At Femest Magazine, we love sharing stories of inspiring women shaping their industries. Today, we bring you an exclusive interview with Annajane, the Global Director of Brand Marketing at Generator & Freehand Hotels.
From her unexpected start behind the bar at the Taj London to leading marketing worldwide, Annajane’s journey is full of lessons, passion, and real talk about balancing career and family. Let’s dive into her story and learn how she’s changing hospitality marketing for the better.
Can you share a bit about your background and how your career began?
I have been in hospitality marketing & communications since I graduated. I studied International Relations but fell into hotels after working at the bar at the Taj in London.
After I graduated, I became a sales and marketing coordinator there and loved the marketing side, which I found really interesting, so from there, I pursued other roles of a similar nature.
I worked as Marketing, PR and Communications Manager at the Conrad London St. James before I was Head Of Marketing at Malmaison, Hotel du Vin and Frasers Hospitality.
I have been really lucky to have worked with amazing leaders & mentors who I’m still in touch with today (Siddhartha Butlalia, Sriram Aylur, Ryan Dance, and more recently Alastair Thomann).
My experience has led me to my current role as the Global Director of Brand Marketing at Generator & Freehand. When I came for the interview, Dan Merchant, Chief People Officer, and Alastair Thomann, CEO, were the only people who had interviewed me who didn’t ask how I could do my job with 3 children – I knew then I had found my new home.
On a personal level, I have 3 little girls and I’m really focused on making the workplace better for them.
Looking back, how did your experience working at the bar at the Taj in London shape your approach to leadership and marketing?
It was my first look into the hotel industry, and I was hooked straight away! I loved being part of the customer journey and helping guests have the best experience possible.
This is something that has stuck with me throughout the rest of my career – always putting the customer front and centre, and it really is at the heart of everything we do at Generator & Freehand.
What was the most significant turning point in your career that led you to become a global marketing director?
I have always been incredibly driven and had an innate desire to grow my career in whichever form it took shape. Initially, I wasn’t sure on where my path would take me, but in marketing, there is never a straight line for career progression and everyone’s journey looks different.
This is something that I love about the industry, you can pivot in so many directions, and it was always important for me to gain a really well-rounded skill set.
When I was early on in my career, a key turning point was discovering what was most important for me and what I wanted my future roles to look like, and this included wanting a future where I would be responsible for a 360 degree campaign that impacted the company at many different touch points.
I realised I loved finding solutions and my current role is very cross-functional, working with sales, operations etc and I love the knowledge you gain of the whole business throughout this process.
What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Generator & Freehand Hotels so far?
It is not so much a singular project, but for me, the most rewarding element of my job is brand partnerships. Getting to see a partnership come to life from initial ideation, to logistical planning, to the final implementation in the form of event or guest experience, you really get to enjoy the full 360 process.
It is always incredibly rewarding getting to work with some of our amazing brand partners, who share our core values, and we have been fortunate enough to throw some amazing events to further elevate the guest experience across our international portfolio.
Whether it’s partnering with local creatives for our social first KlubGen, or hosting rooftop yoga sessions and nostalgic movie nights, we are always creating meaningful and authentic experiences for guests to connect.
How do you ensure the brand message stays consistent while managing a global team spread across different cultures and markets?
Communication is key. Keeping in contact whether that’s through regular calls, emails or WhatsApp really helps us stay on message and be cohesive in our marketing strategy.
The team really enjoy being together when possible and in-person collaboration is really important to brainstorming creative ideas.
In tandem with this, it is also important that everyone in the team understands, lives and breathes our core values so that they shine through in all brand messaging.
Trust in the team is also important – we need to be able to trust that each house can tailor the brand messaging accordingly to each market and their respective culture, whilst ensuring the core messaging still lands.
Can you share a challenge you faced while leading a global brand and how you overcame it?
There are always going to be challenges leading a global brand, in any industry you work in, but for me, I see these challenges as an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to find solutions.
They say that every pot has a lid, and this runs true when leading a global brand. I am incredibly solutions based so I love the challenge of problem-solving and quick thinking on your feet.
I believe there is a real power in switching the narrative away from something being ‘challenging’ to something becoming an opportunity for growth and a lesson learnt – as you want to continue to keep growing and learning no matter where you are in your career.
How do you come up with creative concepts for events like the OkCupid X Generator Galentine’s collaboration?
With activations and campaigns Generator always wants to trail blaze and be the first to try something in terms of look, feel and experience.
