Shruti Gandhi Buckley : From McLean to Hospitality Leadership
SHRUTI GANDHI BUCKLEY learned at an early age the importance of diversity. It was part of her childhood growing up in McLean, VA, as the child of immigrant parents.
“McLean is very diverse now, but when I was growing up there was very, very little diversity,” Shruti told the Women of Color Power List 2025. “So, that was certainly an experience coming up with an unusual name. Most of the folks did not have an international background. It was a very homogeneous population at that time.”
McLean has changed, part of a national trend Shruti has observed over her lifetime.
“A lot of our country became much more of a melting pot, but certainly back then it wasn't. That was just something I had to figure out and learn and have some tough skin around.”
As senior vice president and global brand leader for Hampton by Hilton at Hilton, Shruti advocates for women in the hospitality industry. She took a winding road to get where she is and she jumped more than a few hurdles, but she doesn’t pass up opportunities to extend a helping hand.
Her parents are of Indian descent. Her mother lived in Nairobi in her youth and her father is from Gujarat in India. Shruti was born in Boulder, CO.
“My father was an organic chemist, an absolutely brilliant man, and my mother was in finance,” Shruti says, noting she inherited her mother’s people skills and business sense.
Neither parent entered the hotel business, but she had an uncle with a motel in Atlantic City when she was very young.
“I used to go every year and spend my summers there,” she recalls. “I loved it. I loved that there were new people every day in the hotel that I got to meet and I loved being part of the process of folding towels and stocking the soda machine. But most of all, I really loved all the activity.”
Still, hospitality was not her first career choice. After she graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in business administration, she spent several years in the food industry, working for companies such as Nestle and Nabisco. Then, she moved to New York and found work in the fragrance and cosmetics industry, holding positions with Estee Lauder, Calvin Klein, Unilever and Chanel. A move back to the Washington, D.C., area led to employment with National Geographic.
Eventually, however, she made her entrée into the hotel industry with Marriott International.
Shruti had several friends in D.C. who worked in hospitality. They told her there was a need for somebody with a strategic business management background to give a different perspective.
Marriott put her in charge of the ailing Fairfield Inn by Marriott brand.
“They gave me a great opportunity to do something exciting on a brand that a lot of people had lost faith in. Over the course of eight years, I was able to turn that brand around into one of their fastest-growing brands with new initiatives, new products.”
In 2016, she left Marriott and joined the Hampton Inn brand.
Throughout her career, Shruti encountered various levels of diversity. Food was “pretty diverse,” cosmetics was primarily women and National Geographic was very diverse. The Hilton owners’ community is both diverse and large, she says.
“But outside of that it's still a very male-dominated industry both at the ownership level as well as at the corporate level. That was kind of an eye-opening experience where oftentimes, and still to this day, I am one of the few women in a meeting with leaders or with owners.”
But there has been progress. “There's definitely been a positive movement toward more diversity at all levels in our industry, but there's still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done.”
Her position at Hilton gives Shruti opportunities to further that progress. “Being a leader, there's a responsibility to mentor and to sponsor women,” she notes. “I really enjoy that part of my role. It is often these opportunities come up organically with these amazing women.”
She says people of color approach her and ask to speak with her about their careers. “That gives me a really exciting opportunity to sponsor and mentor people with some incredible talent both within Hilton but also within the industry. I take that role very seriously. Leading by example, I think it's exciting. Hilton gives me incredible opportunities to be in front of people on a regular basis at industry events within our own organization.”
Shruti says she tries to create a supportive work environment in which everyone can thrive.
Hilton recently introduced its “Unlocking Doors” initiative to provide education, networking and access to capital supporting new and aspiring hotel owners, especially women of diverse backgrounds. Shruti explains: “We’re creating a program that introduces them to the industry and gives them a path forward from an ownership standpoint.”
“My hope is that the actions I take not only benefit women or people of color, but they benefit people, all people. The idea is how do you take this these really talented individuals, many of whom don't get seen or maybe in roles that aren't always up in front, and how do you get them visibility and give them confidence to move forward in their career?”
