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Joi Hawkins
is the Director of Sales and Marketing (DOSM) at the Millennium Hotel
Durham. As DOSM Joi directs a staff of seven and is responsible for the
team achieving a budget of over 5 million dollars. She is the youngest
African American Director of Sales & Marketing in the Triangle and the
only African American Director of Sales & Marketing of a full service
hotel. A native of Fort Washington, Maryland, Joi moved to Durham to
attend North Carolina Central University (NCCU), where she earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English (1997). She began her career in
hospitality nine years ago at Durham’s Regal University Hotel as an
administrative assistant. She was quickly promoted to a Sales Manager
because of her ambition to grow.
In 2000, Joi was
presented with an opportunity to work at the Millennium Hotel Broadway.
Located in the heart of Times Square, it is one of New York’s premiere
hotels. While in New York, Joi worked tirelessly to learn and grow in
the hospitality field. With a proven reputation of fostering
relationship and closing deals, she was recruited back to the former
Regal Hotel now the Millennium Hotel Durham.
Joi returned as a
Senior Sales Manager and in just one year was promoted to Assistant
Director of Sales. “Once promoted my goal was to be the million dollar
woman and bring in more revenue than any sales manager previous or
current.” And achieve that she did and more, that year she was
responsible for bringing in over 1.5 million dollars in revenue.
It was a difficult
task and she had to persuade some prominent clientele to choose the
Millennium over other properties. “I had to convince Maurice Spencer,
head of the Spencer Foundation, to choose our property over other
locations where his foundation had been successful. He was being wooed
by everyone in the area. In the end it was the fact that we wanted to
build a relationship not just book a piece of business that won him
over. We believed in what he was doing, raising money for spinal
research.” The foundation brought in high profile celebrities such as
Patti LaBelle, Tom Brokaw, Fred Williamson and Tony Dorsett.
The next big coup
for Hawkins was securing North Carolina Central University’s business.
Students had to be placed in facilities off campus and Joi worked
tirelessly to find a way to get the business. “Being an alumnus, it was
very important to me to come up with an atmosphere like the dorms for
the students. We created an office for the advisors, a study room on
each floor for the students, a vending area, a wash & dryer facility and
much more.” While the other facilities were only able to get a contract
for one year, Joi was able to secure a two-year deal.
After being in the
role of Assistant Director of Sales for two years Joi was promoted to
her current position as Director of Sales & Marketing. She is the only
African American DOSM of Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR), the North
American arm of London-based Millennium and Copthorne Hotels, which is
comprised of 90 four and five star hotels with 24,681 rooms worldwide in
16 countries.
“The pressure is
tough,” Joi commented with a serious look, “but I take it on with pride
and humility hoping to help those who are interested in this industry.”
This is the exact reason she works closely with Dr. Beverly Bryant,
Director of the Hospitality & Tourism Department at NCCU. In a
partnership with Dr. Bryant, she piloted an intern program at the
Millennium to introduce young African Americans to the Hospitality
Industry.
The first student
brought on board for the summer, Arie Chavis, is now a full time member
of the Sales team.
Joi also takes time out to visit classes at NCCU and speaks to students
on the industry and hosts tours of the Millennium Hotel. Joi enjoys her
career in the hospitality industry and her commitment has catapulted her
to the forefront of her profession. “I am always striving to take it to
the next level, failure is not an option.”
Reprint permission granted by Spectacular Magazine for this March 2006
Article -
www.spectacularmag.com. |
