Her Story
About Cierra
Cierra Lewis is a hospitality leader and General Manager with extensive experience in resort operations, guest experience optimization, and large-scale team leadership. Based in Yosemite Hospitality and operating in the White Wolf area of White Wolf, she oversees multi-department resort operations across lodging, food and beverage, retail, housekeeping, and guest recreation. In her current role as General Manager, she leads two resort properties with responsibility for hundreds of employees, driving operational efficiency, revenue growth, and consistently high guest satisfaction.
Her career spans a diverse background in hospitality, customer service, and operations management. She began in food and beverage roles at establishments such as Ruby Tuesday and Graffiti Junktion, building a strong foundation in guest service and team collaboration. She later advanced into banking leadership at Capital One, where she progressed from customer service roles into supervisory and high-value account support, developing expertise in performance metrics, training, and process improvement. She also gained operational and administrative experience in construction and site development through Venture Excavating & Site Development, strengthening her capabilities in logistics, budgeting, and workforce coordination.
Cierra holds an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Hillsborough Community College, where she built the academic foundation that supported her transition across multiple industries. Her leadership philosophy centers on employee development, cross-functional collaboration, and hands-on mentorship, with a strong track record of promoting talent from within her teams. Known for her ability to unite operations and elevate guest experiences, she blends strategic oversight with a people-first approach that has driven both operational success and long-term team growth throughout her career.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cierra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to resilience and perseverance, and the people around me. Having really good people around you really helps you stay resilient and get through all the challenges. They helped me keep going during the hardest days. I think my work ethic came from my parents, specifically my mom and grandma, and I always want to do a good job regardless of what job I'm in, even if I'm digging a trench. That preparation and performance, combined with my grit and determination, led me to the position I'm in now.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I work in a really seasonal location, so about 80% of the guests who come visit within a 3-4 month window, and a lot of employees can only come here for that same window. So each year, it's sort of like a new, almost a new workforce. Just staying consistent and creating, being creative to find a way to have that same consistency year over year, and then to improve on it, can be challenging with how often people get hired and how often people leave. So I'm trying to develop a process for training to enhance it so we can basically get somebody up to speed within a week.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being employee-centric is really important to me. I view the employee as a person who has their own ecosystem around them, and we really look at the hierarchy of need - are these people being taken care of, are they feeling valued, do they want to show up to work? Investing in employees gets them to feel better at work, and when the employees feel good at work, the business is more profitable and the guest experience is better. It really starts there. I also believe in work-life balance - taking care of ourselves helps us to achieve our highest potential. I think maintaining some boundaries for myself and making sure that flows down to my team, that they're taking their days off and doing things they need to do to fill their cup so we can perform better, is essential.
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