Young Professionals Shine in Prescott

Unlike most Prescott High School graduates that dream of moving to the big city, Katie Romo’s heart has always been in Prescott. She loves everything about Prescott, from the beautiful scenery to her friendly neighbors. Katie was born in San Diego, CA, and raised here in Prescott. She thanks her parents daily for choosing such a charming little town.

In high school, Katie followed her dream of being a pastry chef by completing the JTED culinary arts program. During this time, she quickly found out that this was not her passion. But, it led her to her love of the service industry outside of the kitchen.

With plenty of help from the mentors around her, Katie found her calling by combining the two things she loved the most: people and traveling. She started her hotel career at the Hassayampa Inn, where she worked the front desk. Katie would regularly come home excited to share stories about the guests she had helped that day.  Her outgoing personality, motivation, and love for the industry quickly propelled her and created new opportunities—one of those opportunities being to work for her dream company, Marriott.

It wasn’t more than six months before Katie was able to show her true potential and was promoted to the Sales & Marketing Administrative Assistant for the franchise company, Ponderosa Hotel Management Services. Katie was able to work under two women that she considered gurus of the hospitality world. They motivated her to learn and grow more than she thought possible. Her love for Prescott grew as well when she was given a chance to network with other local businesspeople. She is inspired to be surrounded by such a supportive community.

Katie has since grown to become the Sales & Marketing Executive Assistant and pushes herself to be involved in her beloved community. She takes pride in building a career at a young age and has recently become a member of the Prescot Area Young Professionals. She hopes to create meaningful relationships with fellow young professionals and show that you do not have to move away to have a successful career. Katie is currently pursuing a Hotel and Restaurant Management Degree at Northern Arizona University and plans to continue her journey with Ponderosa Hotel Management Services. Even with the challenges that this year has brought, Katie is optimistic about the hospitality industry and excited to be a part of that future.