Hospitality

Steven Ferry shares how he modernized the butler profession, built the Ivy League of butler education, and why teaching hotel staff to respond to anger with boredom saves hotels millions in unnecessary comping.

Dr. Sandra Lee shares Army basic training perseverance running three miles before breakfast, stepping down general manager to server caring for sick parents, being downsized Aubom Pan learning "door closes find another door," two years belt tightening cutting cable special coffee food became fuel, and hungry humble smart hiring building winning teams Creative Dining Services.

Scott Nield shares his journey from elite country clubs to revolutionizing senior living at Montereau, where residents live 7 years longer through hospitality-focused care and his five-pillar philosophy prioritizing joy span over lifespan.

Brianna Parisian shares her journey from 15-year-old server to COO of Thrive Social—managing five Chandler bar concepts, creating guest service departments that walk patrons between venues, and implementing tiny experiments that prevent six-figure mistakes.

Dane Wilfong shares journey from 13-year-old dishwasher to F&B Director at The Ned DC—executive chef at 22, Maryland's first Michelin keys, leading exclusive club serving bipartisan politicians, and industry healing employee-first post-COVID while giving permission to exit.

Dina Belon shares design degree pivot caring more people than columns, corporate VP layoff mourning week at mom's house, team member cooking Filipino meal home for guest, tech stack AI enabling surprise-and-delight, and HR professional Mike becoming chief growth officer after breadcrumb plane ride Staypineapple Hotels.

Sterling Herzik shares political science pivot discovering hospitality passion, graduating December 2019 into March 2020 event management COVID devastation, returning furlough as one-woman band, transforming Marconi wellness retreat into 27-wedding destination, and delivering difficult news acknowledging emotions first.

Alvaro Fraile shares Spanish soccer University of Richmond non-traditional path, right place right time GM 25 operations 70 hotels 30, 2009-10 triple crisis divorce father cancer ACL tear everything temporary write out be patient, culture alignment Azul won't allow people don't align, Charlie Munger don't try be smartest make less dumb decisions emotionally stable listen people.

Scott Smith shares journey from dishwasher to CEO of Max Hospitality—building data consulting business, navigating Rich Rosenthal's buyout, bringing on 11 new partners, and maintaining chef-driven menus across 10 Hartford-area restaurants while surviving COVID stronger than ever.

Rob DelliBovi shares his journey from MTV to opening NYC's Hotel Gansevoort, building RDB Hospitality Group's dual-sided model serving celebrities and hotels, launching industry-first VIP greeter program, and achieving Virtuoso top 1% producer status through relationship management at scale.

Margaret Wang shares journey from education to LIVunLtd lifestyle director—overcoming high-functioning anxiety through holistic healing, producing wellness expos at Monogram New York, and why lifestyle teams activate amenity spaces creating third spaces for community connection.

Christophe Chatron-Michaud shares journey from sweeping-floors-two-Michelin-stars Roger-Verger-Alain-Ducasse to F&B-Concept-Development—duck-carving-disaster-sent-home-teaching-practice, David-Boulet-immersive-apples-smell-chocolates-attention-details, Philippines-teenagers-survival-mode, and why front-of-house-management-coaching-not-throwing-plates superpower-150%-no-comeback-succeed kintsugi-broken-plates-gold-beautifully.