Allie Singer, 36

Allie Singer was just a kid when she figured out what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

It happened when she was between 8- and 10-years old and her family was on its annual summer vacation at the Sea Island Resort in Georgia.

Photo by Mark Wemple

There were two men working at the resort that year, a Mr. Johnnie, who taught her to swim, and a Captain Donnie, who would take people fishing. They were two employees of many but their kindness and how well they treated her, and others, made a huge impression.

That summer, Singer says, she fell in love with hospitality.

“I'm 36 years old now, and this is years and years ago, but I remember it every single day,” Singer says.

“Those two people had the most tremendous impact on me, and they would have no idea. I don't know what ever happened to them, but it was that pivotal moment (of) my childhood that I remember. It brings a smile to my face and it makes me think of my family. And it was so impactful that I wanted to create those experiences for others.”

“It's the ability to shift someone's emotion and help them find joy,” she says of the industry.

Today, Singer is vice president of commercial strategy and asset management at Willner Realty and Development Co.

The St. Petersburg firm is behind the Skybeach Resort, a two-story hotel with Old Florida charm on the waterfront just off the Skyway Bridge in Pinellas County.

Singer, who studied hotel management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and worked in hospitality for years, met Ben Willner, the company’s president and CEO, as the hotel was being redeveloped about five minutes from where she lives.

While her background was not in development, they talked about how to take what he was doing and amplifying it in different markets. She was hired.

The position, Singer says, was built around her background and how she can help the brand grow. She also sees it as an opportunity to recreate what she experienced that long-ago Georgia summer.

While on a different side of the industry these days, Singer has lost none of her passion for hospitality — neither as practitioner or as a consumer.

In October she planned to go on a trip to Australia with her mother Vickie, her mentor and a former travel agent.

It’s a mother-daughter trip and an opportunity for Singer to thank her mother for years of support. “I wanted to treat her,” she says. “She's give me all these experiences and I want to be able to have that time with her.”