A Universal Example of a Successful Filipina
Mary Ann Gamboa (Photo courtesy of Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, A Four Seasons Hotel)
They share specific traits. The Filipinas I interviewed were less sensitive than their male counterparts about public perceptions. They seldom insisted that I keep the lens cap on and instead let their publicists submit professional photographs. More Filipino men than women are anxious about seeing their age in print. Filipinas don’t skip questions about career setbacks and weaknesses. And Filipina women are more likely to ask me to include an invitation for young adults to contact them for career advice.
Innate kindness keeps Mary Ann Gamboa, 55, energetic and in charge. As the new Commercial Director of the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, in Beverly Hills, she conforms to this revised image of Filipinas as monarchs in their culture. (Successful Filipino men I’ve interviewed usually had a strong mother who molded them in her image.)
Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills (Photo courtesy of Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, A Four Seasons Hotel)
A Pandemic Surprise
“COVID occurred in 2020, and the Director of Sales and Marketing position at the Four Seasons Toronto opened up,” Gamboa recalls. “I’d always wanted to work for Four Seasons because of its reputation as the top luxury brand among hotels. I was honored to be the first woman of Filipino descent to be appointed to that job.”
This is not to imply that she capitalized on a vacancy caused by the pandemic. Nobody died for Gamboa to occupy the Sales and Marketing Director’s desk. She was qualified to join the executive team at Four Seasons Toronto in 2020, following a long series of promotions at other notable hotels.
Gamboa was born in Quezon City and raised in Baliwag, Bulacan. She is the daughter of Maria Erlinda Gambo, an elementary school teacher at Baliwag Intermediate School. Her father was Perfecto Gamboa, an overseas contract worker in Saudi Arabia. She has a younger sister, Mary Lynn Gamboa, a Toronto nurse, and an older brother, Mark Gamboa, the Chief Strategy Officer for the Max’s of Manila chain of restaurants.
A family photo, circa 1976, taken in Baliwag, Bulacan, Philippines. In order from left to right: Mary Ann Gamboa, age 5; her brother Mark Jeun Gamboa, 1; their mother, Maria Erlinda Gamboa; father, Perfecto Gamboa; and sister, Mary Lynn Gamboa, 3 (Photo courtesy of Mary Ann Gamboa)
She Asked and Received
After earning a Bachelor of Science in Tourism from the University of the Philippines Diliman, she began a hospitality career that has lasted 34 years and counting.
“My first job after graduating was as a PBX/Telephone Operator at the Manila Midtown Ramada Hotel in Ermita, Manila, for about three months. My last job in the Philippines was as a Sales Manager at Manila Galleria Suites in Ortigas Center, Pasig, for three years.”
In 1998, she boarded an international flight with her son in the next seat and four boxes in the cargo hold. Toronto relatives took her in for a year. Her second act began at the front desk and gift shop of the Regal Constellation Hotel in Toronto.
“I worked hard in customer service,” Gamboa says of her first year at Regal Constellation. “Then I decided it was time to move to another department. I approached the Director of Sales and Marketing with my resume and said, ‘Hi, Kelly, I have sales experience in the Philippines.’ She hired me as a Coordinator. After three years, I moved to Associate Director of Sales for Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario, and then to Director of Sales for Sandalwood Hotels and Suites in Mississauga, Ontario.”
Other sales and marketing positions followed, starting with Hotel Admiral Toronto and then Courtyard Toronto Downtown, the largest Courtyard by Marriott of all. Her gift shop days became distant blips, displaced by top positions in prestigious hotels.
“I opened Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, then went on to one of the most important properties in Toronto—the InterContinental Toronto Center, the largest IHG location in Canada and the only hotel connected to Metro Toronto Convention Centre.”
Final complete family photo taken in January 2014 with Perfecto Gamboa, who died that October. The location was Baliwag, Bulacan. Philippines. The Gamboa's from left to right: Perfecto, Mary Ann, Maria Erlinda, Mary Lynn, and Mark Jeun (Photo courtesy of Mary Ann Gamboa)
Hollywood’s Golden Age
Her career at Four Seasons spanned six years, culminating in a promotion to Sales and Marketing Director of the luxury brand’s marquee property, Four Seasons Toronto. In July 2026, Four Seasons approved her request to transfer to the Commercial Director post at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
First opened in 1928, the hotel offers the best of the 21st Century without sacrificing its Jazz Age charm. As Commercial Director, she oversees public relations, sales, and marketing.
