![\"Wendi](\"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Herring-pixsmal.jpg\")
<\/a>Her first day as GM was Monday this week, but she is already eager to \u201csee what\u2019s changed\u201d and \u201crelearn the landscape,\u201d after leaving the islands in 2004.<\/p>\n
Herring replaces former GM Mark Ratliff, who has moved off island.<\/p>\n
She looks forward to getting involved once more with the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marianas Visitors Authority, and Saipan Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is exciting getting to learn again\u2014coming back to learn new things in the industry that I love,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune in an interview.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s one of her first points of business as Kanoa Resort\u2019s new GM? \u201cLearn everybody\u2019s name,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n
It is hard to know where to start as a new GM, she said, but she looks forward to \u201clisten, learn, and lead\u201d in the coming weeks, working on some \u201cback-of-the-house\u201d projects, among other things.<\/p>\n
Kanoa, she said, is also looking to renovate their main rooms soon in the future.<\/p>\n
With its 220 rooms, Kanoa is unique, according to Herring, because it is \u201cso easy to get around\u2014it\u2019s right next to the beach, it\u2019s small, personalized,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This, she added, gives them an opportunity to really impact their quests. \u201cI think Kanoa is such a great property and such a great location. I feel really fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herring first arrived on island in 1989, and has since immersed herself in the hotel and hospitality industry, working also in Thailand and Guam.<\/p>\n
Before this, she worked a sales job in San Francisco. But the job, she said, was not for her. She felt burnt out and felt like she needed some adventure. She wanted to see the world.<\/p>\n
Luckily, a friend introduced her to a clubmate position at PIC Saipan. Herring, already an avid volleyball and softball player, took the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first got to the island I didn\u2019t know how beautiful the island was\u2026 The first day, with jet lag, I remember sitting on the beach and thinking, \u2018I can\u2019t believe this. I\u2019m here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t a clubmate for long, though. Herring, while a lover of sports, wanted to do more and had her eye on a management training program in her first few months on island.<\/p>\n
After a year and a half, she joined the program, which she said had her three months in Food and Beverage, another several months in Rooms, and several weeks in Engineering, for example, where a friend and higher-up was unfortunately set on keeping her as \u201csort of a secretary\u201d sitting at her desk.<\/p>\n
But she wouldn\u2019t have it. \u201cI had to convince him to let me out, rake, paint,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She succeeded, calling her experience in the program an immersive and \u201camazing opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re coming in as a new hire basically\u2014housekeeping in public areas, working side by side with people that do it everyday. I just really enjoyed the people, how hard they worked, how much they cared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there was also working with supervisors, mangers, and observing how they led and what their responsibilities were, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave me such a broad scope of experience. You either love it or hate, and luckily, I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt provided me such appreciation of the role that everybody plays toward delivering a good guest experience. If all the pieces don\u2019t fit properly then you get challenges. But you also learn how to address those challenges,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
From clubmate, to assistant director, to executive director, and now a general manager, Herring says the essential traits of being a leader in the hospitality and hotel business is flexibility, diplomacy, and multitasking.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach day can present the unexpected,\u201d she said\u2014you have to be hard worker and not be afraid to work long hours.<\/p>\n
But a sense of humor and fun\u2014especially in this business\u2014is crucial as well, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cLearn to laugh and not take yourself too seriously,\u201d she said, with a laugh herself.<\/p>\n
For her, \u201cthe people business\u201d is all about the team, accomplishing and working together as a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the guest leaves and you smile and say, \u2018I hope you come back\u2019\u2014and they do\u2014that\u2019s the most rewarding thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After some time off, Wendi Herring\u2014a former Pacific Islands Club executive\u2014returns to the \u201cpeople business\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":191278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900,4],"tags":[56,318,448,67],"class_list":["post-191277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-local-news","tag-business-3","tag-gm","tag-kanoa-resort","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}