Archive: Jan 2019

1. January 31, 2019

   Meet The Team: Lisa Conner

   

   Name:  Lisa Conner
   Title: Assistant Manager of Caroline’s Restaurant
   Hometown: Dubuque, IA

   1. How long have you been with Hotel Julien Dubuque?   

   About two and a half years. I started in September of 2016.

   2. What path brought you to Hotel Julien Dubuque? Please share a little bit about your professional background and what led you to this industry.

   I have been in the restaurant business for most of my adult life, starting at Olive Garden in 2002, as a server.  While I was at Olive Garden, I served and later became a bartender and then a certified trainer for servers as well as bartenders and service professional.  I wanted more professionally and unfortunately, wasn’t able to achieve that with Olive Garden.  I saw a job posting for a Supervisor position with Caroline’s and immediately applied! Since then, I have been a server, lead server, supervisor and now the Assistant Manager.

   
   3. What are you most passionate about professionally?

   I really enjoy the service industry, whether it’s talking to guests, helping servers and hosts to make sure they’re giving great service, or running the restaurant in the most efficient way possible.  I like knowing what’s going on at all times and I get very excited about checklists and cleaning parties, as the team will tell you!

   4. What are you passionate about personally? What is your favorite way to spend a free weekend?

   I have a son named Mak who just turned one, and he is my favorite thing about life.  I don’t get too many weekends off in this industry, but when I do have time off, I am always spending it with him and my boyfriend.  When I have the time, I get into projects such as refinishing old furniture.

   5. What are some of your favorite things to do in the Dubuque area?

   I like to be outside, especially during the summer.  I enjoy outdoor concerts and festivals downtown. If I get the chance, I like to be on the river, canoeing and camping.

   6. What do you love most about Hotel Julien Dubuque?

   I love the history of the hotel and the elegance.  It’s always beautiful, especially at Christmas time!

   7. What is your personal motto?

   The road to success is always under construction!

   8. Describe your typical work day.

   I spend most of my day helping servers by running hot food out to their tables, answering questions and chatting with their guests.  I am always a helping hand for them.  I also do the scheduling and have some administrative duties in the office after the breakfast and lunch rushes.

   9. Please share a go-to fun-fact about yourself.

   Organizing things either at home or at work really gets my blood pumping, I don’t know why, but it makes me really happy!

   
   

2. January 25, 2019

   Meet The Team : Dwight Hopfauf

   

   Name: Dwight Hopfauf
   Title: General Manager

   1. How long have you been with Hotel Julien Dubuque?   

   It will be seven terrific years in September of 2019.

   2. What path brought you to Hotel Julien Dubuque? Please share a little bit about your professional background and what led you to this industry.

   My first love really is medicine, so one needs to associate medicine to hospitals, and then hospitals to hotels, then hotels to hospitality, and there you are, both are about taking care of people, thus the career path.

   3. What are you most passionate about professionally?

   Creating the feeling for the guests that they are in the right place, at the right time, all the time. Shock and awe experiences!

   4. What are you passionate about personally? What is your favorite way to spend a free weekend?

   With my family, my bride Lynn, and my two teenagers, Mackenzie and Jacob, though free weekends are hard to come by in this industry.

   5. What are some of your favorite things to do in the Dubuque area?

   Everyone needs to ride the Fenelon Place Elevator, sit in the bleachers at the Field of Dreams, enjoy a great dinner at Caroline’s Restaurant, and ordering a burger and a beer at Paul’s Tavern.

   6. What do you love most about Hotel Julien Dubuque?

   It is an absolutely beautiful old grand dame of hotel of the past, rich in history, whispered secrets behind every door, and appointed amenities that provide a really warm sense of arrival at every turn, though “my most loved about Hotel Julien Dubuque” is the staff that work here tirelessly hard each and every day to fulfill our #1 Vision of “Create the feeling for the guests that they are in the right place, at the right time, all the time!”

   7. As a leader, what strategies do you implement to keep your team motivated and energized?

   We need to be getting better faster than our competition or we are only getting further behind. Create the environment for each other so in the morning, afternoon, or evening, we wake up and shout “I get to go to work today! I get to go to work today at Hotel Julien Dubuque!”

   7. What is your personal motto?

   I don’t have just one, so I will share a few that I work at: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”, “Address everything and leave nothing to chance.”, “Schedule everything, and you will have much more time to be spontaneous.” and to always express “Thanks for coming to work today!”

3. January 10, 2019

   Meet The Team: Margaret O’Reilly

   

   
   Name:  Margaret O’Reilly
   Title:  Sales Manager
   Hometown: Lansing, Michigan
   LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/margaretoreilly20

   1. How long have you been with Hotel Julien Dubuque?   

   Since October 2018
   

   2. What path brought you to Hotel Julien Dubuque? Please share a little bit about your professional background and what led you to this industry.

   My love for the hospitality industry started when I was in high school. I was constantly planning things for my friends and I to do, or planning events for the school. I am lucky to say that I knew pretty early on what path I wanted to explore for a career. It also helped that I had one of the best hospitality programs in the country right in my backyard. I studied Hospitality Business at Michigan State University. Having a job while in school wasn’t just encouraged, it was required. I constantly had multiple jobs and was heavily involved with the hospitality school. I was dedicated to learning as much as possible about the industry. Some of my favorite experiences were when I was a wedding coordinator, when I was the event design director for the hospitality school’s annual auction, and when I worked at the arena that Michigan State played basketball. Once I graduated college, I accepted a job with Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa out in Galena, IL. I was their corporate event planner for about two and a half years before joining the team here!

   3. What are you most passionate about professionally?

   That’s a hard one! I tend to be very passionate about a lot of different things professionally. I think the number one passion I have is helping people have a great experience. I enjoy being the one people come to with requests, but also when they need help fixing a problem. There’s nothing like having a guest leave the hotel after a successful stay or a successful event with us. I also have a deep passion for customer service, I am very customer service minded and that doesn’t shut off when I walk out the door. I think the last very important passion is learning. I believe that you should always be learning how to be better in your profession, and learn how the industry is change.  

   4. What are you passionate about personally? What is your favorite way to spend a free weekend?

   I love traveling, exploring new restaurants, hanging out with friends, and sports. I like to spend my weekends traveling to different locations, hanging out with friends here and in different cities.  

   5. What are some of your favorite things to do in the Dubuque area?

   I am really enjoying all the new restaurants that have popped up in the last year. I love going to dinner and drinks with my friends.

   6. What do you love most about Hotel Julien Dubuque?

   I love the atmosphere and the rich history of this hotel. There are so many different unique stories that are so fun to talk about with people.

   7. What is your personal motto?
   

   I have two. “Be the change in the world you wish to see” and “A dream without a goal is just a wish.”

   8.  Describe your typical work day.

   My day is usually different from day to day. I spend a lot of my time responding to emails or on the phone with clients or potential clients. With the new position I have spent time reaching out to clients to introduce myself and letting them know I can help assist them going forward. I will have potential clients reach out to me for more information so I will draft up a proposal for them. I also will have clients reach out to me knowing they want to book so I will draft contracts for them.  I talk to multiple people regularly so it is very important for me to stay organized. When I am not talking with clients I am attending a lot of community events. I think it is important as a hotel to constantly have an ambassador in the community, getting to know the community.  

   9. Please share a go-to fun-fact about yourself.

   I won best dancer when I was a senior in high school.

   10. Is there anything else that you’d like to share?

   Have family, friends, or a client you’re trying to impress? Bring them to the Hotel Julien! Now you know who to call when you have any group lodging and meeting requests!