Gordon "Butch" Stewart, chairman
and founder of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, selected his
25-year-old son, Adam, to be CEO of Sandals Resorts International,
with responsibility for the firm's 16 all-inclusive properties on
five Caribbean islands. Gay Nagle Myers, Travel Weekly's Caribbean
editor, spoke with the younger Stewart about his goals, his game
plan and his dad.
Q:
What has prepared you to take on this job?
A:
Ever since I was a kid, I have worked in our resorts, starting with
housekeeping to reservations to back of the house. I did
internships during the summers in sales and group business. I
learned the business by being in and around it all my life. I chose
Florida International University for its hospitality-management
program. I joined the company full-time after college [working] in
the corporate office, and I watched for eight months to see why we
did things the way we did. Then I began to question some of these
methods. I learned by default, by being able to mess with
everything to see what worked.
Q:
You are 25 years old and the CEO of a company with 7,500 employees.
Were you surprised by this appointment?
A:
I was surprised ... that it happened early. Besides my dad, who is
my mentor and my best friend, I've had other great mentors in this
company, the greatest professionals in the business. I've had
opportunities and I've had support all along from the ground
up.
Q:
How was the announcement handled?
A:
My dad told me, but we kept it under wraps until after my sister's
[Jaime Stewart, managing director of Royal Plantation in Ocho Rios]
wedding. We didn't want to take anything away from that.
Q:
Does your appointment signal a changing of the guard at
Sandals?
A:
My dad is and always will be the driving force of this company. He
has kept his finger on the pulse all the way. He will never retire.
Sandals is his vision, but he doesn't worry ... well, not too much.
He knows that we can take Sandals and Beaches to the next
level.
Q:
You're chairman of the Sandals Youth Committee. How big a deal is
that?
A:
The idea for this committee came straight from my dad. He wanted to
develop really creative approaches to kids' facilities and
entertainment at Beaches. Now we've got the best people working on
this, pulling a lot of different elements together, and we're
expanding the whole program.
Q:
Do you have a life outside Sandals and Beaches?
A:
I live on planes a lot, but I do have a home in Montego Bay. I
don't take much time off; there is too much going on, and I'm too
excited to really sit still for long.
Q:
What have you learned from your dad's business style?
A:
He never puts anyone in charge of anything unless he's sure they
completely understand the assignment. He is hands-on and doesn't
delegate. Every decision he makes is weighed against how it will
affect our employees and how it will affect our guests. My dad
believes that a weak corporate office makes for a weak
organization, and bureaucracy has no place. He can take really
complicated problems and make them efficient, and he can look at a
basic property and turn it into the most fabulous place to
vacation.
Q:
What's your No. 1 goal?
A:
To work to my fullest potential to follow in my dad's
shoes.
To
contact reporter Gay Nagle Myers, send e-mail to [email protected].