Ford Hospitality Services, Inc.

The founder and President of FHS, Maureen was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Maryland and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of MD, College Park. Maureen has worked in the hospitality industry starting in various jobs while in college and continuing upon graduation.

Maureen’s career started in the retail management field working for well known retail chains. Starting in a management position right out of college working for The Limited she was able to garner a national Top Notch Ten award for the highest sales achievement in the company.

After moving on from the retail industry to get into a more business sales environment, Maureen started out as an Account Specialist for a Temporary service in Rockville, MD where she did outside sales for temporary placement in office support. Soon thereafter, she was promoted to Branch Manager. Later she switched over to work in the permanent division continuing sales in an inside position.

Maureen later had an opportunity to utilize her talents and interests in sales in a challenging and creative environment that started her career in the hotel industry. Maureen’s career includes being the Assistant Director of Sales at the River Inn, in Washington, D.C., allowing her to become knowledgeable in all aspects of hotel operations including sales and marketing. Maureen then took her knowledge to the Holiday Inn College Park, as Director of Sales, where she coordinated the sales and catering staff to manage over 10,000 square feet of meeting space and 220 rooms. Maureen then went back to Washington to become the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Doubletree Park Terrace Hotel, a 219 room property with 40 Suites. She was recognized at the Doubletree National Sales Conference for the Brand Selling award of the Year for 1995 and also nominated Director of Sales & Marketing of the year. She excelled in all levels of sales at the Doubletree. Overall accomplishments in her first year at Doubletree in 1995 verses 1994 include a 13% increase in ADR (average daily rate), $300,000 positive variance rooms revenue, 49.7% increase in Gross Operating Profit and a 98% positive variance for Net Operating Income. She maintained a positive variance in revenues while keeping expenses below budget.

In December 1996, Maureen with her wealth of experience and knowledge of the hospitality industry decided to create Ford Hospitality services, Inc. in which she continues to provide top notch customer service to her clientele.

Carmen possesses over 15 years of extensive experience in the hospitality industry. As a hotel General Manager, she and her team excelled in the areas of superior customer service, employee satisfaction and fiscal success. Her hotels were always among the top in the company. Carmen has held positions with several major hotel chains. Her tenure in the sales and marketing arena through positions such as: Traveling Sales Specialist, Director of Sales and Marketing with a portfolio of 7 hotels, has enables her to better understand the needs of her clients locally, domestically and internationally. She has developed long-lasting business relationships that continue today.

Prior to her experience in the hospitality industry, she worked in the corporate and association markets, assisting and coordinating meetings and conferences. This sparked her interest in becoming a hotelier.

Carmen’s in depth understanding of both sides of meeting planning makes her a great asset to her clients, the hotels and FHS, Inc.. She is able to educate her clients from the hotels prospective, as well as possess the knowledge to secure the best possible scenario from the hotels for her clients.

Linda joins our team with over 26 years of sales, customer service and management experience. The road of success throughout her career was based on determination to provide the ultimate level of customer satisfaction through knowledge, patience and professionalism. In achieving this, she established herself as an influential leader in the northeast marketplace as well as a mentor among her colleagues.

Her career with The Trane Company, a division of Ingersoll Rand, Commercial Heating and Air Conditioning Manufacturer originated in 1983 as a sales assistant. Linda was soon recognized by management for her outgoing personality, natural customer service skills and her desire to be successful. In response to providing her accounts the level of support that they required, Linda developed the first insides sales department in the New Jersey office to support smaller unassigned contractor accounts. This was a natural transition to becoming a full Commercial Sales Account Manager. In 2004 she was then promoted to be the first female General Sales Manager in the country with the responsibilities for the New Jersey Office adding the Westchester NY office in 2006. In this position she was responsible for development and implementation of sales strategies for Commercial Equipment and Energy Management System products to attain the annual $85M revenue goals. The number one priority of all her responsibilities was to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction throughout all business streams. This involved not only bringing the right products to the customers at the right time, but listening to their needs and together meeting or exceeding their expectations.

