Director of Hospitality
Passion to Legacy
In this episode, I’m chatting with hospitality and event management expert, Mandy Bauer. We discuss her unique perspective on providing outstanding customer service, the importance of building connections, and her very unique path into the sports industry.
She visualized something, went after it, and never took no for an answer.
Mandy is a Director of Hospitality at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. She has experience working in both music entertainment and sports entertainment.
in this episode,
We get an insiders perspective into events and hospitality in the sports industry.
Mandy is highly skilled in event and hospitality management, VIP service standards, venue planning and design, staff training, creative brainstorming, public speaking and much more.
How do you break into the industry?
Mandy’s pathway into the sports industry wasn’t like most.
She graduated college with a theater degree, as well as a spanish degree. After college, she took a teaching position and quickly realized that wasn’t the role for her.
Sports have always been a big part of her life.
Growing up, she was drawn to the electric atmosphere of sporting events. After realizing teaching wasn’t what she wanted to do, she made it her mission to get her foot in the door in either the music entertainment or sports industry.
Do everything you can to make it happen
After sending out resumes and never receiving a response, she took matters into her own hands.
After winning a VIP all-access pass for a music festival, she decided to take glitter-filled envelopes of her resume and pass them out to event staff.
Surprisingly, this landed her an interview which then turned into a job as Operations Coordinator for a festival company.
The Shift
After traveling all over the country and attending music festivals for three years, Mandy needed a change and more stability. Her friend, who was working at the Wells Fargo Center, was able to get her in touch with the HR manager. At the time, there were no job openings.
However, Mandy made it her mission to remain in touch and front of mind.
Once again, it was her clever thinking and determination that landed her another job. She then quickly worked her way up into the role Director of Hospitality.
Advice
Mandy shares that having a genuine, kind personality is key when trying to excel in a hospitality role.
“There are a lot of people that come to a sporting event and if they have an issue, they just want to be heard.”
Actually being able to help and find a solution is so important when it comes to customer service.
Sometimes it's the littlest things that customers remember.
“If you can create a memory for people, it's so much more likely that they will join you again for another experience. Even if they have a bad experience, if you're able to turn that around into something that they remember, they will forget the bad and remember how much you really cared.”
In this episode, we cover:
Mandy’s unique pathway into the sports industry
The role and responsibilities of hospitality management in the sports industry
Why treating people with kindness and providing outstanding customer service is so important
Challenges and benefits of managing a team of people
The qualities that are needed for a guest services role
Advice for handling an unhappy customer situation
Networking tips, as well as advice on breaking into the sports industry
CONNECT WITH ME ON:
LinkedIn - Emma Vertolli
Twitter - emm_vert
Instagram - @itsemmavert
MORE ABOUT THE PASSION TO LEGACY PODCAST:
Passion To Legacy allows listeners to get a true behind-the-scenes look at the various careers inside the sports industry; even as detailed as the day-to-day duties and operations. Learn what it takes to land your dream role. Gain clarity on what your future career could be. Take action and kick start your humanitarian spirit.
Emma Vertolli is a marketing strategist whose career has centered around growing and nurturing communities. Early on in her professional career she felt stagnant, unfulfilled, and in search for more. She dove into sports business courses, books, & networking. To her surprise, she learned that if you want to break into the sports industry AND accelerate your career, it all comes down to who you know. There was a trend that kept coming up: people need to learn how to network & people need a space to be able to do so.
In Passion To Legacy, Emma shares impactful conversations with professionals working behind the scenes in the sports industry. The bases are loaded in this podcast, we’re chatting all about career goals, hurdles & charity. So grab a pen and pull up a seat - you’re going to want to take notes!
As a listener, you can expect to:
- Gain motivation and inspiration for pursuing your dreams
- Get an insider's perspective into what it’s like working in the sports industry
- Gain insight for getting involved in charitable work
- Learn networking tips for landing a role in the sports industry
- Plus much more!
Pro tip: new episodes drop every Tuesday & Thursday. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a session!