This past October I did the Tour De California. Starting in San Francisco, I cruised through Monterey down to Los Angeles. Arriving in L.A., I rented this sweet silver Mustang convertible and continued my journey down the Pacific Coast Highway. I experienced one of the most blissful moments of my life in that car as I headed south on a beautiful California day with the perfect song (“Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap) on the radio letting the wind and sun hit me as I drove completely worry-free and somewhat lost. Sorry if that was beginning to sound like a Hillary Duff song, but the detail was necessary to paint the picture. Every time I hear that song I transport myself back to that moment, and I couldn’t be happier.
After a one-night stop at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach (beautiful!) I made my way south towards San Diego. I was pumped to get there, especially since I was meeting some friends once I arrived. We spent the next three days tearing up that city and loving every second of it. By the time it was over we were all on Craigslist, pipe-dreaming ways to immediately manipulate our lives and just stay. I truly fell in love with the city. From that moment I made it a personal goal to end up there someday, somehow.
This past week I was promoted to Front Office Manager of the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay in San Diego. I never received a phone call that literally made me fall down until then. To think I’ve gone from a Corporate Management Trainee to a department head in less than two years makes me so grateful to know that hard work really does pay off. Not all companies would let someone my age hold a position of this nature, which shows it’s not about semantics with Hyatt. It’s about noticing potential, fostering growth and challenging individuals when the time comes to do so. I can’t help but think this hotel is “taking a chance” hiring me, but that just drives my motivation to do an exceptional job.
I’m excited for the great things my new team and I will accomplish, and I hope you stay tuned to hear about it.
Editor’s Note: The Young Hotelier is an ongoing blog series written by Joseph Hayes for www.hotelsmag.com. Joe is a current Hyatt manager and graduate of our Corporate Management Training program.
