The Goddess of Dawn has watched over this lobby since 1931. Twenty stories of Art Deco grandeur anchoring the Power & Light District. 216 rooms, three F&B concepts, 7,000 square feet of event space, and a building with more story than most hotels will ever have.
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U.S. News #1 Hotel in Iowa. Business of the Year in nine months. 25% RevPAR growth. 80% team retention. $1M+ in activation-driven incremental revenue.
At Hotel Julien Dubuque, I took an Autograph Collection property and made it the top-ranked hotel in Iowa in one year. Systematic monthly programming, destination F&B, a 2,000-person community relaunch, and campaigns that created demand in months that used to flatline. Right now I'm executing a year-long America 250 campaign with dozens of community partners — twelve themed months, 50+ activations.
Hotel Phillips has P.S. Speakeasy, Tavernonna, Kilo Charlie, the Crystal Ballroom, and ninety years of Art Deco heritage. Below is a taste of how I'd approach it.
Role Alignment
Arbor Lodging's posting asks for a brand ambassador with strategic planning depth, full P&L ownership, and a proactive approach to guest experience and staff development. Here's how the record lines up.
The Opportunity
Hotel Phillips has the assets. These are four revenue engines mapped to them — each designed to compound, each proven at properties I've operated.
Monthly programming themes anchor activations that give guests a reason to book during soft periods — not with discounts, but with experiences they can't get anywhere else. "The Bootlegger" cocktail series in March. "Jazz & Gin" in the Crystal Ballroom in April. "Kingdom & Kickoff" watch parties in September. Every activation is a return draw. At The Warrior and Hotel Julien, this system generated $1M+ in activation-driven revenue and built transient demand in months that used to flatline.
Membership programs that turn locals into regulars and regulars into advocates. Insider access to new F&B menus before they launch, first-look invitations to seasonal events, focus groups that give members ownership of what the hotel becomes. They fill P.S. Speakeasy on Wednesdays. They recommend Tavernonna to every out-of-town guest. They defend the hotel because they feel like it's theirs.
Low-cost, high-margin experience packages — speakeasy cocktail-making workshops in P.S., Art Deco history tours of the building, chef-led tastings in Tavernonna. Employee engagement packages their HR departments can buy off the shelf. Client entertainment experiences that make the hotel the venue they book first. The Crystal Ballroom and P.S. Speakeasy are differentiators no Marriott or Hilton in the comp set can replicate.
Every activation feeds a direct booking machine. Targeted email campaigns tied to monthly programming themes. Social media content built around real events, not stock photography. At properties I've operated, this system generated hundreds of thousands in direct booking revenue — guests who found us through an event post, subscribed to the calendar, and booked direct. Lower acquisition cost. Higher lifetime value. A database that grows every month because the programming gives people a reason to stay connected.
The Programming
This is how I'd program Hotel Phillips in year one. Twelve months, each built around the property's Art Deco heritage, Kansas City's cultural calendar, and the three F&B outlets that make this building singular. Every theme anchors a tentpole event, outlet specials, a rooms package, a community partner, and a team recognition moment. Nothing exists in isolation. Each month feeds the next.
Vibe: Wellness & Warmth. "The Detox" — zero-proof cocktails in P.S. for Dry January. "Yoga & Yogurt" weekend morning flows + healthy brunch. "The Winter Spa" pop-up massage suites for New Year, New You.
Vibe: Romance & Edge. "The Rose" champagne + chocolate turndown in suites. "The Rye" anti-Valentine's dark spirit flights in P.S. Speakeasy. "Gatsby's Valentine" 1920s-themed prix-fixe dinner for couples.
Vibe: Prohibition & Jazz. "Bootlegger Menu" high-margin rare bourbon focus. "Swing Nights" live brass bands in the lobby every Friday. "The Speak-Easy" ticketed murder mystery dinner.
Vibe: Visual Arts & Music. "The Gallery Walk" self-guided mural tours with cocktail stop. "Artist in Residence" live painting during Happy Hour. "First Friday After-Dark" official post-Crossroads party.
Vibe: Honoring First Responders. "The Hero's Rate" deep discounts for Police, Fire, EMTs. "Red & Blue Happy Hour" proceeds to fallen hero funds. "The Guardian Gala" formal dinner in Crystal Ballroom.
Vibe: The Great American Road Trip. "Route 66 Plates" Tavernonna road trip specials. "Boulevardia Tap Takeover" local breweries in P.S. Father's Day Flight — steak, cigars, whiskey on the patio.
Vibe: Summer Heat & Fireworks. "The Cooler" boozy popsicles and frozen cocktails. Exclusive July 4th fireworks access. "Midsummer Soiree" white-linen party on the mezzanine.
