This Week in Hospitality Marketing Live Show 280 December 18th 2020

This Week in Hospitality Marketing Live Show 280 December 18th 2020

This Week in Hospitality Marketing Live Show 280

 

CoHosts
Claudia Infante
Adele Gutman
Dean Schmit
Melissa Kavanagh
Tammie Carlisle
Stephanie Smith
Tim Peter
Tristan Heaword
Amy Infante
Elyse Curtis
Tracy Prigmore
Stuart Butler
Show Notes
00:02 — Introductions with Claudia about Thrive-Women in Travel https://app.livewebinar.com/425-634-228/f4a6bdcb8bf43de2ea3a413f73716bf9
00:09 — how can you support the cause and the idea of how to get women back into the workforce
00:30 — the real needs within the industry
01:10 — the need for honest mentoring
02:01 — Show ends
Topics

Top Story

1. Hotel Bookings Spike on Positive Vaccine News
    a. Unsold U.S. Hotel Rooms Near 1 Billion as Lodging Crisis Deepens

Brands & Product

2. Innovation must remain the heartbeat of hotel industry
3. Bridging the Disconnect: The Transferability of a Revenue Manager
4. Las Vegas Strip rooms listed on Airbnb, and without resort fees

Marketing & Strategy

8. What goes back to normal? Nothing.
9. Can the convergence of revenue performance and guest intelligence propel the future of travel?
10. Travel in 2021 Will Be Better And Worse Than You Think

Tech & Finance

11. A-Rod is getting into the hospitality industry with a new $650 million hotel venture
12. $151m New York deal extends Reubens’ buying spree
13. Thayer Ventures Acquisition Corporation Closes IPO

Boop!

14. NYC creatives live in hotels like the icons of yesteryear thanks to cheap rates

Ruh-Roh…

15. Thailand partners with Tinder for matchmaking trips

Hospitality Marketing Live Show 280 Transcripts (English U.S.)

[00:00:17.410] – Loren

Hello, everyone, and welcome to This Week in Hospitality Marketing.

 

[00:00:20.140] – Loren

I’m sure the microphones closer live show number two hundred and eighty with us is actually going to be awesome. There is some amazing conversation. First to introduce our special co-host, Claudia Infante.

 

[00:00:34.870] – Loren

Thrive, I guess that you describe more about what it is, because I’ll probably take too long to describe. We already can do much better than me. With me is Adele Goodman, also with us  Reputation Management, Dean Schmitt with Basecamp Mehta and metasearch marketing.

 

[00:00:47.800] – Loren

Melissa Cavanagh, with Fuel travel ever knowledge with interviews with somebody for up to 10. Karlo is with Milestone Internet. Stephanie Smith is with Cogwheel Marketing.

 

[00:01:01.120] – Loren

And with us is Mr. also Tim Peter with Tim, Peter and Associates, which, by the way, the way Tim Peters, he looks like you should have a pipe at the top.

 

[00:01:13.030] – Tim

Yes, I always did have a cap. My head gets cold. So I’m glad you missed the part about me talking about having a bad hair day.

 

[00:01:21.410] – Tim

Tim just having a bad hair day since 1992.

 

[00:01:29.520]

Know there are no bad headaches, just things where you can’t wear a hat.

 

[00:01:34.390]

That’s exactly right. So this to me is a very special edition of the show and one that is near and dear to all of our hearts. We’re because we’ve been bringing it up in conversation and dialogue with our show repetitively since it’s beginning to really have the impact that it has had, and that is women in hospitality. And the reason why Claudia is great to have her with and everywhere else with us to talk about this is that she represents a collaboration of THROVE, which is women in travel.

 

[00:02:00.400]

And I don’t want to take any of the thunder away from anything. So with nothing to do, I want to just basically turned over to Claudia and then we all just start kind of chiming in on this. Claudia, thank you so much for taking the time to then join us and talking about what it is that you’re doing it you’re doing with.

 

[00:02:11.890]

And Claudia, dial it in for everyone else to Claudia actually also works in the industry. So, Claudia, it would be great for you to kind of kick off with.

 

[00:02:21.610]

What do you do and why are you volunteering to be part of this great organization?

 

[00:02:28.750]

Thank you for having me. I mean, I appreciate how how much time you guys have invested in this show. And I really, really are very, very grateful that you guys have allowed us to have this window. For those of you who don’t know me, there’s me. There’s a few people who may not know who I am.

 

[00:02:49.270]

I am requesting that I have been in the travel industry for twenty four years now. I started when I was four and and I’ve been thriving since. But I started actually in restoration services and technology with a company called Lexington’s Services, which is where I met Dean Smith when he moved from from Nebraska to Texas back in the day. Yes, we actually shared offices for a while. So back in the day I used to do that. And then I kind of moved on to operations, revenue management, reservations, just in general, guest services.

 

[00:03:30.130]

And then obviously that kind of, you know, was fine for a while. But who wants to stay at the front desk all the time? Right. So then I ended up and inevitably coming back to some of the some of the more fun aspects of hospitality, which is strategy and data and data management. I spent ten years with Hadra kind of driving the revenue strategy for the for the hotel and casino division, and that three years ago, the organization moved their offices down to South Florida, which I had lived there for a while.

 

[00:04:06.640]

So I didn’t want to go back. And I kind of changed to to Margaritaville, which is, again, up and coming young brand in hospitality that is making a lot of noise and a lot of waves. And in the same fashion, I’m taking care of revenue strategy in general for the brand and and there’s data practices. So it’s kind of launching a new program very soon. So it’s it’s one of those things that, you know, things start just kind of happening around me, which, you know, it’s always fun to be in the middle of.

 

[00:04:41.080]

And then this year, as we kind of started seeing the crazy effect that covid is having in the industry in general for all of us.

 

[00:04:52.480]

Right. I mean, we have seen all of our friends affected, all of the people that we have been around for twenty years. You know, it’s heartbreaking, right? It’s you see all these things that are happening. And we are, I think, in a point where it is it’s such a big thing. And we were just talking about big things when you guys were saying the show is so big that you can’t solve it in one place.

 

[00:05:16.200]

It has to be it has to be almost done in little parts, and so these group of women that I know, you guys probably know them, too, because they’re all in the industry.

 

[00:05:25.950]

They’re people from Expedia, from hotel groups, from just in general tech solutions. And we started kind of talking about what we could do as individuals, but as a collective to try to minimize a little bit of the effect that covid is having in women career progression. We know from many studies that women are disproportionately affected by by the pandemic, that women are leaving the workforce, not even not even like not coming back. They’re just leaving because their kids have to be home schooled or they have to go virtual and they can’t afford to have daycare or some sort of person coming to help.

 

[00:06:15.000]

So they have to work and then they have to stay home with the kids. And it just becomes impossible to do that. Right is there’s just no human being that can handle all of that. So for us that the kind of the way to to start something was to start a collective, started an organization and start with a an event that we’re calling a day of impact. And it is happening January twenty six, twenty seven and twenty eight. It is mostly an initiative for women by women.

 

[00:06:49.740]

But the byproduct of that, and we have just had a meeting last week, is we all realize and we all appreciate as women how many men have actually back us up in our careers.

 

[00:07:03.030]

And we want to make sure that men are also included as part of this initiative to be able to to partner up and see how we can help initially, obviously, women, because we see that as being the most affected group, but eventually would like to grow the initiative to be just the travel industry initiative that we can that we can all pitch in and hopefully affect change. That’s great, and and so when you got involved in this and you know kind of what you’re doing with the organization, what have you kind of found for yourself?

 

[00:07:39.420]

Like what’s it been like being involved in this? What have you been working on specifically?

 

[00:07:45.240]

The way the organization has a lot of women in in the in the program that have a lot of expertise. There’s so many people in this organization with expertise in different things, and we all come from hospitality.

 

[00:08:00.150]

So we understand hospitality.

 

[00:08:02.850]

We have a group of women that are and we call them, by the way, Hive’s. So the tribe high, if you would. So we are creating this organization almost as a beehive. Right? We have little groups that work on certain things, but they are very interconnected to the entire ecosystem. So we have a marketing hive and they are working with social media and they’re working with press releases and in in content on the website and making sure that all of that gets done.

 

[00:08:32.310]

There’s another hive that is working on. Fundraising and partnerships and trying to figure out what companies we can, we can go in and tap on the shoulder and say, hey, we’re here, can we get some help? Some of our companies actually have matching programs. So we’re looking at that, too. There’s another hye’s that looks at outreach programs. Where do we need to go? Where do we where can we get mentors, mentees? How do we connect these people to work together?

 

[00:09:04.520]

The program they of impact is basically about mentoring them. And so we’re getting people to sign up on both ends. And then I sit on a hive that works on the strategy for the organization itself. So as part of the executive hive, our job is to make sure that we have the the legal the legal backing.

 

[00:09:25.670]

Right.

 

[00:09:25.910]

That we have the actual five or one s. three certificates, all of those fun little things that have to go through all the paperwork. But we’re also working on the strategy of the organization past that they have. In fact, right now we’re all kind of just hyper focused on and putting 80 percent of our effort on date of impact, which is collecting content and people to be mentors or mentees. So that’s kind of our main goal right now. But I also have to kind of step back and go, OK, but then what happens the day after day after day of impact?

 

[00:10:05.720]

What do we do then? And so right now we’re working on putting together some webinars, some educational forums. We have a few keynote speakers that are going to come back after they have impact and do just little little snippets, classes, if you would, or masterclasses about it could be anything. Right. How to polish up what to me, how to work on communication skills, what other industries you can look into. One of the things that we’re looking at and talking to about is health care.

 

[00:10:37.460]

Right. Is another very similar industry that has kind of the same disciplines. So being in hospitality and not being able to come back to hospitality because it’s not revamping fast enough doesn’t mean that you just sit on the sidelines. Health care has a lot of very similar functions right at work in other lives times as a consultant for health care companies that want to do revenue strategy.

 

[00:10:59.960]

So there is there is a thread there, too. There’s entertainment, there is financier’s insurance.

 

[00:11:06.590]

There’s all these other places where people with marketing and people skills or just revenue management skills can go and kind of transfer that.

 

[00:11:16.220]

So so there’s there’s a lot of activity going on in the house right now to say and to stay with the analogy in every hive is kind of doing what they need to be doing a full day of impact. And then I’m kind of working on the aftermath, if you would.

 

[00:11:32.360]

But just going back to kind of your main question is this was more about me kind of sitting here going crap like all my friends are being affected. What can I do? How can I even. I’m one person, right? How can I how can I contribute? And by the way, I want to give all the kudos to thank you and at least for introducing this, because you have been amazing. Thank you so much for all the work that your team has helped us with.

 

[00:11:59.810]

And Laura and of course, are having us is this really is kind of a great show of how bonded the hospitality industry is and how much we actually do care about each other.

 

[00:12:11.750]

So how can we help?

 

[00:12:14.780]

Well, there’s many ways you can always push that little button on the website that says donate now go to one of my jobs is to find how how how can we maintain this effort going for women right now that want to be mentors?

 

[00:12:31.460]

We have a sign up in the in the website. If you want to go to w w w dot women and travel thrive dot com and you can sign up there to be a mentor or mentee or both.

 

[00:12:43.280]

That is right now kind of the biggest need because we need to make sure we have enough women to to help these other women. Right. And be a resource. But we also need we need funds. We need expertise. We need people who have an hour, a day or an hour a week to come and tell us, hey, have you thought about these or, hey, how we thought about that. So there’s there’s plenty of areas where your support is needed.

 

[00:13:09.920]

And if you guys if you want to be part of the organization, we are so happy to have you brought me online line and we can go through there.

