Frances Kiradjian on Clubhouse

Bio

Frances Kiradjian
Founder and CEO, Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association
Divisions include BLLAEvents.com, Stay-Boutique.com, boutiquemoneygroup.com, TIEWN.com(Travel and Hospitality Women’s Network)
About
With many years in hospitality and travel under her belt, Frances Kiradjian is a seasoned professional whose passion and knowledge show through the organizations that she’s built over the past 25+ years. In 2009, Frances created the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging (now Leaders) Association (BLLA) to give a voice to independent, upscale hotel properties, who at the time had no representation in the industry. Frances took notice and ensured that these boutique hotels had the means to compete on a level playing field with major hotel companies.
Today, BLLA serves hundreds of worldwide members including hotels, small brands, and the vendor suppliers that sustain them. What started as a platform for boutique hotels has recently turned into a haven for all boutique businesses, including restaurants, bars, nightlife, wellness, retail, and more, making our community inclusive on a grand scale globally. Through membership, conferences, and promotion through printed magazines and exclusive sites, BLLA & Stay Boutique™ are creating collaborative opportunities for all these owners/ founders as they share the same customer.
In addition, boutiques share this philosophy: “Boutique is not a thing, it’s not a store, it’s not a room—it’s an experience. It’s something that incorporates all five senses in our current culture.”
Although Kiradjian has extensive experience in the travel industry, her focus has primarily been held in the hospitality and lifestyle sectors. She created and developed the first travel agent-centric hotel booking portal, which combined multiple hotel inventories and allowed for mark-ups of a net rate. This has continued to serve as an important business model for travel-related technology companies today. Kiradjian began her career in the travel industry as a national accounts manager at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, where she managed top global accounts including Baxter Healthcare, Toyota, and Disney. Kiradjian is a graduate of the University of Southern California, (USC) from the highly respected Marshall School of Business.