Dorothy Dowling 0:05

Indy, welcome to It's Personal Stories. I'm so pleased to have you here. At It's Personal Stories, we focus on the human side of leadership, the experiences, choices, inflection points, and personal disciplines that shape how leaders grow, adapt, and show up over time. Your career brings together so many dimensions of our industry that I know will be meaningful for our audience. You've worked across global brand strategy, international development, hospitality innovation, new venture creation, and now upscale brand leadership at Choice Hotels. You have helped shape and reposition brands, worked across different geographies and business models, and spent much of your career thinking about where hospitality is headed, not where it has been. So I'm especially looking forward to today because I think it's going to layer a very deep conversation. I'd love to understand the personal journey behind your professional accomplishments, including the experiences that shaped your worldview, your move between markets and cultures, how your time in England and the U.S. influenced your leadership lens, and how you think about hospitality today through the eyes of owners, investors, operators, brands, and guests. We'll also talk about how the industry is shifting, particularly as owners and private equity and institutional investors continue to influence how success is measured and what that means for brand leaders, commercial teams, and the next generation of hospitality talent. So with that as our backdrop, Indy, let's start with your journey. You've had a career that has crossed strategy, brand building, development, innovation, and now broader operating leadership. When you look back, what first drew you into the industry, and when did you realize this could become a long tier... long-term career path for you?

Indy Adenaw 1:45

Sure. First I just wanna s- really say thank you for having me. It's it's an honor to be here. When I think about my journey it really started with my upbringing. My father was in the airline business. I was born in one of the poorer places of the world in Ethiopia, but by virtue of his his, job, we were able to travel to places I could never imagine. We were always exploring, always hopping from one place to another. And in that I generated just a love of travel and a f- a love of adventure. So after business school, I went into consulting, and then when a job at Marriott popped up, it just felt like a full circle moment. It was an opportunity for me to get into a sector that I have long loved. And one of the things I have appreciated the most about this business is that it combines everything. There's an operational element, there's a technology element, there's a real estate. A- and so every day feels like you're working on a different piece of the puzzle or a different piece of the tapestry. And it's been a, it's been a real pleasure to have been on the journey I've had in hospitality.

Dorothy Dowling 2:54

Were there any particular inflection points in sort of those early defining moments of your career that really shaped some of your leadership and business approach, Indy?

Indy Adenaw 3:05

To be frank, the first I don't know, five, six, seven years of my career, I felt like I played it generally safe. I was trying to make sure I didn't really do anything that was going to put a big spotlight on me or potentially make a mistake. When I joined Marriott I really gave myself, just a vow which was I wanted to roll the dice a bit and just see what I could accomplish. And so I started in a role that was really support-oriented. It was in the project management office. But slowly but surely, I kept on raising my hand for, complicated projects that would come up, whether it was, can we grow in Africa? And so I went and spent a ton of time with a team in the Middle East to, to figure out how we were going to grow and how we were going to push forward. Then I raised my hand to start a number of brands for Marriott. I will say I was lucky to have had some leaders around me that probably saw potential in me. But I would say this moment of just keep trying new things until you have proven to yourself you cannot do it was really an inflection point to me because it made me much more adventurous about the kinds of things and the kinds of jobs, the kinds of projects that that I did within at least within my, the Marriott section of my career.

Dorothy Dowling 4:20

I think that element of putting your hand up and taking some level of risk in your career is a really important inflection point for everyone to understand, 'cause I think it really tests you. And it also really shows what you can accomplish to the organization that you're working for. So thank you for sharing that. I wonder if we can talk a little bit about the cross-cultural nature of your education and your career, Indy, 'cause I do think that brings a very interesting and unique perspective to what you do. So I'm wondering as you move between markets and cultures, how did that shape you in terms of how you look at business, people, leadership?

