Podcasts about intercontinental hotel group

Ursula Connolly is the founder and Managing Director of People Skills Business. She has more than 30 years experience in developing and motivating individuals and companies to achieve successful results.  In this podcast, Ursula tells our listeners about how she works with internationally respected organisations to help them align the development of their employees with their brand and strategic business objectives. She describes how her main focus is to help organisations engage and develop their people so that they in turn deliver great customer service and achieve desired business results. In 2004, Ursula established People Skills Business.  People Skills Business partners with companies in the hospitality, tourism and leisure industry who are passionate about equipping and enabling their people to deliver great work and exceptional service to customers. Their mission is to put learning at the heart of the business by providing bespoke leadership and executive coaching programmes that are easily accessible to all and encourage a culture of continuous learning. Ursula comments on what makes a great hospitality leader, the role of women in the current hospitatliy field, the challenges facing hospitality in the future and how businesses can attract and retain young people by providing more learning and development and not shying away from hard truths. Ursula has led multi-cultural teams and managed large-scale projects across Europe, Middle East, Asia and North America. Her breadth of knowledge of Human Resources and the international service industry make her well equipped to work with senior management to help them recognise and solve key business issues. She has been recognised and won awards for her work with Maybourne Hotel Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and InterContinental Hotel Group from Personnel Today and World of Learning Awards. Ursula has a Masters in Human Resource Strategy from London Metropolitan University, a Diploma in Hotel Management and Business from Technological University Dublin and is a qualified Time to Think Coach. She is also highly experienced as a programme manager, designer, facilitator and presenter. To learn more about People Skills Business click here: https://www.peopleskillsbusiness.com and here: https://vimeo.com/739985876      

Dr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, craftsman of culture and bestselling author of multiple books, including his latest book entitled, Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope. Working with brands like Delta Airlines, Darden Restaurants, GE Appliances, McDonald's, Panasonic, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Berkshire Hathaway and the Intercontinental Hotel Group, he has inspired and enabled countless people to find new passion and purpose in their work, work better together in teams and have greater influence and impact. When people like what they do, they do it better. When people like those they do it with, they work better together. When they like the impact they're having, they find meaning and fulfillment in what they do. Dr. Ross helps them find their personal passion, while building healthier relationships and pursuing a purpose beyond self. As the CEO of Remarkable and a former Chief People Officer, Dr. Randy Ross utilizes his experience to engage audiences worldwide with his keen insight and contagious humor. He is a messenger of practical wisdom and needed hope, untangling the biggest challenges facing today's business leader, tomorrow's workforce and the future marketplace. He lives with his wife, LuAnne, and four children in Atlanta, Georgia. Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/ Website: https://jondwoskin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big!   Connect with Dr. Randy Ross: Website: DrRandyRoss.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrRandyRoss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_randyross/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrandyross/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1651578466 *E – explicit language may be used in this podcast.

Haitham Mattar is the Managing Director of the Intercontinental Hotel Group for India, Middle East & Africa. Haitham has had a distinguished career working for global hotel giants as well as leading tourism for the Governments of Ras Al Khaimah and Saudi Arabia. His story is one of individual will, grit and resilience starting from his first job at 17. He tells me about the importance of maintaining and nurturing relationships all his life and how he's now trying to get new generations interested in hospitality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the HR Like a Boss podcast, host John Bernatovicz speaks with Dr. Randy Ross, an expert in human resources and leadership. Dr. Ross shares his journey from the non-profit sector to corporate leadership, emphasizing the importance of purpose in both personal and organizational contexts. He discusses the concept of axiology, which focuses on value creation and the impact of organizational culture on employee engagement. Dr. Ross also highlights key principles from his book 'Remarkable,' advocating for a purpose-driven approach to business that prioritizes people and relationships over profit. ABOUT RANDY ROSS Dr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, craftsman of culture and bestselling author of multiple books, including his latest book entitled, Fireproof Happiness: Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope. Working with brands like Delta Airlines, Darden Restaurants, GE Appliances, McDonald's, Panasonic, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Berkshire Hathaway and the Intercontinental Hotel Group, he has inspired and enabled countless people to find new passion and purpose in their work, work better together in teams and have greater influence and impact. When people like what they do, they do it better. When people like those they do it with, they work better together. When they like the impact they're having, they find meaning and fulfillment in what they do. Dr. Ross helps them find their personal passion, while building healthier relationships and pursuing a purpose beyond self. As the CEO of Remarkable and a former Chief People Officer, Dr. Randy Ross utilizes his experience to engage audiences

True or false: When people like what they do, they do it better. When people like those they work with, they do it better together. When people like the impact they have, they find meaning and fulfillment in what they do. Are all three “true” for you? So how do you as an HR leader create a culture that develops these truths? Dr. Randy Ross helps you create that kind of positive work culture on this episode of the Work Positive Podcast. The kind that helps people find what they really like and build healthier relationships while they pursue a passion beyond themselves. He's helped Chick Fil-A, Intercontinental Hotel Group, GE Appliances, Cox Communications, Keller Williams Realty and others. And he's here to help you as you create a positive work culture that grows people and profits. Listen as Dr. Joey and Dr. Ross dive into how you align personal passion with corporate goals to boost employee satisfaction and productivity, and: ☀️ the power of motivation and how it contributes to a thriving work environment. ☀️ how strong leadership and clearly defined values shape a high-engagement culture. ☀️ the benefits of aligning personal passion and company purpose. #positiveworkculture #culturecounts #workpositive #humanresources #culturetransformation #shrm #engagement #emotionalintelligence #empathy #mission #purpose Connect with Dr. Randy Ross on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrandyross/ Visit his website: https://drrandyross.com/ Books by Dr. Randy Ross Make Life Good: A Soul-Stirring Parable About What Really Matters Remarkable!: Engaging Culture. Superior Service. Outrageous Results. Remarkable!: Maximizing Results Through Value Creation Relationomics: Business Powered by Relationships Fireproof Happiness : Extinguishing Anxiety & Igniting Hope  

In this week's episode of the Investor's Champion Podcast. We hear Chris and Lee run through key news events covering News from our Ultimate Stocks Portfolio including Apple, quarterly results and mammoth share buybacks. Starbucks – what's going wrong? McDonalds – growing, but it's new breakfast offering could be healthier. We mention Coca Cola.   An extended Discussion of Whitbread (Premier Inn) and the hotel industry in general with comparison to Intercontinental Hotel Group. St James Place – more contradictions and comparison with Hargreaves Lansdown's update   Then on to UK Small Caps and AIM, Bonkers Bargain James Cropper. Card Factory – doing well and going cheap? HSS Hire: a radically new business evolves. Anexo: when profits and earnings deceive. Timestamps: 1:10 Apple quarterly results and share buy backs. 5:20 Starbucks struggling. 7:50 McDonald's. 9:00 Coca Cola and Warren Buffet. 11:10 Comparing Whitbread's Premier Inn Business model to Intercontinental Hotels business model. 22:40 St James Place. 24:40 Bonkers bargain James Cropper. 27:20 Card Factory. 28:50 HSS Hire Group 31:20 Anexo red flag to look out for. Hope you enjoy this episode and have a wonderful day. If you like this episode, please let us know by subscribing for future company reviews and insightful conversations about the markets, portfolio management and stock analysis. Links & Resources: Visit Investor's Champion website here: https://www.investorschampion.com/ Follow Investor's Champion on X here: https://twitter.com/investchampion   Disclaimer: This presentation is for educational purposes only. All opinions and information are for demonstrational purposes and do not constitute investment advice. Trading and investing carries a high level of risk and are not right for everyone. If you need financial advice, consult with a regulated financial adviser in your country before making any decisions.

To receive the newsletter and the forthcoming Presence project sign-up hereToday's top episode goes to the heart of an issue that a lot of people raise with me.They say ‘where do you start when changing a culture'.To some extent it's what the episode about the hospital trust in Barking was about, going in and changing the culture of a huge organisation.I saw one of today's guests Darren Ashby speak at an event - talking through the specifics of how his company Business Four Zero tried to change the culture of Tesco. Business Four Zero are one of a group of organisations who work with leaders to change company culture. I know there's a few of these firms. I attended a dazzling event by one firm called Scarlett Abbot in this field about a month ago. Darren is joined by Atif Sheikh as they talk through the specifics of what they did with firms like Electronic Arts, Aviva and Tesco. They've turned some of their work into a book which you can buy here.Some of the things that stood out for me:What's the number one thing you look for in a high performing culture? How internal are they? How much time are they spending on themselves vs the outside world?Only 28% of workers say they are connected to purposeCulture is what are you committed to as group - emotional commitment of what you want to createValues - before you define your values know that there are 6 core values shared amongst everyone (sometimes called the 6 Pillars of Character - Trust, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship). These should not be your differentiator. These are universal basic expectations. You need to define something differentiatingLeaders' role is to bring energy: Satya Nadella told Microsoft's execs: ‘find the rose petals in the field of sh*t'So how do you elevate a culture? They introduce 2 or 3 critical behaviours that elevate a culture Might be ‘be kinder' And they build a process of how you might enact those behavioursFor example Intercontinental Hotel GroupHad switched from being a hotel owner to a franchise businessCEO needed to remove silosWhat did they need? Too many people in the business didn't understand how they made money - it made spending decisions hard. So they focussed on ‘think return'Additionally it had become complacent, so they decided to ‘move fast'Finally they agreed to ‘talk straight' with each other Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Baker transforms underperforming ecommerce sites into powerful selling tools that help her clients generate double-digit incremental revenue each year. Sam's ecommerce background includes web optimization at Abercrombie & Fitch, digital marketing at Vera Bradley and consulting clients such as Under Armour and Intercontinental Hotel Group. Her consultancy specializes in A/B Testing, UX improvements, and Retention and Acquisition strategies. On this episode, Sam speaks with Jen White about how she got into a career that didn't exist when she was in college and about the challenges of moving from working a corporate job to running her own business.

Ursula Connolly is the founder and Managing Director of People Skills Business. She has more than 30 years experience in developing and motivating individuals and companies to achieve successful results.  In this podcast, Ursula tells our listeners about how she works with internationally respected organisations to help them align the development of their employees with their brand and strategic business objectives. She describes how her main focus is to help organisations engage and develop their people so that they in turn deliver great customer service and achieve desired business results.In 2004, Ursula established People Skills Business.  People Skills Business partners with companies in the hospitality, tourism and leisure industry who are passionate about equipping and enabling their people to deliver great work and exceptional service to customers. Their mission is to put learning at the heart of the business by providing bespoke leadership and executive coaching programmes that are easily accessible to all and encourage a culture of continuous learning.Ursula comments on what makes a great hospitality leader, the role of women in the current hospitality field, the challenges facing hospitality in the future and how businesses can attract and retain young people by providing more learning and development and not shying away from hard truths. Ursula has led multi-cultural teams and managed large-scale projects across Europe, Middle East, Asia and North America. Her breadth of knowledge of Human Resources and the international service industry make her well equipped to work with senior management to help them recognise and solve key business issues.She has been recognised and won awards for her work with Maybourne Hotel Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and InterContinental Hotel Group from Personnel Today and World of Learning Awards.Ursula has a Masters in Human Resource Strategy from London Metropolitan University, a Diploma in Hotel Management and Business from Technological University Dublin and is a qualified Time to Think Coach. She is also highly experienced as a programme manager, designer, facilitator  and presenter.To learn more about People Skills Business click here: https://www.peopleskillsbusiness.com and here: https://vimeo.com/739985876

In this episode, Tia Graham interviews Cesar Wurm, Vice President of Commercial for Premium Brands for Intercontinental Hotel Group and Resorts. Cesar shares his personal journey of prioritizing wellbeing and happiness as a leader and the positive impact it has had on his life and career. He emphasizes the importance of caring for your team, being vulnerable, and creating a culture of trust and open communication.    Click here for show notes: https://www.arriveathappy.com/aah-blog/how-prioritizing-well-being-drives-professional-success-with-cesar-wurm  

Simon Barbato is the founder of Mr. B & Friends, which has been going for 17 years and has a major client base such as Lego and Intercontinental Hotel Group. What do you do when your biggest client industry grinds to a halt?It's 2004. And after news of a SARS outbreak across Asia. That's exactly what happened to Simon's first business. Without knowing how long it would last, would his business survive?He had 10 people to support with dramatically reduced revenue. He was burning cash at an alarming rate. For him to continue, he knew would bankrupt himself. In this episode, Simon talks through his options in this moment, and the timeline that he gave himself before he had to pull the plug. We discussHis thought process and mindset at this timeThe importance of resourcing and having a broader perspectiveHis learnings from what was a very new situation at the timeTune in as Simon shares how he planned to save the business and what his final actions were. Want to know how Future Fit you are? Take 3 mins to benchmark yourself with our Founder Fitness Test on peer-effect.com. You might discover some surprising gaps! Or just follow James on LinkedIn for more thoughts around coaching and being future fit.

