Sarah Searls

Sarah Searls is Chief Customer Officer for Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world. In this role, she is responsible for leading Choice’s marketing & customer acquisition and digital experiences. Searls drives the company’s “customer-first” strategy by maximizing how Choice understands and listens to customers, and connecting these valuable insights with strategy to create exceptional customer experiences and value to franchisees.

Searls joined Choice Hotels in 2009 as vice president of performance analytics and was the first member of the company’s enterprise-wide analytics function, leading the design of the analytical solutions and tools that still drive Choice’s business decisions today. She played a pivotal role in aligning the company’s business intelligence group and, in 2015, became vice president of digital commerce, overseeing ChoiceHotels.com, Choice Hotels’ mobile app and emerging digital consumer experiences.

Prior to Choice, Searls spent 10 years with America Online and Time Warner, where she led various analytical functions and areas within corporate development and business affairs. She received a Master of Business Administration from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Middleton, Connecticut. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband, their three children and their dog.