Liz Wagner: Helping You Discover, Transform, and Thrive

Providing satisfaction to the guest s and making them feel unique and content is of primary importance in the hospitality business. The industry demands everything to keep operating efficiently. Given the pandemic, it is not an easy time to be in business , but there is a n immense consumer appetite for experiences and entertainment. Enterprises need to be innovative and adapt to the changing times. Hospitality specialists can provide customers with excellent service and provide leadership to create outstanding customer service at all levels of an organization. Liz Wagner, external consultant and founder of Hotel and Hospitality Concepts , has been a trusted source for global travel, executive accommodations , and tour arrangements for many years .  

Early Life  

Liz, a native of New York, earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from Mount Vernon College, Washington, DC. Besides being a Certified Life and Strengths Coach, she is also a Certified Hospitality Sales Professional by the American Hotel and Lodging Association and has received a Certification in Strategic Leadership in Hospitality Industry from Cornell University.  

Liz began her career with Marriott International as a front desk clerk in the early 80s. She possesses over three decades of customer-focused hotel sales and marketing experience with renowned brands, including Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, and various independent properties. She worked with small management companies across the country for over ten years. Her expertise lay in over design, furnishings, operations, hiring, marketing, pricing, processes, and operational standards. An exclusive contract with the Pyramid Hotel Group (consisting of eight hotels) for two years changed the course of Liz's career. She spearheaded a 12-hotel acquisition which led to a job offer as Regional Director with relocation to Atlanta, and a few years later to a VP role. Liz's first task was to oversee the transition and $50 million renovation of the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead, which received many accolades from Marriott International.  

The Hotel Lady  

I n 1999, Liz began her entrepreneurial journey as the founder of Hotel and Hospitality Concepts (HHC) . This boutique firm made its mark in the entertainment industry by handling hotel accommodations for performers on tour. As a consultant, she analyze s and generates actionable insights for prominent hotel brands and believes in bringing out the best in identifying customer needs and strategic direction. As a chief influencer, she is responsible for increasing productivity levels , providing consultation from initial concept to delivery , including design, development, amenities, menu planning, staffing, sales, and budgeting oversight.  

Not a travel agent but a hotel specialist, Liz brings in a keen ability to hire and promote employee engagement to maximize performance while ensuring alignment with business needs. Her unique approach includes incorporating a client -centric, influential communication style to deliver innovative sales strategies to negotiate win-win compromises with internal and external stakeholders. Further, she exercises a guided module to translate vision and strategy into measurable, value-added goals.  

Reinventing Offerings  

In 2021, after a personal experience that led her on a healing journey and a desire to help people reset their lives after toxic relationships, Liz became a Certified Life Coach and started Liz Wagner Coaching. Having faced narcissistic abuse, she understood that things would not change, so she decided not to give it any more than she had already. Besides working towards her passion for hospitality, she also takes strides in her purpose of helping others find their happiness by resetting their lives, enhancing their careers, and solving general life issues. As a Certified Gallup Strengths Coach, she helps people identify and operate from their zone of genius. She mentors those who are in search of career paths or are wondering what is next for them.  

Liz believes that in any aspect of life and self-development, there are three phases – the "DISCOVER" phase is the analytical and understanding phase. Once you have identified the need areas, you work on them, change, and "TRANSFORM". Going ahead, once you perfect how you see and do things, you begin to "THRIVE". In her three-month program, support groups, and small group talks, she helps clients pinpoint the challenges or obstacles that prevent them from successfully maneuvering through a bad season in their life. Besides, she also coaches them through life transitions of personal loss, grief, emotional pain, and relational upheaval via brain spotting, a therapeutic tool that supports processing trauma, anxiety, attachments, unresolved emotions, or just being stuck.  

Path Ahead  

Liz wants "The Hotel Lady" to be the go-to person for all hotel accommodations for the entertainment, sports, and meetings industry. She also believes in self-preservation and taking charge of your life. Liz enjoys doing what she does on both sides and wishes to expand her company to a corporation from just a small, woman-owned company. Liz wants everyone to know they already have what they need to put their life on a new trajectory. Her introspective techniques can create lasting peace, profound success, and immediate clarity.  

Liz has a few words of advice for women trying to step into entrepreneurship and make it big in a largely male-dominated world. "You need to first figure out what you do well. Understand who you are. For example, being a good hairstylist does not mean you can own a salon. This simply means that you may be good at something, but that does not mean you should be doing it. Understand your skill set and what your dream is. Opportunity exists for all of us, so we need to tap into it with the resources we have," Liz said, while speaking with WomLEAD Magazine.