CONCIERGE SPOTLIGHT
ANITA FOWLER
Anita was born in the South Bay, in Harbor City, California and grew up in and around Portland, Oregon where she spend the next twelve years. Some of the happiest times growing up were spent on a ranch in Eagle Creek, Oregon. Their home sat high upon a knoll on a 70 acre berry farm with beautiful landscapes, surrounded by views of the Cascade mountain range and magnificent sunsets. Having her own horse allowed her to go trail riding in the woods for hours and experience all the other wonderful things farm life affords you. She then moved nearby to “small town” America in Estacada, Oregon, which is a lumber industry town and the Christmas tree capitol of the world …really! You know…… the kind of place where everyone knows your name, there is only one small movie theatre, and the highlight of the year is the annual Timber Festival where people from all over the world would come to compete. Her life in Oregon was centered on this family oriented community. After graduating High School, she moved back to Southern California where she worked in retail for some time. This is when she started to develop her Spanish language skills, which unbeknownst to her would prove useful in her future career choice and travels.
For the past twenty seven years Anita has resided in the Southern California where she still has much of her family living in surrounding areas. In total Anita has six siblings; three brothers and three sisters. The sister closest in age to Anita is her sister Anna, whom is exactly three minutes older than she is. TWINS! Over lunch Anita was telling many stories about something they call “The Twin Thing”. This encompasses the many questions they get on a regular basis in addition to the unexplainable connection and bond that identical twins share. Did they show up for each others high school classes on occasion, posing for the other? Of course they did. Was it kind of like that movie TWINS with Danny Devito & Arnold Schwarzenegger? Absolutely not! While talking with Anita, there was an inspiration to call Anna in Oregon and explore the twin thing a bit more. In a nutshell, Anna summed up her identical sisterhood in one sentence; “Anita and I are exactly the same, but completely different”. Talking on the phone with Anna was identical to talking with Anita in person. It was a bit odd because Anita was sitting beside me in the passenger seat at the same time. They are undoubtedly each others biggest supporters.
Professionally Anita has served as a Concierge for over eighteen years. Her hotel work experiences include the Westin Bonaventure, The Omni Los Angeles, The Wilshire Grand, and until approximately a Month ago the Park Hyatt, Los Angles which is now the new Intercontinental Los Angeles Hotel. Anita is a proud member of both Les clefs d’Or and The Los Angeles Concierge Association. In the past she has served on the board of the LACA for a total of four years and held multiple positions as Treasurer, Vice President and President. She presently serves on the board going for a fifth year this time in the appointed position of Web Assistant. She immensely enjoys the people and professionals that represent the Concierge Community in the Los Angeles area and attributes all of her close relationships to the longevity of her career as a Concierge. Most of all, Anita’s closeness with her family and friends plays a huge role in her life. Throughout the day I learned about all of the parental and personal influences that have shaped who she is today as a professional and all around beautiful person. On a social and creative level, Anita enjoys the art of interior decoration, cultural events, traveling, listening to light opera and let’s not forget to mention Tom Jones! Yes, she is a fan of the 60’s icon and just saw him perform in Vegas recently. She is also an avid Jane Austen enthusiast and recently visited both of her homes while touring Western England. Diversifying her tastes even further, she very recently made the trek to Machu Picchu in Peru which entailed a 9 hour train ride and then another bus ride to the top, a ten hour trip in total. She says the final discovery was worth it and is highly recommended. |
