Shiromal Cooray: Succession by Merit, Purpose and Influence

The challenges facing family-owned businesses are often more diverse and complex than those faced by other companies. "Family" and "business" are intertwined into a mix of traditional family values, business challenges and generational differences. Further, women face more challenges as the  business world for family-owned entities is still a man’s world.”

Even as cofounders and co-owners of the family business, women were often found on the side lines, facing similar challenges related to gender discrimination and stereotyping to those found in the broader corporate world. In some cases, women have traditionally played a somewhat ‘invisible’ role in their family businesses, as the ‘hidden’ CEO, working behind the scenes and experience unconscious bias. However, women have the incredible ability to step up and shift their own and others’ mental framework when they enter the business.

In this week’s episode Dr. Nisha  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishatourismexpert/  get up close and personal with a leading woman who has successfully led a family-owned hospitality business, and revered as one of the 50 most powerful women of business in Sri Lanka. Shiromal Cooray. 

Shiromal is the Chairman and Managing Director of Jetwing Travels (Pvt.) Ltd., one of the leading inbound/outbound travel management companies in Sri Lanka. She is also the Chairman of Jetwing Hotels (Pvt) Ltd., a premier hospitality brand that owns and manages 30 hotels and 10 villas in Sri Lanka. Jetwing Hotels (Pvt) Ltd.’s achievements include the Gold and Silver Trophy of Commendation in the Hotel category at The Presidential Environment Awards 2019 and the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) Award for sustainable operations (2016). With diverse experience in a number of industries, Shiromal also holds 19 other directorates in hotels, finance, investment banking, Banking, Commodity brokering and advertising and PR agencies. She is past Chairman of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID), and past President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators. Shiromal is a currently Board Director of Commercial Bank PLC. 

Although she was an heir to the family legacy, her independent spirit led to Shiromal choosing a career as an accountant at JWT. She rose to become the Finance Director and moved to Hong Kong, to broaden her career prospects in the region and gain valuable experience. Inspired by her entrepreneur father, Shiromal returned to join the family business to help the world experience the best of Sri Lanka’s authentic hospitality, while enriching the lives of local communities. 

Strongly grounded on family values and tenets of faith, humility, respect, passion, honesty and tenacity, Shiromal, her brother Hiran, with the entire Jetwing team have strived to build a strong hospitality brand that is distinctly Sri Lankan to the core and renowned internationally for the brand’s warmth, service excellence and sustainability initiatives. 

An Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), Shiromal also has an MBA from (the University of Colombo). She is the former Vice-President of the Travel Agents Association of Sri Lanka (TAASL) and the former President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) – the foremost representative body for tour operators in Sri Lanka. She was also elected recently as the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID).

You can reach Shiromal via:
Email: shiromal@jetwing.lk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiromal-cooray-9274a219/

This podcast is jointly presented by:
World Women Tourism: https://www.worldwomentourism.com
The Flapper Life: https://www.theflapperlife.com