Power Women: Michelle Marvin of Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook Chicago On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman

How does a successful, strong, and powerful woman navigate work, employee relationships, love, and life in a world that still feels uncomfortable with strong women? In this interview series, called “Power Women” we are talking to accomplished women leaders who share their stories and experiences navigating work, love and life as a powerful woman.

As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Michelle Marvin.

Michelle Marvin, Director of Sales and Marketing at Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook, has made a tremendous impact throughout her role in the hospitality industry. Michelle has a drive that motivates her team and every person she interacts with to create an engaging environment. A seasoned veteran within the industry, she held positions at many esteemed hotel brands including Marriott Schaumburg, Marriott International, Westin Chicago Northwest, and TPG Hotels and Resorts. She has been awarded countless accolades for her drive, leadership, and achievements including Top Group Sales Producer(Illinois TPG Hotels, 2015), Manager of the Year (Marriott Schaumburg, 2013), Top 15 Sales Manager (TPG Companies), Manager of the Quarter (Marriott Schaumburg and Marriott International, 2012), Manager of the Year (Westin Chicago Northwest, 2008) and Manager of the Quarter (Westin Chicago Northwest, 2008). By utilizing her talents, she prides herself on expanding upon the property’s new and existing relationships, fostering a warm and welcoming environment. Her recent battle with breast cancer has only increased the warmth and compassion with which she treats her role and the industry. Her kindness makes her a fantastic worker and leader, and her dedication and zealousness to the industry have made her an exciting asset and result-driven director.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Chicago and eventually my city-dwelling family moved to the suburbs, my dad had never been to the suburbs but heard about this race track in Arlington Heights and thought it must be a nice suburb so we moved! I grew up in Arlington Heights with my older brother, graduated high school early, and started at community college to see what interested me and what I wanted to do when I finally grew up.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

In community college, I took a couple of Introduction to Hospitality classes based on the class description mentioning wine tastings. I started these classes and every topic came to me so easily. I knew this would be my major as I love being around people and helping people create memories.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Hands down working for Disney and going through the rigorous training plan that Disney has for all of their employees. I did an 8-month internship and drove a train at Disney’s Animal Kingdom through their college program. Working for Disney opened so many doors for me and got me so many interviews because everyone wants to know about the Mouse behind the curtain!

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Flexibility — Working in the hospitality industry makes it sometimes difficult to find the work/life balance. There are no locks on the doors and we run a 24/7 operation. I have always instilled in my staff that you will not miss family parties, your children’s play, or sports activities due to work. Work will always be there but the little league game will not.
2. I am a teacher and a student — Recognizing that as a leader, I am a teacher to my staff but also recognizing that I have an opportunity to learn so much from my staff. I continue to ask for their input and perspectives as we have a multigenerational office and each generation offers a different perspective or way to do things which I love.
3. Integrity — I will always do what is right even if it hurts, and my team sees this and in turn, they hold themselves accountable and also share the praise. At a young age, I remember my dad telling me “If you always tell the truth, you have nothing to worry about” and that stuck with me. Always doing what is right and being honest when you make a mistake and owning it.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. The premise of this series assumes that our society still feels uncomfortable with strong women. Why do you think this is so?

I always think back to the 1950s, and the idea that a women’s place was in the home. Even in the 1980s movies like Mr. Mom made it seem like having a dad pitch in to help with the household duties was sort of a taboo subject. Our brains have been engrained over the years with sayings like “hit like a girl”, gender roles, and the idea that women earn less than their male counterparts. I think that some people still feel uncomfortable with strong women because of these ideas that are engrained in their minds and preconceived notions about women in leadership positions.

Without saying any names, can you share a story from your own experience that illustrates this idea?

When I first started off in a management job and got engaged to my husband my current manager continued to ask me about plans to expand my family and what that looked like for me. I continued to brush him off because my husband and I said when it happens, it happens. Once I got pregnant that boss came into my office and asked me if we should post my job since I wouldn’t be coming back after I had my baby. This was the furthest from the truth as I had every intention of coming back to work after my son was born. I was insulted that this manager thought just because I had a child, I would quit the career that I had worked so hard for.

What should a powerful woman do in a context where she feels that people are uneasy around her?

Honestly, do nothing. It is not your job as a powerful woman to make others feel comfortable, if you are being a leader that is leading with integrity, doing things with love, and truly being an all-around incredible leader, you should not change anything.

What do we need to do as a society to change the unease around powerful women?

In the hospitality industry you don’t experience the unease as much because there are a lot of powerful women in our industry, it’s become the norm. When I first started in the industry it was not the norm as it was a very male-dominated industry in the leadership department. We as a society need to recognize that everyone brings something to the table and we can all learn from one another. I am so blessed to have so many female and male mentors in my industry. One of my mentors has always reminded me that leadership is not a popularity contest, and you just need to do the best job, and that always sticks with me.

In my own experience, I have observed that often women have to endure ridiculous or uncomfortable situations to achieve success that men don’t have to endure. Do you have a story like this from your own experience? Can you share it with us?

I have been quite fortunate to work for some amazing leaders in my industry. I have never been put in uncomfortable situations by my leaders but I have been put in those situations with guests. Guests who have said I am too pretty to be helping clean rooms when I was housekeeping manager, or other guests who would make comments during check-in about my looks or ask when I got off of work. I never saw my male co-workers experience these situations and it always made me so uncomfortable as these were the guests of the hotels that I was working at.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women leaders that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think the hardest part is the work/life balance as a lot of times the workload at home also falls to the women leaders. The scheduling of doctor’s appointments, school pick-up, drop-off for sporting events, etc. I am extremely lucky to have a partner who shares the duties with me 50/50 and has taken over most of the home and carpooling duties to ensure that I can focus on my career.

Let’s now shift our discussion to a slightly different direction. This is a question that nearly everyone with a job has to contend with. Was it difficult to fit your personal and family life into your business and career? For the benefit of our readers, can you articulate precisely what the struggle was?

The struggle has always been there for me and the mom guilt is real. Early in my career, I would put my kids to bed at night and immediately open my laptop to start working to get ahead. I always felt like I had something to prove and needed to be one step ahead of everyone else.

What was a tipping point that helped you achieve a greater balance or greater equilibrium between your work life and personal life? What did you do to reach this equilibrium?

It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with breast cancer that I realized I needed to slow down and focus on my family and started saying “no” to tasks. I realized through the journey of treatments that without me, the hotel would still function as normal but without me, my family would not. It was at that moment that I realized I needed to find that balance.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Powerful Woman?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Confidence: You need to have confidence in yourself and your decisions. If you are indecisive or easily swayed others will see that and take advantage of you.
2. Risk taker: You have to be willing to take risks and know you might not succeed and that’s ok. If you don’t take risks and always follow the status quo, you will never have the opportunity to be great.
3. Integrity: Always doing what is right and leading by example. If you don’t have integrity, you have nothing.
4. Love: Lead with love and compassion, most times you spend more time with your co-workers than you do your own family. Those co-workers become family and they are someone’s mother, brother, sister, father, etc. Treat them with love and compassion and you will never go wrong.
5. Authentic: Be yourself always. Stay weird and don’t follow the status quo.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

This is a tough one because two people immediately come to mind. The first one is Oprah, she is just one of the most amazing public figures and such an incredibly powerful woman. The second would be Drew Barrymore, watching her interview different celebrities and how incredibly compassionate she is just absolutely incredible.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.