Executive Leadership team at Great Wolf Lodge

As Chief Wellness Officer, Dr. Romie Mushtaq, MD's role is to lead a culture of wellness for Pack members so they can reach their full potential as individuals and as teams. Her approach to work is simultaneously disruptive while building cultures, always for the greater good. As a mindful leader, her plans are based on careful data collection, research, & strategic thinking while working to bring together stakeholders across all divisions of the organization. Her career-defining moment was when burnout led to life-saving surgery and sent her on a global journey to heal and learn about mindfulness and global healing traditions.

Dr. Romie was raised with a Midwestern ethic of hard work and academic excellence. Her first pack was the afternoon tea parties with her maternal grandmother, mother, & her aunties. Under their watchful eyes, she learned to listen with heart-centered compassion and storytelling- all while fostering a sassy attitude. Today, she is on a mission to advocate for women and girls from Kindergarten to the C-Suite, especially in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEM).

In her free time, Dr. Romie savors quiet connection—whether sharing cups of chai with her elders, traveling the globe to share comfort food with family and friends, reading the latest brain science articles, or going away to meditation retreats. She lives in Florida, where she is a proud human catering to her senior dog, Rahja.

Experience:

Dr. Romie is a triple-board certified physician, award-winning speaker, author, and proud STEMinist. Her education was completed at the Medical University of South Carolina, The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and the University of Michigan, and she is board certified in Integrative Medicine. In addition to complex patient care, she was involved in cutting-edge research for women's brain health—all while winning numerous teaching and research awards.

In 2018, she was named Chief Wellness Officer at Evolution Hospitality, where she helped to scale a customized mindfulness and wellness program to over 7000 employees—a unique model that has led her to be a sought-after speaker and expert on workplace wellness. In 2020, Dr. Romie won Orlando's Woman of The Year award for leadership and philanthropy. She also serves on the National Board of Directors for the Girl Scouts USA. Her book, The Busy Brain Cure, features her research on the workplace mental health and burnout crisis and was released globally in January 2024 (Harper Collins).

Murph is a people person, who is energized by his engagement with Pack members, both in the corporate support office as well as with those in the lodges…he’s constantly looking for ways to connect at a personal level. He is keenly focused on being “vertically flexible”, striving to understand when to be at 30,000 feet (thinking about high-level strategy for the business), at 15,000 feet (providing inspirational leadership), or at 5 feet (rolling his sleeves up and digging into the details of an issue with his colleagues). Murph is constantly looking to help people reach their full potential and believes the proper balance of celebrating success along with providing positive tension will deliver strong results and engagement. He can often be heard saying “What gets measured, gets done” and “Sometimes you have to drop the firehose and go kill the arsonist” which highlights his unwavering passion for proactivity and attention to detail.

Murph has been married to his wife and best friend Heidi for 34 years. They have a very tight-knit family which includes their three adult children and five grandchildren who come together around Heidi’s amazing cooking; they collectively relish spending time together as a three-generation family around a table, eating, drinking, and laughing. When not in Chicago, Murph and Heidi spend time at their home in Solana Beach, CA and their second home in St Helena, in the Napa Valley where they are very active and love their time going on long walks, either on the beach or in the vineyards, with both Triton and Nashville (Nash), their two very spoiled Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

Experience:

Murph started his career in the hospitality business as a busboy when he was 15, and worked through many line-level positions while in high school and attending college. After landing his first management job at 23 in Scottsdale AZ, he moved to Denver, Southern California, Central California, Central Florida and ultimately San Diego, in various mid-level, General Manager, and Senior Vice President positions, ultimately culminating in him founding Evolution Hospitality in 2011. The company was sold to Aimbridge Hospitality and after a 10-year run, growing the portfolio from 10-100, Murph left as Founder/CEO. In 2021 he and his business partner started another group, Triton Hospitality, focused on the acquisition of over leveraged/under-performing hotels where they acquired a full service hotel in Minneapolis, the Marquette. In the Summer of 2022 he took a call from Blackstone and ultimately accepted the role as CEO of Great Wolf Resorts where he’s enjoying leading an amazing brand and incredibly smart and caring Pack members.

