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Featuring... Ed O'Boyle, Director of Marketing for Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
s a second-generation hotel kid, I was fortunate to get my introduction to the business at home. My father, Bill O'Boyle, worked for Hershey Hotels at the time, and was the best mentor and inspiration any one person could have.
While those who worked with my dad learned from him dur- ing business hours, I received most of my lessons sitting around the dinner table. The appreciation I have for those experiences and lessons learned - I could never adequately put into words.
His message was always simple: Be nice, take care of the little things and the big things will happen. Everything else is just details.
Having grown up in the business, I found myself gaining invaluable experiences within most departments of a hotel. My first real job was as a bus boy at a hotel on weekends. From that point on, I worked as a bellman, at the front desk, in engineering, housekeeping - you name it, I did it.
I was able to complete my management trainee program while still a teenager, a much earlier age than most. Sometimes I learned on the job what NOT to do rather than what to do, providing some of the most valuable lessons that I learned early on in my professional career.
I did leave the hotel business for a little while, trying out a few other possible careers, but I found myself being drawn back to the hotel industry. Eventually I got my foot in the door as a sales coordinator, and wound up falling in love with the sales side of the hotel business.
Upon getting the chance to sell, I ran with it! There wasn't a chicken dinner (networking opportunity) in Pennsylvania or Maryland that I didn't attend. I tried to be everywhere so that I could gain life experience from everyone I met.
After just a few short years of selling, I had the opportunity to manage a sales department for the first time. I am not sure if no one else wanted the job or if they actually thought I could do it, but it was another golden opportunity and I went for it.
I worked as hard as I could to generate results, which didn't always happen. But with those occasional failures along the way, it helped me to realize that I didn't have all the answers. I began to recall all the great lessons I learned from so many mentors over the years, and in time I felt like I started to become a coach to others.
70 May June 2012
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