Executive Chairman
Eureka Casino Resort
Type of Business: Casino Hotel Resort
Based in: Mesquite, NV
Hails from: San Francisco, CA
Years Org. has been in Nevada: 30
Years with Organization in Nevada: 30
Employees in NV: 400
How did you get into your profession?
I started working for my family in their real estate business in Las Vegas and San Francisco right after college, during which time my father had me open a small, slots only casino in Las Vegas. After that experience, I went to law school and became a real estate attorney in New York City. In 1995, I returned to Las Vegas to work with my parents to build the Eureka Casino Resort in Mesquite.
What would be the title of your autobiography?
“Being in Business: It’s a Wonderful Life”
What workplace event or project are you looking forward to?
We are embarking on Eureka 3.0, which is a $40 million reimagining of the Eureka hotel and casino facilities to what we would build today if Eureka was new, and to put into place the platform to enable Eureka to be what we want it to be in the next 30 years.
What is the best moment of your career?
The best moment was being in the huge conference room of our law firm with my friend and CEO of our company, Andre Carrier, to sign all of the documents that would make the Eureka the only 100 percent employee owned resort casino in the US. It was the culmination of knowing that I had helped to build a business that was beneficial to my family, but that I was making a transition that would keep my top executives with the company by giving them real upside ownership in the future, and I was giving every employee a stake in the business, that could provide them a meaningful retirement that they would never had had otherwise. It felt like a triumph for me on many dimensions.
What is an assumption people make about you that is wrong?
I think people might assume that I’m serious or highly judgmental because I expect a lot from the people around me. But I also I value fun and creativity, and I want people to be themselves around me.
What career advice would you give to someone just starting in your industry?
It is important both to develop rigor for learning and improvement and also to learn what you like and what you are good at. You need both. Find jobs where you can observe a leader/mentor to emulate and that also requires you to master a clear and valuable skill set. The skill set should take at least a year to master and, at the same time, try to internalize the personal qualities that you respect in your leader. Work hard for a least a year without being distracted and before considering another job. People who switch jobs too often don’t learn how to make continuous improvement. If you have a couple of positive work experiences early in your career, you will be surprised by how far you have grown.
