Prior to Four Seasons, you worked at HarperCollins and Penguin Books. What book influenced you most and why?
Wow, tough question. Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road was a masterful debut novel and breathtaking for its sheer storytelling prowess. It’s the story of two Cree snipers in the First World War.
What brought you to Hawai‘i?
I fell in love with Hawai‘i the first time I came to Hanalei Bay about 20 years ago. I came to see a friend and never wanted to leave.
Are you still active in your consulting business?
I recently offered some pro bono advice to a first-time author in Toronto who had published an art book, but no, my time has been fully taken up by Four Seasons since I stepped into the O‘ahu PR director role in May 2016, just five days before we opened.
What skill, experience or lesson learned has served you most in your current role?
Fortitude and open-mindedness. Opening a property is an experience unlike any other. New challenges come daily, and the brand promise of Four Seasons since the first hotel opened in 1961 is a single-minded dedication to the highest of standards. This aspiration to great service as the defining principle of luxury makes perfect sense to me, but in practice it’s harder to deliver than most people realize. Day to day, I am learning!
What’s the best decision you ever made?
My decision to pursue book publishing. I followed my dream, and I’ve done the same with this move to Hawai‘i. Finding my destiny, I guess.
What do you consider Four Seasons’ most successful PR/marketing initiative?
We set out in 2016 to establish Four Seasons as an oasis of luxury on O‘ahu’s Leeward coast. In 2018, my team was awarded the Four Seasons Pinnacle Award for the best PR and social media in the Americas in recognition of that effort. We garnered 907 million impressions with over 700 articles published. Even more rewarding is the relationships we built with visiting journalists, influencers, partners and guests. I’ve built a global circle of friends, which I will always be grateful for.
