Have you always lived in Cook County or how did you "land" here?

I grew up mostly in MN but not on the North Shore. Growing up, my family always took trips into the BWCA and in college I spent my summers working at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters. My mom actually worked there when she was around my age and my Grandpa led trips into the BWCA as well. In 2015, after my summer working at Sawbill, I was hired by Lutsen Resort. I loved the area year round and haven’t left since.

As Director of Human Resources at Bluefin Bay, what are some of the changes that you have seen over the years?  How did the pandemic affect your work?

I have been working in HR for a little over three years. The biggest change I have seen is how reliant we are on seasonal employees, despite being a full-time year-round resort. In the past, I think people have wanted to hold jobs at one place for longer. Despite all the retention efforts, we find that most employees working in hospitality love to travel and adventure from place to place (who wouldn’t!?). With this, we’ve changed our mindset here. I actually transitioned to Bluefin in September of 2020 so it was during the pandemic. At the start of the pandemic, I was an Event Coordinator/Group Sales Director at Lutsen Resort and Superior Shores. We definitely had to change things up with events: limit capacities, add safety measures and calm nerves in general. Then when I moved to Bluefin in HR it was weekly updates about what has changed as far as policies or positive cases in our county, vaccination info, etc. There is still a little of that, especially if someone tests positive but for the most part, it has calmed down significantly since that time.

Where is your favorite place to go to relax in the County on your days off?

This probably is a boring answer but to be honest, I really love my back yard and sauna. Frequently, I will head there when I’m off in the summer months, where I can hang out with my dogs and read a book on our hammock or take a sauna, in either the winter or summer. I also love the bike trails out of the Carlton Peak parking area or up Onion River Road – Jackpot and High Climber. When there is snow on the ground, I love the Sugarbush XC Ski Trail System. Or the lit loop at Pincushion. These are also very relaxing escapes for me.

 L to R:  Ana, Adrian (Ana's partner), Anna (Adrian's mom), and Jeff (Adrian's mom's partner)

What is the best advice you were ever given and how did it impact your life?

Two things come to mind here:

1. If you are ever stuck, just do it to your best effort without officially completing it and circle back later. This helps to get initial thoughts down and not procrastinate forever and never start. It goes along with prioritizing the hard things.
2. Any act of kindness is always worth the time.

You work at such a beautiful resort right here in Cook County that people come from afar to vacation.  Where are some favorite places that you have traveled to?

I really love the southwestern part of our country. My partner and I love to bike and hike, so we have found this to be a great winter getaway. Another family favorite of ours is Whistler, in British Columbia. I have family living all over, so it’s a great meeting place for us. With my partner’s parents, we love to visit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We have equal amounts of dogs to people on that side of my family and we love to get away where we can drive and bring the furry family members. In the summer and fall, nothing really beats the North Shore and we love to stay put and enjoy the place we call home.

Do you have any goals or New Year's resolutions for 2024?