such prestigious hotels as the
Nines in Portland, the Oxford
in Denver and the Blackstone in
Chicago and we won numerous
industry awards.
After nearly six years with
Sage, my family and I made
the bold decision to take a year
off. My partner and I had gone
through an exercise of creating
optionality in our lives and
taking a break for a while was
one of the options we visualized.
We quickly realized that 2013
was the perfect year for us to
do so, as our son was four and
with that in his last year of
“freedom”, before entering the
structured life of kindergarten,
school, sports, friends, etc.
Now we just had to decide if we
would just talk about doing it or
actually do it – and we did! For
a “doer” like myself who had
spent my entire life so far on a
clear and steady career path this
was a very scary thing to do and
letting go was not easy.
We declared 2013 our “year
of intentional living” and we
dedicated it to slowing down,
learning to let go of control and
to live in the present. We stored
our belongings, rented out our
home in Denver and moved our
lives to our little home nestled
among giant Redwood Trees in
Sonoma County, CA. Having
spent a lot of time travelling
for work, I was looking forward
to not seeing the inside of an
airplane for a while and to just
allow life to happen.
The first three months were
very difficult and I felt like a
fish out if water, but eventually
I stopped worrying about what
lay ahead and allowed myself
to relax into a life without
deadlines and emails and full
of precious quality time with
my son, my family and my
friends. It was during this year
that I seriously began exploring
the idea of starting my own
business.
Re-entry was not as difficult as
many people might think. I felt
re-energized and refreshed and
I was ready to begin the next
chapter of my life. Now that I
am on the other side of it, I am
incredibly grateful for having
had the courage to take that
time off. It was an amazing and
rewarding experience with so
many learnings, adventures and
blessings, too numerous to list
here. I have no doubt that the
perspective and insight gained
during this time have made me
a better person, parent and
leader.
When I re–entered the business
world in early 2014, it was an
easy decision to follow my
dream of starting my own
company and together with
two partners we began laying
the foundation for what would
become Imprint Hospitality, a
luxury and lifestyle hospitality
management company whose
purpose it is to leave an imprint
on the hospitality industry and
create a new model for how to
do business. We launched in
August of 2015 and are off to a
great start.
I am so grateful for the many
blessings I have enjoyed in life
and for the wonderful career
I have had thus far. I consider
myself very fortunate to have
had many amazing mentors
guiding me along the way,
helping me realize my own
potential and finding my own
path and I am excited about
what the future holds in this
amazing business of ours.