Awards celebrate achievement. But behind every award is a journey. We spoke with Amrita, Aaira Monica, Pakpilai, and Susan, winners of the APEC Artisan Awards, who shared stories that reveal something even more powerful than professional success: what growth means, the key moments that helped them build confidence, and how opportunities, mentorship, and trust helped shape their careers in hospitality.
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What Success Really Looks Like
What does “making it” actually mean? For Amrita, a Sous Chef at The Westin Hyderabad Hitec City who takes pride in leading “a beautiful and bold team of 30 young lady chefs,” there’s nothing like seeing someone’s face light up over a great meal. This culinary expert describes her role in the kitchen as being part athlete, part actor. “It’s physically demanding like a sport, but I also have to perform like I am on the stage during every shift.”
Pakpilai, Executive Sous Chef at Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, has found the most rewarding growth through sharing Thai cuisine with guests and chefs from around the world. “One opportunity I’ve had at Marriott is participating in task force assignments at other Marriott hotels. Through these experiences I’ve been able to travel and support properties in different countries, especially for Thai food promotions and special culinary events.” Along the way, opportunities to support properties across different markets have expanded both her skills and perspective.
Growth That Builds Confidence
For Aaira, now a Restaurant Manager at The Westin Desaru Coast, one of the biggest turning points of her career came when her manager left, and she had to step up and lead two restaurants on her own. “I was actually crying,” she recalls. “The restaurant was full, the team was looking to me for direction, and everything was happening at once.”
Today, she recognizes that experience as one of the most important turning points of her career, one that showed her what she was capable of. “It’s something I’m really proud of, and I don’t think I would have experienced it this early in my career in a more traditional restaurant setting.”
For Susan, WOOBar Manager at W Singapore – Sentosa Cove, growth came in the form of creative possibility and encouragement. One of the most rewarding aspects of her career at Marriott, particularly at W Hotels, has been the encouragement to speak up, experiment with new concepts, and push her own limits.
“Here we are encouraged to think creatively and bring fresh perspectives to the table,” she says. “This culture of innovation and empowerment has helped me become more confident and shown me that hospitality can be both imaginative and deeply authentic.”
Building a Career, Not Just a Job
Every one of these women started from a different place. Some found their passion through an internship. Others entered hospitality through trainee programs or frontline roles. None of them started with a straight path to awards and leadership.
But each of their stories points to the same larger truth: growth often begins in the moments when someone is trusted to try, encouraged to learn, and given room to become more confident in what they can do. A busy shift, a new assignment, a creative idea, or an unexpected leadership moment can become the experience that helps a career move forward.
For these four Artisan Award winners, the journey was not only about reaching a moment of recognition. It was about discovering what was possible along the way: building confidence, finding opportunity, growing as leaders, and seeing how a career in hospitality can continue to open new doors.
