In the past 30 years Kym has dedicated her career to the hospitality industry, including running a highly successful convention centre, owning her own café and currently heading up the Food/Beverage & Events Department with the award winning restaurant Wildflower, at Mercure Sunshine Coast Kawana Waters (formerly Best Western Plus Lake Kawana Hotel). In the past two and half years, Kym has travelled with L’Amitie Tours as a tour assistant taking small group tours of women to both Provence and Tuscany.

Kym is passionate about the hospitality trade with a deep commitment to professional growth and dedication to providing top-quality service to customers.

Kym, tell us about the different areas that you have worked and what brought you to the Sunshine Coast?

My career has now spanned just over 30 years. Starting in retail with Myer prior to finishing high school I soon discovered a passion for serving people. I soon realised that not only did I love people but I loved food and loved to cook and create. Studying at South Brisbane College of Tourism and Hospitality I was given the opportunity just before turning 19 to move away from home to Mackay as an Assistant Homecraft Advisor with the Mackay Electricity Board. What an experience that was. I performed cooking demonstrations, created and tested recipes and was lucky enough to be part of the then Sunshine Television (Channel 7) cooking program “Living Electrically” as a TV demonstrator. My Dad still laughs now as he remembers my first few months of forgetting I was on screen and bobbing down out of the camera’s shot to pick something else up. Totally goofy but it was an amazing learning curve. Companies were having cutbacks and before long the Home Economist role was no longer required in most companies. Many different roles followed including cooking in café’s, bar attendant, waitressing and overseas travel in an English pub. Taking a role at Laguna Quays the former stunning 5 star resort near the Whitsundays my hotel career began. The management mentor program moved quickly for my ladder climb. My passion for hospitality just continued to grow.  From there I moved back to Brisbane my home town and had another couple of roles in food, beverage and functions. Working for Plaza Hotels took me to Hervey Bay. The move to Hervey Bay produced employment in a management capacity for a number of successful businesses on the Fraser Coast.

There’s lots happening in the hospitality and tourism industry right now with all of the Covid-19 restraints. What are you doing to do things differently during these times?

It is such an unexpected time for all and hard to comprehend that the industry I love is sinking for now. Personally I am ensuring that I keep in contact with fellow business owners and we are assisting each other in sharing our businesses for support of the industry we love. At the hotel we have moved to a takeaway menu to enable us to continue to operate the best we can. Our close location to the hospital is providing some business for now. We are providing accommodation for on call nurses, doctors and corporate business.

What traits do you think are important as a leader in business?

I believe you have to be able to communicate and understand personalities. Everyone thinks, learns and operates differently and their knowing capabilities is so important to lead in the right direction.    

You work long hours and would attend lots of events, how do you keep balance in your life?

Well to be honest I think this year I have turned a corner realising that life throws a lot of curve balls and it is too short. I am dedicating more time to enjoying the simple things like friends, family and my beautiful surroundings on the Sunshine Coast. I do love a chat so you probably won’t ever see me stopping all the event attendance.

And what’s next on the agenda for Kym Bell?

My lifelong passion for food, cooking and entertaining continues to steer my direction to a potential new project in the coming years. Stay tuned for that one!

Favourite book and why?

To be honest I would rather have a recipe book in front of me. I certainly would rather be in the kitchen. I still love Julia & Julia though – the book and the movie.

Coast or City?

Definitely the coast, but a city visit is always a great getaway to discover food scenes and trends of course?

Who would you most like to meet and why?

Maggie Beer would be amazing, she has been around forever in the food industry and would love to have coffee with her to pick her brains on how the industry has evolved. Someone that owns a vineyard would not go astray either.

To find out more about Kym head to:

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kymbell/

Instagram

@passionatefoodietravels