Some of us fantasize about travel like it’s our job. For Tina Edmundson, it literally is her job. As president of the Luxury Group by Marriott International, which has a portfolio of more than 545 hotels and resorts across 74 countries, her mission is to get inside the mind of the “global luxurian”—a discerning, modern traveler who steps into hotels with the highest of expectations. That could mean anything from decadent relaxation in an iconic travel destination to an unforgettable adventure in a road-less-traveled locale.
Edmundson actually grew up thinking she wanted to be a doctor, but the dynamic world of travel and hospitality seemed destined to draw her in. During her childhood in Mumbai, India, her parents worked for an airline, and she became a frequent flyer before she could walk. Later her mom ran beauty salons out of hotels, where Edmundson soaked up the scene. When she was a teenager, she and her sister moved to London to attend hairstyling school. “My mom wanted to make sure that we had a backup plan, in case we didn’t find anything else to do for work,” says Edmundson, who promptly ensured she wouldn’t need that fallback plan, earning a finance degree from the University of Bombay, then moving to the US to pursue her MBA in hotel and restaurant administration at the University of Houston. She’d planned to return to India upon graduation until she had an appropriately travel-related meet-cute: She met her future husband, a Louisiana native, on a Southwest Airlines flight.
The first rungs on Edmundson’s career ladder included unglamorous hotel-operations jobs. But she approached each with grit, learning the business from the ground up, one guest at a time. After climbing to senior vice president of luxury operations at Starwood Hotels, she joined Marriott as a senior vice president in 2008, then made a name for herself as global brand officer during the 2016 Starwood-Marriott merger, which formed what is still the world’s largest hospitality company.
Today, she oversees Marriott International’s eight high-profile luxury hotel brands: The Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts, Edition, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, and JW Marriott. After just a few years she’s already made her mark, introducing Saks Fifth Avenue personal-shopping suites in select hotels, launching The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, and developing properties such as the coveted St. Regis Estates.
While Marriott’s luxury properties are certainly making a statement, so is what’s happening inside the company. While Edmundson got her start in a male-dominated era, women now represent half of Marriott’s senior leadership team, 45% of its executives, and 53% of its workforce.
Edmundson recently cohosted a dinner with Glamour that celebrated women elevating their voices in the workplace and beyond. “My hope for the next generation of women leaders is that they are both courageous and connected,” she said. “That they see possibility, not limitation. That they walk into every room knowing they belong. Because this is what leadership is about: creating opportunities, opening doors, and leaving every space just a little wider so more women can follow.”
Despite her high-level title, a globe-hopping schedule, and the glitz of the luxury-hotel scene, Edmundson’s job can also feel routine. She commutes to the company headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, from nearby Potomac, where she lives with her husband (they have an adult daughter who works at a law firm in San Francisco). In our latest installment of Glamour’s Doing the Work, Edmundson opens up about her daily rituals, office/travel must-haves, her best career and parenting advice, and how even in the rarified realm of global luxurians, hard work and a tough skin keep her grounded and productive.
We have to start by asking—given your job, how often do you travel for work?
You know, it depends—it’s probably about 30% of the time, if I had to guess. It’s a bit up and down, though. If I’m going to Europe for a conference or a particular meeting, I’ll try to do a bunch of other things just to take advantage of the fact that I’m there, whether it’s attending an opening or visiting hotels I haven’t seen. So some months I am away more than others.
What’s it like for someone in your position to travel? You’re staying in the most amazing hotels, but the whole time you’re probably thinking about how to improve them.
Oh, 100%. Trust me, it’s wonderful to travel to all these places, and I love spending time at our hotels and being with our general managers and hotel teams. Those parts are great. But I’m always on. I’m looking around at the physical environment, thinking about the experiences and the programming at each hotel. I’m making sure that a hotel feels right for that audience, in that country. Then the other thing that I also do is I shop the competition a fair bit. I always like to see what other people are doing, what we can learn, who’s doing something that’s really interesting, and what’s new in the market. That’s really important.
What’s your next trip?
My next trip is actually a leisure trip. I’m going to India to see my mom. My daughter’s flying in next Wednesday, and then on Thursday we leave for two weeks. My trips back to India used to be very frequent, but now I try to get my mom to come here, since she has a bit more time on her hands than I do. But if I’m ever in, say, Dubai or Singapore for work, I’ll take a quick trip to see her, even if it’s just for a weekend.
