Celebrating women leading with gratitude and impact

By Kristina Bronitsky

I’m Kristina Bronitsky, Director of Consumer Marketing at RedAwning, where I lead brand growth and consumer engagement for one of the largest vacation rental networks in North America. Over the past 13 years across hospitality, e-commerce, and travel, I’ve seen how gratitude, when practiced deliberately, becomes more than an emotion, it becomes an operational philosophy that fuels creativity, strengthens culture, and sustains long-term growth.

How does gratitude shape innovation and growth in leadership? 

Gratitude clarifies focus. In high-growth contexts, teams are often running fast and juggling urgency with ambiguity. 

Gratitude is what slows that tempo down just enough to let you reflect, to turn the energy from momentum into direction. Here at RedAwning, our goal is to straddle the worlds of technology and guest accommodations, and gratitude serves as a unifier between departments that don’t always communicate in the same language. It creates shared understanding. Teams that feel valued are free to innovate, and appreciation lowers the fear of failure, a common ‘block’ to creative problem-solving. Gratitude, in that sense, is not soft; it’s strategic. It nurtures a mentality that enables people to go from survival to invention.

How can women leaders use gratitude to drive collaboration and empowerment? 

Gratitude has a way of flattening hierarchy. It reminds people that leadership is not about power; it’s about partnership. Women leaders, especially, often straddle the kind of dual expectations, be a performer and be comforting. Gratitude serves as a bridge between those two roles, helping leaders to express strength through empathy, rather than just authority. The truth is I’ve found that public recognition of someone else’s work, whether in meetings, a shared Slack channel or even that awkward postlaunch review meeting, ends up building unexpected lanes of collaboration. With Gratitude, ego gets the boot and is replaced with mutual respect. It’s where mentorship often begins: in moments of obvious value given, that make others feel seen and safe to be a contribution.

Can gratitude have a measurable impact on business performance? 

Yes, and the proof is coming into focus. Organizations that have a culture of gratitude see their teams be more retained, more communicated and resilient in times of changes. In marketing, for instance, gratitude affects the story that is being told itself. When gratitude is ingrained in a company, it naturally carries over into how brands speak to their customers, authentically, empathetically and inclusionary. We have seen this at RedAwning through our community engagement programs that honor local hosts for their excellence in hospitality. That appreciation doesn’t just make them feel good; it is directly tied to performance metrics and, therefore, their own financial stability (e.g. listing quality scores) as well as guest satisfaction. Gratitude breeds allegiance, at home as well as outside the organization.

What practical strategies can leaders use to integrate gratitude into daily operations? 

Sometimes the most basic motives resonate the loudest. Begin with structure. Institute regular avenues for acknowledging gratitude, like weekly wins meetings, recognition emails or cross-department highlights. Promote sharing peer-to-peer appreciation and don’t wait for it to come from the top down. Ingrain gratitude into systems, not ceremonies. For example, we employ feedback loops that connect performance evaluations with cultural values, which also ensures that our gratitude isn’t episodic but ongoing. When gratitude becomes a leadership metric, not simply a nice afterthought, it helps to redefine accountability in a more balanced, healthy and human way.

How can gratitude-driven leadership impact broader communities or industries? 

Gratitude ripples out and has a profound impact beyond company culture. Small independent property owners and there are many in the vacation rental industry often feel left isolated from the rest of system. By acknowledging them, via spotlight programs, training opportunities and partnerships, we’ve seen firsthand how gratitude generates participation. This in turn raises the bar for entire communities by enhancing guest experiences and local economic impact. Gratitude expands the worth of a gift since it growns the commonality. It is not just to say “thank you” but to say “we’re in this together.”

Why is gratitude essential to the future of leadership? 

Because it reminds us that growth and grace are not mutually exclusive. The next era of leadership won’t be about who can scale fastest, but who can sustain meaning while doing it. Gratitude gives organizations that edge. It is the fuel that transforms ambition into alignment, and alignment into impact. For, as leaders, when we consciously cultivate thankfulness, We don’t simply increase the bottom-line, we increase the number of people who in turn build better tomorrows.