Cheryl Foster Hayes didn’t set out to be in the hospitality industry, but the best laid plans have a propensity for going awry. The trick is to be flexible enough to take advantage of any new direction.
“I always thought I’d be in the medical field. … When I started out in college, I studied medical technology for two and a half years,” says Foster Hayes, now the national director of sales for Coast Hotels & Resorts, U.S. “When we got to large animal dissection, however, I thought to myself, ‘This isn’t for me.’”
“My dad was an electrical engineer and national sales manager for his company and planned his regional and national sales meetings,” she continues. “We would travel with him to the meetings, so I grew up experiencing a little of the hotel world and was always interested in it. My dad said, ‘Why don’t you consider hotel management or hospitality? I think you would be good at that.’ … That was it; once I switched majors, I loved every class.”
Following graduation, her plans, once again, went askew. She and a friend decided to take an extended trip to Europe; however, when her traveling companion was accepted to graduate school, the trip was cancelsed. Not one to let that little detail dampen her wanderlust, she hit the open road, driving cross-country to San Diego, Calif. Working her way up the coast, she took positions with the Beverly Heritage Hotel, WestCoast Hotels and the Benson Hotel in Portland.
One of the things she says sets Coast Hotels-which has nine hotels in the U.S. and 31 in Canada-apart from others is its ability to be creative, thanks to the company’s boutique size. “We are not a big chain; our tagline is ‘refreshingly local,’ and that is what we try to carry through at the hotel level,” she says.
Considering how she got her start in hospitality, it shouldn’t be surprising that the unexpected is what she likes most about her job. “You never have the same day twice; it’s truly a dynamic environment,” she says. “You never know what the day will be like or what clients you will meet or where the day will lead you.”
