Defining Hospitality

Creating a sustainable environment in hospitality and all aspects of life is incredibly important; it allows us to live healthier lives and give back to the environment and the world. Sharing this view is JoAnna Abrams who is not only the Founder & CEO of Mindclick, Inc but she’s also been named a hospitality industry innovator by Lodging Magazine. She joins host Dan Ryan to talk about how sustainability plays a big role in hospitality, and how guests are becoming more aware of the need for a change in going green, and how guests are now more likely to stay in a hotel that does more for the environment than one that does not. 

Takeaways: 

• Sustainability is an important part of hospitality. You want to make sure the products you are using will last for a long time and are good for the environment.
• While it’s worth noting the profit motive for trying to have more sustainability in hotels, it’s also worth doing for the health of the planet. All big banks have committed that by 2050, 100% of their lending will be carbon neutral.
• Guests will choose to stay in a hotel that cares about the environment and commits to a healthier lifestyle rather than one that doesn’t.
• The power of hospitality is made from the people who work in the industry and strive to create fun, enjoyable experiences anywhere in the world. 
• Designers have struggled with being overwhelmed by all the certifications that are out there, so if a top 100 firm hires them it’s a big help and influence. 
• Nature continually adapts and evolves and we need to as well, in regards to sustainability and the environment.
• Taking an idea, executing it and implementing it in your company is really the basis of what being an entrepreneur is.
• You don’t always have to take positions that you think are the ones that you think you have to have to advance your career. Life isn’t a straight line and sometimes a new position can provide helpful life changes. 

Quote of the Show:

16:20: And then a huge, huge component of hospitality is service. It really is that experience that you have is based upon the environment that's created through a service orientation. And it was interesting in the research that we did, a digital marketing campaign for a courtyard that was renovated in Southern California, where we told guests about the positive impacts of products chosen for a quarter.

It had been following a renovation, both environmental and social, and health and so on. And we did, we then looked at the research results and saw 150% increase in satisfaction and loyalty and all these key measures. And we interviewed these folks who had seen the marketing campaign and said, okay, Talk to us about this.

What would this mean to you? And over and over and over again, we heard that people saying a hotel that has gone out of its way to choose products that are better for me and the planet, is really taking care of us. And that really stands out and I'm going to choose that hotel over others.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannaabrams/
• Website: https://mindclick.com

Shout Outs:

1:57 Heather Gatineau

2:23 Toyota

4:03 Diana Dobin

4:24 Valley Forge Fabrics

7:47 Marriott

8:14 Hyatt

8:15 IHG

8:18 Wyndham

9:01 Dave Lippert

12:12 Larry Fink

13:15 Gretta Turnberg

14:49 Real Time with Bill Maher

21:00 Avinash Rajagopal

21:02 Metropolis Magazine

30:06 Paul McElroy

32:20 Susan Suhar

37:58 Prius

38:00 Tesla

39:57 Dean Witter Reynolds

40:09 Arthur Anderson

41:27 Warburg Pincus

1:03:09 Arnie Mahlham

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/TzMzQ1Ant6I

Today’s guest started her career in hospitality in a very unusual place; McDonald’s! She focused on how architecture and design could connect with the customers at the restaurant. Now, Sarah Klymson is the Vice President of Product Brand Development at Hyatt Hotels. She joins host Dan Ryan to discuss her journey through #hospitality and how she views the industry. 

Takeaways: 

• You can use architecture to create a warm and inviting feeling for guests when they come across a hotel or restaurant. The same can be done for design.
• Hospitality isn’t just about providing a great service, it’s also about inspiring your guests so that they take that inspiration with them when they leave.
• It’s important to remain authentic and genuine in the hospitality industry. Staying with what makes your brand stand out is always important to keep. 
• Your hotel or restaurant should be more than just a destination. You want to bring something that no one else can bring to the table. 
• Being present in the moment is a beautiful feeling. It’s important to take time to be away from all the technology and just relax. 
• Being intentional is the ultimate form of mindfulness.
• It’s important to be aware of the things in your life that upset you and try to find a way to overcome those things and better yourself as a person.
• You can create a beautiful space, but the key point is making sure the experience itself is something that can change someone’s life for the better. 

