Built for Leadership: How Roya Leverages Mentorship for Career Growth
Roya is a shining example of professional resilience, combining her deep commitment to leadership with an exciting entrepreneurial vision. A Texas native, Veteran, and single mother, Roya’s career journey is a powerful testament to the value of building a strong personal brand and never giving up on a dream.
For almost four years, Roya has worked for eight properties within a major hotel group, requiring travel to states including New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Utah, and New Mexico. Through these varied experiences, she has learned two core professional tenets: that integrity takes you a long way, and there is immense value in building your own personal brand to sustain a long career within a company.
Roya understands the importance of having a voice that positively influences the team in a direct, "we’re all in this together" approach. This influence became critical when she and her colleagues overcame a period of limited staffing, successfully managing the workload as a team and with Roya acting as their leader while awaiting a new Director. She believes this challenge impacted the positive way her team is seen today.
On the home front, Roya appreciates that her employer has always been "considerate and thoughtful" and given her the grace needed to be a good parent, allowing her to be present for her son’s after-school needs and beyond.
Roya’s ambition is to continue her growth within the leadership space, refining her skills and solving more complex situations. She credits the different avenues of mentorship gained through Dress for Success Austin with providing her the clarity and confidence to pursue these goals.
Through her DFSA mentorship sessions—which have included programs like our inaugural Success Starter Entrepreneurial Program, Veteran events and The Well-Being Project sponsored by the Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation— it has become clear that her strengths lie in sales and building connections with people. Roya recognized that she is going to find success in the leadership space because, as the mentorship sessions taught her, she is truly built for this type of role, and she must continue leveraging those skills in her career.
“I’m going to find success in this space because my DFSA mentors have taught me that I’m built for this type of role,” Roya shares.
In addition to her corporate success, Roya is looking toward a greener future and is actively exploring the opportunity of starting her own business.
Roya, a health enthusiast and a person with a heart for humanity, envisions an affordable storefront in Austin that offers sustainable products for both humans and the planet. As a single mom, she believes an eco-conscious mindset is essential to leave the planet a better place than it was before for the next generation.
Roya's journey—from Air Force Veteran to corporate leader, and now to aspiring eco-conscious entrepreneur—is a testament to the fact that commitment, mentorship, and a clear personal vision are the most powerful tools for professional success.