Regional Director of Sales
Diamond Hotels Management
Joined MPI in 2018
rbaque@diamondhotels.ca
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/rachellesterbaque
I was born in lovely Kingston, Ontario and grew up in charming Prince Edward County. My first hospitality job was at Bloomfield Inn & Angeline’s Restaurant just down the road from where I grew up. This experience taught me the trials and tribulations of the hospitality industry and I decided to enroll in the Hotel and Food Administration program at the University of Guelph.
After graduating from HAFA, I moved to Toronto and started a restaurant supervisor job at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. I worked for Starwood Hotels for 14 years in Toronto, Fiji and Sydney, Australia right through to the company merger with Marriott. I then moved back to Canada to start my role with Diamond Hotels in Kingston representing a Delta, a Ramada and two Holiday Inn Express properties in Kingston and Sault Ste Marie in sales.
Favourite industry blog or TED Talk?
I would recommend watching “Forget the Pecking Order at Work” by Margaret Heffernan. https://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_why_it_s_time_to_forget_the_pecking_order_at_work
The experiences I have had with high performing teams in very stressful situations supports what Heffernan says in this TED Talk. The best leaders I have worked with don’t focus on hierarchy, which produces a stronger sense of support for each other and loyalty. As a team, we want to achieve our goals within these values: integrity, hard work and performance excellence.
Travel dream fulfilled
I wanted to have a career in the hospitality industry, so I could work and travel the world at the same time. Since university, I have been able to travel extensively with my career, including the last 10 years spent in Asia Pacific.
Advice to tame your nerves
Practice makes perfect, so don’t shy away from opportunities to do public speaking. The constant opportunity to speak to groups has prepared me to be more in control for work events, especially if I end up needing to speak last minute!
Big life change
My Australian husband and I relocated to Canada last year. This is his first time living here and it’s been eight years since I lived back home. It is an odd sensation for things to be so familiar and yet feel new at the same time.
Favourite networking event
In Sydney during the holiday season, one of the third-party planners would organize an industry luncheon. He would reserve a large casual restaurant on the harbor and send an invitation for people to purchase tickets to attend. It was talked about for months leading into December, with everyone asking if you had received an invitation to the luncheon. Afterwards, people often ended up on a patio or at a pub. Because it was casual and there were no speeches, everyone was very relaxed and just enjoyed socializing for the afternoon.
Favourite quote
“You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.” Richard Bach
I first read this attending The Nutcracker at the then O’Keefe Centre in Toronto when I was young.
