What is your official job title and how long have you been at this position in this company?

I am the owner, developer, and manager of two hotels in Paris for 15 years.

Tell me a bit about a day in the life of working in your position. Do you work with a team?

I usually work from the hotel. I have a team of basic employees that a hotel needs, including a decorator, architect, handymen, designer, and front desk operator. I consider myself the manager. I oversee that the room gets cleaned and repaired. This routine is similar to one as in a factory, but every day is still different and still very dynamic. I also manage the commercial aspect; I sell the hotel to operators and internet sites and manage the prices every day, along with operating reservations. This is a very competitive market so I must overcome new obstacles like competition and pricing all the time. In the morning I am usually at the hotel overseeing all the daily requirements, like making sure breakfast is served to discussing plans with an architect, and in the evening I am developing and constructing my second hotel. There is a whole team of architects for that too. One annoying part is that there are long 3 month processes to get permits for construction.

Is the work environment at your particular company collegial or more rigid/competitive/professional? Where have you worked in the past and why did you leave your previous employers?

There are no friendships––I believe that companies with friendships don't exist/should never, because they are there to be productive, and it's difficult to separate those relationships in a professional setting. I worked under a man who built refineries (these are luxury hotels), but I realized I wanted to become more independent so I left after getting enough experience and started up my own hotel.

Did you change career paths? Why or why not?

As I said, I was a refinery builder that worked under a boss, but I did not like working for someone and building refineries is automatically $350 million per building, so I couldn't just go and buy my own. So, I decided to start smaller and bought a hotel from my father. I recommend this career path if you are interested in real estate and know that you wouldn't like working under someone and instead prefer to be independent. Buying a hotel allowed me to stay within the realm of the hospitality/hotel industry while simultaneously starting small with a hotel rather than a refinery which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to construct.

What is the salary like? Fringe benefits (paid sick leave, insurance)? What are the hours like? Flexibility for vacations or maternity/paternity/family leave?

There are two factors to my income: occupancy rate and room rate. I multiply the number of rooms, which is 36, by the occupancy rate (how many rooms you sell), which let's say is 80%. Then multiply that by 365 days, and then by 100. I can end up with $800,000-1,000,000+. But, the real money you make in this business is when you eventually sell it to capital gains, which means when you sell it to a buyer when you decide you are done with running it. Of course I still get that cash flow I just calculated, especially in my case, as Paris is a big tourist city. A manager, though, can make about $6,000-12,000 per month. Regarding hours and flexibility, I work about 12-15 hours a day. Owners must oversee everything, so they are constantly on top of their employees. With that, I also have much more flexibility for taking vacations and I manage my own private insurance, but I like to work so I don't take vacations often.

What are your responsibilities/role in your company?

To reiterate, I make sure the customers are happy and that my employees are doing their job efficiently. Then I am usually making phone calls to operators and internet sites to negotiate prices, I'm hiring people, changing policies, talking to customers, and then in the afternoon, I shift to talking to the architects and consultants to work on my second hotel. I also have to make sure my approval ratings are high and I have to watch the stock market and make sure I am ready for seasons where hotels won't be as popular (like now).

What type of problems do you face? How do you resolve those problems?

Usually I need to make sure that I accurately forecast how busy the hotel will be in the next week/month/year. If I do not, I don't make as much revenue/profit. I also must make sure customers are not complaining and my reviews are up. There are also very lengthy processes when filing permits for the hotel, which are 2-3 months long. I also have to combat marketing issues, where I ask myself: how can I sell the max rooms at the highest rate possible? And the answer is to maximize the occupancy rate and room rate in collaboration with my architect. Then there are construction issues, in which I figure out how to maximize the number of rooms that you can build according to zoning regulations. I must find an architect that can make many rooms. If you have a 4-5 star hotel that means bigger rooms but less. These are construction problems you must manage.

If one day I'd like to have a position like you, where do I start? What kind of education do I need? Does your job require any special training or further educational development?

