Today’s guest spent time working in Japan and brings his cultured view to hospitality. Andrew Benioff is the Founder and Managing Partner of the Llenrock Group. He’s also the Founder of the Philadelphia Real Estate Council and the Independent Lodging Congress. Listen to this week’s episode as he shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Takeaways: 

• Service is the act of serving, but hospitality is the feeling an empathic employee gives to a customer. It’s difficult to have good hospitality without great service.
• Japanese culture is a mentality. A big part of it is the wellbeing of a group of people over an individual. 
• In Japan, perfection is expected in your work. While it can be demanding, it brings out the best work in the person and allows them to achieve the highest goals they have.
• While perfection is expected in Japan, it’s not always a good thing. It’s ok to fail at something that is a new attempt. Failure can be a great teaching moment.
• Try to be flexible in your thinking. A new approach to a process might be an idea that can turn out to be helpful. 
• Two things that hotels absolutely need to have: a shower with great water pressure and a comfortable bed. If a hotel has those two features all other issues are forgotten.
• Be patient and have an open mind. Try not to think that things need to go a certain way, it’s almost more important to know what you don’t want rather than to know what you want to do. 

Quote of the Show:

48:32 “The longer I've done ILC (Independent Lodging Congress), the more I've become interested in indie hospitality in indie hotels.

I think that the indie space is fascinating for so many reasons in that it takes so much more attention to detail to work on one of those projects. And it also takes so much more of a connection to the community and the area that the project is in. And so I'm working on a number of different projects that are all indie focused, and I love them because each one of them is so distinct and different.

And I love that focus of really digging into the community.”

Links: 

• Andrew’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/llenrockgroupbenioff
• Company website: https://precouncil.org
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/indiecongress?lang=en

Shout Outs: 

3:06 Danny Meyer

4:12 Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

6:00 Four Seasons 

6:10 Rosewood

8:23 The Rock House in the Bahamas

12:38 Team Building ILC

16:18 McDonald’s

19:46 Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentary 

24:07 Penn Pacific in San Francisco

24:08 Nico in San Francisco

24:10 Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco

44:44 The Birth of Sake

49:44 Fairfield Inn

49:45 Hampton Inn

50:15 Hortz Schulze, founder of Ritz-Carlton

51:45 Michael Bedner

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean:  https://www.defininghospitality.live/

How do you feel when you first step into a hotel or a restaurant? The excitement in the air, the feeling that you have found some place that is truly unique is part of the allure of the hospitality industry.

Dan is joined by a renowned designer, innovative thinker and creative Entrepreneur, Marquise Stillwell. Marquise is also the founder of Deem Journal, ArtMatr, Openbox, Opendox, and Urban Ocean Lab. Listen to this week’s episode as he shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Takeaways: 

• Hospitalities, especially hotels, are like tiny little cities. They are open 24 hours, they never stop and there are 24 hours of activity going on. 
• Hotels serve the purpose to be surprised, meaning each time you walk in, you should feel it is a unique experience.  This is also known as Creating the Conditions to be Surprised.
• Sometimes luck plays a big role. The proximity of luck is when you go out to a restaurant or a hotel and you begin to talk to someone near you, that person could be your next connection.
• Restaurants and hotels that reflect the community are the ones of the future. 
• When you meet people who are in close proximity to you (ie a hotel) that is called Density of Network.
• The younger generation is going to get tired quickly of the rapid change in employment and treating employees like they are on a conveyor belt.

Quote of the Show:

24:31 “Hospitality right now is in a place where we need to rethink our model. Restaurants were already struggling. We need to rethink that model, we need to make it more human and people centered. We need to make sure people can afford to  live and work off their salary. We need to do the same thing in hotels. We need to make sure the front staff is just as respected as the office staff and that they have a livable wage. That’s a larger conversation but it goes to every aspect of what it means to serve. If you're in the service industry, and you’re providing food and you’re serving food and you can’t even afford the food you’re serving, that’s a problem.”

Links: 

• Marquise’s Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/quise/
• Websites
  • https://www.opnbx.com/team/marquise-stillwell
•  
• Twitter
  • https://twitter.com/quise7?lang=en
•  

Shout Outs: 

3:54 Ramada Inn and Hotel

12:38 Ramada Inn University and Hotel in Columbus, Ohio

31:15 Westin Hotels

31:30 Equinox Hotels

32:38 Scent Dawn and Samantha Goldworm

49:19 Hoffman Process

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s

The hospitality industry has roots in all sorts of other lines of work, even in journalism. 

