Tyler Clay

While working for Summit Valet, I had the urge to work with a team again. So I contacted the Account Manager I had worked for at SP+ and found out they had switched companies. Through them, I was able to get a second job at the Kimpton Claret Hotel. I had worked at hotels for SP+ in the past, but I had never worked at one five days a week. Before working at the Kimpton, I had a preconceived notion that since valet is a third party, we don't communicate with the hotel too much. This couldn't be further from the truth. Through the Kimpton, I've learned that communication is simply necessary. I communicate on a daily basis with the AGM, Engineering, Front Desk and Housekeeping. I've also been eager to learn as much as I can from my current Account Manager on the ins and outs of the hotel business. Aside from the normal valet runner duties like parking/pulling cars, I also drive guests to different locations around Denver in our courtesy house car.

I currently work for Summit Valet - A smaller Colorado based valet company. This company and its owner have introduced me to a new form of valet that I had never experienced before. Restaurants. This business is much different than hotels or hospitals in the sense that most of the time I'm on my own. This is a whole different experience for me because I'm used to managing a team and being social with my co-workers. Although I don't love the loneliness, I would be lying if I said it hasn't made me a more efficient and reliable valet. Since I'm on my own, when there's any sort of problem, it's up to me to solve it. And with restaurants, there's always something that pops up. The reservations are never what they say they are, and outside factors always pop up which make more people come in than expected. It's taught me to be much more careful with keys and valuables, because things tend to be stolen at the downtown accounts I work. It's also reinforced the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the GMs and owners of an account, because if something goes wrong, I'm the one there who needs to answer for it and solve it.

I am a trained FWC (Financial Wellness Consultant). My job was to give financial advice to individuals who were seeking it, as well as handle all bank teller duties, handle mortgages (HELOC, regular mortgages, refinancing), set up new accounts, handle credit cards and be extremely well versed with current rates and products.

There was really so much that went into this job. It's where I learned all my skills pertaining to valet. I started this job as a valet runner and learned how to park/pull cars. After a while of learning the operation, I became a supervisor. The account I worked at was a lung hospital, and as fate would have it, I started during COVID. So as you can imagine we saw a lot of action. We were doing about a thousand cars a day at our peak, and I was supervising about 15 to 20 people during my shifts. My duties included training new employees, completing safety checks, running the drive, counting and distributing the tips, running our front desk, dealing with claims, documenting employee misbehavior (if need be of course), working directly with the owner and GM of the hospital to make sure their needs were met, and most importantly working with my runners to make sure they were okay and had everything they needed to succeed.