Indy Adenaw 4:58

It has probably framed my thinking more than I could explain. As I mentioned, I was born in Ethiopia and then after a year or two we moved to Yemen of all places in the Middle East. And then after a number of years back in Ethiopia, we moved to the United Kingdom and then to the US. These are four countries with four very different cultural systems. There were four very different political systems and four very just different ways of how business was done. And I think through all of these changes I learned somewhat the ability to actually relate to the environments around me. I learned the realization that there's actually never really singularly one way of doing something, that people bring to them lessons from either their own upbringing, their own environment, and I think it made me much more aware of my surroundings. And even in my job today at Choice the spectrum of people I meet on a daily basis, whether it's an owner that is a, an entrepreneur that has emigrated from somewhere else, whether it is a management company or a GM that has been part of their community for 30, 40, 50 years, I find a lot of my job is just listening and relating to people, understanding their backgrounds, understanding their desires their passions. And I think the journey I went from went through from one country to another really instilled in me that, that ability to to just listen and relate to to the wide spectrum of people I come across

Dorothy Dowling 6:30

I think that's really important, and I do think some of that foundational learning that you had in terms of just the broad range of differences gives you a unique perspective to understand people in a very special way. I'm wondering if you were talking to our audience that are interested in more global careers, what do you think they need to learn beyond the technical skills of the business to propel them in that direction?

Indy Adenaw 6:55

W- the thing I find fascinating, a- and I've seen this industry across a wide number of countries, in that the hotels themselves look similar more so than not. The actual... If you look at the financials, they can differ from country to country, but in the background, you have very different approaches of of just how hotel owners come together, how lending is done, how trust is created between various parties. And for me, it was just important to actually just go explore any opportunity to see how hospitality operated outside of outside of the United States. As I mentioned, I did a fair amount of work in the Middle East, and then that translated to more work in in Europe and then further afield from that. But for me the... Y- you really have to have a curiosity and an ability to actually just really, seek to understand as much as you can about the business outside of where we are. I will also say the globalization of hospitality, I think, is fascinating. When you think of where capital comes from how management companies in the US now are moving to Europe we have a sector that is evolving in so many ways globally. I think watching it unfold is just, is absolutely fascinating.

Dorothy Dowling 8:12

I do think that framework of seeking to understand, which of course is one of Stephen Covey's seven principles, is- Is really important because I do think it is about letting individuals share sort of their perspectives with you first, which I think then gives you an opportunity to frame things back. And I do think being open to seeing that a lot of things behind the scenes can be done very differently. The methods may be the same, but how people get there may be very different. So I think- Yeah that's very helpful to individuals. I'm wondering if we can talk about your strategic thought leadership because that's one of the things that, for me, that thread through your career is your ability to connect dots across all the different things that you've done: brands, consumer behavior, development, investment, operating realities. I'm-- I would love to understand how you personally stay sharp as a strategic thinker to stay on top of your game.

Indy Adenaw 9:06

I think it, so much of it is fueled by just being curious and just wanting to understand where this business is going and what related industries could have some hints of what the future holds for us. And so I find myself very hungry to read as much as I can. If it's an interesting article, if it's an interesting report, I wanna try and absorb everything I can from food and beverage to, where technology's going to, what impact AI can have on our business. I also use every opportunity I have with an owner to say, "What are you seeing? What's giving you angst or hope or, some curiosity on how you push forward?" And I... You would think on some level some of this would dampen as your career gets farther afield, but I find myself now even hungrier to just, to really understand where we're heading. And that's one thing I've generally said to people that are younger in their career of be hungry to learn and if you have a curious mind, continue to cultivate how you think about all of the things you look at and all of the things you, you learn. I think one of the more dangerous things in our industry is if you feel the way something has been done before should be the way it's going to be done in the future. I think that's a trap that can really confine your thinking and the actions that you you deploy.

Dorothy Dowling 10:29

I love the statement on curiosity 'cause there was a Harvard Business Review article that was written, I don't know, 10 years ago that talked about the journey where leadership was valued first on people's IQ and then it evolved to people's EQ, and now it really is about people's CQ, their curiosity quotient, and that learning approach to staying relevant. And I love the way you brought the thought leadership in terms of how reading is important, of course Warren Buffett always has shared that with us, that was a really important part of his day. But then just learning from others and really asking the kind of questions that you do, Indy, so that we can learn from others and make them comfortable in terms of sharing perspective. I do think that elevates our game in pretty significant ways. I'm wondering if there's any signals that you particularly track to stay on top of your game in how you do your work today

