Meet Paul Heltzel: Hotel General Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul Heltzel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
Being balanced. Whenever I get too caught up in anything–relationships, work, mistakes–I lose my center. My life becomes unbalanced and everything suffers because I’m off. It’s happened more than I like to admit so it’s a familiar feeling. I try to be more mindful these days, so when I feel myself getting caught up & losing that balance, I remind myself to not take everything so seriously. This helps me keep it together and view things more objectively. In turn, it gives me a more measured approach so I don’t get overwhelmed. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m proud of my relationships with co-workers more than anything else. We have a pretty good system for doing pretty much anything well here at the hotel, so my main focus is making sure everyone’s satisfied with their role and where the hotel is going overall. I started at the hotel (front desk) mostly because I was a tenant who paid rent on time and had a good attitude. It was a little difficult to move up to GM–I worked some long hours covering for the GM I used to work under to make sure everything ran smoothly. But other than some loss of sleep, it wasn’t too bad. My hard work and consistency was recognized pretty quickly so I moved up accordingly. I learned how important that consistency is. Not as many people value showing up on time & doing what’s expected of them as you’d think, so if you’re able to do those things, they go a long way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If we’re talking pre- or post-pandemic, probably start at Flake for breakfast, head to Topanga for some sights and trails, hit Malibu Seafood for lunch, chill on the beach, then end at Hotel Erwin for the sunset and the other bars in the area.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d say my mom deserves the most credit. She did a great job making me believe 1) I could do whatever I wanted and 2) that a positive attitude goes a long way. This lead to me feeling confident I could move to LA from Ohio and make things work, despite the long odds others seem to think I faced.