Julia Heyer ’00, Co-Founder and President of Heyer Performance, shares what it means to her to be a Hotelie for Life®.

Julia Heyer ’00

“A non-hotelie Cornellian friend of mine once said, ‘You join the Hotel School and you get indoctrinated into a cult.’ I prefer to think of it as the welcoming inclusion into a tribe – and I am grateful to be part of this exceptional group of open-hearted, hospitality-minded women and men. Across generations, continents, cultures and languages we not only share the collective experience of our university years – but also certain non-wallfloweresque personality traits and values, one of the strongest one being that Life Is Service to our guests, clients, colleagues, staff, and fellow Hotelies. Meeting up with classmates years after school and picking up right where we left of a decade earlier. Responding to inquiries and providing help when someone calls for a professional POV, or being privileged to have others share their insights when I may need it. There is the perk of getting great local advice from Hotelies on hotels, restaurants, and bars when travelling – as well as the pleasure of giving back to this community through involvement in the CHS and heading back up to the hill to help teach the next generation.

Being a  Hotelie for Life® is a point of pride; has shaped me in innumerable ways, big and small, professional and personal; and importantly it is not just something we are. It is about what we can do for each other: pushing each other to be better, to reach outside our comfort zones and the established norms of thinking; to drive our respective fields forward with spirited optimism, hospitality, humility, and a continuous drive for excellence.”