Quote of the Show:

9:09 “One of the biggest things that I actually was reminded of this week when I traveled is how important inspiration is in a hospitality experience. Inspiring people and creating experiences for them that they will take into their lives. That's what hospitality is about. It's not just about caring for people and creating a wonderful experience when they're there, but it's also inspiring them, getting them to think about things in a different way.

When they go back into their normal lives, they take that sense of inspiration and hopefully it bleeds into other areas of their lives. I think that's really what's at the core. And I think that's why people are so passionate about this industry is because it inspires them. The sense of passion can come out and what we create either through design or the experiences that we create on property.”

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sklymson
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahklymson/
• Website: https://www.hyatt.com
• Instagram: @sarahklymson

Shout Outs:

1:44 McDonald’s

10:29: Miraval

14:46 Mark Hoplamazian

39:57 Hoffman Process

46:50 Jerry Seinfeld

54:05: Rookie Smarts 

56:57 Vasu Dora

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/Q6DiFfEeG-4

Improving your life can seem like an incredibly daunting task, but if you just take some simple steps in doing so, you can accomplish anything. Keith Roberts is the Founder and Creative Director at Zenman & US Director at emBlue, as well as the Creator & Author of the “Oak Journal” and an upcoming book “Becoming Zenman”. He has searched the world to find ways that people can use to make incremental changes in their lives for the better, like setting one personal goal, one family goal and one business goal a day to become a balanced individual. He joins host Dan Ryan to share his insights on #hospitality and how mastering your goals can create a better you!

Takeaways: 

• Life is too short to learn from experience. It’s helpful to provide people with roadmaps on how to accomplish goals that they have set for themselves in life. 
• If you want to reach your goals in life, you need to work on it everyday and have a structured system to get it done. 
• To be a balanced individual, everyday you need to make incremental improvements in one business goal, one personal goal and one family goal.
• Hospitality isn’t just the food or the location, but it’s also the atmosphere and going above and beyond for those staying at your hotel or restaurant.
• Start your day with gratitude. It gets your day going on a positive note and makes you a happier person overall.
• Following Warren Rustand’s 10-10-10 rule will change your life for the better. You start your day with 10 minutes of meditation, 10 minutes of reading and 10 minutes of positive journaling. 
• To make sure you reach your goals, the oak journal that Keith wrote created a three step process; state your goals, visualize it and then actually feel the emotion from it.
• As Henry David Thoreau once said, “Suck all the marrow out of life”. That is advice that Keith would give to his younger self. 

Quote of the Show:

11:18 We've all heard that story about that, the forgotten Teddy bear. But I think it's in so many books because it's such a perfect example. Kid forgets the Teddy bear and can't sleep.

Dad calls the four seasons and says, Hey, I forgot my Teddy bear. I convinced little Billy to go to bed because Teddy bear stayed for an extended vacation. They not only sent the Teddy bear back, but they sent a photo book of the Teddy bear playing golf, the Teddy bear at the spa with cucumbers over his eyes.

So they spent an hour, the employees probably had a blast doing it, and it's in dozens of books on culture, business, customer service, leadership, that example. You never know what little above and beyond thing, and for me, for the journal, I get paid to speak. But if there's one person that I meet at an airport, I will give my keynote

If I've got time to that person and share the knowledge, the tools, and hopefully inspire them to be the best version of themselves.” 

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zenman42
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zenman/
• Website: https://www.zenman.com/

Shout Outs:

2:16 Bodhisattva

3:41 Warren Rustand

4:03 Gino Wickman

28:49 Machu Picchu

32:18 Henry David Thoreau

33:08 Walden Pond

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/bvDcall04eM

Harsha L’Acqua, Founder of Saira Hospitality, wants others to develop the “hospitality gene” for others. She has created a unique business to help students interested in hospitality find their way to the industry through what she refers to as pop up hospitality schools. Harsha shares with host Dan Ryan how to grow and develop this hospitality gene and her take on defining hospitality.