Dan is joined by the author of the Moon Boston Travel guide and world traveler, Cameron Sperance! Cameron is also a hospitality beat reporter at Skift. Listen to this week’s episode as he shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Takeaways: 

• Hospitality boils down to providing that home away from home experience. It’s all about providing caring service with a smile and making a pleasant stay for the guests. 
• You can tell if people are being treated well at the hotel they work at by the way they treat their guests, and a positive attitude creates a better experience.
• In Cameron’s experience reporting about hospitality, you have to build genuine connections with people.
• During the pandemic, many industries have tried to replicate how the hospitality industry makes their guests feel, showing that hospitality has its roots in many industries.
• The concept of doing some self isolation and meditation has taken off in recent years, and it’s a great way to recharge with a busy life. 
• There is a lot of tension around who will stick in the hospitality industry in terms of the labor level employees, the ones who work long hours and demanding schedules. 
• A struggle some hotels face is finding the balance between being exclusive while also being fair to your clients and guests. 

Quote of the Show:

28:33 “There was always a hospitality element to how we work that I think that's why it made it so successful and popular,  pre pandemic.

And I mean, it just kind of runs the gamut. There's so many different, Industries out there that are trying to get a little bit more hospitable that I think this has been a wake-up call of just like how the tentacles of hospitality span out into so many different industries.” 

Links: 

• Cameron’s Profile - linkedin.com/in/cameron-sperance-988505a
• Company website: skift.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronsperance
• Book: https://www.amazon.com/Boston-Travel-Guide-Cameron-Sperance/dp/1631218859

Shout Outs: 

2:41 Boston Bureau 

2:51 Ghelfi and Laura Posa

3:04 Skift

4:16 Alice conference 

8:01 Daily Planet from Superman

8:01 J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-Man

8:41 Boston Herald

11:14 Wall Street Journal

11:15 The Real Deal

11:16 The New York Times

12:01 Boston University School of Hospitality

12:02 Pinnacle Advisory

17:20 Hilton

17:21 Marriott

21:18 Soho House

21:19 Rosewood in Hong Kong

32:54 Walden Pond

33:04 Henry David Thoreau

32:20 Parker Torres

35:39 The Lorraine Motel 

37:06 Dubrovnik, Croatia

37:30 Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones

41:46 Russian River

52:16 SoulCycle

52:22 Equinox

56:46 Michael  Lastoria

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean:  https://www.defininghospitality.live/

When you design your space, are you thinking about the next generation? In this week’s episode, Dan Ryan is joined by Glen Coben, President of Glen & Company, and his daughter Maya Coben of Rialto Capital for our first ever double guest episode! Listen in as they share their combined, multi-generational perspective on the future of hospitality, nurturing growth, developing intuition, and more great insights!

Check out some takeaways from this episode below:

• Hospitality is about creating a community. We can build community by having empathy and listening to others, and pivoting to whatever the guest needs to feel like they’re most important.
• Work for the people instead of yourself. Identify the unique aspects of your client’s vision by approaching them with empathy and understanding.
• When you design a space, it’s not just for the current generation. You’re designing for the next generation as well. “The best way to stay relevant is to make sure that your 12-year-old child is teaching you” - Glen Coben 
• Nurture growth within your own company by giving people opportunities to learn and develop. The mutual desire for success can lead to more than just satisfied clients. 
• Negative feedback can be an opportunity to delight a client on the next revision, but success doesn’t have to be based on fear and intimidation. Hospitality and empathy drive successful students and future industry leaders. 
• Glen’s most important question when taking on new clients; Who is going to be making the decisions? The best answers to that question are the honest answers. If the whole family is going to review and approve a presentation, they should be in the room so they have all the information. 
• Intuition is built not just by listening and learning, but by asking questions. Be a sponge.
• Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know the answer.” Asking for more information is a sign of strength, not weakness. Be okay with feeling that nervous energy, because it’s a sign that growth is coming!
• One positive change from the pandemic: taking non local projects becomes easier. Collaboration tools will always be better in person, but our ability to adapt to remote working enables us to think more globally about new opportunities. 

