Nick Szubiak
Did you know that this past Festive Season our concierge department handled the needs and requests of about 1,000 members, guests and renters? From 8AM to 6PM the concierge office was buzzing and the person who was and is responsible for making sure it runs smoothly is Nick Szubiak, the club concierge manager.
Here’s the question: How did Nick, a New Jersey Jesuit High School student and a social worker wind up in the hospitality industry?
Nick will tell you it was because of a murder!
We’ll get to that, but first a little background:
After growing up in a town just across the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan, Nick went off to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York where he played football as a defensive end and majored in psychology. Right out of college he worked in Queens, New York, as a case manager for AIDS and HIV patients who lived throughout the borough. After a year he decided he needed graduate work and attended Rutgers where he earned his Masters of Social Work; then began his career in the drug and alcohol field. He spent four years working in Manhattan at ACI, a rehab center for those addicted to drugs and booze. After working in Hell’s Kitchen he moved to Brooklyn and worked for Health Plus, a managed-care facility where he was Director of Case Management.
Two years later he applied for a job in Tucson to save an adolescent treatment program called Three Springs. As Clinical Director he resuscitated the program and was enjoying his time in the high desert when he was called to jury duty. It was a murder case. During the trial Nick bonded with a VP from Miraval Resort and Spa, who convinced him to try the hospitality industry.
Nick decided to take the challenge and accepted the position of Director of Balanced Living. For two years Nick worked with all disciplines at the Resort, tailor-making programs for the clients of this renowned wellness destination resort and spa.
Nick came to Hualalai 14 months ago with his partner, Megan King (Spa Operations Manager). He finds his job as the manager of the club concierge office challenging and rewarding. Currently he has four full-time and two casual concierges working with him. His goal is to truly centralize all information in his department and have it readily available to any and all members. He and his staff are constantly trying to provide answers to our multitude of requests and questions.
When Nick arrived at Hualalai he was nervous about relating to members, but he quickly found that we are basically easygoing, informal, and consider Hualalai our home. He immediately felt at ease and loves working with his staff and the members. He wants us to drop in on him, (his office is right there in the concierge department) and talk story. As Nick says, he wants to listen and learn from the members.
Nick, like Megan, enjoys tooling around the island on his motorcycle, though lately he is becoming fonder of spending his free time at the beach. Nick and Megan live in Waimea with their dog Wilson.
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