Name: Erika Alexander
Position: Chief Global Officer, Global Operations
Hotel: Marriott HQ in Bethesda, Maryland
Dream destination: Banff, Alberta, Canada & Canadian Rockies
Drink or treat of choice: Milkshake (or any Mocktail!)

Erika never planned to work in hotels. In fact, she recalls very limited exposure to hotels while growing up in her small hometown in southwest Virginia. So, to say a decades’ long career in hospitality wasn’t on her radar is an understatement.

“I only ever wanted to be an attorney,” Erika says of her early career aspirations. But thanks to a chance meeting with a Marriott associate at a University of Virginia alumni event, Erika’s life took an unexpected turn. Instead of pursuing law school in earnest, Erika accepted a role as an Account Manager in the sales department at the Residence Inn in Herndon, Virginia.

But before accepting the job, she did what most college kids do when faced with a tough decision: She called her mom.

“It would be the first time I was going to live on my own. I didn’t know whether the salary was going to be enough,” she says. Erika’s parents both led careers of service: Her mother, who “grew up in segregated North Carolina working on a tobacco farm as a kid,” retired from the state of Virginia as a Public Health Nurse and her father, a U.S. Air Force veteran, worked security at the local hospital following his time in the military.

“My maternal grandfather was a sharecropper, and my dad’s father retired from the railroad and later worked in the elementary school in custodial services – he was beloved in our community,” Erika says. “They were smart, resourceful people who took care of others and worked exceptionally hard. I always wanted to be the kind of leader that the people I loved deserved and would be proud of.”

As such, when Erika called her mom for advice on accepting Marriott’s job offer, Erika’s mother responded with very clear and, as it turns out, prophetic wisdom.

“She said, ‘Marriott will pay you in ways that can’t be put in a paycheck,’” Erika recalls. “And she was right.”

Erika took the job thinking it would be for only a year or two until she could get into law school. Instead, she kickstarted what would become 35 years with Marriott.

“There’s something about being in hotels; it’s where our culture lives and breathes every day. There’s something about putting people first and taking care of customers day in and day out, up close and in person. It’s the most special work you can do in our industry.”

Erika Alexander

Following that first account manager position, Erika rose through the leadership ranks in sales, took on the role of General Manager a few times over, joined the Brand organization, worked on the launch of and then led the TownePlace Suites brand, served as Regional Vice President Select Brands, then Area Vice President Full Service MxM, and has had more than one role with “chief” in the title.

Now, Erika is moving her Marriott journey to the next phase: The Chief Global Officer of Global Operations is retiring, joining the rarefied rank of the Marriott Alumni Network.

For the first time in her professional career, Erika won’t have a Marriott email address. But in talking with Erika about her experience at the company, it’s exceptionally clear that the memories, the lessons and the impact of her colleagues will stay with her for quite some time.

Just at the mention of that very first job at the Residence Inn (which led to a whopping 10 years in the extended-stay segment), Erika’s eyes light up.

“What I loved about Residence Inn was that it was so high energy. It was dynamic, creative, and young. There were women and black General Managers — there were people who looked like me,” she says. “It felt like an environment rooted in no boundaries; just get after it with your energy, creativity and talents.”

“My career has been really diverse,” says Erika. “But there’s something about being in hotels; it’s where our culture lives and breathes every day. There’s something about putting people first and taking care of customers day in and day out, up close and in person. It’s the most special work you can do in our industry.”

Learn more about Erika’s experience, her perspective on the intersection of culture and core values and what she’s most proud of in her career, in her own words, below.

In your opinion, how has the company culture evolved in your time here? What do you think contributed to that change?

Culture is core values in action. Core values are timeless. While they don’t change, the environment within which they exist certainly does. As leaders, every decision we make either contributes to strengthening or can inadvertently chip away at it.

No matter where I am, if I’m on the 10th floor at corporate headquarters or a hotel somewhere in the world, my role is to strengthen the culture by making sure that the way I show up, approach decisions, and connect with people is an active manifestation of what we say we believe in. It doesn’t matter what happens in the world; in our environment “the rules” (our core values) are clear.