Takeaways: 

• When we first make hotels, walls are the first thing that are put up. To the community it comes off as that it is a boundary they aren’t allowed to enter, but they should feel welcomed by these additions to their areas. 
• Hospitality is more a gene that people have. It is based on empathy and the ability to understand the needs and feelings of others. 
• Not everyone has the ability to make others feel comfortable. It’s a skill that can’t be taught, some are just born with it. You can hone that skill to better serve your guests.
• Hospitality now has a need to hire anyone and everyone, and that includes giving chances to those who were formerly incarcerated. Everyone deserves a second chance.
• It’s important to take a minute and listen to those around you. You don’t always need to have an answer, just knowing that someone is being heard is enough.
• Harsha’s advice to others is to be more open minded. Listen to those around you and be open to new experiences and journeys. 

Quote of the Show:

7:36 ​​”It isn't a universal thing to make people feel comfortable. And we talk about what we're calling the hospitality gene, and we teach that in week two. The hospitality gene is more of a mentality that we believe people have that's based on empathy and the ability to understand not only the needs of other people, but the feelings of other people. And so hospitality itself is very much along those lines. To me it's not the hotel. It's not, unfortunately, the design to me, it's the feeling they can be met if you look at the hierarchy of needs. And you're like, okay, great. I've got shelter, I've got food, I've got water. I'm good. Or they could be met hopefully in kind of true hospitality to another level where your needs are being exceeded, needs that you didn't even know that needed to be met, are being met.

But the beauty of that in terms of hospitality is that once there's, those needs to whatever level. And I think that really goes along the spectrum of luxury to kind of entry-level hotels. But once they're met, that leaves this space for the guest to then be able to feel, to come back to who they are as people.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harsha-l-acqua-9719877/
• Website: https://www.sairahospitality.com

Shout Outs:

1:51 Rosewood

1:52 Four Seasons

1:52 Virgin

4:03 ACE Hotel

4:06 Home

10:26 Kevin Austerhouse

10:47 Soho House, London

12:40 Six Senses

24:53 Chris Voss

31:48 Coss Marte

32:20 Saks Fifth Avenue

32:44 CONBODY

38:13 Andre Balazs

38:15 William Beaver House

40:27 “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie

45:13 ASG

49:14 Citibank

56:59 Mother Teresa 

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

Lionel Ohayon, Founder and CEO of ICRAVE Design, lives by the philosophy of “when one door closes, another door opens.” He has created groundbreaking designs at places like terminal 5 at JFK, as well designing parts of the Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital. Lionel joins host Dan Ryan to share how his life experiences have influenced the way he views and creates #hospitality.

Takeaways: 

• Lionel designed terminal 5 for JetBlue at JFK, and when designing it he focused on trying to make people feel comfortable and relaxed with flying. 
• Hospitality is an ever-growing part of everyday life for people. The interaction between humans can be hospitality and how we perceive it is important.
• Understanding the essence of hospitality is more important than having the nicest hotel or restaurant.
• Your paradigm in life shouldn’t be “why me?”, but rather “try me,” facing any issues that come into your life head on and accepting new challenges. 
• You must be the hero of your own journey. Life can throw unexpected twists your way but it’s important to handle them the right way and see the silver lining.
• There are great opportunities to profoundly impact our world. With the advancement of technology and virtual reality, these can be used for good to bridge the divide between people.

Quote of the Show:

13:10 “I tell clients so often, like I can guild your place in gold, but if you don't understand the essence of hospitality, what the triggers are to make people feel comfortable to, or to allow people, those opportunities to step through the looking glass and learn something new about themselves, right?

To experience color in a way that they haven't because you are leading, you have an expectation about what the emotional response will be. Or what the inputs are of place, that is more about placemaking than about understanding the way things look and feel. I think that hospitality today is critical. It's an ever-growing important piece of the human interaction that we're all concerned about.”

