Author
Heather Larson

40 Women You Should Know in Chicago Northwest Hospitality

In honor of International Women’s Day and to celebrate Meet Chicago Northwest’s 40th Year in business, we present: 40 Women in Chicago Northwest Hospitality That You Should Know! In the past two years, we have shared Partner Spotlights for many of these women. Stay tuned for more spotlights in the…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Stefani Jerard

MEET Stefani Jerard, General Manager at IMPROV Chicago Stefani Jerard grew up in Lake Zurich and now resides in Wauconda. Her family has a long history of hospitality in Chicagoland, running a bar and grill in Lake Zurich since 1926. Upon graduation from Winona State University, she started her…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Lori Frycz

MEET Lori Frycz, Regional Director of Sales, Trivedi Hospitality Lori Frycz grew up in Norridge, near O’Hare International Airport, as the oldest of three children and where most of her family still lives today. A lifelong fan of Disney, she had visited Disney World several times with her family…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Lillie Frances

MEET Lillie Frances, Owner, Laugh Out Loud Lillie Frances grew up in suburban Washington DC in Maryland. She moved to Chicagoland when she enrolled in the theater program at Northwestern University in Evanston. It was at Northwestern University that she fell in love with improv comedy, and after…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Tiana Weiler

MEET MEET Tiana Weiler, Director, Department of Cultural Services, Village of Schaumburg Tiana Weiler grew up in a small town in Montana on the Canadian and North Dakota border. She graduated in a class of only ten school mates. Her parents still live in the house she grew up in. She has an…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Christopher Bonk

MEET Christopher Bonk, Owner of Bottle & Bottega in Arlington Heights A Chicago native who spent the first 5 years of his life in the city, Christopher Bonk’s family moved to the northwest suburbs of Chicago. His father still lives in the family home where Chris grew up in Mount Prospect. He…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Cristal Montero

MEET Cristal Montero, General Manager of Chuck’s Famous Pizza in Arlington Heights Cristal Montero is the General Manager of the newly opened Chuck’s Famous Pizza in downtown Arlington Heights. Hailing from Sparrow Hospitality, the ownership group that gave us Passero, where Cristal served as…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Tori Cimack

MEET Tori Cimack, Director of Sales, Sonesta ES Suites Schaumburg Tori Cimack grew up in southeast North Carolina, in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach with her parents and younger brother. She recalls, “In the summer, we'd drive to the beach every weekend and spend all day swimming and body surfing…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Chuck Valenti

General Manager and Meet Chicago Northwest Board Member; Treasurer Chuck Valenti grew up in Wood Dale, Illinois with his twin brother and two older brothers. A son of immigrant parents from Sicily, his parents moved to the northwest suburbs of Chicago at an early age to find work and start a family…

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Partner Spotlight: Meet Becca Clark

Director of Sales Hilton Garden Inn Schaumburg Becca Clark graduated from Northern Illinois University College of Business in 2014 with a major in Marketing and certificates in Sales and Social Entrepreneurship. She was taking a Professional Selling class that brought her to a golf outing where she…

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