New Member Featured Profile: May 2017

Ashton Burks joined the Georgia Chapter last April and has subsequently expanded her network of colleagues and friends within the industry. Based in Florida, Ashton works as the Sales & Events Manager for The Pearl, a hotel intimate in size and feel flavored by a Cuban Flair and a Hemingway narrative. She has the opportunity to act as the sales manager as well as the service manager for the property, thereby working with planners and event teams from concept to execution. Ashton strives to implement transparency and sincerity in all she does. Her coworkers would describe Ashton as a big dreamer as she loves to come up with new ideas. These qualities have helped her grow in her profession and overcome challenges as evidenced by her rookie career mistake:

As a recreation coordinator at another hotel, I was super excited to plan my first ever 5K run for a corporate group of about 200 people starting at 6 a.m. We planned the 5K route inclusive of a mix of nature paths, beach boardwalks, beach run, and across the lawn; but I never looked at what time the sun was rising that day. Five days before the event, I realized it was daylight savings time and the sun would not be up until around 6:30 a.m. (30 minutes after the runners would take off into the extremely tree covered nature paths of the island). In an extremely humbled state, I confessed what I had discovered, and thankfully, we were able to come up with a creative solution to turn it into a surprise “glow” run using LED and glow lights to brighten the paths. Without the quick wit and help of my colleague in my complete state of embarrassment, I would not have gotten through that day. It is almost four years later and I still have the sunrise and sunset website tagged as a favorite on my browser.

Ashton would love to next travel to Cuba. Seeing that The Pearl is a Cuban influenced hotel, she is tempted every day by the colorful photos and adventures that someone else got to photograph or the flavors they got to taste. She also really enjoys strong coffee and a great mojito. If budget were of no consequence, you could find her glamping through Europe – adventuring off the beaten path for restaurants and excursions while crashing in a luxurious bed at 4 and 5 star hotels.