[CLIC] is the only Hotel Conference that focuses on the California Hotel Market and [CLIC] Connect is our official interview show. Joining the conversation today is Kevin Schramm of IHG and we are talking Leadership, Development Team, Deals, Financial Markets, Brand Conversions, PIP's and more. What a pleasure it was to have Kevin join the conversation and we are looking forward to having him back soon. Thank you Producer Dani and to Red Roof Franchising & Chicago Title NCS-California.... Please tour our website and sign up for our Blog at cliconference.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/craig859/support

This week's Eye on Travel Podcast with Peter Greenberg covers how Intercontinental Hotel Group has pivoted during the pandemic and an extended conversation about the story of Holland America's Zaandam at the start of the pandemic with CEO of IHG Keith Barr and Author of "Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic" Michael Smith. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week's Eye on Travel Podcast with Peter Greenberg covers how Intercontinental Hotel Group has pivoted during the pandemic and an extended conversation about the story of Holland America's Zaandam at the start of the pandemic with CEO of IHG Keith Barr and Author of "Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic" Michael Smith. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt Harding is the Senior Vice President of Culinary and Menu Innovation at Piada Italian Street Food. Piada is a premium fast-casual concept offering guests Piadas, Chopped Salads and Pastas.Prior to joining Piada in 2015, he attended the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. From there, he spent time in Washington, D. C. working for the InterContinental Hotel Group, and in San Francisco where he worked for Campton Place, Splendido, Palio D' Asti and the Stanford Court Hotel. In the years following, he relocated to Germany to head up the Steigenberger Hotel's California Cuisine restaurant in Bad Greisbach, the southeast region of Bavaria.After taking time to travel and experience the cuisines of 26 countries, Chef Matt put down roots in Columbus, Ohio where he served as the Executive Chef at Lindey's. In 1999 Matt opened the first Brio Tuscan Grill for Bravo Brio Restaurant Group and oversaw its growth to 120 restaurants during a 21-year tenure with the company.

Dr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, craftsman of culture and bestselling author of multiple books, including his latest book entitled, Hope Rises: Make Your Life, Love & Leadership Soar.  Working with brands like GE Appliances, McDonald's, Panasonic, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Keller Williams and the Intercontinental Hotel Group, he has inspired and enabled countless people to find new passion and purpose in their work, work better together in teams and have greater influence and impact.    Listen to this informative Publish. Promote. Profit. episode with Randy Ross about helping leaders inspire teams.   Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week's show: - How businessowners crafting a compelling culture will lead to the right employees. - Why hope is one of the most powerful and impactful tools you can use. - How employees quit when the culture is not conducive for their growth. - Why you must believe that something will happen to achieve your goal. - How having your own book is like having the best business card.   Connect with Randy: Links Mentioned: https://drrandyross.com https://www.createremarkable.com Guest Contact Info: Twitter https://twitter.com/drrandyross LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrandyross/ Connect with Rob: Website https://bestsellerpublishing.org Twitter https://twitter.com/bspbooks Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bspbooks/?hl=en Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bestsellerpub YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/BestSellerPublishingOfficial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biography James is the CEO of Shufflrr. Shufflrr is presentation management. Presentations are critical communications to the enterprise and Shufflrr adds strategy to presentation workflow -- from creation, to use and re-use, distributing, updating, sharing, presenting, broadcasting, tracking and reporting of presentations. Shufflrr makes each stage of the presentation process more efficient. Presentations are important communications, but on the enterprise level, they are one and done. Shufflrr makes every stage of the presentation process more efficient for global organizations. Much time is wasted during every stage of the presentation life cycle - during the creation, to use, re-use, updating, sharing, broadcasting, tracking and analyzing of presentations. Shufflrr solves this. Shufflrr is Presentation Management. Shufflrr is communication strategy. Share, Shuffle and Show presentation slides and files using any device, anywhere. Shufflrr is the culmination of 20 years managing digital presentations. All the web is a presentation. Through the years, his clients have included a diverse group of highly recognizable companies. They include ABC TV Stations, Alliance Atlantis, Apple, BASF, BET, Bloomberg, CBS Interactive, Cisco, Comcast, Dell, Disney Epcot Center, DHL, EMC, ESPN, Experian, Food Network, Fox Broadcasting, Genentech, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Hertz, HGTV, Intercontinental Hotel Group, John Deere Water, Kodak, Mercedes Benz, Millennium Takada, NBC Olympics, National Institute of Health, Novartis, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Reuters, Showtime, Telemundo, Towers Perrin, Warner Bros. Domestic Television, Weather Channel, Yahoo! Canada. What we Discussed: - Shufflrr Presentation Management - Tips on Presentations - Adjusting to New Technologies - Working with a Family member - Ensuring your Team Understands Your Goals - Different Types of Marketing - His Book - Cleaning your Room is similar to Cleaning your Presentations and more How to Contact James: https://shufflrr.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesontra/ More About Speaking Podcast: All Episodes can be found at www.speakingpodcast.com All Social Media + Donations link https://bio.link/podcaster Sponsor : http://coolabulla.com Use Discount Code Speaking for a 20% Discount Our Facebook Group can be found at www.facebook.com/speakingpodcast All my 5 Podcast can be found at http://roycoughlan.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/roy-coughlan/message

Dr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, craftsman of culture and bestselling author of multiple books, including his latest one titled “Hope Rises: Make Your Life, Love & Leadership Soar." He has worked with brands such as GE Appliances, McDonald's, Panasonic, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Keller Williams and the Intercontinental Hotel Group. He helps to inspire people to find new passion and purpose in their work, perform better together in teams and have greater influence and impact. Here are some key insights from this week's show: It is all about your perspective that you have 100% control. Creativity is what you get when all other options are taken off the table. We were built to be connected in community. Lego means “To play together well”. We were all designed to play together well. Have the discipline to embrace reality, no matter how difficult it may be. Hope is about positivity, responsibility, agility, and reality. Prefer the video version? Watch it here: https://youtu.be/IDg__-UmLOQ

In this episode, Jeannette talks to Karen Gill and Maxine Benson. Two friends who created Everywoman. The first online community for women in business. An organisation that provides practical advice, support, and a strong voice for female entrepreneurs everywhere.  They explain why they set up the community and how they took it global. Delving deep into how and why they do things as they do. For example, why, initially, they ran women-only leadership workshops. They discuss how the work environment has changed, including the role men are playing in making it easier for women in the workplace.   KEY TAKEAWAYS The world has finally woken up to the benefits of diversity, which is starting to help women in business. There are a lot of female entrepreneurs in places like India and North America. Most men now have the same aspirations for their daughters as they do for their sons - that wasn't always the case. Lots of men want cultural change and increasingly want to become effective advocates. Don't focus on what the circumstances are, instead, focus on what you can do about them. Invest in yourself and get a mentor. Don't leave yourself at the bottom of the list of priorities. Networking is a critical business skill that you should use internally as well as externally. Networking is a two-way thing. You will be helping the other person as well as yourself.   BEST MOMENTS ‘We consciously surround ourselves with people that enable us to go out and serve the business.' ‘Most male CEOs have got the same aspirations for their daughter as for their sons.' ‘Utopia would be that there´s no need for diversity programmes.' ‘When you pour yourself into something, it does get personnel.'   This is the perfect time to get focused on what YOU want to really achieve in your business, career, and life. It's never too late to be BRAVE and BOLD and unlock your inner BRILLIANT. If you'd like to join Jeannette's FREE Business Impact Seminar just  sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/jeannettelinfootassociates/impact-sem-sept   GUEST RESOURCES Website - https://www.everywoman.com/   ABOUT THE GUESTS Karen Gill MBE is the co-founder of Everywoman Ltd. With an international career spanning four decades Karen has built a reputation as a strong business leader, a creative thinker, and an expert in the women's diversity agenda. Starting a career with Intercontinental Hotel Group in Australia she quickly found her niche, navigating her way through to their youngest ever Sales & Marketing VP. Keen to inspire women across the global business community Karen co-founded everywoman in 1999 and was awarded the MBE for services to women's enterprise in 2009. Maxine Benson´s MBE career experience encompassed the airline industry in Sydney, the film industry in New York, giving her two decades of experience living and working overseas before she returned to the UK to co-found everywoman in 1999. The UK's first online community for women in business, everywoman's ambition to unlock the talents of women globally remains as relevant today as it did 21 years ago. Everywoman's mission to positively change the landscape for women in the workplace for future generations, saw Maxine awarded the MBE for services to women's enterprise in 1999.   ABOUT THE HOST Jeannette Linfoot is a highly regarded senior executive, property investor, board advisor, and business mentor with over 25 years of global professional business experience across the travel, leisure, hospitality, and property sectors. Having bought, ran, and sold businesses all over the world, Jeannette now has a portfolio of her own businesses and also advises and mentors other business leaders to drive forward their strategies as well as their own personal development. Jeannette is a down-to-earth leader, a passionate champion for diversity & inclusion, and a huge advocate of nurturing talent so every person can unleash their full potential and live their dreams.    CONTACT THE HOST Jeannette's linktree https://www.jeannettelinfootassociates.com/ YOUTUBE LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Email - info@jeannettelinfootassociates.com     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is brought to you by Wheelhouse - the best revenue management platform for vacation and short term rentals.  Learn more about Wheelhouse here ➡️ https://usewheelhouse.com Use code KNOWINGHOSPITALITY for 50% off your first month with Wheelhouse. --- Kate is the CEO and Founder of Kate Burda & Co, a consulting firm that leads revenue performance and growth strategies for hotels, hospitality brands, owners, investors and management companies. At the time of this recording, we can safely say that travel is back! At least leisure travel is back. Right now, hotels across the country are experiencing record setting rate and occupancy growth with many beating actual results from 2019. But booms like this are always temporary and the most effective organizations are already thinking about how they will change their tactics to be most effective when these great results start to level out. As they say, revenue cures all problems, so the trifecta of Revenue Management, Sales and Marketing have never been more critical - but approaching them with the same thinking as we did pre-pandemic is not going to do you any favors. On this episode we're exploring what that means so you can sustain these peaks long in to the future. About Kate Kate Burda is the CEO and founder of consulting firm Kate Burda & Co, which leads revenue performance and growth strategies for organizations, hotels, hospitality brands, owners, investors and management companies. Through her “revenue trifecta” of sales, traditional & digital marketing and revenue management, many of Kate's clients have enjoyed 25 percent growth in revenue gains through her work. Amid disposition, bankruptcy, financial downturns and shifts within the marketplace over her nearly 30 years of experience, Kate has advised some of the world's leading companies, such as Goldman Sachs, REIT, Abbott, Medtronic, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ricoh, Marriott International, Hilton, Loews Hotels, Intercontinental Hotel Group and more. Kate is passionate about challenging the status quo and rethinking systems to drive revenue acceleration. Her subscription training platform Ignite launched in May 2021 to help businesses connect the dots between finance and sales & marketing. Ignite leads companies to identify their most profitable and most valuable customers. Most companies or leaders would say they know their top customers but Ignite helps them go beyond. By learning to recognize these areas of opportunity, businesses using Ignite are able to generate revenue impact. As an industry leader, Kate is a Think Tank member of the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell and has taught graduate and undergraduate courses for Fairleigh Dickinson University and Purdue University System. Her memberships include Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA), International Society of Hotel Consultants (ISHC), Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA), Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). Kate has spoken at Chesapeake Hospitality Summit, Hunter Conference, Hotel Asset Manager Association 2020 Summit, and more. She earned her MBA at University of Colorado and currently lives in Dallas. Links Website: https://kateburda.com/ (https://kateburda.com) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateburda/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateburda/)

This week's Eye on Travel Podcast with Peter Greenberg covers what the new federal funding will mean for Amtrak and the railroads, the individual challenges of reopening hotels around the world and the dangers of traveling with large amounts of cash at airports with Amtrak President & CEO William Flynn, InterContinental Hotel Group CEO Keith Barr and ViewfromtheWing.com Founder Gary Leff.

This week's Eye on Travel Podcast with Peter Greenberg covers what the new federal funding will mean for Amtrak and the railroads, the individual challenges of reopening hotels around the world and the dangers of traveling with large amounts of cash at airports with Amtrak President & CEO William Flynn, InterContinental Hotel Group CEO Keith Barr and ViewfromtheWing.com Founder Gary Leff.

