Defining Hospitality

DH - Marc Bromley
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Speaker 8: [00:00:00] What I do is inconsequential. Why I do what I do is I get to shorten people's journeys every day. What I love about our hospitality industry is that it's our mission to make people feel cared for while on their journeys. Together we'll explore what hospitality means in the built environment, in business, and in our daily lives.

I'm Dan Ryan and this is Defining Hospitality.

This podcast is sponsored by Berman Falk Hospitality Group, a design driven furniture manufacturer who specializes in custom case goods and seating for hotel guest rooms.

Speaker 5: Today's guest is a management expert who is a veteran of the industry. He believes that the best leadership style puts people first and allows them to be their true selves. He was exposed to hospitality at a young age and now lives out his childhood dream as a proud husband and father of three, the regional vice president and general manager at the Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.

C. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. Marc [00:01:00] Bromley. Welcome Marc. Thank you. It's great to be here, Dan. I appreciate it. I have wanted this conversation to happen for so long because I want all of our listeners to know that your dad, Stan, had a really big impact on my life and also my mother in law's life. We'll get into that.

And then randomly, I went to college with your brother as well. So it's just so weird. And it's such a, a bizarre intersection of life. So thank you for coming here.

Speaker 4: You're welcome. Needless to say, you know, where all the bodies are buried in my past. I do, but, but,

Speaker 5: uh, we're, we're sworn to secrecy. I will not, I will not reveal anything.

Um, I want to start with. Your dad. Mm-hmm . So my mother-in-law used to run, uh, work at the Admirals Club at San Francisco International Airport. Mm-hmm . And your dad was the manager, general manager of the [00:02:00] CLT Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. Right. And she always had these great stories and I, and they would always write letters to each other, but this was back in the day when your dad would call the Admirals Club and be like, Judy.

I got a VIP coming down. Can you hold the flight? Like, I don't even think they can do that anymore or the, or that VIP probably has a private jet now. But, um, it's interesting. Cause I knew I went to college with Jordan, like I said, and then. I got me, I met my wife, married her. I was living up in San Francisco and, um, my mother in law, Judy, she retired after 40 years.

I don't know. It was a long time. And Stan came to. Her retirement party, that was the first time I met him, actually. I probably met him at college, like when he came down for a parents weekend or something. Um, and we got to talking, and then obviously I furnish hotels, so I started talking to him about hotels, and I remember meeting with him when the new Four Seasons was opening In San Francisco, Marcet Street, [00:03:00] Marcet Street.

And then, I don't know, there were like 10 times we would go out for coffee and he was really like a mentor of mine, um, in a really cool way. And I still carry around index cards with myself, uh, and write down any and capture any and all ideas. Um, and I, I think I, yes. So here's my, here's mine

Speaker 4: in the breast pocket at all times.

Yeah.

Speaker 5: But I learned that really from him. And it was interesting. And I think, I don't remember if he told me this or I don't remember if he told me this or if, um, I read this somewhere in an article about him, he would go around his hotel and write down everything. If there was a fingerprint or a smudge on the door, he'd write it down.

If there's a piece of trash, you'd pick it up, but he would write it down. And what he would do is. The person standing at the door, when he wrote it down, he would never, like, say, oh, you gotta wipe [00:04:00] that fingerprint down. He would take that to the manager of that person at the door, because what he believed was that if he went to the guy at the door, gal at the door, and said, you gotta get that fingerprint out of the way, he's taking away a leadership opportunity for the manager of that person.

And I, that was just so profound to me and, and simple. It really just stuck with me and so many other things that he shared. But before we get into all of the stories, um, what does hospitality mean to you?

Speaker 4: at its, at its true form, it's, it's a culture of care. It's caring deeply about, in our culture, Four Seasons and certainly our hotel, caring deeply about those we work with, um, before we care about anybody else.

And that's not to say we won't move heaven and earth and create legendary, world class, luxurious, five star experiences for our guests, but we openly declare here in Washington that the employee comes first. [00:05:00] And the ice machine in room service needs to have as much reaction if it's down as the air conditioner in our presidential suite.

Um, oftentimes you could fall for the trap that the presidential suite is more important because that's where the guest is and that's where the person is paying the bill. tens of thousands of dollars for the suite, but in reality, the ice machine is serving many more guests than just one room, and it's a beacon of our culture, because if that ice machine stays down for multiple days, God forbid, weeks, what is that telling all of our employees?

