There are people who live in Cary, and then there are those who grew up in Cary — Sheri Erhart, executive vice president of CMC Hotels, proudly claims the latter.
“We moved here in 1980 when my father was transferred with his job from Union Carbide,” said Erhart. “Cary was like a blank canvas then, just waiting to be painted.”
Erhart’s father, G.S. Chhabra, played a part in Cary’s metamorphosis from small country town to a bustling city of over 176,000 people.
“He opened the first branded hotel in Cary in 1984,” said Erhart. “It was a really small property, a 52-unit Best Western. That was his side hustle back before side hustles were a thing, because he was still doing his engineering job at Union Carbide.”
That side hustle inadvertently began a family business when her older brother, Shaan Chhabra, joined the company after graduating college.
“My brother’s a couple years older, so he joined the company first and started to grow the business,” said Erhart. “At that point, my dad had a couple of properties, and then it grew with my brother’s help. I joined a couple of years later, and we’ve continued to grow.”
CMC’s leadership team is a STEM lover’s dream — father, son, and daughter all have engineering degrees, using their individual strengths and analytical minds to the company’s advantage.
“My dad’s a chemical engineer, my brother’s a mechanical engineer, and I’m an industrial engineer,” said Erhart. “I feel like we sort of have that analytical background, where we’re trying to solve a problem and we’ll come at it from different directions, but typically we end at the same place and in agreement.”
The family has certainly found success. CMC Hotels, a hotel management firm, has an impressive portfolio of owning and operating many top-branded franchised hotels, including the new Westin at Brier Creek.
“We both have our own things, so it’s not that we’re necessarily in each other’s wheelhouse,” said Shaan Chhabra, president of CMC. “I think that we have a general respect for each other and we get along and obviously share common goals. Sheri is very, very intelligent. She does it her way, and sometimes you wonder how it works out, but it always does for her. I think that she gets it a lot from my dad. They would say that they’re nothing alike, but they’re probably exactly alike in a lot of ways.”
Speaking of her father, Erhart says that he is hands down the biggest inspiration and mentor in her life.
“I grew up with him telling me if I worked hard, I could accomplish anything,” said Erhart. “He encouraged me to be an engineer when there really were very few women engineers.”
Erhart’s father came to the United States with a suitcase in hand to get his master’s degree in chemical engineering, fully intending to return to India following his education.
A family to be proud of! Sheri Erhart stands with her daughter, Brooke, her son, Brady, and her husband, John. Contributed photo.
“Then he met my mother and fell in love and had my brother and me,” said Erhart. “He’s a true American success story, when you come here with nothing and you end up working hard and becoming successful. I think that a lot of that notion is kind of carried over into our company. We’ve got programs where we will identify potential stars at our property and we’ll put together custom training to be able to grow those people. We’ll give them the tools that they need to succeed, as long as they put the work in.
“That’s something that’s really unusual about the hospitality industry, is that you can come in and start at the bottom and you can work your way to the top. We try to facilitate that within our organization, and I really believe that it goes back to that philosophy that was sort of instilled in us by our father: If you work hard, you can accomplish it.”
Professionally, Erhart is most proud of her efforts to get more involved and engaged in the industry, serving on the executive board of directors for the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau and the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA). She has also been a member of Marriott’s Owner Advisory Council since 2016.
“I’ve been able to meet a lot of industry leaders that I’ve been able to learn from,” said Erhart. “I feel like being involved in organizations has really given me the opportunity to grow and learn from other people. Lynn Minges at NCRLA is really an inspiration — she’s the president and CEO of the NCRLA, and she was instrumental in securing the NC Business Recovery Grant, the largest appropriation from any state for the hospitality industry and the country. That was a lifeline for hotels and restaurants during the pandemic. Being able to get to the point in my career where I’m able to be involved in those kinds of industry associations on the board level, and being able to continue to grow, has been really great.”
Minges has been equally impressed with Erhart, describing her as a well-respected innovator, collaborator, and hospitality industry champion.
“Sheri is a beautiful person inside and out,” said Minges. “She is genuinely caring and supportive of others, and is a tireless and selfless worker. She’s a lady that rises to any challenge put in front of her. She is part of a family that is committed to giving back to the communities in which they operate, supporting a number of nonprofits and charities throughout Wake County and beyond.”
Personally, Erhart is most proud of her “babies” — Brooke, 14, and Brady, 18. Her oldest will attend NC State this fall to study — you guessed it — engineering.
“I hope my kids see that you can kind of have it all, in a way. You can have a career and you can also have a strong family foundation. Of course it helps when you’re in a career with your family,” said Erhart, laughing.
When asked what advice she’d give young women entering the workforce, Erhart emphasizes confidence.
“I would say that women should know what they’re worth, and not be afraid to ask the hard questions and speak up and make sure that they have their seat at the table,” said Erhart. “As for advice to my younger self, I would say maybe give yourself some grace. You are only at this point in your life once, so stop and smell the roses and enjoy it.”
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