Description

Melissa Matthews is the VP of Sales for AZUL Hospitality Group a hotel management company based in San Diego. They are one of the largest management companies in Southern California that doesn’t typically have an investment or ownership stake in the properties that they manage.

Melissa wasn’t always in sales. It was a windy road from where she started as a graduate in International Affairs. She worked for a nonprofit organization called the National Council on US Arab Relations in Washington DC post graduate college. However, after 9/11 funding for those types of organizations fell by the wayside and she was out of a job. She ended up back in Atlanta with her parents interviewing for job after job until she happened to meet a woman hiring for a sales coordinator position for a hotel.

Tune into this episode, to learn how Melissa Matthews, VP of Sales has honed the art of looking for the uncomfortable in order to avoid remaining stagnant and continue her path of growth in her career.

Quotes:

• “Once you're at the pinnacle- you feel like you've learned all that you need to learn in your current position, don't be afraid to push yourself and look for that next challenge and look for the uncomfortable.” (5:28-5:40)
• “I would say that I have learned probably more in the past two years than I learned in the prior 80 of my career, and it's been an uncomfortable time. But looking back on it, I think its skill sets and knowledge that I wouldn't have gained otherwise.” (7:39-7:48)
• “It was very humbling, being unemployed, and looking for a job and I had really tried to stay in that field and look for a number of different positions and just couldn't find anything.” (9:26-9:39)
• “We invest in training, we invest in culture, we're consistently looking at our incentive plans.” (19:10-19:16)

Links:

Melissa Matthews LinkedIn

AZUL Hospitality Group LinkedIn

AZUL Hospitality Group Website

Empellor CRM LinkedIn

Empellor CRM Website

Empellor CRM Twitter