It's telling them that their job isn't important, or we're not here to support and give them the resources to do their, their job. So, um, that hospitality needs to come through first and foremost for how we treat each other. And then it creates these legendary experiences that you see in the world class hotels and resorts throughout the world.

So for me, hospitality is about, is about heart. It's about genuine care. Um, you know, you can receive hospitality anywhere, um, [00:06:00] a gas station at a burger joint and a luxury hotel. Um, that, uh, That, that level of heart and care isn't unique only to luxury.

Speaker 5: Mm. Yeah. Um, and I just also think about your journey and path.

So, I also heard Arun, I don't know if this is true or not, but, um, Four seasons, for, if there was a, a rising star within the, Usually, they would have them work under your dad. Is that true?

Speaker 4: Um, or someone who needed a lot of feedback and directly right between the eyes, maybe.

Speaker 5: But he, he, how many leaders Did he, I don't know, send on their way on their hospitality journey?

Speaker 4: Many. There's still a lot who are still with the company as regional vice presidents. Some of them were president or, or, uh, globally. There are CEOs and other hospitality brands that came through his school.

There used to be [00:07:00] a, um, hat that went around the company that said, I survived Stan. And it was a very, you know, tight knit club of people that had, Learned under him or worked under him. So, uh, yeah, that, you know, I, I certainly, I'm not sure of what the dynamics or politics were of the brand back then, because I was so young, but certainly have a lot of people who come up to me and still show me handwritten notes that he sent, or, you know, these, uh, memos that he distributed.

Um, there's, it's, it's, it's far and wide. It's pretty cool.

Speaker 5: Another memory, one of the memories I have of sitting in his office, he had pictures all over his office. And there was, I just remember, I don't remember it was one picture or multiple, but he used to be the GM where you are right now in DC, but it was like him and Wolf Blitzer or him and Bill Clinton or him and, So many other heads of state because so many people stay at that hotel.

And now, are you in the same office that he used to work in?

Speaker 4: It's so funny. Not the same office. His old [00:08:00] office was right down the hall. Um, that's now our, our kind of executive boardroom where we do our morning meetings and our labor meetings and things like that. But yeah, you know, I'm, it's pretty cool to be working in the hotel that I, I grew up in.

Um, hypothetically, and the doorman here have known me since I was 12. That's so crazy. I had my bar mitzvah in the fitness club, it used to be a nightclub, um, and so, uh, it's pretty cool to be in this hotel, in this capacity, same position he had when I was growing up in the 90s, um, and it's actually funny, um, your listeners probably can't see behind me, but my office is kind of a collection, I joke that it's my dorm room, because it's a collection of a lot of the You know, pictures and experiences throughout my career, and over the years, my kids schoolwork or artwork has kind of been added to the walls, and I, I didn't think of it at the time, but I remember my dad used to have our finger paintings, and all the things just [00:09:00] kind of scrambled all over his office walls, and I guess the apple doesn't fall far because I'm kind of, uh, design motif is copying his.

Speaker 5: And is that a statue of the Ohio State coach behind you?

Speaker 4: You mean the Michigan coach?

Speaker 5: I figured I'd

Speaker 4: take it out there. Ohio State's big brother. Do you hear that they

Speaker 5: just passed a law that, um, or they're trying to pass a law that you're not allowed to stick a flag into the end zone or into the field, uh, at the, at the big, not the big house.

What's the Ohio State one called? The Horseshoe. Yeah. Um, so I want to go back to the idea of the culture of care. Where is, is that from Izzy Sharp and Four Seasons? Like he wrote that in his book, right? And then how did, cause I think your dad came up through Hyatt and then, then he switched over to Four Seasons.

How is there, do you have any like stories or lore about his, uh, first [00:10:00] meetup with, with Izzy Sharp? Who's,

Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'm not, I know that he was a food and beverage guy with Hyatt, didn't like the corporate life, and so then went back to on property in San Francisco, and then I think he was at the Hyatt Union Square and switched over to Four Seasons, when Four Seasons was still young and kind of establishing their brand.

And, um, my dad was quite frankly smitten with Mr. Sharpe and would send him every, every, uh, New Year's would send him a thank you card about how proud he is to be part of this and how much culture, uh, means to him and how much this, this idea of the golden rule as embraced as a corporate mantra and purpose is so unique, certainly back then.

