IWD 2024 - Aga Guzik

A little about your career journey leading to where you are now

My journey in hospitality industry started very unexpectedly and unplanned. 

With project management professional background and education in political geography, hospitality was not even a consideration. Once upon a time, I flipped the life of my family upside down by visiting United States and spending a couple of months with my parents. Soon after, we decided to leave Poland for good.

I started everything over, by renting a tiny flat and finding entry level jobs to support the family. The struggle was real. Unknown places and new people, extremely basic knowledge of English prevented me from continuing my former career. 

While searching for jobs, I came across a Marriott stand at the local job fair and met a GM who became my future mentor. She was very confident that I will do just fine in her hotel and soon enough, I started my first hospitality job as a rooms coordinator and a part time front desk agent at the Marriott hotel in Chicago. 

My GM at that time believed in me. An adult immigrant, without knowledge of English, she took a shoot and placed me behind the front desk on a slow day and said: you’ve got it. Boy…was she an optimist.  

Surrounded by amazing and helpful colleagues and very patient guests, I slowly started spreading my wings and fell in love with the industry. After the first year under my mentor’s leadership I found my professional destiny and started believing that sky was a limit. After 2 years, she retired and I took over as the General Manager at that hotel. Fast forward couple of years, I met another inspiring leader while in the Regional position. His full trust in my abilities led to my result orientation, competitiveness, caring for co-works, grooming, training and growing new talent and to constantly looking outside the box for innovating solutions, building bridges and bridging gaps. 

My career started in US but I wanted to be closer to my third home, so I was privileged to live and work in UK as well, from opening a flagship hotel for the Marriott brand, supporting other Marriott properties in Europe and building strong teams that carried the torch after me. 

Hospitality industry is not for everyone. It requires genuine, undoubtful, service oriented, servant mentality. Whether behind the food stand, back of house, in front of guest, as a floor employee, manager or a director- the mission of supporting and accelerating guest’s journey has to be a top priority. The rewards however, are so tremendously fulfilling. 

There are few aspects of the industry I consider to be my favorite. 

One, ability to delight and exceed expectations.  We have power to turn a simple business trip, a family reunion or vacation into an unforgettable experience with a very small gesture, a human touch and kindness. 

Two, we have ability to influence, guide and inspire our co-workers by supporting each other, more than in any other industry, in my opinion. We have ability to be promoted or to promote and develop others. 

Three, each team member is responsible to grow the business. This opens an opportunity to learn new facets of our jobs every day, at very individual pace.  Hospitality provides various opportunities of advancement and teaches us not only how to operate assets and make money, but predominately, to be humble and better every day.

I currently am the Vice President of Operations for Central Region of the Great Wolf Resorts. A brand that operates lodges of an average of 500 hotel rooms, combined with indoor and outdoor water parks, restaurants and many attractions such as mini-golf, arcades, rope courses, VR and kids activities, all under one roof. We are growing our foot print and soon opening lodges in UK and Mexico. Joining Great Wolf was the next challenge on my professional path.  

I am currently supporting an amazing group of General Managers and their teams in every day mission of fulfilling the promise of a safe stay, impactful service and long lasting and sometimes lifetime experiences. I am truly most passionate about my teams and that aspect of my role.  

It is extremely important to always self-reflect. You cannot demand accountability without holding yourself accountable first. Seeking feedback is a gift and the best way to develop, set goals and excel at them. As a leader, you also cannot develop a certain leadership style and stick with it.

 With ever changing economic climate the labor market changes as well. We need to adapt our approach to enable and mentor diverse individuals to achieve their best. Part of developing others starts with self-development. It has been extremely important to me to constantly learn the business, learn how to improve my soft skills, observe market trends and take advancement opportunities along the way. 

Professional confidence is not given but earned, just as respect is. Humble approach to everything we want to achieve has been one of my guiding principles during my hospitality journey. How else would I know how to achieve profitability of a restaurant if not by first washing dishes, flipping omelets and serving guests.

What advice would you give to someone starting off their career as a future business leader?

My advice for anyone thinking about accelerating a career in the hospitality industry is quite simple.  Work hard and always look for opportunities around you. Don’t be afraid to look for tasks outside of your comfort zone and never give up, even if you hit a wall. There is always a hammer around that will break any brick. You just have to find it. 

Another passion of mine is creating and being part of an environment that genuinely celebrates diversity. I was very fortunate in my career to be able to speak up, be heard and appreciated. In order to stand up for any rights, and in this case supporting women in the industry, we need to first live and breathe what we preach. Speaking about a culture that promotes diversity, inclusion and equality is not enough. We need to create it first.

As they say, good things come to those who wait. Here is to a bright future!