Angela Gardner

I have a passion. I've had a passion really for hospitality, not only just for the people that I serve, but also just being able to work with my team and not… and make all of us successful. And so when it comes to, growing in my career, I never shied away from taking on the challenging opportunities that came up, whether it was to open a new hotel, and I had the opportunity to open 3 hotels, whether it was to turn on a struggling property whether it was just a task force and be able to be very, agile and moving from one market to another. So I think all of those has really helped me grow in my professional career Especially right now as a regional, I had taken on a position right before as a sales executive, where I sold for multiple hotels in multiple markets, which was challenging, but it definitely molded me to be able to take on the role that I have now.

Not being afraid of fear, being able to take risks But also be willing to think outside the box all the time, and find new and always find new ways to to innovate. And I think that also that advice came from my first director of catering. She was so creative and really inspired me in every way and so I carried that on throughout my career, and that really has helped me grow and set apart from my competition, too, when it comes to give it counts, or even inspiring my leaders that I work with today is inspiring them to think outside the box and to really get creative with their sales efforts And stand apart from the competition.

I would have to say, Hospitality, yes, as much as it is about relationships for sure with your clients, but also to really get comfortable with working with numbers. Being able to, to move up as a leader, you have to be able to you know, read PMLs and defend your sales strategies to ownership and really make a business case, for the decisions that youre making, or that youre trying to collaborate with other decision makers So, again, not to be afraid to raise your hand for those hard assignments and for the turnarounds and all of those things, because that's really where true growth happens in our industry. So that's what I would recommend.

AI is so prominent right now in all industries But obviously in hospitality, its becoming pretty prominent as far as its becoming a challenge because it's starting to take away some of the control that we have in building those relationships run-on-one with our business accounts And so, we're having to get really creative to figure out how can we get around that, circumvent that to still maintain those relationships and loyalty with those accounts, but then on the flip side of that, it has been so instrumental in helping us to be more competitive, just in being more efficient with our time and reporting being more, when we're responding and coming up with creative, sales pitches, or finding even diving in and trying to mine for business in our area has been so influential in being able to help find that piece of business that maybe you wouldn't have been able to find otherwise.

I think, first of all is integrity. Everything that you do, do it with integrity, making sure that You know, it doesnt matter whos watching you, or even who's, recognizing you to always put your best foot forward, always, try to go above and beyond the expectation. And even in And then, definitely, as far as, you know, I do about the regeneration program that I'm very passionate about, but really caring for other people, showing compassion, showing empathy, just like we always do in hospitality And really just loving on people so that they can be their best, showing them standing… walking beside them through the struggles and the challenges that they might be going through, whether its personal or if its in business. And, just being there for them and helping them to also come up with ideas and ways that they can better their situation or enhance their growth as well.