Vibe: Jazz Heritage & Baseball History. "Ballpark Fancy" gourmet stadium food. "Negro Leagues Tribute" Museum shuttle + themed amenity. "Jazz & Gin" 12th Street throwback party.
Vibe: Football Season. "The Tailgate" elevated pre-game bites in lobby bar. "Red Friday" hotel lights red, staff in stylish red attire. "Season Opener" Crystal Ballroom viewing party.
Vibe: Haunted History & Halloween. "The Green Fairy" absinthe fountains table-side in P.S. "Ghost Tours" guided history tours of “haunted” floors. "The Masquerade" high-ticket costume-mandatory ball.
Vibe: Thanksgiving & Reunion. "Harvest Menu" fall flavors in Tavernonna. "Drinksgiving" biggest bar night of the year in P.S. "The Lighting" warm-up packages before Plaza Lighting.
Vibe: Holiday Magic. "The Nutcracker" ballet shuttle + hot cocoa upon return. "Lobby Carols" local choirs in the grand lobby. NYE Gala in the Crystal Ballroom.
The System
Signature monthly event
Tavernonna, P.S. Speakeasy, Kilo Charlie
Themed package or add-on
Local collaboration
Content moment
Team recognition
In Production Now
This isn't theoretical. Right now I'm executing a year-long programming calendar built on the same system outlined above.
When the nation's semiquincentennial presented a once-in-250-years opportunity, I didn't wait for a directive. I built a full-year programming calendar — twelve themed months, each anchored by a community partnership and supported by dozens of activations across F&B, events, and guest experience.
The result: a dozen new community partnerships forged in a single year, dozens of new activations that didn't exist before, and a property that went from hosting events to being the cultural anchor of its city.
The Execution
Two months from the America 250 campaign at Hotel Julien Dubuque. Room promos, daily F&B specials, tentpole events, spa tie-ins, recurring series — every month a complete system, not a single event.
February: Love & Freedom
March: Prohibition & Progress
Proof of Work
In 2024, I took the helm at Hotel Julien Dubuque — Iowa's oldest hotel — while simultaneously retained as a strategic consultant for a $250M portfolio across four properties: The Warrior, Hotel St. Louis, Hotel Blackhawk, and The Current Iowa.
The Team: Transitioned from day-to-day operations to coaching General Managers across the portfolio, serving as a liaison between ownership and staff, building the culture infrastructure that would sustain without me in the building.
The Guest: 22 precinct-wide activations designed to manufacture demand rather than capture it — experiences that gave guests a reason to come back before they'd left.
The Friction: Bridged the gap between ownership and operations across 900,000 sq ft of combined real estate — finalizing budgets, protecting partnerships, clearing the path for four leadership teams to execute.
The Asset: 6% TRevPAR increase across the consulting portfolio. Simultaneously drove Hotel Julien to “Business of the Year” status.
The Warrior Hotel was a restored icon — Marriott's Autograph Collection, stunning architecture. The opportunity was to turn it into a benchmark.
The Team: Every department aligned around one shared goal. Culture and performance moved together — not as competing priorities, but as the same thing.
The Guest: Guest satisfaction rose 20 points. Recovery programs transformed feedback into loyalty. Guests didn't just return — they advocated.
The Friction: Labor forecasting tied to occupancy. Menu engineering balancing quality with cost. Systems that let people do their best work without fighting the operation.
The Asset: RevPAR lifted 25%. RGI increased 19.6%. Named Top Hotel in Iowa by U.S. News & World Report — 2024 and 2025.
The Warrior Hotel reopened in 2020 — mid-pandemic — and spent two years without a community identity. No local following. No neighborhood connection. When I arrived as AGM in 2022, the building was beautiful. The relationship with its city was nonexistent.
The Team: Gave the team ownership of the relaunch. Every department hosted their own ribbon cutting — spa, restaurant, rooftop bar. The team became the face of the property.
The Guest: We didn't ask how do we get guests? We asked how do we become part of this place? Six weeks of community events turned opening weekend into opening season.
The Friction: Removed every barrier to community access. No gatekeeping, no VIP-only events. Open doors. Free tours. The hotel belonged to the city before it belonged to travelers.
The Asset: 2,000+ people walked through the property in six weeks. Five local press stories. City council began hosting delegations. Community buy-in became the foundation for every dollar that came after.
Activations compound when they're systematic. Not a wine dinner here, a holiday party there — a tiered calendar where each event feeds the next.
The Team: Gave the team creative ownership over their signature events. When housekeeping designs the holiday party and the bar team creates the cocktail series, they're invested in the outcome — not executing someone else's idea.
