“Customer Oriented, People’s Leader”

Lori Kiel is the Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer of Kessler Collection, who oversees the strategies for the top-line revenues for the entire company through revenue management, sales, and marketing. Being a female leader, there have been a lot of obstacles that Lori had to overcome. “As I have been in a Boardroom dominated by men executives since early in my career, I learned very early that I need a strong-voice and confidence beyond my reality,” says Lori. “Fortunately, I have a very strong personality and have worked extremely hard to become an expert in my disciplines and have held my own thanks to my work ethic.”

Lori has a talented team of 71 Grand Performers (Kessler refers to employees as Grand Performers), and out of the 71, 80% of the group are female. “I work very hard to remind them of their voice and to give them the ‘words’ to be heard. In tandem, we have also spent a great deal of time with some that I mentor on the power of silence, so that your voice is amplified by quality when you speak,” she says. “My best advice/view as I so boldly spoke in the ROC stage this last month is to remind women that we cannot ‘lean in’ anymore, and having a ‘seat at the table’ is simply not enough. You need to make courageous strides and when at the table be seen for what you bring, not your gender.”

"Finally, the one person who has made the most significant impact on Lori has been Richard C. Kessler— Chairman and CEO and the visionary behind the Kessler Collection.”

Three people have influenced Lori into becoming the steadfast leader she is today. Her first ‘boss’ in Revenue Management was younger than her but had a brilliant personality. She was the most intelligent person in the room, as was proven by her intelligence and her intuition and demeanor. “I still to this day regard her as ‘who I want to be’. The second would be a peer that I work with today. He is the most calm, cool and collected leader I know and is able to lead with that demeanor. When you are on his team or partnering with him (as I do) he exudes a confidence that let’s you know that whatever “it” is it will be fine.” Finally, the one person who has made the most significant impact on Lori has been Richard C. Kessler—Chairman and CEO and the visionary behind the Kessler Collection. As his hotels are proof, his vision is beyond what anyone could know or learn. It is genuinely his intuition that brings these properties to life. “His business acumen is much the same as he has challenged me on more than one occasion in my own areas of expertise,” says Lori. “It is inspiring and will always be my greatest career milestone to say that I not only worked for the Kessler Collection but that I worked alongside Richard C. Kessler himself.”

For Lori, it has been a series of personal sacrifices, but as a woman in business, she advises everyone to get over it and keep pushing. “You cannot care what people think or say. I go with the notion that “right is right” and “wrong is wrong,” and as long as you are staying objective you carry-on.” Armed with a unique ideology, she has been leading the company towards new heights.

Kessler is a visionary hospitality brand that owns, develops, and manages specialty hotels, restaurants, and retail that treat guests to the Bohemian lifestyle and unique experiences. Richard builds hotels where people want to be and fills them with art, music, and experiences, unlike anything they have ever experienced before or will again. This is why Marriott asked Richard Kessler to help them launch the “Autograph Collection.” “Our team has integrated experience in hotel development, ownership in hotel development, ownership and third-party management — giving us a unique perspective on how to create value through quality operations for our owners and unique experiences for our guests,” says Lori. “Our next project due to open in Q4 2022 is the Grand Bohemian Lodge Greenville. This property is spectacular as it is built on the side of the falls of the Reedy River. We have done little to no marketing yet and the leads and phone calls about people wanting to come and stay are immense.” IE