 

[00:13:18.620]

If you just want to be a mentor remedy or an attendant to today of impact, there’s there’s a way to sign up. I can tell you, Lauren, that one of the things where we’re looking at right now is how can we have the day of impact?

 

[00:13:31.610]

And we have, I think right now 400 people that will be part of this event.

 

[00:13:36.170]

So how can we have that in zero or how can we have that on where I learned your person also? We’re good friends.

 

[00:13:49.880]

You know, it’s interesting because we were when we were having a hive meeting, we were talking about how can we get how can we get people to share their story with us?

 

[00:13:59.420]

And in the back of my head, Ed is going to tell you why I get my contribution to this organization is my head goes up with it.

 

[00:14:10.160]

I know that I’m really good at what they do.

 

[00:14:12.560]

I’ll tell you, you know, when when Claudia approached me with what they’re working on and what they’re doing, she had asked, you know, could we use some of the advocacy platform to help with that? I was like looking at it. I was instantly like, holy smokes. You have everything that that’s meaningful to advocacy. And then I went I told to redo it. But then I went to our head of marketing strategy, Diane, who’s one of the most brilliant creatives I’ve ever worked with.

 

[00:14:38.540]

And I just said, hey, I want you to take a look at this. Here’s kind of the crappy idea I came up with. What do you think? And she ran with it and she she actually took a couple of our other team members, you know, kind of along to to to work on this. So the flip to team is having a blast with this. They love what you’re all working towards. They love what you’re doing.

 

[00:15:03.320]

Even one of my account manager, she came to me and said, thanks so much for having the company do this. I want to take part in this. I want to be, you know, a big part of this. This is important to me for my career, which was nice because otherwise it would have been me doing it.

 

[00:15:21.270]

It wouldn’t have been nearly as good for you. I think it would have been good.

 

[00:15:25.430]

And you still want to come and help in other ways? I would say so, yeah.

 

[00:15:33.140]

We take the chance because as I say, every time I think of an idea and I give it to churchgoers or I say, here’s a color blue and he comes back with the Sistine Chapel ceiling. So I mean, here we’re used across the pond.

 

[00:15:45.740]

Most little country, Papua New Guinea.

 

[00:15:48.350]

Yeah, that’s the other guy that’s you know, you’re in England. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that’s right.

 

[00:15:53.530]

And also and I know you have a big family because we had that one conversation about this. Amy shares your last name, by the way.

 

[00:16:01.800]

Oh yeah.

 

[00:16:04.160]

OK, so I don’t know. She could be a distant cousin. Gosh knows the story of your family. Well, they invented that.

 

[00:16:12.490]

They adopted last name because of my husband. Right. Well, so yeah, there’s some there could be in some strange ways. But I think you should share the story of your most famous cousin though.

 

[00:16:28.250]

Of course. Oh goodness. Really. You know.

 

[00:16:32.570]

Well, I don’t know what to strain.

 

[00:16:35.260]

Why not give me the my mom’s sister has a son that’s very, I guess famous, but it’s infamous as well. But he’s better known.

 

[00:16:49.730]

He’s better known as chapeau. Oh.

 

[00:16:53.240]

Oh. Every time he made a move, someone in the DEA would call us and go, oh my gosh.

 

[00:17:03.650]

I think finally it’s been a little quieter because we’re like, oh, good, he’s in a fucking box.

 

[00:17:10.250]

We know where to go find the waitress that we like you like ten times more after that last set.

 

[00:17:25.010]

So I be there with all of these stupid things happening. It’s been crazy with webinars and shows and all those things. I did one in four not very long ago or no, it wasn’t working for was somebody else. But we did like a like a webinar show and it was like an hour long. And I was the moderator of the debate.

 

[00:17:44.270]

And after the thing went through and we we had a great show, whatever I got, like, I don’t know, maybe like thirty emails from friends that were on the show and said, wow, you spent a whole hour without dropping an F bomb.

 

[00:18:01.340]

It’s like, wow, you know, she hasn’t said she’s been, you know, not too crazy.

 

[00:18:05.900]

It’s like, oh, that’s got to loosen up some time. Here it is.

 

[00:18:09.980]

One could argue that. I’ve got it. I went.

 

[00:18:12.710]

I fortunately have no worries, concerns or obligations. Anybody else. So we’re fine.

 

[00:18:22.080]

You should put it in writing just if people know what they’re facing.

 

[00:18:27.980]

But, you know, in addition to the green Eminem’s the recent language. Are you sure that.

 

[00:18:35.940]

A little bit of these things for sure. Now, I think Robert might be listening to us for now, but Robert very rarely ever uses the F bomb. And I think was it last week or the week before I forget, which he got really upset about something and he probably did something that was something he got real upset about. And he dropped it was like, good for you, Robert.

 

[00:19:00.930]

So I really think Tom Cruise ran. Well, then there’s that, too. Yes. Yes.

 

[00:19:07.510]

I’m also going to be a little bit honest here. I invited Claudia because I’m going to call out everyone on this show that I want you to find a way to help this organization. All of us are incredibly fortunate people that have had really good careers and are well networked. So I will be personally chasing each one of you if I don’t care. Claudia, tell me that you’ve talked to them. So this is with my jilting.

 

[00:19:36.800]

By the way, Melissa, FBI, you’re on because I gave Stewart a heads up that I would prefer to talk to you about him because you’ve had more to offer always.

 

[00:19:55.600]

And there’s no way to share your story with Dota. So it’s a really easy, fun way to do it.

 

[00:20:02.660]

And each of you on there either sharing your own story or a story of someone that you admire and want to dominate in the industry, I will be grabbing any of the imagery I have collected of all of you, and I will be submitting it for you for the record show that they’re going on there.

 

[00:20:26.090]

There used to be Claudia, so they can get more than one person saying, yes, if you want to nominate multiple people, you can go through and do multiple physicals as many.

 

[00:20:40.970]

And this is meant to be kind of a celebration of of women in this industry that have greatly impacted. Yes. The gift to. Yes. That have greatly impacted your career. You know, I’ve had quite a few in my time. You know, you really can’t come through this industry without having a some someone who really launched you and gave you the chance. And that’s a really important piece.

 

[00:21:12.890]

I think one of the things that we have we have discussed as part of this five team is for some of us who are in the industry or have been in the industry for 20 some years and have somehow scaled in the industry or escalated in the industry to get to a position where we have a well that’s said as well, an expanded network. It is somewhat easier for some of us to find a job if we get displaced or or go find opportunity trade because we have all those connections.

 

[00:21:45.500]

But if we are looking at someone who, for example, was a housekeeper for 15 years in the same hotel and they just go from home to work and work to home and they just go put in there, you know, eight, 10 hours a day, you make their 18 rooms and make this thirty seven beds and go home. And they don’t really have a LinkedIn or have a way to go anywhere else. That’s the people that need the value of our network and our kind of our influence.

 

[00:22:15.200]

If you want to put them in front of other people and say, hey, if you’re hiring a housekeeper, you’re a fantastic person, then you can bring to your team. And I think that’s where some of us probably our contribution is more important in that area than it is in lending that both in lending that network than it is sometimes when you’re making a big donation. That is just a one time thing.

 

[00:22:38.780]

And we kind of set and forget it, you know, to those either we want to make the donation and then lend us your network.

 

[00:22:48.820]

I to say I’m sorry, but I think it’s so important, though, that we stop looking at people as machines that come into the hotel, do a task and go home. I think that is leadership. We should be looking at them for all their future potential and for the intelligence, the innate intelligence and creativity and passion for hospitality that they bring to the table and and try to help them see their own potential. And and listen ask them what they think about things and listen to what they say, because there are a lot of really creative.

 

[00:23:36.440]

And really talented people that we’re just not really tapping into. It’s it’s it’s almost like that expression women hold up half the sky. If you’re not utilizing the entire creativity and talent in your building, you’re not going to reach the full potential of your company. And we should be talking to them more and we should be pointing out to them when they’re doing something really special so that they start thinking about their identity in a different way. They’re smart, they’re creative.

 

[00:24:15.050]

They’re kind of, you know, all of this. And and because and we should encourage them to listen to podcasts if they have the dream of being getting to another place in their career. We want to be helping everyone see themselves in a different light. Just an identity mindset. Yeah.

 

[00:24:37.180]

And I think that’s the mentoring. That’s where mentoring comes in can be right. When you have someone who can help you kind of discover what your best traits are. Right. Sometimes we are a little myopic in in our view of ourselves just because we’re so close. And sometimes one other person tells you, hey, you’re really good at this, maybe we should try it. It gives us that little nudge to to try and go and try something new.

 

[00:25:03.470]

And I think that’s where mentoring is vital to. Most of us have had mentors in our careers that have helped us get where we are. And I think that’s where being a mentor to someone can be can be of high value. But the other thing about it that I would say real quick is, you know, we talk about this being a big, big problem, right? It’s a big problem with a lot of money. And, yeah, we can we can think about how we can tap into the resources or tap into the people that can have potential.

 

[00:25:38.060]

But it is also important that we as as women in general, as professionals, but as women especially, we learn to speak up. And one of the things that we have in our strive agenda, for example, for doing strive for day of impact, is learning to raise your voice and raise your hand and say, I don’t agree or I agree. Or this is what I think, because I think a lot of times we as women have had the challenge of raising our voice and being being that center of attention and a personality thing.

 

[00:26:17.810]

Right. But in that sense, I am with you to have where I the great Madam Madeleine Albright said there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women. And I think that is one of those one of those models that that we should carry with us, that we should support women in our in our lives. I agree. And mentoring is a great way to do that.

 

[00:26:43.610]

And I think one of the one of the important parts of this is, is making sure that there is an environment where people can feel comfortable enough to actually relate to those. So it’s not just the emphasis on the individual to their families, because, like you said, that can be really daunting, very, very difficult. And it’s twice as difficult when you’re in an environment where you don’t feel that you may be valued for it. So I think to tell folks it’s not just identifying people and the opportunities for how they can do something different that they want to do, it’s also providing a platform on a daily basis that anybody in any team can raise their voice and have heard from the allegedly lowest of lowest positions to the highest, the highest for the way that we’ve always operated.

 

[00:27:29.350]

It is there is no and how it’s it’s it’s lateral. It doesn’t matter. Know I’m in charge of anybody. I can barely been charged myself if you ask my wife.

 

[00:27:39.620]

So, you know, I see myself as being I’m here to facilitate to make sure people can do their job to the best of their capability. What do I need to give you to do your job? If it’s me going away, leave me alone. That’s what I’ll do if it’s something else. But you really do need to, you know, to create an environment where people can speak up, particularly those who are more. Oh, definitely. You know, Wolf, as a guy, as me being able to speak up has never really been a problem.

 

[00:28:11.130]

I don’t think no, I don’t think they ever had to tell me.

 

[00:28:15.450]

I don’t know. I think he’s kind of waffling.

 

[00:28:17.210]

I don’t think Lauren has ever had that problem. But I mean, I think that’s something where we have to be particularly conscious of women, especially to say, you know, if there are folks who tend to be quieter, are they given the opportunity to be heard in a way that’s comfortable for them as well? And so I can give a firsthand example of Sithole.

 

[00:28:35.550]

Hold on, hold on. Stephanie, go ahead. Oh, I’m trying to get my word and I’m curious, how do you find mentees then giving that? How do you make that and how does the matchmaking process work? Because I feel like you’re probably going to get an influx of mentors. But how do you find the right like are you working with universities like our other programs to find those people? Yeah, so so we we are using our networks through especially the Groupon, Expedia.