How do you develop the skills and experience necessary for a treasury career? In this episode of The Treasury Career Corner Podcast, I speak with Hailey Laverty, Group Treasurer at InterContinental Hotel Group plc (IHG). We discuss how she first started her treasury career in accounting, how she developed the necessary skills and experience to build her career, the importance of always going above and beyond the job description, and so much more! Hailey has been Group Treasurer at InterContinental Hotels Group plc (IHG) since 2016. She has over 10 years’ experience in a wide range of treasury areas, including funding, cash management, systems, treasury control, and accounting. She completed the AMCT in 2012. Hailey started her career at Deloitte and qualified as a chartered accountant in 2004 before moving to Rolls-Royce plc, where she spent ten years in various accounting and treasury roles. IHG® is one of the world’s leading hotel companies, with a promise to provide True Hospitality for everyone, making everyone feel welcome and cared for, recognised and respected, whoever and wherever they are in the world. They franchise, lease, manage or own nearly 5,800 hotels and approximately 865,000 guest rooms in more than 100 countries, with over 1,900 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG® Rewards Club, their global loyalty programme, which has more than 100 million enrolled members. Their brands are well-known and loved the world over and include Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, and Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, to name just a few! On the podcast we discussed… How Hailey first started her finance career How she switched from accounting at Deloitte to engineering and then IHG What Hailey enjoys most about working in treasury How different industries have different working cultures within treasury The impact of the pandemic on the hotel industry and cash flow How to gain experience and skills outside of your usual job role What treasury professionals look for when hiring new talent You can connect with Hailey on https://www.linkedin.com/in/hailey-laverty-98557223 (LinkedIn). Are you interested in pursuing a career within Treasury? Whether you’ve recently graduated, or you want to search for new job opportunities to help develop your treasury career, The Treasury Recruitment Company can help you in your search for the perfect job. https://treasuryrecruitment.com/jobs (Find out more here). Or, send us your CV and let us help you in your next career move! If you’re enjoying the show please rate and review us on whatever podcast app you listen to us on, for Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-treasury-career-corner/id1436647162#see-all/reviews (click here)! 

Listen to 30-year wellness and fitness veteran Glenn Colarossi discuss the merging of health and hospitality in senior living. Trends discussed include wearable health technology, functional fitness, outdoor exercise, wellness playgrounds, social cognitive programs, and much more. About Glenn Glenn Colarossi is a 30-year veteran of the health/wellness/spa space. As Executive Director for newly renovated Atria Stamford, CT, he offers a lifestyle of choice, with industry-leading quality standards and customized care options. Glenn uses his wellness background to promote a healthy and productive lifestyle, along with his business acumen owning and operating health and wellness properties. Atria has over 20,000 senior units throughout the United States. Glenn has been an owner/operator and consultant to some of the best health clubs/spas in the world. Some of the more notable clubs that he has owned include The Downtown Athletic Club in Miami Florida, and the Landmark Athletic Club in Stamford Connecticut. He was engaged by Starwood Hotels to assist in the development of the WestinWORKOUT (Starwood's branded fitness concept). Subsequently, he developed fitness brand standards for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Miraval, TDIC (Tourism Development Investment Corporation Abu Dhabi), and InterContinental Hotel Group. His client list is that of a “who's who in quality” - Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, W, St. Regis, Fairmont, WCI, Luxury Collection, The Plaza Hotel, and Frette to name a few. He earned a master's degree in Exercise Physiology from Adelphi University and did post-graduate work at the University of Physical Culture in Moscow. He has served on the Connecticut Governor's Council on Fitness and was an advisory board member for; ICAA (International Council on Active Aging), ACE (American Council on Exercise), ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine, Health Fitness Journal) and the Keiser Institute on Aging. He has been a presenter/panelist at prestigious events around the world, from the International Hotel Show (Rome and Venice), NYU Real Estate Investment Conference, IHRSA, Club Industry, US Real Estate Opportunity & Private Fund Investing Forum, and mini-conference for the White House Conference on Aging. He has been quoted extensively by trade publications, as well as, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is also the former President of Hospitality for Cybex (NASDAQ cybi). Key Takeaways: Technology and AI will continue to drive innovation in senior living. Partnerships will enable implementation of mixed-use, multigenerational facilities to support the changing needs of older adults, (Atrium is partnered with progressive real estate developer The Related Companies, owner of Equinox fitness clubs and hotel. Wellness solutions such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy to increase cognitive function, salt therapy and IV infusions Senior living can take a page from hospitality—incorporating basics like an in-room TV Channel to post the daily activities and provide real-time staff and resident communication. Look for in-room wellness solutions like Hilton's Five Feet to Fitness to play a larger role with the new normal of Covid-19. Senior facilities must address additional challenges such as the hazard of falls.

When we think of hotels we tend to think of a few large brands that dominate the market. Marriott is the largest after having gobbled up with Starwood Group which had all the Sheraton brands. Hilton is #2 with about 30 brands under its umbrella, and Intercontinental Hotel Group which owns Holiday Inn and a host of brands is number three. There are remarkably few independent chains left. Hyatt remains largely independent. The Accor Group in France owns brands like Mercure, Ibis, Novotel, and Sofitel to name just a few. Some would think that the hotel industry is highly consolidated with a small number of players. From an operations standpoint, there is a lot of consolidation of brand ownership. But that doesn’t mean a lot of consolidation of hotel ownership. Some hotels are owned by the brand, but in fact most are franchise arrangements. Hotel owners are investors, like us, who happen to specialize in owning hotels instead of apartment buildings. There are all kinds of different plays in hotel ownership. Some specialize in resort properties. Others specialize in local hotels, the ones that crop up all over the city. These serve a small radius and have anywhere from 80 to 150 rooms. Some are combo hotels where you might find two hotels side by side on the same property with different brand positioning. One might be a suite hotel for more extended stays, and the other might be a more budget hotel for shorter transient stays. There are business hotels in the central business district or in the shadow of business parks. There are hotels that cater to convention centre traffic. All these segments are distinct businesses with unique client needs and distinct business models. Today, in the pandemic environment, most are hurting quite badly. There are a few rare exceptions. Some hotels that are driving distance from major population centres and are in vacation areas like Myrtle Beach are doing comparatively well. The rest are all losing money. I’ve been in discussion with a number of hotel owners over the past several months. Most had built a 90-150 day cash buffer into their plan. That assumed that they would have low occupancy. They assumed that the return to normal would start in late Spring and that by the fall, occupancies would be back to normal levels. Hotels are small businesses. They tie up a lot of capital and they have a lot of debt, but they don’t employ that many people. The largest number of staff members are fairly low wage earners. The huge fixed operating cost and debt service that hotels face is the one thing that they can’t do much about. They can cut costs temporarily by cutting staff. They can reach some agreements with their lenders for a few months. But that will save maybe a third of the expense for a finite period of time. Most of the hotel operators I spoke with said that they had enough cash to last until the fall, maybe September or October. It’s now August and there are no signs of significant recovery in the travel industry, and recovery in hospitality is definitely levelling off. We also see a difference in demand based on property type. In the midscale and economy segments, occupancy is roughly double that of the luxury segment. That means that corporate travel and luxury have not really started to pick up yet. This is going to be a long and slow recovery. The only thing driving the market right now is the summer vacation demand. This will diminish as schools reopen in August and will shrink further after labor day. Corporate travel shows no signs of picking up. Therein lies the worry for many hotel owners. The resurgence we are seeing is going to be short lived with a drop in occupancy starting in September, followed by a more severe drop if we see a resurgence in the number of Covid-19 cases. We will start to see high quality assets at discounted prices in the near future.

In this 17th episode, I talk with Darren Crawforth, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy Shanghai. Darren shared his experience going back to the office in China. He talks about the different mindset in China compared to other parts of the world and the infrastructure in China set up to manage the Coronavirus. As creative leader at the largest international agency in China, he shares how his team worked during the pandemic and how he found their work sped up and became more focused. He also mentioned the downside of the always-on life at home leading to overwork at one stage. Now back to the office, he feels that large group meetings aren't as efficient as they were working during the lockdown. Darren shares about the interesting changes in the ways brands are now doing ad campaigns in China to be more appropriate and relevant during Coronavirus. He also talks about the shift to doing advertising on e-commerce and live streaming in China. Specifically, he explains the very unique Chinese way the TMall site has become a powerful ecosystem for content, advertising, and shopping, where consumers spend much time than on Amazon in the U.S.Darren Crawforth was born and raised in the East Midlands, UK. His work has taken him around the world including New York, Boston, LA, Beijing and Shanghai, where he currently calls home. He's helped to define and design some of the world’s largest global brands such as Korean Air, Volkswagen, Johnny Walker, Hennessy, Burberry, Intercontinental Hotel Group and TOMS Shoes. He's as crazy about boundary-pushing electronic music as he is about understanding the mysteries of pickle fermentation. He currently lives in Shanghai with his wife and 3 rescue dogs.Darren's Linkedin ProfileDarrencrawforth.com

Dr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, craftsman of culture, and bestselling author of multiple books, including his latest book entitled, Relationomics: Business Powered by Relationships. Working with brands like GE Appliances, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Keller Williams and the Intercontinental Hotel Group, he has inspired and enabled countless people to find new passion […] The post Customer Experience Radio Welcomes: Dr. Randy Ross with Remarkable and Scott MacLellan with TouchPoint Support Services appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. RANDY ROSS, a keynote speaker, a bestselling author, a former Chief People Officer and currently the CEO of Remarkable!  THOUGHT #1Aggressively seek continuous feedbackTHOUGHT #2The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything. - Warren BuffettCONNECT:Website: DrRandyRoss.comWebsite: Remarkable!Book: Relationomics: Business Powered by RelationshipsBook: Remarkable!: Maximizing Results through Value CreationTwitter: @DrRandyRossLinkdIn: Dr. Randy RossBRAND & RESOURCE MENTIONS:GE - GE.comCox Communications - Cox.comCompass Group - Compass-Group.comChick-Fil-A - Chick-Fil-A.comKeller Williams - KW.comInternational Hotel Group - IHG.comAngela Raub - Leadercast.com360 Review - WikipediaWarren Buffett - WikipediaAC/DC - ACDC.comDon Yaeger - DonYaeger.comCoach Wooden - CoachWooden.com"The One Thing" - Gary Keller - The1Thing.comTiger Woods - TigerWoods.comAlan Stein Jr - AlanSteinJr.comKobe Bryant - WikipediaJohnny Manziel - WikipediaFrank & Ernest - FrankAndErnest.comCHART -  Chart.orgHard Rock International – HardRock.comThoughts That Rock – ThoughtsThatRock.comBig Kettle Drum - BigKettleDrum.comBlack Sheep: Unleash the Extraordinary, Awe-Inspiring, Undiscovered You (Brant Menswar) - FindYourBlackSheep.comRock ‘n Roll With It: Overcoming the Challenge of Change (Brant Menswar) – RocknRollWithIt.comCulture That Rocks: How to Revolutionize Your Company’s Culture (Jim Knight) – CultureThatRocks.comCannonball Kids’ cancer – CannonballKidscancer.orgKeppler Speakers - KepplerSpeakers.comCertified Rock Star - CertifiedRockStar.comSpectacle Photography (Show/Website Photos) – SpectaclePhoto.comJeffrey Todd “JT” Keel (Show Music) - JT KeelRANDY ROSS' BIO:Dr. Randy Ross is a compelling communicator, craftsman of culture and bestselling author of multiple books, including his latest book entitled, Relationomics: Business Powered by Relationships.Working with brands like GE Appliances, Cox Communications, Compass Group, Chick-fil-A, Keller Williams and the Intercontinental Hotel Group, he has inspired and enabled countless people to find new passion and purpose in their work, work better together in teams and have greater influence and impact.When people like what they do, they do it better. When people like those they do it with, they work better together. When they like the impact they are having, they find meaning and fulfillment in what they do. Dr. Ross helps them find what they really like, while building healthier relationships and pursuing a passion beyond self.As the CEO of Remarkable and a former Chief People Officer, Dr. Randy Ross utilizes his experience to engage audiences worldwide with his keen insight and contagious humor. He is a messenger of practical wisdom and needed hope, untangling the biggest challenges facing today’s business leader, tomorrow’s workforce and the future marketplace. He lives with his wife, LuAnne, and four children in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alex Collmer, the founder and CEO of VidMob, the world’s premier technology platform to help brands more intelligently use data and scale their mobile advertising creative. Since founding the company in 2015, he has raised more than $45M and counts many of the world’s leading brands and agencies as clients. An engineer by training, Collmer’s career has always been at the intersection of technology, design, and consumer entertainment as those sectors have evolved. Prior to founding VidMob, he was the co-founder and CEO of Autumn Games, a premier publisher of video game franchises. Under his leadership, Autumn Games developed successful partnerships with such personalities as Jimmie Johnson, the 7-time NASCAR champion and companies like Def Jam, the leading urban culture brand, as well as the award-winning fighting game franchise, Skullgirls. VidMob focuses on designing technology to make human creativity more scalable, accessible and efficient, enabling brands to understand which creative attributes are driving performance. Built on a proprietary pipeline of machine learning services and data processing, and integrated with social platform APIs, their technology service - Agile Creative Studio - provides precise creative insights that are immediately actionable. Over the past two years alone, VidMob has seen its revenue grow by over 35 times, and is currently an official creative partner of Facebook, Instagram, Google/YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn among others. Its roster of clients includes global brands such as Bayer, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Ikea and Neutrogena, as well as disruptor brands like True & Co and Acorns. VidMob also works with global creative and media agencies including Publicis, Ogilvy and Universal McCann. I learn more about how VidMob focuses on designing technology to make human creativity more scalable, accessible, and efficient, enabling brands to understand which creative attributes are driving performance.

