Life before IMHI for me started with being born into a family of hoteliers and restaurant operators. I always wanted to discover the world and other cultures. Therefore, hospitality was a perfect fit. 

After my initial apprenticeship (German dual format hotel (practical) and school (theoretical) with a final examen at chamber of commerce) I left for London, went on to Paris, working in luxury hotels. After a Cornell hotel school summer course in Ithaca I had originally planned to study there but then got to know IMHI and stayed on in Paris. The two-year master program was a great learning both theoretically and practically. Furthermore, a wonderful cultural experience as the students were from all over the world. 

After graduation I wanted to see the American corporate hotel chain hospitality in action and started with Marriott International. They hired me in view of their first German Marriott hotel in Hamburg – my hometown. After some time at 2 properties in Paris and Boston I enjoyed the opening of this one. The interesting part was experiencing the entry in the market where the brand was basically unknown at the time (1988). 

Becoming a hotel GM had always been my goal so I switched departments and after accounting and operations I landed in sales and revenue management, moved to Frankfurt, and came back to Hamburg as the company had only 4 properties in Germany. Marriott has been a very inspiring employer driven to take care of and to develop their people. So, grabbing opportunities to enhance my skills and to get deeper knowledge of hotel operations would be one advice when your career goal is clear or even when you are trying to find it. 

 During my time pursuing such a career as a female was not always easy. Networking for one and being self-confident about your abilities have been important factors I learnt. Having a mentor on top helps even more. 

When I met my husband, I was already on the executive team level as a director of sales & marketing. With my son born in 1998 I took a little time off but upon the call from Marriott got back in. My boss (area VP) and mentor was a great supporter of my career goal and provided me with the opportunity of my first GM assignment at the Renaissance Hamburg. As a mother of a young child that was quite unusual, especially for Germany. Even at Marriott there were only very few female GMs in Europe and only one other who had a child as well. Marriott was already on the topic to promote careers for women to become GMs, however the circumstances with childcare in Germany at the time were not ideal, especially for the hospitality industry. My goal was and still is to prove that this can work, and I also wanted to show other females in our industry that motherhood and a leadership career is possible. Therefore, in my GM role I’ve been supporting women wanting to become department heads and more, and combining this with a proper family life. 

At my current hotel, The Westin Hamburg, the executive leadership team consists of 5 women and 2 men. This hotel has also been one of my big career challenges. It is in Hamburg’s newest landmark – the Elbphilharmonie concert hall – and as such the opening was already unusual (almost the whole world was watching). So huge interest from the public in Hamburg, the guests, the press, etc. and practically no time to ‘practice’. I started 2 years after the opening and a lot of people had left, the reputation had suffered both for staff and guests, so there were lots to do. This was not an easy task but in 2019 we were doing quite well and then the Corona pandemic hit which was a major blow for the whole industry and our hotel as well. Having to send people into furlough and closing the hotel was a completely new experience for me. 

It showed me though that taking care of your people is one of the – if not the – most important thing to be aware of. As a leadership team we took time to sit with people individually, sent regular newsletters, do online sessions for information upkeep, offer Q&A and other assistance to the team members. At the same time, we kept in contact with customers during our two-months closure. It all paid off in employees coming back and being engaged and in customers thanking us for being there and booking the hotel when possible. 

 All in all I can say that the choice to get into hospitality, to attend IMHI for my master degree was perfect. I really enjoy being with people (guests, customers, partners, etc.) and hospitality fulfills exactly that.