“There is no average day – one of the things I really love about this job,“ says Rebecca Wyatt Senior Vice President of Brand Management for Homewood Suites of Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Inc. “I may be looking at floor plans for a potential new hotel, meeting with existing or potential owners, working with the marketing team on our brand message, or working with a revenue management team on how best to educate our hotels to use our systems,“ she says.
Wyatt has been with Hilton for 15 years and is the first female SVP of a Hilton Brand. She is responsible for the overall positioning of the Homewood Suites by Hilton brand and its marketing which includes targeting market share growth, meeting revenue targets and establishing and maintaining brand standards.
In her prior role as senior vice president of electronic distribution and customer relationship management, Wyatt was responsible for leading the brands significant increase in revenues through online booking channels and maintaining industry-leading customer service scores, reducing costs and implementing industry-first customer service features.
With more than 25 years of experience, Wyatt began her career in the travel industry in 1977 with the Memphis Convention Center. Since that time, she has worked in all segments and disciplines of the industry, including catering/convention services and national sales for The Peabody in Memphis and Swisshotel; field marketing and hotel performance support for the Hampton Inns, Homewood Suites, Embassy Suites and Doubletree; she played a significant role in the integration of cross-brand initiatives between the Hilton and Promus brands after the two companies merged in 1999.
“Rebecca possesses the unique ability to lead without conquering. She allows her team to move fluidly and get their job done in the way that they know how, which is not always her way. By taking this approach, she allowed me to bring new ideas and successes to the team, which ultimately makes her and her team more successful. I have taken many of those lessons and returned them to my team by allowing them to experience and flourish in their own way of thought,” says Virginia Suliman, Senior Director eSolutions Delivery.
According to Wyatt, “While I was over our eDistribution team, we increased on-line (brand.com direct) revenues from around 700mm to over 2 billion. We are an industry leader in % contribution from our brand sites.” She attributes this success to, “just knowing how to put a great team together and keeping them focused.”
“Rebecca has been a driving force in smoothly launching several key initiatives, including the integration of the HHonors program across all brands, and expansion of our Hilton.com internet strategy, to name just a few,” says Bill Duncan, Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Homewood Suites by Hilton.
Her management style, including her individual style, is something that she takes pride in. She learned to “stay true to who she was, when confronted with a difficult decision about whether she needed to adjust to a particular image and make a certain presentation, and, as she describes it, “corporate up,” when she was being considered for a new position earlier in her career. She was, ”frustrated, disappointed and kind of hurt,” when her appropriate business image was being criticized because it wasn’t cookie cutter corporate, but reflected a little bit more of her individuality. She stayed true to who she was and was promoted, a lesson she takes one step further, when asked about one of her biggest challenges: “Perseverance – realizing that setbacks happen to everyone and that you can’t give up. If you don’t get something that you think you really want, it has always meant that something better was coming. Even the worst jobs I had eventually led to things I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Actually, it’s a good lesson for life and work, “she says.
According to Virginia Suliman, “Rebecca is a tremendous role model for both women and men on how to navigate the sometimes challenging political waters of corporate America with dignity and poise.”
Wyatt’s own role models within the company include Tim Harvey (EVP and CIO) and Madi Kleiner (EVP, General Counsel) – also Phil Cordell with Hampton Inn. “I’ve known Tim and Phil for many years and they have always been great friends and advisors. Madi has provided outstanding leadership to both me and women in general within our company. Outside of work, I would say my Mother. She was a working mom when not too many moms worked, yet always had a sit down hot dinner every night. The whole family ate together and we ate what was on the table. Looking back I’m amazed at how she was able to do it.”
Wyatt, herself, has not married, or had children, which she attributes to not having met the right man rather than because of giving too much of her time to work. She has no regrets, and of course, she says, “my life would have been different if I had made other choices, but, it is a great life, and I have lots of close friends, nieces, nephews and godchildren in my life, so, I’m good.”
However, she’s not sure if she’s mastered the balancing act of career and personal life. “Too many of my friends are work related, but I know them best,” she says. “I do take down time when needed – I’ll put my blackberry away for a weekend and not talk to anyone from work for a couple of days every now and then. I push that for team members also – if it’s not a crisis, spend your weekend time with your family – working all weekend does not impress me, productivity during the week does.”
Early on in her career Wyatt says that she was trying to prove something to others. Later it became a drive to learn something new. “I’ve worked for every segment within the Hilton portfolio, in addition to a wide variety of positions on property (catering, convention services, sales, operations), and that diversity of experience has been invaluable in being seen as capable to take on new challenges. Wyatt is the first Senior Vice President of a Hilton Brand.
“There are several hallmarks in Rebecca’s management style,” says Bill Duncan, Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Homewood Suites by Hilton. “Recruiting strong individuals, empowering them to get the job done, and creating a fun, open and inclusive work environment. Quite honestly, she is so pleasant to be around, that it motivates you to work even harder.”
Does she think there is a glass ceiling in the hotel industry? “Yes and no,” she says. “In any business situation where there have been a group of traditional executives in certain roles, there is some adjustment needed when that role is taken on by someone a little outside of the box.”
“You have to train yourself to operate effectively in a room full of men; it is easy to be overlooked if you don’t speak up,” she says. Hilton values great team members and promotes from within as often as possible. She’s had incredible opportunities, several, for which she had no experience or background in. “Men may sometimes be more assertive in general,” she says, “while women may try to get their point across in a softer way. Diversity always has a good impact on any company. “ She’s found that having a sense of humor helps in gaining respect and position.
Wyatt spends much her time traveling. On average she’s on the road two weeks each month. Rather than playing golf, she unwinds and relaxes by indulging in the spa experience as often as possible. She enjoys staying home in her leisure time, reading, sleeping, playing with her dog and spending time with friends.
She has recently re-located to Memphis from Los Angeles and somehow, despite her busy schedule plans to become involved in several charities, including the Homeless Coalition, with which Homewood has an active partnership.
