Rolling With the Punches: Career Shift Has Worked Well for Tomasic
Written by Doug Goodnough
Kristen Tomasic, ’08, wasn’t aware of the Hillsdale College motto, “Strength Rejoices in the Challenge,” when she arrived on campus as a freshman tennis recruit. However, she has certainly personified that saying since her graduation.
After completing her MBA from Loyola University Chicago, she worked for nearly a decade in event management for the Marriott International hotel company. She has planned, coordinated, and executed more than 180 weddings and numerous corporate and private events, with her favorite being a party for one of the team’s fans during the 2018 Super Bowl.
When she was director of event planning for the JW Marriott Minneapolis, Tomasic was one of the 2018 winners for the Event Management section of the Marriott Chairman’s Award. She was one of nine top event management leaders in the world for Marriott. Shortly after that, she moved back to Chicago as the director of event planning and operations for the Westin Michigan Avenue.
What was her craziest event experience?
“One night I had two weddings happening,” Tomasic said. “One was already in motion, and another, the bride was just about to walk down the aisle. And the tornado sirens go off. The rain was pouring in and leaked into the main lobby of the hotel. The main floor of the restaurant was flooding. I had people in a swimming pool who wouldn’t get out, and I had people in a tent with a tornado coming through. But eventually, it all went off without a hitch. We got everybody down the aisle and having a great time to end the evening. You’ve really got to roll with the punches.”
All that stopped when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in the spring of 2020 and the Westin Michigan Avenue shut down for nearly 18 months.
“By the time they reopened, I’d been at a new job for seven months and loved it,” said Tomasic, who accepted a position with CDW and now works as a business manager for Microsoft Azure in a technology-driven environment. “It’s a lot of similar skills in a very different environment. I’ve had to really dig in and learn the technology.”
She has been a quick study. Tomasic has completed a couple of certifications and helps develop marketing strategies and campaigns for internal and external customers.
“A lot of it is based on the relationship-building skills I learned in hospitality. It’s really a collaborative partnership,” she said of her current role. “You’re hearing different ideas from a variety of people, getting insight, and building that overarching strategy. It’s a lot less specific and tangible than event management, but it uses that strategy and brings different areas and resources together. That is what I love.”
Her current position also has her dealing with artificial intelligence and how businesses are applying AI.
“We work with other brands partnering for AI solutions—how we use it ethically and how we use it safely,” Tomasic said. “Security and ethics are big conversations, and I make sure that we are keeping an eye on that.”
The career shift has also helped her with a better work/life balance.
“I get to have some fun,” she said. “I’m meeting a lot of people around the country and around the world and traveling a bit. There’s a lot of learning, but I get to apply the type of skills I like to use.”
And she still dabbles in event planning from time to time. Instead of planning five weddings in a weekend as she did in her former role, she now can work on an occasional wedding and especially enjoys coordinating events outside of her own religion and culture.
“I still keep my hand in it,” Tomasic said of event planning. “It’s a place for creativity, and there is a rush with events. Just seeing them come together and having celebrations of people’s lives—what a blast!”
She used her event planning skills to help with Chi Omega’s 100th anniversary gala during Hillsdale’s recent Homecoming. As co-chair of the event, she said she was thrilled to be able to help her sorority celebrate a landmark event.
“I’ve been a member of the house core for the alumni group, so I kept my hand in that over the years,” Tomasic said of her Chi Omega involvement. “But I really jumped into it when Ronda (Deer, ’60) and I co co-chaired the Centennial Committee for the celebration this year. The feedback has been amazing. There were tears, there was a lot of hugging, a lot of smiles and joking around, and a lot of reminiscing.”
Tomasic said when the College discontinued the tennis program, the community she built with her Chi Omega sisters “solidified” her Hillsdale experience. The marketing major said her time in the classroom was also memorable.
“I liked the (Hillsdale) way of thinking, and the classes focused on the original text,” she said. “I think that was a big thing for me. Instead of professors sharing their interpretation of what happened, you’re reading the documents for yourself. You’re discussing what happened and why things either have come to what they are now or learning the foundation to make your own opinion. I like that.”
Living in downtown Chicago near Lake Michigan, Tomasic said she is engaged in her community. She plays in co-ed softball and tennis leagues, and recently became involved in Second City Canine Rescue, a dog rescue operation.
“I finally had the time to foster dogs, and now I do a shift at the adoption center every so-often,” she said. “I go hang out with litters of puppies that come through.”
When asked about her career future, she ironically hasn’t planned that out yet.
“I don’t know,” she said. “COVID was such an abrupt change on my lifestyle that I’m enjoying where I am right now. I have more free time. I’d like to continue moving up the organization and explore brand management. I’m loving brand management because that brings in marketing and events and partnerships and relationships, and I would love to continue down that path.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in October 2024