 

[00:29:08.350]

So there’s a big Groupon Expedia executives that are in these in these thrive initiatives. And so they have reached out to their networks in the hotel industry to expand their invitation to everyone at the staff level. So so that’s where most of the mentees are coming from. And then we have a couple of people that we’re working with at the University of Pennsylvania. We’re working with Cornell, we’re working with Michigan, with working with UCSF, where we’re working with Cal State and we’re working with the University of Colorado, I want to say, in Denver.

 

[00:29:53.250]

And so they’re reaching through their management. Their hospitality management programs are reaching out to all the students to to sign up our students. So we have three ways of getting involved, mentors, mentees and students. And so we have right now is going to have way we have I believe we have one hundred. And as of yesterday, we had one hundred and sixty nine or seventy mentors and we have about two hundred and twenty five mentees that are signed up and then about three hundred students.

 

[00:30:24.030]

So so we have quite a few of these from the university. I’m sorry. Is it free to the university. It is.

 

[00:30:36.150]

It’s the whole thing is facilitated for free. It’s good stuff.

 

[00:30:40.600]

I’m sorry sir. Is there a program for people that have lost their job? I mean, they may be more senior or trying to pivot what they’re trying to do, or are you looking more for line staff from what you say?

 

[00:30:51.660]

So it’s all of it, right? Is anyone, anyone, any woman who works in the in the travel industry right now or in the hospitality industry or in there just in the travel industry as a whole? Right. Right now, we are again working towards day of impact. So our goal right now is to match mentors and mentees. One of the pieces of the strategy going forward is a job placement program. We’re looking at internship opportunities. We’re looking at cooperative opportunities.

 

[00:31:22.260]

We’re looking at an organization that allows for organizations like ours to have like microcredit or micro lines of credit to start your own business kind of thing. We’re looking at a seminar and a webinar series. We’re looking at educational different programs with other organizations that are already built or with some of the mentors. We have one of our mentors, for example, Cindy us this from Cornell. And she drives the entire, you know, distribution platform, for example, is one of our one of our big things.

 

[00:31:57.200]

So she’s offered to have a master class on some of those things to maybe a higher level of executive in the program, but then those executives can learn and then go teach to other mentees. So it’s a little bit of a hybrid program where you are learning something. But what we’re asking our mentees as. Payback, if you would, move it forward, pass it on, pay it forward, teach someone else what you’re learning here, and we’re hoping that that kind of spreads and creates that ripple effect that can that can reach more people.

 

[00:32:33.650]

Yeah, sorry, Lauren. I’m just going to go, go, go. There’s a group on Facebook that was kind of born out of the whole crisis, but I think there’s a few members here that are part of called hospitality family and they have the eight thousand members. So I think a few of us can post over the next few weeks and really try and highlight. And yeah, it’s a mix of everything from I’ve seen you posting a lot of your reputation and helpful things there to line stuff.

 

[00:33:02.130]

So I think would be a great platform to help the message out. So we’ll think those of us that are members to commit to posting and talking about it over the next few weeks and really try years.

 

[00:33:20.670]

No, I have to admit I Snell project. I’m sorry, do you work with the Castell project? Do I yeah, I mean, I have not. Oh. There is also a been asking Tracy pragma, who was with us earlier on the show. She has the the things she has a deal, which is a kind of like a shark tank. And I’m not do you justice. And it’s total comprehensive, but it’s where women usually college age or just around that age, are presenting real proposals to real investors for hotel projects.

 

[00:34:00.600]

And if they win, then she will also end up with another 50000 dollars added to it as well. But it’s to help inspire young females to enter into hospitality and senior leadership roles. And she keeps pigmies like, is it still going on when I’m still stuck in a meeting? So, I mean, she can make it great, come over. But if not, I definitely think that I’ll make sure the information gets crossed over, that it probably has some semblance of some biology to the Odyssey.

 

[00:34:28.980]

I think they’re most again, the most important thing that we can that we can do is is reach out to our networks and grow this movement to turn it into and turn it into not just women in travel, but just, you know, travel for women. Right. Is let’s let’s make sure that we are that we’re reaching out. And and, of course, again, one of our initiatives is to bring gentlemen, you guys into into the fold and not only not only for help, but also for assistance.

 

[00:35:00.510]

I want to show you a real thing that just happened to me recently with one of my clients. We were trying to get them involved with making holiday cards, video holiday cards, because given the circumstances, sending out real mail and so forth. And so we solicited all the hotels to come up with their video cards for help. Veronica.

 

[00:35:18.120]

Sorry, sorry. And that was my phone. So anyway, we have what’s called social media champions, or at least they’ve been assigned to social media champions. And just like the old websites used to be, who’s the technology geek or is the front desk person? And they regulate it off to somebody they didn’t want to bother with it. Right. They’re just like and I’m trying to express to them how important this role is. On the meanwhile, some of the hotels sent out Christmas cards and it’s, needless to say, less than creative.

 

[00:35:45.990]

And so, ironically, one of the social media champions was housekeeping, just a general generic. You got handed the bag, you take care of it kind of thing.

 

[00:35:55.290]

And she made this song and she changed the lyrics, everything. But she didn’t want to share it because I talked to him directly. She said, there’s Halo and I did this. I know it’s not ours, but I just want to let you know what I was thinking and said, you have to push this up front. This is no, no, no. I presented no reluctance is all presented if that’s OK with you. And so I went over and put it in front of the corporate office and they’re like, this is great for the hotel.

 

[00:36:23.220]

And of course, the hotel steps in and says, well, yeah, and I called them on.

 

[00:36:26.880]

I’m like, you know, social media champion that you said no to.

 

[00:36:32.970]

She’s the one to cover this up. And because it really was it was it was just it was fun and it is great and everything about it. And it revalidated not only her role but her avenue of opportunity. She now loves doing this stuff. She sees that this is more than what she was doing at the hotel before she got through to the hotel more. And she sees a path somewhere. She didn’t go to college. She has no intention of going to college.

 

[00:36:54.420]

She just wants to have an enjoyable life. And this is something she enjoys doing. And this is something she has now come alive with. And she’s turned into this advocate of a million ideas. So that’s nice to see when it happens, I guess, is what I’m trying to say end.

 

[00:37:08.910]

I think there’s there’s room for a lot of ideas. And what I think it’s important sometimes is to be able to execute one of them. Right. In going to think it through and and make it impactful. So, you know, we’re we’re always we’re always open to ideas. I love collaborating, I think is one of the one of the nuggets of of humanity that is the most and the most relevant is it’s collaboration. It’s understanding how other people solve the same problem I have.

 

[00:37:39.150]

And so I think in that the value that these organizations bring to our lives is not only that of perspective and kind of see where other people may stand on the same issue and being able to, you know, contribute or understand or at least agree to disagree, which sometimes happens or a lot of times happens. And that’s OK. But but being able to to at least pull in in one direction, even if we’re pulling from different points, is it’s a way to move forward.

 

[00:38:12.930]

And I think that the industry in this case, a lot of that women, women have, as you as you said, a whole half of this guy. And in many, many cases, most of us I know, I have built my career in the on the shoulders of women who have helped me get here. So I you know, this is this is as much about them as it is about me, so and excelling at this and furthering my guilt, the most impressive, Peter I know is not Tim Peter.

 

[00:38:48.390]

However, Tim Peter knows the most impressive Peter and probably should make sure he knows about this. It’s sort of a text that I wanted to say.

 

[00:38:59.210]

I you, Adele. I know you started to say something. I’ll also be back off to you. For the first decade I was in the industry. I was Mr. Timi Peter everywhere I went and happy to be the Today Show, as it well should be.

 

[00:39:15.450]

And it still happens about 60 percent of the time. And truthfully, it first started when I first started working for what was Cendant hotels at the time. You know, I would go home at the end of the day with just a list of questions from my wife saying they were talking about this thing called ACARS.

 

[00:39:33.240]

That sounds important. What’s that all about?

 

[00:39:36.540]

Now, you don’t make one of them. You don’t, you know. Right.

 

[00:39:39.240]

So so I know an enormous, enormous debt, first and foremost to my wife, but to all kinds of many of the most important interest I’ve had in my career. So I think we need to recognize across the board. And with that, I’m going to shut up and let some women talk.

 

[00:39:56.910]

So, Adele, you had something you want me to help you with something about collaboration being so important. And it really is that I think the for the collaboration, people need to know what the objective and a lot of times in the hotel business, we’re not really sharing very well. Some companies do it very well. But many companies, if you ask anyone, the bellman, they don’t know. So share that vision and let everybody let everybody feel like they’re contributing to it because it’s so crushing for them when they can’t.

 

[00:40:48.580]

When they don’t feel that they are important enough or smart enough or creative enough to contribute to that, and you’re missing out on such wonderful perspectives, especially, you know, diversity is the big issue right now. And it should be I just watched the television show movie or something about. The I don’t remember the Man Grove Club or the Man Group nine or something like that, it was happened in the it happened in nineteen seventy and you just can’t believe that that ever happened.

 

[00:41:26.990]

And then 50 years ago, we’re still talking about the same issues, you know, so important to collaborate. You’re always going to get a better outcome when you get more people’s perspectives and. That’s all I have a question. Yes, so you said you have one hundred and sixty nine mentors and there were two hundred and twenty five mentees, have you already paired all of the mentors that you have with a mentee? Are you in that process now?

 

[00:42:00.890]

We’re working, yeah. So we’re working with the with a couple of Expedia data scientists who are helping us create the they’re amazing in there and the women too.

 

[00:42:13.760]

So, you know, it’s great for us, but they’re helping us with the logic on the on the matching piece. They are we have right now three different kind of values, I guess, that we’re looking at. One is the experience of the of the persons that are applying both to be mentors and mentees. The second one is their availability. So if you only have one hour or three hours or five hours, we can only match with someone that needs that kind of relationship.

 

[00:42:50.600]

Right. And then the third, I believe, is its priority. So, you know, kind of where do you fall in the scale of someone who absolutely needs help because they need to get a job and they need to get a LinkedIn profile reviewed and an overhead shot or whatever, and then someone who may just be looking for a different way of moving their career forward. Right. So there’s different priorities in there. And so those links are helping us with that.

 

[00:43:17.690]

We have, thankfully, a ton of mentors who have agreed to mentor more than one person and be a mentor for a group of people. So that is one of those things that is helping us kind of match the numbers. We also have other things that are not necessarily signing up for one on one, but they’d rather be part of the webinar or a seminar. So we’re kind of looking at all of those things. We are actually having a matching meeting sometime in January, the first week of January for announcements the week after, so that they have in fact, everybody knows what they’re supposed to have.

 

[00:43:58.970]

So they have in fact, it’s a three day event. The first day is keynote and a panel, I believe there’s one in two panels. Panels are on different things, everything from, you know, how to build your résumé or how to build your brand. Right. Some of us actually have a little bit of a brand and he’s going to walk around with people knowing who we are. So how can we use that to leverage other other relationships?

 

[00:44:26.180]

And we have people like Kelly McGuire and CBS is sitting on that panel. We have another panel that is going to be moderated by Marissa Mayer from Expedia is going to talk about relationships and mentorship and keeping up with your contacts and from a person in sales. Obviously, that is a very big fan of, you know, that’s how they build their careers. So that’s that’s what this is kind of really important. Thank you. Is the actual mentor introduction.

 

[00:44:55.890]

So they know who they are. And we’re kind of creating those connections that we’re giving them time to talk to their mentor or their mentee, align on priorities, make sure that they know kind of what the goal is over the next year. We’re giving it a three month kind of timeline for over the next three months. How much time do you have and how can we work on getting us there? One of the things we’re being mindful about that we don’t want to become again so big that it becomes overwhelming.