What is your view on the role of a leader, particularly in hospitality?

In that first hotel I worked in, a leader told me, “There are a lot of ways that you can do good in the world, not just by being a lawyer.” I left that role thinking what a privilege and honor it is to get to lead people. Like my grandpa and my mother and so many others, people who work exceptionally hard deserve leaders that they can be proud of, who care deeply about creating a work environment that makes them feel respected, honored and appreciated. For me, seeing service and aspiration and your beliefs all coming together in a hotel was really powerful.

“As a leader, I always wanted to be worthy of the mom who stood at the bus stop in the rain to get her kids to school and to come to the hotel to work in housekeeping for us. They deserved the best from us in exchange.”

Erika Alexander

What I love about hotels, unlike a bank or other places of work, is that once the building opens, the lights never go out. The doors never get locked. And until the building is shuttered, that means you always find a way to lock arms and do what you need to do: Take care of customers and one another as teammates. It doesn’t matter whether the sun is shining, there’s a storm brewing outside, or something greater is impacting the business. People inside that building—often from every corner of the world speaking many different languages—figure out how to come together and be what customers need from Marriott.

As a leader, I always wanted to be worthy of the mom who stood at the bus stop in the rain to get her kids to school and to come to the hotel to work in housekeeping for us. They deserved the best from us in exchange.

Can you share one of your most impactful memories from your time at Marriott?

When I was Area Vice President in the Southeast, one of the coolest parts of the job was touring hotels with Arne [Sorenson, the former Marriott CEO who passed away in 2021] or Mr. Marriott. Being in a car with Mr. Marriott for a couple of days, touring hotels in a market that I’m responsible for, will be one of the greatest experiences of my life. Aside from the fact he’s an icon for whom we all have extraordinary respect, the experience is like getting a bachelor’s, a master’s, and an MBA all at the same time.

In addition to having unmatched energy and attention to detail, Mr. Marriott would always shake every hand and ask great questions finding a way to push leaders to think differently about what’s possible — no matter what, when he walked out of the hotel, you felt appreciated and inspired to be a better leader because of it.

There’s such an important lesson in that, which I always took close to heart: Part of our role as leaders is to make sure that people want to find another gear in service of helping the company meets its goals. I want associates to say to themselves, “I’m energized to do everything I can to make the company successful because those leaders believed in me.”

Reflecting on your Marriott tenure, what are you most proud of?

Anything that I’ve ever done that I’m proud of has happened because I’ve been a part of a team that made it happen. Whether it was launching TownePlace Suites or reimagining our flagship Marriott hotels or starting Evenings of Engagement to create a safe space and foster community among women, those were complete team efforts. But I think what I’m most proud of is the work that we all did together to navigate the COVID pandemic.

“I will never forget the sacrifice so many people made so willingly. I think that’s what you get when people love a thing.”

Erika Alexander

In an environment where there was no playbook and the dynamics on the ground changed daily, associates around the world had a total commitment to putting people first in every way, to keeping customers and associates safe, to navigating new rules every day across thousands of different municipalities. Everyone contributed to our survival in different ways. I’ll be forever grateful for the small group of leaders who worked night and day with such grace and commitment, amid their own pandemic hardships to support the real heroes of our business—the General Managers and associates in hotels who led courageously under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

Then, over the next few years, we rebuilt—together. To do all of that in a three/four-year window is a testament to the amazing leaders in our hotels, and the associates who cared enough to put themselves in harm’s way. I will never forget the sacrifice so many people made so willingly. I think that’s what you get when people love a thing.

I always joke that the longest relationship I’ve ever chosen to be in is with Marriott, and I love it. I love it because it makes me believe the things that I care about are possible: running a great business, putting people first and doing so in a way that is inclusive. It’s how we attract the best talent and ensure we can deliver the outcomes our stakeholders expect.