Ms. Caro Van Eekelen: a successful story

It is a pleasure to share with you the successful story of Ms. Caro Van Eekelen who will accompany us in “She Decides, You Succeed” Final Conference as a speaker. The event  will take place in Barcelona the next 9th of June at 11:00 in  Foment del Treball. An event where women take the floor.

On Instagram (@Carovaneekelen ) she defines herself as a transformation leader. Currently working at Accor Hotels she stimulates ownership and respect as a way to foster innovative ideas while creating diverse teams.

Caro van Eekelen has been an untiring woman. Since she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management she’s been joining different hotel chains from Golden Tulip international to Accor Hotels.

During her extensive career she worked in different management positions in Disneyland Resort Paris and she’s overseen the expansion of hotels in many countries all around the world: the Caribbean, Ghana and France.

Currently, she is Chief Operating Officer at Hotel Services Benelux managing the development and operations of 110 hotels in Benelux. She’s become Accor’s first female country director and she has personally been involved with increasing the diversity, both within and beyond her role at Accor Hotels.

Diverse teams are key! In fact, during an interview by Dr. Lily Lin, the author of “Interviewing Successful Hotel Managers” she was asked what would be the most important qualifications a person should have for her to hire him/her. To this she answered:  “I would definitely hire all kinds of people as multiculturalism and diversity are very important. Also, I would try to hire people who complement each other, that would give the best results.”

She stated that once companies know this, they must set very clear measurable goals and put it in the agenda. By 2017, 35% of all hotel directors in Accor should be women.

Caro is an energetic woman, she likes actions and is result-oriented. Like many executives, she is very fast and therefore has to make sure that her staff is able to catch up with her. About this she says: “I don’t like being in a status quo situation; I am very solution-oriented and I like action. For some people, working with me can be quite difficult and tiring, because I go very fast, too fast… But, they also like the other side of me – I am inspiring.”

She also goes to schools to inspire young women. She knows these women need role models and that as a team we are stronger.

You can read the whole interview by Dr. Lily Lin at: http://wearehoteliers.com/caro-van-eekelen-interview/

If you want to know more about the project  #SheDecidesYouSucceed watch the video by clicking on the link below:

http://www.afaemme.org/she-decides-you-succeed/documentation