Influential Woman · Hospitality

Angela Miller

Banquet Manager, Hilton Knoxville

Knoxville, TN

Her Story

About Angela

I've been in the banquets industry since about 2002, when I sold my first banquets job running events. It is very stressful and there's a lot of movement in it, but it gets into your system and you just can't say no to it. While corporate events are our main thing at the Hilton Knoxville in downtown Knoxville, I personally really love weddings. I just love being a part of someone's special moment, that very special day, and being the person to make sure that that special day just comes together with perfection and with elegance. You don't get to do that every day, so I really enjoy it, and my team really loves to do that as well. To really be somebody who they get to remember for the rest of their lives - they will never remember your name, they're never going to remember everything you did, but they're going to remember the feeling that everything was perfect and they didn't have to worry about anything. I've been at this property for the last 4 years, and the highlight of my career is really being able to establish a very well-run banquets operation and getting to see it come to fruition by having the repeat business coming back year after year after year. Because of our service, because of what we offer, and because of how accommodating we are, they come back every single year to us. I can't do it without my team - we've built just a fantastic team and they are so bought in and dialed in, not only to the Hilton, but also to the department.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Angela

01What do you attribute your success to?

I think it is just to understand where people are at. There's a cultural difference in workforce, right? And you have so many people who are - I'm part of it - the generations will dog the next generation up about their work ethic, or their ability to be dialed in. I've found that if you treat people with kindness and with respect, they will do anything for you. They will bend over and move mountains for you, and you cannot be successful, especially in banquets, if you do not have a team that will move mountains for you. So being kind and being considerate to your staff - man, it moves mountains. It makes you successful.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Do the right thing, because it's the right thing to do, and not because somebody else is watching.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would have to say that you have to have a little bit of a thick skin to be in this industry. You deal a lot with kitchens and with people who are very abrasive, right? So understanding having a thick skin and being able to really not let your emotions take control. You need to try to control your own emotions coming through there, because it can get very emotional very quickly, and none of it is emotional. All very - I don't want to say fake, but you're on show every time you step into a banquet or into an event hall. You're on show, and you have to remember that.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think coming back from COVID has been a real challenge for just the industry, and specifically the banquets. Hospitality really took a hit during COVID, and things changed so much to where people got used to saying no to our guests. People got used to, oh, you can't do this, you can't do that, and they kind of enjoyed it. But hospitality is about finding the yes, even working through them and finding the answers. And so I really honestly think that helping the industry really find the yes again is the biggest challenge. When we did come back, it was so limited, and you couldn't do this, and you couldn't do that, and you had to say no to everything. And people almost got off on that. People really were like, hoo-hoo-hoo, I get to tell them no. And getting people back from that has been a struggle, has really been a struggle.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Integrity. If you have no integrity, then nobody will follow you.

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