Anna Marie Hart serves as the Sales Manager for the Hampton Inn & Suites Madison, Downtown, where she’s worked her way through several advancing leadership positions – Anna started in September of 2014 as a Guest Service Representative and has since that day been working diligently to provide incredible guest experiences and maintaining positive work relationships.  

Not only does Anna help lead an award winning team – this hotel is a Connie Award Winner through Hilton – but she works part time at the Food Fight Restaurant Group restaurant within the hotel, Bassett Street Brunch Club AND she leads young athletes in her role as Women’s Lacrosse Head Coach for Verona Area School District.  

A proud Alumni of UW Madison, Anna hails from Blaine, MN and has incredible love for her friends and family, a smile that will light up a room, and no problem letting you know that she’s gonna hustle and work hard to go after each and every one of her dreams.

In this episode, Anna shares a few nuggets such as:

• How coaching Lacrosse not only brings her joy but it also helps strengthen her traits at the hotel
• Why heart and soul helps build connections, respect and trust
• That even though she hails from MN, she's still rooting for the Pack
• Robert from Bassett Street.
• Why she may be the only person you've ever heard say "I love conflict!"
• Just listen = step 1.
• How being present has helped her give away her time intentionally

Enjoy and share on your social media platforms!

🍍You’re going to love Episode 13 featuring the amazing Connie Fedor, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association (WRA) Education Foundation. 🍍

Connie is so passionate about this industry, helping others to be set up for success, and coaching others to find that right fit position that brings in all of their competencies. Connie uses her strengths and passion to be a constant advocate for students and this industry!

In this episode, Connie invited me into her home to talk with me. She offers some incredible nuggets about work being done in industry, at the WRA level, and in partnership with the National Restaurant Association--and about general lessons about life as a human being, being a strong mom, and working through the recent loss of her husband of 32 years.

🎧 Create a happy list. 

😍Workplace culture and engaging the workforce matters.

😁Your mindset matters. 

🤞 Labor shortages won’t get better. But we can offer a workplace culture that matters and that will help.

🎧 Appreciate your risk-taking works (and doesn’t).

😆 Connecting with others is a must. 

🙃 It’s what you do with stumbling that matters, not the stumble.

🙂 That connection, values-driven leadership and honesty make work meaningful and fun

😁 Never stop learning. Especially around conflict resolution (Connie offers a great book to pick up too!)

Learn more about the WRA EF here: https://www.wirestaurant.org/education-foundation

Listen below and feel free to follow 🍍Pineapple Sessions🍍 on iTunes as well: https://apple.co/2VNNKmZ

So happy to have released Episode 12 which features the amazing Heather Stetzer, Director of Sales for HotelRED and board member for HSMAI - Wisconsin Chapter and Women in Lodging. Heather is a woman who radiates class, personal grit, character and beauty from the inside out. 

In this episode, Heather opens up about what it's like being a working leader, mom and wife including nuggets around

🎧Why Justin Timberlake is her jam

😍Her super cute story of how her first hotel brought her and her now husband Tom together

🎧How she manages all the roles in her life by being present and mindful

💪Why she works so hard partnering with Women in Lodging

📢How HSMAI, once something she wasn't aware of, has become an important network for her

🎧What it means to 'fill your jar'

😍What her favorite job title ever was

👉and her secret go-to spots in the Madison area

🎧Please listen, enjoy and share on your social media sites with others so they can glean lessons from Heather too!🎧

Stressed? Not enough time? Feeling anxious, lacking motivation or just looking for more tools to be mindful, intentional, and inspired? Jodi Goldbeck from Madison College discusses her new curriculum (available Fall 2019) called GrOW: Studies in Gratitude, Optimism and Well-Being.

In this 30 minute podcast, Jodi shares:

🤜🤛An overview of the new Madison College GRoW curriculum and how you can learn more 

😀How you can test your levels of happiness, contentment, perseverance, and grit

👌🏼Why body scanning matters 

😃How being enough has to be enough

👌🏼 Why we should grow where our feet are 

😀Why we should try not to hit the snooze button

👌🏼How intentional self care will free up time 

🙏 Tips in overcoming obstacles and savor the important moments as “this too shall pass” 

🤜🤛That how you show up matters 

What happens to a newer Podcaster who spends 90 minutes interviewing the amazingly humble and talented, General Manager of the Hampton Inn & Suites Madison Downtown, Michael Luehrs, only to find out the episode recorded with a skip every second and voices like Darth Vader....
#EpicFailAcceptance

Adaptability and flexibility are key! In this episode, Lynea recaps a few of the lessons she learned from her amazing May 23, 2019 interview with Michael and pays the lessons he imparted forward to the listeners.

A few key takeaways:

•  Lead from the floor, not behind your desk
• In a world full of put downs and shut downs, be the person who reaches back a hand
• More flexibility, less constraints
• Develop your people by meeting them where they're at and then (...well, you have to listen to find out)

Session 9 is such a treat for servant leaders and hospitalitarians in tourism, hotels and restaurants. In this episode, Elizabeth Garcia Hall (EGH) from Food Fight Restaurant Group allows you in to her heart, sharing nuggets, wisdom and stories of

• balancing being a working mom and wife in the service industry
• what it takes to keep relationships healthy and strong
• how to express gratitude in meaningful ways
• why saying authentic I'm Sorry's matter
• why the tomato is so important to her organization
• why her mouth was once wired shut
• and how her kids, husband,this industry, and the future bring her joy and inspiration

You might need a tissue.

Welcome to Pineapple Sessions, Episode 8. In this episode, I have the honor of interviewing an incredible colleague, hospitalitarian, working mom and friend, Stephanie LaBella. Stephanie serves as the Director of Operations for the Madison Concourse and Governor’s Club. She also serves as an advisory board member for Madison College’s hospitality management program and is a continuous advocate for the hospitality industry. In particular, she continues to work with people who are just starting out in this journey and even at times trying to figure out their path and where they belong. Stephanie has served as a mentor for many people and she continues to make time for others, no matter how busy her schedule. That’s just one off the million things I admire about her. 

In Episode 7 of Pineapple Sessions, I speak directly with Madison College Culinary Arts program chair, Chef Paul Short, about the farm and how it’s being used to help students and the community. The great thing is, this episode is on locale as on Monday May 6th, the day of this interview, Chef Paul and I went out to the farm with members of our advisory boards to get a hands on experience ourselves. What follows is a bit about the farm, how Chef Paul hopes it’s used, and all of the possibilities that come with something this cool.

Episode 6 of Season 1 of Pineapple Sessions features an Interview with Hospitality Leader Jonathan Bogatay CEO of North Central Group Hotels. We discuss epic failures, leader-like moments, mentoring, the state of our industry and why culture matters. Listen to a 20 plus year hospitality leader authentically share his story and lessons learned from a start as a bellman. Hear about his love of restoring classic cars, what he would say to his 19 year old self, and why kindness really does matter. 

This episode talks about some awesome news coming to Pineapple Sessions, upcoming interviews of Hospitality Leaders, and a bit about technology and how to eliminate the cell phone blues while being present in your life in other connected ways. Enjoy!