Now, you know, you have a lot of corporate, uh, Um, purpose and the why, the power of the why, all these sort of brands that it's become a kind of cliche, but Mr. Sharp was ahead of his time. And so when I talk about the culture of care, I don't, I don't pretend to be a visionary by any stretch of the [00:11:00] imagination.

I just, um, I have stayed really true to the core of how Four Seasons was built. And, you know, when I left college, I joined Peninsula out of school. And it was a much different culture. not better or worse. But I would hear in the background, my dad, as I was going through, you know, Being an assistant room service manager, assistant pool manager, and all these positions that taught me what management and leadership was, my dad would always talk about, it's all about care.

It's all about the culture of care. And I didn't really get to see it in action until I got to Four Seasons. And then you see how elevated everything can be. When you really embrace that. And so, um, I couldn't wait till it was my turn to become a general manager where, you know, general managers are kind of, we're kind of mayors of our own villages.

And we could, I could pay forward all this stuff I learned and experienced and make sure that our teams and thereby our guests are cared for better than they have. Um, [00:12:00] else in any hotel or business, um, prior to working with us. And so you can see the results, uh, very clearly and not just with the internal culture, but the guest feedback and, and the KPIs that were measured by and all those kinds of things really shine through when you have the right culture.

So.

Speaker 5: culture in any business or restaurant or hotel, I think it's evident as soon as you walk in. You can almost smell it, you can feel it, correct? Yes. But it's also very hard to quantify, right? Because you really have to believe it.

You have to be preaching the gospel. You have to recruit the right people. We call it

Speaker 4: drinking the Kool Aid.

Speaker 5: Yeah, drink the Kool Aid, preach the gospel. But you truly have to believe it. A lot of that comes from the selection. I'm intrigued by the KPIs around culture. Because It's a soft thing, but there are hard edges around it.

So when you talk about KPIs and culture, as you're [00:13:00] sitting there at, as the mayor of your hotel, but also regionally, what are some of those KPIs on those soft cultural, uh, that are really important and foundational to Four Seasons. What are some of those KPIs and how do you measure them?

Speaker 4: Great question.

So some, some are black and white and some are feel, right? So when, when I go to visit a hotel that I help support as part of my region, um, it's the one on ones you have with the senior leadership. It's the walk throughs you have at the back of house and the front of house and the meal you have in the employee cafeteria and the management.

gatherings you have, um, and you get, you get a, you get a sense, you get a sixth sense and a feel for, for how things are working there from a cultural standpoint. But we also have a, a, a very intense employee opinion survey process. We do two a year and, um, you know, we talk about how that is the most important KPI of the year.

It's more important than any profit and loss statement. It's more [00:14:00] important than any guest. Satisfaction survey, it's more important than any, you know, um, Forbes or AAA or TripAdvisor or Michelin rating. And that is the top of the food chain in terms of what we care about because everything flows from there.

And we have, it's, it's a short survey, it takes about five minutes, but there are questions around wellness and belonging, um, manager trust, recognition, you know, the, the, the leadership pillars that kind of give you an indication. If you're doing the right thing. And so the feedback we get, we get hundreds of comments.

We get, um, uh, engagement scores that will help guide where we need to spend attention, pay attention and spend our time. So that is the black and white KPI that allows us to know, you know, where are we? Where's our needle pointing towards due North or are we off path and need to, to, to correct a little bit.

But. It's making sure that we over index on that metric and not just [00:15:00] that's a nice to have as long as we're making money Or that's a nice to have as long as the guests are happy. That is a must have that is foundational for us

Speaker 5: Um, okay, so that's black and white You're looking at it and it's once a year, correct?

Twice a year. Oh, twice a year. I'm sorry. Yeah. So let's, I think we could also learn from when people are out of alignment on that, in, on that index that you're over, and I got this from your dad too, because he was really big, like you said, about that direct feedback and opportunities for leadership and growth.

Um, if someone's straying outside, what are some good stories about Addressing the issue, coaching through it, and the person finds their way back and is like a top performing employee.

Speaker 4: Yeah, no, it's great. We, we, we have a, a [00:16:00] very, um, detailed, listening process afterwards. We make sure that we're getting the information that they're, they're, they're, we're receiving in these surveys is what we should be hearing, right?

So I hear that you don't have enough teaspoons on the, Evening shift, or I hear that the schedule is never up in a timely manner and allows you not to plan your life accordingly. And so then we put, you know, action plans up with measurable, actionable notes that meant to be followed up on. And so when we have leaders in departments that may be scoring, poorly or in lower than we would expect.

