00:00:00.350 –> 00:00:01.231
Great to see you, Anthony.

00:00:01.250 –> 00:00:01.933
How’s it going today?

00:00:02.454 –> 00:00:03.254
I’ve been eclipsed.

00:00:03.795 –> 00:00:04.296
I’m Anthony.

00:00:04.517 –> 00:00:05.820
Welcome to No Vacancy Lives.

00:00:06.139 –> 00:00:07.022
That’s my friend Glenn.

00:00:07.182 –> 00:00:07.944
You’re watching the number

00:00:08.023 –> 00:00:09.346
one show in hospitality.

00:00:23.437 –> 00:00:24.257
Hey, everybody.

00:00:24.297 –> 00:00:26.579
Welcome to No Vacancy Live.

00:00:26.620 –> 00:00:27.762
That’s Anthony Melchiorri.

00:00:27.981 –> 00:00:29.042
I’m Glenn Hausman.

00:00:29.382 –> 00:00:31.164
And now that we’ve been eclipsed,

00:00:31.204 –> 00:00:32.546
we got some special magical

00:00:32.587 –> 00:00:34.048
powers here on the show, don’t we?

00:00:34.067 –> 00:00:36.771
Yeah, we’ve been eclipsed.

00:00:36.790 –> 00:00:37.612
So where were you when you

00:00:37.631 –> 00:00:38.292
saw the eclipse?

00:00:39.173 –> 00:00:39.973
On my driveway.

00:00:39.993 –> 00:00:43.978
You have the eclipse glasses on?

00:00:44.057 –> 00:00:44.139
Yeah.

00:00:44.972 –> 00:00:46.552
Well, here’s what happened.

00:00:47.753 –> 00:00:49.195
I didn’t have eclipse glasses.

00:00:50.737 –> 00:00:53.179
And I didn’t realize that by us,

00:00:53.259 –> 00:00:55.000
we’d have such, you know,

00:00:55.661 –> 00:00:57.542
it was like 85% coverage or

00:00:57.621 –> 00:00:58.563
whatever you call it.

00:00:58.603 –> 00:00:59.204
I don’t know what the

00:00:59.243 –> 00:01:00.704
medical term is for it there.

00:01:01.024 –> 00:01:02.526
But what happened was I

00:01:02.545 –> 00:01:03.926
didn’t realize it until last minute.

00:01:04.007 –> 00:01:06.228
So my mom gave me her glaucoma glasses.

00:01:06.829 –> 00:01:07.850
And then I matched that up

00:01:07.911 –> 00:01:09.231
with my sunglasses and

00:01:09.292 –> 00:01:10.912
quickly realized that my

00:01:10.972 –> 00:01:12.034
retinas were going to burn out.

00:01:12.554 –> 00:01:13.935
But then my wife…

00:01:14.695 –> 00:01:16.237
had gotten some from her school,

00:01:16.658 –> 00:01:19.180
and showed up at home just in time,

00:01:19.700 –> 00:01:22.343
and I was able to knock that thing out.

00:01:22.703 –> 00:01:23.284
It was beautiful.

00:01:23.463 –> 00:01:25.465
I was coming over the bridge where I live,

00:01:26.126 –> 00:01:27.828
and I looked up through my sunroof,

00:01:28.129 –> 00:01:29.750
and I literally saw,

00:01:29.790 –> 00:01:31.971
without damaging my eyes, I saw…

00:01:33.013 –> 00:01:34.414
exactly what I’m supposed to

00:01:34.453 –> 00:01:35.275
see exactly when I’m

00:01:35.295 –> 00:01:36.415
supposed to see it but I

00:01:36.475 –> 00:01:37.376
only saw it for a second

00:01:37.397 –> 00:01:38.558
because then I needed the

00:01:38.597 –> 00:01:39.778
glasses to look any further

00:01:39.799 –> 00:01:41.980
because I wasn’t um in my

00:01:42.100 –> 00:01:43.882
car anymore but um everyone

00:01:43.902 –> 00:01:45.364
has an eclipse and listen

00:01:46.203 –> 00:01:48.365
and and people who’ve seen

00:01:48.385 –> 00:01:49.126
the northern lights have

00:01:49.147 –> 00:01:49.947
you ever seen the northern

00:01:49.966 –> 00:01:51.649
lights uh it’s a bucket

00:01:51.688 –> 00:01:53.771
list for for me I liked it

00:01:55.391 –> 00:01:56.352
it’s a little overhyped

00:01:57.474 –> 00:01:58.876
Right, yeah.

00:01:58.956 –> 00:02:00.617
I’ve seen them, where have I seen them?

00:02:00.638 –> 00:02:02.781
I’ve seen them four different places,

00:02:02.820 –> 00:02:03.600
four different countries.

00:02:04.022 –> 00:02:04.242
Yeah.

00:02:05.043 –> 00:02:06.844
And they were all cool, but-

00:02:08.502 –> 00:02:08.681
Yeah,

00:02:08.882 –> 00:02:09.923
I feel like I’m going to see the

00:02:10.022 –> 00:02:11.183
Northern Lights next week

00:02:11.204 –> 00:02:12.025
when we’re at the Fish

00:02:12.064 –> 00:02:14.106
Concerts at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

00:02:14.646 –> 00:02:16.068
All right,

00:02:17.449 –> 00:02:18.449
so we’re going to have a great

00:02:18.490 –> 00:02:18.830
guest today,

00:02:18.850 –> 00:02:19.812
and I want to get right to

00:02:19.931 –> 00:02:21.133
our amazing guest.

00:02:21.173 –> 00:02:22.394
But before that,

00:02:23.133 –> 00:02:24.294
I want to announce that

00:02:24.455 –> 00:02:25.616
Anthony and I are going to

00:02:25.656 –> 00:02:26.978
be delivering a keynote

00:02:27.038 –> 00:02:29.560
speech at HITECH on June 25th.

00:02:31.360 –> 00:02:32.842
all about technology and how

00:02:32.882 –> 00:02:34.122
it’s changing hospitality

00:02:34.163 –> 00:02:35.604
and how we see the future

00:02:35.644 –> 00:02:37.045
going by pulling together

00:02:37.466 –> 00:02:38.086
all the different

00:02:38.105 –> 00:02:39.206
stakeholders in hospitality.

00:02:39.227 –> 00:02:40.328
That’s going to be a really great one,

00:02:40.367 –> 00:02:40.668
Anthony.

00:02:41.408 –> 00:02:42.128
We are doing it?

00:02:42.550 –> 00:02:43.289
Yeah, man.

00:02:43.691 –> 00:02:44.191
We are.

00:02:45.512 –> 00:02:46.252
It’s exciting.

00:02:46.332 –> 00:02:47.133
And listen,

00:02:47.252 –> 00:02:48.014
it’s one of the biggest

00:02:48.033 –> 00:02:49.194
conferences and it’s an

00:02:49.655 –> 00:02:50.475
honor to be asked.

00:02:50.756 –> 00:02:52.396
And I look forward to it.

00:02:52.437 –> 00:02:54.318
It’ll be funny how, you know,

00:02:54.519 –> 00:02:55.960
Abbott and Costello do, but we’ll see.

00:02:56.460 –> 00:02:56.479
I…

00:02:58.243 –> 00:02:58.444
Yeah.

00:02:58.764 –> 00:03:00.668
I wonder who’s who.

00:03:01.169 –> 00:03:03.532
Definitely Costello.

00:03:03.551 –> 00:03:04.514
I’m definitely on.

00:03:04.993 –> 00:03:05.275
All right.

00:03:05.314 –> 00:03:08.079
Well, before we figure out who’s on first,

00:03:08.639 –> 00:03:09.360
one of the things that we

00:03:09.381 –> 00:03:10.322
have to figure out in our

00:03:10.382 –> 00:03:11.503
industry is how to really

00:03:11.544 –> 00:03:13.266
keep marketing forward going forward.

00:03:13.606 –> 00:03:14.927
And I’ll tell you, Anthony,

00:03:15.068 –> 00:03:17.088
a lot of that stuff seems same old,

00:03:17.128 –> 00:03:17.889
same old to me.

00:03:18.030 –> 00:03:19.450
I don’t really see how

00:03:19.471 –> 00:03:21.010
people are able to break through the din,

00:03:21.070 –> 00:03:22.592
particularly since so many

00:03:22.651 –> 00:03:23.913
hotels do a great job.

00:03:23.992 –> 00:03:25.294
So to walk us through this,

00:03:25.614 –> 00:03:26.974
we got Bruce Himmelstein.

00:03:27.395 –> 00:03:29.956
He’s an awesome marketing marketer.

00:03:29.997 –> 00:03:31.497
He’s with BJH Group.

00:03:31.538 –> 00:03:34.139
He’s one of HSM AI’s top 25

00:03:34.139 –> 00:03:36.401
minds and lots of accolades,

00:03:36.441 –> 00:03:38.461
helped reinvent Rich

00:03:38.481 –> 00:03:39.502
Carlin’s customer service.

00:03:39.562 –> 00:03:40.983
Also, it’s a really cool stuff.

00:03:41.362 –> 00:03:41.943
How are you, man?

00:03:43.094 –> 00:03:44.316
I’m phenomenal.

00:03:44.376 –> 00:03:47.977
I’m still getting to the eclipse part.

00:03:48.497 –> 00:03:49.957
You guys remember when you were a kid,

00:03:49.978 –> 00:03:51.838
you got those x-ray glasses

00:03:51.899 –> 00:03:52.960
at the back of the comic book?

00:03:53.740 –> 00:03:54.721
Yeah, absolutely.

00:03:54.941 –> 00:03:55.661
That’s what I used.

00:03:55.841 –> 00:03:56.901
It didn’t work well.

00:03:59.229 –> 00:04:00.530
I still had them, but anyway.

00:04:00.590 –> 00:04:01.631
Thank you for having me.

00:04:01.830 –> 00:04:02.431
I said,

00:04:02.752 –> 00:04:05.753
get me the guy who designs

00:04:05.954 –> 00:04:06.794
everything in the world,

00:04:07.395 –> 00:04:11.217
who lives in West Palm, is semi-retired,

00:04:11.638 –> 00:04:13.098
and he has the coolest look ever.

00:04:13.400 –> 00:04:14.120
Get me a guy.

00:04:15.100 –> 00:04:15.260
Wow.

00:04:18.065 –> 00:04:18.625
Thank you.

00:04:19.687 –> 00:04:20.646
Central casting.

00:04:20.927 –> 00:04:21.326
Thank you.

00:04:21.547 –> 00:04:22.067
Exactly.

00:04:22.187 –> 00:04:23.947
And he doesn’t wear socks.

00:04:24.908 –> 00:04:25.307
Yeah.

00:04:26.069 –> 00:04:27.449
I feel like you’re you’re

00:04:27.488 –> 00:04:28.428
you’re waiting to try out

00:04:28.449 –> 00:04:29.649
for Nessa Scorsese film

00:04:29.850 –> 00:04:31.470
right now in that room that you’re in.

00:04:32.451 –> 00:04:32.750
Listen,

00:04:33.471 –> 00:04:35.271
the picture of me on stage with

00:04:35.312 –> 00:04:37.312
Herman at the Forbes, I had no socks.

00:04:37.872 –> 00:04:38.952
You would not believe the

00:04:39.112 –> 00:04:41.574
grief I got online for not wearing socks.

00:04:42.317 –> 00:04:45.379
But sometimes you do what you gotta do.

00:04:45.798 –> 00:04:46.218
It’s funny,

00:04:46.259 –> 00:04:48.220
in all the formal and all the

00:04:48.240 –> 00:04:48.800
things I’ve done,

00:04:49.360 –> 00:04:51.079
I wear two different cufflinks.

00:04:52.161 –> 00:04:53.880
And only five-star,

00:04:54.540 –> 00:04:55.641
really top-of-the-line

00:04:55.682 –> 00:04:58.242
hotel guys or girls will realize it.

00:04:58.802 –> 00:04:59.903
No one else realizes I

00:04:59.923 –> 00:05:00.822
always wear two cufflinks.

00:05:00.882 –> 00:05:02.283
And people always ask me why.

00:05:02.622 –> 00:05:04.184
And I said, so you’ll notice them.

00:05:05.283 –> 00:05:06.824
And it’s only the highly

00:05:06.884 –> 00:05:08.685
detailed people that really,

00:05:08.725 –> 00:05:10.386
really notice that I wear

00:05:10.425 –> 00:05:11.266
different cufflinks.

00:05:12.314 –> 00:05:13.074
That’s very cool.

00:05:13.415 –> 00:05:15.076
So I’m curious as to how

00:05:15.115 –> 00:05:16.375
socks or no socks and

00:05:16.435 –> 00:05:17.855
cufflinks affects your

00:05:17.935 –> 00:05:19.656
skills as a marketer, Bruce.

00:05:20.416 –> 00:05:21.997
Well, you know, I get that question a lot.

00:05:22.016 –> 00:05:25.737
That might be the funniest

00:05:25.798 –> 00:05:28.199
thing anyone’s ever said.

00:05:32.824 –> 00:05:34.125
It’s it’s Glenn.

00:05:34.165 –> 00:05:34.946
It’s optics.

00:05:35.105 –> 00:05:37.146
It’s all optics.

00:05:37.326 –> 00:05:38.286
You do what you got to do.

00:05:38.646 –> 00:05:41.487
I I’ve learned I’ve learned that.

00:05:42.649 –> 00:05:43.528
And I learned this the hard

00:05:43.548 –> 00:05:44.730
way that presentation

00:05:44.889 –> 00:05:45.990
sometimes is about 90

00:05:45.990 –> 00:05:48.230
percent of what it is you’re going to do.

00:05:48.730 –> 00:05:48.930
Right.

00:05:49.230 –> 00:05:51.992
So I just I’ve never lost

00:05:52.052 –> 00:05:53.673
that for whatever that looks like.

00:05:54.228 –> 00:05:54.468
Yeah.

00:05:55.069 –> 00:05:55.649
And, you know,

00:05:55.810 –> 00:05:57.232
before we get into the niche,

00:05:57.252 –> 00:05:58.012
why don’t we do this?

00:05:58.033 –> 00:05:58.413
Two things.

00:05:58.533 –> 00:05:58.673
One,

00:05:58.973 –> 00:06:01.074
why don’t you just give us your

00:06:01.115 –> 00:06:01.995
background real quick and

00:06:02.016 –> 00:06:02.516
then I’ll give you the

00:06:02.557 –> 00:06:03.216
follow up question.

00:06:04.838 –> 00:06:05.218
OK.

00:06:05.379 –> 00:06:06.339
Upstate New York kid

00:06:08.322 –> 00:06:10.543
graduated with graduated

00:06:10.624 –> 00:06:12.005
SUNY Geneseo with a degree

00:06:12.045 –> 00:06:14.387
in communications, which, by the way,

00:06:14.827 –> 00:06:15.588
this is a bonus.

00:06:16.129 –> 00:06:16.610
Last week,

00:06:16.649 –> 00:06:18.172
I got a letter from the

00:06:18.211 –> 00:06:19.473
president of that school.

