We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Johnetta Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Johnetta, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Showing clients you appreciate them is something I think most folks want to do – but it’s not always clear how to do it in a meaningful way. What’s one of the best examples of client appreciation you can share with us?
In my line of work, I interact with people every day and it always feels great to do something nice for someone, whether it’s a stranger or someone you know. It’s what we should be doing all the time…even though we know that life doesn’t always work that way. However, I have many appreciation stories, but the one I will always remember was during hurricane Ivan when my hotel was full of people who lost everything they had and didn’t know what to do. The hotel lost power during the hurricane and wasn’t able to provide breakfast. I also lost power at my home during this time and had to stay with my parents. Luckily, their home ran off gas and I was able to eat hot meals and take hot showers! When I went to work one day I had a cup of coffee in my hand, and you would have thought I had a million dollars in my hand the way some of the guests were asking me in excitement where I got the coffee. One man wanted coffee so bad he was willing to take mine not knowing if I had drunk from it or not. To make a long story short, I called my mom, and she made coffee for my hotel guests. This small gesture was big for them. It put a smile on their faces and of course mine as well.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was working in retail when I was approached by a lady who was the General Manager of a hotel. She asked me if I would be interested in working in the hotel industry and to come talk to her. I met with her, and I’ve been in the Hospitality industry for 23 years now. Needless to say, I didn’t choose this career, this career chose me. I’ve worked as a Guest Services Representative, Front Office Manager, Sales Manager, Director of Sales, an Assistant General Manager, General Manager and now an Operations Support Manager working remotely as Task Force. I believe everyone on earth has a purpose in life, and my purpose is to serve others. I’m a servant at heart and the hospitality industry is indeed the career to be in because it allows me to fulfill my purpose.
Black Women of Hospitality, Inc is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that focuses on Women of Color who are in the Hospitality industry or have an interest in joining the wonderful world of Hospitality that includes the hotel, airline, and restaurant industry. Our mission is to unite, inspire and empower Women of Color in the hospitality industry by providing
resources, support, and motivation to achieve personal and professional growth. We are devoted to increasing diversity and inclusion across hospitality, travel and leisure. The Black Women of Hospitality Organization carries out research, shares best practices, provides mentorships, co-create solutions, runs webinars, serves in the community, and holds annual events dedicated to ensuring Women in our sector are not held back and can progress in their careers into leadership and hotel ownership!
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I met my co-founder at a vision board party. She asked me to take a picture of her and then asked me what my occupation was. Come to find out we were both in the same industry, and the rest his history!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
My Integrity, compassion for people and work ethic,
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blackwomenofhospitality.com
- Instagram: Black Women of Hospitality
- Facebook: Black Women of Hospitality
- Linkedin: Black Women of Hospitality