Your Colorado Meeting
Dream Team
Meet the Cheyenne Mountain Resort
Event Team
More than 180 years of combined hospitality experience is a phone call away. Whatever your needs, whenever you need them, our team of professionals is here to make your meeting or event as memorable as Cheyenne Mountain itself.
Sales Team
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Jess Johnson
Director of Sales and Marketing
Learn MoreA veteran in hospitality, Jess leads the Sales and Marketing team with over two decades of experience, and over 15 years in Sales alone at resorts in Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. Now Jess brings his years of experience in luxury hospitality to re-imagine the resort and epitomize its nature as Quintessential Colorado.
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Caitlin Palin
Director of Group Sales
Learn MoreWith over a decade of coast to coast hospitality experience, Caitlin brings her passion for exceptional service to her new home in Colorado Springs. Caitlin draws from her years as an event manager to understand her clients’ missions. Coupled with her extensive budget management experience, she sets out to help her clients achieve their creative and financial goals. Her answer is always yes!
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Lara LeGrand
Senior Sales Manager
Learn MoreLara LeGrand is an accomplished Senior Sales Professional with record-setting performances and over 20 years of executive sales experience. From historic boutique hotels to destination golf resorts, her distinguished career in the hospitality industry has been fueled by a true passion for people. Lara prides herself in establishing genuine and long-term relationships with planners nationwide. Before accepting a position as a remote Senior Sales Manager out of Chicago, Lara was hired to helm our Director of Catering role. She’s also worked as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Julien Dubuque, Senior Sales Manager at Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa, and Director of Operations at the DeSoto House Hotel.
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Cyrah Wood
Sales Manager
Learn MoreWith her own love of travel and the great outdoors, Cyrah brings the quintessential Colorado experience to life for all of her client’s meetings. Cyrah's event and sales experience includes time in the east coast working at properties across New York City: the Mandarin Oriental, Waldorf Astoria, and upon graduation from New York University, the Conrad New York. After moving to Colorado, she joined the sales team at Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs and is thrilled to now be a part of the Cheyenne Mountain Resort team as she continues to call the Rocky Mountains home.
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Megan Astrella
Executive Meeting Sales Manager
Learn MoreMegan is a Colorado enthusiast. After growing up a Navy Brat, she made the beautiful Pikes Peak region home in 2014. Graduating from California State University Fullerton with a BA degree in Organizational Communications. She worked in project management for corporations such as Apple as well as in the communication field for government.
Megan works with all small groups fewer than 40 rooms on peak nights.
Bobbie leads the Catering Team with over 16 years of hospitality experience in roles selling and servicing events. Before she joined the team, Bobbie worked at the Jacquard Hotel & Rooftop and Hilton Denver Inverness, where she was instrumental in Catering Sales, developing packages, and fostering client relationships. Melissa comes to us from the East Coast, following her husband’s Army career from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area to Colorado Springs. With over a decade of experience in customer service, Melissa has covered the retail, food & beverage, and hospitality industries. After coordinating her best friend’s backyard wedding in 2016 and planning her own Rocky Mountain wedding in 2019, she quickly discovered a passion. Melissa is excited to join the CMR team with a shifted focus from catering and event sales to creating dream weddings. She works zealously with her couples to make sure their special day is seamless and unforgettable. From Poland to France to Japan, Kornelia brings a uniquely international perspective to our neck of the woods, with over 17 years of experience in hospitality and food & beverage. In her 8 years in Colorado, she worked in numerous areas at the Broadmoor Hotel, and was a Catering Sales Manager at The Mining Exchange Wyndham Grand Hotel.Catering Team
Bobbie Giles
Director of Catering
Melissa Kim
Wedding Sales Manager
Kornelia Schee
Catering Sales Manager
Conference Team
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David Romano
Director of Conference & Events
A seasoned professional with 30 years of experience in the meetings industry, David has worked in large group and catering hotels in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
His role as Director of Catering & Conference Management in these markets exposed him to selling and servicing everything from large domestic tradeshows, golf tournaments, and film shoots, to charity galas and debutante balls. Passionate about food and beverage, he brings a West Coast flair to the team at Cheyenne Mountain and is focused on creating unique, complete, and seamless meeting and event experiences for all of our guests.
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Jennifer Padilla
Conference Planning Manager
Learn MoreWith experience in sales, catering, and conferences, Jennifer knows what it takes to succeed. A 2013 graduate of Texas State University, she's worked numerous roles throughout Cheyenne Mountain Resort, including Executive Meeting Manager, Sales Manager, and now Conference Planning Manager. Jennifer meticulously details out every meeting she handles, both large and small, to ensure a flawless program from start to finish.