00:06:20.983 –> 00:06:22.124
telling me I’m getting an

00:06:22.223 –> 00:06:24.105
honorary doctorate this year,

00:06:25.206 –> 00:06:26.547
and I’m speaking at commencement.

00:06:26.607 –> 00:06:28.129
So- Wow.

00:06:29.529 –> 00:06:30.750
This is one of the more

00:06:30.810 –> 00:06:31.812
surreal moments of life.

00:06:32.211 –> 00:06:33.072
Anyway- Congratulations.

00:06:33.112 –> 00:06:33.913
That’s really amazing.

00:06:34.213 –> 00:06:34.454
Yeah.

00:06:34.533 –> 00:06:35.274
Thank you very much.

00:06:35.375 –> 00:06:37.055
So I’m starting to write prescriptions,

00:06:37.096 –> 00:06:39.377
which my family’s not very happy about,

00:06:39.637 –> 00:06:41.098
but it’s okay.

00:06:41.560 –> 00:06:41.720
So-

00:06:42.471 –> 00:06:44.572
I graduated with a degree in

00:06:44.591 –> 00:06:46.632
communications, couldn’t find any work.

00:06:46.892 –> 00:06:47.793
I was living in Albany.

00:06:47.812 –> 00:06:48.632
That’s because you got a

00:06:48.653 –> 00:06:51.413
degree in communications probably, right?

00:06:51.454 –> 00:06:52.014
Well, yeah.

00:06:52.134 –> 00:06:55.615
And I was going to the city

00:06:55.694 –> 00:06:57.475
on weekends for interviews.

00:06:57.754 –> 00:06:59.935
And after six months of nothing,

00:07:01.216 –> 00:07:03.596
I applied to the Americana Inn in Albany,

00:07:03.636 –> 00:07:05.317
New York as a housekeeper.

00:07:06.656 –> 00:07:08.156
And I got hired.

00:07:09.778 –> 00:07:11.338
Two days later, I got fired.

00:07:13.375 –> 00:07:14.336
I don’t know if you’re aware of this,

00:07:14.377 –> 00:07:15.497
but housekeepers have like

00:07:15.538 –> 00:07:16.899
a checklist of about 18

00:07:16.899 –> 00:07:18.100
things that they have to do.

00:07:18.560 –> 00:07:18.920
Right.

00:07:19.339 –> 00:07:21.581
I used to average two, three.

00:07:21.601 –> 00:07:25.425
Wow.

00:07:27.346 –> 00:07:27.666
So,

00:07:27.947 –> 00:07:29.908
but the GM loved me and asked me to

00:07:29.968 –> 00:07:30.869
stay on as a bellman.

00:07:31.990 –> 00:07:33.572
And so I was schlepping bags

00:07:33.591 –> 00:07:37.375
for tips and the rest, as they say, so.

00:07:38.939 –> 00:07:39.939
Joined Marriott when they

00:07:39.978 –> 00:07:43.060
had 100 hotels in their

00:07:43.079 –> 00:07:44.319
national office in New York

00:07:44.680 –> 00:07:45.600
in the Graybar building.

00:07:46.841 –> 00:07:48.161
And they had two hotels

00:07:48.240 –> 00:07:49.961
outside the United States,

00:07:50.041 –> 00:07:51.262
Barbados and Acapulco.

00:07:52.322 –> 00:07:55.223
And 30 years later,

00:07:55.242 –> 00:07:58.723
that was an incredible career.

00:07:58.764 –> 00:07:59.884
They bought Ritz-Carlton.

00:08:00.103 –> 00:08:01.343
I got selected to go over to

00:08:01.404 –> 00:08:04.125
be the chief sales and marketing officer.

00:08:04.204 –> 00:08:05.906
And I did that role for about eight years.

00:08:07.694 –> 00:08:09.014
Worked for John Tisch as his

00:08:09.095 –> 00:08:10.814
CMO at Lowe’s for four years.

00:08:11.175 –> 00:08:12.276
Wow.

00:08:12.315 –> 00:08:13.716
Lived at the Regency Monday

00:08:13.737 –> 00:08:14.857
through Friday for four

00:08:14.896 –> 00:08:16.177
years while I commuted to

00:08:16.298 –> 00:08:18.738
Fort Lauderdale.

00:08:19.658 –> 00:08:22.019
And then decided to just do my own thing.

00:08:22.060 –> 00:08:23.821
The commute was killing me, quite frankly.

00:08:24.822 –> 00:08:25.781
And so I’ve been a

00:08:25.822 –> 00:08:28.043
consultant speaker and sit

00:08:28.083 –> 00:08:28.843
on a board or two.

00:08:29.423 –> 00:08:31.545
And here I am.

00:08:32.345 –> 00:08:34.566
Tell me a story that might

00:08:34.586 –> 00:08:35.846
get you arrested that has

00:08:35.865 –> 00:08:37.067
to do with Jerry Inzarella.

00:08:38.537 –> 00:08:39.118
Oh, Lord.

00:08:39.138 –> 00:08:42.486
How long is the show?

00:08:44.620 –> 00:08:45.379
Well, I’ll give you one.

00:08:45.399 –> 00:08:46.660
I don’t know to get me arrested,

00:08:46.681 –> 00:08:48.341
get him arrested or me arrested,

00:08:48.361 –> 00:08:49.342
but I’ll give you I’ll give

00:08:49.363 –> 00:08:51.004
you two great Jerry stories.

00:08:52.183 –> 00:08:53.924
We both worked for Saul Kirzner,

00:08:54.105 –> 00:08:54.525
as you know,

00:08:55.385 –> 00:08:58.427
and I flew to London because

00:08:58.889 –> 00:09:00.269
Saul’s offices were in London.

00:09:00.490 –> 00:09:01.549
I’ll say Kirzner is the

00:09:01.590 –> 00:09:02.431
company that developed

00:09:02.451 –> 00:09:03.932
properties such as Atlantis.

00:09:03.971 –> 00:09:04.892
Tune into the show we had

00:09:05.011 –> 00:09:06.432
yesterday with the managing

00:09:06.472 –> 00:09:09.794
director of the Atlantis Royal in Dubai.

00:09:09.875 –> 00:09:10.615
Bruce, please continue.

00:09:11.160 –> 00:09:12.662
yeah so and and he had one

00:09:12.701 –> 00:09:14.384
and only and mazagan in

00:09:14.423 –> 00:09:15.845
morocco so he was you know

00:09:15.865 –> 00:09:17.086
a pretty deep hotelier and

00:09:17.125 –> 00:09:19.528
designer so he picked me up

00:09:19.948 –> 00:09:21.549
at heathrow in his roles

00:09:22.091 –> 00:09:23.272
and jerry was in the car

00:09:23.312 –> 00:09:24.493
with him and the three of

00:09:24.552 –> 00:09:25.913
us were going to eat at a

00:09:25.974 –> 00:09:28.356
restaurant in london and

00:09:28.376 –> 00:09:29.878
the phone rang and in those

00:09:29.937 –> 00:09:31.438
days it was the phone where

00:09:31.479 –> 00:09:32.640
you picked up in the coil

00:09:34.402 –> 00:09:36.244
but he put it on speaker so

00:09:36.283 –> 00:09:37.465
now jerry and I are listening

00:09:38.360 –> 00:09:39.780
And he goes, Saul, listen,

00:09:39.801 –> 00:09:42.162
we’ve got it down to either

00:09:42.782 –> 00:09:44.903
the Bahamas or in Cabo.

00:09:45.523 –> 00:09:46.964
You tell us where you want us to have it.

00:09:47.923 –> 00:09:51.306
And Saul, who’s a fairly gruff guy, said,

00:09:51.326 –> 00:09:52.885
I don’t give a shit.

00:09:52.926 –> 00:09:53.386
You pick.

00:09:53.486 –> 00:09:54.427
Jerry, where do you want it?

00:09:55.607 –> 00:09:57.107
And he said, let’s just do in the Bahamas.

00:09:57.408 –> 00:09:58.428
All right, we’ll do in the Bahamas.

00:09:58.928 –> 00:09:59.308
Wow.

00:09:59.749 –> 00:10:00.509
Hung up the phone.

00:10:01.655 –> 00:10:02.818
I said, who, what?

00:10:03.340 –> 00:10:04.964
And they go, oh, that was Matt Damon.

00:10:05.004 –> 00:10:06.067
We’re planning Clooney’s

00:10:06.086 –> 00:10:07.309
surprise birthday party.

00:10:07.551 –> 00:10:07.792
Yes.

00:10:10.418 –> 00:10:12.359
That was Jerry’s still is.

00:10:12.399 –> 00:10:13.340
That was Jerry’s universe.

00:10:13.379 –> 00:10:14.740
So he let me in for a little while.

00:10:14.779 –> 00:10:16.081
I got to experience that.

00:10:17.942 –> 00:10:19.403
So I’ve got a few I’ve got a

00:10:19.442 –> 00:10:20.082
few of those stories.

00:10:21.203 –> 00:10:24.085
Cindy Crawford and Sharon Stone were,

00:10:25.186 –> 00:10:27.206
let’s just say, very physical with Jerry.

00:10:27.267 –> 00:10:28.167
And that’s how I met Jerry.

00:10:28.187 –> 00:10:29.467
We went to Forbes travel thing.

00:10:29.967 –> 00:10:31.509
And I was like, is that Sharon Stone?

00:10:31.528 –> 00:10:32.850
And is that Cindy Crawford?

00:10:33.570 –> 00:10:36.671
and they lost is he lost in

00:10:37.072 –> 00:10:39.452
like like a big like scrum

00:10:40.052 –> 00:10:44.235
of these supermodels listen

00:10:44.914 –> 00:10:46.255
um they sent him to saudi

00:10:46.296 –> 00:10:47.216
because of that so who

00:10:47.235 –> 00:10:51.217
knows no he’s he’s made so

00:10:51.298 –> 00:10:52.317
no you know it’s so

00:10:52.398 –> 00:10:54.019
important because one of

00:10:54.038 –> 00:10:55.479
the things when I met you

00:10:55.558 –> 00:10:56.539
at the forbes and I heard

00:10:56.580 –> 00:10:58.380
you speaking on stage

00:10:59.376 –> 00:11:00.999
You had such a style and

00:11:01.038 –> 00:11:02.259
such a class and you were

00:11:02.340 –> 00:11:04.881
funny and you were speakers

00:11:04.922 –> 00:11:06.844
that you can listen to all day long.

00:11:07.445 –> 00:11:09.346
So to me, you have all these experience.

00:11:09.366 –> 00:11:10.047
You probably have three or

00:11:10.067 –> 00:11:12.370
four decades of experience, but you still,

00:11:12.509 –> 00:11:15.432
to me, show up like you’re 22 years old,

00:11:15.472 –> 00:11:17.114
just graduated college and

00:11:17.173 –> 00:11:18.755
you’re very creative thinker.

00:11:19.375 –> 00:11:19.876
To this day,

00:11:19.917 –> 00:11:21.538
you think like a younger person.

00:11:22.405 –> 00:11:23.606
And I think what the rap

00:11:23.626 –> 00:11:24.628
we’re getting is

00:11:24.707 –> 00:11:25.908
everybody’s dumping all

00:11:25.948 –> 00:11:28.091
these younger people into a

00:11:28.130 –> 00:11:29.793
bin of they don’t care.

00:11:30.312 –> 00:11:32.855
And all the old people are like, well,

00:11:33.596 –> 00:11:34.898
they don’t care, so I don’t care.

00:11:34.918 –> 00:11:37.058
And instead of being,

00:11:37.940 –> 00:11:39.942
I think we’re like-minded in the sense of,

00:11:40.403 –> 00:11:41.923
listen, man, we’re just people.

00:11:42.605 –> 00:11:44.385
And we’re still 12 years old.

00:11:44.886 –> 00:11:46.048
And we’re still creating.

00:11:47.528 –> 00:11:48.230
Things change.

00:11:48.530 –> 00:11:49.572
Nothing ever stays the same.

00:11:49.712 –> 00:11:50.774
And I got that vibe from you.

00:11:50.794 –> 00:11:51.596
And then we hung out in the

00:11:51.615 –> 00:11:52.297
Delta skylines.

00:11:52.317 –> 00:11:52.717
I was like, Oh,

00:11:52.977 –> 00:11:53.840
you got to be on the podcast.

00:11:54.240 –> 00:11:55.341
So how do you keep that

00:11:55.503 –> 00:11:57.346
mindset of flexibility?

00:11:59.549 –> 00:12:00.631
That’s a great question.

00:12:00.652 –> 00:12:00.672
I

00:12:02.971 –> 00:12:05.173
I tell, you know, I’m fortunate enough,

00:12:05.212 –> 00:12:08.134
I get invited to universities to speak.

00:12:08.375 –> 00:12:10.636
And that’s one of my givebacks.

00:12:10.977 –> 00:12:11.217
You know,

00:12:11.258 –> 00:12:12.839
I don’t charge schools when I speak.

00:12:13.500 –> 00:12:14.600
And I get the question

00:12:14.801 –> 00:12:16.581
similar to what you just asked, Anthony.

00:12:16.642 –> 00:12:19.664
But what I say is there’s two lost arts,

00:12:20.264 –> 00:12:21.765
listening skills and eye contact.

00:12:22.506 –> 00:12:23.447
And if you’re going to stand

00:12:23.488 –> 00:12:24.828
in front of me like this,

00:12:25.750 –> 00:12:26.389
you and I are done.

00:12:27.350 –> 00:12:28.351
And even if you’re going to

00:12:28.371 –> 00:12:29.192
be in a meeting and this is

00:12:29.211 –> 00:12:31.634
how you’re going to take notes, I’m done.

00:12:32.134 –> 00:12:32.315
Mm-hmm.

00:12:32.500 –> 00:12:34.740
So I like to engage.

00:12:35.321 –> 00:12:36.481
I don’t put a parameter

00:12:36.522 –> 00:12:38.543
around that demographic or age group.

00:12:38.722 –> 00:12:40.903
I like to engage and it keeps me relevant.

00:12:42.163 –> 00:12:44.024
I found, interestingly enough,

00:12:44.065 –> 00:12:45.806
that when I started my consultancy,

00:12:46.586 –> 00:12:49.327
very few of my clients are hospitality.

00:12:49.447 –> 00:12:50.488
They’re in financial

00:12:50.548 –> 00:12:53.129
services and academia and healthcare.