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lionelohayon?lang=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lionelohayon/
• Website: https://www.icrave.com

Shout Outs:

0:09 Memorial Sloan Kettering

0:59 Stacy Shoemaker

2:48 JetBlue

8:42 Tesla

9:51 Disney Cruise Ships

19:23 Tao

21:18 Crowbar

26:17 St. Jude’s

27:33 St. Luke’s

30:40 Compass Group

31:15 “Why Me?” book by 

44:14 Michael J. Fox

44:18 Doc Hollywood

49:33 The Hotel of Tomorrow

49:44 Oculus

50:10 Ready Player One

50:14 Wall-E

52:15 Ken Burns Civil War documentary

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/Vzic6OgdVpk

The most valuable asset anyone has is time, but you also need the energy to use that time. Today’s guest learned this after feeling burnt out after years of working at a chocolate production business in Belgium. Natalya Berdikyan is an energy coach, teaching people how to properly take advantage of their energy and put it to their best use. She is also the founder of Life By Design Academy. Listen as she joins host Dan Ryan to share her thoughts on #hospitality today!

Takeaways: 

• Everyone likes the feeling of home away from home, and that is a key part of providing a great hospitality experience.
• Energy attracts both the positive and negative feelings of the place and people around you. 
• You need to be aware of yourself, where you are and the other people you are with. These all play a big role in the energy you are feeling. 
• Taking a step back and taking a deep breath can help clear your mind if you are feeling out of sorts. 
• Don’t take anything personally, don’t judge yourself and don’t judge others. These are tips that will help you keep your energy in a positive direction. 
• To get ourselves out of a low energy situation we need to understand why we are in that kind of situation in the first place. 

Quote of the Show:

3:18 “We are all being served one way or another from which gives me, gets me to that definition. Feeling comfortable being supported, being heard and being understood, whether it is at the hotel or the restaurant at the hospital, at the airport, at the airplane, it's making people feel comfortable.

And then we have a beautiful phrase, feeling home away from home. That's great. What if you're on the way and you are feeling in the space of comfort and of being like you not being stressed and frustrated that you're on the way somewhere. I would also find as the hospitality part.”

Links:

• Twitter: @NatBerdikyan
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/natalyaberdikyan
• Website: lifebydesign-academy.com

Shout Outs:

13:36 Pick You Ups

19:54 Bruce Schneider

19:56 Energy Leadership Methodology 

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/28i2ualQLdo

The hospitality industry is incredibly diverse as a whole, but not when it comes to the higher up positions. That’s what today’s guest wants to change for the better. Damon Lawrence, the Co-Founder of Homage Hospitality, is working with Howard University to create an outstanding hospitality program at his alma mater, Howard University.  Listen to this week’s episode as he shares #hospitality insights with Dan Ryan today!

Takeaways: 

• There is a labor shortage in the hospitality industry because it’s not an employee centric industry. Employees work long hours and went from seeing no one in a pandemic to being face to face with guests again.
• Hospitality is a feeling you give to your guests. Whether they are in your hotel, restaurant or even your home, it is all about how you treat the guests and put them in a position to succeed.
• It’s important to have conversations regarding race in the country. To make a positive change in the world, it starts with what might be an uncomfortable conversation for most. 
• There needs to be more African American hotel owners and developers. To help achieve this, Damon is working on building up the hospitality program at Howard University.
• The hospitality industry is very diverse as a whole, but most of the diversity is sitting at the very bottom. The low entry, hourly jobs are the most diverse, and the further you go up the more the diversity dwindles.
• If people listen, take notice, and then take action that could cure a lot of ills in the hospitality industry. This could also benefit society at large. 

Quote of the Show:

7:58 “Hospitality really is a feeling. What I've always noticed,whether it's traveling or I'll be working in this space, is how do you make somebody feel when they enter into your space or a space that you have dominion over?

Just because you are a hospitality brand doesn't mean that you wouldn't exude or create a hospitable experience. So hospitality really is how you make people feel. Whether they're dining at your restaurant or dining at your home. Like I said before, understanding what everyone goes through and making sure that you can put people in the best position to succeed, creates that hospitality experience that you want to provide to your consumers.” 