Linda achieved a five-time Trane New Jersey Employee Excellence Award and the 1993 coveted Salesperson of the Year recognition. She was a two-time winner of the Trane Company’s most prestigious honor, The National Top 10 Sales Award. Linda was also chosen by her peers as a nominee for the 2008 Top 50 New Jersey Women in Business.

Recently, Linda retired from her 26 year career and moved to South Carolina with her husband Kevin. She is active and enjoys working with various charity groups such as the Kiwanis Children’s organization, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, William J Martin 9/11 Foundation, March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society. She has also recently joined the American Red Cross as a disaster response volunteer. Her hobbies include golfing, singing, bicycling and art.

Donna has an extensive travel background and had the privilege to live in Kinshasa, Zaire (Republic of Congo). During those years, the family traveled to various overseas locations. This gave Donna a great deal of experience towards her current position with Ford Hospitality Services, Inc. and booking the overseas market.

Donna graduated from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Hospitality Management and an Associate of Science and Restaurant Management.

Donna’s hotel career started in 1995 when she was hired as a Sales and Catering Manager and was promoted to Sales Manager at a sister hotel. She then moved on to become a Senior Sales Manager and then eventually the Director of Sales.

Donna’s main forte has been in the Corporate Market from the hotel industry. Since joining the FHS team she is now well versed in all market segments to include Associations, Government and the Non-Profit sector. She prides herself on the strong relationships she has built among her clients.

In May 2005, Donna opened Ford Hospitality Services, Inc. newest location in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte, N.C. is one of the hub cities that has approximately 50% of the Fortune 500 companies that are either head quartered or have offices there.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Amanda currently resides in the surrounding area of Pasadena where FHS is headquartered. Amanda’s passion for the hospitality industry is what drew her to come work for FHS.

After graduating from high school in 2002 and furthering her education today in college, she has worked for the past 6 years in the hospitality industry. While working in the restaurant and catering field, Amanda coordinated family re-unions, weddings, and a variety of many other social events. Her commitment and assertiveness to detail often resulted in repeat business. The respect from her peers among her resulted in her being the role model for the training of all new employees. Amanda’s knowledge, coupled with her experience made it a smooth transition to work for Ford Hospitality Services, Inc.

Carter is one of five brothers that came from a proud military family. He is a twin and was born in Madrid, Spain. His father served twenty two years in the Airforce, his oldest brother; twenty years in the Army, his third oldest brother; six years in the Airforce and he proudly served ten years in the Army. He currently lives in the Denver Metro Area and previously lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Carter has over eleven years of professional experience in the hospitality industry covering the Corporate, Government and Sports Markets in his hotel sales career. He has worked for Marriott International, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, a Country Club and a fine dining restaurant. His vast knowledge of working on the hotel side will bring strategic negotiation skills and provide his clients with an insider’s knowledge to more cost effective meetings and events.

Carter believes that customer satisfaction is the driving philosophy of any business. His passion to serve, natural ability to connect and build lasting relationships with his clients and people in general make him a great asset to the FHS Team.

Shelly was born and raised in Maryland and currently resides in Pasadena Maryland where FHS is headquartered. Shelly possesses over 14 years in the Hospitality Industry.

After graduating High School in 1996, she furthered her education at Anne Arundel Community College, receiving an Associate Degree in Business/ Communication. She continued her education by taking various classes at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

Shelly’s passion for the Hospitality Industry started at a young age as she immediately got into the industry starting with her first job in the restaurant business that continued several years later to include several restaurant & catering positions.

While working in the restaurant and catering field, Shelly coordinated family re-unions, banquets, weddings, as well as various other social & corporate events. Later on she became one of the top producing sales associates for Lift Off Distribution, a Distributor of Red Bull Energy Drinks for the Tri-State area. Shelly held the position as Head Sales Representative for the Washington DC territory. In recognition, Lift Off had Shelly train many employees in her territory due to her organizational skills and outstanding sales education. With Shelly’s knowledge & training from both inside and outsides sales it was a perfect fit to transition over to Ford Hospitality Services, Inc. Shelly handles all aspects of the administrative and sales tasks bringing her expertise from her previous positions.