As part of a new, members-only series, Women Leading Travel & Hospitality is asking industry executives about their professional journeys, mentorship, how they stay up-to-date on the latest technology and trends, how they take care of themselves, and so much more. This week, insight comes from Ashly Balding, executive vice president and chief sales officer of Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI).

Women Leading Travel & Hospitality: Can you share a specific instance where you successfully navigated a major change or challenge, highlighting the key lessons learned and how they shaped your leadership approach?
Ashly Balding: There are many instances; however, the most recent was on Oct. 26, 2023. An angel told me I needed to see a cardiologist. On Nov. 8, 2023, I discovered that I had a severe leak in my heart. Over 60 percent of my blood flow was regurgitating back into my heart, making it work much harder while providing my body with only 40 percent of new oxygen flow. The flaps of my mitral valve were not closing properly, causing a backward blood flow to my heart. As a result, I was experiencing extreme fatigue and migraines — symptoms I had long been fighting — but I had no idea it was a cardiac issue. 

Miraculously, I was able to get in with one of the top cardiologists and underwent open heart surgery on Dec. 20, 2023. There were a few additional challenges after the procedure that kept me in the hospital for 23 days until finally getting a pacemaker on Jan. 10 to get my heart on a normal rhythm. The experience has been life changing and certainly broadened my perspective as I’m grateful for one more day. 

My priorities are faith, family and career, in that order, and I encourage the team to have the same priorities in that order. I’ve learned that we’re too blessed to be stressed; life is too precious. Each one of our situations may be different, and we all experience hardships, but you must embrace the hard as there’s purpose in the pain. A few key lessons learned through this experience include:

  • Gratefulness will help you overcome adversity. Lean into gratefulness.
  • Every leader struggles, every leader loses perspective. However, if you remind yourself that leadership is influence — nothing more, nothing less — and if you’re determined to be authentic, honest, kind and bold, you will be an influential leader.  
  • Don’t underestimate a woman who has gained clarity of strength.
  • Leadership is powerful, however, to me the most important power I can possess is unseen. Power is integrity, honesty, boundaries, discipline, kindness, and wielding influence like a genuine human, not a boss.
  • Now everything I do I want to be about legacy. I ask myself, “What is the bigger contribution that I’m making?” This will force me to stay out of ego, urgency and worry.

WLT&H: How have mentorship and sponsorship played a role in your professional development, and how do you actively engage in cultivating talent within your organization?
AB: Having robust mentor/mentee relationships is important to your own self-development. I’ve been working as a mentor to a young lady from San Diego State University for a little over a year now and previously with Gina Vina for two years through the same program. The ladies taught me that mentorships are a two-way street and if we remove our titles and our “rank” and approach each conversation with the intention of learning how to continue to be better people and learn from each other, we can grow together.  

For our organization, time is the best gift you can give as a leader. Spending quality one-to-one time with the team and listening differently to them opens up collaborative dialogue as to how they define success. I love to watch people on our team grow and act as a mentor to help encourage others to get outside their comfort zone and challenge them to think differently and take on additional roles and responsibilities. 

WLT&H: How do you maintain a healthy work-life harmony, and what strategies do you employ to prioritize your well-being amidst high-level responsibilities? How do you ensure your team does the same?
AB: To maintain a healthy work-life balance, it’s critical to rely on my priorities: faith, family and career. ALHI, our team, our members and our clients are all things that I’m passionate about, and I take my responsibilities very seriously, but faith and family will always take precedence. I find this has been easier to do throughout the years as I continue to learn to clearly communicate boundaries and expectations. If you’re unclear, you’re unkind. I remind my team of this often; they too should approach their career with a similar mindset. 

Under no scenario should anyone on my team be missing anything family related because of something with work. Thankfully, our president and CEO is just as passionate and clear on this as well. Flexing my schedule has also been very helpful for this as well, as my day-to-day doesn’t always follow a traditional eight-to-five schedule. I will often work outside of normal business hours if there are personal appointments or something for my girls that I need to participate in during the middle of the day. 

Having come out of my health journey, I will now commit to promoting women’s health. Women need to be seen and heard. Aging is such a gift and a phenomenal experience. Let’s take menopause out of the closet! We need to be our own advocate. Therefore, how do we encourage our fellow female peers to advocate for themselves and educate others to bring this more to light? I will channel my influence to affect change and I will be committed to leaving a legacy and bringing women’s needs, concerns and priorities to the forefront.

WLT&H: How do you stay informed about industry trends and emerging technologies? What role does continuous learning play in your ongoing personal and professional development?
AB: We’re extremely blessed at ALHI to have Mike Dominguez as our president and CEO. Mike is very well respected in our community for his insight, industry knowledge and leadership. He’s extremely intelligent and able to articulate clearly and simply what’s happening around industry trends and technologies. Personally, I’m a lover of learning. I consciously choose to surround myself with people who are wiser than I and enjoy engaging with them to continue my own self-growth. As a leader you must constantly practice, practice, practice to continue to improve for yourself. When I have the time, I enjoy reading new books, taking advantage of online learning platforms, doing yoga, and tuning in to my weekly podcasts covering a variety of topics. 

Are you a C-suite woman in the travel and hospitality industry? We’d love to feature you! Reach us at wlth@napco.com.