 Links: 

• Damon’s Profile:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hauspitality/
• Company website: https://www.anewkindofhospitality.com
• Twitter: @hauspitality

Shout Outs: 

1:11 Thompson Hotel

1:34 Jason Pomerantz

1:35 Stephen Brandman

1:57 St. Regis

1:59 Ritz Carlton

2:00 Four Seasons

3:33 Craigslist

10:33 Howard University

10:49 University of Louisiana, Lafayette

11:33 Mardi Gras

12:20 Halle Berry

12:22 Paula Patton

19:27 Independent Lodging Congress

20:14 Arne Sorenson foundation

20:17 Marriott foundation

23:28 ALIS Conference

25:21 Determine by Design

25: 24 Kia Weatherspoon

36:00 LGBTQ

51:39 HDAC (Hospitality Diversity Action Council)

52:58 Bashar Wali

53:00 Nina Grondin

53:03 Aaron Anderson

53:07 Stacy Shoemaker

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/k_ETfrerldA

Jason Caldwell is the definition of an adventurer. He’s rowed across the Atlantic ocean twice, setting a world record on one run, and the Pacific Ocean setting a world record for the fastest time as well. He's trekked through the oldest desert in the world. Caldwell, CEO and Founder of Latitude 35 Leadership and author of “What IF”, joins host Dan Ryan to talk about his experiences with cross ocean rowing and how that has influenced his view on leadership and hospitality. 

Takeaways: 

• Hospitality isn’t always about the place you are staying or eating. It’s about creating a positive feeling for your guest or those who are around you, making them feel comfortable.
• Ocean rowing requires four people in a 30 ft fiberglass rowboat. On the trip where Jason broke the world record across the Atlantic, two of the four teammates had to leave the race only 600 miles in, with 2,400 miles left to go.
• Jason created a comfortable environment in an uncomfortable rowboat situation by playing to his co-passengers' strengths.
• Having quick, daily meetings with your team helps your team to feel connected to the leader and also feel valued. 
• There is a difference between being a leader and being a captain. A leader works with the team, while a captain is the one to give the orders to a team. 
• When leading a team, you don’t want your co-workers or teammates to dread working for you, you want them to feel grateful to working alongside you.

Quote of the Show:

3:30 “When I think of hospitality, I'm thinking from my experiences at hotels, at restaurants and that stuff. I'm always the person who's being catered to. For me, the definition of hospitality is really ways that I can create a level of comfort, whether that's a physical comfort, mental comfort, or an emotional comfort for people in my world. My people are my teammates and as leaders of these teams that row across oceans and do all these extremely dangerous and endurance driven things and incredibly difficult, I have kind of the burden, but also the opportunity and privilege to find different ways that I can create that comfort.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caldwell-44121119
• Website: https://lat35.co
• Book Links: https://www.amazon.com/What-IF-Jason-Thomas-Caldwell/dp/1543461123
  • https://www.amazon.com/Navigating-Impossible-Extraordinary-Shatter-Expectations/dp/1523086718
• Instagram: @Jason_t_caldwell

Shout Outs:

1:13 Hospitality Design Summit in Lake Tahoe

23:57 Verne Harnish

24:01 Rockefeller Habits, book by Verne Harnish

30:55 Sonoma State

31:05 Vesper Boat House

31:32 Yale

31:32 Princeton

31:34 Dartmouth

42:41 JFK

52:07 Herman Melvile

52:09 Moby Dick

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/rXTNNR9-BJE

Stacy Shoemaker Rauen advocates that great hospitality isn’t just about great design, it’s also a necessity for our overall well-being. By designing buildings in certain ways, this can help lead us to make healthier and more productive changes in our lives. Rauen is the Editor in Chief of Hospitality Design Magazine, as well as the Senior Vice President at Design Group at Emerald. Listen as she sits down with host Dan Ryan to share her thoughts on #hospitality today!

Takeaways: 

• In hospitality, you want to be the glue that holds people together, but not the force that binds it. 
• The root of hospitality is inviting people into your home or your kitchen, so the best hospitality is making your guest feel like it is an extension of your home.
• Sleep and taking care of our health are very important and these goals can be achieved in new and different ways through unique hotels and building environments that place an emphasis on these matters.
• The hospitality industry is having an incredible impact on plenty of other industries for the better, and it is now an industry that is having a great moment.
• Stacy helped bring more diverse voices and writing to Hospitality Design magazine in an effort to showcase the diversity in our world. 
• One small action can have a massive ripple effect. The start to a positive change begins with a small start and a small idea. You don’t have to take on everything, you just have to take on one thing.