Um, we will join those listening sessions and we will, um, help participate in the action planning and then in the follow up and making sure once a month, those are updated with what we're doing and why we're, when we're doing it, and then we're accountable to deadlines. And so, um, just like we need to recognize the good, we hold accountable to people who might be underperforming.

But [00:17:00] again, when there's a culture of care, you need to do it with thought, Make sure you don't take away someone's dignity and you do it with respect. Um, and most of the time people respond to the feedback and to your point, they come around and all of a sudden they, you know, last year maybe were underperforming and this year they're one of our stars because they got the feedback they needed to get better.

I always say, you know, it's, it's, no one wants to work at a job where they come and go day after day, have no idea if they're doing a good or bad job. I mean, give me something, right? Tell me something I can do better. Tell me something I can, I can fix. Or if I'm doing something well, let me know. Because when you just come and go and punch the clock, it's, it's not motivating and you don't feel part of something bigger.

So that feedback loop is really important to not a four seasons thing, just in general in hospitality.

Speaker 5: So I want to go back to the being a mayor of of a village in in your hotel Because as the mayor of the village or the general manager of your hotel you are [00:18:00] getting a Especially in DC, heads of state, um, really powerful people coming through and staying at that four seasons.

Um, what have you learned since, I think you weren't, you were in Maui before coming to DC, which is a totally different vibe, I'm sure, but like what are some of the big lessons learned as far as like the types of guests that That you're getting in DC that have helped you change and evolve as a leader or a mayor

Speaker 4: I would say fortunately With with at least with four seasons. We have the same guests that are coming to Washington on business We're just visiting us in maui at leisure right now. They're now they're probably on an expense account. They have a much shorter fuse or maybe a longer fuse depending on how you look at it, right because A lot of times these people that come to maui have one week of downtime You And we better get it all right, because this is my time with my wife and [00:19:00] my kids, and we don't have any room for error.

When you're in Washington, the details and the precision are so important, because you have so few touch points to get it right, because oftentimes your guest is out for the entire day. And so, we need to make sure the coffee is hot and fresh, the breakfast is served fast, the wake up call is on time, the bed and sleep experience is perfect, the gym is clean, the um, dinner they come back to host or have in room service or in bourbon steak is spot on, so they can have they can do their business.

And so, um, not that the level of detail isn't important in other hotels or certainly where I came from in Maui because it was and it is, is, you know, at the top of the food chain, but we don't have as many opportunities to recover from a guest on a one or two night length of stay as we do with someone who might be staying with us for five or six nights.

And you can see them at the [00:20:00] pool, or you can see them on the tennis court, or you can see them at at lunch, um, at the Roshan Side restaurant. And so you got to get it right. Um, and you gotta get it right the first time, and that is really important, the precision at this hotel.

Speaker 9: Hey everybody. We've been doing this podcast for over three years now, and one of the themes that consistently comes up is sustainability. And I'm just really proud to announce that our sponsor Berman Falk Hospitality Group is the first within our hospitality industry to switch to sustainable and recyclable packaging, eliminating the use of styrofoam.

Please check out their impact page in the show notes for more info.

Speaker: Since you've been basically born into Four Seasons, right? And um, I do find it incredible that you've worked at Peninsula and where, where else did you work on your career?

Speaker 3: Just Peninsula and Four Seasons. Just Peninsula and Four Seasons. Just the two brands. I was almost five years at [00:21:00] Peninsula and then now 17 years at Four Seasons.

Speaker: Wow. Um, both luxury, both setting a real bar as far as what everyone should aspire to, um, in hospitality. And I think you touched upon this a little bit earlier, but what is like, what was the biggest, what do you think the biggest difference between all of the luxury hospitality brands are? What do you, how do, how do people differentiate at that level?

Speaker 3: I think that nowadays, not when I joined, um, after college, but I think now there's been a huge commoditization of the business, right? You see, um, big brands buying up the smaller brands. And so you have brands that do luxury, do extended stay, do limited stay, do Full service. And so, um, you know, then you have other brands like Peninsula and Four Seasons, coincidentally, that only do luxury, only do ultra luxury.

And so they specialize [00:22:00] in one thing. Um, not to say other brands don't do luxury well, it's just, we only, that's all we know. That's all we do. Um, and so I think that, you know, um, well, the, our guests, they, for the most part, I'm sure they, um, They sleep around, if you will. Um, but they, they, I think that you have certain guests are very loyal to certain brands, whether it's based upon the service they get, the experience they get.

