Team Member Spotlight: Desiree Lenart
As part of our ongoing series showcasing the people at the soul of The Guestbook technologies, we are proud to introduce Desiree Lenart, veteran budget traveler, and budding surfer.
What is your title at The Guestbook?
Software Developer
What do you do at The Guestbook?
I work on a variety of projects, but these days I mainly focus on optimizing our search page product and improving our rate connectivity infrastructure.
How did you get started in the hospitality industry?
The Guestbook is my first job in the hospitality industry! As someone who is generally pretty frugal and also an avid traveler, I was excited to see that there was a company out there that would not only help me discover cool independent hotels, but also save me some money.
How did you get started at The Guestbook?
I’ve always loved traveling so when I saw the description for The Guestbook on a job posting, I immediately reached out to Michael, our CTO. Not only was the tech stack compelling, but the actual product seemed like it would directly benefit travel-heads like me and the independent hoteliers that help make traveling so fun! I was also impressed with the current software developers on the team and knew I would be able to learn a lot from them.
What do you like about working at The Guestbook?
The culture here is great – I feel really lucky to have landed in a company full of such hardworking, smart, and supportive people. We are also given plenty of opportunities to learn and encouraged to expand our skills as software developers.
What future innovations and/or challenges do you see coming up for hotel loyalty programs?
Overall, many hotel loyalty programs and the technology that fuels them seem a bit antiquated to me. I truly believe the program that consistently offers the best user experience will come out on top. Since many independent hoteliers don’t have an in-house tech team, companies like The Guestbook will be indispensable when it comes to providing these great experiences that users are demanding these days.
What hobbies/activities do you do outside of work?
I spend a lot of weekends hiking and mountain biking with my family, and when I hang out with my best friend, we like to TRY to surf. We aren’t very good. Besides that I like to explore different spots in Southern California. I’m forever looking for hidden gems!
What is your favorite city?
Madrid, Spain
What is your favorite food or cuisine?
Mexican
What is your favorite airline?
Delta
What is your favorite movie?
Amelie
If you were on an island and could only bring 3 things, what would you bring?
My mom, my brother, and my dad. I can get through any situation with the help of my fam.
