Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gaby Aziz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gaby, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for what is now Heart Core Hotels came amidst the George Floyd protests. My co-founder and I started brainstorming how we can promote the message of kindness and tolerance, and naturally settled on what we knew best: travel, hotels and nonprofits (we had previously launched a non-profit hotel booking site Rooms for Change).

So we fused all three and created a planet-friendly mission-driven hotel company and a sister nonprofit – Heart Core Hotels and Heart Core Fund.

Through the latter, we provide travel scholarships for kids who never traveled before. The idea is that traveling acts as a bridge between cultures, broadens horizons, opens minds, and shows that we all have the same hopes and dreams, despite our differences.

Every stay at Heart Core Hotels contributes to the Heart Core Fund. Someone once called us the Travel Robinhood which is kind of accurate – we create elevated hotel experiences at premium prices for our guests, then a part of it goes to those who have never stayed at a hotel at all.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a lifelong traveler, seeker and nomad who has called 6 countries on 3 continents home to date. With a college degree in International Development, I always wanted to combine travel and mission driven work (my childhood dream was to be a UN Ambassador!).

Having experienced the whole spectrum of different lodging options in my own travels, I had felt for years that something was missing in the hotel industry. there was no single brand that would check all the boxes for me personally, and one that I could stand behind fully as a customer. So with the help of my then co founder Tony, we decided to build it ourselves.

Heart Core Hotels stays are impact driven, minimum footprint and genuinely eco conscious (no “greenwashing” here!). In the era of soulless cookie cutter hotels on one hand, and overtourism protests and Airbnb pricing out local residents on the other, we aim to promote memorable AND mindful travel that benefits both our guests and the host communities.

My mission is to take Heart Core Hotels and Heart Core Fund global and make them known as LA-born household names synonymous with travel as a force for good.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Neither of us came from a business background. No fancy B School, MBA or startup accelerators. We just had an idea and we knew it would make the hospitality ecosystem better, more attractive to more types of travelers. Trouble was, the industry has been historically dominated by established hotel giants like Hilton, Marriott and Wyndham, where all decisions are made by older white men in suits. (Which doesn’t make sense for an industry that caters to a very diverse crowd in swimsuits but hey, that’s the reality.)

Stay in your lane, don’t ruffle any feathers, be a good girl… Unlearning certain patterns and removing deeply ingrained limiting beliefs is the hardest part, so I really appreciate this question. It took me several years of serious mindset work to come to believe that we are just as worthy of a shot and to be able to walk into those rooms, meetings and conferences with confidence. In moments of self doubt, I remind myself that I am here to be of service. Isn’t that what hospitality is all about?

Have you ever had to pivot?

My cofounder Tony and I recently parted ways in life and in business – the biggest pivot I could have imagined. I’m faced with having to build a new team, and relaunching the hotels in a brand new location. Stay tuned, as Heart Core Hotels 2.0 are coming soon.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heartcorehotels.com/
• Instagram: @iamgabyaziz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamgabyaziz/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabyaziz/
• Other: https://heartcorefund.org/

Image Credits

Gaby Aziz & Heart Core Hotels