Sometimes it's the loyalty programs that they have. And so I think the biggest difference now is just, there are certain brands that only do luxury and certain brands that do a little bit of everything. Um, and so figuring out what brand connects to what guests the best and making your decision that way.

Speaker: within your hotel, what do you think the most, like I know you are always hiring for people, right? So you're always recruiting and screening from your experience and just also just having colleagues at Compe competing, um, properties. When you're recruiting and [00:23:00] attracting talent, um, what do you think separates.

you at that hotel or Four Seasons in general, regionally or globally, uh, for the type of people that you attract?

Speaker 3: So I can't speak necessarily to what separates because I don't, I just, I've been, I've been drinking the Kool Aid like 17 years. Um, we, we hire for will and can train for skill, right? And so I think a lot of that is looking for the right people who can embrace our culture, the right kind of people who, um, can be culture carriers.

And that, you know, when I, when I get in front of our orientation groups, the first day when they joined our team and they're going through their, you know, two to three day orientation, I'm talking about culture. I'm talking about what they're joining, what the brand means, what the hotel means, the Marcet, what the hotel means to the brand, and talk about the legacies that have come before them, the leaders that have come before them, the expectations we [00:24:00] have on how they treat each other and how they treat our guests.

I don't spend a lot of time on attention to detail or the finer points of luxury because they'll learn that when they get in the department. Um, the foundation, like I've said a couple of times, the foundation is the culture. The foundation is the care. And if they get, if we hire the right people that can embrace that based upon their smile, based upon their warmth, I love the saying, uh, a housekeeper in one of our hotels years ago said, you can't move my hands until you touch my heart.

And that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about, right? How do we connect to our team here? Um, so they feel good about doing what they do every day. So, so well. Um, and that, that's, that's fundamentally what we're, what we're after.

Speaker: And I think you referred earlier to the, the doormen that have been working there, collectively having 200 years of experience.

Yeah. I mean,

Speaker 3: yeah. There's this couple of them have 40 years, couple of them have 30 years and there's, there's about five of them. Yeah. [00:25:00]

Speaker: So operationally speaking, I know if I were to speak to a general manager of a hotel before the pandemic, they would, I would say, what keeps you up at night? And it wasn't so much.

Occupancy, rate, um, It was whether the, their housekeepers would show up. Right? And whether their team would show up, because I think what they meant was, it's just so hard to find people. Um, I guess it's, it may be different at the Four Seasons in D. C., but, um, labor continues to be a challenge, and finding and attracting the right people, but as a general manager, what keeps you up at night?

Speaker 3: Living up to the expectations that we have built at this hotel, both for our guests and our employees, you know, I'm, Odell's been here 47 years. I'm only, I think, the seventh or eighth general manager. Um, two of the general managers have gone on to be president of the company. Uh, another general manager has gone on to [00:26:00] be an area senior vice president with the company.

Um, there's a pedigree and a legacy that all leaders, not just general manager have when they come into this building. And our employees are great about reminding us if we're not living up to the standards. And so making sure that, you know, we continue to hold the bar as high as it's been set and continue to inch it up each year and get a little bit better because that's what the guests expect.

And that's what the employees expect. Um, and so that's what I, that's typically what I lose sleep over is that are we, I love the analogy of a Formula One race car, right? The car isn't going to veer off or slow down or lose the race. When something's wrong initially, but eventually if, if the nuts and bolts start to get a little too loose, eventually car's not going to run the way it needs to run.

And so making sure that we catch the nuts and bolts as they start to loosen, and we make sure that the car is, is, is moving as fast as possible while doing it with a culture that puts people first and, and, you know, [00:27:00] allows humanity to steer how we treat people and how we, how we behave, because, you know, There are companies, it's our way, the highway, you don't like it, there's the door.

And sometimes it's a little easier to get results because it removes the emotional intelligence piece of it. Which takes time, which takes energy, which takes thought, which takes care. So, um, balancing, you know, that, that Formula One race car that has all its nuts and bolts tight, but also making sure people feel that they're part of something bigger.

Speaker: Um, I don't have data to back this up. This is more of a feeling and anecdotal. Um, going back to, it's hard to attract great people into hospitality, especially after the pandemic. Um, I find, anecdotally, that there are more stories of people who start in hospitality, be it as a server, a room attendant, a doorman, a bellman, and really work their way up to, you know, [00:28:00] in the path of leadership within a hotel, either at the site or regionally with the brand.