Andy Smith has excelled in many executive-level positions in IT, including Vice President positions within the IT departments of some of the World’s largest companies. In his most recent role, he was the Vice President of Global Infrastructure, Cloud, Operations and End User Services for Intercontinental Hotel Group, PLC… a 4.3 Billion dollar company with over 35,000 employees, spread across more than 100 countries. But as cool as that sounds, it’s nothing compared to the story of how he got there. Take a listen.  For more information visit Aerocominc.com

In today’s episode, I am going to give you the details of Intercontinental Hotel Group better known as IHG.

LM Media Worldwide a.k.a. Kleinfeld Hotel Blocks is a FREE service that helps thousands of couples book their wedding room blocks every year. They have been in business over 7 years and started it because from a hotel perspective they love wedding business but find it challenging working with people who aren't in the industry and from a bridal perspective. It's typically the first time they're booking a hotel block so they also find it challenging not knowing what they can ask for, how to negotiate, how the contract works, etc. They are the middle woman who understands both sides so we make it easier for both the hotel and the couples planning their wedding.  Laura Krueger and Michelle Donson are the passionate founders of LM Media Worldwide a.k.a. Kleinfeld Hotel Blocks. Both had been involved in hospitality sales for over 30 combined years, when they realized how their expertise could assist couple's booking a hotel block by providing them with the buying power of a larger company and combining it with exceptional personalized service of a smaller business. With this dream in mind and a passion for hospitality, they launched LM Media Worldwide a.k.a. Kleinfeld Hotel Blocks  The service is free, sourcing and negotiating the contract for any hotel room needs as well as catering.  Get Started her  http://www.kleinfeldhotelblocks.com/a... Follow them on: https://www.facebook.com/KleinfeldHot... or https://www.instagram.com/kleinfeldho... Bio for Laura Krueger:  A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Laura has been a successful entrepreneur, owning multiple health food stores as well as a restaurant and catering business for over 10 years. She later transitioned to the event planning and hospitality industry, where she gained 15 years of experience working with Radisson, Starwood and Wyndham Hotel Group. During this time she directed many sales teams, worked in Caribbean divisions and exceeded in National Sales. She has negotiated thousands of contracts on behalf of her clients, combining her extensive knowledge and relationships of the hotel industry with her catering event expertise to help find the perfect hotels for her clients.   Bio for Michelle Donson:  A lifelong New Yorker, Michelle has over 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry and earned a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from the University of Delaware. She has worked with the world’s top hotel brands including Marriott, Starwood, InterContinental Hotel Group, and Wyndham Hotel Group. During this time she has directed many sales teams and has exceeded in Global Sales. With her extensive hotel sales experience, negotiating skills, and industry relationships, Michelle is uniquely qualified to help find great hotels at great prices and negotiate the best contracts for her clients.

