Laura Wheeler, CMP

One of the greatest influences in my career has been my mentor, a Director of Sales who took a chance on me early in my hospitality journey. While I had a background in communications, public speaking, and performance, I had no sales or catering experience at the time. She believed the technical skills could be taught, and she invested the time to teach and guide me every step of the way. She remains my mentor to this day, and her leadership has profoundly shaped both my career path and the way I approach leadership.

What impacted me most was not only what she taught me about hospitality and sales, but the confidence she instilled in me as a young professional. She taught me the importance of relationship-building, professionalism, integrity, and always leading with kindness and authenticity. Watching the way she mentored, encouraged, and empowered others showed me the kind of leader I wanted to become myself.

That experience is a large part of why I am so passionate about mentorship today. I truly believe in investing in people, helping others recognize their strengths, and creating opportunities for growth. Throughout my career, I have tried to pay forward the same support, encouragement, and guidance that was given to me early on. Seeing someone grow in confidence and succeed in this industry is one of the most rewarding parts of leadership for me.

I would encourage anyone entering hospitality to learn from every person and every department they can. Take the time to truly understand what others do, because every role contributes to the overall success of the team, both directly and indirectly. Hospitality is one of the most collaborative industries, and the more knowledge and understanding you gain across departments, the stronger leader and teammate you become.

I also believe flexibility is essential in this industry. I have always approached hospitality with a “how can we make this happen?” mindset rather than immediately saying no to a client. Of course, there are times when challenges arise, but I believe creativity, teamwork, and solution-focused thinking are what set exceptional hospitality professionals apart. That philosophy is something I encourage within my teams as well.

At the heart of it, we are creating experiences and celebrating meaningful moments in people’s lives. Clients are excited, guests are excited, and there is an energy that comes with helping bring their vision to life. That excitement, combined with a willingness to adapt, collaborate, and problem-solve, is what has made hospitality such a rewarding and successful career for me.

The biggest challenges in my field include managing the emotional demands that come with balancing multiple responsibilities, navigating different personalities and generations within the workplace, and ensuring clear communication and alignment across departments to successfully execute solutions for clients. Another important challenge is maintaining the balance between being highly accommodating and avoiding over-promising, while still delivering exceptional experiences and results.

At the same time, some of the greatest opportunities in my career come from mentoring emerging professionals and helping develop future leaders within the hospitality industry. I am also passionate about expanding my involvement in speaking engagements, educational programs, and teaching opportunities where I can share my experiences, industry knowledge, and leadership perspective to help contribute to the continued growth of hospitality and event professionals.

The values most important to me in both my work and personal life include mentorship, flexibility, presence and mindfulness, team collaboration, transparency, and maintaining a client-focused, solution-oriented approach in everything I do.