Rachel leads with a deep commitment to building strong teams, engaged cultures, and sustainable growth and she brings a rare combination of creativity, strategic rigor, and a relentless drive for progress. Known for her ability to distill hours of brainstorming into clear, actionable insights, she has a knack for making the complex simple—and then building a plan to execute it with precision. Her approach is rooted in a strong belief that momentum beats perfection, and that meaningful progress often comes from knowing which ideas to act on, and when.

Rachel is respected for her data-driven mindset, attention to detail, and sound counsel. Early in her career, a formative encounter with Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List, challenged her to apply her right-brain strengths in unconventional spaces—ultimately shaping a career path defined by creative problem solving in industries where innovation isn’t always the norm.

Rachel’s happiest role is being “mom.” Whether it’s movie nights, walks with the family dog Zulu, or time at their lake house in Indiana, she and her husband cherish life’s quieter joys—especially the lessons in resilience and connection. When not with her family, she’s often elbows-deep in a puzzle, listening to an audiobook, or plotting her next international getaway.

Experience:

Before joining Great Wolf, Rachel served as Director of Human Resources for the Chicago Cubs, where she led talent management across four entities within the sports and leisure sector, including the iconic Wrigley Field. Her earlier roles include HR leadership positions at Angie’s List through their IPO and KPaul Corp. during its ascent to #10 on the Inc. 500 list.

Rachel holds both a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management from the Daniels School of Business at Purdue University. She has also completed executive education programs at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, earning distinctions in Leadership and Human Resources. In addition to her corporate role, Rachel contributes her expertise as an advisor to HR tech innovators Paradox A.I. and Appcast.

Craig often hears the question in some form, “When you were in law school, did you ever think you’d be doing this?” But the experiences and challenges that don’t fit traditional notions of being a lawyer are what he values so highly in being General Counsel at Great Wolf. So while it may not be the usual legal career, applying that skillset to take on complicated issues and getting to see through the implementation and results of those solutions makes his work fulfilling. No two days are the same, but as both General Counsel and SVP of Risk & Safety, his role is to view business decisions through a legal lens—as part of an incredible team.

For Craig, success has always been more fulfilling when it’s shared by a diverse team, all working together, than any single individual achievement. That was a lesson impressed on him long in his high school and college years, playing and coaching football, as well as working part-time for his college’s athletic department. The value of strong leadership, appreciating the sacrifice of others, the importance of discipline, and the commitment to overcoming adversity are all lessons that continue to influence his work today.

With four young kids, Craig’s time away from our company is just as busy as his workdays—if not more so! He and his wife, Katie, spend much of their time packing the days with activities for the young ones to enjoy, and figuring out the logistics and transportation to and from those commitments. They value time spent outdoors, often on the water during warm weather, as well as hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing during the not-so-warm weather. Most of all, he and Katie enjoy seeing their kids grow and character strengthened through different experiences.

Having been born and raised in Green Bay and a lifelong Wisconsin resident, it will surprise no one to learn that Craig is a big supporter of the Packers, Bucks, and Badgers sports teams—even more so now that his children are becoming fans, too. And just as football taught him invaluable life lessons, he’s doing his best to pass on those values to his kids.

Experience:

For several years prior to joining Great Wolf Lodge in 2013, Craig assisted the company in his capacity as outside counsel while working as a corporate attorney in the Madison, Wisconsin, office of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. In that role, he focused on general corporate law and mergers and acquisitions. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Bulmaro’s foundation—as a proud native of Northern California’s scenic Sonoma Wine Country and first-generation son of Mexican immigrant parents—inspires his life and work. His professional path has been rooted in a deep commitment to unlocking the power of human potential. With a foundation in Human Resources, Bulmaro has spent most of his career helping organizations harness the strengths of their people, and today, he continues that mission at Great Wolf.

Family is at the heart of everything Bulmaro does. He’s a proud partner to his husband, Julio, and father of their three children. When not working on helping to bring joy to families, he's focused on cultivating that same joy at home. Their weekends are often filled with simple pleasures: time in the garden, a good movie, a shared family meal, or exploring California's natural beauty. Bulmaro and his family also prioritize visiting Mexico whenever they can, staying closely connected to their cultural roots and heritage.

Bulmaro’s professional perspective has been shaped by work across a variety of industries. Experience has taught him that no matter the sector, the key to an organization’s success lies in unlocking the collective potential of its people. This observation fuels his passion for helping organizations inspire and align around a common purpose. The most powerful lessons he learned along the way are best described by this mantra: None of us are as good as all of us. It continues to inform his leadership and signature approach to building collaborative, structured, and efficient people-centric strategies that drive lasting outcomes.