We are always continuously looking for opportunities to innovate and pioneer to allow us to continue to be the coolest hospitality brand in the market! Generator is not a place to stay, but rather a full socially-led experience, so we create unique memorable in-person experiences for guests to help foster connection and we aim to partner with unique, interesting and like minded brands who share our core values.
What qualities do you value most when building and leading high-performance teams?
I’m always interested to see how candidates view our brands (and our competitors) and what they think about what we are doing. It’s always obvious when candidates have really taken a good look at how we speak to our customers and have an informed opinion on what we are doing as a brand and why.
If they can share this with me, I know they will be able to share these thoughts when it comes to day to day working which is really important to me when building a team.
Commitment is also a really big thing I look for. I don’t always necessarily look for a specific marketing degree or qualifications.
But for me a degree is a sign of commitment to 3 years of doing something, so if they started studying something different (like me) that’s what counts rather than the degree topic itself.
How do you stay inspired and motivated while juggling a global role and family life?
To be honest, it can be hard to balance working full-time whilst juggling a family.
It’s hard to balance school plays and work trips, field trips that clash with important stakeholder meetings, but I am honest with my kids about what is going on and why, so they understand.
When I can’t make it, my Dad will go and support along with my husband and they LOVE having them both there.
So overcoming an obstacle is all about finding a new route around and I’m lucky as well that Generator and Freehand are forward thinking brands, and are happy to offer me flexibility where possible.
Having a set routine is also super important to help with juggling work and family life.
On a work day I get up around 5:30, get ready for the day, and take the dog out. Sometimes I head to the gym.
The girls are often up before I go to work so I need to be ready for whatever they have in store for me – think Dutch Braids, tutu tantrums and my little one’s weetabix obsession.
I spend as much time with them as I can before I go. I’m in the office for 7:45/8 and this next hour is my golden time before the team comes in to really get to grips with my day and what the focus is depending on what has come in overnight from the US teams.
I try to be super present when I’m with the kids and put my phone down for the golden two hours after work and before bed, I spend with them. The weekends are time for family/friends, I love having a house full of people and cooking.
Having three children under six my current rule to live by is ‘just stay calm’. Kids feed off of you, so if you can keep your cool, it will all be alright much quicker. The same goes in a business environment.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to young women looking to thrive in the marketing industry?
I can’t give just one, so I’ll give three. Networking, being yourself and not being afraid to try something new. Everyone is a door and you just need to see how far they open. I really live by if you don’t ask, you don’t know.
So don’t be afraid to ask the questions that matter. Silence is never the answer. Just be yourself! People want to connect with the real you – your values, your beliefs. When you’re not authentic, it’s hard for others to trust you fully.
Embracing new experiences and not fearing failure is crucial; it’s through those moments of courage that we grow. If I didn’t jump in and try marketing I don’t know where I would be right now so I’m so happy that I took the chance.
Even now, when I need to do something out of my comfort zone, I remember my 21 year old self walking into the sales and marketing office, and I know I’ll be able to do it.
What does success mean to you at this stage of your career?
Success to me is enjoying the work I do and seeing the impact of it. We have a great working culture and I truly enjoy coming to work – something I never take for granted.
There is a real sense of commitment to the job and a real sense of community in the office.
Everyone in the business has a true passion for hospitality and it really shows.
I love watching my team problem-solve and I really admire their can-do attitude which allows them to come up with unique and out of the box solutions that make the most sense. When I see that, I’m really proud, I love that we are such positively focused teams and brands!
Success also means being able to work on disruptive campaigns. At Generator, for the past 30 years we’ve been fostering genuine connections, whether that is at our locations or in the creative events we host. I love when we work with interesting brand partners to create unique events which bring people together and create new experiences for them.
For example, last year we sponsored our first festival WonderFruit in Thailand, where we took over the Boutique Camping section to offer the industry’s first dorm-style festival booking option, where guests can share a three-bed tent with other solo travellers, offering a unique way for travellers to meet and interact.
Looking ahead, what’s your vision for the future of hospitality marketing?
I think as marketers, we are operating in unprecedented times. The market is completely saturated, and thanks to the rise of social media and AI, we are constantly being fed news and information through our phones on a minute-by-minute basis.
I have seen a shift within our consumers, and in the wider market, away from super high spec and polished campaigns and a move towards more authentic, meaningful brand connections and experiences.
Think behind the scenes style content, or using real consumers as the new ‘it girl influencers’, which all seamlessly blends authentic real experiences with the product you are trying to showcase.
