Digital Marketing Specialist, HayMax Hotels

Basalt High Class of 2005

After Basalt native Winn graduated magna cum laude from the University of Denver in 2009—with a BA in mass communications and media studies and minors in studio art and international studies—she had home on her mind but knew she couldn’t return just yet.

“I told myself if I wanted to live in the valley, I would have to explore a bit first,” the 31-year-old says. “But there’s really no place like the Roaring Fork Valley. Everywhere I go, I always compare things to here.”

Post-college, she found a sales and marketing job with Mammoth Mountain in California and got promoted twice in two years. Afterward, she went north to Mount Hood, Oregon, to work at three different destination lodging properties. After less than two years there, she was finally ready to come full circle, taking a job at the St. Regis Aspen Resort as the hotel’s marketing coordinator. Two years there and another three in marketing for Snowmass Tourism brought Winn to her current position as the digital marketing specialist for HayMax Hotels, which owns Hotel Aspen and Molly Gibson Lodge, as well as two boutique hotel properties in Ketchum, Idaho.

Her current job, says Winn, allows her to use all of her talents and skills. “It’s been nice to keep myself on my toes. Marketing is pretty fast,” she says. “You have to challenge yourself to keep up with it because it’s always changing.”

Needless to say, she’s thrilled to be living in the valley, where she enjoys finding new trails to hike, photographing spectacular views, and playing fetch with her 7-year-old Scottish terrier, Clubber. Winn’s parents and one of her brothers still live in the area, too.

Though she’s managed to work her way into her current job through a consistent career path, Winn admits that succeeding professionally here is an ongoing—yet achievable—challenge. “It’s a constant pursuit. You have to be willing to better yourself, have drive, and not let the little things drag you down,” she says.