Brian Szydloski

Brian Szydloski is a hospitality and waterpark industry leader who has spent more than 17 years building experiences, developing teams, and helping launch some of the country’s most prominent resort waterpark destinations. He currently serves as the Assistant General Manager at OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark in Oklahoma City, where he oversees a broad portfolio of resort divisions.

Brian’s career began at Great Wolf Resorts, where he started as a lifeguard and worked his way through increasingly senior leadership positions over nearly 12 years. He later joined American Resort Management as Director of Operations at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark in Grand Prairie, Texas, where he helped lead operations at one of the country’s largest municipal indoor waterparks. He then joined Kalahari Resorts & Conventions as the opening Waterpark Director for its Texas property, gaining firsthand experience in developing and operating a major destination waterpark from the ground up. His career ultimately brought him to Oklahoma City, where he became part of the leadership team responsible for opening OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark.

Opening OKANA represented an extraordinary operational challenge. The destination resort combines hundreds of guest rooms with a year-round indoor waterpark, seasonal outdoor waterpark, multiple restaurants and food-and-beverage outlets, a spa, family entertainment center, convention facilities and entertainment venues. Brian played a key leadership role in preparing the operation, developing teams, establishing standards and ultimately transitioning the property from construction and pre-opening planning into live operations.