InnFocus Summer 2023

HOTELIER FEATURE:
Brannigan
Mosses
General Manager at Penticton Lakeside
Resort and Conference Centre
by Danielle Leroux
Brannigan Mosses is General Manager at Penticton Lakeside
Resort and Conference Centre, a role she has held since January
2023, after starting at the resort 10 years ago as Director of Regional
Sales and Marketing and then Assistant General Manager.
Mosses has been passionate about the hospitality and events
sectors since she was a teenager.
She got her start in the industry young, working as a deep cleaner
at an Alberta Denny’s. After doing other customer service jobs as a
teenager, she was naturally pulled back to restaurants and worked
at JOEY Restaurants.
In her late teen years, Mosses got involved in events and
tradeshows. “My Mom was in the event industry,” she says. “These
industries have always been in my blood.”
Mosses took some time off to travel internationally and was
exposed to a range of accommodations. “I stayed in everything
from a bed and breakfast, to hostels, premium hotels, and sharing
a room with 28 people in Turkey,” she describes. “At that point,
it solidified I wanted to remain in the hospitality, events, and
accommodations sector.”
Mosses came home from her trip and registered for a Diploma
Program in Hospitality Management at Northern Alberta Institute
of Technology.
A post-school break is what first led her to the Okanagan. Mosses
didn’t plan to stay beyond the summer but ended up working at an
Earl’s in Penticton. At this point, she decided she wanted to expand
her knowledge and growth in the industry. So Mosses returned
to Edmonton to complete her wedding planning certification and
ended up starting a wedding planning business.
She returned to the Okanagan, working for several years in
events at the South Okanagan Events Centre and Penticton Trade
& Convention Centre. In 2013, an opportunity came up at the
Lakeside Resort. “I always had an inkling that I wanted to work in
accommodations, it’s where my heart was,” she says. As a bonus,
the Lakeside hosts many events. “It was my two dreams of working
in events and hotels coming together.”
Courtesy of Brannigan Mosses
Ten years later, Mosses is General Manager, making operational,
financial, strategic, and marketing decisions to improve the
functionality of the resort.
She loves where she works and who she does it with, from
working on the shores of the Okanagan Lake and watching
guests arrive, to getting to know the wide range of employees and
connecting with the tight knit Penticton community.
Mosses also enjoys the creativity an independent hotel offers.
“There is so much opportunity here. Everything is thinking outside
the box and the owners are very creative people,” she says. “They
give me a lot of room to use my imagination, brainstorm with my
team, and create new concepts and packages.”
Mosses was drawn to the industry because of the challenges
it offers. “I don’t like doing the same tedious thing every day,” she
says. “I like to shake things up and not know what I’m walking into!”
She also enjoys developing teams and being in a sector that is for
the enjoyment of others.
Mosses tries to stay on top of work-life balance and take
advantage of all the Okanagan has to offer. “We like being tourists
in our own backyards and take our three kids camping, hiking, and
exploring.” She’s also passionate about food and hopes to take a
culinary trip one day soon.
Mosses believes in the power of travel and experiential learning. In
the future, she wants to go back to school for project management,
allowing her to further support other departments in her role in an
ever changing and fast-paced industry.
InnFocus 29