As Fitness Supervisor at the Westin Chicago River North, Sam Guiragossian combines his two greatest passions: fitness and serving people. It’s Sam’s passion that keeps him coming into the hotel every day for the last 27 years – only missing three days over that entire timespan due to illness.

Sam is always looking for ways to adopt the Wellness at Westin mission to help guests “soar above it all” no matter what obstacles travel puts between their wellbeing. In 2006, Sam played an instrumental role in establishing “Breathe Westin” to bring a smoke-free environment to the hotel. The hotel was one of the first to adopt the initiative. More recently, he helped implement Westin + Peloton, giving guests an opportunity to use state-of-the-art Peloton bikes in the fitness center.

To ensure equipment is always operating at optimal levels, Sam will proactively make simple and safe tune-ups, helping to save the hotel hundreds of dollars per technician visit and 4-6 weeks of one less available machine. If a machine does break down, Sam is quick to connect with the vendor to schedule a repair.

He makes a conscious effort to build personal connections with each guest that enters the fitness center. He is always ready with a smile, encouragement and support for their fitness journey. Guest satisfaction scores for the fitness center have steadily increased during Sam’s tenure, most recently resulting in an 8.5-point improvement.

One guest was staying at the hotel for nearly two years as part of her work with a consulting company. She asked Sam to help her with her fitness goals to exercise more and lose weight. Several months after she checked out, she re-visited the hotel to show Sam a picture of her and her dad at the finish line of a marathon they ran together. She credited Sam with helping her reach that memorable goal.

Nothing makes Sam happier than inspiring, motivating and encouraging others to reach their goals. He makes it his mission to bring love and kindness to every aspect of his day, saying “you never know what kind of impact you will have on someone, so I want to make every experience positive.”