00:12:53.830 –> 00:12:55.671
Because this intersection of

00:12:55.750 –> 00:12:57.731
hospitality and fill in the blank,

00:12:58.871 –> 00:13:00.913
um is is as you guys know is

00:13:00.932 –> 00:13:02.293
just very relevant and very

00:13:02.354 –> 00:13:04.815
hot so you drop the guest

00:13:04.894 –> 00:13:06.196
experience and you plug in

00:13:06.235 –> 00:13:07.616
patient experience and now

00:13:07.657 –> 00:13:08.456
you got everybody’s

00:13:08.496 –> 00:13:10.499
attention as to well how do

00:13:10.519 –> 00:13:12.239
we go from a to b with that

00:13:13.039 –> 00:13:14.039
they don’t look at the age

00:13:14.100 –> 00:13:15.480
when you start talking you

00:13:15.520 –> 00:13:16.721
know they they just listen

00:13:16.761 –> 00:13:18.462
to where that relevance is so

00:13:19.731 –> 00:13:20.972
I’m at a pinch me moment of

00:13:21.052 –> 00:13:22.634
life and career where the

00:13:22.673 –> 00:13:25.475
phone keeps ringing and I’m

00:13:25.715 –> 00:13:27.436
blown away by this stage of my life.

00:13:27.615 –> 00:13:31.097
But it’s that reason is that

00:13:31.138 –> 00:13:33.499
you just stay engaged with people.

00:13:34.279 –> 00:13:34.500
Right.

00:13:34.679 –> 00:13:35.379
So when you’re staying

00:13:35.399 –> 00:13:36.600
engaged with all these people,

00:13:37.140 –> 00:13:39.422
what are you revealing

00:13:39.481 –> 00:13:41.202
about how to connect better

00:13:41.383 –> 00:13:42.984
with others when it comes

00:13:43.024 –> 00:13:44.485
through the prism of hotel

00:13:44.504 –> 00:13:45.184
sales and marketing?

00:13:46.086 –> 00:13:46.306
Well,

00:13:47.169 –> 00:13:48.811
A lot of them are in these silos.

00:13:49.111 –> 00:13:49.292
You know,

00:13:49.312 –> 00:13:51.373
I get brought into the C-suite

00:13:51.453 –> 00:13:53.054
more often than I don’t.

00:13:53.774 –> 00:13:55.576
And I’ve spoken to enough

00:13:55.616 –> 00:13:57.698
board of directors and meetings where,

00:13:58.178 –> 00:13:59.460
well, I’ll give you a classic.

00:13:59.480 –> 00:14:01.581
I was in a board of

00:14:01.601 –> 00:14:02.962
directors meeting that I

00:14:03.003 –> 00:14:03.923
was asked to design and

00:14:03.943 –> 00:14:05.225
facilitate for the

00:14:05.284 –> 00:14:06.806
significant large

00:14:07.186 –> 00:14:09.048
healthcare organization in the Midwest.

00:14:10.168 –> 00:14:10.288
And

00:14:10.884 –> 00:14:14.827
They were all disengaged and I said, look,

00:14:15.227 –> 00:14:16.129
I’m just gonna ask you to

00:14:16.970 –> 00:14:18.091
put a number from one to 10

00:14:18.091 –> 00:14:18.870
on a piece of paper.

00:14:18.890 –> 00:14:20.491
It was probably 25 of them.

00:14:21.033 –> 00:14:21.273
I said,

00:14:21.332 –> 00:14:23.153
rate the culture of your

00:14:23.193 –> 00:14:25.515
organization from one to 10

00:14:25.515 –> 00:14:27.837
and 10 being outstanding.

00:14:28.698 –> 00:14:30.059
And don’t put your name down,

00:14:30.100 –> 00:14:30.940
just give me a number,

00:14:30.980 –> 00:14:31.880
fold it and hold it up.

00:14:33.042 –> 00:14:33.962
And I collected them all.

00:14:34.743 –> 00:14:35.403
And then I said,

00:14:35.844 –> 00:14:37.125
what do you guys think the number is?

00:14:37.846 –> 00:14:39.206
Rate your culture, what’s your number?

00:14:39.998 –> 00:14:41.958
And they guessed four.

00:14:42.719 –> 00:14:44.119
The actual number was three.

00:14:45.538 –> 00:14:46.980
And then we started talking, why?

00:14:47.759 –> 00:14:49.799
And it’s because they’re

00:14:49.860 –> 00:14:50.941
more interested in hanging

00:14:50.961 –> 00:14:52.081
in their silos than they

00:14:52.140 –> 00:14:53.061
are collaborating.

00:14:53.941 –> 00:14:55.621
And when you do that,

00:14:56.302 –> 00:14:57.822
you’re going to work in a

00:14:57.902 –> 00:14:59.202
three to four rated culture

00:14:59.562 –> 00:15:01.102
because everybody’s doing

00:15:01.182 –> 00:15:02.442
their thing over there.

00:15:03.203 –> 00:15:04.124
I was with a group in New

00:15:04.144 –> 00:15:06.004
York last week that I can’t

00:15:06.323 –> 00:15:06.845
talk about yet,

00:15:06.884 –> 00:15:08.644
but I will soon that you all know.

00:15:09.616 –> 00:15:12.618
And, you know, I asked him, you know,

00:15:12.837 –> 00:15:13.899
with all the seats around

00:15:13.918 –> 00:15:15.938
the table in marketing disciplines,

00:15:15.979 –> 00:15:19.541
you got direct sales, you got digital,

00:15:19.581 –> 00:15:21.400
you got social media, you got PR,

00:15:21.500 –> 00:15:22.062
trade shows.

00:15:22.682 –> 00:15:23.642
When was the last time they

00:15:23.861 –> 00:15:25.243
all sat together around the

00:15:25.302 –> 00:15:26.383
table and looked at each other?

00:15:27.543 –> 00:15:29.565
And it had been over a year

00:15:29.784 –> 00:15:31.465
because Susie’s over there

00:15:31.524 –> 00:15:32.485
doing social media.

00:15:32.905 –> 00:15:33.725
We got Bob,

00:15:33.846 –> 00:15:35.547
who’s in Ohio that does our PR.

00:15:36.647 –> 00:15:37.988
Frank does the trade shows.

00:15:38.028 –> 00:15:38.788
He lives in Brooklyn.

00:15:39.285 –> 00:15:39.927
Right.

00:15:39.947 –> 00:15:41.668
So how do you how do you how

00:15:41.707 –> 00:15:42.589
do you get the brand right?

00:15:43.349 –> 00:15:44.509
How do you do that when

00:15:44.549 –> 00:15:46.331
you’re all dispersed like that?

00:15:46.471 –> 00:15:48.634
So it’s it’s more and more.

00:15:48.734 –> 00:15:49.313
And by the way,

00:15:49.333 –> 00:15:52.096
I have a gate that’s high in my yard.

00:15:52.116 –> 00:15:57.041
Oh, what did you get what I just said,

00:15:57.061 –> 00:15:57.321
Glenn?

00:15:57.881 –> 00:15:58.162
Yeah.

00:15:58.461 –> 00:15:59.363
Give me the name of the company.

00:15:59.383 –> 00:16:00.183
And I just said I have a

00:16:00.344 –> 00:16:01.504
gate that’s high in my yard.

00:16:01.825 –> 00:16:02.044
Yeah.

00:16:04.285 –> 00:16:05.548
Anthony, you know what?

00:16:05.888 –> 00:16:07.890
That’s not it.

00:16:08.511 –> 00:16:11.174
Anthony, I will tell you, I will say this.

00:16:11.195 –> 00:16:11.735
It reminds me of our

00:16:11.775 –> 00:16:13.697
conversation yesterday when

00:16:13.758 –> 00:16:15.220
you were talking to our

00:16:15.279 –> 00:16:16.581
guest about the stand-up

00:16:16.621 –> 00:16:17.523
meetings and the importance

00:16:17.562 –> 00:16:18.504
of having them every day

00:16:18.524 –> 00:16:19.424
and what would happen if

00:16:19.466 –> 00:16:20.746
you didn’t have them

00:16:21.467 –> 00:16:22.528
for months at a time.

00:16:22.548 –> 00:16:23.609
That’s the exact same

00:16:23.629 –> 00:16:25.750
scenario that we’re talking here because,

00:16:26.270 –> 00:16:26.530
you know,

00:16:26.630 –> 00:16:28.072
and I say this for our like people,

00:16:28.111 –> 00:16:29.753
property level people think

00:16:29.773 –> 00:16:30.513
a little bit differently.

00:16:30.552 –> 00:16:31.474
Bruce, I mean,

00:16:31.494 –> 00:16:32.673
if you’re not there talking

00:16:32.693 –> 00:16:33.634
and understanding what the

00:16:33.674 –> 00:16:35.495
brand is on a regular basis,

00:16:36.216 –> 00:16:37.336
then you’re all setting

00:16:37.356 –> 00:16:38.977
yourselves up for failure, right?

00:16:39.980 –> 00:16:40.720
Well, and look,

00:16:40.799 –> 00:16:42.260
I used to take and I do

00:16:42.301 –> 00:16:43.341
this with my clients now.

00:16:43.360 –> 00:16:45.841
I took 48 hours a year when

00:16:45.860 –> 00:16:48.221
I was a CMO and I would

00:16:48.261 –> 00:16:49.662
bring my team offsite

00:16:49.721 –> 00:16:50.682
somewhere and lock them in

00:16:50.722 –> 00:16:53.043
a ballroom and I would bring my agencies,

00:16:53.482 –> 00:16:54.783
but I would bring my colleagues,

00:16:54.844 –> 00:16:55.484
my peer group.

00:16:55.624 –> 00:16:57.644
So the head of ops, the head of HR,

00:16:58.043 –> 00:16:58.605
the head of I.T.,

00:17:00.645 –> 00:17:02.606
They had equal say at the

00:17:02.647 –> 00:17:03.907
table as we developed our

00:17:03.947 –> 00:17:05.247
business plan and marketing

00:17:05.287 –> 00:17:06.288
plan for the following year.

00:17:06.307 –> 00:17:07.667
And the reason that I

00:17:07.688 –> 00:17:08.868
brought all those guys in

00:17:08.949 –> 00:17:11.489
is because I could put the

00:17:11.568 –> 00:17:13.029
bow on the marketing plan,

00:17:13.430 –> 00:17:15.170
but they got to animate it.

00:17:15.309 –> 00:17:16.411
They have to deliver it.

00:17:17.030 –> 00:17:18.250
So if I’m going after

00:17:18.290 –> 00:17:19.811
multi-gen travel because

00:17:19.892 –> 00:17:20.771
our owners are building

00:17:20.811 –> 00:17:21.872
more connecting rooms,

00:17:21.892 –> 00:17:22.792
because that’s the trend,

00:17:23.692 –> 00:17:24.692
they got to know that and

00:17:24.712 –> 00:17:25.794
they got to help me on how

00:17:25.814 –> 00:17:26.814
we’re going to deliver that.

00:17:27.304 –> 00:17:27.523
Right.

00:17:27.763 –> 00:17:29.045
So at the end of the

00:17:29.085 –> 00:17:30.705
marketing plan and the two days,

00:17:31.007 –> 00:17:31.967
I could stand in front of

00:17:32.007 –> 00:17:34.308
the CEO or the board and say,

00:17:35.169 –> 00:17:35.769
we did this.

00:17:36.250 –> 00:17:38.852
You know, not me and my agency.

00:17:39.251 –> 00:17:40.633
We did this so that

00:17:40.692 –> 00:17:41.874
everybody could articulate

00:17:41.913 –> 00:17:42.974
what success looks like.

00:17:43.035 –> 00:17:43.894
And that, to me,

00:17:44.435 –> 00:17:45.916
is when the silos come down

00:17:45.957 –> 00:17:47.298
and you guys are all aligned.

00:17:48.157 –> 00:17:49.179
That’s when you get ref part

00:17:49.199 –> 00:17:50.039
premiums and that’s when

00:17:50.059 –> 00:17:51.421
you get brand awareness premiums.

00:17:52.040 –> 00:17:52.862
So how do we.

00:17:54.211 –> 00:17:54.551
Right now,

00:17:54.592 –> 00:17:55.771
we’re all looking at our computer.

00:17:55.912 –> 00:17:57.053
We’re all looking at our

00:17:57.093 –> 00:17:58.394
phones as soon as this is over.

00:17:59.454 –> 00:18:02.057
We’ve all become comfortable

00:18:02.916 –> 00:18:04.378
kind of in our little silo.

00:18:05.278 –> 00:18:06.700
I still love communication.

00:18:06.720 –> 00:18:07.140
Like yesterday,

00:18:07.160 –> 00:18:08.240
I was in the city for a meeting,

00:18:08.260 –> 00:18:08.981
and I went over to my

00:18:09.021 –> 00:18:10.542
friend Joey Zadori’s hot

00:18:10.603 –> 00:18:11.824
restaurant in the village.

00:18:12.423 –> 00:18:13.525
And we had like the greatest

00:18:13.565 –> 00:18:14.605
time of the hour and a half

00:18:15.105 –> 00:18:16.166
eating spinach and shrimp

00:18:16.207 –> 00:18:17.488
and talking and bullshitting and talking.

00:18:17.988 –> 00:18:18.729
And there’s nothing,

00:18:18.769 –> 00:18:19.548
there’s nothing like it.

00:18:19.970 –> 00:18:21.130
But like one of the things

00:18:21.150 –> 00:18:22.171
that me and my friend Glenn

00:18:22.191 –> 00:18:23.412
are going to talk about at

00:18:23.451 –> 00:18:25.192
high tech is how do you

00:18:25.313 –> 00:18:28.115
keep that personal connection?

00:18:28.494 –> 00:18:29.296
And everybody’s talking

00:18:29.316 –> 00:18:32.317
about it with AI is going to take over.

00:18:32.617 –> 00:18:33.778
Like it’s going to go faster.

00:18:33.798 –> 00:18:35.079
Everybody’s like, well, in 10 years,

00:18:35.079 –> 00:18:36.961
10 years, 12 months from now,

00:18:37.540 –> 00:18:39.742
we’re going to like, Oh my God, you know,

00:18:39.942 –> 00:18:41.163
look where, look where we are.

00:18:41.784 –> 00:18:46.067
How do you keep that personal

00:18:46.440 –> 00:18:47.260
emotional,

00:18:47.820 –> 00:18:50.884
personal connection when the

00:18:51.003 –> 00:18:52.765
world is being taken over

00:18:52.944 –> 00:18:54.507
by artificial intelligence

00:18:55.227 –> 00:18:55.968
and Zoom calls.

00:18:57.421 –> 00:18:57.641
Well,

00:18:57.740 –> 00:18:59.123
we’re fortunate that we’re in an

00:18:59.202 –> 00:19:01.384
industry that embraces that, right?

00:19:01.444 –> 00:19:02.705
It’s just part of our DNA.

00:19:02.746 –> 00:19:04.827
It’s part of my DNA that I’ve got to,

00:19:05.268 –> 00:19:05.969
even though we’re doing

00:19:06.009 –> 00:19:07.430
this because logistically it’s hard,

00:19:07.470 –> 00:19:09.010
I could have flown to New York, I guess,

00:19:09.111 –> 00:19:10.593
or you guys could have come to Boca,

00:19:11.032 –> 00:19:12.815
but this is just the way it is now.

00:19:13.295 –> 00:19:14.836
But I think it’s part of the,

00:19:14.935 –> 00:19:15.557
if you’re going to be in

00:19:15.596 –> 00:19:16.877
the hospitality space,

00:19:18.799 –> 00:19:20.961
it’s in your DNA to embrace

00:19:21.001 –> 00:19:21.781
relationships.

