Meet Cynthia Perez | General Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cynthia Perez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cynthia, what do you attribute your success to?
To me, success is reached when consistency is combined with passion and therefore working hard to obtain your goals becomes more attainable. While working in many areas of the hospitality industry, I have been exposed to many different challenging tasks over the years. My constant approach anytime I have been dealt with one of these challenges, or as I like to call them, opportunities, is working through them as if I was the owner. By doing this, I am able to analyze the situation and how I’d approach it from an owner’s perspective. This has helped me to understand the brand and our goals better. On the other side, I have also been able to keep in mind not only the brand’s perspective but also the perspective of the client. This is crucial for the brand I am representing because empathizing with the client is what will get them to come back and keep business coming in through the door. In return, this will make the ownership happy and help them reach their occupancy levels, forecasted numbers, yearly goal, etc.

By keeping the aforementioned in mind, another factor of my success is my personality skills as an extroverted leader. Throughout my career, this has helped me always stand out from the rest of my colleagues by using my personality skills to bring together the team and while having a good time, also work hard together to achieve our common goal. As a General Manager of a 200+ room property, with over 100 team members, it is my daily goal to deliver a happy and healthy environment throughout all the different departments. I am always teaching this to my executive team, in where we consider ourselves a close tight knit family that respects each other and works well alongside one another. By being an approachable leader, I have taught them to also be approachable in their respective departments which then transcends into the team members and allows us to have a positive method of communication. I understood this firsthand when I was an entry-level front desk agent, in where I saw the value of needing an approachable leader and the impact this entails with the staff. That is why today I welcome all team members, not only the executives, to share with me their feedback and any ideas they may have to make our brand better.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Being a hotelier means constantly meeting new people from different walks of life. As an extrovert, this is what excites me on a daily basis about my profession and has helped me create many connections and establish relationships with people I have met throughout my career. Becoming a General Manager is not easy, but overcoming challenges and constantly pushing myself to not settle is what has helped me reach the next step from when I started as a front desk agent. I took what I was not comfortable with and used it to help myself grow and push myself so I could always learn new things.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are so many places and restaurants to check out in Miami however during a week long trip, I would urge my friends to check out the following neighborhoods such as Wynwood and South Beach. Shop at different areas such as Miami Design District and Aventura Mall. Dine at following establishments such as anything from Groot Hospitality, and grab a drink at iconic places such as Ball and Chain in Calle Ocho where they can listen to live music.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First, I would like to thank my family for their constant support throughout my career. Working in hospitality entails long hours, holidays, weekends, and unexpected emergencies that sometimes mean being away from them and missing certain gatherings or celebrations. Despite this, they support me and always wish me well and thanks to this strong base, allows me to develop myself better in my career.

Second, I would like to thank all of my current and past leaders that have seen a vision in me and given me an opportunity to demonstrate my skills and commitment. I would also like to thank all of my colleagues and current team that have made it an absolute pleasure to show up to work every day with a smile on my face.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-perez-b970a0201/