Member Spotlight: Sonja Vodusek, Former Chief Operating Officer, ORA Hospitality

This week’s installment of our Member Spotlight series features Sonja Vodusek, Former COO of ORA Hospitality. Each week, we highlight members of the Women Leading Travel community who are shaping the future of the industry through leadership, insight and impact.

1. What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
"The Comfort Crisis" by Michael Easter. It reminds us that growth rarely happens in comfort. As leaders, we need to keep challenging ourselves, even while our industry is built on creating comfort for others. Feeling comfortable by being uncomfortable is when you know you are growing.

2. What do you love most about the industry?
Hospitality is one of the few industries where emotion is the product. We are not simply selling rooms or meals. We are creating memories, moments of connection and experiences people carry with them long after they leave, not just for guests but for our team. Striving to be a great place to work is always one of my core goals. I believe luxury hospitality is built on an obsessive focus on the guest, delivered with quiet discretion.

3. What is something the community may be surprised to learn about you?
Despite working in some of the most refined luxury environments in the world, I grew up in a small country town where I worked in human resources and finance for an abattoir. It was very grounding and practical. I enjoy the simple things in life like time at the beach and good food with family, and in my golden years I will play tournament backgammon.

4. What’s the toughest part of being in charge?
Making decisions when the outcome affects people. Leadership often requires balancing empathy with accountability. Sometimes the right decision for the organization is not the easiest decision for individuals.

5. What are your nonnegotiables when it comes to work-life balance?
Clarity about identity and values. When you know what matters most to you, it becomes easier to make decisions about how you spend your time. Leadership is a marathon, not a sprint, and sustainability matters. Increasingly, I believe work and life are integrated. If you love what you do, it becomes part of how you live rather than something separate.

6. What woman inspires you right now and why?
Where do I start? I am inspired by many women who are building organizations while lifting others with them. The most powerful leaders, in my opinion, are those who create opportunity for the next generation.

7. What is one industry trend you’re closely tracking and why?
I am closely watching the convergence of wellness, sustainability, personalization and technology in luxury hospitality. AI will enable extraordinary levels of personalization, but the challenge will be ensuring it remains discreet rather than intrusive. Luxury hospitality has always been about anticipating needs gracefully, and technology should enhance that rather than feel “creepy.” I believe simplicity will be more important as we evolve.

8. What is one thing you look for when interviewing a job candidate?
Self-awareness, curiosity and likability. Technical skills are important, but great leaders and team members are those who understand themselves and are committed to learning.

9. What’s something that you learned about yourself in the past year?
That stepping away from something successful that you have built can create space for something even more meaningful. Sometimes progress requires the courage to change direction.

10. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” It sounds simple, but authenticity is one of the most powerful leadership tools we have.

11. What values are most important to you as a leader?
Respect, integrity, curiosity, generosity and humility. Leadership reveals itself during difficult moments. Character shows when pressure arrives.

12. What’s the most important thing people should know about you?
I adopt a people-first, profits-follow approach. I care deeply about culture. Brands do not create experiences; people do. Culture is king, brand is queen, and the team is the household that brings the experience to life.

13. What’s a tip you have for productively leading a hybrid team?
Clarity and consistent, regular communication. When people understand purpose, priorities and expectations, location becomes less important.

14. Where is your favorite place you’ve traveled to? Why?
Japan remains one of the most extraordinary destinations for me. I lived there three times over an eight-year period. The precision of service, respect for craft and deep cultural heritage create a form of hospitality that is both humble and exceptional. Omotenashi—the spirit of Japanese hospitality.

15. What is the top item on your bucket list?
To travel around Australia for months with my husband and meet our friends along the way. Please note, not in a campervan.

16. What do you do to recharge?
Beach time, as I love being near water, and spending quality time with my family in Australia and friends around the world, and occasionally disappearing into a wellness retreat.

17. What is your biggest accomplishment?
Leading the opening of The Peninsula London Hotel & Residences, from construction to welcoming the first guest through COVID and Brexit. Watching a vision become reality with an extraordinary team of professionals that believed in excellence was incredibly rewarding. It takes a village.

18. What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Know your purpose and your worth. Continue building your capability, build networks beyond your own industry, and always ask yourself how you are remaining relevant in an evolving world. Leadership is not only measured by financial performance but by the culture and legacy one leaves behind. What will your legacy be?

19. What gets you up in the morning?
If I still had my dog Frank, it would be taking him for a walk. My purpose is to help others, and anything I do is about making things better than I found them.

20. What do you like most about being a member of Women Leading Travel & Hospitality?
The community. It is powerful to be surrounded by women who are shaping the future of travel and hospitality while supporting one another along the way. Let’s continue to raise the bar.

Connect with Sonja on LinkedIn to learn more.