Less than a year ago, Atlanta-based third-party hotel operator and investment company Hospitality Ventures Management Group launched XLR8, a fast-track program to develop new general managers for select-service hotels. The program’s first participant, Jessica Reid, general manager at the Homewood Suites by Hilton St. Louis - Galleria, is a second-generation hotelier who worked her way up by holding a wide range of positions at numerous hotels.
Reid was inspired to pursue a career in hospitality by her mother, who left a career as a pharmacist to work in hotels, becoming a general manager and eventually an area operations manager. “I was at the age where I was paying attention, trying to walk in her shoes,” Reid recalled. After graduating from high school, Reid was determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a hotelier.
Reid started her career in 2010 as a front-desk supervisor at the Extended Stay America in Roseville Mich., working double shifts on weekends and ultimately becoming operations manager at the property. She spent the next five years working her way up the ladder in different roles at full-service properties, first in Detroit and later in Atlanta, holding titles like executive housekeeper and director of operations.
Aiming to be a general manager by the time she turned 30, Reid wanted to hold as many positions as possible—“so I can know what it's like in everybody's shoes,” she said.
Today, Reid believes that holding so many positions before becoming a general manager prepared her to be a good leader. “I know what can be done and what cannot be done in certain roles,” she said. “I know the engineers shouldn't be doing certain things and they should go to housekeeping—and I know that housekeeping shouldn't be doing certain things [that should] go to the front desk.”
Finding the right roles for everyone on her team and playing to their individual strengths has helped her reduce turnover, she added. “I tell everybody to enjoy what they're doing because if you enjoy what you're doing, you'll always go above and beyond.”
Accelerating
Last year, Reid was considering her next professional steps when she received an email from HVMG Talent Coach Maya Jones, informing her of the new XLR8 program. “I already liked to see how other people operate and what it is that I should take from each person,” she recalled. With that in mind, Reid decided to apply and went to study with David Press, opening general manager of the AC Hotel Durham, N.C. At the hotel, she followed Press and watched how he shared the management company’s culture with the rest of the team—who then, in turn, shared it with the guests. “It's always amazing to see that ripple effect,” she recalled.
From there, Reid went to Edison, N.J., watching how Brian Terry, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott Edison Woodbridge, uses HVMG’s system in day-to-day operations. “He has a plan and he follows a process—and I use that now,” she said.
Reid’s final hotel in the XLR8 program was the SpringHill Suites Orange Beach (Ala.) at The Wharf, where GM Michelle Davis showed her the value of crunching numbers. “She's very savvy with numbers,” Reid recalled. “She had me learn all of the platforms, figure out how to price your hotel, where your hotel should be at and how to speak to the numbers of your hotel.”
Today, Reid strongly encourages up-and-coming GMs to participate in the program. “It helped out a lot.”
Jessica Reid's...
Secrets to Success:
Have a plan: “You can't just do things in the blind.”
Follow the process: “If you don't have one, you need to create one right away.”
Love what you’re doing. “Even when [you] fail, it's about what you do after you fail. How do you pick yourself up? How do you move forward?”
Challenge: Working in many hotels means leaving teams and close coworkers behind when the next opportunity arrives.
Success: Reid maintains communications channels with her former colleagues to find solutions or learn more about brand standards or platforms. Keeping in touch also lets her introduce people she knows who can help one another. “It's good to have those connections because I can always hook people up,” she said.
Homewood Suites by Hilton St. Louis - Galleria
Opening year: 2009 | Number of guestrooms: 158 | Owner: Rockbridge | Management company: HVMG
This article was originally published in the July/August edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.