 

[00:45:28.100]

I’d rather focus on one skill that you want to focus or that you want to improve and work on that. Right. And then in the next round, we’re going to do another rematch and then we can match it with someone else who can maybe help you with a different skill. So rather than trying to solve everything in one go is more about how can we create this continuous loop of feedback and assistance and retro retro, whatever that word is. I know, but how can we build this continuous loop of feedback that not only the mentor can learn something because reality is and I think you guys will agree with me, we all learn from other people.

 

[00:46:11.250]

Right? It’s none of us are at the cusp of not. And we have nothing left to learn. Right. So we want things to become a continuous churn of people who are coming and learning and then teaching and learning and teaching and learning and teaching. And hopefully we get to a point where. There is enough rich or enough wealth of knowledge in that group that we can even expand to another group and then expand to another group.

 

[00:46:44.800]

So, again, the analogy is that he’s right. It kind of goes in one of the guns and then it starts building these other things around. Then hopefully we can create a really big kind of honeycomb there.

 

[00:46:57.540]

So, yeah, great question. Are there any specific skill sets that you’re missing from the mentor standpoint? There are any gaps that need to be filled? I don’t know. I am not actively engaged in that process right now because I’m kind of working on another thing. I don’t think we are missing. I don’t think we are full anywhere. Like we need everybody and everything. Right. I know that we have a big influx of people in sales and people in revenue management, mainly because our networks are in that area.

 

[00:47:37.080]

I hope that with Diane and and and her husband is going to be, what’s the name? Monica, Monica and Monica coming on. We could get a little bit of an influx of tech or people in that area or marketing. We have we have quite a few people in marketing as well. So, yeah, we need more people like in in engineering or we need more people in sales.

 

[00:48:03.090]

We have I mean, so, you know, if you think about the hospitality industry also, you have everything and everything right from the front desk and guest relations all the way through to data science. So kind of how do you bring all those together? And if it’s a little it’s a little challenging, but not that nonetheless, we would like to have everyone that can that can teach anything. I think all of us in the hive are share. A common thing is we are all hyper learners and we just want to know we want to learn from other people.

 

[00:48:36.030]

So if it’s as much a self-service self-service thing as a complement to the I’m so happy that everybody showed up today. But most importantly, I would love to give a kind of a left handed compliment to Tim, but more specifically to Tim in the Dell, because I’ve personally witnessed people talking over them.

 

[00:48:56.460]

It’s just one of these things in conferences that we haven’t had the chance to be at recently where they will come up to Tim and I remember this specifically to the day and where they come to Tim to ask him a question, and he’s talking to Tim.

 

[00:49:12.540]

Hi, how are you? Good to see you. So forth and so on. And ask him a question. Repass Tim. I mean, then he really courteously even say hi and want to ask a question, Tim and Tim and all of his eloquence is what you weren’t really want to talk to an expert, but then they’re literally saying, well, that’s why I’m asking you to talk to Tim. It was like one of these drop overs. Like, in a strange way, right now we’re in the crucible of opportunity, I think positively with our industry having been decimated as much as it has been.

 

[00:49:40.770]

There’s a rebuild that can go on right now and there’s a chance for people to cut the both of those who raise rose to a level of inadequacy for whatever they did and for the people that actually knew what the hell they were doing the whole time. And there’s there’s these people that are in positions going, do we really want to put the figurehead back up or do we want to put the doer back in? And this is a great that’s why it’s so awesome that you’re doing that.

 

[00:50:03.510]

Jan was so awesome that hopefully the timing was swell of it, because it might be that realization of this is the time to reconstruct the way you should build it with the right people in the right positions that have the right capabilities, regardless of business and anything else that may have contributed to the lack of their ability to attain a higher level. Because we all know people that have never risen to a level of inadequacy and we all know going into any business or hotel we have.

 

[00:50:28.440]

Very quickly, you knew who knew what they were talking about and who didn’t. And I can guarantee you just by what my personal experience is, most of the time it was the guys who didn’t know too much what was going on or they were in a position that they shouldn’t probably have qualified for. And the real doer was somebody that wasn’t given that opportunity. And he was usually female or ethnically based or something that prohibited them from being truly considered for the role that they should have been doing or qualified to do.

 

[00:50:51.780]

And now maybe it’s our chance to kind of make good in a lot of ways. So I’m optimistic in that sense and always like there’s always value.

 

[00:51:01.890]

I think there’s always value in recognizing and recognizing that the. The diversity piece right at me coming from an immigrant, I am an immigrant, I grew up in Mexico. I’m not a I didn’t grow up in this country. So I obviously have maybe a different perspective when it comes to when it comes to diversity than some other people. Right. We all do, right? I think ultimately, though, there is a for me at least, there is a balance between the leadership decisions and people who make decisions on organizations and how they shape their people and how they raise their people right to be what they need to be to reach their potential.

 

[00:51:47.420]

All of that is cultural and comes as part of the leadership. The leadership has to has to have that kind of DNA in them that that they want to race people up.

 

[00:51:58.450]

I mean, being an immigrant and coming to this country to find opportunities also goes to show that. Diversity is just the word that sometimes put on top of things to give ourselves excuses not to do something, and and I am a big proponent of the personal effort that it takes in the personal work that it takes to get to where you want to go. Yes, there’s always going to be people who say no to you. There’s always going to be people who discriminate or treat you differently.

 

[00:52:34.220]

I am a victim of it.

 

[00:52:35.660]

And I cannot tell you how many times I have been followed in a store or talked over or basically told to shut up and move. Right. That’s fine. You have a different perspective than I do, and that’s OK. But I’m going to show you what I can do and I’m going to work on my own thing. Right. I can’t change the way you think about me. And I don’t care what you do, but I’m going to work on me and I’m going to show you what I can do and what that does.

 

[00:53:06.260]

In my opinion, if it put the control back in me, I control what happens in my career. I speak up, I raise my hand and I say what? I think if you fire me after that time, I’m going to go and make tacos. I’m really good at that. And I can do that all day long. I’m never going to be without a job because I’m Mexican. I can sit outside of a parking lot and go get a job.

 

[00:53:28.820]

That day.

 

[00:53:30.710]

I have to share one of my earliest memories with Claudia. So I had just moved down from Nebraska down to Texas to work at Lexington Services.

 

[00:53:39.170]

Exactly when I moved to the Dallas area. And and Texas is notorious for there Tex Mex, right? That’s what it is. You know, the Americanized Mexican. And I remember going to Colombia. I had met our New Year for like a week at that point is is a great Mexican restaurant in Dallas area. And without any hesitation, without batting an eye. It’s like going back to the response. My house.

 

[00:54:07.160]

I have get to take you up on that.

 

[00:54:08.810]

So just listening to you talk, Claudio, and this is what I’ve always liked about you, is you you are unapologetically you and you’re comfortable and who you are. I think about the poor idiot that tried to speak over you.

 

[00:54:31.040]

I can only imagine how badly that goes for them.

 

[00:54:35.840]

You know, know that that was years ago, right, when I was trying to learn my ways that I was right. And I think there is there is lessons in everything that happens to us, good or bad.

 

[00:54:48.800]

And and I think sometimes and I’m sure you guys will agree that our negative experiences usually draw the most winnings at the end of the day. Right. Because we do learn how what to do and what not to do. Right. I have put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count. Right. I have said crazy stuff that sometimes I go back and I’m like, well, I think that’s every Friday after this show.

 

[00:55:16.460]

Today is probably the thing when I go, oh my God, I totally do that service organization, but just, you know, putting myself out there.

 

[00:55:24.590]

But at the same time, I realize that, you know, we go through things life and I’m going to get a little philosophical here.

 

[00:55:33.170]

I hope you guys have enough tequila left in your glasses.

 

[00:55:37.760]

But so we go and we spend a third, if not more, of our lives with these people, with you guys. I spend more time with people at work than sometimes I spend with my kids and my husband and my loved ones. And those are people that I actually like love. I would give my life for them. So the only way that I can justify to myself spending so much time in this industry with these people is by being absolutely honest about how I feel, what I think and what I think should be done.

 

[00:56:17.390]

Because every time I walk away from a table, having given up on my opinion or having given up on something that I truly believe in that needed to be done, and I didn’t say anything about it. Every time I do that, I just wasted an hour of my life that I don’t get with my kids. And to me, that’s all I have is time. I don’t I don’t really have a lot of money and I don’t care to have money.

 

[00:56:42.200]

I don’t really have possessions and I don’t care to have possessions. All I have and own truly is my is my time. And how and who do I spend it with. And so if anything else is, is, is, you know, erased from this show today, let’s use our time volubly for us, like feel fulfill our own sense of purpose with the time and how we’re spending it. And that’s all it. I’m the choir on that one, I’m we’re in the wardrobe on that one because it’s the same things like at least, you know, I was telling you the truth.

 

[00:57:17.050]

And if I get fired for at least, you know, I walked out the door telling you what to do.

 

[00:57:20.410]

I know that’s exactly what you said. Right? It’s it’s just it’s just that I roll my own rules. You will always know where you stand with me. And and I will never say something about you that I don’t say in front of your face.

 

[00:57:37.250]

So, you know, you’ll fit in well with this show that there is absolutely no interruptions.

 

[00:57:49.030]

Like, no, you really don’t work close. It’s true. You’re there for it, doesn’t it? And I am very grateful. Hey, let’s do a bottom check. You hear about that whole thing with they’re doing a lot of checks now and you have to stand up in a meeting to prove that.

 

[00:58:04.700]

Let’s not do that right now.

 

[00:58:09.670]

Activity today after the whole stupid thing that is now a bottom check. So, you know.

 

[00:58:17.890]

Well, to be fair to be fair, I’m not wearing bottoms, but this sweater goes all the way back to what you do.

 

[00:58:27.100]

Exactly.

 

[00:58:28.510]

Well, OK, give me the audience. So we have a co-host right now.

 

[00:58:32.890]

We have the whole spectrum of those that are starting a business, running a business and controlling a business in various forms. I mean, everybody has had roles in other companies before and so forth. But from your perspective, I mean, is it a struggle to run a female run business in comparison to being compared to any other types of businesses that you’re being run against? Or are you being kept at the caliber that you are, or are they looking at you differently?

 

[00:58:55.180]

And then from those that are running within the company, are you treated or do you struggle having to convince people of the value or the responsibility you have within your own company as to why do you need to be listened to when you’re talking to people? I mean, is there are you hitting walls with any of that stuff? Because for me, I’m just ignorant to those things because I don’t have those issues when it comes to that. OK, too much and too quickly.

 

[00:59:17.170]

I think running a company, whether you’re male or female, is hard no matter what. I think I probably second guess myself in terms of just, you know, the either imposter syndrome or whatever, just, you know, always wondering, are you doing the right thing and trying to make sure you have your I guess I don’t feel like I have a problem with having my voice heard and less sometimes on panels and webinars. I have to I probably need to be a little bit more aggressive and get my elbows out.

 

[00:59:46.900]

Maybe I’m just reliving my the one that just did last week where I felt like I didn’t get as much airtime as the boys on the show.

 

[00:59:54.640]

Not this show podcast reminds me to sharpen those elbows with your counterpart is it is an amazing thing, the fact that you got any airtime. So you should be in a comment, a compliment afterwards. You should be incredibly proud.

 

[01:00:14.080]

Do you know I know who I talked to, you and me. We well, we all know who.

 

[01:00:19.180]

Oh yeah.

 

[01:00:21.520]

But but Stephanie, I mean, you have so much to offer that quite honestly, I’d rather hear you talk than me.