Quote of the Show:

9:36 “For me, hospitality is going back to what hospitality started as, right? It’s hotels used to be owned by individual people and it was an extension of their home. It was inviting you in. Restaurants were run by usually a family, or one individual, and it was opening up their kitchen to people.

So to me, the best hospitality, and obviously it has evolved and changed in so many ways. But I think when you go back to the true definition of what hospitality is, and that is an extension of somebody's home, that you are inviting them in to experience something that is different or greater than what they've experienced elsewhere.”

Links:

• Twitter: @StacyRauen
• Instagram: @StacyRauen
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-shoemaker-rauen-766b253/
• Website: https://www.emeraldx.com
• Podcast: https://hospitalitydesign.com/people/podcasts/bonus-episode-stacy-shoemaker-rauen-hospitality-design/

Shout Outs:

1:32 Jason Goldberg

2:32 Michael Adams

3:42 Hospitality Design Podcast 

8:44 HD Expo

8:56 Rachel Long

11:28 BDNY

13:25 The Well

13:37 A bearish

16:03 Equinox

16:25 Six Senses

16:27 Jacobs CEO

17:53 One Medical

18:29 BHDM

18:50 Rockwell

19:13 Lionel from iCrave

19:16 Sloan Kettering

19:50 Susan Healey 

23:19 HDAC

23:46 George Floyd

23:47 Black Lives Matter

25:05 Couture

27:16 NEWH

28:13 Curioso

29:41 Bashar Wali

29:43 Damon Lawrence

29:44 Nina Grondin

29:45 Aaron Anderson

33:04 Cheryl Doris

33:31 Melville Wilson

36:49 Marie Brenner

36:58 TIME magazine

 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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/swjQ9VqykIY
• GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/hdac-booth-at-hd-expo?member=12590963

Being a hotelier wasn’t always the goal for Brigette Breitenbach. Back in 2006, one of her clients came to her and asked if she could do some branding for a new hotel that was being opened, and she never looked back. Brigette, now the owner and founder of B&Co as well as an owner of the Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, joins host Dan Ryan to talk about what hospitality means to her. 

Takeaways: 

• Hospitality isn’t a service, it is to meaningfully care for the guests. It’s all about trying to make the guest feel cared for.
• It’s important to know what your guests want. Understanding their wants and needs can help to establish your brand. The market and the guests will tell you what they want.
• The younger generation spends more money on travel and experiences more so than previous generations.
• Hotels are like a book, you need to have a compelling story, but every chapter also needs to make sense.
• The best hotels are the ones that offer a variety of different experiences within one space. 
• If you are struggling with something, it’s always better to say that. If you’re willing to do that, it can help with client relationships and staff relationships.
• Sometimes we are defined by the business we don’t take. Sometimes saying no to business can help make sure your staff isn’t overwhelmed.

Quote of the Show:

2:24:  “All of our projects start with a discovery phase and we tell all of our clients that with the exception of a few markets, we don't know their market. We don't know the city that they're from. We don't know the local community.

And so we start to dig in and we almost come at every project with the perspective of being the guest. And so we try to dig in and we understand kind of what's happening in that market. What's new and exciting. And then we really drill down to, okay, who do you think your target audience is? Who are you building this property for?

Or rebranding it for? Because until you define their passions, interests and values really don't know what you're going for. And so to understand that market and guest exploration piece of the puzzle,  you're never going to get to the foundational brand. So it really starts with who are you trying to please.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigettebreitenbach/
• Website: https://bcobranding.com

Shout Outs:

0:25 Independent Lodging Congress

10:52 The Iron Horse Hotel

10:58 Lehman Brothers

11:11 Hilltop

29:53 Bashar Wali

30:22 Andrew Friendly 

31:57 Jason Caldwell

32:10 David Rockwell

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
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/veOjMFAHF6I