If you want to pursue this path, you must work in a hotel until you understand how to make money––that means that for at least 3 years, learn how to work with a team and under your boss until you think you are able to run that business by yourself.

In your line of work, how much do you rely on your college education vs. professional experience? Do you find yourself using most of your undergraduate/college learning?

Yes, I did my masters at Harvard for an MBA and I definitely think it was beneficial. One of the biggest reasons I also got an American education along with my French one is because I think Americans are a lot more efficient compared to the European workstyle. I recommend going to college to learn how to solve issues and work with people. These issues include learning certain business processes and what to think about in terms of making a profit, like marketing well. You learn what matters is money, so you understand what to spend time on and invest in, you learn to strategize and reach goals. You learn by examples––you study other companies and the problems they faced and solved so you can do better. The first thing I think about as a developer is once I have an idea, how can I make profit off of it? Where's the right spot to build, how can I sell it to investors, which employee should I hire?

You are based in Europe, but most of my readers are American, so what is the difference?

Main reasons are that America has developed better management techniques, along with a much more competitive spirit. Secondly, you can fire people at will, while in Europe, it must be a really good reason or else they sue. The country protects the employee not the employer. This makes it annoying for employers bc employees are less motivated and unafraid.

Did you find any particular internships during your high school or college years or summers to help you get to where you are today? Any extracurriculars or independent study projects or research as an undergrad to qualify to be in your position now?

Not necessarily. The only thing I recommend in this career field is to find a good mentor to help you understand how to run the business you are interested in running yourself. My first job was with a very successful man who built refineries (these are luxury hotels). I learned a lot about how to finance and develop hotels, like how to detect good quality spots to build, to stay away from very hotel-capacitated spots, and to find efficient employees and architects. I eventually branched off to build and run my own hotels. I believe skills you learn in school must be experienced in real life, let it be learning how to efficiently and usefully work with groups to reading financial statements.

Do you think your college institution or your college major prepared you well or even opened doors for you in this career path that may not have been possible for you otherwise? What do you recommend a college student to concentrate on in order to build a successful career in this field?

I think that education is fundamental. My education at Harvard definitely opened doors for me. When you send a resume, they like to see you worked harder than others and can already tell the kind of person you are. This doesn't mean someone who did not go to an Ivy is not a hard worker, but employment is competitive and employers like prestige. Also, I came from France to study, so I did not have money and was lucky enough to have my tuition covered. I also learned the importance of social networking and making connections. It's very valuable to have numerous relations and know lots of people in the business world. Let's say you want to meet a franchise company like Hilton, you must meet the right people. If you want to sell your idea to a bank, knowing people that can help you get that money is necessary. Otherwise when you knock on the door, they will say we don't know who you are and won't not talk to you.

Are there any big pros and cons of this career path that you know now that you wish you knew before?

I am very content and I decided that this is what I wanted to do when I was an employee in the refinery business for a while.

Does your career take up a lot of your personal time or do you feel that you have extra time on your hands?

This job takes up all my time. You must be independent and hardworking for this position. You must also get at least 3 years of experience in the field you are interested in before you branch off. I built refineries and then left but stayed within my domain as now I build hotels. They are the same concept.

What made you choose this career path? In today's culture of being a jack-of-all-trades/generalist culture over specialization, do you see yourself staying in this field or exploring other interests in the short or long term future?

I explored when I was younger and firmly decided that I wanted to be in this business for life. I prefer to specialize regardless of this generalist culture. I still do new things, like building a new hotel, to keep my business growing and interesting.

What advice do you have for a student like me who is interested in pursuing your same career choice?

You must know yourself and what type of personality you are. That will become very important when you are finding a job you like. If you are stubborn, opinionated, and independent, like me, you probably are not meant to be an employee. I also knew I always wanted to work in real estate. For example, I develop and build, which requires a higher level of initiative and independence than a manager.