SHE created history in 2018 by becoming the first African American woman chief executive of a publicly traded real estate investment trust.
Leslie D. Hale heads the Bethesda, MD, based hotel company with nearly 30,000 rooms at 153 properties across the U.S.
RLJ’s hotels are managed by Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, and are mostly in large cities that service business travelers.
Hers is a journey from the streets of Los Angeles to the executive suite. She is the granddaughter of a Tennessee sharecropper and did her schooling at Los Angeles public schools.
Leslie received her Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University, an Historic Black College and University where she is a trustee, and an MBA at Harvard Business School, where she was also a Goldman Sachs and Toigo Fellow.
Leslie joined RLJ in 2005, and served in various capacities.
She was appointed to chief financial officer in 2007 and chief operating officer in 2016. She has played a pivotal role in setting and executing the strategic vision at RLJ.
When she was elevated to the corner office of RLJ, replacing founder Robert L. Johnson, she told Washington Post, “RLJ looked past race and gender and focused on talent and contribution.”
Though she expressed happiness on being the first Black female president and CEO of the company, she adds, "But I have no interest in being the only.”
Her responsibilities at RLJ involve overseeing the managers who run the day-to-day operations of RLJ’s fleet of hotels, and keeping a close eye on the company’s balance sheet.
Leslie loves digging down into numbers, balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements. She recalls that initially she didn't understand finance, but later fell in love with it while a student at Howard University.
She claims the most important advice she got was to stay on the revenue side of the business, because she could influence strategy and reach leadership positions.
Before joining RLJ, Leslie worked with some top notch American companies such as GE and Goldman Sachs.
After graduating from Howard in 1994, she joined General Electric Capital, where she worked on major transactions in mergers and acquisitions and in real estate.
“I loved the fact that real estate was so tangible,” she said. “We all stay in hotels. We shop in malls. We work in offices. It’s an asset that you can touch and feel and understand.”
At Goldman Sachs, she was an investment banker advising on mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance.
Leslie always looked upon her entrepreneurial, committed parents as role models.
In an interview to Washington Post she said, “Every accomplishment I have ever had in my life has been a family affair. I have shared every moment of my success with my parents.
“I knew I could take risks, because if I failed, I could go home,” she says.
Recalling her childhood, she told the newspaper, “Growing up in south-central Los Angeles in the 1980s, at the height of gang violence, I had a deep sense of determination and grit in terms of succeeding. Getting out of Los Angeles and experiencing a different part of life was really important.”
Leslie also serves on the board of companies, including retailer Macy’s and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. She is a member are the MINA advisory board, National Association of REITs’ advisory board of governors, AHLA Executive Board and IREFAC.
