What separates a truly great kitchen from a toxic one?

According to internationally experienced culinary leader Adam Mali, it comes down to one choice every leader has to make: do you lead with fear, or do you lead with humanity?

Adam has spent decades at the highest levels of hospitality across Europe and North America — working alongside multiple Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire, shaping fine dining concepts for luxury hotel groups, and quietly amassing the kind of knowledge that only comes from time spent in both palace kitchens and the unassuming neighbourhood restaurants he loves most.

A fluent French speaker with a deep affinity for European culinary culture, Adam brings a rare global perspective to a conversation the industry badly needs to have.

He speaks candidly about the "badass chef" culture he once participated in, the moment a frightened young stage knocked over a bread starter and changed his leadership philosophy forever, and why hospitality is failing its own people through ghosting, burnout, and a profound lack of mentorship.

This is a conversation about fine dining, kitchen culture, what great recruitment actually looks like — and the kind of leadership that builds teams worth staying for.

🔗 Adam Mali on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammalichef/

🔗 Alicia Dick Wahlberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciadickwahlberg

What does a national swimmer, a bouncer in Zurich, and a personal trainer in Singapore have in common? A masterclass in people, performance, and showing up under pressure.

In this episode, Alicia sits down with Lali Jochmann, a Swiss operations and commercial leader with 15+ years building premium, service-driven businesses across Asia and Europe. Lali is currently completing his MBA while running Alchemy Personal Training and PEAK Gym in Singapore, and he is now setting his sights on bringing a new vision of wellness and longevity into European hospitality.

They talk about why athletes make exceptional hospitality professionals, what hotels are getting wrong about wellness, and why the gym in the basement with secondhand treadmills is no longer good enough. They also get into longevity, strength training as a leadership tool, and what a truly transformative guest experience could look like in the Swiss Alps.

Lali is actively looking to join the right team in a DACH-based wellness hospitality company. If that sounds like you, find him on LinkedIn or Instagram at liftwithlali.

Connect with Lali:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lali-jochmann-24678494Instagram: @liftwithlali

Follow Alicia on LinkedIn for more real conversations on culture, careers, and the people shaping hospitality, travel, tourism, and startups:linkedin.com/in/aliciadickwahlberg

Julius Anders has done it the hard way and the smart way.

From hotel management school to Mandarin Oriental and Corinthia, through the lifestyle world of Mondrian London, and then six years at Numa scaling a digital-first, remote-operated hotel brand from zero to 160+ properties across Europe. He built the operational structure from the ground floor, led the European operations team, and eventually took ownership of the DACH market before stepping out to found J.Anders Ventures.

Now he advises hospitality concepts, hospitality tech companies, and their service partners on unit economics, tech and AI integration, multi-site scaling, and remote operations — and he brings a point of view that is equal parts operator and builder.

In this episode, Julius and Alicia get into what it actually took to scale a VC backed hospitality company through COVID, why the 80/20 principle is beloved in startups and dreaded in hospitality, and how those two worlds collide when you are trying to grow fast without losing the service quality that made you worth growing in the first place.

They also go deep on careers. Julius's advice to anyone entering hospitality right now — whether you are 22 or 42 — is to ask why more often and take more risk than feels comfortable. Not because risk is glamorous, but because uncertainty, for those who believe in themselves, is always an opportunity before it is a threat.

And on hiring: as automation absorbs the repetitive work that used to fill a shift, the human moments that remain carry more weight than ever. The industry cannot keep recruiting for volume. The winners of the next decade will recruit for judgment, warmth, and the ability to read a situation no model can.

This is a conversation for operators, founders, career builders, and anyone who has ever wondered whether hospitality is still worth betting on.

It absolutely is.

Connect with Julius:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julius-a-anders-6517b318/

Connect with Alicia:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciadickwahlberg/

Hospitality Folks is produced by Folksnest — the hospitality hiring platform built for the people who run hotels, not just the systems that track them.

From sleeping in a lobby chair as a night porter to managing luxury five-star hotel openings in Stockholm—Kim Spolén's hospitality journey is the masterclass in customer relationships and authentic selling.
Now Regional Director of Sales at StayNTouch, Kim joins Alicia to expose the biggest problem in hospitality tech: buzzword inflation.

We talk:
🏨 The career path that shaped his philosophy: Long-term relationships > quick closes

🏨 How hotel managers get burned by overhyped AI and "solutions"

🏨 The transition from frontline to tech ("the dark side")

🏨 Why DACH region hospitality tech is booming right now
Kim's perspective? "Find what customers actually want and need. Don't be the used car salesman of tech."
Listen in for candid stories from Strand Hotel, Sheraton, and Sergel Plaza—and why his approach to tech sales is changing the industry playbook.

For job seekers: Regional Director of Sales role (DACH) is hiring now.

