Chris Finelli

| Competitor |
Chris Finelli
Associate Director of Sales,
Manchester Grand Hyatt

San Diego, California
Age: 33

“Everything has revolved around meetings,” says Chris Finelli when asked about his career. The lifelong West Coaster grew up in Los Angeles and earned a hotel administration degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During college, Finelli got his start in hotels, holding positions like sales intern, valet and front desk representative. “I didn’t know anything about sales when I first started,” he says, “but they were the ones going out to restaurants and entertaining clients, and I thought, ‘That looks kind of easy.’ That’s before I knew about quotas,” he jokes. He’s now the associate director of sales at California’s largest hotel and the committee chair for the San Diego CVB sales committee. He’s also a new dad to a 5-month-old boy. Finelli admits he loves playing and watching sports. “I’m very competitive; I don’t like to lose.” That carries over to his job. “There’s a thrill in making the booking and closing the deal.”

—L. Hoppe