00:19:22.143 –> 00:19:22.242
And

00:19:24.434 –> 00:19:25.816
I just signed up for the

00:19:26.276 –> 00:19:27.356
second annual Marriott

00:19:27.396 –> 00:19:29.038
reunion in November for all

00:19:29.057 –> 00:19:30.659
the guys that I grew up

00:19:30.739 –> 00:19:32.240
with that are no longer there,

00:19:32.319 –> 00:19:33.000
but there’s a couple

00:19:33.020 –> 00:19:33.821
hundred people there.

00:19:34.162 –> 00:19:35.542
We all made that a priority.

00:19:36.864 –> 00:19:38.505
I sit down and have

00:19:39.305 –> 00:19:40.526
breakfast once a month with

00:19:40.586 –> 00:19:42.146
about eight guys that I

00:19:42.186 –> 00:19:44.128
grew up with in Ritz-Carlton.

00:19:45.549 –> 00:19:46.509
None of us are there anymore.

00:19:46.590 –> 00:19:47.750
We’re all doing other things,

00:19:48.291 –> 00:19:50.192
but it’s like a scene out

00:19:50.212 –> 00:19:51.334
of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

00:19:51.653 –> 00:19:52.674
We all get together and

00:19:53.595 –> 00:19:56.218
You know, we yenter it up for a while,

00:19:56.458 –> 00:19:58.000
and it’s the best.

00:19:58.380 –> 00:19:59.221
And I will tell you,

00:19:59.240 –> 00:20:00.803
and I’m not saying Marriott,

00:20:00.883 –> 00:20:02.565
just in general, I’ll just generalize,

00:20:03.066 –> 00:20:03.707
the brands,

00:20:04.667 –> 00:20:07.611
they seem to be getting more and more,

00:20:09.593 –> 00:20:11.474
how can I say, minimized or more…

00:20:12.509 –> 00:20:15.269
Sanitized or more… Homogenized?

00:20:15.690 –> 00:20:18.569
Homogenized and… Yeah, asterized?

00:20:19.250 –> 00:20:20.030
Asterized.

00:20:21.270 –> 00:20:26.051
And it just seems like there’s no emotion.

00:20:26.251 –> 00:20:27.532
There’s no heart.

00:20:27.932 –> 00:20:29.012
And everybody’s afraid

00:20:29.032 –> 00:20:29.673
they’re going to step on

00:20:29.692 –> 00:20:30.992
somebody else’s toes and

00:20:31.012 –> 00:20:31.973
their stock option is going

00:20:31.993 –> 00:20:32.693
to be taken away.

00:20:34.114 –> 00:20:36.375
You know, I taught my kids.

00:20:36.394 –> 00:20:37.115
I have three girls.

00:20:37.154 –> 00:20:38.394
They’re all grown now,

00:20:38.434 –> 00:20:39.476
but I taught them all.

00:20:39.695 –> 00:20:40.496
We have three girls too.

00:20:40.976 –> 00:20:41.276
Oh, you do?

00:20:42.669 –> 00:20:44.431
um I said look you’re a

00:20:44.491 –> 00:20:46.034
brand the minute you you

00:20:46.173 –> 00:20:47.055
graduate and you walk

00:20:47.095 –> 00:20:48.096
across that stage you’re a

00:20:48.135 –> 00:20:49.778
brand and everything you do

00:20:49.837 –> 00:20:52.040
or say will add or detract

00:20:52.080 –> 00:20:53.823
from your brand equity even

00:20:53.843 –> 00:20:54.663
though you haven’t started

00:20:54.723 –> 00:20:57.367
a job yet so fight for the shelf space

00:20:58.532 –> 00:20:59.972
I spent all day Friday at

00:21:00.012 –> 00:21:01.213
Marriott with the luxury

00:21:01.253 –> 00:21:03.294
brand team on behalf of one of my owners.

00:21:04.115 –> 00:21:05.255
And they said to me,

00:21:06.295 –> 00:21:09.096
you’re maybe one of the few guys, guys,

00:21:09.375 –> 00:21:10.476
people, people,

00:21:10.715 –> 00:21:12.896
groups that have asked to come and meet.

00:21:13.416 –> 00:21:14.877
And I’m fighting for shelf space.

00:21:15.258 –> 00:21:15.438
You know,

00:21:15.458 –> 00:21:16.837
there’s 32 brands in that

00:21:16.897 –> 00:21:19.398
building and there’s 8000

00:21:19.398 –> 00:21:20.778
hotels around the world and

00:21:20.818 –> 00:21:21.378
they’ve got 180 owners.

00:21:24.275 –> 00:21:26.217
But I knew enough of the

00:21:26.257 –> 00:21:27.136
relationship and the

00:21:27.196 –> 00:21:28.317
networking over the years

00:21:28.377 –> 00:21:30.099
that it’s shelf space I’m looking for,

00:21:30.539 –> 00:21:30.799
right?

00:21:30.819 –> 00:21:32.981
So that’s up to me.

00:21:33.021 –> 00:21:34.002
That’s my DNA.

00:21:34.042 –> 00:21:35.203
That’s my relationship.

00:21:36.684 –> 00:21:38.205
So I just don’t let go of that.

00:21:38.486 –> 00:21:40.067
And I’m a collaborator at heart.

00:21:40.107 –> 00:21:41.628
I think I mentioned that earlier.

00:21:41.689 –> 00:21:43.490
It’s not about me.

00:21:43.651 –> 00:21:44.852
It’s about the collaboration

00:21:44.892 –> 00:21:45.491
and the output.

00:21:46.833 –> 00:21:48.394
And I think we talk about this a lot,

00:21:48.413 –> 00:21:49.234
and I talk a lot about this

00:21:49.275 –> 00:21:51.636
in my keynotes, is I ask people,

00:21:51.676 –> 00:21:52.478
how many people in this

00:21:53.077 –> 00:21:53.898
room have a brand?

00:21:54.622 –> 00:21:56.786
And if there’s 500 people or 5,000 people,

00:21:56.846 –> 00:21:59.951
maybe 1%, less than 1%,

00:21:59.951 –> 00:22:00.853
will raise their hand.

00:22:01.775 –> 00:22:02.817
And I always say,

00:22:02.916 –> 00:22:03.878
when you come out of the womb,

00:22:04.078 –> 00:22:05.662
your brand is established, right?

00:22:06.163 –> 00:22:07.704
You know, like when your kids were…

00:22:08.903 –> 00:22:10.164
teenagers, you’re three girls,

00:22:10.184 –> 00:22:12.684
I have three girls, and my twins are 25,

00:22:12.684 –> 00:22:14.266
my baby’s 21.

00:22:14.266 –> 00:22:15.807
And I could tell you which

00:22:15.967 –> 00:22:17.487
one was gonna get an A in math,

00:22:17.967 –> 00:22:19.288
who was gonna take out the garbage,

00:22:19.647 –> 00:22:20.847
who was good in volleyball.

00:22:21.209 –> 00:22:22.368
So your brand is already

00:22:22.388 –> 00:22:23.388
being established.

00:22:23.489 –> 00:22:24.289
I’ll give you the perfect

00:22:24.329 –> 00:22:26.309
example of my brand, right?

00:22:26.851 –> 00:22:28.151
And kind of staying in your lane.

00:22:28.570 –> 00:22:29.431
I was asked to be on this

00:22:29.451 –> 00:22:30.432
hospitality podcast.

00:22:31.471 –> 00:22:32.913
And I asked Glenn, I said, should I be on?

00:22:32.932 –> 00:22:33.292
And he goes, yeah,

00:22:33.313 –> 00:22:34.153
it’s a good guy to be on it.

00:22:34.594 –> 00:22:35.295
Then they called the

00:22:35.315 –> 00:22:36.234
publicist and they said, well,

00:22:36.255 –> 00:22:38.036
we want Anthony to be on,

00:22:38.477 –> 00:22:40.458
but we have to do a half hour pre-call.

00:22:41.798 –> 00:22:43.160
And talking about subjects

00:22:43.220 –> 00:22:44.160
and topics and kind of

00:22:44.220 –> 00:22:45.040
knowing what they want to talk about.

00:22:45.340 –> 00:22:46.201
I said, yeah, I don’t do that.

00:22:46.281 –> 00:22:46.801
I’m not doing it.

00:22:46.842 –> 00:22:47.182
Tell them.

00:22:47.281 –> 00:22:48.042
I told the publicist,

00:22:48.103 –> 00:22:49.384
tell them I don’t do that,

00:22:49.743 –> 00:22:51.144
but I’m happy to be on the call.

00:22:51.565 –> 00:22:52.506
And they canceled the call.

00:22:53.463 –> 00:22:55.325
And I’m like, you’re letting me,

00:22:55.444 –> 00:22:56.905
you want me to go against my brand.

00:22:57.306 –> 00:22:58.247
Like Bruce,

00:22:58.586 –> 00:23:01.669
did we do anything to prepare

00:23:01.689 –> 00:23:02.388
you for this call?

00:23:03.589 –> 00:23:04.750
No, not at all.

00:23:05.049 –> 00:23:07.471
As a matter of fact- Hold on, hold on.

00:23:07.511 –> 00:23:08.913
We had some conversation

00:23:08.952 –> 00:23:10.733
about bagels and some other

00:23:10.753 –> 00:23:11.773
really important stuff.

00:23:12.114 –> 00:23:12.595
We did,

00:23:12.694 –> 00:23:14.115
but you committed that would be

00:23:14.154 –> 00:23:15.395
between us and that clearly

00:23:15.415 –> 00:23:16.817
you’ve broken that.

00:23:16.856 –> 00:23:17.977
Well, I didn’t, you see,

00:23:18.117 –> 00:23:18.958
now you know what my word is.

00:23:18.998 –> 00:23:19.979
I didn’t sign anything.

00:23:20.019 –> 00:23:20.538
The thing is,

00:23:21.482 –> 00:23:24.464
If I need to prep you for a

00:23:24.605 –> 00:23:26.247
live podcast about what you

00:23:26.287 –> 00:23:27.448
do for a living and what

00:23:27.488 –> 00:23:29.409
you’ve done for decades,

00:23:29.950 –> 00:23:31.330
then I’m not a good host.

00:23:31.490 –> 00:23:32.731
And I’m not saying he’s not a good host.

00:23:32.771 –> 00:23:33.251
He’s a great host.

00:23:33.613 –> 00:23:35.374
But if I did that,

00:23:35.453 –> 00:23:36.535
I’m going against my brand.

00:23:36.875 –> 00:23:38.496
Because my entire brand is,

00:23:38.916 –> 00:23:39.917
whether it be Hotel Impossible,

00:23:39.938 –> 00:23:41.459
Five Star Secret, anything I’ve ever done,

00:23:41.818 –> 00:23:43.820
is everybody knows I just show up.

00:23:44.480 –> 00:23:45.541
I showed up two minutes

00:23:45.582 –> 00:23:46.863
before this podcast.

00:23:47.383 –> 00:23:48.663
This is how you get great

00:23:48.683 –> 00:23:50.006
content from people like us.

00:23:50.705 –> 00:23:52.067
If I have to think about

00:23:52.106 –> 00:23:52.807
what I’m going to say,

00:23:52.886 –> 00:23:53.507
it’s probably not going to

00:23:53.527 –> 00:23:54.968
be a great podcast.

00:23:55.188 –> 00:23:56.729
But I love what you said to your daughter.

00:23:56.788 –> 00:23:58.269
It’s like you’re fighting for shelf space.

00:23:58.309 –> 00:23:59.470
That’s a really good way of putting it.

00:24:00.510 –> 00:24:02.632
Well, listen, there’s, you know,

00:24:02.652 –> 00:24:04.471
and what they’re going through,

00:24:04.511 –> 00:24:05.472
what they went through is

00:24:05.512 –> 00:24:06.452
certainly different than

00:24:06.492 –> 00:24:09.694
during our time when we started, you know,

00:24:09.755 –> 00:24:11.556
putting the resumes out and distribution,

00:24:11.615 –> 00:24:13.036
hoping somebody would interview us.

00:24:13.355 –> 00:24:14.336
It’s a different universe now.

00:24:14.396 –> 00:24:15.636
That’s why I did mine in a

00:24:15.676 –> 00:24:16.917
different shade of paper so

00:24:17.178 –> 00:24:18.679
it would stick out from the pile.

00:24:20.054 –> 00:24:21.434
I’m sorry that didn’t work out for you,

00:24:21.454 –> 00:24:22.634
but this seems to be going well.

00:24:23.056 –> 00:24:23.236
Yeah.

00:24:23.276 –> 00:24:25.457
Remember the days when you

00:24:25.576 –> 00:24:26.778
opened the New York Times

00:24:26.877 –> 00:24:27.897
and hoped on a Sunday there

00:24:27.917 –> 00:24:29.358
was a classified ad that

00:24:29.398 –> 00:24:30.339
had your name on it, right?

00:24:30.579 –> 00:24:31.140
Yeah.

00:24:31.440 –> 00:24:32.181
In the resume.

00:24:32.280 –> 00:24:33.622
And when you got the interview,

00:24:33.662 –> 00:24:34.321
you were excited.

00:24:34.622 –> 00:24:36.143
And if they offered you the job, you said,

00:24:36.202 –> 00:24:36.522
okay.

00:24:36.803 –> 00:24:38.324
And they said, sit there, don’t move.

00:24:38.364 –> 00:24:39.285
This is what you’re getting paid.

00:24:39.305 –> 00:24:40.005
And if you don’t like it,

00:24:40.025 –> 00:24:40.826
you can go somewhere else.

00:24:41.365 –> 00:24:42.487
And if I see you out of your

00:24:42.507 –> 00:24:43.767
seat for more than 30 seconds,

00:24:43.787 –> 00:24:44.847
they’re going to shoot you.

00:24:44.867 –> 00:24:46.048
Like those are the good old days.

00:24:46.409 –> 00:24:46.848
That’s right.

00:24:47.249 –> 00:24:48.109
That’s exactly right.

00:24:51.519 –> 00:24:52.140
I won’t say who.

00:24:52.180 –> 00:24:53.059
You probably know his name.

00:24:53.520 –> 00:24:55.020
He was the CFO of a very

00:24:55.060 –> 00:24:56.280
famous hotel and then

00:24:56.320 –> 00:24:57.740
became a CFO of a big company.

00:24:58.560 –> 00:25:01.241
And I once gave a payout

00:25:01.261 –> 00:25:02.301
that he told me I can give

00:25:02.801 –> 00:25:05.343
to the handler of the King of Morocco.

00:25:06.042 –> 00:25:07.042
And I gave him the payout

00:25:07.063 –> 00:25:08.522
because he told me to give it to him.

00:25:09.103 –> 00:25:10.222
And then I guess he got in

00:25:10.242 –> 00:25:11.403
trouble with the GM or whatever.

