While attending the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, I interned with Hilton hotels. During my final semester I was promoted to convention services manager of a 744-room, 60,000-square-foot, VERY busy convention hotel! Working in a high-volume, fast-paced hotel right out of college was the absolute best experience. I learned early on how to be successful handling a high volume of events that required an extreme amount of detailed planning and effective communication to successfully execute. Working in Convention Services also allowed me to really understand the operation of a hotel. I was able to gain insight into how each department worked so that I could effectively plan my conferences to achieve a successful outcome for both my clients and the hotel.
I was given the advice that you get out of your MPI membership what you put in, so knowing that I jumped right in to serve as a volunteer. One year later I joined the chapter board of directors as VP of communications and quickly made my track to president, where I had the honor to serve an 18-month term. During my time on the board, I have had the privilege of serving alongside some of the most incredible leaders that have built our chapter to where it is today. Over the course of the last three years our chapter has been recognized by MPI Global’s Chapter Awards of Excellence three times—an award we are very proud of in North Florida! I also currently serve on MPI’s Chapter Member Advisory Council, which is an exciting opportunity to continue to serve the MPI community and collaborate with other MPI leaders.
Getting involved by serving is absolutely the most rewarding thing I have done in my career. It has shaped me as a leader through volunteer leadership opportunities, advanced my career professionally through education and networking opportunities and, most importantly, it has allowed me to meet and collaborate with some of the industry’s best, who I am lucky to also now call friends. MPI will always be my career home. Through my membership and involvement I know that I have a network of professionals that I can call on at any time. Having that connection and shared passion for the association is priceless.
Early on in the pandemic, I knew the best way forward was to stay positive, embrace change and understand that we are all in this together. Our industry has always been about relationships but the pandemic created an opportunity to truly build on the partnerships that are the core of what we do. We were all walking through this together, navigating uncharted territory. Together, we found solutions and overcame enormous challenges while strengthening our partnerships along the way. Knowing we were all in this together and working to find solutions is what not only got me through tough times, but what certainly makes me stronger in the end.
Photo by Scott S. Smith/Monarch Studio
