SPEAKER: I tend to tell people that they should take more risks, right? That they should jump off whatever path they're on. And I think in looking back in my career, because I was willing to do that, the way I think about things is quite different because of all the different experiences I've had. The summer of my business school year, I worked at Amazon when Amazon was only one tab, books, and we were launching toys and electronics. And for me, it was transformational because Amazon was a place that was almost, you know, focused on customer at all costs. And it was really an interesting thing to complement where I'd come from, which is GE, which was a company that was very focused on process, right? And those two things coming together, I think, have inspired me to think about customer experience and the way I think about it today. I've always thought back to that as, you know, that's a strategy, right? And this is what can come of it when you pick something to really own and drive your competitive advantage.
So my job spans a lot of different disciplines and challenges every day. I spend a lot of time focusing on a loyalty program, but when it comes down to it, I view myself as the person in the company who speaks on behalf of the customer. And so I try to spend as much time as I can really getting into the heads and the minds of our customers so I can be that beacon.
I spent seven years in Asia Pacific as the chief sales and marketing officer for Asia. And during that time, we kind of really grew from 200 hotels to today over 800 hotels. We acquired Starwood and became a bigger organization there. But during my time there, I spent a lot of time on China and we created a joint venture with Alibaba Associates who sit in Hangzhou and really drive our local platform for shopping and booking in China. And that platform is now responsible for a third of our active customer base, a quarter of our hotel bookings. And it's really helping us stay in front of localized innovation in that market.
In doing a lot of mentoring at my company, I tend to tell people that they should take more risks, right? That they should jump off whatever path they're on. And I think in looking back in my career because I was willing to do that, not only have I been given a lot more opportunities, but all those experiences have helped me look at my job today through a different lens going out to Asia. And I think that's really powerful. And I think in today's environment with all the pace of change, right? You have to do that. Put yourself out there because you never know what door is going to open and what insights you're going to get on doing the current job you're doing better.