Be My Guest

Friend of No Vacancy Live Michael Weinberg joins me to talk about his experience in hospitality and through the pandemic. Being a sales person based in Chicago it's been rough, but we talk about how he keeps a positive mindset moving forward! We also touch on relocation potential and why it's not as easy as some think for job seekers.

I speak to LJ Crawford who brings one of the most powerful stories I've had on this show. She talks about how she was able to turn around a toxic work relationship with her lead into one that resulted in them winning Platinum Sales Awards for the year by simply holding herself accountable. Even with that, she finds herself laid off causing her to lose her car and her home and this is BEFORE COVID. Through all of that she ends up landing her dream job and is now working on seven(7) books, all scheduled to come out within the next 12 months. This is as inspirational of a story as it gets.

Kyle comes to us from Hospitality M.D. If you aren't familiar with his work, he has great hospitality themed content! He's also a lifelong hotelier. He joins us to talk about how his interest in the industry started with his mother who is a 41 year veteran of the airline industry. He tells us about the unbelievably scary situation of working at a hotel that was being looted during the Chicago riots in the summer.

Cerissa Olson-Miller - Even if you haven't heard of Cerissa before you've probably heard of her.  She's the founder of Hospitality Family on Facebook, a group of close to 60,000 hospitality workers coming together to form an amazing community.  On this episode Cerissa talks about her hospitality career, what drove her to success, and then what happened to make her leave the industry.  We also talk about the community she has created on Facebook and why she continues to be involved, even though she is no longer in the industry.

Christine Trippi is one of the most energetic people you've ever met. She always has a smile and an energy that is infectious. She joined me to talk about her decision to leave a very prestigious job at one of the major brands to start her own company…3 months before COVID hit. How does she stay so positive and what opportunities has she found because of the pandemic?

On this episode I speak to Philip David from PSD Hospitality. We really dive into the restaurant side of the hospitality world and Philip brings his life long restaurant experience to the conversation. He's worked with some of the biggest restaurants in the country. We talk about how this could be a prime opportunity to open a new concept, how to work through fear of failure, and how to be an entrepreneur in anything you do.

Angela joins me to talk about the challenges she has faced by taking on new roles at work while also taking care of her elderly mother. How does she deal with the added stress of caring for a high risk family member while she is doing everything she can to try and stay employed? We talk about her situation and why it's so frustrating to see people who can't follow simple protocols and the real life danger they are putting others in.

Bianca joins us to talk about how her American Dream could have come crashing down due to COVID. From moving to this country from Brazil to working her way up to a VP level role, she struggled with the emotional distress from losing her position. She talks about how she made it through to land a job in an industry she was looking to get into, even before COVID!

This was such an amazing conversation! We speak to Amrita Nichols about her amazing journey from working in hospitality literally across the world to developing her own company in the U.S. One of my favorite quotes of her from this interview..."Build Your Why?" Another favorite quote..."Let Go Of Titles" You have to hear this!

Tamara Benavides joins us to talk sales. From starting outside the industry to transferring in to starting her own company we talk about how Sales are so important, not just for business, but for personal. How can you take those skills and show how transferable they are? How can you use sales skills to sell yourself in a job search? Tamara gives some great insight and words of encouragement.

With all of the challenges finding jobs in the industry people are faced with the potential need to relocate. Is that scary for you? Not sure how to attack it? We talk to Rob Thorpe who just got his Green Card in Feb 2020(right before things shut down). Rob spent 18 years in the British Royal Marines and relocated to the U.S. to be with his wife(who he met while on military assignment). Aiming to get into the Hospitality Industry Rob found his way to "The Good Trends" which connects locally sourced, small-batch food items to retail and hospitality clients.

Donald Hueckels is a F&B professional who joins us to talk about the mindset that goes into potentially making a decision to relocate. We also discuss how taking a step back in your career can be exactly you need and some out of the box ideas for leaders to keep their teams engaged, even if you all aren't currently working together. Donald also tells us how he's developing his own business in a field I don't think too many knew existed(I didn't)

Stephanie Leger is my guest to talk about how important it is to take an entrepreneurial mindset to your job search and how to stand out amongst the crowded field. We discuss what her mindset was to start her own business and how she continues to evolve through COVID. You will see someone who brings such a positive mindset.

Tell me if you've heard this story before? A person gets into hospitality out of necessity at an entry level position. They fall in love with the industry and through hard work they move themselves up the chain. Well Chastity Rivera-Santiago lived that story as well. Hear how she's been dealing with having her career stalled due to COVID and what ways she's been able to put a smiling face on at home. Her story is one that will be relatable to a lot of people in the industry.

In this special edition episode of Be My Guest we talk to David Salcfas. While this was one of the latest episodes recorded I felt it important to put out now because we talk about what it was like for David to have to be in charge of a hotel that is closing permanently. From the tough conversations, to the tremendous employees, to a heartfelt memento left in the lobby this conversation has it all.

Ken Patel joins us to talk about a 2020 filled with difficulty and trajedy. After taking a new job for career growth early in the year he faced the challenges of starting a new role as the pandemic took hold. Ken lost 3 close family members due to COVID(2 of them within 24 hours of each other) and then eventually loses his position to the pandemic. Hear how after all that he is staying positive and viewing all of this is a stepping stone to positive things.

This episode of Be My Guest is very special to me because it's the first person I've met due to this podcast. As I say every show, it's an open forum and Bruce is the first person I'm able to interview who I didn't know before the podcast and what a great interview it was! Bruce has worked hard during the pandemic to create content to help educate hoteliers and shares how he has stayed positive through it all! Check Out Bruce on YouTube at "Hotel Guest Management"

There's rightfully been a lot of focus on employees who have lost their positions. Somewhat lost in the mix are the challenges that hotel leaders are going through when having to make tough decisions and deliver tough messages. Paul Lee joins us to talk about being a General Manager in NYC, the difficulties both professionally and personally he has faced during these times, and how he is pushing forward. He tells us a story about one of the most difficult phone calls he's ever had to have.

This episode we speak to accounting professional Matt Rigoli about how he balances the mental challenges of feeling fortunate he has been able to keep his position, the impact of taking on additional responsibilities, all while facing the hardships of seeing the people he cares about suffer with job loss. We talk about how he keeps himself grounded and in the moment with so much uncertainty in the future.

This episode we talk to Calvin Tilokee of the great Instagram account @RevParblems about how his layoff due to COVID was the spark to start RevPar Media. 

We talk to Sarah Danadshy from askaconcierge.tv about how she stays positive after COVID cost her her full-time job and have a severe impact on the business she has been developing for 8 years. 

In the first episode of Be My Guest we talk to Haroon Baig about his experience through COVID.