00:25:11.903 –> 00:25:12.743
And he, you know,

00:25:12.763 –> 00:25:15.943
those poles from the school, you know,

00:25:15.963 –> 00:25:17.644
in school where you pull down the window,

00:25:17.704 –> 00:25:18.805
those long wooden poles.

00:25:18.884 –> 00:25:19.384
Oh, yeah.

00:25:19.545 –> 00:25:19.704
Yeah.

00:25:20.426 –> 00:25:21.647
So he had one in his office.

00:25:21.929 –> 00:25:23.790
And as I walk into his doorway, he said,

00:25:23.911 –> 00:25:24.872
if you ever give another

00:25:24.892 –> 00:25:25.893
payout like that again,

00:25:26.253 –> 00:25:27.055
I’m going to shove that

00:25:27.134 –> 00:25:27.996
where the sun don’t shine,

00:25:28.016 –> 00:25:30.358
your mother’s going to feel it.

00:25:30.919 –> 00:25:31.799
So I look at him.

00:25:32.605 –> 00:25:33.265
And I’ve always been a

00:25:33.305 –> 00:25:34.645
little bit of a I’ve always

00:25:34.665 –> 00:25:36.287
been very obedient, believe it or not,

00:25:36.307 –> 00:25:36.946
to my bosses.

00:25:36.987 –> 00:25:38.428
Very, very disciplined guy,

00:25:38.928 –> 00:25:40.808
but also a little bit of a tough guy.

00:25:41.308 –> 00:25:43.549
So I remember feeling really

00:25:43.569 –> 00:25:44.470
bad about what he said,

00:25:44.529 –> 00:25:45.590
but really scared of him.

00:25:46.151 –> 00:25:47.352
So I was walking out and

00:25:47.372 –> 00:25:48.451
then my broker won’t let it go.

00:25:48.471 –> 00:25:49.172
They turned around.

00:25:49.192 –> 00:25:49.732
They said, sir,

00:25:49.813 –> 00:25:50.752
I understand what you said.

00:25:51.173 –> 00:25:52.534
Just keep my mother out of it next time.

00:25:57.034 –> 00:25:57.954
But those are the days.

00:25:59.498 –> 00:26:00.799
You’re in human resources.

00:26:01.059 –> 00:26:01.760
You’re sued.

00:26:02.142 –> 00:26:02.843
And there’s four generations

00:26:03.182 –> 00:26:03.864
that are going to have to

00:26:03.903 –> 00:26:04.525
pay the lawsuit.

00:26:06.124 –> 00:26:06.884
That’s hysterical.

00:26:08.164 –> 00:26:10.586
So those were the good old days,

00:26:10.707 –> 00:26:13.488
but so are these, Bruce.

00:26:14.608 –> 00:26:16.829
What I think about those silos,

00:26:16.869 –> 00:26:17.951
we were talking about just

00:26:18.070 –> 00:26:18.871
the departments,

00:26:18.931 –> 00:26:20.451
but one of the things that

00:26:20.491 –> 00:26:21.532
I’m trying to figure out is

00:26:21.573 –> 00:26:22.432
how we could break down the

00:26:22.472 –> 00:26:23.413
silos between all the

00:26:23.453 –> 00:26:25.315
different areas in our company.

00:26:25.375 –> 00:26:26.175
And Anthony and I are going

00:26:26.195 –> 00:26:27.016
to be talking about this on

00:26:27.076 –> 00:26:28.057
stage a little bit, but

00:26:28.737 –> 00:26:29.576
We don’t think enough about

00:26:29.738 –> 00:26:30.758
all the stakeholders,

00:26:30.817 –> 00:26:34.960
like from the designers to the ownership,

00:26:35.119 –> 00:26:37.201
to who’s going to operate it,

00:26:37.301 –> 00:26:39.143
to the who’s going to finance it,

00:26:39.202 –> 00:26:40.383
those kinds of things.

00:26:40.442 –> 00:26:42.544
Everyone seems to work on their own,

00:26:42.703 –> 00:26:43.944
let alone including food

00:26:43.964 –> 00:26:45.645
and beverage on anything.

00:26:45.705 –> 00:26:46.646
How do you think we could

00:26:46.686 –> 00:26:48.027
kind of pull all those

00:26:48.067 –> 00:26:49.028
together to create

00:26:49.048 –> 00:26:49.647
something that’s more

00:26:49.708 –> 00:26:51.269
cohesive that’ll appeal

00:26:51.328 –> 00:26:53.029
towards both the customer

00:26:53.069 –> 00:26:54.830
community and the ownership universe?

00:26:56.352 –> 00:26:57.874
Um, well, if you’re talking about,

00:26:57.913 –> 00:26:59.714
you know, the ownership universe is,

00:27:00.375 –> 00:27:00.655
you know,

00:27:01.396 –> 00:27:02.538
it’s going through a lot of flux

00:27:02.597 –> 00:27:03.337
as it always has.

00:27:04.219 –> 00:27:06.040
Um, but I, I, you know,

00:27:06.320 –> 00:27:06.981
I’ll just give you one

00:27:07.041 –> 00:27:07.682
anecdote and then I’m gonna

00:27:07.701 –> 00:27:08.462
answer your question.

00:27:09.144 –> 00:27:10.625
Um, I remember, uh,

00:27:10.825 –> 00:27:11.865
we were in Berlin one year

00:27:11.885 –> 00:27:13.847
for the annual owners meeting, uh,

00:27:13.867 –> 00:27:16.309
for Ritz Carlton and I shared, uh,

00:27:16.329 –> 00:27:18.071
the marketing plan for the upcoming year.

00:27:18.872 –> 00:27:19.452
And, um,

00:27:20.393 –> 00:27:21.713
I had one of the GMs,

00:27:22.233 –> 00:27:23.134
it doesn’t matter from where,

00:27:23.174 –> 00:27:25.016
raise his hand and say, wow,

00:27:25.036 –> 00:27:25.476
you know what?

00:27:25.776 –> 00:27:26.557
That’s really good,

00:27:26.616 –> 00:27:27.616
but that’s not going to

00:27:27.676 –> 00:27:30.618
work for us here in TIPOC 2.

00:27:30.618 –> 00:27:33.000
We’re probably going to do a

00:27:33.039 –> 00:27:34.181
version or something like that.

00:27:34.681 –> 00:27:35.882
And then another GM in the

00:27:35.922 –> 00:27:36.701
back of the room,

00:27:37.001 –> 00:27:37.823
or another owner in the

00:27:37.863 –> 00:27:39.003
back of the room said, hey,

00:27:39.683 –> 00:27:40.684
I’m not sure I like that

00:27:40.744 –> 00:27:42.085
whole thing you’re doing

00:27:42.105 –> 00:27:43.066
with the creatives,

00:27:43.125 –> 00:27:44.267
so we’re going to… I got

00:27:44.287 –> 00:27:45.527
a buddy that owns a Kinko’s.

00:27:45.567 –> 00:27:47.188
We’re going to probably go

00:27:47.228 –> 00:27:48.909
down and just do something.

00:27:49.930 –> 00:27:50.029
And

00:27:51.041 –> 00:27:54.243
My CEO at the time, I’ll give him props,

00:27:54.284 –> 00:27:54.944
Simon Cooper.

00:27:55.325 –> 00:27:56.965
He came up to the stage and said,

00:27:57.006 –> 00:27:58.467
gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen,

00:27:58.646 –> 00:27:59.627
let me tell you something.

00:28:00.587 –> 00:28:02.710
If I let 150 people do their

00:28:02.789 –> 00:28:03.971
version of Ritz Carlton,

00:28:04.971 –> 00:28:06.652
we’ve just unbranded this thing.

00:28:07.212 –> 00:28:08.272
There’s no wiggle room.

00:28:09.413 –> 00:28:10.954
Sorry, you don’t get a vote.

00:28:11.935 –> 00:28:12.655
Here’s the brand.

00:28:12.756 –> 00:28:13.596
It’s a picture frame.

00:28:14.712 –> 00:28:15.973
You don’t get to vote on the frame,

00:28:16.054 –> 00:28:16.973
but you can color in the

00:28:17.013 –> 00:28:18.634
picture because Mother’s

00:28:18.674 –> 00:28:19.855
Day brunch in Berlin is

00:28:19.875 –> 00:28:20.757
going to look a whole lot

00:28:20.797 –> 00:28:21.656
different than Mother’s Day

00:28:21.696 –> 00:28:22.678
brunch in Battery Park.

00:28:23.218 –> 00:28:23.798
We get that.

00:28:24.358 –> 00:28:25.499
But you don’t vote on the frame.

00:28:26.119 –> 00:28:27.259
You can you can do the middle,

00:28:27.539 –> 00:28:28.221
but that’s OK.

00:28:29.260 –> 00:28:31.343
So if that concept makes sense to everyone,

00:28:31.583 –> 00:28:33.243
you can break it down to a unit level.

00:28:33.423 –> 00:28:34.503
I don’t care if you’re at a

00:28:34.585 –> 00:28:35.664
courtyard in Poughkeepsie

00:28:35.724 –> 00:28:36.586
or you’re at the New York

00:28:36.625 –> 00:28:37.766
Marquis in Times Square.

00:28:38.487 –> 00:28:39.326
When you sit around the

00:28:39.366 –> 00:28:40.807
table and you all decide

00:28:41.008 –> 00:28:42.409
what success looks like and

00:28:42.449 –> 00:28:43.410
how you’re going to measure that,

00:28:43.450 –> 00:28:43.890
by the way.

00:28:44.582 –> 00:28:46.643
Otherwise, it’s brochure copy, right?

00:28:46.722 –> 00:28:47.522
What are the metrics?

00:28:47.583 –> 00:28:48.644
How do we know we’ve done

00:28:48.683 –> 00:28:49.824
what we say we’re going to do?

00:28:49.903 –> 00:28:51.305
What are the things we’re

00:28:51.325 –> 00:28:53.365
going to all agree to look at to go, hey,

00:28:53.425 –> 00:28:53.905
we did it.

00:28:54.506 –> 00:28:55.326
Look, we did it.

00:28:55.946 –> 00:28:56.987
Versus, hey,

00:28:57.047 –> 00:28:58.688
let’s satisfy all of our guests.

00:28:59.667 –> 00:28:59.888
Right.

00:29:00.328 –> 00:29:01.348
Well, how’s that happening?

00:29:01.368 –> 00:29:02.130
And how are we going to know

00:29:02.150 –> 00:29:03.250
if we’ve done that or not?

00:29:03.630 –> 00:29:03.829
Right.

00:29:04.069 –> 00:29:05.490
What’s your role in doing that?

00:29:06.030 –> 00:29:09.272
So to answer your long-winded answer.

00:29:09.353 –> 00:29:10.212
I love that story.

00:29:11.208 –> 00:29:12.308
But it’s, look,

00:29:12.368 –> 00:29:14.128
either you’re going to

00:29:14.249 –> 00:29:15.750
participate in the brand or you’re not.

00:29:16.549 –> 00:29:18.330
And if you want to fly your own flag,

00:29:18.810 –> 00:29:19.351
that’s cool.

00:29:19.611 –> 00:29:20.631
Go get your own flag.

00:29:21.152 –> 00:29:23.011
But here’s the flag we’re flying today.

00:29:23.692 –> 00:29:24.992
And so that’s who we all work for.

00:29:26.623 –> 00:29:28.624
And I think once you’re in that frame,

00:29:28.663 –> 00:29:29.564
you can have a lot of fun.

00:29:31.365 –> 00:29:32.625
Because the hard part is

00:29:32.645 –> 00:29:33.405
building the frame.

00:29:33.945 –> 00:29:35.646
Because almost nobody can build it, right?

00:29:35.707 –> 00:29:37.548
Almost nobody can build a

00:29:37.607 –> 00:29:38.587
sustainable brand.

00:29:38.887 –> 00:29:39.709
It’s almost impossible.

00:29:40.189 –> 00:29:42.049
And when you do it, it’s fun.

00:29:42.930 –> 00:29:43.150
Right.

00:29:43.230 –> 00:29:45.090
It’s fun to live within the

00:29:45.131 –> 00:29:47.893
frame because now you know who you are,

00:29:48.173 –> 00:29:50.034
like even as a human being.

00:29:50.094 –> 00:29:50.294
Right.

00:29:50.673 –> 00:29:53.115
Once you realize whatever that is for you,

00:29:53.135 –> 00:29:55.116
I think it was me the day I

00:29:55.156 –> 00:29:56.057
left the Air Force was the

00:29:56.096 –> 00:29:56.857
greatest day of my life,

00:29:56.917 –> 00:29:58.038
not because I left the Air Force,

00:29:58.278 –> 00:29:59.038
but because the Air Force

00:29:59.078 –> 00:30:00.058
gave me everything I needed

00:30:00.200 –> 00:30:01.500
to be who I wanted to be.

00:30:02.240 –> 00:30:02.361
And.

00:30:03.327 –> 00:30:05.209
That was the day I was like, oh, okay,

00:30:05.608 –> 00:30:06.868
I know who I am and I’m

00:30:06.888 –> 00:30:08.108
gonna live within who I am.

00:30:08.128 –> 00:30:09.730
I’m not gonna be outside that frame.

00:30:10.089 –> 00:30:10.930
And I think the same thing

00:30:10.970 –> 00:30:11.670
goes with the brand.

00:30:11.690 –> 00:30:12.631
And I think as a human being,

00:30:12.651 –> 00:30:13.471
when you find that,

00:30:14.131 –> 00:30:15.352
it’s the most freeing thing in the world.

00:30:16.051 –> 00:30:17.291
So this is the time of the

00:30:17.332 –> 00:30:19.012
show we ask the most important question.

00:30:19.452 –> 00:30:19.573
Oh,

00:30:19.633 –> 00:30:21.492
already for the most important question?

00:30:21.512 –> 00:30:22.453
Important question.

00:30:22.493 –> 00:30:23.374
We ask every one of our

00:30:23.413 –> 00:30:24.773
guests exactly this time at

00:30:24.773 –> 00:30:26.535
30 minutes and 25 seconds,

00:30:27.654 –> 00:30:29.736
what is a moment

00:30:30.855 –> 00:30:34.381
where you did something to get a job,

00:30:35.382 –> 00:30:36.284
to get an appointment,

00:30:36.804 –> 00:30:39.508
to get a contract signed, get your wife,

00:30:39.627 –> 00:30:40.890
whatever it was that you

00:30:40.950 –> 00:30:43.673
did something that some people would say,

00:30:43.713 –> 00:30:45.455
wow, that was outside the lines.

00:30:45.916 –> 00:30:46.417
Good question.

00:30:47.383 –> 00:30:48.143
But within the framework.

00:30:48.542 –> 00:30:51.344
Anything that you did that was kind of,

00:30:52.084 –> 00:30:54.265
because today’s day and age

00:30:54.845 –> 00:30:56.025
with the younger generation

00:30:56.065 –> 00:30:58.226
or any generation is that

00:30:58.346 –> 00:30:59.105
you got to go get it.

00:30:59.205 –> 00:31:00.605
You got to go fight for shelf space.

