#200 Jeannette Ceja: Step into the fear, because you can do it

In this episode, Naureen reflects on the importance of setting boundaries, sharing personal and professional moments that taught her the necessity of caring for herself while pursuing the mission of gender balance. 🌟She discusses how this theme will continue in upcoming Inspire Community sessions, inviting listeners to join the Q3 2025 cohort by July 10th. 🌸Listen now:Apply to join the Inspire Community: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

Episode Summary:In this reflective solo episode, Naureen shares her personal journey over the past five years—from starting the Inspiring Women in Hospitality podcast to building a thriving global community dedicated to gender balance.She explores:What it means to be a changemakerThe role of community and mentorship in transforming ideas into movementsHer experience building the Inspire Community and its growing impactHow imposter syndrome and self-doubt often accompany leadership and innovationAn invitation to join a free taster session on June 30thWhether you're a long-time listener or new to this space, this episode is an invitation to reflect on your own role in creating change—and to consider how you might step into it more fully.🗓 Join the free taster session on June 30th: subscribepage.io/c7TcY4🌍 Learn more about the Inspire Community:https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

Why I Created the Inspire Community – And Why Now Is the Time to Join🎧 Listen Now💬 Episode Summary:In this episode, Naureen, Founder of Inspiring Women in Hospitality, shares the story behind the creation of the Inspire Community—a global space built for connection, visibility, and growth. With Q3 2025 membership applications now open, Naureen reflects on the personal gaps she faced in her own career and how those experiences shaped the structure and purpose of the community today.She dives into the need for deeper conversations, tailored mentorship, and support that goes beyond surface-level networking. Whether you're growing into your leadership, looking to clarify your identity, or seeking a space where your voice is heard—this episode is for you.✨ In This Episode, We Cover:What was missing from traditional networking spacesHow the Inspire Community supports your leadership growthWhy mentorship, visibility, and shared experiences matterThe power of collective growth and giving backAn invitation to apply for Q3 membership🔗 Links & Resources:Apply to the Inspire Community: subscribepage.io/9AqnthLearn more: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membershipFollow Naureen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naureen-ahmed-28253a35/💡 Takeaway Question:What action will you take today to grow your leadership and expand your visibility?

n this heartfelt solo episode, Naureen explores a deeply personal and universal theme—community. Sparked by conversations, interactions, and her own reflections while preparing to reopen her membership community for Q3, she takes us on a journey through isolation, belonging, and the healing power of human connection.Naureen shares:Her experience of fierce independence and the isolation it brought, especially during COVIDHow loneliness during lockdown led to the birth of this very podcastThe value of family, friends, and even salsa as communities that brought joy and connectionWhy she felt the absence of a professional community during her corporate career—and how it inspired her to create the Inspire CommunityThe evolution of her events from intimate roundtables to global gatheringsA call to action: show up, engage, and be visible in your communityWhether you find community in your family, your local café, a sports club, or your industry, this episode reminds us that we are not meant to do this alone.🧭 Questions to reflect on:Who or what is your community?Where do you go to feel connected?What will you do to create or nurture your own community?💬 Let’s connect: Tag me and share your story of community. I’d love to hear it!Apply now to be part of the Inspire Community membership here: https://www.inspiringwomeninhospitality.com/membership

How to create an introduction? One that is memorable and impactful. Throughout your career you are going to need to prepare different introductions for difference scenarios.And the question comes up - "Tell me about yourself". This could be for a job interview, networking event, speaker on stage or being a guest on a podcast.As part of the upcoming changes I am introducing to the podcast, I want to help you craft that strong introduction. We will work on one that we will use for the podcast, butalso several others that you can use in other moments.In this podcast episode I share a couple of examples of how we can formulate the introduction, taking inspiration from various sources.Ready to be a guest on the podcast? Sign up here: subscribepage.io/4MxV42

What changes are coming up?⛰️ 'Live' online broadcast of each episode⛰️ Multiple guests on different topics⛰️ Sharing more from my own journey and learnings⛰️ Strong and solid introduction coaching

On this special podcast episode recorded live at the THAIFEX conference in Bangkok in March, I had a chance to speak with Rachael. On her panel at the conference she sharedhow with technology she was able to save a client's stock take from 4 days to half a day. This is the power of technology and how we can use it to redesign our jobs. Ultimately it is a people business and we need to work with the teamsto change the mindset and not just rely on the technology. We talked about the advantages that women can bring to a leadership role. Her inspiration is her mom, who has always allowed her to be herself.

On this episode we hear from Reneé. Based in South Africa she offers hospitality and tourism academic solutions. She fell in love with hospitality and tourism at a young age when she was travelling with her parents. One of her earliest memories is the view of the Eiffel Tower from a hotel room in Paris. After her education and to pay off the student roles she took a role as a teacher's assistant, which then lead her down the path of learning & development within hospitality and tourism. She then continued working full time and studying part time for the next 15 years till she gained her PhD. This took commitment, resilience and was not always easy, but she wanted to prove to herself that she can take on this challenge and succeed. Throughout the rest of her career learning, education and training continues to be a theme and her curious nature means she will never stop studying.

On this episode we hear from Jeannette. She introduces herself as a woman in travel and media. Driven by a passion to show to others how beautiful this world is. As she grew into her professional career she noticed there was not enough women in these spaces and was looking for more representation in particular for the Latina women in the industry. She shares the story of the positive impact she felt when she saw Jennifer Lopez on the cover of Cosmo Girl at the age of 16. She went onto study broadcast journalism and while she put in her hours in television news, she did not give up her dreams of being in travel and would attend industry conference whenever she could. She has also had some great mentors in her career who have pushed her and made her believe in herself.

On this special podcast episode recorded live at the THAIFEX conference in Bangkok in March, I had a chance to speak with Olesia. On her panel session she had shared that she was afraid of the robots that were going to take over her jobs, until the day came she went to work for one of the robots. All joking aside we bonded on our shared experiences of manual data entry and how technology improves our working life. We agreed there is still work to be done for women representation in the industry, as at another industry conference, she was theonly female panellist on the topic of technology during AHICE in Singapore. Her inspiration is her 55 year old mother, who had to relocate and re-invent her life in Ukraine showing us anything is possible even under the most challenging circumstances.