Indy Adenaw 11:22

Signals I've seen more I'm deeply curious about analogs, like especially analogs from industries that are also facing a fair amount of like change and disruption. So each time I'm in a mall I'll see how retail stores are set up. If I'm in a restaurant I'll be paying attention to what kind of customers are coming in. So I tend to really look outside of our industry as much as I look inside of it. And so the, for example fast casual restaurants, I'm absolutely fascinated by how much of the business now comes through drive-throughs versus people walking in. How that whole experience has now changed where you have two lanes versus one how they deal with distribution. And so I, I find that so many lessons of, that I think are instrumental to us are going to come from industries that are to our side, and I think we experience them so much on a day-to-day basis. For me, just even a trip out to the mall or a trip out to get something for my kids is an example of of a lesson you can pick up or some kind of insight you can you can use potentially in your work.

Dorothy Dowling 12:36

I love the framing of analogs, and I will tell you I'm a big believer. I tell everyone that, we're always on an anthropological journey in terms of the observations in life. So I think the way you express that and just being aware, because I still love sitting in lobbies in hotels and- Yeah looking at the customers that are coming in and observing the differences in them and how they're interacting with the experience. So I do think it's that curiosity, but it's also looking at the things that are right in front of us and always having that mindset of what should we be paying attention to here? So thank you for framing that up so beautifully for us, Indy. I'd like to talk a little bit about the industry and the investment side because there's been- a lot of change in that space in terms of private equity, REITs owners, and then of course, people that are coming in from other real estate types of investments like family offices and some of the institutional investors. So I'd like to talk a little bit about some of the metrics that have been more traditional in terms of how we evaluated performance, and understand where you think the industry is, or when you're speaking with the owners, investors, what is the metrics that they are really looking at in terms of what's important to them?

Indy Adenaw 13:52

Absolutely. A- and honestly one of the joys I have a choice is I spend a lot of time with our owners and our operators. And so I find the journey, whether it's like a, conversation that's generated by opportunity or challenge to always be meaningful when you sit down with somebody. And I will generally say we went through a pretty long bull run where most people were making money and RevPAR was continuing to grow. I find now so much of the conversation, at least from the owner side, is about profitability and whether whether this business continues to make sense for them. So they continue to ask about where's, how are we generating revenue? Where is that revenue coming from? How long a- and what does it mean for their P&Ls that is it coming through our channels? Is it coming through other channels? What's the mix of customers that we have? What's the mix of owners that we have? And so I think the industry has evolved from just thinking about revenue at an aggregate level to perhaps a much more sophisticated understanding of not only revenue, but the cost of revenue as, as well. So I will say the, on the ownership side, there's so much more of a focus on profitability and and all of those related metrics. On the management company side, I joined this industry where a good management company was just a s- strong operator. It was somebody that could really handle all of the dynamics that were happening on property. But I think as technology has continued to evolve and explode in some areas even management companies now are having to think through what are our advanced capabilities. Like what data insights, data mining type of capabilities do we bring, and how do we serve owners? And so I think owners, operating companies, and chains are all having to change in very meaningful ways in a relatively short period of time, just as as this industry evolves.

Dorothy Dowling 15:56

Yeah. I love the way you spoke about the sophistication and the growth of the different owner mindsets, and them really looking at hotels as a real estate class, and is this the right investment for me, or is it a different type of real estate investment I should be making? I also really like about how you talked about the understanding of the sourcing of the business, the profitability of different types of segments of business, long-term value creation of the business. So it really is a much more disciplined approach, and I think there's much higher performance focus in terms of what the business is like today and what it'll be like tomorrow. So I'm wondering if there's anything that you can add in terms of where the brand value needs to be in a world where this capital is so much more disciplined and performance expectations are so much more refined.

Indy Adenaw 16:45

Yeah, absolutely. And I've now had the pleasure of being at Marriott, at currently at Choice. And I- I've gone to see a wide spectrum of both owners, operating companies, brands I've worked on. And really I think the question of what is the chain or what is the brand adding has become more and more of a spotlight across- Across all types of owners and across all types of chains. And so there's we used to live in an environment where a brand would have four, five, six signature moments that you would replicate. But as more and more of the attention now has gone towards loyalty programs and the brands have taken slightly less of a higher profile role, I think the questions I get from a lot of owners is, "What is this brand doing for me? What kind of customer are you attracting? What attributes do you have? How does it show up in certain channels? And then what are your channels delivering?" And so I think the pressure of, from an ownership standpoint of like, all right, I've signed an agreement, and what am I getting in return has just been much more of a spotlight the last couple of years. I personally am super energized by this because it's, These are the moments where you have to really try and figure out, okay, how are we adding value? How are we delivering something of substance to to this ownership group or this operating company? I think the journey we're in right now really has a spotlight particularly on chains around the value that are, that they are creating.