00:31:01.307 –> 00:31:02.067
And you don’t fight for

00:31:02.086 –> 00:31:03.826
shelf space because no one’s, you know,

00:31:03.886 –> 00:31:05.028
by somebody knocking on your door,

00:31:05.067 –> 00:31:05.948
you got to go knock on the other.

00:31:06.228 –> 00:31:07.548
So what’s the one thing that

00:31:08.167 –> 00:31:09.308
you did and was like, oh shit,

00:31:09.348 –> 00:31:09.709
that worked?

00:31:12.568 –> 00:31:14.410
When Marriott took over Ritz-Carlton.

00:31:15.525 –> 00:31:17.306
And I was fortunate enough

00:31:17.326 –> 00:31:19.007
to be selected to go into the role I got.

00:31:19.627 –> 00:31:20.728
We had a report out every

00:31:20.788 –> 00:31:21.949
quarter to Bill Marriott

00:31:22.788 –> 00:31:24.569
and his direct reports on

00:31:24.589 –> 00:31:25.391
how the brand was doing.

00:31:26.632 –> 00:31:29.093
And so it was the CFO, the CEO,

00:31:29.113 –> 00:31:29.613
and myself.

00:31:30.513 –> 00:31:31.595
And we would go into the

00:31:31.755 –> 00:31:33.055
chairman’s boardroom and we

00:31:33.075 –> 00:31:34.756
would report out on a series of metrics.

00:31:35.896 –> 00:31:37.298
And at the end of the meeting,

00:31:38.779 –> 00:31:39.299
Every time.

00:31:39.880 –> 00:31:41.721
He would look at me, Bill Marriott,

00:31:41.840 –> 00:31:42.520
and he would say,

00:31:42.760 –> 00:31:43.621
when are you going to get

00:31:43.840 –> 00:31:45.961
Ritz-Carlton into Marriott Rewards?

00:31:47.321 –> 00:31:48.741
Pre-Bonvoy, that’s what it was called.

00:31:49.061 –> 00:31:49.363
Right.

00:31:49.843 –> 00:31:51.682
And we should add, contextually,

00:31:51.923 –> 00:31:53.604
it was kept separate at

00:31:53.663 –> 00:31:55.983
first on purpose because it

00:31:56.463 –> 00:31:57.183
was a very different

00:31:57.203 –> 00:31:58.144
product than Marriott

00:31:58.184 –> 00:32:00.244
really had at the time, right?

00:32:00.825 –> 00:32:02.865
Well, you’re telling my story, Glenn.

00:32:03.046 –> 00:32:03.326
All right.

00:32:03.566 –> 00:32:04.125
I’m sorry.

00:32:04.145 –> 00:32:04.546
So…

00:32:08.479 –> 00:32:08.739
You know,

00:32:08.798 –> 00:32:10.019
he caught me by surprise when he

00:32:10.059 –> 00:32:10.780
asked the question.

00:32:11.540 –> 00:32:12.622
And I went back and did a

00:32:12.662 –> 00:32:14.742
little bit of homework and

00:32:15.124 –> 00:32:17.065
ran numbers that if we were

00:32:17.144 –> 00:32:18.286
part of Marriott Rewards,

00:32:19.006 –> 00:32:19.586
what would be the

00:32:19.666 –> 00:32:21.288
incrementality that we would get?

00:32:22.147 –> 00:32:23.189
And would it make sense?

00:32:23.669 –> 00:32:25.089
And the numbers all came back negative.

00:32:25.369 –> 00:32:25.570
Right.

00:32:25.651 –> 00:32:26.951
Because we would get people

00:32:26.991 –> 00:32:27.971
from Courtyard that would

00:32:27.991 –> 00:32:28.853
save all year on the

00:32:28.913 –> 00:32:30.473
redemptions and then cash them in.

00:32:31.670 –> 00:32:33.691
to stay two nights at Pentagon city.

00:32:34.432 –> 00:32:36.292
And so the numbers just didn’t make sense.

00:32:36.633 –> 00:32:37.054
And again,

00:32:37.114 –> 00:32:38.714
the business model is the flags

00:32:38.755 –> 00:32:40.615
don’t own the assets, right?

00:32:40.875 –> 00:32:41.896
Owners own the assets,

00:32:41.977 –> 00:32:43.637
different equity groups and blah, blah,

00:32:43.657 –> 00:32:43.837
blah.

00:32:44.739 –> 00:32:46.099
So I got away with that for

00:32:46.140 –> 00:32:47.019
maybe two years.

00:32:47.181 –> 00:32:48.942
And then one day when he asked me,

00:32:49.481 –> 00:32:51.042
he asked me with such fire

00:32:51.083 –> 00:32:52.983
in his eyes that it was an,

00:32:53.684 –> 00:32:56.067
oh my God moment for me personally.

00:32:57.106 –> 00:32:57.267
So,

00:32:59.045 –> 00:33:01.586
I turned to my agency and I said, look,

00:33:01.906 –> 00:33:03.166
I want to create a program

00:33:04.048 –> 00:33:05.888
to where it is recognition based,

00:33:05.989 –> 00:33:07.690
not points based.

00:33:08.369 –> 00:33:09.931
Because in the world of luxury,

00:33:10.151 –> 00:33:11.152
at least in those days,

00:33:12.112 –> 00:33:13.393
points were people weren’t

00:33:13.633 –> 00:33:15.094
staying at Ritz Carlton to your point,

00:33:15.114 –> 00:33:15.314
Glenn.

00:33:15.574 –> 00:33:16.714
People weren’t staying at

00:33:16.755 –> 00:33:18.316
Ritz Carlton to earn points.

00:33:18.556 –> 00:33:18.715
Right.

00:33:19.376 –> 00:33:20.557
There were no points to earn,

00:33:20.596 –> 00:33:21.297
but they were running the

00:33:21.336 –> 00:33:22.196
highest rep par in the

00:33:22.238 –> 00:33:23.377
markets they operated in

00:33:23.397 –> 00:33:24.738
because people wanted that

00:33:24.798 –> 00:33:25.798
level of service and they

00:33:25.837 –> 00:33:27.038
paid a premium to get it.

00:33:27.337 –> 00:33:29.019
They didn’t look at their, oh, look,

00:33:29.038 –> 00:33:30.239
two more stays and I get to

00:33:30.278 –> 00:33:31.618
go to the courtyard in Poughkeepsie.

00:33:32.078 –> 00:33:33.519
Nobody gave a shit about that stuff.

00:33:34.460 –> 00:33:35.759
So anyway,

00:33:36.339 –> 00:33:37.799
I met with the agency and

00:33:37.980 –> 00:33:39.560
probably 90 days later,

00:33:40.760 –> 00:33:42.480
we presented a program to the chairman.

00:33:42.760 –> 00:33:43.820
In the meantime, I said,

00:33:43.901 –> 00:33:45.201
find me a celebrity that is

00:33:45.261 –> 00:33:47.602
on their way up where I can barter

00:33:48.606 –> 00:33:50.248
And they can help me design a card.

00:33:51.108 –> 00:33:51.808
And we’re going to come up

00:33:51.848 –> 00:33:54.050
with a new card that’s optics only,

00:33:54.171 –> 00:33:54.951
but it’s a card that

00:33:54.971 –> 00:33:56.092
they’re going to feel like they have.

00:33:57.212 –> 00:33:58.713
And so I had just seen John

00:33:58.773 –> 00:33:59.875
Legend on the Grammys.

00:33:59.914 –> 00:34:02.957
This is, oh, three, maybe.

00:34:03.917 –> 00:34:04.939
And they arranged a meeting

00:34:04.979 –> 00:34:06.380
with John Legend and me at

00:34:06.420 –> 00:34:07.820
the Central Park South Ritz

00:34:07.861 –> 00:34:09.041
Carlton Club Lounge.

00:34:09.081 –> 00:34:10.463
And he walked in by himself.

00:34:11.523 –> 00:34:13.143
He was just kind of getting going.

00:34:14.188 –> 00:34:15.489
And we bartered three

00:34:15.528 –> 00:34:17.451
vacations for him and his family.

00:34:17.911 –> 00:34:19.914
And he did some artwork for

00:34:19.954 –> 00:34:21.855
a card and we called it the

00:34:21.894 –> 00:34:24.438
cobalt card still exists today.

00:34:25.338 –> 00:34:26.480
And how you got a cobalt

00:34:26.519 –> 00:34:28.021
card is you had to be an influencer,

00:34:28.242 –> 00:34:29.702
but we didn’t use that term then.

00:34:30.143 –> 00:34:30.342
Right.

00:34:30.384 –> 00:34:31.764
We just said, get it,

00:34:31.864 –> 00:34:33.686
give it to Ralph Lauren, give it to,

00:34:34.106 –> 00:34:36.108
and we had this Jamie diamond, just,

00:34:36.530 –> 00:34:37.670
Give me a list of people

00:34:37.710 –> 00:34:39.170
that will get this card and

00:34:39.231 –> 00:34:41.030
I want it in a beautiful wooden box.

00:34:41.391 –> 00:34:42.771
I want their name engraved on it.

00:34:43.251 –> 00:34:43.972
Send it to them.

00:34:44.452 –> 00:34:45.932
And here’s what they get if they use it.

00:34:46.273 –> 00:34:47.534
They get their own phone number.

00:34:47.574 –> 00:34:48.653
They get a greeting from the

00:34:48.693 –> 00:34:49.554
general manager.

00:34:49.873 –> 00:34:51.715
They get an upgrade, blah, blah, blah.

00:34:51.835 –> 00:34:53.896
It was high perceived value,

00:34:54.016 –> 00:34:55.576
zero cost other than the box.

00:34:56.115 –> 00:34:56.356
Right.

00:34:57.317 –> 00:34:57.757
It worked.

00:34:58.577 –> 00:34:59.597
And I presented it to the

00:34:59.637 –> 00:35:01.177
chairman and he loved it.

00:35:01.998 –> 00:35:03.259
And we did probably $10

00:35:03.259 –> 00:35:04.760
million in incremental

00:35:04.800 –> 00:35:06.681
revenue that year tied to

00:35:06.762 –> 00:35:09.023
the card that cost nothing.

00:35:09.664 –> 00:35:09.923
Wow.

00:35:10.443 –> 00:35:11.065
That’s my story.

00:35:11.804 –> 00:35:16.208
So what’s the story within

00:35:16.228 –> 00:35:17.909
the story for a young

00:35:17.969 –> 00:35:20.512
person when they’re faced and we’ve all,

00:35:20.692 –> 00:35:21.992
if you’ve been living long

00:35:22.032 –> 00:35:22.612
enough and you’ve been

00:35:22.632 –> 00:35:23.534
successful long enough,

00:35:23.974 –> 00:35:24.974
we’ve all been faced with

00:35:25.014 –> 00:35:26.635
the fire in the eyes boss.

00:35:27.836 –> 00:35:28.818
You pee down your leg and

00:35:28.858 –> 00:35:29.739
then you go figure it out.

00:35:30.717 –> 00:35:34.422
And what, like,

00:35:34.641 –> 00:35:36.342
what steeled you for that moment?

00:35:36.422 –> 00:35:38.224
Like, I’m not going to give in,

00:35:38.664 –> 00:35:40.407
but I can’t give up because

00:35:40.427 –> 00:35:41.507
then I’m not going to have a job.

00:35:42.047 –> 00:35:43.630
So what made you say,

00:35:43.650 –> 00:35:45.050
I got to do something,

00:35:45.070 –> 00:35:46.271
but I got to be me.

00:35:46.291 –> 00:35:49.675
I got to be creative.

00:35:49.855 –> 00:35:51.936
I put no parameters on my creativity.

00:35:51.976 –> 00:35:52.657
Just think big.

00:35:53.097 –> 00:35:54.119
They can knock me back.

00:35:55.760 –> 00:35:57.442
They can say no, but…

00:35:58.469 –> 00:35:59.130
I’m just going to keep

00:35:59.170 –> 00:36:00.891
coming because in my heart,

00:36:01.271 –> 00:36:05.492
I knew that putting that

00:36:05.592 –> 00:36:07.853
brand into that platform,

00:36:08.213 –> 00:36:09.494
the owners would revolt.

00:36:10.414 –> 00:36:13.795
So why go through all that heartache?

00:36:14.054 –> 00:36:14.856
Let me come up with

00:36:14.916 –> 00:36:17.277
something creative with my agency,

00:36:17.317 –> 00:36:17.757
by the way,

00:36:17.817 –> 00:36:19.757
who deserves a ton of the

00:36:19.777 –> 00:36:20.557
credit for doing this.

00:36:21.057 –> 00:36:22.157
But then I got the support

00:36:22.197 –> 00:36:23.898
from the leadership within Ritz-Carlton.

00:36:23.958 –> 00:36:24.219
I said,

00:36:24.259 –> 00:36:26.039
let me dry run this with you before

00:36:26.099 –> 00:36:26.820
I go to the chairman.

00:36:27.748 –> 00:36:30.271
And everybody was like, and you know,

00:36:30.371 –> 00:36:30.652
listen,

00:36:31.012 –> 00:36:32.596
I said collaboration a few times

00:36:32.615 –> 00:36:33.396
during this call,

00:36:33.476 –> 00:36:35.860
I’m a huge believer in collaboration.

00:36:36.420 –> 00:36:37.563
And you got to link arm and

00:36:37.643 –> 00:36:39.025
arm on this stuff to make it work.

00:36:39.326 –> 00:36:40.027
And that’s what we did.

00:36:40.612 –> 00:36:40.831
Yeah,

00:36:40.992 –> 00:36:42.472
I always say if I’m the smallest

00:36:42.512 –> 00:36:43.094
person in the room,

00:36:43.114 –> 00:36:43.893
you should leave the room.

00:36:44.355 –> 00:36:48.557
He does say that right

00:36:48.597 –> 00:36:50.599
before leaving the room from me.

00:36:51.019 –> 00:36:53.722
But, Bruce, I got a question for you.

00:36:54.061 –> 00:36:56.063
Yeah, we’re talking about creative ideas,

00:36:56.103 –> 00:36:57.764
but how can someone orient

00:36:57.784 –> 00:36:59.865
their brain to think that way,

00:36:59.965 –> 00:37:00.867
be more creative,

00:37:00.907 –> 00:37:02.268
and not get caught up in

00:37:02.327 –> 00:37:03.409
repeating the same old

00:37:03.469 –> 00:37:04.989
stuff we’ve done over and over?

00:37:05.010 –> 00:37:05.710
Yeah.

00:37:06.530 –> 00:37:07.190
If you’re going to take a

00:37:07.210 –> 00:37:08.992
picture and try to promote the spa,

00:37:09.132 –> 00:37:10.512
why do I have to see rocks

00:37:10.572 –> 00:37:11.434
on the back of a woman?

00:37:11.574 –> 00:37:12.434
Can we do something different?

00:37:14.376 –> 00:37:15.356
That woman, by the way,

00:37:15.376 –> 00:37:17.056
just celebrated her 94th birthday.

00:37:17.217 –> 00:37:18.818
She looks fantastic.

00:37:19.918 –> 00:37:21.260
She looks great.

