By Business & Finance 
Garret Marrinan, General Manager, the gibson hotel
Garret Marrinan, General Manager, the gibson hotel, takes on the Business & Finance 60-second interview challenge.
Q. What was your first job? My first paid job was when I was 16 and I worked in the fast food restaurant in Dublin Zoo – I was the Fries King. Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? My greatest career achievement to date is my current role as GM of the gibson hotel. I have always had my eye on this amazing hotel since it first opened in 2010 and had gone for the job twice before. It was third time lucky for me. Q. In three words or less, how do you define success? Achieving your potential. Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? The best leaders just keep going! Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff? I try and make the working environment in the hotel as positive and open as possible. I really get excited when I see members of the team growing, developing and getting promoted. I think when people see their colleagues growing and achieving success that is one of the best motivations there is for them to push themselves. Q. If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why? I am a huge Elon Musk fan. I would love to spend time with him and get his thoughts on all aspects of how things will be in the future, from self-driving cars/trucks/planes, battery farms, solar batteries, cities and space travel. He is a visionary and an amazing person who seems to get the impossible done – an inspirational business person. Q. How do you relax? I play five-a-side football a couple of times a week and love to run – I find running clears my head and is very therapeutic. I am also a massive Liverpool fan, which brings its ups and downs and would go to about three or four games a year. Q. What’s your motto? “Just keep going!” Q. What are your aspirations for the future of the business? My vision is the gibson hotel builds on the success of the last few years and that we really push on and develop the uniqueness of the Gibson brand, establishing it as the standout hotel and brand in Dublin. Longer term, I would love to see the Gibson brand travel to London/New York/Paris, etc. and that there is one in all the key cities of the world and I am the one behind it all.
I try and make the working environment in the hotel as positive and open as possible. I really get excited when I see members of the team growing, developing and getting promoted.
the gibson hotel is a member of the Dalata Hotel Group, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, which specialises in core asset management through owned, leased and managed hotels.
You may also like:
“I believe it’s wise to look beyond the next quarter” – 60 seconds with Paul Kearns, Managing Director, Kefron
“Strive to do what you love and success will follow” – 60 seconds with Deirdre O’Neill, Future Food Offer Director at Compass Group Ireland
“Seek counsel, and make your own decision” – 60 seconds with Adam Lyons, co-owner of Thai restaurant franchise Kin Khao Thai