 

[01:00:30.160]

I think you’re both involved with this. Another target for like syndrome.

 

[01:00:37.690]

You should never feel that way. Now, I understand anyone who looks like they know what they’re doing has just become comfortable with the fact that we all guess so.

 

[01:00:49.720]

Yeah. You know, it’s interesting talking about imposter syndrome. So I know, like last year when I was on top twenty five, I mean that’s exactly how I felt like at some point some someone’s going to realize I’m a fraud. What am I doing here? I was listening to a podcast recently with Hillary Clinton talking about and not this isn’t political but talking about feeling that imposter syndrome, I think. Yeah, right. So it’s but it’s really wrong.

 

[01:01:16.600]

It’s interesting because I know sometimes I’m a bit quiet on the show, but part of that for me is just a I’m an introvert, so just talking in general. But B, I like what you said it. I think that I’d rather hear Stephanie speak or not. I know what I know and what I’m thinking. I like to hear from the experts, so I’ll try then. I can, but yeah. But I think sometimes women in general, we do.

 

[01:01:41.410]

We don’t raise our voice. We don’t talk. We don’t. We heard Lauren to your question. I don’t really have that problem as far as not being heard within Miles because I’ve been there so long. Right. Like I earned I earned my what I see I’ve earned the right to voice my opinion. Yeah. But, you know, Neil are very and they’re both very opinionated and very they have very strong. Feels about what the company is, but they’re very open to listening as well to to the employees in the team.

 

[01:02:14.330]

So I think that’s on this. I think one of the things that would be interesting, too, to propose for those of you who run companies like is is to create is to create almost the opportunity somebody said create the opportunity and the platform for women to speak up and all of that. And that, again, is a leadership thing. You can’t really force that into companies. Some people are kind of naturally driven in that leadership style. Some others are more, you know, in a regimen of a regimen of lines and chains of command and all those things.

 

[01:02:51.740]

So it’s not a that is not a it’s not a uniform. It’s not a uniform way to to to manage companies or drive companies. What I think would be interesting and to Tammy’s point, do you guys ever feel imposter syndrome? Is that a man thing or is that a female thing?

 

[01:03:12.110]

No, no, no. It’s a trick question.

 

[01:03:15.800]

So it’s it’s an imposter syndrome. It has more to do with us being concerned about about others than it is about ourselves right now as we’re making decisions and making the right decisions, especially when we have people that report to us. Am I making the right decision or am I going to affect other people with my decisions? Right. And that is that impostor syndrome comes on board. It’s like I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing here. Why am I making these decisions?

 

[01:03:41.420]

That happens to me, too. And I can think happens to of what I think it’s important to have. And these I, I just had another call with another person that I talked to on a regular basis. And one of the things we were talking about is how do you build how do you build a trust or a. Yeah, like a trust fund, but a trust group in the organization and I don’t know if you guys have read this book is called Creativity In.

 

[01:04:13.490]

It’s by example from from our. Yeah. And he talked about how in Pixar has had 15 or 16 or 17 hyper successful movies. Every movie they have made has been incredibly successful. Right. And that’s something that doesn’t happen often. Like you can’t just repeat that process and be successful. So he goes through how they do that and they basically create what they call a circle of trust. And every time somebody comes with the story or is they’re creating a movie, that Circle of Trust gets together and talks about the project.

 

[01:04:51.020]

But the one particular rules that they have and it’s unbreakable is that there is absolute honesty in the circle and no one is getting hurt. And it’s not personal. And everything you say there is with absolute honesty. Right. Because then and everyone understands where the gaps are and kind of how things happen. And so that’s how they built this organization of success. I take that as where can build a cone of silence almost when you can get in with one person or two people and be forewarned enough and honest.

 

[01:05:28.670]

But I also use that as a as a bouncing board. Like Essabar, you know, a sound board is one thing that I think we all need. And sometimes we revert back to our loved ones, our husbands, our wives who don’t live in our environment every day and can give us an outside opinion. But some don’t understand all the ins and outs. So it’s important, I think, that at work we find one person that we trust that can be that sounding board for us because they are in the same contact and they understand what’s at stake.

 

[01:06:02.030]

I tend to talk to my husband a lot about kind of what’s going on at work and he gets it from an outsider perspective. But if I ask him for his opinion, he’s like, the fuck I know. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I like I’m just saying, yes, because we’re having dinner and you’re telling me all these things and I saying, no, it’s bad.

 

[01:06:21.680]

So, you know, yeah, I think you’re still right.

 

[01:06:26.540]

I think that is right for us. Yeah. That’s also one thing I’ll say to everyone is never be afraid to ask someone to be there for you. I do it all the time. Many of you have gotten phone calls from me where I’m like, OK, this through. And I just want to hear what you think. You have to be just one person to you know, then you know that the strength of some people. Right. And I would not I would not have thought of anyone better to soundboards the whole advocacy thing than Ed, because I’m like, OK, you get what I’m trying to do.

 

[01:07:05.390]

He’ll get what I see. Let me call him. And so that’s that’s that’s something we all can do in understanding who we have in our network that we can reach out to and just, you know, be vulnerable and say that the thing is, we all hate showing vulnerability, just saying, hey, I need help or, hey, I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do here or simply, hey, I’m sad. I really need support today.

 

[01:07:33.060]

Like, cheer me up. Tell me if I joke, if I am about to cry right now. And so it is. Yeah, but it’s one of those things where where it’s helpful to have those folks, you know, the board of advisors and people who are willing to say, you know, what do you need right now? You want me to tell you you’re doing wrong or you want me to say, Oh, honey, it’s OK, can give you a hug.

 

[01:07:52.140]

And having somebody who’s willing to step into that hole and people have the chance to take I to bring in and there are times Tim needs a hug and is hugging sweater right now. He’s working for the women.

 

[01:08:09.810]

I think that you have to have that you have support regardless of what you do for your company. I don’t know if you are an employee who is your board of advisors that you have to go to and actually more, you know, give you a kick in the pants or give you a shoulder to cry out.

 

[01:08:25.680]

As a founder, you need it bad. Oh, very lonely, because there are things you can’t go to team members with because it affects them. And so you need to develop these groups of people that you can go to. Otherwise you will crash and burn. You will emotionally destroy yourself. And you need to to have that person that, you know, you can call and know that they’ll give me the time and give you really the truth, because quite honestly, especially as a founder, more often than not, the things you need the most is the truth.

 

[01:09:06.450]

Yeah.

 

[01:09:07.140]

I do think, though, that the vulnerability thing that you mentioned that quote as well, obviously we’re talking about the personal comfort zone that you can speak to and very fortunate. And everything I’ve done has been done in partnership with my the bed. So we’ve naturally had this relationship for 15 years now. So it’s quite unusual for us. But one of the things that I found very difficult and he’s educated, this is showing vulnerability to the rest of the scene, even though you’re in a position of responsibility by actually saying, I don’t have the answer here.

 

[01:09:42.900]

I know you’re looking at me, but I don’t have the answer. If we work through this together, that’s such a huge impact upon, you know, it engaging the team, getting other people’s opinions. Sometimes it’s just simply saying that I don’t know what to use it, even if I do have an opinion and benefits on this. Absolutely brilliant. I’m just just been copying, literally saying, what is your opinion? Even if I know I’ve got an opinion, I’ve got a way.

 

[01:10:09.780]

I want it happen.

 

[01:10:11.040]

Quite happy to say you do it and you know and you come up with the idea which you won’t get that involved with that are there to that you have found a very successful with my clients to admit when I don’t know or I’m wrong, that there’s nothing worse than acting or pulling out some B.S. to try to cover the fact that you didn’t know what you said is wrong and to pop up and go, you know what that is? You are. Yes, that is wrong.

 

[01:10:39.990]

But we’re going to fix it. Please. No one will. And we’re the most important part is we’re not going to repeat this the way it happened again. OK, you know, we’ll look it up in a new we’re step in. We’re sorry. You know, new ways to screw it up. Yeah, yeah.

 

[01:10:55.680]

But but the Nillson like, look, I don’t know, but I promise you, I’ll find an answer. I just don’t know right now. And then when it comes to ego up time on the show, here’s my therapy, or at least my therapist likes that I have the show because then I pay them because I come in and we look at the greatest ideas of sliced bread and they’re like, yeah, no, no, I know.

 

[01:11:15.360]

And them this is really interesting. AMA, I’m a big proponent of, again, honesty and vulnerability. I think those two are our values that we should practice more. And I think that it makes it makes for better, longer lasting relationships. And they’re honest with the people that you that you’re close to. Right. Or just honest in general. But so I’ll tell you guys and I’ll be vulnerable and I’ll tell you guys, in 2007, I lost my job and it was when they finally was crashing in, a lot of things were happening and the hospitality was having another moment.

 

[01:11:49.600]

Right. It’s really bad. And I went months not being able to find a job. And for the most part, I am kind of the breadwinner. I guess you can tell my husband from the fact that business is very similar, like, you know, he’s ours are very limited. Whatever the point that I’m trying to make is that. My husband, I came to a point where we’re like, OK, we really need to figure out budgets and our finances for the next year because this is not looking good and we don’t know what’s happening.

 

[01:12:18.820]

Right. Where can we draw from? What are the things that we have at our reach? And one of the things we decided to do at the time is to set our then seven and nine year old kids and say to them, listen, mom lost her job. That doesn’t have one. Right now. We are in a bind. This is not a good time for us. Right. We need to be very mindful of how we spend money.

 

[01:12:46.290]

So we’re going to go for a few months with no cable, with no pizza, with no McDonald’s, with no going to the zoo. We’re not going to the movies until mom and dad get a job. You guys are you guys understanding what we’re saying? And to the credit minds in kids, they were. Absolutely. How can we help? We have a piggy bank. We have a little savings. Can we sell our bikes? Can we you know what?

 

[01:13:16.230]

And and you realize that people can handle far more than you. Sometimes you can give it to them with kindness and you give it to them with honesty. And you put yourself in a position where you say, look, I’m looking at you because I want to make sure you don’t get surprised by this. Right. I don’t want you to feel like whatever. So anyway, months went by, things got better. We did everything that we needed to do.

 

[01:13:41.280]

And to this day, my son and daughter, who are now 23 and almost 20, referred to that period of time.

 

[01:13:47.940]

I remember when we were poor, I remember that time when we were poor and we had no cable and I had no and so, you know, sometimes giving people a little bit of your a little letting go of a little bit of the burden that’s on you because you’re making the decisions, helps them feel part of who you are to and help them. They usually will rise to the occasion. And it’s very seldom that someone goes up a problem and really gives it.

 

[01:14:21.410]

Can I just say I’m really sorry and I apologize, but can can I just say that that has just impacted upon me very poignantly because I’ve just gone through that with, you know, with the whole corporate situation and with my young kids and starting our own business up from scratch, that it is incredibly challenging.

 

[01:14:42.810]

Yeah, I know. I mean, they understand far better for what they did. And Amy, I apologize, but I just wanted to say that.

 

[01:14:51.700]

So, no, it’s OK. I’ve heard so many stories because of the situation was covered of leaders who have, you know, been more reliable than they’ve ever been before, both in client conversations. I’m feeling and hearing it. But even, you know, with my own team, I had to be incredibly vulnerable and open with the team when in March, when we knew we didn’t know what was going to happen. And I got such amazing feedback from the team, like they literally were like, we got back and we will get through this like it was.

 

[01:15:35.250]

I’m almost getting teared up just thinking about it now and telling the story like when you can do that with your team and you can build that kind of a culture, it can get you through anything. And that’s pretty amazing.

 

[01:15:48.900]

But that’s the thing with all of us.