Dorothy Dowling 18:19

Yeah. I agree with everything you said, Indy, and I have to say it's something that gives me a lot of excitement too, because I fundamentally believe it's where commercial leaders- really get a chance to stand out because it is really understanding how they build that story and the value creation for the owners, as well as understanding the business mix and how to really operationalize that profitability that a brand can bring that, that others may not. So I love the way you framed about expectations and managing those- and how we have to continue to be on this journey. I wonder if we can talk a little bit, because now you're leading a significant upscale portfolio for Choice Hotels, and that requires a lot of balancing in terms of promise- around the brand, the franchisee success in terms of operating those brands, and then obviously the long-term growth and the overall asset value. So I'd love to understand from your point of view what does it take personally to lead a brand portfolio today in a way that it's inspiring for the ownership, it's inspiring for the guests, it's inspiring for the teams that you lead? I'd love to understand that leadership element of your role today.

Indy Adenaw 19:25

Sure. So I have been now at Choice for just about three years. While Choice is most known for its mid-scale and upper mid-scale business, I personally feel like I have the joy of working for one of the best parts of the company in representing some owners that I have become exceptionally close to. And so it has been a journey I've really enjoyed. Just to give you a little bit of context, we have a couple of primary brands, Cambria being our homegrown brand in the upscale space. We also have Radisson, which is a pretty sizable portfolio, and then Ascend that is a large assortment of soft brands. My conversations a lot with owners are mostly, I, historically a brand leader was mostly focused on guest experience. And trying to figure out exactly how your brand is going to stand out. Was it distinct enough? Was it differentiated enough? But now my conversations are nearly all about how does the brand perform? How does it show up in certain channels? What is the approach in loyalty? What is the approach in in various parts of the business? So I think the world of brand and the world of commercial have become essentially one, one thing. And in that I, I think lies so much opportunity to try and figure out how does your brand really perform across various types of digital or third-party channels? What kind of customer audience is it getting? What kind of lifestyle value do we think about? And so these were not, in my mind, they were not questions that were really at the forefront, I think in '17, '18, '19. But now they're the conversations you have to get through every day. And I personally love the debate of trying to figure out how are you going to maximize performance for an owner that's invested in a flag.

Dorothy Dowling 21:14

Yeah. No, I think that's beautifully well said, and I think the convergence of brand versus commercial leadership is really where we are at today, and it does come down to the owners and making sure that we're unlocking the right kind of commercial return for them. Thank you for walking us through that. I'd love to talk a little bit about, some of the innovative career that you had prior to some of the hotel work that you're doing today when you were with Kayak and you've had the opportunity to really look at different spaces that were, very entrepreneurial and venture oriented. I'm just wondering in terms of the work that you did and the digital the business from Kayak, what did that teach you and how does that sort of influence your leadership today?

Indy Adenaw 21:59

I've never really been shy or hesitant to take on, either high difficulty projects or projects that had question marks around them. I think that's part of the thread of curiosity I mentioned. And so when I joined Kayak, the, there was the period where the company was really experimenting with actual hotels that were going to be branded from a distribution channel. Ultimately, that strategy did not pan out into scale, but I found the experience of working for a distribution company to be fascinating. I think distribution companies are so focused on essentially two problems. How do you generate enough demand, and then how do you convert it? And then that, that element of actually just seeing a company that was super focused on one part of the business was really fascinating to me. And I took away from that the gains and the advancements you can make when you have focus, and when you can really try and drive to a constrained set of outcomes. And so while that particular part of my career did not balloon into a brand that became hundreds, there were lessons that were, I think, just as important as when I worked on Moxy or Sheridan or other brands that had a longer tail to, to, to their outcome.

