thank you all for that. 

The Women Leading Travel & Hospitality team is taking a break Dec. 24-31, so you will see the next e-newsletter in the New Year (Jan. 4, to be specific)! I hope you have a wonderful holiday, loving your children, partner, parents, pets, or your sweet, sweet, alone time — whatever your personal recipe is for an ideal life. Remember you’re a powerful, professional woman and everything else you want to be, all at once. Only you get to decide what combination of your own choices is “cool.” Wait, is that a lesson? Dang it. 

With lots of love and fading nails,