Kimpton Gray

The Kimpton Gray is in the New York Life Insurance Building in Chicago's Loop. The building was designed by William Le Baron Jenney, known as the father of the skyscraper, and completed in 1894. After more than a century as offices, the landmark reopened as a 293-room Kimpton hotel in August 2016. I joined the pre-opening team as Director of Catering Sales and Conference Services, the second hire after the general manager.

The building's history was its draw and also its constraint. The original columns broke up the event spaces, so the banquet layouts that catering and group business depend on were hard to fit. Without a different approach, some of the hotel's most beautiful spaces would sit empty.

I set the strategy, systems and story for the hotel's wedding and social business in Chicago. I hired and led a team of four, and worked alongside our chef and outside partners, including Kapow, the group-experience booking platform.

• A rental strategy for the event spaces, which turned out to be the most profitable use of rooms the columns made hard to sell for catering
• A wedding and social strategy built around five distinctive spaces that would otherwise have sat empty: Boleo on the rooftop, Volume 39, Steadfast, the Robie Room and the grand staircase
• The grand staircase, reimagined as a ceremony entrance in a public space
• Partnerships with 10 of Chicago's influential wedding planners and designers, plus working sessions and partner events hosted in the hotel, such as The Tie Bar × The Gray, which brought in 20 wedding planners
• An easy way to book small gatherings in the hotel's most coveted spaces, for couples, planners, private dinners and celebrations, built with the chef and Kapow

• Rental revenue exceeded budget within six months of opening
• 8 high-end weddings booked, plus pre- and post-event business around them: rehearsal dinners, post-wedding brunches and day-of suite amenities
• $3.4M in annual catering revenue