Top Floor

Like many in hospitality, Teague Hunter tried -- and failed -- to leave the business for another industry early in his career. After being drawn back in, Teague has set records and helped lead the way back to recovery through his show, Teague Talks, and his company's annual conference. Susan discusses working with family and dodging bullets with the CEO of Hunter Hotel Advisors.

Entertaining is a way of life for Jana Robinson, from singing her way through each morning to creating dynamic events with plenty of compelling content. Jana has produced happenings for President Obama and Real Housewives, but her passion lies in giving back. Susan and Jana talk about the energy difference between live and virtual events, how to shop for the planner in your life, and the joys of being a Gemini.

Adele Gutman danced her way through performing arts high school before feeling the pull of hospitality, courtesy of a destination spa trip with her mom. Adele found a home at the Library Hotel Collection, where she led its New York portfolio to a truly odds-defying 15 years at the top of the TripAdvisor charts. Susan and Adele talk about the ins and outs of managing a hotel’s reputation by making small but continuous improvements to reduce friction in the guest experience.

Although she still dreams of the Swedish pastries from her first job, Tracy Judge has both feet firmly planted in the realities of the modern events business. Tracy's journey as a freelance economy platform entrepreneur has led her to explore how the soft skills planners cultivated in live events can smooth the way and soothe the anxieties of a shift to virtual and hybrid meetings. Susan learns about how Tracy evolved her company to meet real-time needs and tripled her community along the way.

Jay Schwartz was not interested in starving as an artist, so he transformed his fine arts degree into a career in graphic design and brand strategy. Exploring piles of mud, silvery blue waves, and a Scarface-mountain of casino chips, Jay uses a sense of place -- and lots and lots of pictures -- to craft the guest experience. Jay and Susan talk about branding hotels and restaurants along every point in the guest journey and how the pandemic was the best thing to happen to QR codes.

After a de facto international tour of the hotel business, Christoph Hütter is on a mission to transform the focus of revenue management from gatekeeping to uncovering opportunities. Christoph believes that the pandemic has permanently changed the hotel business for the better, and he places creativity high on the list of skills that hoteliers should cultivate for future success. Christoph and Susan delve into how commercial teams can work together to create more profitable hotels.

Justin Genzlinger graduated from Cucumber Chef to CEO of his family’s hospitality company by climbing the corporate ladder one milk crate at a time. After stints as a broken glass entrepreneur and a financial services consultant, Justin now promotes his portfolio of mostly historic hotels by staying rooted in a sense of place. Justin and Susan talk about how telling stories can help independent hotels stand apart in a crowded landscape.

Chris Daly is happy to work barefoot, but he does not recommend baring your hotel's soul during a time of crisis. With a family history in hospitality and a secret life as a music critic, Chris has handled more disasters, crises, murders, and fires than a season of Law and Order. Chris gives Susan some pointers about how hospitality businesses can handle sticky situations and what to include in a hotel's crisis communications plan.

Kendra Plummer did not grow up with pets, but she did grow up dreaming of owning a boutique hotel in Barbados. When she realized that the path to hotel ownership was not lined with front desk shifts, Kendra left operations for acquisitions, doing math and kicking assets. Susan hears about what it takes to become a hotel investor and how Kendra is tackling the wealth gap for women and people of color.

View the show notes for this episode at https://topfloorpodcast.com/6

After two broken legs cut his professional racing career short, Cory Falter turned his love of art into a career helping hotels and restaurants tell their stories. Cory’s evolution from ink aficionado to digital designer led him to explore the revenue possibilities of technology. Susan learns about Cory’s idea for increasing a hotel guests’ lifetime value by establishing relationships built on trust and extreme transparency.