Quote of the Show:

22:46 - You remember those days when we were talking about “how do you design for the millennial?” That bothered me because the millennial is going to no longer want that cool hip thing. So we have to figure out a way to strike a balance through our design skills, that there are Instagram moments, there is technology, but there's also, we're designing across a broader spectrum. - Glen Coben

53:07 -  I think that asking questions is the most important thing. And whenever I ask at the end of an interview, or just any conversation I have with anyone, a mentor, a friend, what advice do you have for me? Ask questions, be a sponge. Those are the two main things that I've heard time and time again. How can you learn as much as humanly possible in your career and through each experience that you're a part of? - Maya Coben

Links: Guest’s info

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-coben-bb298a1/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-coben/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlenCoben
• Company website: https://glenandcompany.com/
• Architect's Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through Design

Shout Outs: 

4:20 - Danney Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group - “Hospitality is a Team Sport”

7:19 - Stacey Shoemaker’s HD Summit 

8:50 - The Architect’s Cookbook, Max & The Magic Mushroom

10:10 - Grey Kunz 

11:53 - The French Laundry 

16:13 - Gabriel Kreuther

35:36 - William Grimes of the New York Times, Moda

59:59 - Nervous Energy by Dr. Chloe Carmichael 

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBOU_S-CF0Y

For the last year and a half, people have holed up in their rooms, unable to go anywhere. Now more than ever is when people are craving the need to explore, travel and interact with other people. 

Dan is joined by thought leader in the industry, SVP and global director of Wimberly Interiors, Margaret McMahon! Margaret has seen the world and is a travel enthusiast, and she’s here to share why she thinks travel can really lift someone’s spirits. Listen to this week’s episode as she shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Takeaways: 

• You can go and get anything you set your mind to. Using phrases like “call me back if you want” won’t do you any favors. 
• Visualisations of what you want to achieve are incredibly important. Creating a vision board can often help you focus your goals and terms and make them achievable. 
• Travel is incredibly important. It doesn’t matter whether you are down the street or going across to another country, seeing the beauty in this world is something that can provide a whole new outlook on life. 
• Hospitality is all about service and whatever that means. It’s not just delivering room service but it’s a service that is provided to give an experience. 
• You have to be able to read a room and understand what is appropriate and what isn’t. Not only do other cultures view actions in a certain way, but even other co-workers might not think like you do.
• We all have to want each other to succeed. In this day and age, everything is extremely competitive but we still need to be human and hope for the best for everyone, including the competition. 
• Residential projects have skyrocketed lately. With people moving away from the cities, the need for residential projects and houses has really exploded since the start of the pandemic. 
• Margaret’s advice to her younger self: Lighten up. We all do a million different things each day but we should try to lighten up. 

Quote of the Show:

11:05 “Whether you're driving down the road to a Holiday Inn Express, or you’re hopping on a plane, or you’re taking a road trip or you’re glamping, whatever it is, I think that brings joy to everyone. I bet that if you were to survey people that have been holed up in their houses for a year and half, everyone is really craving not only travel but interaction. 

I think that what’s really about is all us giving service to create a memorable experience and bring joy to people. I know that sounds super lofty, you’re not finding the cure for cancer, you’re not splitting the atom or anything like that. Whether you're staying in an AirBnB, whether you’re staying in a pension, whether you’re staying in a tent, traveling our planet to be able to see it is a really beautiful thing.”

Links: 

• Margaret’s Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-mcmahon-02403b12/
• Company website: https://www.watg.com/wimberly/

Shout Outs: 

3:33 The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer

5:38 Slaughterhouse 5  by Kurt Vonnegut

6:10 Rodney Dangerfield’s film, “Back to School”

7:26 Margo House

8:43 Charian Cerilo 

8:54 Hotelier of the year award

9:13 Four Seasons

9:14 Ian Schrager

9:20 Forbes Travel

11:05 Holiday Inn Express

12:27 AirBnB

17:06 Pan-Am

23:03 Wimberly Interiors

25:11 Trishia Wilson

25:52 Entenmann’s Donuts

32:30 Soho House

39:34 Starbucks

42:35 Boca Raton Resort

44:34 Laws of Attraction book

55:52 Dr. Faucci

1;01:11 Balthazar Restaurant

1;02:03 Bill Murray in Stripes

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean:  https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/0kjGr4s7uUM

Having a positive outlook on life is the key to success.

