Jennifer S. Knecht
CRO | Western States Lodging, Management & Development
How have you leveraged your position as a C-suite executive to influence business dynamics in Utah?
As CRO of Western States Lodging & Management, I’ve had the opportunity to help shape growth strategies across senior living, hospitality and multifamily communities throughout Utah and surrounding markets. A large part of my role has been helping organizations move away from siloed decision-making and toward a more connected operational model where sales, marketing, revenue management, operations and customer experience work together instead of independently. Over the last several years, our teams have helped drive significant occupancy, revenue and EBITDA growth across the portfolio while also building systems designed to support long-term scalability.
Beyond the organization itself, I’m passionate about contributing to Utah’s business community through leadership development, mentoring emerging executives and speaking on topics like revenue operations, organizational alignment and innovation in people-centered industries. Utah has a unique entrepreneurial energy, and I believe one of the greatest opportunities we have as business leaders is helping companies grow without losing the culture, relationships and values that made them successful in the first place.
What do you consider to be one of your most significant achievements and why?
One of the achievements I’m most proud of has been helping build a more integrated revenue operations model within our organization. When I stepped into the role, all functions operated independently — sales, marketing and brand experience, revenue management, and customer experience often had different priorities, systems and reporting structures.
Over time, we worked to create greater alignment across those areas by improving visibility, building more consistent operational rhythms and helping teams understand how their work impacted the broader business. That shift created measurable improvements in performance, but more importantly, it created stronger collaboration and accountability across the organization. What makes it meaningful to me is that the work isn’t just about improving numbers. It was about creating an environment where associates had more clarity, stronger tools and greater confidence in how they contributed to the company’s success.
What challenges have you overcome to get here today?
One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to navigate growth and complexity simultaneously. As organizations scale, it becomes very easy for communication gaps, competing priorities and operational silos to slow progress. A large part of my leadership journey has been learning how to simplify complexity while still driving performance. I’ve also had to learn the importance of building systems and developing leaders rather than trying to personally carry everything myself.
Early in my career, I often believed high performance meant personally solving every problem. Over time, I realized the stronger approach is to create clarity, empower people and build structures that allow teams to perform consistently at a high level.
Additionally, working in industries historically dominated by operational and financial leadership structures taught me the importance of resilience, confidence, and staying grounded in results while still leading with empathy and relationship-centered communication.