Richard "Red" Brion is essentially an American ronin: a samurai without a master. Red has spent years in Navy intelligence, serving in Iraq, and years with Blackwater doing some crazy shit in Japan and Afghanistan. He's done quite a bit in Africa as well. And he's recently made the move over the last couple of years, taking his skills and experience from masterless warrior to hyperlocal, urban agriculture. As founder and CEO of Revolution Agriculture, Red is tackling the Global Food Security Problem through technology-enabled food production and land optimization. They have patented a system that makes it possible to grow virtually any crop, anywhere. Show Notes Revolution Agriculture Follow Red on LinkedIn Theme music by: Ruel Morales Audio Transcript Brian Schoenborn 0:01 Hello, Hello, everyone. Welcome friends. Our guest today is like an American ronin, which is essentially a samurai without a master. Red here has spent a lot of time in the Navy serving in Iraq over there. He has spent years with Blackwater, doing some crazy shit in Japan and Afghanistan and stuff like that. He's done quite a bit in Africa as well. And he's recently made the move, over the last couple of years, he's made the move from masterless warrior into hyperlocal, urban agriculture. Give it up for my friend, Richard Brian. Brian Schoenborn 0:52 My name is Brian Schoenborn. I am an explorer of people, places, and culture. In my travels, spanning over 20 countries across four continents, I've had the pleasure of engaging in authentic conversations with amazingly interesting people. These are their stories, on location and unfiltered. Presented by 8B Media, this is Half the City. Brian Schoenborn 1:21 This is fucking low-fi bro. It's just a couple of microphones in a goddamn recording studio, not even a studio. This is a makeshift this is this is a this is a private couch-filled office in a WeWork. There's nothing more to it. microphones Adobe Audition. I'm not going to tell you any more about that. But that's pretty much it. Richard Brion 1:48 I mean, it could be worse. We could we could be in a coffee shop trying to do this. It does happen. Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 1:53 Let me get that a litte closer. Richard Brion 1:54 Oh, getting up close and personal, now are we? Brian Schoenborn 1:57 Yeah, I mean, you want to keep it about a fist. You know just just like captures, you want to fist it. Brian Schoenborn 2:04 I'm greasing the gears right now. Richard Brion 2:10 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 2:13 So Richard, Red. I'm going to call you Red because we know. Richard Brion 2:18 Yeah make sense. Brian Schoenborn 2:19 We know the siutation. Richard Brion 2:19 I'm a ginger bastard anyway. Brian Schoenborn 2:21 This guy's fucking beard matches his grape. Richard Brion 2:26 Yeah pretty much there's, I was watching this thing the other day where…he's a YouTube star and he was making fun of the fact that he doesn't tan and he's like I just go from white to red and he's like, is tan the color after red because I never seem to get that far. Well, yeah, that's about the size of it when it comes to my head so Brian Schoenborn 2:46 I don't think I've ever seen you not red. Richard Brion 2:48 Yeah. The name fits. What can you What can I say? Brian Schoenborn 2:54 So dude, let's let's get into it a little bit. Um, you you were telling me the other day that you just came back from a couple of backpacking trips right? Richard Brion 3:03 Yeah, here in Washington State. Brian Schoenborn 3:05 Tell me about that. I want to hear about this. And then I want to go into that other stuff. Like, this is the most recent shit. So let's hear about this. Richard Brion 3:11 Yeah. So it was just a, there're backpacking trips in an area and then Alpine lakes wilderness here in Washington, you have to have a permit for, it's a lottery permit. And you get to spend, you know, between a couple of days and up near two weeks out there just kind of packing around seeing these really awesome Alpine lakes that, you know, are pretty much untouched and fairly pristine. The mountain goats are super aggressive up there. Brian Schoenborn 3:37 Really? Richard Brion 3:37 It's actually kind of funny. Yeah, they, they, for whatever reason, there's not a lot of naturally occurring salt and they're addicted to salt. So humans urinate, goats come and try to get the salt out of it. Brian Schoenborn 3:50 So they're drinking pee? Richard Brion 3:51 Yeah, basically. So they asked you to like… Brian Schoenborn 3:54 They're like fucking Bear Grylls! In animal form. Richard Brion 3:58 So basically, they they asked you to, you know, urinate on the rocks because it makes it so when the goats go after it, they don't decimate the plant life and everything else. Brian Schoenborn 4:06 So they encourage you to pee on the rocks? Richard Brion 4:08 Yes, so that it doesn't. So that way the goats don't end up tearing everything up. Brian Schoenborn 4:12 Nice. Richard Brion 4:12 But the funny thing is, is that goats have gotten so used to it that they're actually become a little bit aggressive about it trying to get as close to Brian Schoenborn 4:17 They're like, “Give me your pee!” Richard Brion 4:19 Pretty much Brian Schoenborn 4:21 Like a fucking crackhead, they're like “I will suck your dick for some pee!” Richard Brion 4:25 So basically, there was a there was a couple of there was a couple of girls in the group that kind of actually almost got like chased down for it. It was pretty funny. I in the morning, you just even trying to just go check out one of the lakes and a waterfall just to take pictures, and you look up and there's a goat they're like, “are you gonna pee?” Like, you're like, “wait a minute.” Brian Schoenborn 4:46 They're like giving you the look. Richard Brion 4:48 Yeah, and they follow you down there and they basically like oddly feels like they've got you pinned up against this rock face. Like, either you pee or I knock you off the cliff but I mean, outside of that it was pretty awesome. We got to see a deer right up close, it really didn't care too much that we were around. And then on the way down from the second trip as well, there was a pretty sizable buck that basically was just standing there staring at us, like “what's up people?” Richard Brion 5:18 So they kind of get up there this it's odd, they're still pristine, they still come around, but then they're getting used to humans enough and as we're not being too much of a threat that they kind of just leave you alone. Brian Schoenborn 5:28 Huh, nice. Richard Brion 5:29 And then of course, we had one of my friends that I grew up with since the time we were like 10. He came out with us, and he ended up leaving his tent open just a smidge and a little field mouse came in. And he's not really afraid of much but he screams like a girl when a mouse gets in his tent. And that's not to say a bad thing about screaming like a girl but it when he's got a voice that isn't well suited for that falsetto scream. So when I'm when I'm saying scream like a girl it's more it's this high pitch sound that he makes that isn't within his normal vocal vocal range so it's pretty interesting. Richard Brion 6:10 Woke us up, and, you know, but the the lakes are amazing we got to see some peaks of mountains and stuff or ranges and then we got to see some crazy people actually doing some approaches and some straight up rock climbs on what's called Prusick. So yeah, it was it was a good time lots of cool stuff to see you gotta you know kind of clear out, not have to pay attention and one thing: the water taste better. Even though you have to filter it it really tastes better. Brian Schoenborn 6:38 I bet, man. Richard Brion 6:39 And it's so cold which is so awesome. Brian Schoenborn 6:42 Really. It's that's that fresh mountain water. Richard Brion 6:44 Yeah, it's all most of its all glacier or snow base filled and there's still snow up there. Oddly enough at the tail end or the middle of July in Washington state in the North Cascades. So yeah, we got to do a little snow sliding. Brian Schoenborn 6:58 Nice. Richard Brion 6:58 Yeah. In order to get is a little bit faster and more fun. Brian Schoenborn 7:02 Nice. So so for people listening, we're currently in Seattle. And in case you haven't realized it at this point, this show is pretty fucking mobile. You know, I gotta make sure that you guys know that where we are right now. So we had so you have some reference, right? It's maybe some imagination is to like, Look, you know, Seattle is fucking surrounded by god damn mountains Richard Brion 7:25 and water. Brian Schoenborn 7:26 And water. Exactly. And there's so much water so much mountains the Alpines like you're talking about the Cascades Richard Brion 7:32 and for those of you East coasters you don't know mountains till you've been here. Brian Schoenborn 7:35 Dude. Richard Brion 7:36 The Appalachians are hills. Brian Schoenborn 7:38 I remember when I was in when I was in Boston, people were like, “Oh we're gonna go to Killington in Vermont,” and I like check it out. It's like fucking ice. Like they're they're black diamonds are like bunny hill. Richard Brion 7:49 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 7:51 Like Okay, alright buddy, check out why don't why do you come by Colorado sometime or check out Seattle or Tahoe or you know, Big Bear. Richard Brion 8:00 See some actual…see some actual mountains. Brian Schoenborn 8:03 I only went skiing once, and the one time it was at Breckenridge. And my buddy who is like his big time snowboarder, and his, his brother-in-law's a professional snowboarder and snowboard instructor and shit, and he's like, “Here, have some fucking skis”, and he takes me down the blues first. I don't even know what the fuck I'm doing, dude. Brian Schoenborn 8:22 It was a…it was it was intimidating. Let's put it that way. I mean, I did it. Richard Brion 8:27 I don't know about you. But that's sort of how I learned how to swim. It was just Brian Schoenborn 8:30 Really? They just fucking threw you in there? Richard Brion 8:32 Yeah, here's here's a lake just you're getting tossed out of the boat. You'll figure it out or you don't I mean, sometimes especially the warm things. Sometimes it doesn't work out so well. Brian Schoenborn 8:41 I just remember the first time I went down, like, I got off the ski lift and I didn't know how to stand up. So like, so like, I'm like crouching with my ass is almost touching the fucking snow. And I'm still moving forward, and I'm like, “Oh shit!” Richard Brion 8:54 I'm already moving. I'm not even standing. Brian Schoenborn 8:58 I was going down the hill here. And I'm like not far from the ski live like I'm like I could see it in the distance I can see people like going up, and I fell and my both skis fell off my feet. Right? And like, I tried to stand up to go after the skis and I fucking sunk like waist deep in the god damned snow. Richard Brion 9:17 Post hold on that. That's awesome. Brian Schoenborn 9:19 People are looking at me. from above, they're going, “Hey! You okay?” I'm just like, “Leave me alone in my fucking misery.” Richard Brion 9:25 I'll just slide down. I'll just I'll just get on my stomach and slide down. That's That's hilarious. But no, yes. So the to get into this path. To get up into this part of the mountains though. It's a step you have to earn it. It's about six miles from the trailhead to the top but the last mile, you end up or it's point nine of a mile you end up taking on something in the neighborhood of like 2000 feet of elevation. Brian Schoenborn 9:56 That's pretty intense, dude. Richard Brion 9:58 Yeah, it was it. was definitely pretty interesting. It took us I there's a few different there's three little pockets of our group. The first guy took longer to eat lunch at the bottom than it did to get up, for him to walk up it but. Brian Schoenborn 10:13 Really? Richard Brion 10:13 Then again he's a former Marine. Brian Schoenborn 10:15 So he's like a mountain goat basically. Richard Brion 10:16 Yeah he's a former Marine mountain goat and spend time in Iraq, and yeah he basically did it in if not two hours, or if it took him the full two hours it was somewhere hour 45, two hours. We were a little behind him took us about two hours and 45 and then the the the stragglers in our group still did pretty good. They did it just over three hours. Just for that point nine miles and we're talking point nine of a mile that's not even that far. And it took you know, nearly three hours. Brian Schoenborn 10:45 Three hours, like that's crazy, dude. Richard Brion 10:47 Yeah, it moves up. I forget what the pitch ends up being but you're definitely doing for every foot forward. you're definitely doing some feet up. So and it definitely burns out the quads. Brian Schoenborn 10:58 Oh for sure, dude. That reminds me of… Richard Brion 11:00 …especially carrying 50 pounds. Brian Schoenborn 11:02 Right. I mean that well, that reminds me when I was in Beijing, me and three of my friends. We went camping on the Great Wall. And so so my buddy Yo, shout out to Josef. He's in Hong Kong right now. But he's, he's, uh, yeah, he actually hiked the great wall like 40 something times. He recently scaled. He recently did Mount Everest base camp, and he did it without a fucking Sherpa. Like he mapped it out himself and like, he's, this dude's a fucking hiker, dude, let's put it that way. Brian Schoenborn 11:34 But he mapped out this stretch of the wall because you know, it's technically illegal to camp on the Great Wall. So we found the stretch because, you know, it's 3000 miles long or whatever it is. So there's parts that are like unrestored, you know, not a lot of people go to. Richard Brion 11:48 You get too far out and yeah. Brian Schoenborn 11:50 And he mapped out the stretch, which was crazy. It was like rubble, dude. So for anybody that's if you haven't If you don't know much about the Great Wall if you haven't been there, it's 3000 miles but it's along a mountain spine. It's like a lot like on the ridge. Right? So like, when we get to the stretch not only was there like no parking area, you know, it was just fucking out in the boonies, right. But, you know, we stayed the night so we had our backpacks full of food and water and all that other stuff. And I swear to God, the first 45 minutes was like scrambling like hand and feet up this mountain ridge. Just to get to the wall, dude. Richard Brion 12:32 Yeah, I mean, you'd have to, based on where they are, Geographically where it is. There is a mountain range and between Mongolia and China, so. Brian Schoenborn 12:41 I mean, that's why they built the Wall. To keep the goddamn Mongolians out. Richard Brion 12:44 Yeah. And they worked for a long time. But they figured it out. Brian Schoenborn 12:51 They did. Richard Brion 12:55 Ask the Khans. Brian Schoenborn 12:56 Exactly. Well, I think they built it to keep the Khans out. Richard Brion 13:00 Yeah I'm pretty sure. Brian Schoenborn 13:01 I mean, Gengis and all the you know, I think Kublai Khan might have might have figured it out but Richard Brion 13:06 I can't remember if it was coupla or it might have been cool i'd figured it out but Brian Schoenborn 13:10 but it was you know was an ordeal but it was you know that was kind of cool like as an aside like that was kind of cool to like, you know, be in this area like like the tourist areas of the Great Wall is like full of people. Richard Brion 13:23 Oh, yeah. Brian Schoenborn 13:23 Right? I mean, they were restored in the last like 30 years it's all like new looking brick and shit like that. But just like it's like… Richard Brion 13:29 easy to get to take good photos. Brian Schoenborn 13:32 So like, like in, in Chinese and Chinese slang, they ren shan ren hai, which means people mountain people sea, which is just like fucking people everywhere. Kind of like, Well, you know, when you're when you're at a sports game, or a concert and you're leaving, you know, kind of like that. But like, all day, every day. Richard Brion 13:49 Yeah. Tokyo's pretty much that way all day every day. Brian Schoenborn 13:53 But Tokyo people have this sense of common courtesy. Richard Brion 13:58 Oh, of course. Brian Schoenborn 13:58 So it's a little bit different. Richard Brion 14:00 I mean, there's just a ton of people everywhere. Brian Schoenborn 14:02 I love China. I love Beijing. Don't get me wrong, but there's, you know, there's some they've got some room to grow in terms of stuff like that. Richard Brion 14:11 Yeah, but there's not a culture on the planet that doesn't. Brian Schoenborn 14:13 Of course. Um, but so the point being was that that long winded thing, like the point being is that we found the stretch where we didn't see a single other person for a day and a half, dude. On the Great Wall. Right, like, that's crazy. So yeah, so I can relate, in a sense, and I know, like being in the middle of nowhere, and Richard Brion 14:35 Actually, it's quite nice. It really is. I was talking to another person about it a couple weeks ago that it can be one of those temporary transformative things where the world is getting to you you're looking for a reset on everything. Some people think that you need a near death experience to really kind of set your course or to end up really influencing your life now, something like that. Brian Schoenborn 14:58 Sometimes you just need to be like out in the middle of nowhere, like Like, for example, I like I really enjoy stand up paddleboarding. And I like it, you know, for the workout, of course, but like what I really like about it is I can be 100 yards out from the beach, but I'm miles away from anybody. Richard Brion 15:15 Yeah, Brian Schoenborn 15:16 You know? Richard Brion 15:17 It can be that simple. But yeah, so you don't have to you don't have to go so crazy and do you know, 30 miles and four days in order to really kind of get it, but it can be anything for some people. I mean, I've got a friend that does it in music. He goes out to his garage, and it basically changes his life for a while. Yeah. Until the people creep back. Brian Schoenborn 15:38 Yeah, exactly. That sounds really cool. That's so So tell me a little bit about like, let's go back. I want to go back back back back back. Like, you know, talk about your Navy stuff. Talk about your Blackwater shit, because, you know, even with those backpacking stuff, like there's, there's stuff that's like, I'm sure there's stuff that you took from there that's still relevant to this sort of thing, right. Richard Brion 15:57 Yeah. I mean, moreso the Blackwater days in the post military contractor days, did a lot more trampling around in the mountains, places like Afghanistan, which oddly enough: Afghanistan and New Mexico sorry New Mexico but I mean, you're just the Afghanistan in the United States. Geographically, it's pretty much the same the way the structure… Brian Schoenborn 16:21 Shout out to New Mexico. Richard Brion 16:22 Yeah, the way the the structure of the cities are set up. It's actually oddly similar. You've got the Albuquerque to Santa Fe, which is pretty much your Kabul to Bagram kind of thing. And then you go up into the Taos mountains in New Mexico and that's like heading up towards the Salong Pass of Afghanistan. Looks pretty much the same. Probably a good reason that Jarhead the movie was filmed actually in Albuquerque. Brian Schoenborn 16:44 Was it? Richard Brion 16:44 Yeah, so there, there's a whole lot to it and I guess I shouldn't shout so badly in this microphone before I start creating some feedback. Brian Schoenborn 16:51 Oh, you can shout all you want, dude. It's all good. Richard Brion 16:52 It sounded like I was getting a little bit of reverb. Brian Schoenborn 16:55 If you see it turning red. That's when you know that you're saying too much. Richard Brion 16:58 That I'm saying too much? Or too loud? Brian Schoenborn 17:03 Pack it up. Richard Brion 17:06 It's the Supreme, the Supreme Court light. You're green, you're good yellow starts to run out of time you hit red. Nope. Stop talking. Oh, yeah. So I mean, Afghanistan, I learned quite a bit about being able to carry weight through mountainous terrain and whatnot. And one of the things you learn that's interesting is when you're going downhill, is foot placement can be incredibly important in terms of how you do it and the heel stomp activity that most people don't do…only when they're in snow, it actually helps out quite a bit. Brian Schoenborn 17:38 What is this heel stomp activity? Richard Brion 17:38 So we have a tendency to walk heel, toe, heel toe, or when we're going downhill or runners do they go more to a mid strike toward their foot is. But if you actually kind of lean back, stand straight up when you got weight and you kind of straighten your leg and then drop your heel first, solidly into the loose terrain. Whether that's sand or snow and then you kind of cant, you kind of cant your feet outward almost like you're doing a kind of like a military salute stance. You get that 45 degree angle. You just set your feet… Brian Schoenborn 17:50 Yeah, heels together. Feet slightly apart, toes slightly apart. Richard Brion 18:17 Yeah. And then just kind of step each one at a time that way and it makes for good solid footing when you're not and you can move pretty quick downhill that way. Brian Schoenborn 18:26 That's interesting, like Richard Brion 18:27 I learned it from…oddly enough, I learned it from the Afghans. I grew up around mountains, and it's not something I've ever done. And I see them run down these steep sandy faces and I'm like, “Wait a minute, how did you do that?” They're like, “Oh, you know, we know how to do it.” Brian Schoenborn 18:43 So that reminds me of this. This time I did. I did a three day, two night homestay in northern Vietnam, like Sapa Valley, the foothills of the Himalayas, right? Richard Brion 18:55 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 18:55 Um, I was in good cycling shape at that point. So like my legs were strong or whatever. But like, I my guide was this lady she was like, I don't know, probably 30 something, 30 ish. But like, fucking four feet tall. Brian Schoenborn 19:09 She's tiny you know, minority minority village person, that sort of thing. And she wore these like, these sandals these cheap ass plastic sandals with just that wide band that goes across. It's not a thong, it's anything like that. And holy shit dude, she just boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo up and down up and down, like no no beaten path, right like we're going up and down these Himalayan the foothills, right? Richard Brion 19:37 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 19:37 Just going up and down and stuff like mud path and you know and she's just flying dude. And like so I took it upon myself like, “I gotta keep up at her.” Point of pride. Richard Brion 19:47 Spoken like a true marine. Brian Schoenborn 19:49 Exactly. Richard Brion 19:53 That reminds me I one time in Thailand, you know they they've got the little Muay Thai boxers. Brian Schoenborn 20:00 Oh sure. Yeah. Richard Brion 20:01 They always have to tell the Marines when you come into port don't get in. Don't Don't do it. Don't do it. Sure enough, there's always a marine. It's like, I can try this. And this dude, you know, the funniest ones are when they're like, 14, 15 year old kids and they think that it's they think that Oh, I'm a big bad marine that the Marine Corps trained me and then… Brian Schoenborn 20:19 This guy looks scrawny. Richard Brion 20:20 Yeah, within seconds they get their ass whooped by this little, four foot tall 85 pound Thai kid that yeah, he's just tough as nails, but spoken like a true marine I got taken upon myself to keep up with him. Richard Brion 20:35 The few, the proud All right. Well, unfortunately isn't it isn't an old biblical proverb that says pride cometh before the fall? Brian Schoenborn 20:35 Right? It's a point of pride man. That's how we roll. Brian Schoenborn 20:48 There it is. Spoken like a true squid. Richard Brion 20:57 We, yeah, we some of us, we try to we try to finesse it a little bit rather than just brute force everything. Brian Schoenborn 21:03 Grace, fall gracefully. Richard Brion 21:04 Yes. Brian Schoenborn 21:05 Tell me a little bit more about this Afghanistan stuff. So this was in your in this wasn't we were working with Blackwater or was this the Navy? Richard Brion 21:10 So I was doing I was Brian Schoenborn 21:13 like, what timeframe was this? Richard Brion 21:14 So this is like, when was that? It was like 2004 or five ish. Brian Schoenborn 21:21 Okay, so that's likely the heat of Afghanistan. Richard Brion 21:25 I was at Well, it was in a weird it was in a weird transition like right at the beginning. It was on that transitioning period from still being really hot in everywhere to where then Kabul and some of the other places, Bagram and whatnot. Even parts of Nangahar and whatnot. It kind of settled down to kind of an equilibrium for quite some time. We were able to go… Brian Schoenborn 21:48 Was this before or after they put Karzai in power? Richard Brion 21:52 This was during Karzai. Karzai been in for a couple of years by this point, I think or at least or at least a year. Brian Schoenborn 22:00 I'm just trying to refresh memory cuz, you know, like I was active during 911. Right? I didn't serve obviously. But I mean, I didn't go over there for reasons out of my control. But, you know, my unit was a first to go Iraq, right? Richard Brion 22:07 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 22:11 But it was Afghanistan first so it was 911, Afghanistan, and then for whatever reason, they said, Hey, we gotta go to Iraq too, which was bullshit. But that's a whole nother thing. Richard Brion 22:23 Were you first Marines? Brian Schoenborn 22:24 My my unit was 3/1. Richard Brion 22:26 3/1? Brian Schoenborn 22:27 Third Battalion, First Marines. We were I MEF. We fought in Fallujah. Richard Brion 22:31 Yeah. My uh… Brian Schoenborn 22:32 We were the first battle in Fallujah. Richard Brion 22:33 My buddy that's a border patrol. He was in Afghanistan at the time, before I met him. He was active duty Marine for 3/1. Brian Schoenborn 22:42 No shit? Richard Brion 22:43 Yeah, he was a … Brian Schoenborn 22:44 Do you know what company he was in? Richard Brion 22:46 311. I want to say. Brian Schoenborn 22:48 Well, no, it's no No, no, no, no, no, it's three one and then the. So I was weapons company. Yeah, but it was like Lima, India and Kilo. Richard Brion 22:57 I would have done what I would have to ask him. But Brian Schoenborn 23:00 Lima, India, Kilo and Weapons Company. I was in Weapons Company. Was he rifle man or was he a weapons guy? Richard Brion 23:02 He was. He was infantry straight up grant. He was. He was the Brian Schoenborn 23:06 0311? Richard Brion 23:07 Yeah, he was 0311. He was he was the sergeant for his platoon. The actual, the Soldier of Fortune magazine actually, at one point there was a photo taken. So he was the Marine Sergeant that was actually tasked with doing the Marcus Luttrell recovery after, and the interesting story was we were in the same place basically at the same time didn't know each other yet. So it was with Blackwater. We were in Kabul. Brian Schoenborn 23:34 We might have even been in boot camp together. That's weird. That's fucking me up. Richard Brion 23:38 He's younger Yeah, I think he's younger but um, so he he's closer. But yeah, so anyway, so Brian Schoenborn 23:46 So 3/1 didn't, we were not in Afghanistan. The unit that went to Afghanistan before like the first ones in was 1/5. Richard Brion 23:54 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 23:54 First Battalion, fifth Marines. Richard Brion 23:55 I had them backwards. They were also saying it was 1/5 was Iraq and 3/1 was Afghanistan. Brian Schoenborn 24:00 They were also based in Camp Pendleton. They were near us. So I was in Camp Horno, which is kind of the it's like the coastal kind of North ish area. One five was right at the border of the base. I hope I'm not giving away government secrets, sorry, government. But ish ish, you know, but kind of kind of kind of at the, you know, kind of near the border between, you know, between San Diego and Orange County. Richard Brion 24:26 Yeah. And, but to funny, the interesting thing was is so during the whole Lone Survivor incident, I was in Kabul with Blackwater and a bunch of the Blackwater team were were former SEALs that were actually good friends with a lot of those guys. Brian Schoenborn 24:44 Oh shit, man. Richard Brion 24:45 So when it went down twice, we actually were planning, sending taking a helicopter down and Nangahar and getting out towards that area and jumping into the recovery mission until there was a… at first it we were having the green line and somebody decided was probably not the right idea to have private contractors handling that kind of thing. Richard Brion 25:05 So, so my buddy, because helicopters and air support was off limits because of the two helicopters getting shot down. So he was the sergeant that led the platoon on foot to go in, and they got ambushed. And then during the ambush, I don't know, I still don't know. And I'm not sure even he knows how the photograph was taken. But it ended up becoming one of the Marine Corps coins as well. There's a picture of Marines squatting down behind a rock: one with a with a rifle aimed, the other one making a phone call. And that photo made Soldier of Fortune and it was also made a Marine Corps coin and my buddy's that sergeant, is one of those two guys that are memorialized in that coin. Brian Schoenborn 25:45 That's crazy, dude. Richard Brion 25:46 Then he ended up becoming a contractor, working with me in Blackwater in Japan, then we went to Iraq together with another contracting company and… Brian Schoenborn 25:52 So so for late for so the listeners out there, let me let me let me explain what a private contractor for Blackwater is in terms of you can understand. He's a fucking mercenary. Right? I mean paid, you know you're for-hire security services in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. Does that sound…is that fair? Is that accurate? Richard Brion 26:15 Yeah, pretty much. Brian Schoenborn 26:16 He's just like, “Yeah whatever, you know, it's all in a day's work.” Richard Brion 26:20 Well, I mean it. So it's a perspective thing. Brian Schoenborn 26:23 Yeah, for sure. Of course. Richard Brion 26:24 So I sit down and I watched the show the Deadliest Catch from time to time you know, like, crazy assed crab fisherman and I think that is the craziest… Brian Schoenborn 26:31 That's a crazy fucking job but that also pays well, Richard Brion 26:33 Well, of course it does. and… Brian Schoenborn 26:35 it was like six months and they make like six figures in six like, Richard Brion 26:38 Yeah, of course. But to me, I think that it's crazy. It's a crazy ass job. Now, a good chunk of those guys would think that what I was doing back in the day, as a contractor with Blackwater and all this stuff was crazy stupid. And I mean, when you think about it, there's some there's some dumb things and we called it delayed death a little bit as you're dead being there. It's just a matter of if your card got called what while you're actually in country or not, but It's perspective. Richard Brion 27:01 You know, for me, those those Deadliest Catch people were way crazier than I was doing. But then again, it's because I was doing a job that I was well trained to do and well equipped for. Richard Brion 27:11 And I knew my equipment no different than an electrician knows his pliers and his wire strippers and everything else no different than a crab fisherman knows his nets in gear. For me, I always thought the distinction was is that humans are a lot more predictable than nature. So So when you're out there, even when you're even when you're surprised in an ambush, there's still things that humans do that are predictable on some level. So you can still make plans on some degree and you can still rely on them with some level of reliability, but nature just does whatever the hell it wants. Brian Schoenborn 27:11 Sure. Brian Schoenborn 27:45 There's no stopping nature, dude. Richard Brion 27:45 I mean, even when they're even when there's weather predictions and weather forecasts. I mean, Brian Schoenborn 27:50 Weathermen are never right, man. Richard Brion 27:51 Yeah, especially in these places, right. So, I mean, you were in in China too. The South China Sea? Brian Schoenborn 27:58 Oh, dude, they have typhoons all the time, man. Richard Brion 28:00 I know and it's so unpredictable. So you're going out into this thing with against effectively an opponent or a foe that you can't predict anything. You're just flying by the seat of your pants all of the time hoping for the best. So, I mean, that's, I guess that's what perspective is. So yeah, it was some crazy environments. You know, Afghanistan Kabul, you know, Nangahar, Salong. Up there in Iraq. I was mostly I was in Baghdad proper, but then we were in Diwaniya, which if you want to go look that up that was that was a fun show. It's on. Brian Schoenborn 28:33 Let's look it up right now. I wanna see what you're talking about. Richard Brion 28:36 So yeah, so it was a camp, or that Camp Echo? In Diwania. So this camp, when we first when Yeah, there it is, right there. Diwania, Iraq. So it's a couple hours south. Brian Schoenborn 28:57 I'll post information on this. What do we do when we post The show but yeah… Richard Brion 29:01 Oh l ook at that Polish troops in Iraq, Camp Echo. So so basically it was this little postage stamp of a forward operating base in central Iraq near near the Nijef province. But this thing was so small. I mean, it was literally probably the size of a small school compound. Brian Schoenborn 29:21 The camp or the town? Richard Brion 29:22 The entire camp. Brian Schoenborn 29:24 Wow, that's tiny. Richard Brion 29:24 In the in this town yeah and so they had this tire factory in town and whatnot and so it was first… Brian Schoenborn 29:30 It's the last place you would expect a military encampment to be. That's good shit. Richard Brion 29:36 But it was kind of a key point for the Nijef province for the US Army Corps of Engineers but this so initially post the invasion and us trying to figure out what to do you know, we brought in the coalition. The Spanish took it, and no offense to those Spaniards out there but you kind of you lost it. You got overrun. And it's because the city, I mean, and to be fair, it's not It's not as it wasn't a super large base, the area would go through ebbs and flows where the insurgency would build up and it would dissipate, but eventually they got overrun. Richard Brion 30:11 So then the Polish took over. And they were the ones running the camp when we were there with a small contingent of US Army, Military Police. And so and and basically the it was this kind of school kids playing with each other, where the Polish would completely be out in town, in full force, and then they would slowly start drawing back towards the base. The insurgency would get more and more emboldened by it. And then at some point, we ended up having to drop a MOAB, which is a “mother of all bombs” into the middle of the city, kind of kind of reset the situation. Richard Brion 30:55 The Polish went back out, they kind of held it and then they got drawn back to the base. So Diwaniya was probably the dodgiest place I was it was we were getting rocketed pretty much every night. Brian Schoenborn 31:07 Those are RPGs, right? Richard Brion 31:09 155 Katooshes. Brian Schoenborn 31:12 I'm not familiar with that. Richard Brion 31:14 So usually you know one five fives are your largest you can over the one of the some of the largest there are a lot louder, bigger than standard mortar there, you know. 155 millimeter. Brian Schoenborn 31:25 Mortars are no joke. I know some I remember, I had some mortar men in my CAAT platoon. Yeah, I mean, those guys are pretty hardcore. Richard Brion 31:32 I mean rules of engagement. This was starting to change as well. So we weren't allowed to specifically do straight up counter battery. Which for those that don't know counter battery just means we use sound to triangulate a rough position of where they might have been coming from. And then you just rocket everything back. Brian Schoenborn 31:49 Yeah. Richard Brion 31:49 Which is effective in certain circumstances, but at the same time, Brian Schoenborn 31:54 It's also essentially spray and pray. Richard Brion 31:55 Yeah, there's there can be significant collateral damage, and so we were, we were drawing back on that and the problem was they were putting their their rockets and stuff into mounts in the back of pickup trucks. So basically even by the time you were able to get a 3 pings triangulation for a counter battery, the truck had already moved. So even, you know, and then you're firing even within 30 seconds to a minute, if it took that if it was that fast, truck could still fire and move. So, the likelihood of you actually hitting the target that was rocketing you was small, so then, you know we get rocketed every day and of course, we were contractors. We had Polish. We had a Polish dude that was French, former French Foreign Legion, some British special boat guys, special air guys on the team. Couple of Army Greenie Beanies. l Brian Schoenborn 32:48 When you say special boat and special air, you're talking like Special Forces. Richard Brion 32:51 Yes. So the so the British they have their SS in there. SBS, so their Special Air Service and their special boats, which is kind of basically the SAS would be sort of like our it's a cross somewhere between our Army Special Forces and our US Air Force paratroopers in terms of responsibility. And then special boats are basically like their version of a Navy seal. Brian Schoenborn 32:51 So basically, you're a Motley Crue badass motherfuckers basically. Richard Brion 32:51 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 33:17 Okay, got it. Richard Brion 33:18 And then we had some, also some Royal Marine commandos, so kind of like our recon Marines and whatnot. So we had a hodgepodge of British, American, and European guys that were on this team all well-trained, but also a little bit mad in the head, as they would say. Brian Schoenborn 33:36 You kind of have to be off to go to do some of that stuff. Richard Brion 33:40 A little bit. Yeah. And then it got even more strange. So we lived kind of nearest to where the marine or not where the Marine Corps, where the army military police unit was. So every every evening the rocket… Brian Schoenborn 33:51 I bet they had their hands full. Richard Brion 33:52 Oh, they definitely did. But every every evening, the rockets always came in right around the same time. Everybody else has all hunkered down in places. And where we go, we get our chow, we come back, then we all sit around the proverbial campfire just bullshitting with our, with our gear, our guns, our body armor… Brian Schoenborn 34:11 As these bombs are going off. Richard Brion 34:12 And basically we're having what we called our mortar tea parties. We were drinking tea and biscuits, you know cookies and tea, waiting for the mortars to start and then the gear was all preset because then we'd have to repel borders, which again, for those that don't know what that means. That means that they would use the rockets in order to distract us because we're all hiding, hopefully then they could storm the walls. So basically, it was this kind of tit for tat thing, they'd rocket us then they would try to mount an offensive to come over the wall. So you have to have your gear with you in the mortar shelters to be ready for it. So we just kind of sat around every day just having a chat kind of like we're having right now. Just bullshiting, laughing and just waiting for them. And some of those those army military police guys thought we were batshit crazy. Brian Schoenborn 34:59 Of course! They have every right to think that. Richard Brion 35:03 AAnd maybe we were, but like I said that the those guys that go pick up crab fishing jobs in Alaska, they're crazier than me as far as I'm concerned. Brian Schoenborn 35:10 That's the thing that I'm talking about, right? Like like in the Marines, like my Marine Corps training, even as short as it was, like one of those things you realize it like you can be ,you can experience, you can be in the middle of experiencing fucking hell, dude. But what you realize that if you're with there was somebody, if you're there with somebody else and you can sit there and bullshit about stuff while while this is all happening? It's a completely different thing, dude. It makes it manageable. Richard Brion 35:38 Well, yeah it does. And I mean, Afghanistan was the same way so that circa 2004, 2005 and got to the point where we were allowed to go on town, there were Lebanese restaurants, French restaurants… Brian Schoenborn 35:55 You're allowed to go off base and like, check out the town? Richard Brion 35:57 Yeah. So as Blackwater we lived in our own compound anyway. We also we were running, we were help training counternarcotics police for the government in Afghanistan. We were doing those kinds of things. So we were we weren't doing a lot of things directly with US military. They had, we were getting support from them. So we could access military installations. We got Intel from them, of course, was since we were working in the same sphere, we also had to have crypto to be able to talk back and forth, so that we could deconflict so that in the event that we were out on our own thing, and in the middle of a fight and US military or ISAF forces were in the middle of a fight. We could make sure that we weren't shooting at each other kind of kind of important, you know, blue on blue. Brian Schoenborn 36:43 Crypto meaning encrypted messaging? Richard Brion 36:46 Yeah, encrypted radio, you know, the big old fat, you see them on movies. Brian Schoenborn 36:49 So you're free to talk, but nobody can intercept it. Richard Brion 36:52 Yeah, exactly. So basically, you see them on any of those military movies. You know, the guy standing back there with the little what looks like antique headset phone… Brian Schoenborn 37:02 One of my buddies was a comm guy, man. You look at before you stick it, when you put that little… Richard Brion 37:07 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 37:07 When you put the antenna on you got to like. Richard Brion 37:09 yeah they the old mark one seven you know the different radios and whatnot and and then they came up with some slightly better ones but the range was different so I mean yeah we were we were out there doing, but yeah we could go on the internet they have an Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, no joke, from the Intercontinental Hotel Group it's still there. As of 2018 when I was there last in Kabul, it's a little bit harder to get to in from these days, but back then there was a you could go get a proper massage at the hotel. You could go for lunch or whatever and they had a swimming pool you could take in there. They even had a lake resort in just outside Kabul that had a golf course that we could go on. Brian Schoenborn 37:51 Oh, it's crazy. So, I mean, so it sounds like you were pretty like ingrained into Kabul and the, you know, the local culture a little bit like did you I mean, did you stand out like a sore thumb or like what you know Richard Brion 38:08 For the most part… Brian Schoenborn 38:08 Like your interactions with the Afghans with the Afghans and stuff like that? Richard Brion 38:11 Yeah, I mean for the most part of course we stood out like sore thumbs but then again there was enough Western and I sat forces that there was no real distinguishment between who was who and you know, who was white, I mean, contractors we kind of dress like each other but then again, contractor dress looks like British Special Air Service dress. So you know, and then of course, you have your other governmental groups and they all dress kind of however, and so it was almost impossible to distinguish one set from another. Brian Schoenborn 38:40 Sure. Richard Brion 38:40 You could be at a restaurant having you know, having a meal with these people and they could have been FBI, they could have been, you know, any other lettered soup or they could have been a contractor or they could have been active duty Special Forces. There was really no way to tell unless you got into the weeds with it. Everybody wore beards, but as far as me? Oddly enough, you, you put the right kind of Afghan clothes on and I had my beard grown out and with the blue eyes and I could look like I'm an Afghan from the Panjshir Valley because Russian influence to the Panjshir area. Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 38:57 So did you? I mean, did you interact with, like the Afghan people? Or was it mostly with the other military units? Richard Brion 39:19 Oh, no, we were moreso Afghans and then I my job was intelligence. So I was a lot more interacting with them. But there's a famous street in Kabul. It's called Chicken Street. Basically, it's, every city pretty much has one. That's kind of where you go to get a lot of your tangible goods. So we could go down and get trinkets and rugs and everything else and we used to go down to Chicken Street and you could get a suit fitted. I have I still have them actually in my closet a few of the suits that an Afghan Taylor put together for me. Richard Brion 39:54 There was a barber that I would go in that would use all the old school hand tools, no power, to do trims and stuff and we used to, we used to get kids to come with us, because the Afghans themselves have this “kids are off-limits” in terms of this thing. So, Pakistanis and the Iraqis, unfortunately, don't quite have that same threshold when it comes to kids, but the Afghans do. So you get the kids that are out trying to make a buck or whatever else, and you give them some money and some food and then they would go recruit their friends. And then when you wanted to go into a place, they would then crowd the door, so that it would keep people that could be or are thinking about taking advantage of the situation from doing so because kids were off-limits. Brian Schoenborn 40:39 Yeah. Richard Brion 40:40 And so and then some of the elders in the village in the city and stuff that were around didn't mind it either, because we were giving the kids some sort of value and job, you know, we were giving them food and they were helping us out. And there was a similar thing in Djibouti one at one point and I can't get into the why I was there and with whom… Brian Schoenborn 41:00 Dammit. Richard Brion 41:00 But you pay, Brian Schoenborn 41:03 I wanna hear that styory. I always want to hear the ones that you can't talk about. Richard Brion 41:06 Yeah, I know, right? But the funny part about the story was is, there was there was a kid and you paid 20 bucks he would come he actually had this he had the racket down. He would come and he had this big stick and you'd be like, “I be your bodyguard” all in English. Couple couple of few bucks in English he would tell you he would be the bodyguard. And then he would have liked two of his little friends and they were doing, and I did protection details for years. So I had all these this training on doing the box and the, you know, contact rules, but Brian Schoenborn 41:33 What is it what is the box? Richard Brion 41:35 So the box we did, so depending on there's triangles, there's boxes. It's how you set your people up to do protection. So we always ran a five man box. Brian Schoenborn 41:46 Okay, so basically you had four corners and then one in the middle? Richard Brion 41:49 You have four corners, and then one in the middle standing next to the client that was basically the client director and then so depending on how contact goes you can close the box and basically create a wall. Brian Schoenborn 41:58 Got it. Richard Brion 41:58 But these these three little kids, they had their own little version of a protective detail triangle down with sticks. And then if people got too close, they would kind of, and sometimes even with some of the adults in the area, they even had a little, like playful ruse for the adults would kind of give them a little, a little reason to practice. So, you know, and then the little kid that was in charge was like, you know, “don't worry right now”, and then the adults would kind of come up and play and then they would like beat him back with the sticks and stuff like kind of keep practice. It was kind of interesting, but Brian Schoenborn 42:31 Enterprising entrepreneurial little kids over there. Richard Brion 42:33 Exactly. very entrepreneurial on how they were doing it. And in Kabul, it was that way too. There were stores that you want to go in and the kids would go in first and kind of rush all the other people out. And again, that sounds very privileged of us. We were able to have little kids kind of push the rest of the adults out but at the same time, like I said, it was that weird in between phase of the community where the the adults didn't mind so much because we were spending money in local shops and we were having some, we're having interactions with the kids. So in their own way it allowed it created a sense of security for us and a peace of mind for us that we knew there wasn't someone in the store waiting, gave the kids something to do then we were spending money on the local economy. So we felt that we were giving back a little bit a little bit. Brian Schoenborn 43:17 And you were giving the kids food and other stuff too. Richard Brion 43:19 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 43:19 So they were so they're, they're getting benefits for their services too, right? Richard Brion 43:22 Yeah. And I mean, we've had a lot of the guys thought I was crazy, but we had a little…but, I mean, so I there was a lot that I had to do that was by myself. So I was driving around a lot by myself places and there was a, there was this little rig on a rickety cart that was an engine with a set of wheels and basically you turn it on and you would feed what looked like a sugar cane through it. And then it would come out as a juice or something. Brian Schoenborn 43:53 Oh yeah! Sugarcane juice. Yeah. That's all over the place. Like I've had that in India. Richard Brion 43:58 Yeah, that's what I didn't realize that sugar cane. Something that was really available. Brian Schoenborn 44:01 It's literally just pressed cane liquid right? Richard Brion 44:03 Yeah, and it, but at the time I wasn't completely sure that was sugar cane because I still to this day not hundred percent certainly sugar cane grows naturally in Afghanistan, but in either case it was just it was kind of dirty looking cart but I would pull over for $1 whatever it was at the time I would get one and you know it's not like the United States or you pop in and they give you a bottle you take with you or whatever, it's just a glass. Brian Schoenborn 44:29 It's not the processed stuff. Richard Brion 44:31 Well, yeah, and it's just a glass that you drink it there. Brian Schoenborn 44:33 You drink it on the spot, right? Richard Brion 44:34 They take the glass right? Yep, they take the glass back and they wash it so you know a lot of guys are like, “hey man, you're kinda it's kind of dirty kind of don't know.” I didn't care. I liked it, and the other thing that I really liked to this day is Afghan naan you know? You can get naan everywhere else but the Afghan naan to me is some of the best I've ever had. Brian Schoenborn 44:53 So, like, how is it different from like Indian naan? So naaa, like n-a-a-n, like a flatbread? Richard Brion 44:59 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 44:59 Like Indian food that you would like take and like scoop with the curries and stuff. Richard Brion 45:03 Yeah and so you get Stone Fire here in the US makes it, is a brand that will make it. But it's it's a little bit more I would almost say even though it's unleavened, it's almost a little more leavened than Afghan, it's a little bit a little bit softer, which most people are like bread, you know, soft bread, but for some reason, the way that whatever it is in the recipe, and it's slightly more crispness to it. Brian Schoenborn 45:29 So it's crisp? It's not like a thick chew? Richard Brion 45:31 Not not quite like a thick chew, but it just something about it. You know, I could probably deal less with the fact that the way it was delivered is just a dude on a motorbike, sticks it under his arm after all day. Brian Schoenborn 45:44 That's what I'm talking about, dude. That's the real shit. You know, what I love about traveling, just diving deep and like, you know, there's millions of people that like eat that, you know, eat stuff like that or live a certain way like you don't, you can't really understand or appreciate another culture unless you really dive into it. You know? Richard Brion 45:58 Well yeah, and so this is a good story. Right, so I can I can say the guy's name now because it doesn't matter, but his name was General Aasif. He was the he was the general from the Afghan government. I don't know if he was specifically Afghan National Police or if he was Afghan National Army, but he had a general title general uniform. And he was in charge of the Narcotics Interdiction Unit, which is what we call the, basically, the Afghan version of the DEA. And he's no longer involves anybody that might be listening that thinks that they're getting any intel, he is not. But he used to think that I was so skinny. And so every time I come to his office, I mean, Brian Schoenborn 46:40 You're a slim dude, you're lengthy. Richard Brion 46:41 But I'm heavier than people would think. Right? And so especially then I was working out a couple times a day I was eating quite a bit. You know, when there's nothing else to do. You take your legal supplements and your protein shakes and your nitrus oxide and lift at the gym. You know, do all the bro things, right? Brian Schoenborn 47:01 No, of course. You got nothing else to do, you know, in an area like that. Richard Brion 47:04 And I mean, we had a lot to do, but there's still times when there's downtime, right? Brian Schoenborn 47:08 Sure. Richard Brion 47:08 Between stuff scene workout and you make sure that you're fit to do. Brian Schoenborn 47:12 Yeah, right. I mean, that's what I mean. Richard Brion 47:13 Yeah, it is part of your job. So you're fit to your job, but he would always want to give me food. So it was meatballs and naan and chai and… Brian Schoenborn 47:22 General Aasif always wanted to give you food. Richard Brion 47:23 Yeah. And so it was goat meatballs and lamb meatballs. Brian Schoenborn 47:27 Oh, dude, that sounds so good. Richard Brion 47:28 And I mean, at first I was in, you know, because I was still young, they're still fairly. I mean, I've been to a few places by this point, but I was still a little bit of an isolationist when it came to the local cultures at this point, because this, this happened from the moment I walked into Afghanistan, right into General Aasif's office there is just trying, and so he's feeding me food that I know came off the off of the local economy that wasn't specifically off of the military base that had, you know, all of the, what do they call it the HACCP or whatever. Brian Schoenborn 48:03 The HAACP? Richard Brion 48:04 Yes, sir. Yeah health standard yeah the health standards and servsafe. And, you know, they, they definitely didn't have their authorized food handler's permit. So I was a little bit apprehensive but truthfully I got in I didn't, didn't get sick. The only place that the only time I got food poisoning in Afghanistan was when I went to a Lebanese restaurant, that's an actual restaurant, but owned my Lebanese people, and to this day, I have a hard time with hummus. Because the only thing I ate that night was hummus because it was just there for a quick meeting. And it made me so sick they had a banana bag me for like three or four days. Brian Schoenborn 48:42 I have no idea what that means but it doesn't sound good. Richard Brion 48:44 So banana bags are. There are basically an IV fluid bag and it's very bright yellow, banana in color almost. That's why we call them banana but it's basically hydration bag. Brian Schoenborn 48:55 Oh got ya. Richard Brion 48:56 You know the team medics and stuff, you get way too drunk you know from whatever and they would banana bag you and it's good way to, but I needed a banana back for like 3 or 4 days. Brian Schoenborn 49:06 Good way to get your head right. Richard Brion 49:07 Yeah and it was pretty It was pretty gnarly. Brian Schoenborn 49:09 You know it's funny that you talk about the food poisoning thing, right? Like like, I was in Asia for almost four years. Richard Brion 49:14 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 49:15 Right? I traveled through Southeast Asia. Fucking Beijing all over China, South Korea all over the place. Indonesia, Australia. Everywhere dude, and I dive dive super deep. I get local street food, all that shit. I got food poisoning once in my four time in my four years there. Richard Brion 49:34 American restaurant? Brian Schoenborn 49:35 American barbecue restaurant. Richard Brion 49:37 Doesn't surprise me. Brian Schoenborn 49:38 The pulled pork sandwich dude. Richard Brion 49:39 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 49:40 Fucked me up. I was fucking like, it was literally like hours after I had this dude. I was just like, I could not puke enough. Richard Brion 49:48 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 49:49 Just all night long. Just dry heaving. It was fucking awful, dude. Richard Brion 49:55 Well, no, and I'm like you I got and after that point, I dove in. Iraq. You know, local food everywhere. In Japan I ate on the local economy a lot of the other guys that were there that came later you know, they were like oh there's McDonald's there let's get the McDonald's on the way to work. And me there I was with the… Brian Schoenborn 50:12 Fuck that. Richard Brion 50:13 with that sticky rice it's like a mayo finish like a mayo filling in it or whatever. Brian Schoenborn 50:18 Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Richard Brion 50:19 And then you know, I've got the rice dishes and I I like to go to the yakiniku places which is you know, you cook your own little barbecue, meats… Brian Schoenborn 50:28 Yeah, they do that in China too. They call it chuar. Yeah, it's a Beijing dialect. Brian Schoenborn 50:34 Were they giggling too? Richard Brion 50:34 I'm pretty sure it's yakiniku is what it is, I'm I might be slightly incorrect there. It's been a while but so for those who speak Japanese, you know, you know, I'm sorry for this but but it was it was really I loved it the sushi I mean, it got so local that there was a local family that was involved in running one of the little drinky bars we go to, they invited me and a couple of guys back on to this barbecue out on the coast. And we drove out to the coast. I still remember one of the pictures, actually my buddy that was a marine, he was one of those guys with us. And we took a picture of the cloud that just looked like a phallic symbol one day. One of the Japanese girls pointed it out. So the van had a sunroof… Richard Brion 50:59 And they're looking at the cloud. So what, they had a sunroof in the van we're all riding in so I stood up through the sunroof, because of course I'm the tallest dude in the van. Brian Schoenborn 51:26 And they point at it like, “Penisuh!” Richard Brion 51:27 So well I'm and I took a picture of it. So I still have the picture somewhere. But we get to the coast and we're having barbecued eel and everything, and then also uni, which for those that don't know the Japanese word, it's sea urchin. Brian Schoenborn 51:40 Sea urchin. One of my favorite foods. Richard Brion 51:41 Yeah. And so you can you can get it at your sushi restaurants but the best I ever had was the little kids were going down into the water sticking their hand right in the water grabbing it right out and then we were just popping in straight outta right on this remote beach and way north Honshu, Japan, the Honshu island of Japan. It was awesome. Brian Schoenborn 52:01 So, I mean, so where were you in Japan? I mean, you were there for a while, right? Richard Brion 52:05 Yeah, I was there for just shy of a year. Brian Schoenborn 52:07 Okay. Richard Brion 52:07 So we were we were on the far north end of Honshu. So um, Brian Schoenborn 52:13 And Honshu is what? Richard Brion 52:14 Honshu's the main island in Japan. Brian Schoenborn 52:16 Like Tokyo and stuff? Richard Brion 52:17 Yes, so Tokyo is on the southern. Brian Schoenborn 52:19 Japan like, yeah, primarily that island, right? Yes. Osaka of course. Richard Brion 52:25 Hokkaido in the north, right. Yes. So on to the main about Okinawa, which is right there. So Honshu was the main way up there. Yeah. So Tokyo is way south, almost on the complete opposite end of the contract Brian Schoenborn 52:36 Roughly how long of a train ride would that be or something? Richard Brion 52:39 So bullet train, it was like two hours and 45 minutes by car… Richard Brion 52:42 By car, it's like a 12-hour drive. Brian Schoenborn 52:42 Bullet train's going, like 200 miles a hour. Brian Schoenborn 52:47 Yeah. Okay. Richard Brion 52:47 And that's down the toll road. So that's pretty much nothing else but toll road and freeway and it's 12 hours. So basically, if you were to look on a map and you see where miss our airbase is, and then take a ruler and draw straight line To the other side of the island from them on that same skinny part. Yeah, that's where we were, was called the Aomori prefect or Aomoir prefect would be more more precise. And we were in a little town called Goshuguara. And we had to stay in a Japanese hotel and let me tell you, I mean, this one had a… Brian Schoenborn 53:16 What kind of Japanese hotel was this? I've heard a few. I've heard about a few different types of Japanese hotels. Richard Brion 53:21 It wasn't any of those. But it was…. Brian Schoenborn 53:23 Not a love hotel? Richard Brion 53:24 Well no, it was not a love hotel. And it was done…and it was also not one of the not one of the space pod ones are all bed slides out and stuff. Brian Schoenborn 53:31 I slept in one of those. In Bangkok I think. Or Saigon, one of them. Richard Brion 53:35 Yeah. And so it was still, I mean, it still was a room a desk. It was a queen size mattress, but there wasn't really room for much other. I mean, literally, I had to take the chair out for the desk so that the bed was my chair because that there I mean, there was no point. You couldn't pull the desk out. Brian Schoenborn 53:37 Dude, I slept in a pod that like, literally, like there's a hallway and on the left and on the right It looks like these bunk beds, but they're walled off and it's literally just this like, elongated hole. Richard Brion 54:05 Yeah. Brian Schoenborn 54:06 …that you slide into. It's just a bed. And there's a there's a TV at the foot of it. So if you want to watch TV you can there's nothing fucking on there anyway that you could understand. Literally slide in and then you drop down. It's like a curtain almost you just drop it down. There you go. That's my pod. Kinda like on a navy ship. It's a lot like that, you know? Richard Brion 54:25 You know, um, there's a there's a Netflix original that will had Brian Schoenborn 54:31 Shout out to Netflix. Richard Brion 54:32 Yeah, shout out to Netflix. Right? But it had Emma Stone and, wow, Jonah Hill. And it was called… it was about that was the… Brian Schoenborn 54:42 …they were they had a mental problems

