Building Her Way to the Top
From babysitting and eldercare to concierge at the renowned 220 Central Park South, Sharon Noel Lake makes her way.
Sharon Noel Lake left Trinidad in 1997 and came to the U.S., temporarily leaving behind two young daughters, to soon bring them along to America to build a better life for her family. At the outset, she held down a number of jobs from babysitting and elder care to housekeeping and office management. Six years later, she was double-fisting a full-time sales associate position at Macy’s and a part-time cashier job at Trump Marketplace.
In 2005, the resident manager at 120 Riverside (also a Trump property), offered her a promotion to concierge, based on her professional presentation and work ethic. It took her two days to fill out the application, but was assured that, barring any discrepancy with her drug test, the job was hers. She assured the manager right back that there would never be any issues with drugs, and after just a week from the initial offer she became concierge at the prestigious location.
She remained at 120 Riverside for about 14 years, learning, growing, and improving her skills. The work did not go unnoticed, and she received an offer to transition to her current position at 220 Central Park South, a renown, landmarked building. It is a bit of a tourist destination, home to some of the most expensive residences in the city.
Leaving Riverside was tricky she said; she had been there for so long and the tenants there “hated to see I was leaving. But I wanted to see a change... to move on, and I haven’t regretted it.”
Thus, in early 2019 she began this job that she loves. The beauty, history and elegance of the building are impossible to take for granted. “Knowing that my colleagues are happy...and seeing that the residents are happy and appreciate what we do for them” makes her job all the more fulfilling.
The worst part of her job is when there are miscommunications. But Lake runs a tight ship, and luckily, this is extremely rare. In fact, she had a tough time even coming up with any downsides to the job.
Off the clock, she loves to travel, and is in the middle of renovating her home in Mount Vernon with her husband, Bernard, who is an architect. She looks forward to the design aspects of the remodel once the more fundamental work is done, having gleaned much from the magnificent detail and design of her workplace, which was designed by Robert A.M. Stern and SLCE Architects.