SHL Alumni Profile: Don Strickland

I am the general manager of the award-winning Hampton Inn & Suites Chapel Hill/Carrboro, North Carolina and a proud alumnus of the ECU School of Hospitality Leadership.

I began my hospitality career at the ECU School of Hospitality Leadership in 2011, and I contribute much of my success to the education and experiences provided to me from the many great professors in the school. I worked as a front desk agent while taking classes at ECU, gained several internship opportunities with the help of the school’s career fairs, and learned the fundamentals of hospitality in my classes. All of this, along with access to a huge network of hospitality professionals, are what makes the ECU School of Hospitality  Leadership one of the best in the country.

Now, I am responsible for my company’s flagship hotel, a corporate manager on duty for three different hotel brands, a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, serve as a Board Member on the Carrboro Tourism Development Authority, and have been recently awarded the Chapel Hill Young Professional of the Year – 2018.

At 25 years old, I am the youngest general manager in my market, and ECU’s School of Hospitality Leadership is what fast tracked my career.

The School of Hospitality Leadership in the College of Business has the largest student enrollment in the North Carolina university system.

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