The panel on Friday went well. The topic was “Women in the Hospitality Industry” and I was among five women that had a chance to talk about our career paths and how we managed to move up the corporate ladder in a male dominated field.
I told them about starting out as an assistant in the Sales office and how I fought to get an interview with the Regional Director of Sales so I could get into the Management Training program at Corporate. Once I got in front of the RVP, I wowed him and told him that I was ready to move into a management role and that my talents were being wasted. Somehow, he bought it and I ended up working in an 800 room hotel in Manhattan as a management trainee.
I learned so much in that year. I worked in every department of the hotel, from scrubbing toilets in Housekeeping to prepping food for thousands paying $200 per plate. That year of internship was the single most important year of my career.
I learned the importance of each department and every job to the success of the overall hotel. We can promise the world to a client but if one guest finds a stray hair in their tub? It’s all over. In essence, we can sell the dream……but they have to service the nightmare.
After doing all of their jobs, I understood how hard the staff works. They perform labor intensive jobs and are often underpaid and under-praised. When I became a hotel manager, one year later, I never forgot the lessons I learned in that year of training.
I made it a point to say thank you for all tasks and to treat the employees like my family. I got to know them. I asked about their families, their lives. I know their stories and kids names. If they had a rough night cleaning rooms for a group I booked……I greeted them with donuts at 6:30am the next morning and said THANK YOU. If the Front Office had to deal with my group and the folks were difficult? I brought them pizza and treated the desk to lunch.
The biggest reward of extending myself? If I need anything in this building, my staff will always have my back. They will go to the ends of the earth to make me look good in front of my customer and my boss. It really is a life lesson. Common courtesy and graciousness will take you further in your career than being an azzhole. You better believe it and you can quote me on that.
Needless to say, it was a fun panel. I was honest about the pros and cons of what I do. The long hours (hotels NEVER close), the pay (it takes years to finally start making major money), etc…are all factors to think about before jumping in.
What was great was networking with some other women in the industry and meeting the female leaders of tomorrow. Despite Hilary C….I think we are in good hands.
And for SIP….I wore a classic gray pantsuit with a yellow chiffon tuxedo blouse underneath. How’s that?
It’s also interesting for me when I see the number of calories I take in and realize that I need to do somehing to burn them off. They won’t just disappear on their own.
