Best Western^®️ Hotels & Resorts Designer Erin Schager has always been passionate about being creative.

“My mom is a painter and a ceramicist,” Schager said. “So, when I was little, I was constantly making art, whether it was drawing, painting or making things out of clay. I’ve always loved making art, and my favorite classes when I was a kid were always my art classes. And when I went to college, I wanted to make sure that my career would fulfill my sense of creativity, and that’s when I was introduced to design.

Originally, from Iowa, Schager graduated from Iowa State University, one of the top 10 design schools in the country. From there, Schager spent a few years working for an architectural firm that focused on building and designing smaller offices and other commercial projects. After that, she moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and began working with the White Lotus Development Group, which introduced her to the hospitality industry. Next, she moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and was hired by the Best Western Hotels & Resorts Studio Design team.

As a member of the Studio Design team, Schager specializes in creating packages and prototypes for her clients. In other words, she works with hotels in the earliest phases of their design or redesign, down to the initial concept. At any given time, she could be working on as many as 25 different hotels, and every day, she works on two to six properties at varying levels of completion.

“Depending on what design phase they’re in, I might be putting together a design presentation, which is our first initial phase that outlines what we foresee for the property,” Schager said. “Once the property approves the design, I can then move forward and order some of the core materials needed. I’ll then send the property a little box of various samples, just to make sure they’re happy with all the choices being made for their hotel.”

From there, Schager will draw up a few computer-generated drawings, creating floor plans, pattern plans, and other various construction documents her properties will be needing. Once her client assures her that they completely understand all her drawings and what to do with them moving forward, she then passes the project off to her project manager, who works with the property on the ordering and delivery of all the new materials.

For Schager, what she loves most about her job is the variety.

“I absolutely love how much variety is in my job,” Schager said. “Each project is so different and has a ton of possibilities. Because of that, my job can be quite challenging sometimes, but it’s a lot of fun for me to tap into my creative side to come up with solutions that are both the best fit for the property and also excites my clients about what’s in store for their hotels.”