2019 Ones to Watch: Luke Meola, CNY

Name: Luke Meola

Title: Assistant Superintendent

Company Name: CNY

Year entered this Field: 2017

What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment in the past 12 months?

Being a part of the Times Sq. Edition Hotel (a.k.a. 20 Times Sq.) team and having a hand in building something so iconic in one of the most famous places in the world, is something I’m incredibly proud of. Everyone I worked with and everyone that came before me on this job put forth such tremendous effort to see it through to its completion this past month. Something this high-end on such a large scale is not an easy task. It took tremendous determination to get it done to both the standards Marriott expected, and the standards I set for myself. 

Who or what do you attribute to your success? 

Thinking of what has attributed to my “success” takes a second or two to register, since I feel like I still have so much more to learn in the future. But my desire to keep learning and pay attention to detail have been key to my progress so far. The plan is to continue that growth by balancing between staying focused on the task at hand and soaking in as much knowledge day-to-day from my seniors. I see the things I’ve accomplished so far as lessons learned, tools for the future, and standards I hope to exceed. 

If you have a mentor, who is it and how have they influenced your personal and professional growth?

I think of who I have become as the product of the people I’ve met, the knowledge taken from them, and how I’ve applied that knowledge to my life personally and professionally. I’ve been lucky to have had many different mentors in various aspects of life over the years, including professors, coaches, wise family friends, and so many more. They have all, in some way, contributed to the strong mentality and work ethic that I practice in my profession, as well as the understanding and perseverance that I bring to my personal life.

What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?

Growing up, I was always very interested in taking things apart and putting them back together again. I like to learn new things, so it was very fulfilling to understand something literally from the inside out. Anything from models to computers, I was always keen to take on a new task and master it. Today, I try to keep that eagerness alive by applying that initiative to any challenges at work, as well as whatever random conquest I’ve set for myself at home. This week it’s milling my own baseboard trim. I’ll let you know how it goes.