Dorothy Dowling 23:17

Yeah. I do think that whole element about demand and converting demand is a central question that we all have today in terms... particularly today- as the proliferation of channels continue to explode, and also some of the issues around losing some of the customers to channels that are not the preferred booking,

Indy Adenaw 23:36

Yeah

Dorothy Dowling 23:37

platforms for us. So thank you for walking us through that and how that has really honed that really disciplined focus to understanding how you have to be really focused on the execution. I'm just wondering over the years that you've been in the industry and you've grown in scope and complexity, has your leadership style changed?

Indy Adenaw 23:58

It has, and I have become much more adaptive. I don't know if I believe in a leadership style that is constant. In fact, I always get trouble when people say I lead in this and this manner," because every situation could warrant a different type of leadership. I had the pleasure of working for one of my closest friends Brian King at Marriott, and it struck me at an early point in my career where I saw him coming in and actually cooking for his team. And then I actually realized that, Brian was leading with his heart. He was connecting with each individual that was working for him. I think through that experience I learned what empathy actually really meant in a work environment. I think it's a set of lessons. I always think of Brian each time I deal with my own teams because I want to reflect who he is. And I've worked for other leaders including a gentleman called Alex Kairukis in the Middle East and Africa, where he was exceptional at just making sure people understood his vision. He was an exceptional communicator. He was an exceptional driver. You never really walked out of a meeting without knowing what Alex wanted. And so I now find myself, I think often with teams, trying to figure out how do you get the most out of them? How do you maximize their contributions to one another? How do you get them to gel in a way that they haven't before? And what one team requires could be very different than what another team requires. And so that flexibility, I think, is something that I've come to embrace, at least at this point in my career.

Dorothy Dowling 25:42

I thank you for sharing that, 'cause Brian is obviously someone who's very dear to me too, but I think that combination of people leadership and the clarity of expectations, and also the flexibility that you're talking about in terms of understanding the different teams have different needs, Indy, and to actually try to shape the kind of leadership that an individual team might need to actually drive the best performance outcomes. So I think those are important lessons for all of us. I'd love to understand more about your personal discipline, because there's a couple things for me. One is about staying grounded as a leader. But the other aspect for me is just when you're in a business environment that is so intense, how do you carve out time for strategic thinking? 'Cause that's, in my mind, one of the things that you do so well.

Indy Adenaw 26:31

Yeah. A- and it's i- it's also just a question of what things can you do and what things are better shared? And just to give you an example, I get super motivated staring at the problem. I find it an absolute joy to actually look at something that doesn't feel like it's working, and to try and understand why it's not working There could be teams where the thought of actually staring at a problem for a long time can become either deflating or demotivating. And so over time I have I've learned that, I'm perhaps more of an introvert than an extrovert, so I have to balance how much time you spend in meetings and then how much time do you actually really spend on your own. But I've also come to understand there are certain tasks that I want to do in teams and certain things I wanna do individually. So the joy of actually building something I think is best done in teams. You can pull people together, you can put sticky notes on a wall, and you can really start really start having some pride around how something comes together. But when you're dealing with maybe a hotel or a brand or something that, that is experiencing some kind of performance challenge or performance obstacle, I found that kind of activity is either better done in very small groups or individually, because I think you have to just really piece apart what's broken and then try and figure out how to to find it. So my example is just essentially l- learning how to how to navigate the things you need to do, and then understanding how you wanna tackle them, either in teams or individually.

Dorothy Dowling 28:04

Yeah. No, but I think that's great advice, because I do think there is some things where you just have to invest a lot of time in thinking, and allowing for that to happen is really important. And then there are other things where you're right, the creative process is really fueled by being in a group environment and having many people contribute to that- Yeah thought leadership. So I'd love to talk a little bit about future leaders, 'cause we have many that listen. I would love to understand your point of view for that next generation of hospitality leaders if they're listening. What do you think are the most important capabilities that will really power their careers?

