From housekeeper to hotel general manager, Kenoyer has done it all

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, July 31, 2010

Even after all these years, Elsbeth Kenoyer has difficulty believing where her career has taken her.

Since 1997, Kenoyer has served as general manager of the Warrenton/Astoria Shilo Inn Suites. It’s a long way from her first job as a housekeeper for a motel in Yakima, Wash.

“I always fell into positions,” said Kenoyer. “I never intended to be a career climber.”

It’s not that Kenoyer wasn’t motivated, but for her the primary focus has always been on performing the best job she possibly could every day – no matter what the position.

And Kenoyer says that’s been the key to her successful career.

“I just sink myself into my work,” she said.

Kenoyer learned the importance of taking pride in her work at an early age. She got her first job when she was 16.

Like other students in her native Germany, Kenoyer, who was born in the northern part of Bavaria, attended formal school for nine years and then over the next couple of years attended a trade school part-time while she received on-the-job training in an industry. She chose to do her job training with WIKA Instrument Corporation, the world’s leading manufacturer of pressure gauges.

Kenoyer said it was a great introduction into the corporate world. “They teach you everything you could possibly learn about business,” she said.

After three years in the training program, she landed a full-time job with the company and spent five years working in sales.

She and her American husband moved to the States and set up their home in Yakima, where she spent two years raising her son. After deciding to return to the workforce, Kenoyer took a housekeeping job at a local Motel 6.

“I was concerned about my English, and this job let me stay in the background,” said Kenoyer, whose mastery of the English language today is nearly flawless. “I put my heart and soul into that job.”

A short time later, a position came open at the motel’s front desk. “The supervisor knew I had business experience, so he put me there.” Over the next few years, she would add to her résumé payroll and auditing duties.

“Each supervisor taught me a little bit more about the hospitality industry,” she said.

After seven years, she went to work for another Yakima hotel. There, she handled the accounting and auditing for the facility’s restaurant and bar.

After moving with her family to Oregon’s North Coast in 1991, Kenoyer took a part-time job at the Warrenton-Astoria Shilo before being asked to fill a part-time position as auditor. She eventually was assigned to the front desk, where she worked for seven years. She was promoted to assistant manager and a year later became general manager of the 63-room facility.

In addition to managing a staff of 18 employees, ensuring smooth operation of the facility and handling all the paperwork that goes into running a hotel, Kenoyer still fills in wherever she is needed, whether it’s cleaning rooms, doing the laundry or preparing the continental breakfast for guests. At times, she can be found outside trimming the bushes or pulling weeds.

But there are some tasks she refuses to do. “I won’t hang from the roof to change light bulbs,” she laughs.

Kenoyer said the greatest pleasure she gets from her job is when guests go out of their way to compliment her or her staff.

“I really get a thrill out of positive comments,” she said. “They make my little heart go pitter, patter.”