Shangri-La | Grand Lakes Resort & Marina - Oklahoma Hotels

The luxury Shangri-La Resort & Marina is nestled on Monkey Island on northeastern Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees, the ultimate getaway destination.

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Brent Beyers

Brent Beyers is a Grand Lake area native and Ketchum High School alum. If it breaks, cracks, stops up, burns out, or just doesn’t work properly, the calls go to Brent. He and his staff take care of all resort facilities.

Brent comes to Shangri-La from Buffalo Run Casino and Resort in Miami, Oklahoma where he served as Director of Maintenance/Engineering. He has also worked in the Joplin, Missouri area as Maintenance Specialist responsible for daily supervision and maintenance of all Freeman Hospital buildings.

Brent has a variety of certifications including Hunter Irrigation Specialist Certification, certifications for pool & spa operations, fire containment certification, OSHA safety certification – he is even certified as a Personal Trainer.

brent.beyers@shangrilaok.com

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Michael Williams

Mike Williams is both a longtime Grand Laker, a Shangri-La historical authority and a recognized advertising, communications, public relations and government relations expert. He has a broad base of radio, television and newspaper experience, having served during his career as Assistant News Director for KTOK Radio and the Oklahoma Radio News Network, Managing Editor of KWTV News 9 in Oklahoma City and Managing Editor of The Chronicle of Grand Lake.

Williams and his wife, Cari, owned an advertising, public relations, government relations and political consulting firm in Oklahoma City for many years before moving to Grand Lake full time in 1993. Mike and Cari were Grand Lake enthusiasts long before moving to the lake full-time. They have owned boats and weekend Grand Lake residences since the 1970’s and were members of the original Shangri-La Resort.

Having worked as Manager of Cherokee Yacht Club Marina and as Director of Operations for Ugly John’s Custom Boats & RVs, Mike is also a valuable asset in the marketing of the wide variety of facilities at Shangri-La Marina. He supervises all communications, advertising, public relations and government relations efforts for the entire Shangri-La operation. He is Vice-President of the Oklahoma Marinas Association and serves on the organization’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Lake of the Cherokees Watershed Association and the South Grand Lake Area Chambers of Commerce, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Grove Area Chamber of Commerce.

Mike and Cari live in the midst of Shangri-La Golf Club’s course, in Vista Towers. They are well known Monkey Islanders, having raised their four grown children, all graduates of Grove High School, on the Island.

mike.williams@shangrilaok.com

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Dana Able

Shangri-La’s Director of Sales Dana Able is a native of nearby Welch, Oklahoma. After graduating from Welch High School and Oklahoma State University, Dana moved to the Washington, D.C area, where she worked briefly for real estate development/investment giant Trammell Crow Company. After a year, she joined Bell Atlantic Telephone in a joint venture project with GTE. Dana’s career spanned 26 years from Bell Atlantic through multiple acquisitions which resulted in what is now known as Verizon. During her tenure, Dana held multiple titles and was asked to relocate a few times to facilitate start up organizations, acquisitions or corporate re-organizations. Dana had responsibility for leading top producing sales organizations while in her role as Area Vice President of Enterprise Sales in the Pennsylvania/New York market before retiring in February 2014 as Area Vice President, Regional Strategy and Development for the northern region of the United States.

She returned home to Grand Lake in March, 2014 and spent a couple of years enjoying relaxation and well-deserved time with many members of her family who live in the area. With the development of Shangri-La’s new resort hotel well underway, Dana joined the Shangri-La team as Director of Sales in October, 2016. She lives in the nearby “Vintage” community on the shores of Grand Lake.

dana.able@shangrilaok.com

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Linda Wall

Linda Wall came to Shangri-La from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa where she served as Senior Conference Service Manager for seven years.

Linda is a native of Minnesota and began her career in St. Cloud, Minnesota following her education in Food & Beverage Management at Willmar in Minnesota. She first came to this area when she accepted a job as Director of Catering at the Hilton Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

From Arkansas, she moved to Tulsa where she worked in catering at a variety of facilities over the last several years. Her first job in Tulsa was Director of Catering at the Tulsa Sheraton (now the Tulsa Wyndham). She also served as Senior Catering Manager at the Double Tree at Warren Place, Director of Catering at Embassy Suites, and Director of Catering for the Tulsa Convention Center and BOK Center before moving to Hard Rock.

linda.wall@shangrilaok.com

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Gina Holloway

Gina Holloway is a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was hired to create the Marketing Department at Shangri-La Resort in 2020. Gina comes to Shangri-La with 20 years of experience in Marketing with a focus on Digital Media. Gina was educated at Northeastern State University and started her career in the fashion industry in Dallas in 1987, a veteran to travel; she relocated several times from Cleveland, Ohio, to Chicago, Illinois’ to Los Angeles, where she created promotions and fundraising for a local theatre group. In 2000 Gina finally landed in Owasso Oklahoma, where she was the Marketing Director at Owasso Medical Spa. Working in a small business made her realize how unique and specialized marketing can be for a small business; this quickly became her passion. She started a consulting firm that educated and guided business owners on increasing their business revenue by using social media tools and online advertising.

In 2008 Gina worked for AcrobatAnt Advertising Agency with Social Media clients Mazzio’s and PennWell Publishing. She made the transition into TV in 2013 and worked in the Digital Department at the NBC affiliate KJRH in Tulsa until her path took her to New Mexico and then back to Tulsa, where she was a Marketing Manager at TMA Systems in Tulsa. She has extensive paid and volunteer experience in fundraising and marketing with Tulsa Young Professionals, Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, California Community Theatre, Women in Recovery, Grace Hospice, KRMG, and the City of Tulsa.

Gina brings a wealth of knowledge in online marketing, brand strategy, and creative concepting. One of her favorite quotes is by Maya Angelou, and it really sums up what she wants to accomplish in her work. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you SAID, people will forget what you DID, but people will NEVER FORGET how you made them FEEL.” – Maya Angelou.

gina.holloway@shangrilaok.com

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