What time do you get up in the morning, and what’s your typical morning routine?
I get up at about 6 o’clock. I like to work out a couple mornings a week; I have a gym in my house, which makes it easy. I stick to that routine when I’m home. When I’m on the road, I sort of just go with the flow.
How do you take your coffee?
I grab a grande hazelnut latte on the way to work.
What was your first real job?
I was a night auditor at the Four Seasons in Houston. It was a finance type of job, where I had to run an audit of all of the transactions that transpired during the day. It was a tough job because I would start at 11 p.m. and get done at 7 a.m. It wasn’t very much fun. But I was still in school at the time, so it worked out. I’d do the overnight shift, and then during the day I did a couple classes. And eventually I got promoted to a more reasonable income-audit type of job during the day, so it all worked out.
What’s your best piece of career advice?
There’s one that I share with others often: Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Meaning it’s important to take risks, and you’re only really growing when you’re uncomfortable.
You recently cohosted a dinner with Glamour that celebrated the power of sisterhood. Have there been moments in your career when connections with women colleagues helped you get ahead?
Definitely. The most memorable is when I finished management training and got hired by a general manager at the Sheraton in Dallas. This was 20-plus years ago, when there were not many women general managers, and it was wonderful to have that kind of role model—a woman in such a position of authority and responsibility. She helped me begin to plan my career, showed me the ropes, and taught me everything I needed to know, from how to stay organized at work to how to know when to speak up. Along the way in my career, I’ve made so many great friendships with other women in the workplace, and it’s been so helpful having them to informally bounce ideas off or talk to about things that I normally might not in a business setting.
How do you typically deal with rejection?
Not well! [Laughs.] No, but you know, I’ve learned not to internalize it too much. I do think handling rejection gets easier as you get more experienced. You realize it’s not usually personal—it’s just business. It’s just about the deal, or the details of what you were proposing. Take a moment to think about why you didn't get what you wanted to get, then move on. You can’t take it personally.
What parenting advice would you give to a new mom?
I would say to set clear boundaries. I’m not saying be overly strict, but I think kids need to know where you draw the line.
What’s your most comfortable work outfit?
I have a preference for trousers and a jacket more than I do for dresses or skirts. For travel, I have this supersoft Lululemon track suit in dark gray. It’s so comfy but has tailored details like pintucking in the front of the pants that make it look put-together and crisp, so you don’t get off the plane and arrive somewhere looking frumpy. It’s so versatile, you can wear it anywhere.
What’s the most recent book you read?
I just finished Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, but I also read fiction, especially if I’m on the beach. I love Ken Follett’s books. I think I might have read them all.
What is your biggest vice?
Dark chocolate. With nuts.
What was a moment when you felt like you had made it?
Actually pretty recently, when I got promoted to this job—about three years ago.
What’s your favorite treat after a productive day?
A good glass of cabernet.
What’s your go-to thank-you gift?
If somebody really likes wine, then I’ll often do that. But I’ll always try to make it quite personal and fit the occasion.
Do you have a go-to email sign off?
I don’t, to be honest. I write really short emails, and nowadays I speak my emails more than type them.
Who are the people on Instagram whose stories you would never skip over?
I really like Scott Galloway on Instagram. Otherwise, I just, you know, scroll. It’s dangerous, the doom scroll.
People would be happier doing their work if…fill in the blank.
If they loved their jobs. It sounds silly to say, but it’s true. I really love the travel industry and what we do. It’s still a job and not every day is fabulous, but loving what you do makes work so much better.
If you weren’t in your current career, what do you think you would be doing?
I think I’d be a travel advisor.
What are some work essentials you can’t live without?
My chair is the most important thing. Both at home and at work I have a Herman Miller ergonomic chair, which I love. It’s literally the only way I can get through 8 or 10 hours of work feeling comfortable. I also need my AirPods, and my Moleskine notebook—I never go anywhere without that. I try not to snack during work, but when I do, it’s raw almonds. Another thing I can’t live without is ChatGPT. It’s incredible how quickly we all have adopted using it.
Things I don’t have are a favorite pen—I constantly lose them, so I try not to get attached—or a ring light. I briefly tried using one of those during covid when everyone else was, but to be honest, I really don’t like how you can see the ring light reflected in people’s eyes or glasses when you’re on a video call. Luckily I work in well-lit rooms!
