The ABC’s of Career Success

The ABC’s of Career Success

At 13 years old, Peter Arceo discovered the lengths people would go to for entertainment. “I worked at a place where people hit balls for sport,” recalls Arceo of his first job gathering golf balls at a driving range. That first job taught him about recreation. Arceo’s second job in a local Italian restaurant taught him the value of hard work and unsung heroes behind the scenes creating each experience consumers have. These early experiences in hospitality would shape the career of Arceo, now the General Manager of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino.

We spoke to Peter about what has served him well on his unique career path and what others can use as tools when thinking about their career journey.

A is for Ambition

Arceo’s ultimate goal wasn’t to be the General Manager of a casino. Originally, he wanted to work in sports medicine. But when college chemistry classes kicked in, the desire to sit on the sidelines at Lakers games wasn’t worth it.

Arceo’s mom decided that a trip to Las Vegas would be the key to helping Peter figure out his next career step now that sports medicine had been scratched off the list. After visiting the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Arceo decided to transfer there to pursue a degree in hotel administration. But first, he wanted to make sure he would like it.

Before starting at UNLV, Arceo decided to test the waters at another hotel despite having no experience. The key to his success? Ambition. He told the HR manager he would only be there for a year, but ensured he would be the hardest worker she had during those 365 days. Arceo delivered on that promise and was able to transfer to a sister hotel in Las Vegas once he began classes. From there, Arceo’s ambition really kicked in. He moved from hotel desk to blackjack dealer, from IT to marketing, and then up the chain to the C-suite.

The consistent thruline for Arceo’s career was his ambition. Arceo recalls his time working in information technology and how that, ultimately, wasn’t where he wanted to be. He wanted to be on the analytical side of marketing, but he needed to know how to get there. “My mentor said he really needed me to do these three projects in IT and do them well. If I did that, then he would consider me for the next available marketing opportunity that comes,” Arceo says. Once again, Arceo delivered on his promise and moved on to his next step.

B is for Being Patient

Ambition without patience can sometimes be a deadly combination when it comes to professionalism. People who are young in their career often get anxious about the timelines of their growth, Arceo says, but sometimes life has its own timeline for you. One of the hardest lessons to learn for someone looking to grow their career is when to push forward, and more importantly, when to take a step back and wait patiently.

Arceo has had a few times in his career when this lesson came in handy. After working through his bachelor’s degree with UNLV, he wanted to pursue his MBA. But his desire for continuing his education also came at the time when Arceo was trying to determine how to make his move from IT to marketing. When standing at the crossroads, Arceo took a leap of faith and decided on patience by putting his MBA goal on hold in favor of work experience. This decision ultimately led to greater success, and an opportunity down the road for Arceo to pursue his MBA with even more valuable work experience under his belt.

C is for Curiosity

Curiosity breeds creativity. That’s one principle that Arceo stands by in both the workplace and in life. He recalls that sometimes he’ll be watching a movie on Netflix and in a few short hours, he will have found his way to the main source of economics for a city in Iowa. Arceo embraces the informational rabbit hole we sometimes all go down, and he welcomes the ideas that come from it.

“When it’s time to be creative, I’ll remember that there’s a world out there that I don’t live in. There are millions of people that live in other worlds that may be impacted by whatever creative discussion that we are having, so let’s keep our creative ideation as open as possible.”

This innate curiosity ensures that no matter what Arceo and his team are working toward, they maintain the ability to reach broader audiences by keeping in mind the different experiences of those in the world around them. Not only does Arceo view this as a more inclusive way of operating, but it often allows him to truly push the boundaries of how brands are positioning themselves in the current landscape.

So, no matter your professional goals, always remember the ABC’s of career success. Use your ambition as a launching pad to gain experience and set yourself apart from your peers. Know when to be humbly patient in order to meet the next step. Always come to the table with an open, curious mind. With these three tricks, you can reach great heights.

Featuring Peter Arceo

Featuring Peter Arceo, General Manager of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel.