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/