 

[01:15:51.690]

I mean, if you can be vulnerable up, then you should be vulnerable then. Absolutely right.

 

[01:15:58.500]

So that there’s that there’s that level of commitment to you that even though that really, really is a team, if they didn’t buy into you. Yeah. Whatever they want to have about that, you know, it’s it’s just a job and it’s not it’s not a team. And that that’s the mindset that says a lot about what I was mentioning before. But actually having that team, you’ve got people that will do that, but you’ve already done well.

 

[01:16:26.190]

You can talk about because she’s not here. I mean, actually, she’ll know about it when she plays the show back. But Lily Monkman, who’s not with us today, I was absolutely amazed by her almost Lesedi fairway of how she had changed her life through this process. She runs her own company for revenue management, then was very successful doing it and very good with it. But then all of a sudden Kobe hit and so forth and literally got thrown out of just about everything.

 

[01:16:49.050]

And without missing a skip or heartbeat, start working at Walmart, Houweling, whatever departments you drop and and their team, you know, there was nothing to do. But everything that they were doing went to the team. I mean, and she didn’t blink an eye like what was me or I can’t believe I got to do this or, you know, and even after. Things started coming back for business, she kept doing the Wal-Mart thing because it was kind of like this kind of neat to see what people are thinking to do.

 

[01:17:14.700]

I mean, she she knew this had to be a balance to the process, but literally without mentioning the drumbeat, you know, she just went right back in and then now Vince is doing great. She doesn’t have to do that anymore. But for her, it was just whatever it took for the team and of course, both the funding and the loans and so forth. First response was to throw right back at everybody, get back as many people as she could to do what needed to get done, even if there was nothing to do and she was finding things to do.

 

[01:17:38.520]

She came up with a very creative thing that started with the Delta Dildoes two, which is we’ll do it for free to show you how good this is. And if we like it and works the way we say it is entirely right. And she did that literally by paying it out of her pocket, her team to do that stuff, which she wasn’t getting paid. So antitrust is a complement to reinvent every time when I first started the privilege of getting to know them and every time I talk about what they could do, what could they could do, they said not unless the whole team can do it.

 

[01:18:05.160]

They would they they they literally everybody that they were associated with, it had to be how much can we get everybody to participate with this? And, you know, that’s what brings us through. You can’t the impossible is just going to take a little bit longer. That’s it. I think one of the things that we could teach our children in the new generation of students, which I that’s one of the things that I think we teach, you know, and it’s that the value of us as human beings has nothing to do with the job we do, the kind of withholds.

 

[01:18:33.750]

Right. And so the more we detach ourselves from from that value or that title, that’s part of who we are in the work that we are we have as people, the more capable we are of going and doing crazy things, crazy, adventurous, new, creative things. Right. Because the people who love us and I think this is a testament to all of our loved ones and our families, people who love us will love us, whether we are the CEO of a company or pushing a broom and how people I don’t think it matters to them really.

 

[01:19:07.410]

Right. It only matters to us because we feel up or down or whatever. But the more we detach from that sense and create organizations that don’t look at that as a as a spending factor of who you are, then the more we can be ourselves and be more adventurous and take more risks because we have less to lose, we don’t. I like it’s like a therapy session today.

 

[01:19:32.310]

I mean, although I did have this flashing thought of Ed pushing a broom because I picture him like Al Pacino and the text was a sweep. And here, you know, I just figured he wouldn’t be the friendly broom sweeper.

 

[01:19:47.430]

I hey, listen, first five years of field, I had to work at Universal Studios as they’re on special events because you couldn’t pay me anything. And so every Halloween, you know, I was a stage manager for Halloween horror nights. And every New Year’s Eve, I was a stage manager for the look alike celebrities. And that’s what I had to do. And, you know, because I needed to pay people to do the things because I couldn’t do everything.

 

[01:20:19.170]

I the only one and I had to pay them. There was nothing left for me. And that’s one of the lessons that gets lost in the culture that we have right now, that the attention economy, right. Where all we see, for example, is the athletes that make one hundred and fifty million dollars in the contract or using whatever like you see the they especially athletes, I think, and rappers. Right. Maybe the people that think these songs and they have all the cards and all the grills and whatever you.

 

[01:20:48.900]

Yeah.

 

[01:20:49.230]

Well, you know, I mean, for you, these kind of like the highlight of how they got there. Yeah. But you don’t see the hours and hours and hours especially of training and the dry cleaning and the incredible work that has to go into getting there. Right. The kids are getting that snippet through social media of, oh, well, I’m going to be a basketball player.

 

[01:21:12.030]

And they think that strapping on the shoes and the three hundred dollars is going to make them jump. I know there’s there’s work to be done. You you’ve got to get there.

 

[01:21:22.380]

And that’s the things that I think we need to show more of its back story behind every overnight success is ten to twenty years of struggle.

 

[01:21:33.440]

Absolutely is. And it just looks much better when you see it in a little square than when you sleep in the starting.

 

[01:21:43.020]

Well, before this show, I was on a Zune with the sixth grade class at my son’s school. They had career day and they so I was the business owner. I think they had lots of different careers. But it was fun because I got to talk to them. They ask me questions about what were you doing before you became a business owner and, you know. I really poured it on like you have to work for, you know, it takes time, but I totally agree.

 

[01:22:15.850]

You know, these days it’s so easy to see the highlights today. So I love that. And that’s and that’s that’s I think one of the things that we are losing in this process of of attention economy and the significance of what we see right is we don’t have time. We are not teaching our kids. We’re not putting our our even our employees to look at what’s what’s out in the other side of that six second video.

 

[01:22:44.570]

So with a lot of the social media now, you can actually you know, you can see all of these social media posts and where people are in a fancy private jet and it’s actually a staged room in the middle of somewhere else, you’re thinking, yeah, yeah. This person, they’re all successful.

 

[01:23:01.400]

The minute I’ve got it with my kids, my you know, my 13 year old, she’s she’s she’s on social media. She’s looking at the influences. And I think this story here, it’s a fake room.

 

[01:23:13.180]

If you remember when when Instagram went down for a day or something and there was all these means that you’re an Instagram model and then Instagram goes away, like, where are you going to sell your protein shakes? You do you know, I, I apologize.

 

[01:23:31.660]

I’m going to have to I mean, if balance bouncer what I have. I’m sorry. Thank you for joining the treaty. I want to introduce you to Claudia. I don’t know if you know everybody else. I think most everybody was on the show that you were not aware that I was.

 

[01:23:46.200]

Tim, thank you so much. We’ll make sure that.

 

[01:23:48.710]

No, let me I’ll be promoting all the stuff you will follow up and then you must to lawrenson getting gasoline for uni before I drop, I just want to tell my heart what story. Super fast if I may. One of the reasons I keep the guitars. I worked in the music industry for seven years, eight years professionally and I tell bits of this all the time. It’s one of the reasons that I want people to recognize these are here is that I was so very good at it.

 

[01:24:15.070]

I’ve clearly been a marketer for the last years, so we all know that my career ended when he no longer had shoulder length hair.

 

[01:24:27.380]

I know that it had before that it when I decided I wanted my children to eat. But it was wonderful what you’re doing. I wish you every success. I will do everything I can to help you looking for you. That’s what. Ed, keep that. Yes.

 

[01:24:47.470]

You know, I will keep that gift. All right. You guys are all awesome. This great show today. I look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks after the holidays. I hope you all have a merry Christmas and a happy holiday. See you a couple of weeks ago.

 

[01:25:02.980]

So, Tracy, I was bragging about you earlier. Somebody that you need to meet with Claudia for what you all are doing, but in kind of some ways parallel, but definitely complementary to each other and stuff like that. So I know that you haven’t had just listen. But what? Close doing enough. Definitely share all of this with you as well. But if you could show a little bit better than I can to Claudia what you’re doing. So she understands maybe there’s some way that you guys can connect the wires on some things, I guess.

 

[01:25:24.950]

Sure. High. Claudia, how are you? Good, thank you. Nice to meet you. So I started as a platform and the platform has a deal. And our mission is to create new pathways to hotel ownership and development program. So really wonderful. Yeah, we have a vision to have more women owners, more women sponsors, not just limited partners, investors and women who are actually building their own companies, ownership groups. And yeah, definitely.

 

[01:26:00.580]

Let’s talk, though.

 

[01:26:04.030]

So our platform actually we have our foundation is a fierce competition and we focus on early career women. What we do is we expose and inspire them to hotel ownership and then we educate them on how it works and how to source it, to analyze it legally, raise capital as well as both the deal and manage the assets. And then they go out and find a deal and they do all the analysis, mostly due diligence. But this is real world without didactic.

 

[01:26:38.830]

And then they create a presentation, they put it before a panel of judges and then the winner wins fifty thousand dollars in equity. And my firm will figure deal, if that particular deal is feasible, will still have equity. And so the way that the first year we’ve been negotiating on the winners from the competition. But the way it’s. That we have to find and find these objects to come out of the sense and also present in that hotel.

 

[01:27:20.820]

Wow. Yeah, fantastic. Yeah. Excuse me, Claunch, the phone in twenty twenty one. So excited about that. Very cool.

 

[01:27:31.350]

Everything I’d love to talk to talk to you about, you know, collaborating somehow.

 

[01:27:39.750]

And Claudia, can you imagine if these women owned hotels are all Marguerita bills.

 

[01:27:44.940]

I’m just saying the platform is there. Yeah.

 

[01:27:52.460]

Hey listen, we need I mean, I’ve been to Margaritaville and I think we all have we all have guys.

 

[01:28:01.800]

I am so sorry.

 

[01:28:02.970]

I have another call that No. One, I am ever, ever, ever so grateful to you, all of you, for the opportunity, I hope is that last time I come on open.

 

[01:28:17.130]

Does it do you see everybody? You always please any time you want to join us, just let me know. I can always keep you in the links and all that stuff.

 

[01:28:23.520]

So yes, I’d love to and thank you again. This is going to have partners and it’s great to do business with people like you guys, but it really is fantastic to have a family in this industry. And I consider you all that in that. So thank you. Thank thank you. We appreciate it. And happy holidays.

 

[01:28:42.870]

Enjoy.

 

[01:28:43.790]

And now, Tracy, so much of the tail. But we’re so happy that you’re here, though. I mean, we’ve had we had some fun conversations. It was very therapeutic.

 

[01:28:57.330]

Today we miss it. Yeah, it’s okay. I mean, you’re here now and it’s been kind of it was a chance to get a lot of people on to talk about this that we didn’t really have the chance before to do. And by all means, we kind of picked up the conversation about to do with the women in the industry and the inspiration of Claudia talking about the loss of women in the industry due to covid. And that’s what she’s trying to create, a balanced job of, trying to reintroduce them into scale and going back into the industry, very much similar to what I thought was so cool for you to be able to connect is that you’re inspired in the same direction, is like we need more women within the industry at higher levels and more competent roles.

 

[01:29:42.930]

Then you may have had the story, especially with lots of women and so forth. But is there anybody that you don’t know that’s on the show that maybe I make introductions, Adele or Melissa or Tristam?

 

[01:29:53.580]

Hey, how you choose is the least. I mean, other than that, Christie is he’s in England right now and he is the co-founder of the company three and six agency. He’s he’s not the talented and not as talented as his partners. Partners really believe in driving creative force better, looking smarter.

 

[01:30:15.510]

You know, you’ll get younger as well. Don’t forget you that. Yeah. Yeah, I was going to mention the fall, Lauren as well. You know, with the whole mentoring process that Claudio was talking about, that you have actually been mentoring me. But the message that you’ve been saying that I’ve actually been over overachieving in my career as a coach to actually helped me, I’m not so sure it’s going to work out.

