Justin Chen ’21
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Title: Front office manager |
Justin Chen, a Taiwanese native, earned his undergraduate degree in tourism management.
When it was time to pursue a master’s, he turned to the hospitality management program at Missouri State.
Being a Bear runs in the family: Both of his sisters graduated from MSU. The siblings all enjoy the hospitality industry and loved their time at Missouri State.
“I really love the hotel. Not just the people who work there, but also the culture” |
The MIT was an excellent learning opportunity. Chen was able to understand how the hotel operates and how each department relates to each other.
His favorite rotation, he said, was food and beverage. After the program, he landed a job in the front office, which he loves.
From his position, he’s able to interact with the hotel’s guests.
“San Francisco is totally different from Springfield. It is a big city, so you have more chance to contact diversity. I really love the hotel. Not just the people who work there, but also the culture of the hotel,” he said.
The culture is one that allows its managers to make mistakes, and doesn’t chastise them but rather uses it as a learning opportunity.
He thinks the MIT program prepared him for management. Now, he’s trying to extend his working visa because his goal is to continue to work at Hotel Nikko.
“I would love to stay longer,” Chen said. “It is difficult to find a company culture like Nikko. The hotel helped me apply for the working visa. Fingers crossed I get it!”
Tyler Armer, ’21 |
Title: Executive meeting manager |
Tyler Armer was an example of right major, wrong time.
He was an entertainment management student, graduating during COVID when many events were still virtual. The Manager in Training program was a lifesaver.
He had a couple of part-time job offers but is glad he didn’t take them.
“I think it would’ve been something that I didn’t really want to do, and I would’ve just settled. When this opportunity came up, it gave me a chance to actually reach for what I wanted.”
Once he completed his Manager in Training program, he was able to apply his college skills as operations manager of Feinstein’s, the hotel’s performing arts venue.
He loved working there and was able to meet people he idolized when performers would come through.
“Feinstein’s is a hidden gem,” Armer said.
He loves the culture at Hotel Nikko because managers’ opinions are valued.
“Anna Marie loves her MITs because she went to Missouri State and she’s from Kansas City. She’s not like, ‘These silly college kids from Missouri.’ She and all of her executive committee respect the views and opinions of everybody here,” he said.
“It gave me a chance to actually reach what I wanted” |
Armer, who is part of the LGBTQ community, said his lifelong dream was to move to San Francisco. This job made that dream come true about a decade earlier than expected.
The big city has not disappointed him. He loves the diversity and the city’s laid-back vibe.
Armer was recently promoted to a sales position, which isn’t something he expected to see himself doing — but he thinks he is well-suited for it.
Going through the MIT program, you must be agile and learn things you never would have tried, he said.
It wasn’t the job he envisioned in college, but it has been a wonderful opportunity.
“This program and the role I’m in are really priming me for the best foot forward.
Caroline Schautteet ’22Title: Food and beverage manager |
Kylie Aulgur ’21Title: Human resources manager |
Bryan Paige ’18Title: Senior food and beverage manager |
Caroline Schautteet has worked in restaurants since she was 15.
“It makes me happy,” she said. Her father, a former chef, is also a Bear. Like him, when it was time to go to college, she decided to leave her homeland of Belgium and study hospitality management at Missouri State University. “I loved it. I like the fact that the campus was really international. It was open minded, welcoming. The teachers were super nice and more than willing to help. I have nothing but good things to say about Missouri State,” Schautteet said. After graduation, she planned to return to Europe — but snagged the MIT scholarship. While most MIT students join the program in pairs, she was the only one in that rotation. But once she got to San Francisco, she found a welcoming band of Bears and became close friends with Bryan Paige, who also works in food and beverage at the hotel. Schautteet is a curious person and likes every day to be different, so this was a perfect training program for her. “I like the fact that you can see every single department,” she said. “You learn a lot; you see different perspectives.” The culture at the hotel is nurturing and understanding, Schautteet said. On the weekends, she loves to explore San Francisco, a place she would not be without the MIT program. Her visa expires next year, but Schautteet is eager to find a way to stay in the U.S. with Hotel Nikko. “I love it here,” Schautteet said. “I’m still learning every single day. I want to keep growing as much as I can.” |
After graduation, Kylie Aulgur wanted to move to a big city. The MIT program gave her a perfect chance. Even better, they made moving easy.
“You get a free place to live for the first six months, so you don’t have to stress about finding a place. You’re going to have built-in friends. That was one thing that I was worried about: ‘If I move somewhere else, I’m going to have to find my own housing, I’m not going to know anybody.’ Here, housing is provided, and they have all these other MITs from Missouri State. They have a community created for you,” she said. Now she pays San Francisco rent prices, so she’s grateful for the time she was able to sock away money and live for free. Although she never imagined working in a hotel, Aulgur loved the program. The opportunity to try out so many different things in such a short span is rare, she said. She completed rotations in food and beverage, marketing, revenue, sales and housekeeping. Working at an upscale hotel taught her some of the foundations of being a professional, such as what to wear, how to speak to people and how to present yourself. “There are so many things you learn from having good leaders, and that’s what Hotel Nikko gave me,” Aulgur said. Aulgur has already received a promotion and now helps recruit Bears. There are so many upsides to this program — including, Aulgur said, that it can propel a career. “I think it helps you skip a step in your professional career when you first start out, because more likely than not, you’re not going to get a management position right out of college,” Aulgur said. “So, to be able to fast-track that and then try out all those different departments and really know what you’re looking for, that is a great opportunity.” |
When Bryan Paige neared graduation, he didn’t have a job lined up. He was interested in moving to a large city. He interviewed, earned an MIT position and moved to San Francisco.
Paige had completed the program right before COVID hit and shut down cities worldwide. Hotel Nikko didn’t fully close, but tourism was a shell of what it had been. They stayed open for business travelers. That is when Paige was able to put his MIT program training into full force. He pivoted from food and beverage to whatever was needed. “I did pretty much everything. I was working in security while doing a little bit of front desk and housekeeping. When things started to slowly open back up, a few food and beverage managers took on the roles of bar tending, serving, busing, washing dishes and doing laundry,” Paige said. There wasn’t a learning curve because he’d already experienced all these positions in the program. He was glad to keep his job at a time when layoffs in the industry were rampant. Presutti said it was important to her for every MIT student to keep their job at that time and for her to fulfill her end of the bargain, since the graduates had already relocated to San Francisco. Paige has thrived at the hotel: He earned Manager of the Year in 2021 and was recently awarded Leader of the Quarter . As senior food and beverage manager, he is the longest-serving MIT grad currently at Nikko. “It’s opened the door to so many other opportunities,” Paige said. “I’ve been to Seattle, Vancouver, San Diego and D.C. I’ve always wanted to be in a bigger city and go to things like concerts, shows, comedy clubs. I love the water, the beach. There’s just so many things that I’ve always wanted to do that the program allowed me to do here.” |
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