Climbing up the ladder at work

Stephanie Salter is one of those rare people you just don’t meet often enough.

Over the past 14 years, Salter has managed to earn an undergraduate degree in business administration and organizational management and a master’s of business administration degree and has steadily moved up the ladder from beverage server on a casino gaming floor to assistant casino manager with an office on the second floor of the casino’s pavilion.

Part personal drive and perseverance, part dedicated mentors, and part working for a company, Salter is an inspiration on how to achieve career success. Salter is employed at Boomtown Casino, a Pinnacle Entertainment property.

“I started out in 2001, and I was a beverage server.

After about four years of being here, I turned into what’s called a dual rate supervisor – if the supervisor was out, I would run the floor. I did that on and off for years mixed with my serving,” Salter said about her early years with Boomtown.

“I had some really good supervisors, and when I started showing the initiative that I wanted to learn and move up, they really took the time out to train me and show me things beyond what I wanted to know,” Salter said, giving much credit in that training to supervisors Stacy Brooks and Mindy Buteaux.

Salter said these women took her in and took the time to teach and train her. “A lot of times people don’t want to teach you because they think you’re going to get their job. But they weren’t scared of that. Those women taught me what they knew and encouraged me to move up anytime a position came open.”

At the same time, Salter was pursuing higher education. She attended Wiley College for her undergraduate business degree and University of Phoenix for her MBA.

She financed her education in part with Pinnacle’s tuition assistance program. Salter said dependent on grade point average, the company’s tuition assistance program will pay up to $2,000 per program. And, as a single parent, she chose her schools based on scheduling because she was working and attending school full-time.

“I was blessed to have a good family. And I took schedules where I knew I could be there for my son, Malcolm. I worked a lot of graveyard [shifts]; I maneuvered my schedule to fit him. My parents, my sister and my brother – that’s who would keep him for me. We didn’t do daycare. We did football, we did wrestling, he did mascot for the school and ROTC, and I did not miss a bit. So I took whatever schedule was going to make me comfortable to be there.”

As a result of the mentoring, education and general tenacity, Salter progressed up the promotion ladder. She was invited to manage the facility’s steakhouse, but at the same time, she had been managing the beverage side of the casino operation. In the end, she managed both. A year or so later, personnel changes in operations led to an invitation to go learn the operations side of the business.

“For me, the bigger advancement would be to go back to the boat and learn operations because table games and slots – that’s predominantly what the boat is about, so that was a great opportunity for me, and maybe not even six months later, I went for the assistant casino manager position. So all in a matter of two years, I was promoted about four times. So yes, it’s an excellent company to work for.

“I’m glad I stayed. The opportunities that have opened up for me being in this position – getting to meet new people, a different level than meeting customers on the boat – it’s just done a lot for me, and my degree, I’m finally getting to use it,” Salter said.

Boomtown Casino’s Ron Centers, vice president and general manager, was equally complimentary of Salter. He said, “Stephanie personifies our Pinnacle values in both her professional and personal interactions. She has genuine compassion, concern and respect for our guests and team members. Her commitment to integrity and excellence help further our mission to be the best casino entertainment company in the world.”

And Salter’s advice for those who would like to follow in her path: “I would tell them to never be scared to go for what they want; don’t let anybody tell them they can’t do it. If they want it bad enough, go after it. You can achieve anything. I would encourage them to keep going.”

– Marty Carlson