 

[01:30:39.130]

It’s not going to work out anymore. No. Tracy, you know, you can have a podcast or a course or something so he can go and learn how to open their own hotel or finance their own hotel or find a deal.

 

[01:31:01.290]

Yeah, thanks for asking. So, yes. So we are launching. Well, first of all, we’re doing Santos. And we had our first Santos series, Education and Learning Education. But I learned through that was yesterday on my website yesterday.

 

[01:31:20.530]

We did a long time ago.

 

[01:31:25.140]

Twenty, twenty five hotel. And that’s the 30th of December. We’re going to do the nine stage hotel investment roadmap that we created and that’s what we teach the women and the competition. But we’re also launching our second class in January and education course. And it’s a hotel investment master plan for aspiring or emerging sponsors who want to sponsor hotel investing.

 

[01:31:58.350]

Where can we find the link for that? Yes, it’s that she has a deal dot com under education. And right now we’re just we’re holding a wait. But probably by the beginning of next week, it’ll go out and people can and will, and that will be part of study along the lines stages as well as five lives masterclasses industry so they can learn about that tax plan for now. But we will be doing the shad talks, which are kind of a podcast, but not quite.

 

[01:32:32.190]

We’ll probably evolve into that next year. Right now, we’re trying to engage the subscribers who have expressed an interest in learning to be a sponsor or just a passive, not just passive in those who do that. That sounds great. Thanks for asking.

 

[01:32:56.890]

Know, I’ve been sort of rehashing my career while I’m sitting here listening to everybody else because I’m thinking of back when I was first hired at fuel 15 years ago and sitting in client meetings surrounded by all men. I was the only female in the room in every client meeting. I said, and now fast forward 15 years. It is at least equal male versus female. And in many times we’re actually outnumbering men now. And dare I say, even my golf clients are now, you know, directors of marketing are females.

 

[01:33:41.470]

And I’m wondering if you guys, I should tell you, women, if you’ve seen a change like that or am I sort of the oddball out?

 

[01:33:51.720]

I mean, this is a Aitchison meeting in nineteen eighty, the international convention, almost all men.

 

[01:34:02.820]

And we look at one now and it’s completely different.

 

[01:34:08.790]

I started my career primarily in operations and specifically in food and beverage operations. And I was the only if you count all assistant managers, department heads in Mexico, I was the only female operations manager in the hotel. Eleven hundred hotels you think about there was how many? Probably 40 managers. And I was the only female. And I remember when they tried to pull me over to do catering sales and I told them, you know, this is what I think I should make.

 

[01:34:42.780]

And I put a lot of time in this company and they scolded me. I had to make the and the other L.C that scolded me forever, bringing up salary in a conversation ever. And they were like, don’t ever do that again. And I like to think that it’s changed. But that wasn’t it was probably only 15 years ago. And I remember it so distinctly that I was like I was like, OK. And I never had never negotiated salary the same way again.

 

[01:35:13.920]

I remember, you know, I worked for a European company, late night ratings, early 90s. And they told me the European headquartered in Europe, not in America. I said, well, of course you have to pay more. They have to support your family.

 

[01:35:35.100]

You know what I mean? That’s brilliant. So I’d like to give a different perspective on this.

 

[01:35:44.430]

I actually I know our industry has challenges, but as when I first had my first job in the industry, I worked for a small mom and pop online travel company, and my job was talking with hotels to get inventory. What I actually really liked about this industry is the majority of the people I dealt with was women and had actually stuck out to me how prevalent because it was tour and travel tours and travel in our industry is very heavily run by women.

 

[01:36:17.880]

You know, you go to power, you go to all those side of the events. And I and and I used to tell my friends who weren’t working in the industry about how cool that was. And it wasn’t until I got further into the industry that I saw that it was very pocketed. The industry, although it has created a lot more opportunities for women than other industries have, it’s they’ve been very pocketed. But it was one of the things that stuck out to me when I was new to the industry was at least the area I was dealing with.

 

[01:36:52.380]

It was primarily women running that side of things. And I thought that was very interesting. I used to talk to my mom about it. Like I was like, how cool is this? And and so, you know, this we need to break it to to. Make it even more and more prevalent, and I agree with you, Melissa, there have been more women coming into stronger positions, especially in very heavily what were male controlled areas of the industry.

 

[01:37:24.160]

And it seems like it’s been the last 10 years that there’s been some breakthrough in that happening. But I do think that this industry, like at least in my experience coming into it, I thought this industry was great because of how many women were involved in holding the decision of what I was trying to do. And I thought that was great. I mean, and it really did stick out to me.

 

[01:37:49.900]

You know what I’d like to see? I remember many years ago a friend of mine who I worked in a hotel with. Later on, she went to work in the Marriott Hotel. And when she had a child, the sales manager, and she split the position, which was a program that Marriott was doing, where she worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And then somebody else worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Two mothers were meeting and she actually got a letter from Mr.

 

[01:38:22.000]

Marriott saying, thank you. Somehow even your two and a half days produced the same revenue and productivity as equal time for saying so. Thank you for proving that this is a successful. I just wonder why we don’t see more of it. You see some more. But I wish I wish it was a standard that that was an option.

 

[01:38:49.750]

I have a question for, you know, what you’re proposing, doing and what your initiatives are. First off, you know how much I’m a fan of it. Also, you’re taking people at a nascent level and pushing them into a role that is not traditionally something that is perceived as being something that a lot of women are participating in at this point, that they’re not as actively in that level of conversation as TouchPads. And Ted’s point, there are people moving into that progression that’s usually been like a food chain.

 

[01:39:23.020]

You have to go up certain levels before you can get to a certain level like that to talk about. Do you find that there’s resistance of what you’re proposing as being like you’re leapfrogging or that you’re stepping past what others should be doing before they get to those kind of dialogues? Or do you feel that it’s been received like, oh, my gosh, this is inspirational, this is creative, this is innovative, this is people that we have that that bring to us something new and fresh.

 

[01:39:47.230]

Are you seeing that it’s a positive reception to what you’re doing or kind of like you haven’t paid your dues yet to be in this conversation? No, I think there’s been a positive reception, I think. But time will tell in the sense of how those who have control will step up as those women are in a position to take that next step. Because right now it’s like, oh, it’s this way. You’re advocating exposing what is actually tell them to do.

 

[01:40:17.860]

And that’s what it will be. Very interesting to see what happens, because we want access to some of the best deals. We know that there are, you know, whether it’s wired or otherwise. There are conversations that happen on the about who have right for certain types of projects, the opportunities that exist. We want to get on with this. And of course, that will be the real test of acceptance to, you know, how how open it is, something that needs to do tonight.

 

[01:41:00.510]

And when I also met Morgan, because I don’t think necessarily have to do much, but we don’t choose to put on the same team with the woman who was looking for me as an example. I had a conversation with one of the women to the point that is a very interesting conversation because the person there do. And I understand the fact that there is a gap between the wealth of blacks and whites through the system of racism. So I’m looking at what can you do to get more minorities and minorities?

 

[01:41:45.430]

And they realize that they have to be more than just. Let’s hold on. Hold on. Let’s talk about how do you keep the telephone from posing as well? Well, you know how post and access to the well, you don’t have access to capital. That is not the. Good morning. I want to be certain that what do you to monitor the money we don’t have to information for it does it does actually.

 

[01:42:31.090]

You bring in another layer that we didn’t even touch on as much as we could of today, and that is the issues of people of color versus those that aren’t. And then you have the gender into it as well. Now you’re talking about layers and layers. And that’s something we talk about with a club in the green room a little bit like it’s not just a single thing. She said they’re focusing on one thing because you might as well start somewhere and be on one thing.

 

[01:42:53.590]

But there’s so many aspects to this that are all contributing to the issues that in that they’re creating. So, yeah, to that end, you’re right, it is money. Where your mouth is is like it’s fun to go over and say, let’s be helpful, let’s be kind, let’s be giving opportunity, let’s let this happen. But it’s not a it’s why don’t you make the playing field equal? Why don’t you allow the opportunity to be fair to those that have the opportunity that they should have the opportunity and not base that upon who’s bringing the message?

 

[01:43:20.300]

I think the big problem is we need to have more diversity, more women at the very top of that tree at the moment. I don’t think there are enough women CEOs. Certainly from what I’m reading and what I understand, I think the the breakdown is still heavily in favor of men. You know, I genuinely, genuinely believe that there should be a more equal balance between that. I really do. I’ve got two girls. I would love to see them walking into a society where they could be valued for what they can actually achieve, not because of their gender or any other backgrounds, religious belief, whatever it was, that isn’t the case right now, you know.

 

[01:44:05.050]

And so I would do everything in my power to be able to to help them and others to get along. But it was mentioned before little things as well, not little things. You know, the more hidden things, you know, you can see whether someone’s male or female and what their position is. But they the pain, inequality, that really that really annoys me. That really, really annoys me. And I I can’t even begin to imagine how that annoys women, let alone what, you know, what it does to me that.

 

[01:44:40.690]

So why? Because it’s such a personal and private thing. Because businesses have made it such a personal problem. It may be taboo, but it really shouldn’t be. The power is actually with the workforce, because if you actually talk about some of the things I did, the second I get exactly the same job, you are getting paid X amount more Y is all right. Maybe you’ve got more service than you’ve been working in this time and you’ve been in there 15 years compared to people in their teens.

 

[01:45:08.980]

I would expect to be paid less than you if I was that to your person, but I would not expect to be paid less than you because I was 10 years old. And that really, really gets on my go. So it happens so much.

 

[01:45:25.270]

I mean, you just bring back a point that I almost lost my job before I started it. When I transitioned out of one group to another, we’re going to move up a woman to a supervisory role. And she had to go through hoops that I had never heard have to go through before. Does she present? Well, maybe she dress up better make you change your hair. What are you talk now? We never talk about guys like that.

 

[01:45:48.340]

I never get told to cut my hair. Well, maybe.

 

[01:45:50.500]

Hey, Laura, you open the door. Cut your hair. Yeah.

 

[01:45:57.380]

Yeah, true. But and could you tell me lot.

 

[01:46:00.310]

But then in other words, when they said we weren’t offer the salary and it was lower than the position that was being replaced and I literally lost my job before you started because I’m like, this is fucking bullshit.

 

[01:46:11.950]

Yeah. This no, she’s more than qualified for the person that was replaced. She’s replacing. And you’re trying to lowball her for what reason? Well, it’s a start. No, it’s not. It’s this is the salary for that position.

 

[01:46:23.620]

Why are you even doing that?

 

[01:46:24.900]

What’s the perception issue as well? So especially when they get to women in higher positions, is managed to work their way up there? There is very definitely a perception issue, whether it’s conscious or subconscious.

 

[01:46:40.970]

And and I had it pointed out to me a very early age that, you know, obviously the way that you work, the way you think about people are two different things, but they very much influence each other. And and so if you’ve got and if you’ve got a man in charge of the CEO and he’s a real hard ass, you know, he will tell you if he doesn’t take any shit or anything like that, that’s what he’s seen as a perception.

 

[01:47:05.740]

This is a hard ass. You have the lady in that position, they’re not saying to us it’s it’s it’s virtually impossible for her for that position.

 

[01:47:17.420]

Yeah, she’s got a bit.

 

[01:47:18.960]

I think we were going to say. I’ll be honest with you, Stephanie.

 

[01:47:25.580]

The whole time I was sitting here going, I hope this doesn’t save us.

 

[01:47:28.980]

No, no, absolutely not. I wouldn’t do because I don’t believe it. I genuinely don’t believe it. I think yes. You know, and different personalities can come across differently.

