Her Story
About Tara
I've been in the hotel industry since I was young - my mom started as a housekeeping manager, so I just fell in love with it. What keeps me in this industry is that your job is never the same every day, and that's the best part. I love meeting the people that come to stay at the hotel - whether they're coming here for something good or bad, it's just nice to be able to make someone's stay memorable, even if you never met them before, and make those connections. I started off in housekeeping and became a housekeeping manager, then wanted to try something different and went into food and beverage as a server. I worked in banquets, became a banquet manager, and then was a director of food and beverage for Sheraton in Iowa, where we had two outlets - a restaurant and a coffee shop - plus room service, an outside patio, and I oversaw the banquet department for all the meetings. I've been a GM for about 10 years with Marriott, on and off. My main area of expertise is taking what I call problem hotels and bringing them back to life. I used to travel from state to state and help hotels that were struggling with scores. I would go there, train the whole team, and train a new GM on Marriott brand standards, and bring the scores back up. Now I'm the dual general manager for Courtyard and Town Place Suites in Galveston, Texas. We've got an outside pool with a bar outside, and we do live music on Friday and Saturday. We're right across the street from the beach. A typical day for me includes training new front desk agents and getting ready for busy weekends. I'm very straightforward and don't sugarcoat things with my team. When we're facing staffing challenges, I work with them - I've been on the desk with them, working 16 hours a day. I'm not leaving them to their own devices, we're gonna get through it together as a team. I really don't like using the word manager - I prefer using leader.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to never giving up on my dreams and understanding that hard work does pay off. It's kind of funny - when I went to my parents' work in high school and they asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, I said I wanted to be a director of housekeeping. I was young, but I did that, and then I wanted something more. So I set my sights on becoming a GM, and now I'm a dual general manager. But I don't want to just stay a GM - I want to be a GM of a full-service regular Marriott, or a JW, or something like that. So it's like, never give up on your dream. Hard work does pay off. I also believe in being straightforward and honest with my team. When we're facing challenges, they see their leader working with them - I've been on the desk with them, working 16 hours a day. I'm not leaving them to their own devices, we're gonna get through it together as a team. That's what makes people want to work at your location and want to continue to do better.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them to never give up. It's kind of funny - when I went to my parents' work in high school and they asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I said I wanted to be a director of housekeeping. I was young, but I did that, and then I wanted something more. So I said, well, I want to be a GM now. And now I'm a dual general manager, but I don't want to just stay a GM - I want to be a GM of a full-service regular Marriott, or a JW, or something like that. So it's like, never give up on your dream. Hard work does pay off. I'm very straightforward and don't sugarcoat things. I believe in being honest with every single person on my team. When we're facing staffing challenges, they see their leader working with them. I've been on the desk with them, working 16 hours a day. I'm not leaving them to their own devices - we're gonna get through it together as a team. That's a huge deal, and that's what makes people want to work at your location and want to continue to do better.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
A challenge in hotels is definitely the economy, especially when gas prices are high. It's really hard to get people to visit your location and your hotels. Also, staffing has become an issue - I think within the whole United States, just finding the right people and good staff. We have a lot of turnover, especially when you're bringing problem hotels back up. When you go in and start setting standards and tell people this is the right way to do it, normally people leave because they're like, oh, I can't be lazy anymore, or I have to do my job. And so people leave, and you've got to fill the spots. It's insane - I wonder all the time where these people go and how they're paying their bills.
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