This week on #SheStartedIt with Angelica Malin, I’m joined by Karen Gill MBE. Karen is the co-founder of everywoman, the membership organisation that seeks to advance all women in business by increasing their number, and raising their status in the economic community. Prior to founding everywoman, Karen had an international career as a Vice President for Intercontinental Hotel Group, working across Asia Pacific and EMEA. Together with Co-Founder Maxine Benson, Karen was appointed the MBE in 2009 in recognition of her service to women’s enterprise and in 2017 the Government’s Women’s Business Council recognised their outstanding commitment to the advancement of women in business. We chat about what it was like starting everywoman 20 years ago, solutions to the gender pay gap, resilience in business (especially when faced with challenges) & Karen’s global goals. Don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe for a new episode every Monday! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What’s the real reason people get angry over the little things? At least one leading expert believes it’s all about control. I begin this episode of the podcast discussing the high cost your pay by getting so upset over nothing and how to let go of life’s little aggravations. (The Anger Trap by Les Carter https://amzn.to/2NYGHpd) So much of the advice on eating healthy is about what to avoid – meat, dairy, gluten, sugar, oil etc. But pediatrician Dr. Aaron Carroll, professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine and author of the book The Bad Food Bible (https://amzn.to/2uuXeJk) says there isn’t much science to support these kind of restrictive diets in terms of them being healthier. He joins me to explain what it really means to eat healthy and talks about how many of the foods people think are bad – really are not. If your relationship has lost some of the magic or passion – how can you steam things up a bit? I have a couple of very simple techniques that are proven to help you feel the romance and excitement once again. http://www.womansday.com/relationships/sex-tips/g654/spice-up-your-relationship/Why does it seem some people are incredibly productive and others of us never seem to have enough time to get all the things done we need to? Charles Duhigg has the fascinating answer to that. Charles is one of the leading authorities on productivity and is author of the books Smarter Faster Better (https://amzn.to/2NYMw5J) and The Power of Habit (https://amzn.to/2NUsadT). Charles joins me with some very practical advice that will help you get everything done and still have time left over. This Week’s SponsorsHoka One One. Get free expedited shipping on your first pair of shoes by going to www.hokaoneone.com/SYSK and use the promo code SYSKHunt A Killer. Order now and get 10% of your first box. Go to www.HuntAKiller.com and use the promo code SOMETHINGSworkit. Get your 30 day free trial and then 10% off your subscription by going to www.Sworkit.com/something and use the offer code SOMETHINGHelix Sleep. Get up to $125 off your mattress order by going to www.Helixsleep.com/somethingUdemy. Go to www.Ude.my/something for up to 90% off when you sign up for classes.InterContinental Hotel Group. Listen to the podcast called “Stories of the InterContinental Life” at Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay or wherever you listen to podcastsMadison Reed. Get 10% off your first hair color kit plus free shipping by going to www.madison-reed.com and use the promo code SOMETHINGCare/Of Vitamins. For 25% off your first month of vitamins go to www.TakeCareOf.com and enter promo code SOMETHING

