Nurjehan Saju made her debut in the hospitality industry in July of 1981 when she took over the general management of the then dilapidated Econo Lodge of Ocala (the present Howard Johnson Inn at the Intersection of I 75 and State Road 27). This project is her first success story as she turned around the motel’s occupancy within four years from being in the thirties to being in the seventies to eighties percentile. After that she worked at a couple of other motels (Red Carpet Inn in Wildwood and Howard Johnson Inn in Cocoa). Each of these two motels improved significantly under her management.
In 1996, Nurjehan entered the academic world to broaden her knowledge base and refine her language and communication skills. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and her Masters Degree from the Harvard University in Boston. She obtained each of these degrees with honors. After that, she did five years of post-graduate studies at the Emory University in Atlanta.
This year, Nurjehan made a comeback in the Hospitality Industry as she joined the HDG Hotels Group. She supervises overall performance of all the seven motels by monitoring their everyday performance and revenue reports; she monitors financial activities of all seven motels based on their daily transactional activities at the banks and periodically she conducts motivation and leadership training classes with the hotels’ administrative and management team. Nurjehan’s hands-on experience, her formal education and her wisdom gleaned over the years are useful tools that make her effective in her leadership role with the HDG hotels.