I won’t lie, it was a super rough day today at The Mauna Lani!  For those of you who don’t know, I’m spending my winter break interning in the Housekeeping department of The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows.

Most people are immediately like, “Why Housekeeping?? You’re going to have to clean rooms you know!”  And a year ago, I would’ve thought the exact same thing.  But Housekeeping is by far, the biggest department in the hotel and such a crucial part of the guest experience.  If I don’t take the time to truly understand the processes, I won’t be an effective manager later down the line.

Anyway, today I was scheduled to spend the day with a team of two to clean the bungalows.  I was really excited to see the bungalows, since I hadn’t before, and they were BEAUTIFUL!  If I ever become rich, I’m totally renting one out.  Anyway, it was pretty rough.  I HATE CLEANING and I am terrible at it!  My team taught me how to make beds, fold towels, and the like.  It was really frustrating. I’m usually a quick learner, but for some reason it just wasn’t sticking.

While cleaning the bathroom, I told the housekeeper, “Great job Teresita!”  Because she really was amazing.  Later on, when we were heading back to the hotel, she told the other housekeeper “Mr. Jeremy told me I did a good job today” & I said, “It’s true, you did great!” & she responded, “I really appreciate you for telling me that.” And I felt sooo warm inside.  She probably doesn’t hear that very often with guests barking orders and her managers pushing for better performance.  It reminded me why I wanted to go into management in the first place.

At the end of the day, the housekeeper asked me “so how was it?” I replied “It was tough” And she said “Yes, Mr. Jeremy.  It’s hard.” & I said, “how do you do this EVERY day?” And she responded, “Because I have to… for my family.” & I almost cried :( It really put things into perspective for me.  Everyone deserves to respected and everyone has a story to tell.  It gets easy to forget that when you’re too focused on your career or on that bottom line.