Should you really not go swimming until a half hour after eating? Can you really get poison ivy by touching someone who already has it? These are just some of the common pieces of summertime advice you often hear. We’ll take a look at the science behind these and several others and reveal whether or not they are true. http://www.silive.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2012/07/summer_myths_debunked.htmlIf you want to be persuasive, it is not only what you say but how you prepare the person in advance to hear your message. That’s according to Robert Cialdini author of the book PREsuasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade https://amzn.to/2NScEiP. Several years ago Robert wrote the landmark book on the topic of persuasion titled Influence https://amzn.to/2Jr8jj5. This new research can easily be applied to your life with amazing results making you much more persuasive.Your mother or grandmother likely rinsed or pre-washed dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. With today’s dishwashers it is not a good idea. I’ll reveal the interesting reasons why your dishwasher works best when the dishes are really dirty. http://www.womansday.com/home/organizing-cleaning/a51170/stop-prerinsing-dishes/What is your "personal presence"? In other words, what is the image that you give off about who you are and what you stand for? It’s a tough question. It is easy to determine the personal presence of others but not so easy to figure out how the world perceives us. Kristi Hedges author of the book The Power of Presence https://amzn.to/2L08kA0 joins me to explain how to the world sees you and how you can improve the image you present to others to help create stronger connections. Kristi also is the author of another book called The Inspiration Code https://amzn.to/2NjbDPE This Week’s SponsorsHoka One One. Get free expedited shipping on your first pair of shoes by going to www.hokaoneone.com/SYSK and use the promo code SYSKHunt A Killer. Order now and get 10% of your first box. Go to www.HuntAKiller.com and use the promo code SOMETHINGSworkit. Get your 30 day free trial and then 10% off your subscription by going to www.Sworkit.com/something and use the offer code SOMETHINGHelix Sleep. Get up to $125 off your mattress order by going to www.Helixsleep.com/somethingUdemy. Go to www.Ude.my/something for up to 90% off when you sign up for classes.InterContinental Hotel Group. Listen to the podcast called “Stories of the InterContinental Life” at Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay or wherever you listen to podcastsMadison Reed. Get 10% off your first hair color kit plus free shipping by going to www.madison-reed.com and use the promo code SOMETHINGCare/Of Vitamins. For 25% off your first month of vitamins go to www.TakeCareOf.com and enter promo code SOMETHING