Want to get in touch?
Kim Spolén
* LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimspolen/
Alicia Dick Wahlberg (Hospitality Folks Host)* LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aliciadickwahlberg/
* Instagram: @alicia_dickwahlberg
StayNTouch* LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/stayntouch — @Stayntouch
* Twitter/X: @StayNTouchInc (https://x.com/StayNTouchInc)
* Facebook: facebook.com/stayntouch
* YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCG2FdsPmZjRzPh_ofRi2lYQ
* Website: www.stayntouch.com
What do you think? Does hospitality tech really have "the cookies"?
#HospitalityTech #HospitalityLeadership #HotelManagement #CareerGrowth #StayNTouch #DACH #Nordics #HotelsOfStockholm #HospitalityFolks #PodcastForHospitality #TechVsHospitality #OperationsLeadership #EmployerBranding#HospitalityPodcast #HospitalityLeadership #HotelTech #CommunicationSkills #HospitalityJobs #StayNTouch #DACH

S1E09: From Self-Taught to Confident—How Teams Master French Pastry in Remote African Lodges

When self-taught chefs in remote safari lodges discover they can master French pastry techniques—pâte sucrée, choux, ganache, mousseline—everything changes. Confidence shifts. Retention improves. Guest experience transforms.

In this episode, Alicia talks with Charlotte Desamais, a French pastry consultant who works in some of the world's most logistically challenging kitchens: African safari camps, boutique lodges, and remote resorts where "impossible" constraints become creative opportunities.

Charlotte shares:

• Why that moment of realization—"I baked that"—drives her work

• How self-taught teams master refined techniques in weeks
• The confidence shift that changes retention and guest satisfaction
• Why remote environments create the most honest feedback loops
• How local ingredients + adaptation make excellence actually belong
  

Perfect for: Hospitality operators, hotel managers, people & culture leaders, luxury resort teams, anyone building staff development programs in challenging environments.
Listen if you care about: Hospitality excellence, staff retention, building confident teams, remote operations, luxury guest experience, African hospitality innovation.

Connect with Charlotte Desamais:
🌐 Website: https://www.frenchpastrysecrets.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frenchpastrysecrets/
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottedesamais/
📧 Email: [email protected]

Follow Alicia Dick Wahlberg & Hospitality Folks:
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alicia_dickwahlberg/

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciadickwahlberg/

Who is Charlotte?

Charlotte Desamais is a French pastry consultant working where pastry is not always expected: in remote safari lodges and bush kitchens. She thrives in environments that seem logistically impossible, helping hospitality teams transform constraints into creative opportunities.
From bush kitchens to off-grid camps, she supports teams in elevating their dessert and breakfast offerings by combining French pastry techniques with local flavours and the resources available on site.
For Charlotte, great baking is not about perfect equipment or shiny labs. It begins with understanding ingredients, environment, and people. Skills are the foundation, creativity and adaptation bring everything to life.
She doesn’t enter kitchens to replace teams or impose standards. Instead, she works alongside them, building trust, refining techniques, and strengthening organisation so that excellence remains long after she leaves.
Charlotte believes dessert is far more than a final course. In hospitality, it can shape the emotional memory of a stay. By investing in people and embracing real-world constraints, she helps lodges elevate their guest experience, proving that even in the bush, elegance is always possible.

What does it take to leave a decade in finance and technology behind — and build something entirely new in one of the world's most challenging markets?

In this episode, Alicia Dick Wahlberg (CEO & Founder of Folksnest) sits down with Einars Garoza, Founder of Conserve Safari Camps & Lodges, a high-end luxury hospitality operation developing properties across Tanzania's national parks.

Einars relocated to East Africa two years ago with a clear thesis: safari real estate can be a distinct asset class — one that delivers strong returns, meaningful impact, and access to extraordinary experiences.

They talk about the practical realities of building in frontier markets, what it means to align capital with purpose, and how nature itself — the Serengeti, Tarangire, Ngorongoro — becomes a vehicle for restoration and reconnection.
If you've ever thought about trading the expected path for one that actually means something, this one's for you.

