SHL alum spotlight: Lezlie Williams '17

My name is Lezlie Williams, and I graduated from East Carolina University (ECU) in 2017 with a BS in Hospitality Management and a concentration in Conventions and Special Events. I am from Raleigh, North Carolina, and after graduation, I knew I wanted to move back to the area. I started the Management In Training program at the JB Duke Hotel in Durham, North Carolina. After going through the year-long program and rotating through the food and beverage outlets, I accepted a permanent position at the father property, the Washington Duke Inn, as a banquet captain. I knew I was ready to make a change to further my management knowledge, and through the contacts I met at the ECU SHL Career Fair, I connected with the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh. I came on board as a food and beverage manager. In this role, I was able to manage the casual dining outlets and banquets. After some time, Washington Duke Inn had an opening for a conference service manager, planning corporate meetings and conferences for the hotel. Getting into event planning was always the goal, and planning events where I had worked operations was the ideal first step.

During COVID, I was able to re-evaluate my career and what I wanted. I found my way back to Club Management. I moved to Richmond, Virginia and was the assistant director of food and beverage for Hermitage Country Club. This role taught me more than I could have ever imagined. I managed day-to-day operations in all outlets of food and beverage within the Club and had a team of managers who reported to me. Being a Raleigh native, I knew I wanted to move back to the area and one day go back to Carolina Country Club. When the team here reached out and offered me the assistant social director position to get back into event planning, it was an offer I couldn’t turn down. Now I have been back at Carolina Country Club for two years and can clearly see the path that my career is headed in events and with this company.

Through it all, I am thankful for all my operations experience before becoming an event planner. I can’t stress enough how important that is. It is important to understand the back-of-the-house side of the event and know that it is not all about the glitz and glamour. My time with ECU SHL taught me not only about how to be a leader but also prepared me for what to expect when I was ready to join the industry after graduation. The connections I met while attending SHL Career Fairs are how I have grown my professional network thus far. I regularly come back to campus to give time to the program that I feel has given so much to me. I am proud of this department, and most importantly, I am proud to be a Pirate!

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• School of Hospitality Leadership