I feel that hospitality offers a very steep and quick path to leadership if the person wants to do that. Um, do you find truth in that? And like, what's your, what's your anecdotal or real, uh, evidence or, or experience around that?

Speaker 3: I think so. I think we have to also adapt and pivot to The reality of the world we live in nowadays, where digital age has made people incredibly impatient and intolerant, and people want it, the younger generations want it now, and where it may have taken 15 to 20 years to become a general manager when I left school.

It needs to be shortened, right? It can't take as long to become a general manager as it takes to become a brain surgeon. Um, and I think that while a brain surgeon, certainly there are specific things you need to learn and [00:29:00] that education is black and white. It's almost sometimes, maybe not tougher, but to become a general manager, there's sometimes not a book that you can read things in, right?

There, you need to gain experience. You need to, um, kind of come from the school of hard knocks. And so, I think that we need to make sure that the path to becoming a senior leader doesn't take this archaic amount of time that all these boxes have to be checked because who wants that, right? We're not going to track the top talent up at universities.

We're not going to, we're not going to compete against a lot of these other industries where you can get paid. better doing less work in less time. And so, um, I think that now the business has done a good job, at least in four seasons, we're focused very hard on making sure that those that deserve it and those that show the emotional intelligence skills, the soft skills, and can, and have the technical skills, or at least can develop the technical skills.

get rewarded when they deserve it. Um, I do think though, historically, I don't know that our industry has been great about allowing that [00:30:00] curve to be steep because there's been, well, if you want to become a director of food and beverage, have you done room service yet? Have you done stewarding yet? Have you done the fine dining?

Have you done the casual dining? Have you done the pool? Well, how different is one department from the other when it comes to leadership? And how different is one department when it comes to the other, when it comes to the soft skills? And Okay, I can learn how to order straws that the pool needs versus the straws that the fine dining room needs.

And, and, and that's, that's not something that I need to spend 18 months doing. Um, so I think it's something we're getting better at for sure.

Speaker: I think it's also an interesting career path for people, um, because you get that real life experience. There's so many different channels of, business and revenue within a hotel that whether it's pool or restaurant or skiing on, not that they're skiing in DC, but like there's, there's just so many opportunities to try out so many different things.

Um, that I think someone coming in, even without being laden with college debt, et cetera, et cetera, you can [00:31:00] come in and really, and work. And especially if you have the, that idea of the soft skills and the leadership, I think that the world in hospitality could really be your oyster.

Speaker 3: Mm hmm. Yeah, I agree.

And I think that hospitality is so unique, maybe not unique, but if you, if you're a young manager and you join a brand like Four Seasons, or you join a brand that has locations all over the world, not only are you getting on the job technical professional experience, but the cultural experience you're getting from the travel that you're able to do, and the different parts of the world that you're able to see, and the diversity of the employees that work with us, and the diversity of the cultures that work with us.

It is, it's amazing. And then you add maybe a partner or children to the mix and they start to build and, and, and have all these life moments and core memories. That are really second to none.

Speaker: Hmm. Um, let's pretend Stan were to join this conversation right now. [00:32:00] Okay, so he's like, he walks in right next to you.

And I'm like, so Stan, let's talk leadership and soft skills. What's Marc doing well, and where could he improve? Like, how are you proud of Marc? What makes you most proud of Marc and then how can he improve in your eyes? What would he say?

Speaker 3: First, he'd say a lot of things you'd have to bleep out. And so, uh, that, that, that would be, that would be the start of that.

And then once he calmed down and realized where he was and he had to behave, um, I think that the, the culture of care is something that, um, he was great at. I think the culture of care. is something that, um, even when I wasn't maybe getting it from the job I had, he was always in the back of my mind, And I always knew that, you know, well, maybe that's not something that we're practicing or I'm learning on the job. It's something that I know is really important and needs to be kind of folded into everything we do. Um, I think he would, he always. [00:33:00] What's your balance like? Are you on your phone and you're not at work?

Are you taking two days off? When do you go in and when do you come home? And he wasn't a good role model for me when I grew up because watching watching what he did certainly isn't what I do But he is Um, it's one of those do as I say, not as I did sort of things. And I'm, I'm actually pretty good, all things considered.

