We share entrepreneurial stories to inspire great ideas...
Erin Dunham
Erin Dunham is the CEO and co-owner of the Hamilton-based hospitality group The Other Bird, She has previously been named Hamilton’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Hamilton’s Chamber of Commerce, while The Other Bird earned the title of Outstanding Mid-sized Business. Erin has also been awarded The Top Forty Under Forty award for Hamilton and been recognized as a strong female influence in the restaurant industry, being honoured with the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award in 2018. Her passions do not end at food and love of city but, more frivolously, she does enjoy an old red wine and a freshly cut cigar.
Check out our live interview on Business Mentorship; Keepin’ It Real: https://youtu.be/6oJpUw4pwZA
Entrepreneur, Erin Dunham
- Contributed By: Erin Dunham
Tell us a little something about your business...
The Arlington Hotel is a 24 room boutique hotel in Paris, Ontario. I began my journey on this project in 2016 after saying on a radio show that I hoped to someday own a boutique hotel and then, as fate would have it, the opportunity arose. The owner at the time had done extensive renovations which left the hotel as a lovely shell in need of some passion and love. Luckily, my partner and I have an abundance of passion to pour into projects. We turned it into a literary themed hotel and designed every room to be individually themed after different creatives throughout time. (i.e. Edgar Allan Poe, Stanley Kubrick, Emily Dickenson, Maya Angelou) It was a great case of something presenting itself before we were ready for it to but taking the opportunity anyway and running with it. The Arlington hotel has proven to be our greatest challenge, but also, the thing that I am most proud of doing.
When was your lightbulb moment?
The lightbulb moment was when we were approached about the opportunity and I thought out loud “there’s no way we can do this…can we” and my partner just looked back at me and said “if not now then when?”
What are your three words of advice?
Three words of advice...
Just Do It!
Erin Dunham is the CEO and co-owner of the Hamilton-based hospitality group The Other Bird, She has previously been named Hamilton’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Hamilton’s Chamber of Commerce, while The Other Bird earned the title of Outstanding Mid-sized Business. Erin has also been awarded The Top Forty Under Forty award for Hamilton and been recognized as a strong female influence in the restaurant industry, being honoured with the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award in 2018. Her passions do not end at food and love of city but, more frivolously, she does enjoy an old red wine and a freshly cut cigar.
Check out our live interview on Business Mentorship; Keepin’ It Real: https://youtu.be/6oJpUw4pwZA
“May your legacy create a footprint of success for the next person who steps into your shoes”
