How do you define success?
Of course success means different things to different people. For me, success is happiness, both personally and professionally. I get to wake up every day and work in an industry that I love. I am very fortunate my career path has led me here. On a personal note, I was lucky to meet my soulmate at a very young age. We’ve now been together for 28 years, have two beautiful children, and live a charmed life in Kailua. Happiness is my greatest success.

What are some surprising lessons you learned in becoming a leader?
First and foremost, I have learned not all leaders are good leaders. It’s a natural tendency to believe people who are in leadership roles are deserving, but it’s astonishing how many people wind up in leadership roles who don’t belong there. There is a distinct difference between a leader and a good leader. Of course, there’s the hard work that has to go into rising through any ranks, but I realized early on in my career that self-awareness and emotional intelligence were key to being a good leader. Maybe the school curriculum has changed in recent years, but nobody taught me that was important. I think being in the service industry really helped me become the leader I am today because serving others created an easy segue to practicing servant leadership. Surrounding myself with great people and then allowing them to do what they do best has been a great recipe for success.

What do you love most about your job?
It would be cliché to start talking about how I love the people, so if I can be real for a moment, I don’t think there is an industry that is more fun. Don’t get me wrong, I do love the people and there is nothing more satisfying than having happy guests at our hotels and happy employees throughout our organization. But I love how much fun I have had throughout my career in hospitality. Beginning with my early days as a bartender in San Francisco, every step of my journey in this business has been filled with good times, great memories, and life-long friends. I am so grateful to have had this career and humbled to now be in a position of leading an organization where I can hopefully impart the same culture of doing what you love…and having fun while doing it.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing your industry?
No surprise as I know all industries are in the same boat, but hands down, labor is our biggest challenge right now. We cannot fill open positions, let alone with qualified candidates. We have openings at all of our hotels and across all departments. If an applicant even shows up for a scheduled interview and is offered a job, there is no certainty they’ll show up for their first shift. If they do, then retention becomes the challenge. People come to work for a few days or a few weeks and they’re gone. It’s a job seeker’s market, and the competition has gotten fierce with employers having to outbid others on wages and offer things like signing bonuses, retention incentives, and other perks we’ve never had to offer before. Our industry has always been known for taking care of our people and offering good wages and benefits, but today’s labor environment is a whole new ball game and it doesn’t seem sustainable.

Describe your ideal day/vacation.
My ideal day is easy to describe because I get to live it all the time. Wake up with a local iced coffee, catch up on world events, and then in no particular order head to the beach with our dog and play a round of golf. Having owned a few restaurants in our lifetime, we love to cook, so the perfect day ends with a delicious home-cooked meal while spending quality time with the family…the humans and the pets. Add a bottle (or two) of great wine and there you have my ideal day.