Dan is joined by industry thought leader, former adjunct at NYU and host of the “No Vacancy” podcast, Glenn Haussman. Glenn is also the board member at the Long Island Hospitality Association and the president of Rouse Media.  Listen to this week’s episode as he shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Takeaways: 

• The true spirit of hospitality is the notion of giving without expecting anything in return. 
• If you show interest in what people are saying, are genuine and positive, people will feel comfortable with you and that can create great connections. 
• As times change, it’s always good to try and adapt to what the new times bring.
• Always push harder than the next person, the hard work will pay off in the long run.
• All the old rules that hospitality used to follow are out the window and now is the time to challenge yourself and try new business strategies.
• You can use technology to understand your guests. Find out what your guests like and try to connect with them on that level.
• Mass customization is the notion of creating individualized experiences for the masses of people. 
• Don’t let the fear of rejection hold you back. The only thing holding you back is yourself and how you feel about yourself. 

Quote of the Show:

7:34 “Back in the 1990’s as I was starting my career in hospitality, my buddy happened to be an extremely successful video editor. He was like the guy cutting every single hip hop video you would see on MTV, BET and those networks. I went with him to go run the business side of it for him as I was building my writing career. 

Every single person I met in that Hollywood music universe, and I met a lot of people, 99% of them were not people I want to have anything to do within my life. Nasty, negative, not the right type of human beings. 

In hospitality, it’s completely flipped on its head. Nearly everybody is universally amazing, open and terrific.”

Links: 

• Glenn’s Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennhaussman/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TravelingGlenn?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• Podcast: https://novacancy.libsyn.com
• Book: https://www.amazon.com/Adapters-Hospitality-industry-adapting-innovating/dp/1662905408

Shout Outs: 

0:30 NYU

1:01 BDNY Trade Show

5:56 No Vacancy live podcast

7:44 MTV, BET

27:54 The Adapters book

28:12  Seán Worker

29:14 The Adaptors.net

32:12 Phish

41:08 Hunter Conference 

44:44 Jon Stewart, Remote Control TV show

44:56 Jimmy Kimmel, Win Ben Stein's Money TV show

47:19 The Big Cypress Indian Reservation, Florida

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean:  https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/C1oO0ydL8l8

How do you stay positive when you’re emotionally drained?

Sarah Dandashy of AskAConcierge likes to remember that every guest interaction is a chance to be a part of someone’s positive memory. Listen to this week’s episode as she shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Check out some takeaways from this episode below:

• Though she first found success on Instagram, Sarah finds LinkedIn is a powerful way to grow her network. It’s not just a great way to connect with others in #hospitality and #travel, it’s a platform that values substance. 
• The concierge is the original influencer. They take their first hand experiences in travel and introduce others to new opportunities.
• “Sometimes thoughtful things don’t cost that much. It could be a handwritten note or a cocktail.” - Sarah Dandashy. It’s the time invested that’s meaningful to your customer. 
• Anticipation is a powerful tool for great guest experiences, but presentation matters. Too much personalization can be creepy, so aim for thoughtfulness. 
• The most impactful ways to provide hospitality are often simple. Most of the time, people just want to feel listened to. 
• “If you change your mindset and just get creative about it, it’s amazing what you can do.” - Sarah Dandashy
• Recommendations are better when you take the time to understand the guest. Talk with them to find out more about their desired experience. 
• We need to take care of the frontlines of our industry. If you want people to treat this as a profession, you need to treat them like professionals.
• “if we just always keep our mind open and we just have these real conversations with our colleagues in whatever field they're in, it's amazing what we can learn from each other.” - Sarah Dandashy
• Sarah’s advice to her younger self: always remember you get to be a part of somebody’s positive memory

Quote of the Show:

13:15 - “But it was this intersection between human connection and thoughtful experience because really when you, when you look at it, hospitality, it is all about the human connection. Yes. There might be a digital aspect, but it's all about connecting on that human level. That's where hospitality comes from, you know, way back when, where people inviting people to their homes, like they're breaking bread over, over a meal, that's all hospitality and that's a human connection.

And then the thoughtful experiences. Are what make it unique and make it special? You know, it's more than just inviting somebody into your home or having somebody over for dinner. It's having those conversations and, and it is finding those thoughtful experiences, whether it's playing on something like, oh, I know . That you really love XYZ and tying that into it.

