February 6, 2025
School of Hospitality Leadership Alumnus Spotlight: Justin Aldrich
I started my career in Nashville with Parks Hospitality, who I met during one of the many career fairs hosted by the School of Hospitality Leadership. I joined as a post-grad manager in training at the Aloft Nashville-Franklin. The next four years were nothing short of action-packed. Midway through the internship, I was offered the role of housekeeping manager and eventually assisted the company in opening a Tru by Hilton, where I acted as the operations manager.
In true hotel fashion, things changed quickly, and the Aloft was sold to Peachtree Hospitality. There was an amazing opportunity to stay on with Peachtree as the assistant general manager, where I finished my time in Nashville.
As AGM, I was responsible for more of the financial aspects of the operation, such as budgeting, sales strategies, and labor management. Although the numbers seemed intimidating initially, everything was oddly familiar due to the foundation built at ECU and the School of Hospitality Leadership. I could speak confidently about RevPAR and whether we flexed or flowed during the month. The many campus networking events and the National Society for Minorities in Hospitality greatly assisted my ability to communicate at a high level. Believe it or not, group projects do not stop after college; they just increase in importance.
After my time in Nashville, I moved to Phoenix with my girlfriend, and I joined the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown as a rooms operations manager. For the past two years, I called this 521-room property my home. Moving to a full-service managed property was an adjustment. However, it was here that I learned the foundation of every hotel is the same, but the scale at which you operate will change.
Several years ago, I decided my brand would be built on taking care of my team and genuine service. These two things have allowed me to learn at an accelerated pace while earning the trust of both guests and my team to get the job done at the highest level.
My journey has continued with Marriott International, where I joined the Westin Downtown Phoenix as a Senior Rooms Operations Manager this past September. With every new challenge the Westin may bring, I am excited for the opportunity to develop myself and my new team.
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