00:37:21.280 –> 00:37:21.920
In fact,

00:37:21.980 –> 00:37:23.360
she’s also the same woman holding

00:37:23.400 –> 00:37:24.661
hands on the beach with that guy.

00:37:25.141 –> 00:37:26.103
So that’s right.

00:37:26.163 –> 00:37:27.523
That’s right.

00:37:28.164 –> 00:37:30.224
Again, you’ve got to be part of something.

00:37:30.405 –> 00:37:32.425
you know you otherwise just

00:37:32.465 –> 00:37:33.106
start off being a

00:37:33.146 –> 00:37:34.547
consultant with zero

00:37:34.628 –> 00:37:36.309
context I got lots of

00:37:36.349 –> 00:37:38.489
context and you know I

00:37:38.530 –> 00:37:40.391
surround anthony just made

00:37:40.431 –> 00:37:41.853
the comment you surround

00:37:41.893 –> 00:37:42.813
yourself with people that

00:37:42.853 –> 00:37:43.713
are smarter than you are

00:37:43.733 –> 00:37:44.414
and then get out of their

00:37:44.434 –> 00:37:45.914
way and I was very

00:37:46.014 –> 00:37:46.856
fortunate enough to

00:37:46.916 –> 00:37:48.436
surround myself with really

00:37:48.597 –> 00:37:50.818
smart creative people and

00:37:50.858 –> 00:37:52.860
we all felt ownership into

00:37:52.900 –> 00:37:53.760
whatever it is we were

00:37:53.800 –> 00:37:54.581
putting on the table

00:37:55.702 –> 00:37:56.923
It’ll never be bulletproof.

00:37:56.963 –> 00:37:58.204
It’ll never be foolproof.

00:37:58.264 –> 00:37:58.903
And you’ll make your

00:37:58.923 –> 00:38:00.184
mistakes and that’s okay.

00:38:00.684 –> 00:38:02.766
But never challenge your creativity.

00:38:03.065 –> 00:38:03.346
You know,

00:38:04.126 –> 00:38:05.706
I was kind of famous for asking a

00:38:05.927 –> 00:38:06.547
question, right?

00:38:06.708 –> 00:38:07.927
So I walk into a room with

00:38:07.947 –> 00:38:10.009
really smart people after I typically

00:38:10.708 –> 00:38:12.070
changed the executive team

00:38:12.090 –> 00:38:13.331
and I came on because

00:38:13.391 –> 00:38:14.251
usually you don’t call me

00:38:14.291 –> 00:38:15.393
unless everything’s screwed up.

00:38:15.773 –> 00:38:16.554
You don’t call me if it’s a

00:38:16.594 –> 00:38:17.755
good hotel because I’ll screw it up.

00:38:18.155 –> 00:38:20.077
So I come in and, you know,

00:38:20.097 –> 00:38:21.139
we changed to the team that

00:38:21.219 –> 00:38:21.958
we think we want.

00:38:22.500 –> 00:38:24.762
And then I would come in

00:38:24.922 –> 00:38:27.483
after they kind of did what

00:38:27.505 –> 00:38:28.184
they’re supposed to do.

00:38:28.565 –> 00:38:29.847
And I would always ask a question.

00:38:30.226 –> 00:38:32.608
And a lot of times people would say,

00:38:33.710 –> 00:38:35.490
Every single time you ask

00:38:35.530 –> 00:38:37.192
that one question that we

00:38:37.211 –> 00:38:38.052
don’t have the answer to.

00:38:38.452 –> 00:38:38.853
And I said,

00:38:38.873 –> 00:38:39.994
because I’m trying to justify

00:38:40.034 –> 00:38:40.755
my existence.

00:38:42.056 –> 00:38:44.297
Because the only thing that my job is,

00:38:44.637 –> 00:38:45.818
is to hire really good people,

00:38:45.858 –> 00:38:46.978
get out of their way and

00:38:47.159 –> 00:38:48.840
ask them a question that

00:38:48.960 –> 00:38:50.221
maybe they weren’t thinking about.

00:38:50.800 –> 00:38:53.202
If I do that, then I justify my existence.

00:38:53.682 –> 00:38:54.804
You know, the other filter,

00:38:55.023 –> 00:38:56.125
just to piggyback on that,

00:38:56.585 –> 00:38:57.925
is when I hired people.

00:38:58.940 –> 00:39:01.983
to work on my team, the filter that I used,

00:39:02.364 –> 00:39:03.445
assuming all the references

00:39:03.465 –> 00:39:04.467
and all that stuff checked out,

00:39:04.507 –> 00:39:05.809
but the filter that I used

00:39:05.829 –> 00:39:06.750
is would I put them in

00:39:06.869 –> 00:39:08.172
front of Bill Marriott and

00:39:08.231 –> 00:39:09.592
I could be on vacation and

00:39:09.652 –> 00:39:10.393
not worry about it?

00:39:12.235 –> 00:39:14.036
That is a really, really, really good,

00:39:14.197 –> 00:39:15.318
good, good point.

00:39:15.878 –> 00:39:17.139
And I always say I always

00:39:17.179 –> 00:39:18.800
want to be I want them to present.

00:39:18.840 –> 00:39:19.681
I want to sit in the back.

00:39:20.141 –> 00:39:20.521
But, you know,

00:39:20.581 –> 00:39:21.961
I want to kind of go back real quick.

00:39:21.981 –> 00:39:23.202
I know we’re getting running out of time,

00:39:23.222 –> 00:39:24.182
but something happened.

00:39:24.222 –> 00:39:25.704
I was in I was in Madison

00:39:25.724 –> 00:39:27.005
Square Park yesterday doing

00:39:27.025 –> 00:39:28.106
some social media and they

00:39:28.126 –> 00:39:30.347
sent me this new kid, 23 years old.

00:39:30.447 –> 00:39:31.228
And they’ve kind of warned

00:39:31.268 –> 00:39:32.429
me because I everybody

00:39:32.469 –> 00:39:33.389
knows I can be a little

00:39:33.409 –> 00:39:34.730
salty sometimes if I don’t

00:39:34.949 –> 00:39:36.630
think people are doing a great job.

00:39:37.251 –> 00:39:37.371
And.

00:39:37.952 –> 00:39:38.632
He was a good kid.

00:39:39.132 –> 00:39:39.914
We did a good job.

00:39:39.934 –> 00:39:41.996
I actually walked into the

00:39:42.135 –> 00:39:44.038
addition right outside of

00:39:44.057 –> 00:39:44.898
Madison Square Park.

00:39:45.599 –> 00:39:46.840
And when we walked in,

00:39:46.900 –> 00:39:48.182
he’s like a 23-year-old kid

00:39:48.202 –> 00:39:49.123
with his hat on backwards

00:39:49.463 –> 00:39:50.184
with his cameras.

00:39:50.485 –> 00:39:51.525
And he’s walking in and he’s

00:39:51.565 –> 00:39:52.507
taking pictures like, dude.

00:39:53.373 –> 00:39:54.594
You have to go incognito.

00:39:55.094 –> 00:39:56.737
Like, you can’t do that.

00:39:57.237 –> 00:39:58.518
And he’s like, no, it’s fine, whatever.

00:39:58.539 –> 00:39:59.320
And he’s taking the pictures.

00:39:59.340 –> 00:40:00.121
And I’m scared they’re going

00:40:00.141 –> 00:40:00.702
to throw me out.

00:40:01.242 –> 00:40:01.922
And I’m looking for a

00:40:01.963 –> 00:40:03.425
manager to see if he recognizes me.

00:40:03.445 –> 00:40:04.425
I put my face out there to

00:40:04.445 –> 00:40:05.166
see if he recognizes me.

00:40:05.206 –> 00:40:06.007
Nobody recognized me.

00:40:06.367 –> 00:40:07.248
Anyway, we took pictures.

00:40:07.289 –> 00:40:07.949
I liked the kid.

00:40:08.670 –> 00:40:09.331
And this morning,

00:40:09.371 –> 00:40:11.054
I’m having a meeting with my producers.

00:40:11.134 –> 00:40:11.574
And I said…

00:40:12.335 –> 00:40:13.036
Yeah, he was a good kid.

00:40:13.596 –> 00:40:14.697
And they told me a story.

00:40:14.998 –> 00:40:15.338
And I said,

00:40:15.358 –> 00:40:15.898
he’s going to be very

00:40:15.938 –> 00:40:16.739
successful because he

00:40:16.900 –> 00:40:18.481
doesn’t really seem that he

00:40:18.541 –> 00:40:19.762
understands boundaries and

00:40:19.782 –> 00:40:20.483
he’s just going to do what

00:40:20.503 –> 00:40:21.103
he wants to do.

00:40:21.824 –> 00:40:24.288
And he I guess he went to a concert,

00:40:25.268 –> 00:40:26.190
some kind of singer,

00:40:26.269 –> 00:40:28.351
rapper and with cameras.

00:40:28.452 –> 00:40:29.213
And he went up to him.

00:40:30.454 –> 00:40:31.675
As he was getting on stage, he goes, hey,

00:40:31.715 –> 00:40:33.016
I’m here to shoot for you.

00:40:33.076 –> 00:40:33.777
He goes, okay, good.

00:40:33.817 –> 00:40:35.438
So he thought he was there officially.

00:40:35.898 –> 00:40:38.119
So he got on stage, shot for him,

00:40:38.159 –> 00:40:38.500
everything.

00:40:38.519 –> 00:40:41.001
The next day, somehow he got his email.

00:40:41.342 –> 00:40:42.442
The next day, he said,

00:40:42.802 –> 00:40:43.862
like 6 o’clock in the morning,

00:40:44.284 –> 00:40:46.324
sent him like 10 videos of

00:40:46.445 –> 00:40:47.405
the show he just shot.

00:40:47.945 –> 00:40:49.646
The guy hired him and

00:40:49.666 –> 00:40:50.588
brought him all around the

00:40:50.648 –> 00:40:51.228
world shooting.

00:40:51.829 –> 00:40:53.250
Amazing.

00:40:53.670 –> 00:40:53.909
Right?

00:40:54.090 –> 00:40:55.391
Now this kid’s 23 years old,

00:40:55.471 –> 00:40:56.090
and he’s been around the

00:40:56.130 –> 00:40:56.831
world shooting with a

00:40:56.891 –> 00:40:58.273
rapper just because he

00:40:58.313 –> 00:40:59.474
faked it until he made it.

00:41:03.594 –> 00:41:04.815
I don’t know how many times

00:41:04.835 –> 00:41:05.715
I have to say that on this

00:41:05.735 –> 00:41:07.215
show and everywhere else is

00:41:07.335 –> 00:41:10.655
no one’s looking to give you shit.

00:41:12.076 –> 00:41:12.456
Yep.

00:41:12.476 –> 00:41:12.777
Yep.

00:41:13.077 –> 00:41:13.597
You got that right.

00:41:13.617 –> 00:41:14.757
Bruce, we got a question.

00:41:16.456 –> 00:41:17.797
Bruce, almighty,

00:41:17.878 –> 00:41:19.398
if you were to give an award to somebody,

00:41:19.697 –> 00:41:21.697
what was it for and who would it be?

00:41:21.818 –> 00:41:23.398
Any mentors maybe besides Jerry?

00:41:23.818 –> 00:41:26.858
That’s a good question.

00:41:28.260 –> 00:41:29.260
You mean after my wife?

00:41:30.086 –> 00:41:32.148
um for for putting up with

00:41:32.168 –> 00:41:33.548
this yeah any rather

00:41:33.608 –> 00:41:34.590
outside the category of

00:41:34.650 –> 00:41:35.791
tolerance we’re talking

00:41:36.050 –> 00:41:38.052
yeah um I i would say the

00:41:38.092 –> 00:41:39.313
guy’s name is mike levin

00:41:40.494 –> 00:41:41.293
and I don’t know if you

00:41:41.333 –> 00:41:42.534
know the name but I just

00:41:42.574 –> 00:41:43.876
interviewed mike levin on

00:41:43.936 –> 00:41:44.936
monday for something I’m

00:41:45.297 –> 00:41:46.358
working on as a matter of

00:41:46.378 –> 00:41:49.880
fact so uh mike levin uh

00:41:49.900 –> 00:41:50.920
when I was the bell boy at

00:41:50.940 –> 00:41:52.221
the americana inn was the

00:41:52.342 –> 00:41:53.922
president of americana and

00:41:53.963 –> 00:41:54.902
he was doing a property

00:41:54.943 –> 00:41:56.143
visit and I was assigned

00:41:56.184 –> 00:41:57.505
his bellman I was his bellman

00:41:58.510 –> 00:41:59.929
And there was an employee

00:41:59.969 –> 00:42:01.391
meeting that he was addressing.

00:42:01.751 –> 00:42:02.751
And I sat in the back of the

00:42:02.811 –> 00:42:05.672
room and again,

00:42:05.831 –> 00:42:06.572
I’m heading towards a

00:42:06.592 –> 00:42:07.692
broadcasting career.

00:42:07.911 –> 00:42:09.411
I’m in a Bellman suit with a

00:42:09.452 –> 00:42:11.072
four-year degree for dollars.

00:42:11.913 –> 00:42:15.152
So I’m watching the

00:42:15.193 –> 00:42:16.554
president of Americana

00:42:16.634 –> 00:42:17.733
because I have to be there.

00:42:17.733 –> 00:42:20.554
30 minutes later, I said,

00:42:20.594 –> 00:42:21.655
I’m going in the hotel business.

00:42:23.014 –> 00:42:24.054
And that was 1977.

00:42:24.054 –> 00:42:30.061
2006 I’m the global chairman

00:42:30.101 –> 00:42:31.382
of hospitality sales and

00:42:31.402 –> 00:42:32.563
marketing association.

00:42:32.603 –> 00:42:33.503
And we’re at the annual

00:42:33.583 –> 00:42:34.664
Adrian awards at the New

00:42:34.684 –> 00:42:36.965
York marquee thousand person black tie.

00:42:37.126 –> 00:42:37.286
Yep.

00:42:37.786 –> 00:42:39.027
And I’m giving out the award

00:42:39.086 –> 00:42:41.128
to the man of the year, Mike Levin.

00:42:42.648 –> 00:42:45.590
And I’m the one I’m gonna choke here.

00:42:46.190 –> 00:42:49.871
Um, I’m the one introducing Mike Levin.

00:42:50.512 –> 00:42:51.233
And, um,

00:42:51.492 –> 00:42:53.052
at that point he was Sid Edelman’s

00:42:53.094 –> 00:42:56.014
number two at, um, SANS Corp in Vegas.

00:42:57.117 –> 00:42:59.760
And so I was saying words

00:42:59.820 –> 00:43:03.063
about Mike and I ended with, by the way,

00:43:04.844 –> 00:43:06.206
Mike, I love you,

00:43:06.226 –> 00:43:07.186
but you never tipped me.

00:43:08.128 –> 00:43:11.472
And he came on stage,

00:43:11.672 –> 00:43:12.753
gave me a big hug and then

00:43:12.773 –> 00:43:14.494
pulled a dollar out of his wallet.

