Wendy started serving and bar tending in her hometown of Rochester, New York in 1986.  After receiving her Associates Degree at Monroe Community College, she transferred to Mercyhurst College in Erie Pennsylvania to start in their acclaimed Hotel Restaurant & Institutional Management program in 1989.  She continued to work outside the school program, but always within the realm of hospitality to put herself through school without any financial assistance.

Immediately after receiving her Magna Cum Laude Degree, she went straight to Culinary School at the Pittsburgh Institute of Culinary Arts, focusing her attention whenever possible in the bake shop, and a personal desire to figure out the most common operational disconnect between the front and back of house.  The culmination of her program was a full internship at a bake shop at the Hyatt in Columbus, Ohio.  She graduated once again at the top of her class in 1993.  After working with Derek for much of a summer in a commercial catering operation in New York, they went their separate ways for a short time, with Wendy working as a Dietary Aid of a nursing home back in her hometown, and gaining a fundamental knowledge of nutrition.

Once moving to Colorado, Derek & Wendy teamed up once again, assisting in the operation of a small, 7-room Bed & Breakfast Inn in Boulder, Colorado as live-in managers.  Wendy also took on a full-time job at in the Hyatt Denver, in their bake shop.  When the opportunity arose, they moved to a sister hotel/inn down the street, taking over full management and live-in management responsibilities at the Coburn Hotel.  Soon after, Wendy & Derek were hired as a team to open a brand new hotel in Golden, Colorado that had yet to be built.  After taking a year “off” (working various hotel positions at a Sheraton Hotel in Steamboat Springs), they started work in a construction trailer for the final months before opening the new 62 room, full service hotel in downtown Golden.  Here, a staff of close to 60 people were managed, running a full service hotel operation including room service, banquets, retail shop and 3-meal restaurant & bar.

Wendy left the hotel business after the birth of their second child, and delved into her lifelong photography passion.  After several years of hard core wedding photography, she settled into steady work with family, baby and senior portraits in her own studio, as well as in the great Colorado outdoors.  Building her business almost exclusively on word of mouth, she has built quite a reputation in this challenging, and competitive marketplace.

Summary

  • Bartending/Serving experience, Rochester NY
  • Associates Degree Monroe Community College
  • BA HRIM, Magna Cum Laude, Mercyhurst College 1991
  • Culinary Degree – Pittsburgh Institute of Culinary Arts
  • Dietary Aide, Rochester NY
  • Summer Catering Job
  • Full Time chef, Hyatt Denver (Bake Shop)
  • Live-in manager, The Magpie Inn, Boulder, CO
  • Live-in Manager, The Coburn Hotel, Boulder, CO
  • Front Desk, Sales Assistant – The Sheraton Hotel Steamboat Springs CO
  • Assistant General Manager, The Golden Hotel, Golden CO
  • Wendy Wood Photography – Commercial Photographer, Weddings, Portraits 2002-present
  • Incredible full time mother of 3 Montessori kids