So all of that kind of ties in into really what I think makes hospitality that. The good stuff that we love.” - Sarah Dandashy

Links: 

• Sarah’s Profile - linkedin.com/in/sarahdandashy
• Websites
  • www.askaconcierge.tv  (Company Website)
•  
  • www.sarahdandashy.com (Personal Website)
•  
• Twitter
  • Sarahdandashy
•  
  • AskAConcierge
•  

Shout Outs: 

18:14 - Le Clefs d’Or Concierge

13:58 - Ritz Carlton in Berlin

43:19 - Christian Giordano (from Defining Hospitality Episode 7) 

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrpt8C461L_9n_6vezzZtkQ

How do you handle unhappy clients?

Christian Giordano, President and co-owner of Mancini Duffy, approaches any situation by thinking about what he can do to improve it. He joins Dan Ryan to talk about #architecture, #hospitality, & more in this week’s episode. Check it out now!

Check out some takeaways from this episode below:

• Christian’s show, The Anti-Architect Podcast, originated with his unique perspective on the architecture industry, and figuring out how to listen, understand, and connect with his clients. Whether you’re a black cape architect or a junior designer at a corporate firm. The best thing you can do is listen. 
• Hospitality comes from incredible service and listening. From those two points, we can begin to anticipate customer needs and implement them into how we impact their experience. 
• Giving clients more information up front can help facilitate decision making, especially since budget plays a critical factor. For example, Christian’s team shows different sized dollar signs ($) in early designs and discussions to give them a visual cue into their options. The reactions and conversations that come out of it can inform new and better ideas.
• Building & maintaining culture during a pandemic is challenging, but Christian’s firm weathered it by having open, agendaless Zoom calls twice a week and being flexible with how people work. Giving everyone an opportunity to contribute, regardless of seniority or experience leads to better ideas and a more engaged workforce. 
• It’s not our place to tell clients they’re wrong, it’s our place to come to them with a different solution.
• Companies don’t have to follow their industry trends for workspaces anymore. Instead, they should focus on planning a space that works for them and their business’ specific needs.
• Christian’s advice to his younger self: Enjoy the journey, and don’t be so stressed out along the way.

Quote of the Show:

32:36 - We have to respond to them a certain way. We always have to be positive. Right. You never want to tell a client? "No, you're wrong. No, that's ridiculous." I mean, as many times as you, you may want to, that's not really our place. I always found our place to be: we have to come back with a solution. If they're not happy or they don't think this is correct. Well then it's, it's not on them. It's on us to find the right solution. And most of the time I will say we do.

I think I take that approach on a lot of things is, "Well, maybe it's me." And I think if you take that approach, "Well, it's not them. So what am I doing wrong? How can I make this situation better?"  Because think about it, if you're in a situation and someone is beating up on you the entire time, you kind of lose interest in it and it's no fun anymore.

So that level of trying to figure out what is it that I can do to improve the situation? Always helps in that. And I think our clients appreciate that. You know, we don't say, "you're wrong or no, that's impossible. No that won't fit over there. Don't you understand scale?" You know? We will say, "No, let us take a look at it, and give you some options." And usually that works. - Christian Giordano 

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdgiordano/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/archifella
• Company website: https://www.manciniduffy.com/
• The Anti-Architect Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-anti-architect-podcast/id1552247664

Shout Outs: 

1:40 - Carrie & Lauren of Brand Groupies 

6:20 - Gensler

9:43 - Isadore Sharp & the Four Seasons service model

19:15 - The Arlo Hotel in NYC

27:45 - Mancini Duffy Lux 

30:00 - Mark Green 

41:40 - UCLA’s faculty Frank Gary & Thom Mayne

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrpt8C461L_9n_6vezzZtkQ

When was the last time you deeply listened to someone else? When was the last time you deeply listened to yourself?

Hilary Illick, senior faculty member at the Hoffman Institute, joins Dan Ryan to discuss open-hearted listening, #sustainability, creativity, and more on this new episode of Defining #Hospitality! Listen to this episode now!