00:43:14.655 –> 00:43:15.376
Yeah.

00:43:17.257 –> 00:43:17.577
By the way,

00:43:17.617 –> 00:43:19.278
we’re having breakfast next week.

00:43:19.298 –> 00:43:20.320
We get together often.

00:43:20.340 –> 00:43:21.561
He’s a neighbor down here.

00:43:21.860 –> 00:43:22.422
That’s awesome.

00:43:23.402 –> 00:43:23.523
Yeah,

00:43:23.583 –> 00:43:25.364
I got to interview him once when he

00:43:25.385 –> 00:43:28.086
was running Las Vegas Sands in Vegas.

00:43:28.126 –> 00:43:30.108
I got to interview him at a bagel shop.

00:43:30.369 –> 00:43:31.871
Why do bagels keep coming up

00:43:31.931 –> 00:43:33.733
in this conversation today?

00:43:33.972 –> 00:43:36.134
Well, look who you’re talking to, dude.

00:43:36.715 –> 00:43:37.715
Those are the moments.

00:43:37.775 –> 00:43:39.657
Levin, Himmelstein.

00:43:40.677 –> 00:43:41.557
Those are the moments.

00:43:41.677 –> 00:43:42.938
I remember walking into the

00:43:43.018 –> 00:43:44.780
Algonquin Hotel and I had

00:43:44.800 –> 00:43:46.221
the idea for this show

00:43:46.280 –> 00:43:47.101
called Hotel Possible.

00:43:47.681 –> 00:43:50.804
And the agent, whoever we were hired, said,

00:43:51.244 –> 00:43:52.985
hey, Mark Summers will take a meeting.

00:43:53.226 –> 00:43:54.367
Now, you know Mark Summers, Bruce?

00:43:55.396 –> 00:43:55.898
Nickelodeon?

00:43:55.918 –> 00:43:56.878
Nickelodeon, right.

00:43:57.838 –> 00:43:58.798
And Food Network and

00:43:59.519 –> 00:44:01.221
Broadway and his own show.

00:44:01.300 –> 00:44:02.661
The guy’s a legend.

00:44:02.681 –> 00:44:05.284
So I walk in and we didn’t

00:44:05.304 –> 00:44:06.204
do a deal because him and

00:44:06.224 –> 00:44:07.344
his partners were having issues.

00:44:07.945 –> 00:44:09.445
But he looked at me 20 minutes in,

00:44:10.887 –> 00:44:11.807
looks at me and he goes,

00:44:12.088 –> 00:44:12.688
I don’t know if we’re going

00:44:12.708 –> 00:44:13.469
to be able to do a deal,

00:44:13.829 –> 00:44:15.269
but you will be on television.

00:44:16.211 –> 00:44:17.994
And if you know him,

00:44:18.014 –> 00:44:20.277
he is not a guy that gives

00:44:20.356 –> 00:44:21.197
out a lot of compliments.

00:44:21.277 –> 00:44:22.940
And he is a son of a bitch sometimes.

00:44:23.000 –> 00:44:23.581
I love him to death.

00:44:23.940 –> 00:44:24.581
But he’s tough.

00:44:25.081 –> 00:44:26.043
And I didn’t know that at the time.

00:44:26.123 –> 00:44:26.684
Now I know that.

00:44:26.784 –> 00:44:27.425
And he said to me,

00:44:27.525 –> 00:44:28.746
you will be on television.

00:44:29.467 –> 00:44:30.708
And I’ll never forget that

00:44:30.768 –> 00:44:33.512
because as soon as he said that to me,

00:44:33.532 –> 00:44:35.994
I felt like I owed it to myself.

00:44:36.074 –> 00:44:36.594
Not to him.

00:44:37.778 –> 00:44:39.318
to do what he said I have to do.

00:44:40.039 –> 00:44:40.539
And I did it.

00:44:40.780 –> 00:44:41.699
And we did it for a long time.

00:44:41.719 –> 00:44:43.019
We’re still doing it.

00:44:43.519 –> 00:44:45.039
But it takes those moments.

00:44:45.059 –> 00:44:46.681
Like you said, I never wanted to be on TV.

00:44:46.701 –> 00:44:47.820
I never wanted to be famous.

00:44:47.960 –> 00:44:48.460
None of that.

00:44:48.860 –> 00:44:49.240
But I said,

00:44:49.260 –> 00:44:50.420
I want to teach the hotel business.

00:44:50.460 –> 00:44:51.282
I want to tell people how

00:44:51.302 –> 00:44:52.282
great this business is.

00:44:52.581 –> 00:44:54.681
Kind of like your story

00:44:54.722 –> 00:44:55.882
about I was going to be on

00:44:57.242 –> 00:44:58.123
the radio and then all of a

00:44:58.163 –> 00:45:02.204
sudden I’m introducing the

00:45:02.244 –> 00:45:04.364
CEO and I’m in the hotel business.

00:45:04.744 –> 00:45:05.465
And the same thing.

00:45:05.485 –> 00:45:07.166
It’s just like it just takes that one.

00:45:07.726 –> 00:45:08.567
I always say to people,

00:45:08.626 –> 00:45:10.847
don’t look for big speeches.

00:45:11.509 –> 00:45:13.990
Look for a word or look for a sentence.

00:45:14.371 –> 00:45:16.112
And that sentence that may be fleeting,

00:45:16.152 –> 00:45:17.032
that person didn’t even

00:45:17.112 –> 00:45:18.853
realize they said it can

00:45:18.873 –> 00:45:20.054
guide you for the rest of your life.

00:45:21.036 –> 00:45:21.456
Very true.

00:45:22.876 –> 00:45:23.617
Yeah, all of it.

00:45:23.677 –> 00:45:25.199
Anthony, maybe we should do a TV show,

00:45:25.239 –> 00:45:26.121
like another spinoff,

00:45:26.141 –> 00:45:28.103
like NCIS Hotel Business or

00:45:28.164 –> 00:45:28.824
something like that.

00:45:28.885 –> 00:45:30.887
We could go around and solve crimes.

00:45:31.907 –> 00:45:32.929
The only thing is you’d have

00:45:32.949 –> 00:45:34.592
to like – I’ll drive and

00:45:34.612 –> 00:45:35.813
you have to jump over the

00:45:35.833 –> 00:45:37.255
hood of the car like Starsky and Hutch.

00:45:38.239 –> 00:45:39.141
Oh, that’d be great.

00:45:39.181 –> 00:45:40.382
They could jump the cars

00:45:40.443 –> 00:45:41.403
like the Dukes of Hazzard,

00:45:41.543 –> 00:45:42.724
but I’m not allowed to show her or not.

00:45:43.045 –> 00:45:44.166
Bruce, just so you know,

00:45:44.186 –> 00:45:45.188
The Last Generations is

00:45:45.208 –> 00:45:46.070
going to have references

00:45:46.449 –> 00:45:47.311
because everybody’s

00:45:47.351 –> 00:45:48.251
watching their own shows

00:45:48.371 –> 00:45:49.534
and nobody understands references.

00:45:49.914 –> 00:45:52.297
One day it’ll just be like, yeah, TikTok.

00:45:52.898 –> 00:45:53.898
Right, right.

00:45:56.320 –> 00:45:57.840
My kids said to me the other day,

00:45:57.860 –> 00:45:58.981
they’re all adults.

00:45:59.001 –> 00:46:00.280
They’re all watching The Sopranos.

00:46:00.320 –> 00:46:00.460
Like,

00:46:00.481 –> 00:46:01.702
do you ever watch a show called The

00:46:01.722 –> 00:46:02.322
Sopranos?

00:46:03.041 –> 00:46:04.422
And I was like, really?

00:46:05.001 –> 00:46:06.643
Like every single person

00:46:06.722 –> 00:46:08.063
would be watching that show

00:46:08.503 –> 00:46:09.943
at the same time and you

00:46:09.983 –> 00:46:10.824
couldn’t stream it.

00:46:11.023 –> 00:46:11.884
You couldn’t watch it.

00:46:11.943 –> 00:46:12.224
Right.

00:46:12.603 –> 00:46:14.465
Listen, when Schindler’s List came out,

00:46:14.505 –> 00:46:15.164
I got the letter.

00:46:15.224 –> 00:46:16.224
I had to go see it.

00:46:16.545 –> 00:46:18.268
You know, you had no choice.

00:46:19.110 –> 00:46:19.492
I get it.

00:46:19.793 –> 00:46:20.313
So, Bruce,

00:46:20.373 –> 00:46:22.739
how can we learn more about what

00:46:22.800 –> 00:46:25.365
you do and connect with you at BJH,

00:46:25.465 –> 00:46:25.706
Bruce?

00:46:26.427 –> 00:46:29.509
Well, my website, thebjhgroup.com.

00:46:30.329 –> 00:46:31.289
You’re more than welcome

00:46:31.329 –> 00:46:32.630
anyone to take a look there.

00:46:32.791 –> 00:46:33.931
And I work with all the

00:46:34.472 –> 00:46:35.512
major speaker bureaus.

00:46:35.632 –> 00:46:37.672
And thankfully,

00:46:37.713 –> 00:46:39.373
my consultancy is a bit tapped out.

00:46:39.454 –> 00:46:41.195
But yeah,

00:46:41.835 –> 00:46:44.076
I welcome anybody that’s watching this,

00:46:44.115 –> 00:46:45.836
listening to this to go on my website.

00:46:45.916 –> 00:46:47.356
I’d be pleased to hear from them.

00:46:47.717 –> 00:46:49.498
So let me ask you a question.

00:46:49.538 –> 00:46:52.018
Do you have your full load

00:46:52.179 –> 00:46:53.460
of New Yorkers in Boca now?

00:46:55.373 –> 00:46:56.494
We do.

00:46:58.614 –> 00:47:00.936
We are planning to come back up here now,

00:47:01.016 –> 00:47:01.456
I would think.

00:47:02.335 –> 00:47:02.657
Anthony,

00:47:02.697 –> 00:47:03.896
it’s gotten to the point when we

00:47:03.936 –> 00:47:04.637
moved here, it’s like,

00:47:04.657 –> 00:47:05.097
where are you from?

00:47:05.358 –> 00:47:05.478
Oh,

00:47:05.577 –> 00:47:06.938
now it’s what part of Long Island were

00:47:06.958 –> 00:47:07.219
you in?

00:47:07.338 –> 00:47:08.338
Yeah,

00:47:09.880 –> 00:47:12.400
and Bruce and I have a Comac

00:47:12.420 –> 00:47:14.061
connection here, I don’t know,

00:47:14.282 –> 00:47:15.603
Long Island as well.

00:47:15.623 –> 00:47:16.063
Bruce,

00:47:16.123 –> 00:47:17.282
thank you for saying you’re from

00:47:17.342 –> 00:47:18.003
upstate New York.

00:47:18.324 –> 00:47:19.443
I don’t like when people say

00:47:19.463 –> 00:47:20.704
I’m from New York and they

00:47:20.724 –> 00:47:22.106
say where and they say Buffalo and go,

00:47:22.126 –> 00:47:22.726
that doesn’t count.

00:47:24.186 –> 00:47:25.568
If you say that, New York,

00:47:25.608 –> 00:47:26.789
I have a lot more respect for you.

00:47:27.088 –> 00:47:27.809
Proud of it.

00:47:28.130 –> 00:47:28.329
Well,

00:47:28.409 –> 00:47:29.731
at least someone got respect for you

00:47:29.771 –> 00:47:30.492
today, Bruce.

00:47:30.512 –> 00:47:32.753
Maybe next time when you come back,

00:47:33.094 –> 00:47:33.514
we’ll be there.

00:47:33.554 –> 00:47:34.914
Bruce, you are amazing.

00:47:34.934 –> 00:47:36.215
I say this for real.

00:47:36.295 –> 00:47:37.077
Thank you so much.

00:47:37.117 –> 00:47:38.338
And we’ve got to have you

00:47:38.378 –> 00:47:41.019
come back real soon and educate us more.

00:47:41.059 –> 00:47:42.661
If you want to talk about something,

00:47:42.940 –> 00:47:44.623
hit me up and you’ll get right on.

00:47:45.143 –> 00:47:45.443
Great.

00:47:45.623 –> 00:47:46.945
Well, guys, thank you for having me.

00:47:46.965 –> 00:47:47.664
It means a lot.

00:47:48.025 –> 00:47:50.126
I’m grateful and

00:47:50.266 –> 00:47:51.188
appreciative of your time.

00:47:51.641 –> 00:47:52.420
I appreciate you.

00:47:52.561 –> 00:47:53.342
Thank you so much.

00:47:53.422 –> 00:47:54.242
And, and Hey, listen,

00:47:54.521 –> 00:47:55.402
one thing we’d appreciate a

00:47:55.422 –> 00:47:56.543
view is why not download

00:47:56.563 –> 00:47:57.802
the audio version of the show?

00:47:57.842 –> 00:47:59.242
Get your podcast,

00:47:59.262 –> 00:48:01.023
wherever you get your shows.

00:48:01.184 –> 00:48:02.403
We are there right for you.

00:48:02.423 –> 00:48:04.824
And if you’re listening to us right now,

00:48:04.985 –> 00:48:06.525
and I’m very happy you were

00:48:06.885 –> 00:48:07.846
able to follow that dog

00:48:08.005 –> 00:48:08.666
around the neighborhood,

00:48:08.706 –> 00:48:10.447
then why not watch us sometime?

00:48:11.186 –> 00:48:14.487
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube,

00:48:14.788 –> 00:48:15.889
no vacancy news.com.

00:48:15.929 –> 00:48:17.028
That’s where you could find us.

00:48:18.134 –> 00:48:18.793
Great seeing you.

00:48:18.914 –> 00:48:19.655
We’ll be back.

00:48:20.775 –> 00:48:22.836
I’ve never done that.

00:48:23.157 –> 00:48:24.056
All right.

00:48:24.077 –> 00:48:25.677
So next week, uh,

00:48:25.818 –> 00:48:27.358
Anthony and I are going to be, uh,

00:48:27.599 –> 00:48:29.300
in Las Vegas at the top of the week.

00:48:29.981 –> 00:48:31.601
Um, we’re going to be interviewing, uh,

00:48:31.621 –> 00:48:33.282
Todd, every Lenahan who’s, uh,

00:48:33.362 –> 00:48:34.463
who runs design and

00:48:34.503 –> 00:48:35.643
development for those guys.

00:48:35.664 –> 00:48:36.965
We’re going to be running that next week.

00:48:37.385 –> 00:48:38.666
I’m going to be seeing some, uh,

00:48:38.766 –> 00:48:40.527
concerts next week in Vegas.

00:48:40.586 –> 00:48:41.768
So we’ll have a couple of

00:48:41.827 –> 00:48:43.489
prerecorded shows as well.

00:48:43.889 –> 00:48:45.349
So remember everybody, you got one life.

00:48:45.369 –> 00:48:47.391
So blaze on and be kind to yourself.

00:48:47.677 –> 00:48:48.179
See you soon.