Shazma Charania, President of ZS Holdings was born and raised in Red Deer and resides there with her husband Jamil and their two daughters. Shazma’s family has been in the hospitality business for over 30 years and their company Zainul & Shazma Holdings (ZS Holdings) is a family run operation. She has steered the growth of her family business from two to seven hotels.

Shazma has completed her B.Comm and holds an MBA specializing in hospitality. During her undergraduate degree at University of Alberta, Shazma was given the opportunity to complete six months on a full scholarship at Tec de Monterrey, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Knowing that she always had a passion for hospitality, Shazma took advantage of the fact that she could learn Spanish and is now fluent.

Her educational background mixed with her experience and community involvement enables Shazma to make decisions in a well-rounded manner. Her vision is “To be the industry leader in selected emerging markets in Western Canada” and maintains a corporate culture. Using the values, culture and strategies that ZS Holdings were founded on, Shazma is a firm believer of using those that foundations and building upon them .

Shazma has held local Board of Director positions at AHLA (Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association) and Red Deer Tourism just to name a couple. Since 2010, she has also served the IHG Owner’s Association and currently the Chair of the Holiday Inn Committee for The Americas Region and is also the in-coming Chair for Canada for all IHG Brands. In order to expand her thinking, broaden her network and seek support Shazma is engaged with two Global Organizations; WPO- Women’s Presidents’ Organization and more recently, EO- Entrepreneurs Organization.

Today, the company has grown into 125 Million Dollars in assets, a multi-award winning company, an Employer of Choice and gives over $100,000 annually to a variety of different local and international charities.