Julian Birkinshaw and Gavin Flynn, Head of Strategy and Transformation at InterContinental Hotel Group discuss how booking websites are challenging the sector’s long-established players

As the newly appointed CMO of Starbucks China, Emily Chang is on a mission. With a stint heading Apple retail marketing in the region, and another at the helm of commercial functions for the InterContinental Hotel Group under her belt, Emily is prepared to take on the company’s deepest dive into China since it began. While most US companies are pulling out of the region, Starbucks is projecting the creation of over 10,000 jobs a year, and more than 5000 locations (doubling the current number) in the next 4 years. To put that in perspective, Shanghai currently has twice as many locations as New York City. On this episode, Emily discusses her upbringing, her 11-week immersion into Starbucks, her upcoming TED talk on opening her home to strangers in need, being a parent, and of course, coffee. Recorded at www.sae.edu.

Robert gained twenty years of experience in operations, six sigma, financial management, business development, and multi-unit general management responsibility with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. He became Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Key Hospitality Group, a hotel management and hospitality real estate development firm. During Robert's tenure the company managed and developed several assets in collaboration with Starwood, Hilton, and Intercontinental Hotel Group. Today, Robert serves as Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Untitled Hospitality Group.

JENNIFER WIDERSTROM Trainer on “The Biggest Loser” Tonight is the night when the winner of the Biggest Loser will be selected .Jennifer Widerstrom is a top fitness expert committed to helping people live their best lives through health and fitness. Formerly a star of the NBC series “American Gladiators,” she is the lead female trainer for InterContinental Hotel Group’s new “Even” wellness line and has been a life coach forMSN.com and a fitness expert for Fitbie.com. She is also a women’s health expert who has been featured on “Access Hollywood Live” and in 3V’s 30 Second Fitness Shorts.

Continuing our discussion on hotels, Leigh and Sean talk about IHG – Intercontinental Hotel Group.