I meet Varsha Rao in Delhi, in the living room of a first-floor Hauz Khas apartment that requires my driver to stop for directions at least four times. It’s quaint, quiet, cozy and warm—words that pop up often in its Airbnb guest reviews. And Varsha, the 46-year-old petite mother of two, is charming, welcoming and hospitable, all words you’ll find are used to describe Airbnb’s top hosts. Founded in 2008 by Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb allows people in more than 34,000 cities to rent out accommodation using its digital platform. As its Head of Global Operations, Varsha Rao is a double rarity: a woman who has made it to the top rungs of two male-dominated industries: tech and travel. Condé Nast Traveller chats with Rao about Airbnb‘s ambitious plans for India, and how she runs what is undoubtedly one of the world’s most exciting and disruptive companies.

Varsha, you’re in Delhi with Nathan, one of the founders of Airbnb. What brings you both to India?

We are a global travel marketplace, and India is one of the world’s fastest growing travel markets, which makes it an exciting place for us. We have more than 2 million unique listings across the world—from apartments to castles to treehouses to villas—and 500,000 Indians have already used Airbnb in more than 160 countries! So they really are going everywhere.

And Indians are embracing authentic travel. They’re traveling less in groups and more as individuals and families looking to get off the beaten path and explore new things. Airbnb is all about authentic travel experiences and connecting with local people, so we are inspired by Indian travellers. They enjoy sharing spaces, cooking together, spending downtime together, and interacting with locals. It can become a big part of their memories. I remember, two years ago, my family and I went to Napa Valley in California, and our host happened to be a chef. My son, who was 10 at the time, watched the chef prepare a meal for us and helped him out a little in the kitchen. We had a steak dinner and waffles for breakfast. Since then, my son has taken a major interest in cooking! This is such a great experience he had all thanks to Airbnb. You hear so many great stories like this.

You’re of Indian descent. What’s your connection been to the country?

Being here is special to me both professionally and personally. I had a pretty traditional upbringing in the US, near Boston. My parents emigrated there from India and they focused on giving me a good education. I went to University of Pennsylvania and then to Harvard Business School, but I spent many summers back in Bangalore with my extended family. There are so many amazing places to see in India, from Goa to Shimla to Pondicherry to Rajasthan, that it makes traveling within the country really exciting. There’s a great quote from the Economist that India is really a continent disguised as a country, and I think that’s very true. I’ve been several times and stayed with some really great hosts, including a woman in Gurgaon who was using Airbnb to supplement her income as an artist. I’ve had hosts who have invited me to be part of festivals and poojas. It’s really fun for me to see this side of north India because growing up, I knew only the south. It’s such a unique way to travel.

Tell us about your own career and how you got here. It’s an anomaly being a woman so successful not only in the world of technology, but also travel.

I’ve been very lucky. I had parents who inspired me to do more, who made me feel like there was no limit to what I could achieve. I first worked at McKinsey, where I learnt less about strategy and more about leadership and people. During my time there, back in 1996 or ’97, as part of what they call practice development, I co-authored a paper on this new phenomenon we called the internet! It had to do with whether internet advertising was simply a new medium or a new marketing paradigm. I realised that I was very interested in the subject! When a former roommate graduated from Stanford, we decided to become entrepreneurs. In 1998, I left consulting to launch eve.com, empowering women and giving them access to cosmetics. Being an entrepreneur was incredible—it was like packing 10 years of life experience into one! It’s now in my DNA. We had a successful exit, and eventually, I found my way to Airbnb, which really encourages entrepreneurship within the workplace. It’s a funny story, but the founders’ central mission is to have us all be not just Airbnb hosts ourselves, but also Cereal Entrepreneurs. In the early days of Airbnb, our founders—all designers—didn’t have the money to keep the start-up going. So they had this idea to design cereal boxes during the Democratic National Convention. They created Obama O and Cap’n McCain’s cereal boxes. Each box sold for about $40 on eBay, and they managed to raise the money they needed! It’s a great lesson to learn, to keep going, to keep being creative. People think Airbnb has been an overnight success, but it actually took many years. I’m very respectful of the founders and their incredible vision. Their passion for entrepreneurship is what drew me here.

What’s a business trip like for you?

Well, I do travel a lot. Last year, I travelled over 150,000 miles and made 22 trips. One of the most memorable was to Japan, where I stayed with an Airbnb host, Mami, in a cute suburb outside Tokyo. I had all great recommendations for local places to eat and visit, all off the beaten path. I even met her mother!

In Paris, I stayed at this great apartment in the Republique area, where I had never been before [whips out her phone to show me photos]. It was full of art and books, and the area has wonderful shops and restaurants that I would never have found myself. And Copenhagen, where my host, Suzanne, was transitioning into a new career as a life coach. She left me great maps, biking trails, information on a lovely bakery, and even made me this great lemonade with local berries. So, although I travel for work, I feel as if my life is enriched by every trip I make. Many of us associate business travel with being secluded and alone, there’s this fallacy that business travellers just want to be left by themselves and given free Wi-Fi! That’s not true. At least 10 percent of Airbnb users say they use it for business travel, but it’s likely higher than that. You shouldn’t have to put your life on hold because of your business travel; you can choose to be in a great neighbourhood and have wonderful experiences and meet hosts and connect with locals.

What’s a typical workday like for you in the Valley?

If I am not traveling, I drop my kids off to school in the morning. My day is full of meetings with various product and marketing teams. After lunch, I do video conference calls with our teams in Asia. I’m part of the Executive Staff too. When I travel, I meet our teams, as well as potential business partners, and of course, Airbnb hosts, face to face! As a family, we love going out for sushi around the Richmond district. I am also planning a treehouse vacation this year!

You’re also big on mentoring young women. Who are your role models?

Yes, I really enjoy mentoring, especially women entrepreneurs. In fact, I will be mentoring a woman entrepreneur from India soon. Tina Garg, founder and CEO of Pink Lemonade, a communications and marketing agency, will be working in Airbnb’s San Francisco office from 7-21 May as part of the US State Department/Fortune Magazine Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. I find this very satisfying. I have been tremendously fortunate to have had such a great work culture and support first at McKinsey, and then the chance to shape the work culture myself as an entrepreneur. Empowering women was a big part of our mission. And Airbnb has really supported me as a leader, and encourages us to give back to others. As far as my own role models go, my parents made a lot of sacrifices to give us great education. And Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook) was a classmate of mine at Harvard. I am very fortunate to have women in the industry I can ask questions of.

Finally, what are your travel essentials?