Kimberly Braasch
Kimberly Braasch is a seasoned hospitality leader and Food & Beverage Manager with nearly 16 years of experience in the industry and more than a decade in leadership roles. She currently leads food and beverage operations at Glacier Park Lodge with Pursuit Collection, overseeing a multi-outlet seasonal lodge environment that includes restaurant, buffet, and large-scale banquet service. Known for her hands-on leadership style, Kimberly focuses on operational excellence, guest satisfaction, and building high-performing teams. She has successfully implemented revenue-driving staff incentive programs, enhanced buffet and service standards, and maintained strong cost controls through strategic inventory management and purchasing systems.
Kimberly’s career reflects a steady progression through nearly every front- and back-of-house role in hospitality. She began working in food and beverage at age 16 as a banquet server and advanced through positions including dishwasher, host, bartender, assistant manager, and general manager. Her leadership journey has included roles with Penske Truck Leasing and Boyne Resorts, as well as earlier hospitality leadership in high-volume environments. This broad operational background gives her a deep understanding of service execution, labor management, budgeting, banquet operations, and team development—skills she now applies in a fast-paced seasonal national park setting where rapid ramp-up and elevated guest expectations are standard.
A graduate of Robert Morris University Illinois with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management, Kimberly brings both academic preparation and real-world expertise to her role. Her leadership philosophy centers on mentorship and measurable staff growth: “Take care of your team and everything else falls into place.” She is particularly proud of maintaining a 70–75% returning staff retention rate in a seasonal operation—an achievement that reflects her commitment to coaching, recognition, and creating opportunity. Recognized as one of the Influential Women of 2026 representing Columbia Falls, Montana, Kimberly continues to build strong teams while delivering memorable guest experiences in one of the country’s most iconic lodge environments.
• Robert Morris University (Illinois) - B.B.A.
• Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce
• Local school donations
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to absolutely falling in love with the food and beverage industry and being the person I wish I had when I was in my team's role. I started at the bottom as a banquet server and worked my way up through almost every position there is, so I know what it takes to be a great leader because I've been in their shoes. I'm a firm believer that if you take care of your team, everything else falls into place. My focus is always on making sure my team has everything they need to be successful, being on the floor with them, and helping them grow. If my team members aren't better when they leave than when they got here, then I have to do some reevaluating because I'm not doing my job as a leader. I want them to look back on their journey and say I helped them get from one point to another, whether that's an attendant learning to bus and becoming our best host or bigger career moves. Those development skills and that growth are what matter most to me.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is straightforward yet profoundly impactful: you can and you will—keep moving forward and never give up. Alongside this, I’ve always embraced another guiding principle: take care of your team, and everything else will naturally fall into place. This mindset, often emphasized by Kimberly, has shaped the way I lead, reminding me that investing in the people around you builds a strong foundation for lasting success.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think it's so important for younger female leaders to have strong female leaders in their lives or to look up to, because having that makes them brave, and it made me brave. I was lucky enough to have a female leader in my life growing up, which has a lot to do with where I am today. Even my experience playing boys baseball until I was about 13 and playing in the Little League World Series taught me lessons I still reference in my career today - when I face challenges in this male-dominated industry, I think back and say, you know what, I did that, I could do this. Being in a fairly male-dominated industry and company, I really was intrigued by the opportunity to connect with other women and share ideas, because the more knowledge you have, the more powerful you can be, and the more you can influence others. If being featured and sharing my story can reach out to any one girl, I would take that as a win.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Being a leader in a seasonal position presents unique challenges, but what's most important to me is being able to impact my team and always have returning employees. My location is only open four and a half to five months out of the year, so as soon as we open the doors, it's chaotic and there's never a dull day. Despite the seasonal nature of the work, I've been able to maintain about a 70-75% return rate on employees, which is pretty high. That retention is crucial because it means I'm building a strong team year after year, and it shows that the work environment and leadership style I've created is making people want to come back. The challenge is making such a strong impact in a short season that people choose to return, but when they do, it validates everything we're doing as a team.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important value to me is taking care of my team and working hard together, because I'm a firm believer that if you take care of your people, everything else falls into place. Being a great female leader in a male-dominated field is really important to me - I want to be that strong female leader for younger women coming up, the way I had someone who made me brave. I also value being present and hands-on with my team, being on the floor with them during service, and making sure they have everything they need to be successful. Outside of work, spending time with family is important, though my team does get mad at me because I am a bit of a workaholic. But my returning staff does a really good job of getting me out into the park for hiking and other activities. I've learned to balance that drive to work hard with taking time to enjoy the incredible environment we're in and the relationships we build.