Sarah Jesson

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2024
• First Four Seasons Position: Current

Employment History

• Canadian Media Producers Association, Toronto; Jesson + Company Communications Inc, Toronto; Halfire Entertainment, Toronto; Vox Pictures, London; Junta de Andalucía, Almería, Spain

Education

• Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies and Business French Certificate, Western University, London, Ontario; School of Continuing Studies, French Language and Literature, University of Toronto

Birthplace

• Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Languages Spoken

• English, French, Spanish

“When you get down to it, the formula for success in public relations is creativity and lateral thinking,” says Sarah Jesson, contemplating the years of versatile experience she brings to Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. As Director of Public Relations and Communications for the hometown address of the leader in ultra-luxury hospitality, Jesson owns up to being a generalist and is ready to roll up her sleeves and help out wherever she is needed. “I thrive on challenge and try to take a multidimensional approach to problem solving.”

Now in her first in-house turn for a hotel property, and quite a property at that, Sarah heads a small-but-dynamic operation within the broader Marketing division. Much of her work is focused on driving the Hotel’s profile and enhancing its image in both the local market, nationally and internationally. She employs a rich tactical toolkit to access media and develop partnerships, from composing traditional press releases and of-the-moment postings across the social media, to creating headline-grabbing events and promotions and liaising with movers and shakers in business, entertainment, culture, and more.

Relationship building and networking are key to her work. So, too, is staying current and on top of trends. She wants international arrivals and locals alike to see the Hotel as a place to spend time as well as a launch pad to discover the world-class city around it.

To that end, she regularly engages with team members, including Directors and Managers of individual departments, to stay on top of all that is new or just over the horizon. “I talk with Management about ideas and messaging, and then to storytellers across all sorts of markets,” she explains, likening her role to an ambassador. “At heart, it’s all about building bridges to enhance the Hotel’s image and grow clientele.”

A native of nearby Waterloo, Ontario, but long a devotee of Toronto – “as soon as I got my driver’s license, it was, ‘that’s it, I’m going to the city’” – Sarah got into PR early, inspired and encouraged by an aunt in the business who tapped her to stuff press kits at a young age. She later used the connection to plug into other communications professionals, many of whom had honed their skills with Four Seasons.

Sarah also saw PR as an outlet for travel, learning about other cultures, and polishing her budding multilingualism, which at one point saw her teach English in Almeria, Spain, through a program sponsored by the Spanish government. Her interests and work eventually included fashion, art, design, and food and beverage, which she calls “a centre of my world”.

As her responsibilities grew at her aunt’s firm, they encompassed a full suite of PR and marketing services, from event planning to leading familiarization trips, product launches to client activations across various industries. She also worked with Four Seasons properties in Los Cabos and Anguilla while leading accounts for the tourism boards of their respective destinations, and she managed North American PR for the architectural designer of Four Seasons addresses in Tokyo and Bangkok.

Most recently, Sarah was engaged at the Canadian Media Producers Association, where she worked alongside the executive leadership team and liaised across multiple offices. She also enriched her connection to the entertainment industry working in production for Halfire Entertainment in Canada and Vox Pictures in the UK.

Now right at home in-house with Four Seasons in Toronto, Sarah lives as she works, leading a “very social” life and savouring her passions for family, cooking, travel, and music. “Funny thing,” she says, “I went to the same high school as the Executive Chef of Café Boulud here at the Hotel, and my husband works in the corporate office of Four Seasons. It’s a big city, but a small world.”