Meet Kim Stone, Domestic Business Manager, Gaming Machines at SKYCITY Auckland. Kim has been a 'day oner', joining us back in 1996! Keep on reading as she tells her career story throughout the years, what the SKYCITY’s Rainbow Tick accreditation means to her, and shares some career tips of her own.
What other roles have you held at SKYCITY?
I’ve been with SKYCITY since Day 1 back in 1996, starting as a Dealer and moving up through the Table Games team to become a Shift Manager. I moved around a few other departments including Surveillance before joining Gaming Machines which is where I am now; I’ve held my current role for about 3.5 years.
Briefly describe your current role
I develop and manage relationships with New Zealand-based VIP customers in our Gaming Machines business. It’s a demanding but rewarding role and I’ve formed close bonds with some great people from all over the country. I’m their go-to person when they’re visiting our Auckland property; I know what they like, what hotel they want, where they want to eat... I make it easy for them to visit Auckland and make sure they have a wonderful time while they’re here.
What do you enjoy most about your current role?
It’s the people, the relationships, and the variety. People say this all the time, but it’s truly a case of no two days being the same! I’ve been able to make the role my own and grow this part of our business; I started with 54 domestic customers and grew that to over 300. It took a lot of hard work, spending time with domestic customers, paying attention, lots of travel, and really just making sure people know who I am and ensuring they’re having fun.
What sorts of challenges do you encounter?
While there’s a lot of fun to be had, there are some challenges to the role. For instance, I need to make sure people are safe and gaming responsibly while they’re with us, and also ensuring a balanced personal/professional relationship. It gets quite busy when I have a number of customers visiting at once, managing their expectations and seeing to it that everyone’s taken care of. It can be a real juggle!
What did you do before you joined SKYCITY?
I was a Territory Manager at BP when some friends of mine told me they were signing up for the recruitment expo at the new casino. I quite liked my job at the time but figured I’d tag along with them to see what it was all about. As it turned out, I was offered a job and they weren’t! The rest is history.
What do you enjoy about working here?
I like that SKYCITY is such a large business, it’s really diverse, and there really is something for everyone. It’s a place where you make great friends, and people stay in touch with each other, be it colleagues or customers. I feel appreciated here; respected, well regarded and I feel like I can contribute and make a difference.
What would you say to anyone considering joining SKYCITY?
It’s a big place and you can feel like a small fish in a big sea. But, ultimately, that’s good because there are lots of opportunities. My advice is to act and dress like you’re ready for the next step, keep an eye out for opportunities to learn and take on more responsibility and, most of all, be true to yourself.
What does SKYCITY’s Rainbow Tick accreditation mean to you?
I think it signals to people in the LGBTI community that we’re a welcoming and supportive place for them to work and be themselves. I’ve worked here long enough to know that SKYCITY’s always been a colourful, accepting culture, but people outside the business might not know that. While I’ve always been quite confident in myself and my ability to succeed, I know that not everyone feels like that in their current work place.
I’m really stoked about being part of the Auckland Pride Parade this year! SKYCITY is such an iconic part of Auckland so it’s totally appropriate that we’re represented amongst all the other businesses and groups that will walk along Ponsonby Road on the 17th.
Thank you for sharing your story Kim! If Kim's story has inspired you to join our team at SKYCITY, go to our careers website to explore career options and apply.