The Guest: Three tiers: signature series (weekly recurring), tentpole moments (monthly), and anchor events (seasonal). Guests returned not because we asked them to — but because they knew what was coming next.
The Friction: Built repeatable systems — templates, vendor relationships, marketing cadences — so every activation didn't start from scratch. The system ran itself.
The Asset: $1M+ in activation-driven revenue from 2022–present. Shifted perception from we're here if you need us to you need to be here for this.
Hospitality's retention crisis isn't about pay. It's about meaning. People leave because they don't feel seen, don't see a future, and don't believe their work matters.
The Team: Built the crucible. Multi-layered recognition — monthly, weekly, daily. Career pathing infrastructure. High-potential identification. Mentorship tracks. An environment where people fall in love with the challenge of becoming who they're capable of being.
The Guest: Stable teams mean consistent service. Consistency is what high-net-worth guests notice first — and it's the thing that can't be faked.
The Friction: Removed the obstacles that make people leave — unclear expectations, invisible growth paths, leaders who don't listen. Poured into the cup so the cup could pour into the guest.
The Asset: 80% retention. 24% leadership retention increase. 14 associates mentored to management. Engagement scores jumped 27 points.
Leadership Philosophy
Leadership isn't about managing four different audiences. It's about understanding that employees, guests, yourself, and the asset owner exist in a single system — and that system only works when each one is being served at the level they deserve.
My job is to pour into the people who are constantly pouring into the guest. Their cup has to be full in order for it to be useful to anybody else. Over ten years, in the most difficult staffing markets in the country, I've built a system where the work itself becomes the crucible for who someone can actually be and become. Not retention programs. Not pizza parties. An environment where people fall in love with the challenge, with ownership, with accountability — steeped in gratitude. When that happens, world-class experiences aren't manufactured. They're inevitable.
When you can buy anything, the only thing that cannot be truly bought is transformation — and the calm that comes from knowing you've done the work. At Hotel Phillips, the vehicle is ninety years of Art Deco history, the Power & Light District on your doorstep, and a team that makes every guest feel like they've discovered something the city has been keeping secret. The experience isn't a room. It's a story guests become part of.
The GM's job is to lower the effort required for everyone else to accomplish their goals. Make the path shorter between the team's intention and the guest's experience. When department leads have the tools, the budget clarity, and the trust to execute — the employee's cup stays full, the guest's experience becomes seamless, and the operation runs without the GM in the room. That's the standard.
I treat the property as if it were my own. Every idea is baked around profitability first. Profitability makes scalable operations possible. Scalable operations build trust. Trust earns continued investment. And continued investment compounds into something that hasn't been built before. Everything I build stretches forward without limit.
Pour into the team and they pour into the guest. Transform the guest experience and the asset outperforms. Protect the asset and ownership invests deeper. Clear the friction and the entire system accelerates — until what remains is a hotel that runs beautifully, a team that believes in the mission, and a building that lives up to what the Goddess of Dawn has been promising for ninety years.
Lead with Heart
Award-winning teams don't happen by accident. They happen when leaders invest in the employee experience with the same bespoke intention they bring to the guest experience. People who feel genuinely developed, challenged, and valued don't just deliver luxury — they embody it.
Every team member keeps a structured gratitude journal — a daily practice that shifts mindset from task completion to ownership and purpose. It sounds simple. It's transformative. Teams that practice gratitude operate with more patience, more empathy, and more resilience under pressure. The guest feels the difference even if they can't name it.
A structured mentorship program built on curriculum that mirrors high-end MBA programs — leadership development, financial literacy, strategic thinking, and communication. Every associate has a development pathway that extends beyond their current role. The message: we're not just investing in your performance here. We're investing in who you're becoming.
No two team members get the same development plan because no two people have the same ambitions. Individualized growth tracks designed around each person's goals, strengths, and areas of opportunity.
Operational Innovation
I'm not evaluating AI. I'm shipping with it. Level 5 Diamond certified on Lovable — building internal operational systems, bespoke team tools, and scalable solutions that let a 130-person hotel team deliver personalized experiences without adding headcount.
The goal isn't automation for its own sake. It's giving every department lead the tools to execute at a level that used to require twice the staff — and upskilling the team so they're building with these tools, not being replaced by them.
What I'm Building
Custom internal dashboards. Automated programming calendars. Guest experience personalization systems. Team training platforms. Marketing content engines tied to monthly activation themes.
Why It Matters at Phillips
Five venues. 216 rooms. Three F&B concepts. A 12-month programming calendar. The operational complexity of a property like Hotel Phillips rewards a GM who can build the systems to run it — not just manage it.
Every hotel has a story.
The best ones have someone
who knows how to tell it.