I can be definitely 100 percent better, maybe not 100%, but I can be better, um, about when I'm off, putting the phone down, being present for my wife and my kids. Um, it was easier when he was a general manager, and when you left, you left. And unless someone called you in an emergency at home, you had no idea what was going on in the hotel until you got in the morning and checked your voicemail.

Otherwise, you were gone, right? Um, or now, where I can leave and still kind of be connected, because to me, I, I, I take two days off a week, I get out of here at a [00:34:00] decent hour. I think I would be happy, I would feel the need to be here more if I didn't, wasn't able to kind of keep a pulse of what was going on.

He was here way longer than I used to be, or he, he used to be here way longer than I am now. He would work every Saturday, half a Saturday. Um, I don't, I don't need to do that because I, I can still keep a pulse of the hotel. He, um, you know, swears up and down it was better when he was a general manager because you could disconnect and be present when you were not at work.

And I certainly understand and get that. Um, I just worry the way I'm built and the way I'm wired. Would it add, would it add two to three hours to every one of my days and a half a day to my week if I didn't know what was going on when I was at home?

Speaker: Mm. through all the people that your, that your dad impacted, um, and the, and the careers and the, the mentorship that he provided to so many people.

And just even from guests [00:35:00] to former employees to, uh, direct reports to even superiors of his. Um, you've met and interacted with many, many, many of those people. If you were to go back over, like, the index cards of all the, the positive feedback you heard about your dad, what do you, what does, does any one comment in particular stand out to you or that, like, really shook you?

Speaker 3: Well, actually, when my brother and I were growing up, uh, this wasn't secondhand. This was firsthand. You know, we're five, six, seven, eight years old and, um, we would just be coming out of our rooms and make it down to the kitchen and have lunch, dinner, breakfast or something. And my dad has planted pieces of paper on the floor in either the hallway or the stairwell and noticed if we picked them up or not.

And if we did pick them up, Sorry, didn't pick them up, a lesson in [00:36:00] attention to detail would ensue, and there's a big difference, by the way, boys, between eye for detail and attention for detail, because eye for detail is seeing it, attention for detail is doing something about it. This was, you know, this was when we had to go clean our rooms, there would be a room inspection.

Um, when, when, when there were, and it wasn't done with like, you know, a belt in hand, but you know, you couldn't throw everything in your closet because he was going to come and look in the closet or look in the drawers to make sure that the way you were cleaning the room was, you were proud of. And so, um, that translates a lot to the things I've heard from different people who worked with him was the attention to detail and the intensity around, you know, Follow through and follow up and making sure that you inspect, what you expect, right?

That you know, what's the overnight cheeseburger taste like, and if you come into the room, the hotel, it's Sunday night at 2:00 AM uh, what, what's the vibe in the lobby is, are the, is the, are the lights too bright? Are the night cleaners [00:37:00] cleaning in a sloppy way, or is the peace and luxury of the hotel intact?

And that was something that he was very famous for, and I think taught a lot of the people that he used to work with of what's happening when you're not there, and how can you make sure you know what's going on when you're not there to make sure that it's the way it needs to be.

Speaker: I think it would be really cool to make a book of Stan isms.

Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sure it exists somewhere. There's, there's, there's, uh, I, there, there are plenty of people who still keep a lot of those memos, I think I mentioned to you earlier. And. Every once in a while, um, it'll, someone will show up in the mail to the hotel. Um, he had a lot of fun with like, uh, menus. You know, when I got back here, my dad had a very unique sense of humor, one that would get you fired pretty quickly in this era.

And, uh, when I got back to this hotel, I got a lot of questions about, do you have the same sense of humor as my dad? I said, absolutely. But I also have an even more [00:38:00] uh, acute filter, so that, so that, uh, it's appropriate humor when, for this day and age.

Speaker: so being with Four Seasons for 17 years, working in various different aspects, now as a general manager and a regional VP, um, as you're looking out into the future, what's exciting you most?

The

Speaker 3: growth of our company, you know, we've got a, um, pretty cool plan, whether it's putting the yacht in the water, uh, in a couple of years, growing the residential business, expanding the portfolio, um, and doing it in a way that is really just doubling down on what we're so good at already, taking care of our people, uh, extending luxurious and high tech service, um, but I'm excited to be a part of it.

