It's Personal Stories, A Hospitality Podcast · David Kong, Dorothy Dowling, Rachel Humphrey, Lan Elliott

Monique Lee, Group Vice President, Sales, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Interviewed by Dorothy Dowling

·34 min·3 clips

A mentor saw a $15 million renovation opportunity in Monique Lee that she never imagined for herself.

This episode features host Dorothy Dowling interviewing Monique Lee, the Group Vice President of Sales at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. Lee is recognized for her commercial expertise and her commitment to mentoring others in the hospitality industry. The conversation explores Lee's personal journey and her philosophies on leadership and resilience. Lee traces her passion for hospitality to childhood staycations with her grandmother at hotels like the Hyatt Regency in Boston. A pivotal career moment came when a mentor she met on LinkedIn saw potential in her and offered a leadership role requiring a move from Chicago to Dallas. She emphasizes that every decision has a ripple effect, a mantra she also teaches her children. For Lee, resilience is non-negotiable because franchise owners invest their life savings and depend on sales leadership. She recharges by cooking, with a dream to compete on "Beat Bobby Flay," and uses team cooking events for bonding. Lee fosters team culture using principles from John Gordon's book "The Energy Bus," focusing on positive energy and a growth mindset. She finds deep fulfillment in mentoring, citing her work with a food and beverage professional and a Mike Diamond Scholar award winner named Maggie Thompson. Lee actively embraces AI tools like Perplexity to analyze quarterly reports and improve efficiency, though she stresses the irreplaceable value of human relationships in sales. She advises starting with "baby steps," like using AI to plan a vacation, to overcome team members' apprehension. For continuous learning, Lee utilizes LinkedIn training, reads avidly, and watches TED Talks. She is a committed member of industry associations like HSMAI and GBTA for education and networking. Key leadership lessons for Lee include earning trust through actions, celebrating team wins, and starting meetings with personal check-ins about family. Her advice to her younger self is to "build your village sooner" through community involvement and to trust the process. The tone is conversational, educational, and warmly inspirational, focusing on personal narrative and practical professional advice. Hospitality professionals, especially those in sales leadership or early in their careers seeking mentorship, would find great value in this episode. Listeners looking for a highly technical discussion of sales metrics or a debate on industry challenges might find the content too focused on personal philosophy and soft skills.

As heard by us

A warm leadership conversation about mentorship, commercial instinct, and making room for the next person.

Monique Lee's conversation with Dorothy Dowling keeps its focus on hospitality leadership, sales, and the people who shape a career. It starts from Monique's early interest in hotels and the weekends she spent with her grandmother, then stays with that personal thread as it…

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Why you'd press play

You get a hospitality-born leadership story about sales, mentorship, growth, and helping others find their way.

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