FRONT OFFICE SUPERVISOR
HOTEL KUNUNURRA
If you love connecting with and helping people in an environment where they have come to have “a trip of a lifetime”, know that you can add value to their experience with whatever background you bring with you.
Tell us how you spend your days. What do you do?
I start the day with excitement and always a smile. I love my job. Firstly, taking care of the previous days business takings and then preparing for the day ahead. Preparing check-in documentation and vouchers required, finalising check-outs for guests departing this morning, sending tax invoices as requested, a myriad of other tasks include daily email booking enquiries, phone call enquiries for bookings, what to see when in Kununurra, shuttle service pick-ups from the airport – internal department liaison is vital to ensure we are all on the same page for tour groups and individual requests, recommending tours and things to see while in The Kimberley and Kununurra.
The Front Desk is the first point of contact, so we are a troubleshooting and problem-solving team. There’s always an endless variety of questions to answer and problems to solve.
Did you always plan to work in this industry?
Yes, well I always wanted to anyway, although it was a major change from the health industry into hospitality. I love the people contact and daily challenges including ongoing training of casual staff, which is plentiful in the hospitality industry it seems, compared to my time in the health industry which has a less transient workforce. There are so many adventures for me with The Kimberley at my doorstep. I go camping on my days off, or out on a river or lake or four wheel driving, all with friends I have met since being here. Work is an adventure; you never know who is going to walk through the door for their “Kimberley Experience” I feel it is as much mine as their experience. That’s a pretty unique job eh!
So, how did you get into tourism and hospitality?
I am an Author (and a Scientist) and in 2015/16 I travelled 29,000kms around Australia in 12 months with my beloved Jack Russell, Noddy and my friend with her rescued greyhounds to promote my book “How to Overcome Stress Naturally”. I fell in love with the Pilbara and especially The Kimberley. I said in 2016, I will be back here one day to work so I can experience the wet season which I’d heard is truly spectacular and live in this very special part of Australia. I put my name on a recruitment database through an employer who place people in remote towns and said I especially want to work in The Kimberley. I received a phone call one day in August 2022 saying this Reception job at Hotel Kununurra was looking for someone. I immediately said “Yes! Please put me forward”. And here I am, 9 months later as excited as the first day I started to be living in Kununurra, one of many jewels of remote WA.
How would you describe yourself?
Innately curious, always wanting to learn and grow and share. I love exploring new areas. I am solution orientated as a problem solver, believing there can always be a win-win solution. I am honest and open in my communication, independent and a team player, adaptable to the situation needed. I have high integrity, professionalism and respect for other people’s ideas and opinions. I love to bring out the best in people and connect to share a smile of their holiday experiences and workplace colleague successes and wins in their workplace.
What do you love most about the industry?
The team spirit in the workplace, that we all look out for and support each other in the work environment as the Customer views us all as the Hotel Kununurra experience.
I also love meeting and welcoming people to The Kimberley, asking what they are seeing today, why they are here, such a variety of people here for work, visiting family, holiday, bucket list or looking for work.
What’s the best part of your job?
Feedback from guests that they have had a wonderful stay and time in Kununurra and at Hotel Kununurra. Helping another team member or department solve a problem and “be happy” which in turn results in a more positive result for the guest.
I love expanding my experiences, for example an Aviair trip to Mitchell Falls, over King George Falls, Kulumburu and Berkley River Lodge, then to the Bungle Bungles, walk through beautiful terrain then a HeliSpirit helicopter flight at 500ft above for magical views – then I share these experiences with guests. Just this week 2 guests stayed at Hotel Kununurra and were then going to spend a few nights at Berkley River Lodge, which they had never been to before. I said “I flew over Berkley River Lodge” a few weeks ago and it is stunning and I told them what I learnt and saw. This made them even more excited to be going to stay there.
What’s your best advice for anyone starting out?
If you love connecting with and helping people in an environment where they have come to have “a trip of a lifetime”, know that you can add value to their experience with whatever background you bring with you. As His Holiness The Dalai Lama says “We are all so different, yet the same”. Bring your uplifting spirit, excitement, encouragement, empathy and understanding. The variety of people you will meet is astounding, the variety of staff and different nationalities, backpackers passing thru, everyone here in The Kimberley for their own reason…bring your love for the region you choose. The Kimberley and Kununurra is a base, with endless opportunities for work, take the step, leap forward and join the hospitality industry as guests will uplift you as much as you uplift them to provide a truly memorable experience.
And what’s next for you?
I love being an advocate for The Kimberley region and my employer, Kimberley Accommodation Group. I love solving problems to see the “happy conclusion” for all guests, corporate guests, even the Australian Defence Force stayed with us when Fitzroy Crossing flooded.
I love my position at the Front Office as Supervisor, overseeing everything that steps through our front door basically. I love the variety, challenge and responsibility. Going forward if there is a way to expand being an advocate for Hotel Kununurra, Kimberley Accommodation Group, or the Kimberley overall….I love networking and collaboration for the greater good. I plan to stay in The Kimberley with no plans to move on as there is so much here to explore, and the vast wide-open spaces call me to them. I love the history and the mystery here.