Indy Adenaw 28:42

The, there are a couple of mindset ones and a couple of ones that are a little bit more tangible. For me, I think having some, I, I don't know if it's the right word, but to having some level of recklessness in how you... Y- you have to be willing to take risks. You have to be willing to actually just push enough into spaces until you figure out what you can't do. I get worried sometimes when I see a high potential leader and they start saying things like, "I'm really good at A, B, and C and nothing more than that," because I think it limits their ability to actually master more and more skills. So I think that fearless nature is number one. Number two, I just don't think leaders in the future cannot have some sense of either technology or distribution or more of the technical sides of the business. And so I think making sure you have some experience on that side of actually just learning how technology and distribution systems are really molding and changing hospitality is really important. And number three, at some point, your career is either going to get capped or accelerated by your ability to work with people that are just true peers. And learning how to relate and connect with other people I think is really important. So I always mention to people that are really high potential, and there's a number on my team of what are your vulnerabilities or opportunities, either from a functional area or from how you work with other people? Can you get the most of people that are peers? Can you lead by influence? Can you actually have conflict without it mushrooming into something that's more of a strain on a relationship? And I think these are all things that you really wanna try and pick up in your, late 20s and early 30s because just makes you a better leader as time goes on.

Dorothy Dowling 30:39

I think you encapsulated a lot in that message, Andy. I do think that aspect of not limiting yourself and being able to take risks and push and be uncomfortable in terms of situations that are not yet, but you're willing to embrace the opportunity. I think the other element in terms of really focusing on some of the technical and distribution, 'cause I do feel that they are such a core part of this industry today, and we have to understand that so that we can be effective in really driving the right kind of business outcomes. And I do think lastly about how organizations are becoming flatter and working across peers and really honing your people skills, I think, is an important element. And knowing yourself as well as, the kind of triggers so that you can work well with others is really important. Thank you for sharing all of that in, in such a compelling way, 'cause I do think those are all really important leadership skills. I'm just wondering as a closing question, if you thought and think about your own journey, if you were sitting on that shoulder of yourself but it was someone else that you wanted to give some meaningful career advice what would you offer to them in terms of how they might approach their future?

Indy Adenaw 31:57

It's Interesting. The more I've thought about my own career, I've worked on some brands that became, pretty big deals down the line. The work we did on Sheridan or Moxy ended up becoming, quite instrumental to the sector. And today, even the work we're doing in Cambria and Radisson, I think has the potential to, to really make a mark on the industry. But when I look back, I realize that the individual could only do so much. It was never... there was no one person that started these brands or advanced them, but it was how a team of various people with varying different skill sets, mindsets backgrounds came together to create something something significant. And so when I, think about my own career, I probably have an appreciation of the power of the I is somewhat limited, but the power of the team is much more significant. And I think sometimes that rubs against the desire for people to understand what their role was or what their achievement was. And so I wish I actually had more of this appreciation for what a collective group of people could accomplish earlier in my career. And when I think of people I've either mentored or worked with I think that those team skills, I think are so significant. That would be my biggest encouragement to anybody that's listening, of embrace the power of teams and embrace your ability to actually become part of a very meaningful team and just see where your career will take you.

Dorothy Dowling 33:30

I think that was beautifully said and I do think that is why that focus on culture and really understanding your fit when you join an organization is so critically important to powering individuals' career. So I do appreciate you saying that, Indy, 'cause I would say the same to you about m- my career, that I don't know that I fully understood that. I think at this point in my career I do, but I think it, it is for individuals earlier in their career, if they can really think about some of those choices they're making about what organizations to join and what that really means to them in terms of the individuals they get to work with, not just their boss, but their peers. So thank you. I just really so much appreciate your perspective and the way you connected the human element of your journey with your business journey, and just the breadth of your strategic lens in this industry that we all love, Indy. So I'm just grateful to you for taking the time to share your story with our listeners and our viewers, and just again, convey my appreciation to you and the deep respect that I have for you in terms of how you bridged some of this career discussion today. So thank you. Thank you very much

Indy Adenaw 34:37

Oh, it's completely m- mutual, and I appreciate your time.

Dorothy Dowling 34:41

All right. Thank you, Indy. Yeah. And if I may, I also would like to thank our audience. I'd love to thank them for joining us today, and if today's conversation with In- Indy resonated with you, I hope you will come and explore more interviews at itspersonalstories.com, where we share stories from leaders across our industry, leaders who are building meaningful careers, shaping the future of hospitality, and reminding us that leadership is, at its core, deeply personal. So thank you, and we hope you'll join us again soon.