Meet Candace Carr Strauss. She’s the new president and CEO of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau and started her job back in February. Candace has a diverse resume. She’s had stints with the Washington Football Team, Houston Symphony and Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. Her last position was serving as the CEO for Big Sky Chamber of Commerce and Visit Big Sky in Montana. Candace discussed her love of the arts, how she wound up in the travel industry and her rug collection – she owns 15 – and why she loves them. Visit visitsedona.com for more information.
SEDONA MONTHLY: Where are you from?
CANDACE CARR STRAUSS: Born and raised in Ohio.
Why did you take this job? What about Sedona appealed to you?
It’s a world-renowned bucket list destination. I mean, everywhere you go, you just say “Sedona” and all of the sudden, people just start gushing. “How amazing,” if they’ve been or that it’s always been somewhere they want to go to and haven’t gotten there yet. It’s a special place, just the natural beauty. I come from Montana, which is beautiful as well, and our natural landscape is just so different. And there is the spirituality around it as well. As far as the job goes, what was so appealing, there is so much opportunity. Even though we are seeing already 3 million visitors a year, the whole greater Sedona Verde Valley is a lot of undiscovered gems. There’s just a ton of continued pent-up demand to come here. And at the same time, our community is trying to rise up and meet the needs of being able to be a gracious host for all those who want to come. And so all of those opportunities to work with our partners in the City of Sedona, to work with the folks over in the Village of Oak Creek, our fellow destinations and communities to be able to showcase this area as well as the Grand Canyon.
How did you become interested in tourism and travel?
It was the result of 9/11. I was living in the nation’s capital. I was going to work for the Washington Football Team. And I was laid off with a group of other individuals who had just been brought on because we came from being the highest attended NFL franchise at roughly 84,000 people a game to under 60,000 as people were afraid to gather in the nation’s capital. But I had a lunch meeting set up with the president and CEO of Destination D.C., the destination marketing arm for the nation’s capital, because he was trying to bring the Army Navy football game to the capital region and was trying to understand the Washington Football Team’s management and how he could approach us with that. And then 9/11 happened. And so I called up Bill and said, “Hey, if you don’t want to meet with me for lunch, because I’m no longer employed there, I’m OK with that.” And he’s like, “Heck no.” And so I’m sitting down, and he learned about my background. And he said, “You know what, I think I have a job offer for you. Give me a few days, and I’ll be back with you.” So I was eager to do emergency fundraising for a campaign that would invite people back to the nation’s capital post-9/11. So that was my start in tourism. And never did I think I would live to see a catastrophe like 9/11 impact the tourism industry like that. And now the one we’re looking at is even nine times worse than that impact.
You have such a diverse work history. Did you remember instantly liking your first job in tourism?
Some people do look at my background and go, “OK, a symphony, a museum, a football team.” And the thread of that really is that all the products that I work with are organic living and breathing products that provide experiences to people and lifelong memories. Be it a live symphonic performance that moves you to tears, or joy or a football team, where your team’s the winner, and it has all of that, and you’re bonding with your kids or your bros or a museum where you’re engaging a child with science and looking at dinosaurs. It was the same with the destination. I had lived in the nation’s capital for 10 years. Loved it, absolutely loved it. My first daughter was born there. I met my husband there before that. And so to be able to give back to the city that I called home for 10 years was an amazing opportunity. And again, people go, “My first trip to D.C. was this or we go back every year.” “This is my favorite.” When you work with organic experiences, the emotional connection that they have with people and that you were the one that helped to provide that, that is what I love about what I do and what steered my path.
This is our women in the arts issue. What do you love about the arts?
The arts open us up as people and allow us to share our human experience through different mediums, and our world would not be nearly as rich as it is without the arts.
What are some of your favorite art forms?
I live for rugs. And I think rug making is another kind of art. My husband always jokes some women have shoes or purses. And for me it’s rugs. When you walk into your home and you look at your floor, that’s something that you spend every day walking on. We have Turkish rugs and Moroccan rugs. For me, they’re pieces of art, and they make me happy.
You worked for a symphony. What are some of your favorite genres of music?
I’m an alternative rock gal. I grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I worked for an alternative rock radio station in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and we produced alternative rock concerts for 50, 60,000, people that were at RFK Stadium and FedExField over in Baltimore. Tori Amos, Beck, the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers. That’s my favorite genre. But I love all kinds. Actually, if you look at my playlist on my phone, it has everything from [country singer] Chris Stapleton, to Tedeschi Trucks to Pearl Jam. And then it has classical, and it has The Crooners. Love those guys as well. All kinds. I’m not a huge fan of heavy metal. That’s my one exception. Not a headbanger.
What are you excited to explore in Sedona?
I need to get out on the trails. I’m really excited to explore our trails. I can’t wait to get out to hike. I’ve got new hiking boots and poles from Christmas. Santa gave me new hiking gear. The Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund, Kevin Adams and Sandi Heysinger, have both already taken me on my first what’s called Walk and Talk sessions. So I’m going to host a walk and talk once a month on the first Wednesday of every month, where I invite community members to meet me out at a trailhead and talk about a specific issue.
Is there anything you want people to know about you?
I’m very approachable. I believe I’m authentic. What you see is what you get. I wear my heart on my sleeve a lot. I hope that we can all be kind.
Any future plans you want to share with us?
A big one for us is really about housing. Obviously, the short term rental impact on our market is twofold. There’s been a real estate boom. There’s absolutely no inventory right now. It’s kind of been a perfect storm with COVID. It’s exacerbated that. But also the deregulation of the short term rental industry in 2017 has really had an unanticipated consequence on the fabric of our communities. And so that is a major initiative. And then just a more regional focus. We’re surrounded by natural beauty. We are part of an ecosystem with our visitor economy as well. So the greater Verde Valley, up to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. And they’ve done an amazing job of partnering to date. But I think there is tremendous opportunity moving forward for us to do more together as a region as we move our visitors around the greater region.
