THE FCSI INTERVIEW
Wanderlust gripped Ben Gregoire FCSI from a young age – and has helped shape his career as a consultant ever since, he tells Michael Jones
B
en Gregoire does not rest easy. Following a strong year in challenging circumstances for his
star
Malaysia-based consultancy LEVELS – and fresh from the huge success of the FCSI Asia Pacific 2025 Conference in Vietnam this summer – he could be forgiven for taking a well-earned break. But while spending time with his family – his wife Sharon gave birth to
in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We’ve also picked up hotels in Indonesia and Vietnam, and our first project in Japan, plus a restaurant project in Ghana...” Born in Calgary, Canada,
Gregoire grew up near Vancouver. Family road trips across Canada sowed the first seeds of wanderlust, but it was a run of spring break trips to Latin America that really gave him the travel bug.
CULTURE CLASHES
their son Max in March of this year – is essential to him, resting on his laurels isn’t in his DNA. Tis August was a little too
quiet for his tastes, he admits, and he started to feel twitchy without the thrill of new project work. “Ten September rolled around, and we signed five hotels,” he enthuses on the line from Kuala Lumpur (KL). “Tey’re all exciting projects, including one of the most important current hospitality projects in China, because it’s
“I was a fortunate kid. For four years in a row, we went on beach holidays to Mazatlán, Cancun, or Cuba. I loved the idea of going to hotels – the checking in, the service and restaurants. But to add in the culture shock of going to places like Mexico and Cuba, away from your comfort zone in terms of the language and food, was amazing,” he says. “I was used to Canada’s monoculture, its chain restaurants, strip malls, and big box stores. But this was so different.” While dreams of seeing the
world were already forming, any ideas he might be able to do this professionally were not yet on the horizon. Gregoire’s
first job, in 2001, was washing dishes in a golf course kitchen at the Swan-e-Set Bay Resort & Country Club in British Columbia. Various F&B positions followed, as he learned the ropes of back-of-house operations. “It’s fun to work in the kitchen, surrounded by pirates and unsavory characters,” he laughs. “But I never really saw it as a career.” Following high school,
he went backpacking to New Zealand and Australia. A layover in Hong Kong provided another “huge culture shock.” He recalls walking through the wet markets in TST [Tsim Sha Tsui], loving “the craziness of it. I was really drawn to that lifestyle and clash of cultures – the buzz of everything. It was hectic, but cool. And the food was amazing. I grew up on American/Canadian-style Chinese food, but real Chinese food was so much better.” Back in Canada in 2004,
Gregoire spent a year working in a sawmill. “I was working with these guys who had three fingers. I thought, ‘I’ve gotta get a different job!’ A career counselor told me I should be an entrepreneur, so I studied business at British Columbia Institute of Technology. In
“I was drawn to that clash of cultures – the buzz of everything. It was hectic, but cool. And the food was amazing”
the second year, I needed to specialize. I opted for tourism.” He followed this with a
Bachelor of Arts in International Hotel Management at Royal Roads University between 2007 and 2009. “Te new school of hospitality gave hotel management training and sent you off on an internship somewhere around the world in year two. Tis was my ticket to get the hell out of Canada and see the world,” he says. Tat internship was in Te
Sheraton in Nanjing, China. Gregoire joined the week before the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with China in full economic boom. “I did several F&B roles before the general manager asked me to be manager of the hotel’s Irish pub. I said, ‘Look, I’ve never really worked front-of-house before.’ She told me to keep the customers company, and make sure they’ve got a full Guinness. And that was my job for almost a year. It was fun, but I quickly realized I couldn’t function in the city without Mandarin. So, I got Chinese lessons, and I’m still learning 17 years later. But I’m glad I didn’t go to Shanghai or Beijing, where you can get by with English easily. It was a better test for me.” A further test arose when
Gregoire became F&B manager at the Four Points Sheraton Hangzhou in 2009. “It was a good experience, but I wanted a change. Trough a friend, I met a Chinese hotel developer who was building a hotel three hours outside Shanghai. He needed a hotel consultant. I was 27, working directly with the chairman, having signed a
> 23
WORLDWIDE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
