Her Story
About Jessica
Jessica Sylvia Platts, MSOL, is a hospitality leader, career coach, educator, and leadership facilitator with over 23 years of experience in the hospitality industry. She currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Mitchell College, where she teaches hospitality, professional development, and business management, bringing real-world industry experience into the classroom. She began her career in hospitality somewhat by chance, but quickly discovered a natural passion for the field shaped in part by a lifelong love of guest experiences, including frequent childhood visits to Disney. Over the course of two decades in the casino industry, she advanced from intern to Director of Special Events, where she developed a strong reputation for creating large-scale memorable experiences and leading with a focus on guest satisfaction, creativity, and operational excellence.
Throughout her career, Jessica has been driven by a deep commitment to making people feel valued, supported, and connected. For the past 9 years, she has also served as an adjunct professor in hospitality, professional development, and business management at both a four-year institution and a community college in Connecticut. In the classroom, she works with a diverse range of learners from recent high school graduates to seasoned professionals with more than 20 years of experience who are seeking to redefine their next chapter. Her teaching approach blends real-world industry insight with practical skill-building, helping students build confidence, clarity, and career readiness.
In addition to her academic work, Jessica serves as a hospitality recruiter and career coach, supporting young professionals, career changers, and women re-entering the workforce after time spent at home with their families. She is especially passionate about connecting with individuals from all walks of life, listening to their stories, and helping them identify pathways forward by connecting the dots in their experiences. Across all of her work, she remains committed to preserving the human element in leadership, education, and hiring, especially in an increasingly technology-driven and AI-focused world, emphasizing that community, connection, and human interaction remain essential in hospitality and education.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jessica
01What do you attribute your success to?
My proudest accomplishment isn't a grand event - it's the team members who worked with me and alongside me who left and moved on to bigger and better things. I'm still so very close to all of those people. I had a former team member who went to work for the New York Yankees for 10-plus years, another who went to the Boston Red Sox and did events for 5 years and then went out to Colorado and is now with a great new women's soccer team in Carolina. My other manager is now the VP for a WNBA team. It's predominantly women-focused, though there are a couple of gentlemen in the realm too who have moved on to great roles. It's awesome to see them succeed, and it's awesome to see them come back and say, 'Wow, still some of the best experiences I had is when we were working with you, or when we were working side by side.' Those are my most proud moments, honestly. Watching people thrive - that's everything.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Say what's in your head. Don't be afraid to speak up. There were so many times that I was the only female around event tables in the heavily male-dominated industry of the casino, and it took me a long time to feel confident to be able to speak up. These young women need to remain true to themselves, they need to speak up, and they need to support one another. We need to support one another more than we are. Don't hold back - have confidence in your voice and stay true to yourself.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
We're moving into this really heavy AI world, especially in the hospitality industry and education. These are areas, in my opinion, where we are humans on purpose, and we need community, and we need to be interacting with one another. We cannot just live in our individual silos - that's not how we were meant to be. The human element is non-negotiable. It's easy when the vast majority of us are working remote at some level, but maintaining that connection and supporting that person's journey is what matters. With AI coming into play, continuing to have a human element and a human approach is really important to me.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The ability to connect with people and hear their stories is what drives me. Connecting the dots for people is very exciting - hearing someone's story, understanding where their journey has taken them professionally, personally, in their home, community, and church, and really putting the pieces of their puzzle together. My master's degree taught me honest, active listening, and how that can be very impactful in so many different ways, whether in my family, in meetings around tables with all gentlemen, or in my home with my spouse and my children. Continuing to have a human element and human approach is really important to me. We are humans on purpose, and we need community. I'm also passionate about helping people not hold themselves back - I recently did a workshop about women leading boldly and how we take our experience capital and make it shine like the Hollywood sign when we're interviewing or applying for opportunities.
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