Experience:

After previous experience in other industries such as retail, wine, and manufacturing, Bulmaro joined the hospitality industry in 2011 as a founding HR leader at Evolution Hospitality, a premier operator of independent lifestyle and branded hotels. His time at Evolution focused on developing a sustainable talent management infrastructure that would allow the company to scale from under 500 employees at launch to over 6,000 employees by the end of his tenure. From there, he joined Triton Hospitality Group as a founding member, before joining Great Wolf Resorts in 2023. Bulmaro holds a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Accounting from Sonoma State University.

Ramki truly believes in the power of the Pack. Whether fostering teamwork within his professional circle or engaging with stakeholders, he recognizes the value of collective effort. To him, technology serves not only as a means to drive business output but as the paramount tool to address challenges in a scalable, efficient, and optimal manner.

Emphasizing the pivotal role of technology in gaining a competitive edge, Ramki is driven by the belief that it can significantly enhance revenue, reduce costs, and elevate both guest and employee experiences. His unwavering commitment to agility and speed is reflected in his mantra—a constant reminder of the importance of swift, agile solutions.

Ramki finds immense joy in working with small, cross-functional teams to craft innovative solutions for complex business problems. His approach involves driving rapid experimentation, a process that allows for continuous learning and the refinement of solutions, ultimately leading to impactful business outcomes within tight timelines.

Ramki has always preferred life as part of a pack. When not working alongside his fellow Pack Members at Great Wolf Lodge (six years and counting), Ramki’s days are filled with the activities of his own pack—himself, his wife Carol, and their three children under the age of 13. Most days that means cheering on his kids from the sidelines: sports, music, culture, and more. But they also love traveling together, filling their days with new experiences and new cultures.

Experience:

Ramki started his career as a software developer after completing his graduate studies in computer science. Very quickly he realized his passion was more on the business side of things coupled with a big intersection to technology. He took on a role of a product manager and over the next few years took roles of increasing responsibility in digital marketing, CRM and analytics. He then led large P&Ls for ecommerce businesses including being the GM for Kmart’s $300M+ business and heading up global ecommerce operations for Motorola before running Revenue Management for Groupon. Ramki has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Chicago respectively and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Brad believes that the key to business success is to focus on creating a positive experience for employees, guests, and shareholders. This is because a satisfied workforce is more likely to provide excellent customer service, which leads to happy customers and increased profits. Prioritizing what’s right for the Pack, guests, and shareholders is paramount: He believes that all decisions should be made with the best interests of all three groups in mind. He values collaboration and team alignment, which are essential for driving business forward. Brad works to create a culture of openness and trust, and he encourages team members to share ideas and work together to achieve common goals.

Brad has been married to his Wife Wendy for 13 years, and has two boys Nathan and Louis. Lucky for Brad, his wife and children are enormously supportive of his work, embracing the Great Wolf brand and all he does for it. (“I’ve hit the family jackpot!” is something he’s said more than once.) Family vacations to the beach are a favorite activity, when he’s not busy attending the many sporting activities in which his kids participate, though he’s also happy just watching college football on the couch with his wife. Also, it seems a life in the hospitality industry may have been destiny for Brad: As a young child, he developed a passion for cooking that only grew stronger as he began to cook for friends and family, rewarded by the smiles on their faces from a particularly good dish.

Brad’s life hasn’t been without its difficulties. He cites having worked at a hotel across the street from the World Trade Center on 9/11 as a defining moment that both strengthened his crisis management skills and cemented his belief in the necessity of teamwork. As a result, he considers it a privilege every day to wake up and get to do what he loves—while maybe playing a few rounds of golf in the meantime, as well.

Experience:

Prior to his time at Great Wolf, Brad was the Executive VP of Operations for Gold Key Resorts, as well as spending several years serving in a multi-unit leadership role as Director of Hotel Operations for both Caesars Entertainment Corporation and Cooper Hotels. With a degree in Travel and Tourism Management Services from Arizona State University and holding an MBA from Tulane University Brad spent the first decade of his post-collegiate career as a General Manager for Hilton Worldwide, mastering the on-the-ground skills he now oversees throughout the company.

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Note: All figures as of January 10, 2024, unless otherwise noted. No hiring or promotion decisions are made based on any reported figures.

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