Andy Dolce, Founder & Chairman of Dolce Resorts

I was promoted to General Manager shortly after Dolce arrived at Skamania Lodge. We met Andy and team right away and Dolce was a perfect fit for Skamania Lodge due to their strength in the meetings market. Andy created a strong culture, had high expectations and provided great support and guidance to develop stronger group markets, focusing on the corporate market and changing the way we sold and serviced meetings. Andy introduced a much more profitable model, the Complete Meeting Package. Along the way, I worked for Andy’s company as a Regional Director of Operations overseeing multiple properties and was then promoted to Director of Development for our North American Properties. This role provided great growth opportunities for me, always under the watchful eye of Andy, assuring that all of our properties were setup for success prior to operations moving in. 

Doris Parker Grossman, President CHIC Advisors

John Gray sold Skamania Lodge and Salishan Lodge to Lend Lease Real Estate Investments. That is when I met Doris Parker Grossman. Doris was the Senior Asset Manager and you can bet it was learning experience to move from a private owner to an institutional owner. Doris quickly taught everyone on our leadership team that our job was to think like owners and drive asset value. Doris was tough but fair and could see the future. We worked together to realize the goals of the property and the ownership group. 

Mark DePiero – CEO, Ease Hospitality

I reported to Mark both in operations and development. Mark is one of the most versatile hospitality professionals in the business. Mark learned from Andy Dolce, the importance of having a strong sales team and mission. His understanding of operations and finance, and his ability to mentor me in these areas has been key to my success. When I was promoted to Director of Development, I worked directly for Mark on multiple renovation and new-build projects. It’s here that I learned to build pro-forma and ROI models. We created the Dolce Design Standards assuring that properties had the Dolce look, feel and flow. 

Andy MacLellan - CEO, Discovery Destinations

I first met Andy when he was hired at Dolce as the Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. Andy was outstanding at creating the company vision which flowed through each property and everyone’s individual goals. Andy’s commitment and accountability to achieving ownership goals flowed through every Dolce Leadership team member. Andy then started Scottford Hospitality and he and I worked together for many years on a variety of projects from property operations, development and consulting. 

I started my career at Salishan Lodge specifically to work for Franz Buck. Franz was a tremendous leader and went on to lead culinary operations at two of the finest resorts in America. The Cloister in Sea Island Georgia and The Ocean Reef Club Key Largo, Florida. One of my greatest memories was when Franz called me in to his office and asked, “How long do you plan on working here?” I had no real response. I never gave it a lot of thought. Franz said, “3 years. If you don’t find a new job by then, I’ll find one for you. Many Chefs that I have worked for want you to know that you will never be as good as they are. I want you to be better than I am and I will help you get there.”

Rob Pounding, Executive Chef

I have always been fortunate in my career to have worked with some of the best Chefs in the country. Rob led the way in creating Northwest Cuisine. When he first arrived at Salishan, he quickly educated everyone on the bounty of products available to us right in our own back yard. He quickly created relationships with fishermen, farmers and foragers to be sure we had the best possible products available to us. It sounds somewhat normal now, but this was in the 1980’s, well before the trends became the rage in Portland. The two people bringing attention to the abundance of amazing west coast food was Rob Pounding and Alice Waters. 

Phil DeVito Cellar Master and Maitre d’hotel

Phil DeVito created one of 50 Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine programs at Salishan Lodge. No small feat. Along the way, he amassed a $250,00 (over $1m valued today) wine inventory and I was assigned to work with Phil, to lower the inventory level to $175,000 while not risking losing our awards. I was fortunate to work with Phil and to receive a world class wine education. I also created a program that tracked inventory, printed wine lists and inventory reports and provided Phil with ordering information that was at his fingertips, whenever he needed it. This partnership allowed me to achieve the assigned goal and provided Phil with the things that he needed in order to create a more efficient business model and increase wine sales.

Hank Hickox President Salishan Resorts

Hank came to Salishan with a very clear mission. To create a strong business culture that enhanced the asset value. Hank taught me to Lead without Power. This is one of the key messages that I try to convey to my team. The best leaders are effective even when they do not have the power to make directives. In order to be effective, you must first create relationships, make sure everyone understands the assignment and why all must work together to accomplish the goal.