🌍 Find Einars: conservesafari.com | @einars_garoza on Instagram

What if venture capital is the wrong model for hospitality?
In this episode, we sit down with Magnus, co-founder of Nook Society, to unpack a bold idea:
👉 Hospitality isn’t software — and shouldn’t be funded like it.
Instead of chasing aggressive VC growth, Nook Society is building a community-driven investment model, where guests can become investors through tokenized profit-sharing.
We dive deep into:
Why traditional VC can kill great hospitality brands
The rise of community-based financing
How transparency builds trust (and demand)
Turning customers into long-term stakeholders
What DACH investors are missing about hospitality innovation
Magnus also shares how they built a 4.9⭐ experience-led brand and why authenticity—not scale—is their real moat.
If you’re a founder, investor, or operator in hospitality, this episode will challenge how you think about growth, capital, and community.What if venture capital is the wrong model for hospitality?
In this episode, we sit down with Magnus, co-founder of Nook Society, to unpack a bold idea:
👉 Hospitality isn’t software — and shouldn’t be funded like it.
Instead of chasing aggressive VC growth, Nook Society is building a community-driven investment model, where guests can become investors through tokenized profit-sharing.
We dive deep into:
Why traditional VC can kill great hospitality brands
The rise of community-based financing
How transparency builds trust (and demand)
Turning customers into long-term stakeholders
What DACH investors are missing about hospitality innovation
Magnus also shares how they built a 4.9⭐ experience-led brand and why authenticity—not scale—is their real moat.
If you’re a founder, investor, or operator in hospitality, this episode will challenge how you think about growth, capital, and community.
Connect with Magnus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magnusbusch
Invest with Nook Society: https://www.nooksociety.com/invest
Want to check out Nook Society's playlist? https://open.spotify.com/user/31e6weh35z4iizkoc4xxo7gokgme?si=0619cf01981a420b

What does it really take to build a workplace where people feel heard, supported, and motivated to grow?

In this episode, we sit down with Nicki Boone, Talent Development Manager/Executive Navigator at Marriott Tulsa Southern Hills, to explore how intentional culture-building can transform hospitality teams from the inside out.

Nicki shares how breaking down silos, encouraging open communication, and creating psychological safety around mistakes can unlock stronger collaboration and faster problem-solving. From hiring for values over skills to leading with vulnerability, she offers practical strategies that any hospitality leader can apply immediately.

Whether you’re managing a hotel team or building your first team culture, this conversation is packed with real-world insights on how to create an environment where people don’t just work—but thrive.

Do you want to connect with Alicia, Nicki or the rest of the team at Marriott Tulsa Southern Hills?

You can find links here:

Nicki's LinkedIn

Alicia's LinkedIn

LinkedIn:

•  https://www.linkedin.com/company/marriott-tulsa-hotel-southern-hills

YouTube: 

• https://www.youtube.com/@TheLobbyTalks

Instagram: 

• https://www.instagram.com/thelobbytalks
• https://www.instagram.com/tulsamarriott/

What does mentorship really look like in luxury hospitality, and why has it quietly disappeared for the next generation?

In this episode, Alicia Dick Wahlberg speaks with Daryl Kornelsen, a Canadian-born senior hospitality executive who has spent decades building sales, marketing, and leadership teams across Germany's finest luxury hotels. From his first shift in the stewarding department at the Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich to leading regional sales for global brands including Taj, Shangri-La, and IHG, Daryl brings a rare combination of commercial sharpness and deep human warmth to every conversation.

Daryl reflects on what it means to carry a torch of genuine hospitality across cultures, why the best mentors take their people for a walk around the block, and how the Pareto principle applies just as much to your energy as it does to your results.

In this episode:
🎵 Why hospitality has a musicality all of its own
🤝 What mentorship looks like in practice, and why it is disappearing
🌍 Moving from Canada to Germany and learning to read culture like a language
🏨 The emotional experience of opening a hotel and becoming part of its legacy
💡 The Pareto principle applied to team energy and leadership
🎶 Why resilience, not just ambition, is what sustains a long career

Connect with Daryl on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/darylkornelsen/

Analice Martinsson speaks with Folksnest's Alicia Dick Wahlberg about the intersection of diplomacy, international relations, and luxury hospitality. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Analice shares her journey from dreaming of a career as an elegant Air France flight attendant to earning a Master’s degree in International Relations, only to find her true calling in the "human-centered" world of luxury hotels in Stockholm.

Analice discusses the "Diplomacy of Service," explaining how active listening and consensus-building—the core of a diplomat's work—are the same skills required to welcome a global guest. We dive into the "soft skills" that are often underestimated in the Western world, the challenges of the Swedish labor union system, and why aesthetics and beauty are essential for both guest experience and employee well-being.

In this episode:

• The Diplomacy of Hospitality: How intercultural etiquette and "listening to the room" translate from the UN to the hotel lobby.

• Overcoming Limiting Beliefs: Navigating the academic and family pressure to choose "prestige" over a passion for service.

• Labor & Unions in Sweden: A candid look at why hospitality struggles to compete with retail in terms of wages and conditions in Stockholm.

• The Power of Aesthetics: Why working in a luxury environment provides the "peace" and inspiration needed to perform at a high level.

• Multilingualism in Service: The advantage of using five languages and cultural competence to make guests feel "home away from home

Analice Martinsson is a Guest Relations Supervisor and Concierge at Hôtel Reisen, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt in Stockholm. With an international background across hospitality and global organizations, she works at the intersection of guest experience, service excellence, and brand strategy. Her approach is shaped by a deep understanding of how attention to detail, cultural awareness, and personalization contribute to meaningful and memorable stays.