Check out some takeaways from this episode below:

• The Hoffman Institute’s approach to hospitality is by meeting everyone with a deep unconditional welcome. Nonjudgemental listening gives people the opportunity to speak their truth. 
• Teaching a disruptive student requires patience and listening. While it’s not good for the group if one student requires the majority of a teacher’s attention, what a disruptive student wants most is to be understood and soothed. 
• Sustainability is something that’s being taken more into account in hospitality now, especially as investors begin to see the positive impacts both economic and environmental, and it’s important to consider as we continue to build into the future. 
• “I don't think we can underestimate the power of open-hearted listening. Actually. I think. I think we really needed as kids, we all needed to be heard and seen and understood. And as adults, if we can give that experience to each other of actually really listening to someone, how they're feeling, what they're up against. Very often people come to their own solutions. It's like the body, the body heals itself, the body's this miraculous healing organism. And so is the psyche. If given the proper care, I think we heal ourselves really well. And often when I'm deeply listening, people are making suggestions that they might not even hear themselves saying about their own solutions.”
• “I think the creative process is a process of deep listening. Actually, you're listening to spirit, you're listening to the creative muse. Michelangelo said, “David was in the stone.” He didn't think “Oh, I’m gonna make this man out of the stone.” He worked with the stone. He was actually listening to the contours of the rock to make this incredible statue.” - Hilary Illick
• You have to create for your audience. “Who’s your psychographic? Who's the ideal person or people that you want walking through and smiling and laughing and being their best selves in this place?” - Dan Ryan
• There’s so much neuroplasticity in the brain that it’s always possible to change and improve as a person. The brain is constantly rewiring itself and reforming, “You can absolutely regenerate right now” - Hilary Illick
• The inequities in our world need to be discussed with open hearts and active listening. 
• Writing can be a tremendous method of regenerating yourself, especially in conjunction with meditation and self-reflection. Like travel or new experiences, writing can be its own terrain of discovery.
• Hilary’s most craved food - fresh green vegetables - “They make me feel cared for”
• Hilary’s advice to her younger self: It’s trial and error. You’re not supposed to be someone, you already are who you are. You just need to listen to yourself to find out. 

Quote of the Show:

20:52 “I don't think we can underestimate the power of open-hearted listening. Actually, I think we as kids, we all needed to be heard and seen and understood. And as adults, if we can give that experience to each other of actually really listening to someone, how they're feeling, what they're up against. Very often people come to their own solutions. It's like the body. The body heals itself. The body's this miraculous healing organism. And so is the psyche. If given the proper care, I think we heal ourselves really well. And often when I'm deeply listening, people are making suggestions that they might not even hear themselves saying about their own solutions. “ - Hilary Illick

Links: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-illick-263035158/
• Company website: https://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/
• https://hilaryillick.com/about/

Shout Outs: 

17:10 - The Graduate in New Haven CT, Hotel One in Brooklyn NY

19:50 - Danny Meyer’s Hospitality Quotient

24:37 - Arthur, on PBS

40:17 - Warren Rustand’s 10-10-10 system

45:31 - Bob Hoffman: “I’m changing the world one person at a time.” 

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrpt8C461L_9n_6vezzZtkQ

What makes you feel most at home? Is it some comfy furniture, a familiar scene, or is it something far deeper?

Mikey Dobin, President of Valley Forge Fabrics stops by to share his perspective and swap stories with his lifelong best friend, Dan Ryan. Listen to the episode for more laughs & poignant insights into the hospitality industry like the ones below!

Takeaways:

• “Hospitality is a place where I feel like it's home away from home.” - Mikey Dobin
• What makes a hotel feel like home is a good environment mixed with social aspects. Places where you can joke with the front desk clerks, or have a good conversation with employees there. Rigorous processes can get in the way sometimes.
• The best way to engage with people is to listen. People want to be heard. In Mikey’s experience, getting down to real human connection immediately gets people to open up to him faster.
• Culture is more important than a good strategy, but culture is more than a buzzword & a ping pong table. Culture is how you work, how you interact when you work, how you interact when you’re having fun.
• “I feel like I never really knew how to run a business until the pandemic” - Mikey Dobin
• There is a measurable ROI when putting your people first, because it translates to the client that the company takes care of its employees. Your output from investing in culture is a better quality of service.
• The pandemic has magnified large divides not just economically, but in terms of safety & comfort. It has also shown just how resilient humankind can be. 

Quote of the Show: 

• “You could definitely feel the difference in a hotel that's going to be your part of a transaction versus a hotel that is a little bit more owned by someone with a little bit more passion for the business.” - Mikey 
• 2021 is going to be the Year of Hugs #YOH

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikey-dobin-04308468/
• Twitter: @jmikeyd
• Company website: https://www.valleyforge.com/

Shout Outs - 

31:36 - The W Hotel in San Francisco

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrpt8C461L_9n_6vezzZtkQ