Passion and dedication to service excellence can take you far in life. In the case of Regional Hospitality & Catering Manager (Victoria & Tasmania) Jenny Gigliotti, it has also resulted in finalist status in this year's Women in Defence Awards in the Technical Trade category.

This award recognises the Defence community's most outstanding female individual in operations, production or trade fields. 

As Regional Hospitality and Catering Manager Victoria & Tasmania, Jenny was integral in mobilising Ventia's catering operations team to support Operation Bushfire Assist in 2019/2020, maintaining catering services to Defence members at all Victorian bases during the state's three-month COVID lockdown period and seeking out local suppliers to participate in the Defence Economic Stimulus Works Program. 

Outstanding example of service excellence

Jenny was nominated for her passion and dedication to her profession, for leading by example and demonstrating the hospitality ethos of delivering the highest standard of service to those she serves. 

South East Zone Project Director John Parisella said Jenny's guidance and experience ensured that Ventia delivered a high quality outcome for Defence and the community during the bushfire and COVID operations. 

Jenny is an ambassador for her industry and for her colleagues, demonstrated through her experience and long career in Defence and hospitality operations including P&O Food Services, Eurest/Compass Group, Spotless and Transfield Services.  

John says that Jenny believes in setting a standard of service and seeking to educate others about how to achieve it. 

She is passionate about wanting people to succeed and believes that people just need to be nurtured.

^{Jenny Gigliotti (pictured right) with the catering team.}

Rising to challenges

Jenny describes one of her biggest challenges was proving herself as a young female manager in a male dominated work environment. 

This isn't the first award for the work Jenny has done, as she and her team won an internal company 'Challenge Award' for their support to bushfire and COVID operations.   

'I am 'old school customer service' focused,' Jenny says.

After being invited to an open day at the Hilton when I was 16 years old, I knew that is what I wanted my career to be.  

Ventia provides base maintenance and operational services to Defence at 230 major and minor sites nationally under the contract with the Department of Defence.

Read more about our work with Defence here.