 

[01:47:41.780]

But I I’ve never understood that that whole mentality, you know, based on gender, you’re seeing differently for doing the same bloody thing. I’ve been there.

 

[01:47:56.210]

I think you still reacting to a one word. It’s not about the gender, the race, the 80. By the way, some of us want to start getting kind of old, right. Any of those things?

 

[01:48:09.990]

Oh, and you’re just getting kind of old. And the technology is just how this thing is that I want to give a compliment, a step, because I watch this in action.

 

[01:48:23.180]

I remember your presentation at the digital conference and some Yahoo! Want to discredit what you just presented in a question.

 

[01:48:31.280]

And unlike other presenters where a man was doing just before you, as a matter of fact, and it was not a question to discredit, it was a question to clarify. But his was actually a question to actually say what you just said was wrong and you were in this little box of, well, I can agree that you disagree or whatever you can be. And you handled it brilliantly. You basically shut them down and told them how dumb he was for even asking such dumb question.

 

[01:48:54.810]

I using those exact words and what an asshole move to do to someone who is voluntarily presenting at an event.

 

[01:49:04.640]

Oh, there is a whole lot wrong with it. It was just fun to watch where she sat and you had this little smirky smile. I got to say you had this.

 

[01:49:12.410]

So you’re like, oh no, you did. OK, let’s go that way. And you just in a nice little bow, told him to take the high road without a short. Yeah. Anyway, yeah.

 

[01:49:22.160]

Well thank you because I don’t actually recall. I get on stage then I get off and I have no idea what I said.

 

[01:49:27.020]

You’ve said that before. You like they say here, is that I was able to think on my feet that day.

 

[01:49:33.380]

Oh you shut them down, closed them up and kicked them out. Is there anything that we think is stupid, by the way?

 

[01:49:43.280]

Stewart, Tracy, Tracy Stewart. I know if we met on the last or so, I just make sure we’re good. Yeah, it’s me, my try play host. Although Ed did an exceptionally excellent job of playing suppling the host because he knew I wasn’t even looking at the screen when I’m over here typing with no, let Stephanie talk to be silent.

 

[01:50:02.930]

We have time.

 

[01:50:03.920]

No, but I want to give I want to give kudos to Stewart because I just joined the HSM board for Thought Leadership and we had just had our first meeting. And I to maybe I’m not supposed to say this, Stewart.

 

[01:50:17.180]

Yeah. I mean, allude to. Yeah, I think so. I don’t think it is. Stewart very much was talk.

 

[01:50:25.270]

We had a big conversation about diversity and inclusion, and that is something that the as a as a group we’re working on. And, you know, Stewart had a strong voice and I really appreciated it.

 

[01:50:37.370]

I don’t know what else to say, but I thought it was going to be brushed under the carpet and would be prioritized behind other things. And I just fundamentally disagree with that. So, yeah, I spoke up probably wasn’t really my responsibility to speak up, but someone had to. So I think it worked out well.

 

[01:50:55.790]

I mean, and also it lends itself to two things. One, it always is. But then you do an exceptional job and more than just one instance, that’s for sure. But the other is also, from the woman’s perspective, that same person I was telling you the story about, that we had to go through all these extra hoops to get the position. When we were having meetings that she was running, I had to remind her to sit at the top of the table.

 

[01:51:17.090]

She’s running the meeting because she had been placed in such a way for so long, where she always, regardless of what she was told she was in charge of, wasn’t really allowed to be in charge of that.

 

[01:51:27.110]

It took time to actually change her behavior, to realize that, no, you’re actually this is your meeting. You know, I’m going to set off on the this has nothing do with me. This is your team. This is your thing. And it just takes time because you get we don’t know that that we browbeat them down so much people in positions that we don’t think that they have or that they act that way.

 

[01:51:48.440]

They begin to fulfill the very thing that they’re fighting against and to change because they’re eminently qualified in that way.

 

[01:51:55.500]

So anyway, and there’s a change that happens to little girls when they’re six or seven or eight years old, when they stop being the confident, creative people that they are and. Something something changes and we just have to deal with, you know, our culture and our educational system and whatever it is that is making that happen, I never it never occurred to me to own a hotel.

 

[01:52:23.700]

And I think maybe there are men that also it never occurred to them that they could one day aspire to owning a hotel. But it just literally never occurred to me in 40 years of hospitality that that was the thing I could possibly do. It would be lovely to start planting the seeds in people’s minds earlier about how they really can do anything they put their mind to it. I know that’s been said a million times, but it wasn’t said to me.

 

[01:52:55.920]

Well, I think I speak for all men on the show that said we all married up and I’m not that problem that I would not be here right now if it wasn’t for my wife.

 

[01:53:08.940]

There’s just no two ways about it. Absolutely. Categorically will be here.

 

[01:53:14.100]

And that would be some local bar at the end of the day. I might have made it that far. Yeah, yeah, yes.

 

[01:53:23.760]

And it’s very, very, very, very, very true. We are kind of towards that time of the end of it. So, I mean, you always please any time you have the opportunity, we would love to come back any time you feel that you have the time to give us for that. For everyone that was with us today for the show, notes will include everybody that we, you know, Tim and everybody else is how to get hold of them.

 

[01:53:43.080]

And so for what they did. But for those that are here with us, I very quickly, how could you say if people want to get in contact with, you know, more about what you do, where is it that they can go?

 

[01:53:51.980]

I put a link in the in the notes, in the chat that if you would like to take me up on my offer, I want to help create a more inspirational culture in your organization where it’s collaborative and people are all contributing to a common goal. Please take me up on my offer and enjoying my podcast, the hospitality reputation marketing podcast get great reviews. I have already a few off, I think. I think Lauren’s going to post one up in the next few days and and I have some great ones running for January as well.

 

[01:54:36.300]

So please join me. Awesome. Mr Smith, the man who saves the universe ten times a day. Where is that? They can find you sir.

 

[01:54:45.210]

Oh, over at Base Camp MEDCOM, where we help hotelier’s and digital agencies especially work with metasearch. Oh, no, those, again, didn’t previously do necessarily. And so we’re trying to help everybody know, OK, what do we do with these things? And then also over at metasearch marketing dot com, where we’re more about how to actually running the campaign to help you optimize those rondos just launched a program actually to program. So on Base Camp Medda, our page webinar series and on metasearch marketing our small hotels on Google Medda program, where even if you do not have a technology stack, even if you don’t have a website, I actually have one planet working with right now.

 

[01:55:31.050]

They don’t even have a website. And Treston, I probably need to talk to you about that.

 

[01:55:36.510]

But seriously, we can get you onto Google metasearch so that when somebody Googles your hotel, you have a point of sale on there. Yes. That can be done. There are ways of doing that. So reach out to us and talking about podcasts, actually, we we do also have a podcast, the heavy metal podcast. I believe there’s a lot of different coming out this Tuesday. The twenty third, if memory serves me correctly. That is correct.

 

[01:55:57.630]

The most that we know, of course, that you represent fewer than stores, just eye candy for the rest of it. But if you would be so kind as to tell us about your amazing award winning podcast that you are humbly a part of and of course, your service going, all right, you guys are putting the survey out next week or the week after this call is out.

 

[01:56:16.260]

And we’ve got a much better response on this round that we did on our last round. So that’s very exciting. So, yes, stay tuned for some new results with brand new questions all about vaccines and travel vaccines. And then for the podcast, you can find us at your podcast and all other things related to people, including our a high powered CRM system, our mobile app, digital key and our digital marketing services. All the things can be found there.

 

[01:56:45.480]

And I would be happy to connect with people on LinkedIn where you can find a lovely performance.

 

[01:56:50.540]

I’ve just done virtually a sleigh ride with the North Myrtle Beach community, and it’s so much Stephanie Togba marketing.

 

[01:57:01.740]

You just set it all. Stephanie Sparks Smith on LinkedIn and Cogill marketing, dot com and especially brand related.

 

[01:57:10.110]

Please, please, please. She is the guru of that in spades. She is amazing when it comes to brand and brand capability and just she has so many tricks up her sleeve. It is incredible what she does for that trist three and six.

 

[01:57:25.620]

Also, Steph, if you need anyone to shoot down anyone on a on a forum. Stephanie here you, lady. Yes, no problem.

 

[01:57:34.920]

And I can be sure that must be the first time in a long while you’ve been called that.

 

[01:57:38.930]

But unfortunately, Lauren says that way too often I’m beginning.

 

[01:57:45.240]

So if you want to get in touch with me, you count. It’s Christmas. I’m going to be spending it with my family.

 

[01:57:50.160]

So but if you really, really want to that get Beatrice Edwige at three and six, the agency. So anything to do with hospitality, digital marketing, pizza, all that type of stuff. Websites. Yeah.

 

[01:58:05.230]

We got we I owe you a catch up too for that matter. Yeah we should. We should. Yeah.

 

[01:58:11.220]

Tracy, please let me know. I mean I know this is an offer from before of anything that I can in any way help with. That’s a standing offer always for anything that you think that we can help contribute to what I think is an incredible cause and effort on your part, just what you’re doing. But for those who don’t know you as well or would like to know more about your worries that they can find you.

 

[01:58:28.950]

Sure. So my firm is t l t solutions dot net. And then we’ve been talking about she has a deal, which is my non-profit. It’s she has a deal.

 

[01:58:40.530]

Dot com Stewart. Not that there’s much you can contribute after this. Pretty much took all your thunder, but just in case.

 

[01:58:48.540]

What is your what is your what is your logo, your theme of your, your book and what is it again. It doesn’t suck that that’s. Yeah, I would like to take my time pitch instead of pitching myself is just your public service announcement to say everyone get behind the vaccine because it will save our industry. The only way forward. So everyone get behind the vaccine now.

 

[01:59:12.260]

Very, very true. My vaccine to be so happy.

 

[01:59:18.480]

I know about seven people that have already had it and know which side effects haven’t grown a second head or anything yet. So it seems to be going well. But we as an industry need it. It’s the only path forward to recovery. So everyone needs to be behind it and not detracting from. Very true, very, very true for again. Thank you, everyone, for your time spent today. I know next week is holiday. We still will, of course, have the show next Friday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

 

[01:59:46.670]

So if anybody would like to or have nothing else that they would like to do but hang out and open presents while they’re chatting on the street. I’ve learned over the past seven years of doing the show, I tend to maybe sometimes do a solo act on Christmas Day.

 

[02:00:02.270]

But to be able to say that we’ve been doing it for so long every week without missing it, I definitely make sure that we show up for it.

 

[02:00:09.900]

Well, in the meantime, how would help people get in touch for you, buddy?

 

[02:00:14.510]

Usually the local jail or whatever. Now for this and all previous tours and seventy nine episodes of this show, you can go to hospitality, digital marketing dot com for us live. We do also have a podcast which will have a quick recap of the show today, which is hospitality marketing, the podcast. We are in thirty seven countries now from the last count and we still do translating a lot of languages and yeah, so good news for that. And of course, every Thursday or Thursday, every Wednesday we do a rebroadcast on eleven thirty a.m. Sydney time at eleven, thirty a.m. London.

 

[02:00:52.310]

Time for the Time Zone. Differences for everyone globally that catches us of the show. So thank you and thank you for watching the dispute that in the end the show with us and for everyone today. Thank you so much for going through the whole process and joining us until next Friday. Thank you, everyone. We appreciate it.

 

[02:01:08.210]

And happy Merry Christmas and happy holidays. Happy holidays and Festivus. Happy festival this Tuesday show, everybody.

Founder / CEO of Hospitality Digital Marketing

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