Aces of Trades: Jennifer Sigman manages five hotels as director of operations

CHILLICOTHE – She believes things happen for a reason.

“I was a quiet child growing up,” recalled Jennifer Sigman. “But I was very focused, and everyone always said I was very mature for my age. My dream was to grow up to be a teacher. I remember playing school all the time and having a classroom full of stuffed animals and my mom. But the older I got, and the more I learned in school, I found I really loved numbers. Then my goal was to be a CPA.”

“I never thought about being a hotel general manager or a director of operations,” she added. “Ironically in high school, I worked in a bed and breakfast cleaning rooms and working in the kitchen. I remember thinking I wouldn’t want to do this for a living. However, I did admire the owners and what they did and thought the idea of being an owner of a bed and breakfast would be fascinating as you met so many new people and was able to give them an experience they would remember.”

Today, Sigman is the director of operations for CP Management Co., a company that manages five hotels.

“I’m in charge,” she explained, “of directing employee daily activities while overseeing that all financial, customer service, and employee performance are successfully exceeding expectations.”

Sigman grew up mostly in Danville (near Mt. Vernon) and graduated from Danville High School in 1990. She has a CHA (certified hotel administrator) certificate from American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. She’s currently studying business management through the University of Phoenix.

“My career path has been lots of different job titles in the hospitality field,” she said, “like housekeeper, guest service representative, group sales, weekend manager, assistant manager, general manager – starting at Carlisle Inn of Walnut Creek and assisting with the opening of the Carlisle Inn Sugarcreek.”

“From there,” she continued, “I took a short break of about 3 years and was the retail director of operations for a small cheese house in Baltic, OH and opened a second retail location in Zanesville. It was with this position that I caught the marketing bug.”

“After this,” she continued, “my husband and I started our own retail store/bakery for a short time. However, we decided that wasn’t where we wanted to spend our time. I saw the posting for the sales manager in Coshocton at the Coshocton Village Inn and applied and that’s how I started with CP Management Co. I soon became the general manager of the hotel and after several years there was an opening for a general manager at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Chillicothe, so I took the position and my husband and I relocated. After 7 years I was promoted to director of operations for CP Management Co and moved to the management office. Now, 34 years later, I’ve met my career goal – now to set another and see where it takes me.”

Fred Ashbrook is vice president of CP Management Company.

“I appointed Jennifer to director of operations in April of 2023,” said Ashbrook. “Working at many levels within the hotel business has given Jennifer a wide range of knowledge to offer management and growth to the team at CP Management Company. Jennifer’s leadership, vision, and experience will provide future direction and purpose in our management responsibilities.”

“When I first started out at age 20, as most people do,” Sigman responded, “this was just a job. I didn’t know the potential of what could be. I quickly caught the ‘hospitality bug’ and absolutely fell in love with the industry and everything there is about it. The entire process is fascinating and the friendships you form are amazing.”

“I’m a believer there’s a path set for you and doors will open when they’re supposed to,” she concluded. “You need to be open to ideas and look for your path. Everything happens for a reason and it’s up to us to understand the reason and grow.”

For more information about C.P. Management Co., log on www.christopherhotels.com.

About the Series

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Jennifer Sigman manages five hotels as director of operations