ML - Vegas Magazine

Vegas - 2015 - Issue 4 - Summer - Art of the City - J.K. Russ

Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.

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photography by Melissa Valladares INSIGHT nickname: "Friends have been calling me 'Kimchi' for so long that some people actually think it's my real name." people i most admire: "My mom and big sisters— they're the strongest women I know." mantra: "Actively pursuing happiness." best investment: "Life's investment would be time, love, compassion for myself and loved ones. Financial investment would be when I opened my frst Roth IRA as soon as I turned 18, which taught me to build a diverse portfolio over the years." best advice: "It's an oldie but goodie…. The Golden Rule is to treat others how you would like to be treated." favorite indulgence: "Movie theater popcorn and Junior Mints." A job with a Fortune 500 firm couldn't keep this self-described nerd from answering the siren call of Vegas, and her decision has paid off in spades. Night Moves XS nightclub'S im martin-Wood went from induStrial engineering to engineering the perfect night in the nation'S SpendieSt nightclub. by cl gaber K im Martin-Wood used to hang out with some very different party animals. "I was bor n in a sma ll Iowa tow n a nd g rew up on t he fa mily fa r m. It was country life with hogs and cattle—about as removed from Vegas as possible," she says with a laugh. So what's this girl from a one-post-office town doing now? Hint: Bottle ser- v ice doesn't involve feeding a n or pha n ca lf. Ma r t in-Wood is t he assist a nt general manager of XS, the nation's top-grossing nightclub for five of its six years, and its sister club Tryst. A former industrial engi- neer ("I love math and science—I'm a nerd!"), she earned a degree from Iowa State University's College of Engineering and went to work for a Fortune 500 firm specializing in avi- onics. "My two older sisters relocated to Vegas, and they would tell me stories of 'big life, big city,'" she says. "So I started to get a little antsy. I wanted to go out and explore." By 2004, Martin-Wood had moved to Las Vegas, where she landed a job as a cocktail server at Club Ra in Luxor. But when she heard about a new nightclub called Tryst in Wynn, she couldn't wait to audition. She helped open that club, then did the same for XS at Encore as its nightclub ma nager, mov ing up t he r ungs to operat ions ma nager and then her current position. "I oversee the grand scheme of things," she explains. "I like to call myself a firefighter figuratively because I do put out fires." Her only-in-Vegas challenges have included strange requests from VIP guests, such as renting a live panda for the club experience ("Unfortunately, I couldn't accommodate that"). She's also been the ring bearer for marriage proposals and the referee for Olympic athletes during swimming challenges in the club's pool. "There are celebs and royalty and VIPs," she says. "The winners of the Stanley Cup brought the cup to the club and drank from it. There are the high rollers who stay until sunrise. They don't want the DJ to stop the music, so they'll buy Champagne and tequila for everyone in the club. "A lot of people think a nightclub job is only at night," Ma r t in-Wood adds, "but we operate 2 4 hours a day." Because X S sha res it s outdoor space w it h E ncore's European pool area, "we have people in the club as early as 8 am." Not that she's complaining. "I get to throw my own party every night." wynnlasvegas.com V PEOPLE Desert Patrol 60  vegasmagazine.com

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