“It’s such an honor to be here. Beverly Wilshire Hotel is iconic and legendary,” she says of the former home away from home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the de facto residence of Elvis Presley, Warren Beatty, and Steve McQueen.
“Condé Nast recognizes it as the number one hotel out of a thousand hotels in Los Angeles and number 27 globally. It is the largest hotel in Beverly Hills, and right when I arrived, it was awarded two MICHELIN Keys.
“It’s been a fulfilling time to be here and get these accolades.” Looking ahead, she reveals, “I’m part of the planning process for the mega events that are coming to Los Angeles. We were involved with the Super Bowl (XXVII), and now the coming Summer Olympics, and the exclusive 100-year anniversary of the hotel.”
The Hotel Is the Attraction
The lowest rate among the 395 guest rooms and suites is $800 a night. Gamboa is aware that the cost is prohibitive for most people and that Los Angeles offers many affordable alternatives for tourists who are satisfied with simply having a place to stay. She recommends the Beverly Wilshire as a destination for a honeymoon, a place to celebrate a monumental event, or a way to reward parents or friends as an expression of infinite gratitude.
“It’s a Four Seasons hotel, so you will truly experience the unparalleled luxury service that you deserve when you’re celebrating a milestone.” She adds, “Employees of the Four Seasons believe in the Golden Rule: that we treat people how they want to be treated. That’s also a central tenet of our Filipino culture. We give you the best experience you will ever have.”
The lobby at Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills (Photo courtesy of Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, A Four Seasons Hotel)
She knows the Beverly Wilshire personally as well as professionally. Still newlyweds, she and her husband of six months partook of the posh life she so ardently endorses at the Beverly Wilshire during their first month in Los Angeles. They have since moved into their own place, though she could have prolonged her second honeymoon by requesting extra time to homestead. But the Canadian is eager to see California, starting with her immediate surroundings. She welcomes opportunities to connect with the local Filipino community, find a parish, and explore the City of Angels, its moving pictures, diverse cuisine, and Pacific sunsets.
Asked about her favorite amenity during her month of living extravagantly, she cannot switch off marketing mode. “My God, there are too many amenities to love.” She then circles back to her clientele and explains, “When we know the profile of our guests, we curate personalized amenities. My favorite moments are when our guests are surprised that we know them so well.”
As a hypothetical example, I proposed a Filipino basketball fan in town for the LA28 Summer Olympics. “We’ll have something in our welcome amenity that honors his love of basketball. It could either be a gift or something edible,” she says.
Gamboa urges Filipinos in Los Angeles to stop by to say kumusta. “I love opportunities to speak Tagalog.”
She also sings in Tagalog. When she grasps the karaoke mic, the unsung star picks the Sharon Cuneta standard, Tubig at Langis.
Flourishing in a Man’s World
Through more than a hundred interviews with Filipina women, I have come to see a pattern that befits her story. A Filipina strikes out on her own. She beats the odds on her terms with faith, ingenuity, and perseverance. And once she reaches the summit, she mentors young Filipino men and women at the start of their climb. Gamboa encourages women and men exploring a hospitality career to contact her through LinkedIn.
She has continued to build on her business accomplishments nearly a decade after the Filipina Women’s Network recognized her as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World. Last month, she joined the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Innate kindness keeps Mary Ann Gamboa, 55, energetic and in charge.
I could be guilty of cultural exceptionalism and oblivious to a wider trend in the West of women outpacing men in the workplace. Long before trendsetters, jetsetters, and Irish setters, women were the decision makers in Filipino families. We come from a matriarchal order. Except for some tita’s colorism bias, the mature minds of Filipinas have too many responsibilities to be colonized. A Filipina is usually the wisest person in the room and always the brightest one. At the risk of betraying my gender, I posit that anyone who fantasizes about a world where women are in control should ask a Filipino man or watch a Filipina woman. (Imelda Marcos was an anomaly because Filipinas are always considerate of others.) Mary Ann Gamboa is one of many Filipina titans who have earned their glory and are generous in doling out advice, complete with references. Positively Filipino is committed to telling stories like hers, as well as those of their outlier brothers who are equally determined. Anthony Maddela is a longtime Staff Correspondent for Positively Filipino. He is proud of his wife, Susan, as the new Senior Editor working remotely for Broth Agency in New York City. More articles from Anthony Maddela
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