By: Swati Valbh-Patel

Senior Vice President of Development and Design

PROSPERA HOTELS

I was a motel kid.

While other seven-year-old girls were taking gymnastic lessons or learning to play soccer, I made beds and cleaned bathrooms at my family’s 23-room motel in Orlando, Florida.

While other eleven-year-old girls were starting to babysit and have sleepovers, I refilled soda machines at the motel, wrapped coins, and took them to the bank for deposit.

While other fifteen-year-old girls were socializing with friends or sleeping in, I learned to run the motel’s night shift, learned maintenance skills, and learned bookkeeping.

I was handsomely rewarded with a free soda at the end of the shift of cleaning, restocking or leading the night team. I did not receive pay or even an allowance, but I received immeasurable compensation.

For decades, my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles ran night shifts to rent rooms on disrupted sleep. I watched, and I learned. While I understood my family’s sacrifices to come to the United States, I also knew bigger things were ahead for me. My dreams stood on the shoulders of that motel.

I have vivid memories of driving past high rises as a young girl, dreaming of how magical it would be to build such a magnificent structure. I wondered what that process would entail. What would it feel like to walk into a property that I designed, built, and owned? I imagined a euphoric feeling of pride and achievement. Did I have the courage and ability to take on such a challenge?

I had a strong work ethic. I had grit. And I knew from my experiences of working at my family’s motel that I found exhilaration in taking on new challenges, learning new things, and accomplishing what others thought was not possible.

But above all, my curiosity and mindset have propelled me to levels beyond what I could have imagined. Curiosity flows through my veins, compelling me to continuously question, understand, apply, and challenge status quo. I learned from my father, a serial entrepreneur, whose ability to be nimble, adaptable, and innovative showed me that challenges and roadblocks often provided great opportunities. I adopted this mindset as my own.

Because of my curiosity and mindset, a series of life experiences and opportunities unfolded before me, teaching me universal lessons that enabled me to achieve my goals, planned and unplanned. By consistently pushing myself out of my comfort zone and believing in my ability to succeed, I reached my goal of designing, building, and owning those high rises that I dreamt about as a girl.

As a child, I had high expectations placed upon me. I shouldered many obligations at a young age. And I experienced successes early on, working at increasing levels of responsibility within my family’s business. Getting a formal education was the next step for me to level up from the motel. It was unspoken that education was my ticket to increased opportunity, and I also needed the street cred that comes with the degrees. I was charting my own path, not yet defined and without limit.

I used my education to gain a seat at a different table – providing me with access to a higher bar of conversation, exposure, and networks. The education I received in the classroom opened many doors to me that would have otherwise remained closed.

That said, it my curiosity and mindset – about myself and the world around me – have been the most fundamental ingredients in my success. Digging deep into who I am, what I wished to become, and what would fulfill me has informed my path. I knew that creativity, community, and purpose were requisites in my work.

I learned through introspection that I was the only one who stood in my own way. While coming from an immigrant family, being a woman, and being a South Asian has not always made life easy, I found that my beliefs and attitudes about myself were the sole things that could hold me back. When I got out of my own way, I flourished.

Additionally, I uncovered my inner power and strength – and I felt a true sense of acceptance, purpose, and fulfillment. By understanding what I was capable of, I turned a dream into a reality. Working with my husband, we built the Hyatt Place Anaheim Resort near Disneyland. It was the third hotel in our portfolio, but the first one in which we served in the three roles as developer, general contractor, and operator. My limits were tested by this herculean project – intellectually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I drew upon my skills from childhood and brought in the lessons I had learned along the way to seamlessly move between the three roles we had taken on and to manage my mindset through setbacks and long, arduous days.

Self-awareness, born of deep curiosity, helped me identify the inflection points in my life. These points came in unusual and unexpected ways, and by knowing myself, I was able to recognize them and make decisions that changed the trajectory of my path.

This self-awareness allows me to be a transformational force for our business and our team. Making a sequence of deliberate choices into my leadership and philanthropic roles with Prospera Hotels, I found work that challenges and fulfills me. And in living my purpose, I am able to move beyond my own needs to engage with what my team members and my communities need. I strive to bring my curiosity and mindset of unlimited possibilities into my work every day to better understand what makes each person on my team tick and thrive, what aspects of the business can be improved, and how I and Prospera can better serve the communities in which our properties reside. My journey of self-discovery has ultimately led to the creation of a powerful corporate culture that is the foundational pillar of our company’s growth and success.

Believing in my ability to transform possibility into reality developed my problem-solving abilities. When I hit a roadblock, I take a breath and adjust my view to seeking for the opportunity in the challenge. While sometimes easier said than done, I have found that changing my attitude towards one of opportunity engages my imagination, creativity, and resourcefulness. I feel empowered, and I am energized to push through the next roadblock.

Whatever path you are on, I encourage you to bring a sense of curiosity and a mindset of possibility to your personal and professional lives. The personal development work I have done (and continue to do as I evolve) fueled by the curiosity to deeply understand myself has given me with a sense of clarity in the way I live, work, and in my relationships. Knowing myself was the first step of positive forward movement in determining what I wanted to accomplish – and then doing it. It has also been the key to becoming a leader who is able to help others grow and thrive in their professional lives.

I encourage you to be curious – about other people, opportunities you wouldn’t normally consider, and paths that weren’t part of your plan. Prototype a new career path. Try something new on for size. Know that, even if the challenge that you take on doesn’t work out, you will learn much from the experience.

I urge you to explore with a mindset of possibility. You can learn something from every person you meet. With an open mind, you may walk into unexpected opportunities that thrill you. You may find that your initial plan could use an adjustment. And you may discover that there is so much opportunity ahead that you will have the opportunity to make deliberate decisions about which will be the path of your choosing.

Swati Valbh-Patel is the Senior Vice President of Development and Design for Prospera Hotels, LLC

She oversees the development, design, and architectural aspects of the firm’s hotels and lead the development, design, and construction teams. She also leads the pre-opening process for each hotel, serves as the brand liaison with each hotel brand, and is the company’s link to the local community, integrating aspects of the community’s culture into every project.

Swati oversees Prospera ́s charitable work and contributions to organizations including the Ronald McDonald House, Illumination Fundation, MUZEO, Akshay Patra, Sahara, Orangewood Fundation, Project Lighthouse, CASA and Pratham.

She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degrees in Business Finance and Criminology from the University of Florida, and her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami.