Katarina Nielsen
It is Monday, 18 October, and I am excited to welcome you to Monday Motivation – Felix asks, Season 6 Episode 2. In today's episode, I am taking you to a place just one hour outside of London, located at River Thames, the famous little town Windsor. Windsor is not just the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch, but will also be home to the new Fairmont Windsor Park. A historical hotel set in the English countryside.
My guest today oversees all the marketing and communications aspects of the hotel and is a real gem to work alongside. Join me in welcoming Ms. Katarina Nielsen, Marketing & Communications Director at the 200-bedrooms Fairmont Windsor Park, to today's episode.
Kat and I have worked together at the Savoy between 2018-2020, and it was always great to work with her. Hence, I am grateful that she took the time to answer my questions.
During the interview, we discussed the start of her career in Paris where she worked for some of the finest hotels in the world before moving to the UK. Hotels that sat the bar very high for the rest of her career. Within these hotels, Kat learned from a lot of incredible people. I am glad she shared some of her favorite lines with us. Lines she lives by - distilled wisdom.
We also talked about the beauty of our industry, and I promise you that as soon as you read her restaurant recommendation you want to go to Godalming in Surrey immediately.
I hope you will enjoy the read, and please do not forget to share positive stories.
Question 1: Where did you start your career? What do you love most about your current role?
Katarina Nielsen (KN): “My hospitality career started as a commis intern in Le Cinq restaurant at the Four Seasons George V in Paris, which was a surreal and exceptional experience as it set the bar very high for the rest of my career. I went on to work for some other incredible companies such as Le Meurice in Paris, Dorchester Collection, and The Savoy in London. In my current role, as Marketing & Communications Director at Fairmont Windsor Park, what I love most is the team with their passion and drive for creating something very special from scratch. They are an outstanding group of people, and I get to work towards opening one of the most exciting projects of my career. My role spans all aspects of marketing as we have a small team, so I get a huge amount of variety, and no day is the same. I can’t wait for the hotel to open and for guests to finally discover what we have been working so hard to create.”
Question 2: What does hospitality mean to you?
KN: “Hospitality means making everyone feel welcome and cared for, not just guests but also people around us on our teams. We all carry responsibility for how we make other people feel, and we decide what energy we bring to every encounter. That notion of purposefully making people feel a certain way is the essence of what we do in hospitality. It’s not about beds, restaurants, or toiletries; it’s all about human energy. The best hotels and restaurants (regardless of their stars or price) hire and train teams to positively impact the lives of both guests and colleagues.”
“ It’s not about beds, restaurants, or toiletries; it’s all about human energy. ”
Question 3: Can you please share an anecdote you experienced that shows the variety and beauty of our industry?
KN: “Hospitality is one of the most varied industries I know as every hotel is like a little town in its own right. I used to work in a large luxury hotel with a few hundred employees, and there were nearly 150 different jobs, which made me realise the incredible choice and diversity we as hospitality professionals have at our fingertips.”
Question 4: Have you had a mentor in your career? Who was it, and did she/he give you a piece of advice you still follow?
KN: “I have learned from so many incredible people throughout my career, and the sum of their wisdom can be distilled into a few simple lines that I live by… “if something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing well”, “assumption is the mother of all mess-ups”, “we are just good people doing our best”, “it’s not all about me – or the acronym INAAM”, “pay cheap, pay twice”, “even the worst of days will pass”… and so many others!! But my favorite piece of advice for anyone in hospitality is still an old quote by Maya Angelou that I’m pretty sure helped me get my job at The Savoy: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. Eternally relevant!”
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Question 5: What would you like to say to a hospitality/ tourism student/professional who recently started his/her career, at this right moment?
KN: “It’s an exciting time for hospitality as the world starts to slowly open up. People are so excited to be out and about after the lockdowns and are eager to be looked after. International travel will come back soon enough, and hospitality will become the industry it used to be once again, full of opportunity, full of passion, full of new and exciting experiences. If you are prepared to bring positive energy to your career and enjoy making people feel special then hospitality is a truly wonderful industry, with so many different types of jobs, there is something for everyone!”
Question 6: Do you have a book recommendation - this could be everything from a novel to an autobiography, etc.
KN: “Setting the Table by Danny Meyer is a great read, and despite being quite an old book now it talks about all that timeless humaneness and the values that I think are so important in our industry.”
Question 7: Which other industry expert would you like to see to answer these questions as well?
KN: “Difficult question! I might have to come back to you on this one!” :)
Question 8: What is your must-try/ must-see (e.g., bar, restaurant, sight, etc.) in Windsor (London, Exmoor)?
KN: “A local favorite is a restaurant called Acorn, which is in Godalming (Surrey, UK). It is a Spanish fusion restaurant and tapas & oyster bar serving the most exceptional fish dishes – definitely worth the trip to Surrey. The chef, who is British, has had a career in some incredible Michelin starred restaurants, and his wife, who runs the front of the house, is from Barcelona with 20+ years of experience as an Event Manager, organizing some of the biggest events that you can imagine.”
Thank you, Kat, for taking the time – I cannot wait to see you again.