Doing it in a way that each general manager, each mayor of their own village does in a way that makes sense for that Marcet, makes sense for that hotel, makes sense for those guests. Um, and I think that, um, it's cool to be able to just kind of be [00:39:00] yourself and not have to fit into a different, you know, the expectations of someone else and how they want you to run the hotel or they want the brand each, each hotel unit.

is its own business, and each of us has the autonomy and trust to do what we need to do to run the hotel. And so, um, working in that fashion is exciting. I also love the idea, political affiliations aside, Um, you know, new, new, new party coming to the, to the city. And that means when people are moving, they need hotels.

And so getting a sense for what the, what the energy will be like as we have, um, new people and new personalities within the city and, and, and what that brings in terms of business standpoint, from a Marcet standpoint. Um, so it's, it's. It's a lot of uncertainty, but I think it also that kind of stuff that we part of the reason I love this business is no day is the same I don't when I walk in here at 7 7 30 in the morning I may have a plan but that [00:40:00] plan changes by right when Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan to get punched in the nose Yeah, we get punched in the nose every day by 9 o'clock and then let's figure out what goes Wow, the rest of the day flows so

Speaker: okay. I want to do a thought experiment with you.

Imagine you're back in your room, waiting there for your dad to inspect it. Okay. And you magically appear in front of yourself. What advice do you have for your younger self?

Speaker 3: Be better at school so you don't join the hospitality industry. Just kidding.

Um, I think, you know, we've talked about balance earlier. I think embracing the concept of balance and wellness at a, at a younger age. Um, I'm really good about it now, but there were, there was a decade or maybe [00:41:00] decade and a half where I was professionally succeeding and personally failing. And I don't regret it because I don't think I would have got it now if I didn't get it then.

Uh, that was part of my journey. I don't, I don't really believe in regrets because I, you know, I think everything forms who we are today. But I think that, um, you know, understanding and embracing that at a younger age, and I'm actually proud and impressed of the younger generations now, because they don't, they're not going to do what we did.

They're not, you know, I was so proud of the 30 hour shift I worked at, uh, in F& B when I opened the restaurant, and then on New Year's Eve, and worked all the way through lunch the next day. I used to be so proud that, you know, you'd compare notes with your colleagues on how many days in a row you've worked.

Um, that's not cool anymore, nor should it be. So, um, I have been in several conversations with senior leaders, a chef, a pastry chef, um, a front office manager who just left the business because they [00:42:00] had different aspirations than they don't, they didn't think That they could achieve in our, in our industry.

And while I try to, you know, role model a case study in me that where you can do it and you can find balance, the fact that they have their priority straight is impressive. Um, and so I think that if I would have got that earlier, if I could have told myself, You know, after being told go back to clean your room three times because you threw everything in the closet.

Um, that I would have been able to tell myself then that the wellness and balance, peace of life is really important.

Speaker: And, uh, let's pretend you're in Vegas right now and you're gonna put odds. What are the odds that one of your three amazing children will be sitting in that office at some point in the future?

Speaker 3: I think one of the three, I don't, I don't know, uh, How long she'll stick with it, because, uh, that's another, you know, with the experience with the younger generations now coming [00:43:00] up through the business. What are the generations of my children going to be when they get done with college? But I think one out of three.

Speaker: Wow. So we got 33%. That's great. Um, this has been such a long anticipated and wonderful conversation, Marc. If people wanted to learn more about you or Four Seasons, or what's a, what's a good way for them to get in touch?

Speaker 3: Yeah. Four Seasons, certainly our website, uh, just fourseasons. com. But, um, I'm on LinkedIn, so happy to connect.

Uh, with anyone, uh, on that forum, uh, or if you're in town, come, come have a drink or say hi or check out the hotel because it's, uh, certainly next month for Inauguration it's going to be buzzing and an exciting place to be. It's

Speaker: going to be huge. Huge. Well said. Bigly. It's going to be amazing. Yeah. Um, I thank you so much for doing this and sharing your story and also I just thank you for your dad.

Like, [00:44:00] he's amazing and, um, Just so glad to, you know, we all have so many mentors in our life and like some bigger some smaller but he at a time when I was in San Francisco was like Really great and like really helped give me a couple of really good things and nuggets to think about and practically do on still a daily basis.

It's so weird. Every time I touch those note cards, I think about it. It's cool to hear.

Speaker 3: Thank you for saying that.

Speaker: That's so wild. Um, and thank you to all of our listeners. Without you, we wouldn't be here, uh, talking to amazing people like Marc and, uh, learning about his legacy and impact and just his whole story.

Um, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you.