Kathleen Taylor’s journey to find the ‘perfect work-life imbalance’ has taken her from first woman on Four Seasons’ executive team to one of the industry’s first female CEOs. Hotelier finds out how she made it to the top
It wasn’t Kathleen Taylor’s aspiration to rise to the top of a hotel firm, yet in 2010 she was handpicked by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts founder and chairman Isadore Sharp to continue his legacy.
Today, as the only female CEO in the top 10 hotel companies (based on revenue, according to Bloomberg data) she is using her experiences to help other women progress in the hotel industry.
Where it all began
“It was never my ambition to work in the hospitality industry,” Taylor says during a fly-in visit to Dubai for the launch of the Toronto-based operator’s first hotel in the emirate.
| Advertisement |
Having studied a combined law degree from Osgood Hall Law School and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Schulich School of business, Canada-born Taylor’s journey started in corporate securities and competition law at Goodmans LLP.
Here, Taylor’s mentor was a man called David Mongeau. He left the law firm shortly after Taylor’s arrival to take up the role of general counsel at Four Seasons.
“About three years later [in 1989] — I was still employed by Goodmans — he phoned and said ‘I’m looking for a number two, are you interested’?” she recalls.
“I thought this was a great opportunity to transition from the practice of law to a business, working with the person I really enjoyed working with. I have a theory of people and jobs and think most people work for a boss that they like.”
But Taylor couldn’t have foreseen that accepting the job of corporate counsellor at Four Seasons would lead to a 23-year career and a string of hotel industry achievements.
“We had a lot of fun together — and I learnt a lot — and then he left to become a very successful investment banker,” she remembers.
At the time of Mongeau’s exit from Four Seasons in 1992, Taylor had been working at Four Seasons for three years.
“It was one of those great Four Seasons moments. Issy and Roger were my bosses. I was young, I’d just had my first child, but they took a big leap and said they’d give me a chance and they gave me David’s job, which was putting a lot of trust in me.”
And so Taylor was appointed vice president — general counsel, signalling the start of her professional relationship with Isadore Sharp or ‘Issy’ as she fondly refers to him.
Article continues on next page ...
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
