Day 1 - Monday Night - I landed in DC around 4:30pm and caught a car to the hotel, got checked in and headed to the lobby to see my new bosses Joe and Rachida...two of the nicest people that you will ever meet (more to come on them later). Then with the new year and new job is a new Kandi, so I headed to the gym, then ordered a salad from room service and watched my Women's Basketball Tigers try hard to beat the Tennessee Women. Called it a night and didn't sleep worth a darn, to excited!
Day 2 - Tuesday - Woke up early and nervous as all get out, excited, sick to my stomach...all the normal first day jitters, if your first day wasn't going to be in the Marriott International Corporate Office! Meet the bosses in the lobby of the hotel and started the walk to corporate, when you walk in the lobby is beautiful glass, bright colors, everything you would imagin it to look like. I had a morning full of paperwork, people watching at the lower level Starbucks and getting to know the new bosses. At 11am Shannon arrived (another new hire) and probably one of the most awesome people I have met in the last few years...it was good to have a newbie buddy to geek out with for the remainder of our time together (we kept pinching each other!). Off to lunch in "The Hub", Marriott's corporate cafeteria....nothing but a people watching expedition, I was on sensory overload! Where to look, who was spotted, why did we know that face and so on! Then it happened the crowd parted and we spotted Mr. Sorensen (or Arne as he likes us to call him!!!!) President and CEO of Marriott International, he was sitting at a table eating with another gentleman, didn't want to intrupt so I waiting for him to get up and we were on the move. "Come on Shannon we are going it is our first day on the job and first day in the corporate office, we are taking a selfie!" Away we went and he couldn't have been nicer...our picture is below! Our day continued with learning the who's who of our department, key players that help us out on the road, etc. and ended at the office with us officially picking up our go bag gear of computer, speakers, camera, etc. All those things that made us feel like OH MY GOSH we have arrived! We then had the pleasure of having dinner with several Marriott key players and got the chance to spend some more one on one time with the VP's of our department and stared some amazing laughs with Joe and Rachida, my side was hurting by the time I headed upstairs!
Day 3 - Wednesday - Joe started the day with a quiz of what we talked about the day before....Shannon and I nailed it! We then got to meet with the HR team to ask any final questions and learn about the support they provide us. Up next head shots which were taking right outside the Marriott Live room, which contains the center for all things Marriott Social Media they are tweeting, Facebooking, YouTubing, anything you can imagin (pic below) it was all glass and continued 10 chairs all labeled with different titles related to Marketing and Social Media and multiple TV's that were tuned into everything from Twitter the NasDAQ and Mediallia (our companies guest service score card). Another morning full of learning and getting our laptops set up and a million requests for permission to everything Marriott. Lunch at the Hub again, another lovely round of people watching! I spotted Shruti Buckley, Brand Manager for Farifield Inn and Suites, however she was at a table in what looked like a meeting so opted to not bother her or try to take a selfie with her in the background. Shannon and I also now officially 'knew" people in the Hub, it was very surreal when we were walking through and people where like "oh hey ladies!" Again we pinched each other! Our afternoon continued with some more training, a few more drop ins from some who we should know folks and THEN it happened we got to go to the Innovation Center, the brain center for all things Marriott, where some of the greatest ideas to come out of Marriott have been created. Innovative chairs, new brands (Moxy), brand room mock ups with the newest and greatest in furniture, lighting, etc., story boards, blank slates..... The list could go on and on, it was amazing and there are lots of pictures below of all the fun we had while we were in there. The day wrapped up, Shannon caught her plane and I went back to the hotel to take my first training conference call!
Now it is Thursday and I am on the plane heading home to do some training online and await the email of where I am going and to book my ticket and get to the airport. This job was a decision that took me a long time to make, I have loved every minute of my 10 years working on the front line of the hotels and wasn't sure I was ready to walk away some days and other days I KNEW this was the THE job I have talked about since I got into this business. The job I always wanted, the job that I knew would open doors, the job that would provide me some of the best stories and years of my life. Where their nerves yes and are they still there yes, but not as much. Joe and Rachida couldn't have been MORE supportive, calming and helpful during the onboarding process. Both are hilarious, took time to get to know me and made numerous mentions to never think that any question was dumb to always ask and that communication is what gets us through this job day in and day out. I'll say that Rachida (sorry Joe) said it best when the girls where just chatting, she reminded us that we might now be "experts" in all the brands that we will be opening and that is okay, we will learn it all in due time, but to remember that we were hired and chosen for a reason...that we have a set of skills that will carry us and make us successful in this job. To ask questions, emerge ourselves in our observation trainings and to most importantly have fun, to remember that feeling we had when our hotels opened and how we felt when that trainer left...to make sure we are leaving the hotels we open with that exact feeling. So in closing if you would have asked me on Day 1 how I was feeling I would have said "Freaking Out" however today...Day 4 I am excited, pumped and ready to do this thing!!!
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