When Mary Russell (’23 Hosp. Busi. Mgmt.) began the path to earning a bachelor’s degree from WSU, studying hospitality wasn’t on her radar. However, after a series of international experiences and a pair of internships with Four Seasons, Russell says she was inspired to pursue dual degrees in hospitality business management and Spanish that led to a career in luxury hospitality.
The three pillars of hospitality
Russell says a combination of personal work experience and international travel opportunities helped cement her interest in the hospitality field.
The first of these, a trip she organized herself to San Miguel de Allende, gave her a taste of traditional Mexican hospitality, as well as her first luxury resort experience. For the first leg of her trip, Russell stayed with a “host mom” for about a week where she encountered the warmth she now associates with Mexican hospitality. It was routine for her host to invite family and friends into her home to cook for them and enjoy their company. For her final night in Mexico, Russell’s mother surprised her with a one-night stay at the nearby Rosewood resort, her first and only stay at a five-star hotel.
Russell describes subsequent study abroad programs through the Carson College to Dubai and Switzerland as rounding out her vision for her career. She says her time in Dubai was an encounter with extreme luxury and innovation, including a visit to the iconic Burj Al Arab, and a tour of the luxury hotel’s royal suite, which featured a gold-plated television.
In contrast, her semester-long stay attending Cesar Ritz College in Brig, Switzerland, was more academically rigorous, but meeting and networking with peers from around the world helped her hone her professional edge. Russell refers to these experiences—the warmth and personal connection in Mexico, the innovation and luxury in Dubai, and the professional polish in Switzerland—as her “three pillars of hospitality.”
“Having these blended experiences has been so impactful to the work I do today,” she says. “I get to wear the hats of each pillar a little bit differently every day, but I definitely still think about all of those experiences.”
From fast food to five-star
Russell says internships as a Carson student provided critical opportunities and insights, but she points to her early work in restaurants as the foundation of her understanding of the hospitality industry. While jobs at Taco Time and Birch and Barley in Pullman provided a different kind of professional experience, they taught her lessons she still applies today in her role as assistant food and beverage manager at Auberge’s Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Internships with Four Seasons in Seattle and Jackson Hole helped her segue into the luxury side of hospitality. She says these experiences, combined with her time working in the Carson College’s Marriott Hospitality Culinary Innovation Center, allowed her to acquire the practical skills and knowledge to excel at any level of the industry—and all of it was made possible because of the support and mentorship she received from the college.
“We all know you don’t have to go to college to do hospitality. You can start right out of high school,” she says. “But I think getting a degree is so important is because you have access to those invaluable experiences like I did.”
Russell stays connected to WSU by sharing with students how a mix of work experience, international exposure, and Carson College resources helped propel her career in luxury hospitality. She often encourages them to seek opportunities like study abroad that expand their understanding of different cultures—an insight that continues to shape her own career.
“We are in the industry of people, so I think the best thing you can do for yourself is learn all about people,” she says. “No one person is the same; no one guest is the same. It makes your job interesting every day—you never meet the same character.”