A young, driven, and innovative leader. Ellen leads a successful family business that runs several hotels.

Why did you choose to be a leader; what drives you?
The main reason I chose to be a leader is that I found a passion for the service industry early on. Partly because as a leader in this industry, you get to meet so many different types of wonderful people with very diverse backgrounds. But also because it is an industry where good leadership is of great importance, as it is so incredibly important to create a workplace where the staff thrives. Because if the staff thrives, so do the guests, which is absolutely essential for running a successful hotel.
When I studied Hospitality Management at Glion in Switzerland, I saw how the status of the industry looked different in the rest of the world compared to Sweden. What I want to contribute is workplaces where people are proud and to continue working with and raising the status of the industry. Working in service is extremely dynamic and fun, no two days are the same.

You are relatively young. How do your employees notice this?
The positive thing about my age is that I quickly pick up trends and am always eager to develop the product, which I hope creates an innovative and dynamic workplace. This, combined with the fact that I am helping to run a family business, means that I am extra passionate about my job, which I think my employees notice.
Of course, many situations that arise are completely new to me, but I think that will always be the case to some extent, as it is a leadership role that covers so many different areas of work. So I will probably never be fully accomplished but see it as an opportunity to constantly develop.

There is a lot of talk about sustainability and sustainable leadership. How do you/we work with it?
Sustainable leadership is extremely important because the industry has a high staff turnover where stress and high pace are everyday occurrences. Therefore, we work with continuous employee surveys and conversations with the staff. Even though I know my staff very well and can quickly sense if something is wrong, it is important to have a routine and a system where we constantly take the pulse of the organization in order to act early if something is wrong. Our entire workforce has also undergone a free health check to have the opportunity to get help with both physical and mental problems. This has really been a recipe for success for us as I see that we have lower staff turnover than the hotels I have worked at before.
Sustainability is of course an important part today, we are constantly working with local suppliers in both the hotel and restaurant business to have as little climate impact as possible. In addition to this, the restaurant and breakfast service work hard with seasonal ingredients and always good vegan and vegetarian options. Today, sustainability should be a hygiene factor and something you live with every day!