Lisa Wilgus

My faith in the Lord would be the first thing I attribute my success to. I also have a husband, Larry, who doesn't always see the dream, but yet he believes in me and loves me to the point that he just goes along and goes wherever, even after a fine that I found on Marketplace, no matter what the state is. And honestly, my kids. My kids have been such an important part of my success.

I would tell a young woman to find a woman that she finds that she would want to model and emulate, and sit at her feet and be a sponge, and take in learning from her. I believe as women, that is our main role in our professional fields, is that we always should be investing in somebody that we believe has that potential, and they're hungry to learn, and we're here to help get them where they need to go. So that young lady, if nobody has extended their hand to her, she needs to fervently look for somebody who she admires, wants to emulate, and literally go to that person and say, you model things that I want to become, will you consider mentoring me?

The biggest challenge I see in hospitality right now is the shift in the market where money and metrics has taken place and has more value than creating experiences for people and taking care of human needs and creating guest experiences. I want to be a voice of change in that market, believing that we can bring people back to the roots of when it was really in its heyday of the 80s and the 90s, where we had levels of standards and expectations and investment in our team, where when somebody paid for that vacation, from the moment they checked in to the moment they checked out, it was exceptional. And they didn't feel that they were just a number. What's really pushed me out was that for the first time in my career, at that last hotel, I realized that I couldn't push change up the ladder, that it had nothing to do with our guest. It had everything to do with money and numbers. I've made a connection with someone who attributes this to asset companies in the last 10 to 20 years coming in and buying hotels that were once locally owned by family or business people that had roots in the community. These outside asset companies from the city are coming in and seeing it as a financial investment, and they only see it through the lenses of money, and they forget the human component of where the roots of hospitality is. Hospitality, the root is hospital. You are caring for people who are trying to find a place to stay, and they need rest, and they need fed. We are just seeing it as revenue, and revenue will come when you put people first. But when you put revenue first, you will chase your tail all year long. My passion right now is trying to put our leadership program in places with hospitality leaders, because in my lifetime, I want to see that our program and my voice is creating a change, and going back to what the roots once did.

The values most important to me are integrity, humility, empathy, and curiosity. I believe in having that heart to continue to learn and ask questions from all kinds of people.