Defining Hospitality

DH - Carmen Vlasceanu
===

Speaker: [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 Fall Hospitality Group, a design-driven furniture manufacturer who specializes in custom case goods and seating for hotel guest rooms.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Today's guest has over 25 years of experience in the hotel aviation catering and cruise industries. She is a fellow at the Institute of Hospitality and the founder and CEO of Global Hospitality and Maritime leaders. an author who just released her book. Dare to Care in March. She's also the founder of Angels Wings Charity. Dr. Carmen [00:01:00] Vlasceanu Welcome. Dr. Carmen.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Thank you, Dan. Thank you. Good morning everyone.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I say welcome Dr. Carmen, or Welcome Dr. Nu.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Welcome, Carmen. That's fine.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Oh. Oh, just Carmen. Oh good. So

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Just.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: We're we're all good together. Wonderful. So, um. Everyone listening. I don't know if you've heard or noticed a little bit of a, of a trend here. I've been talking to more people internationally because as much as sometimes we may think the United States is an island unto itself, there is a whole world out there that been experiencing. Delivering and receiving hospitality since before the Western Hemisphere was even discovered before there were even inhabitants here. And I just think it's a great way to kind of broaden the wings, um, and capture the best practices internationally of how people give and receive hospitality. Um, I think what's [00:02:00] super interesting about Carmen, Dr. We'll just call you Carmen, but um, I'm all. I like sometimes interviewing people who've written books. Actually, I like it a lot, mostly because they've put a lot in of thought into the subject matter that I'm talking to them about, but also I'm jealous because I have a book that I've been working on and I just. I'm stuck. And so I like to talk to people, authors who've written books because in a way it helps motivate me to finish writing my book. so I thank you for helping Fuel my Jealous Motivation, Carmen and I like to welcome you to Defining Hospitality from Romania. Um, and before we get into our conversation, I must ask you. With all this thinking and thought leadership that you've done about hospitality, um, internationally, how do you define [00:03:00] hospitality?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well, Dan, first off, uh, it's a pleasure to be in your show. Um, in a nutshell, for me, true hospitality really means to treat people. How you'd like to be treated. In other words, uh, when we basically imagine ourselves in other people's circumstance, we are inclined to actually display more empathy and we'd like more, uh, we have more understanding, uh, we have a better understanding of things from their perspective and offer them service basically with grace and, uh, to the best of our abilities.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Now you've worked in many different facets of our industry. From the water to, I don't know, did you actually work on airplanes or were you helping come up with like. Food, uh, options and food solutions for aviation. So a little, I guess, before I bungle your entire career arc, why don't you tell us a little bit about how you came to the place, to where you decided to write this book?

Dare to [00:04:00] Care. Which just released, released in March. And I'll, I'll keep, I'll put the, uh, linked in Amazon so that anyone who's interested can also buy that as well.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Basically, uh, coming from a communist country, I've always wanted to, um, to live abroad, to work and live abroad just because it was impossible that time. And so this enabled me to get my, get myself, uh, involved in a, in a professional field that would expose me to, uh, international, um. A way of doing business, international hospitality.

And so, uh, from, uh, early stage of, uh, school, basically I enrolled in, um, catering business at the international, uh, airport in Romania. So that gave me the opportunity of working, uh, with, uh, and collaborating with, um. Uh, management that was, uh, outsourced from different countries and, um, I [00:05:00] was able to, uh, learn better English and speak and have a better understanding of the culture that they were coming from.

And, um, I continued to work there until the opportunity arose that, um, for me to join the cruise ships. And, uh, when that happened, uh, of course I was, uh, very glad to, to live Romania. By then, the communist regime had fallen as well. And, um, indeed I joined the cruise ships. One of the most, uh, to me it was a amazing cruise line at the, at the time, carnival Cruise Line.

Um,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: cruise line

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: it is. Yeah,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: now? Yeah.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: it is still the most popular and the most fun actually, uh, cruise line in the world.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I, okay. Now, I, you've parked or you've piqued my interest Carnival.

I, I, I know how to quantify it as the biggest, like I could look at [00:06:00] annual reports. It's publicly traded. There's probably data in there. How do they rank the most fun? How can you say that with such, um,

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well. Well, they're actually, um, they're having a lot of programs that are really, uh, fun, um, on onboard the ship. And, uh, they're very interactive, um, with their guests. Um, basically they have programs designed from, uh. Uh, for, for two, three year olds going up to, you know, the ages of, uh, the oldest person that you can, uh, you know, that you can have as guests.

Um, they're very interactive and they, they're, they're design, they're designing their programs based on the different groups age, um, of guests. And, um, yeah, they're, they're rated by the guests themselves actually.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I mean it, when I see the commercials on t I've been on one cruise in my life and I had fun. I was in college. It's not for me. I, I don't enjoy that way of traveling, [00:07:00] but I think I'm in the minority globally. Uh, people actually really enjoy cruising and the amount of people that go on cruises every year is quite astounding.

But I think that's also good, like. I think one of the interesting things about the spectrum of hospitality as it relates to travel and leisure is to take your words, it's treating others as you'd, you'd want to be treated. There's, there's a experience for everyone out there, and I think for a lot of these brands, from the biggest cruise ships to the biggest hotel brands all the way to a small Airbnb or a, or even a, a bed and breakfast, there's a. There's an experience for everyone, whether it's camping to or to like these incredible cities go on the ocean. Um, something for everyone. And so you used hospitality. Your entrance into hospitality was to learn English, kind of get out of [00:08:00] experience the world from a communist under the thumb of a communist regime. And you did aviation catering, which I don't imagine you're in. You're interacting with guests very often. that. Right. I envision you wearing like a hairnet and gloves working in a big industrial kitchen. Is

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Yes, yes. That was the, that was the beginning of my career. But later on, um, as I moved up, uh, basically up the ladder, I became the coordinator for the, for the catering, uh, company. Um, and involved in, uh, menu development as well as. Um, uh, different, um, different exhibitions. Basically, we would bring in new clients and we would coordinate, uh, the, the, the menu display and, uh, you know, just bringing in new, um, new accounts.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: And so I was involved in that. And, uh, later on, um,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: cruising.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: like as, Yeah, cruising. Yes, yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: how did you find your way? Because [00:09:00] Romania does touch. The Black Sea, right? There's a little part there that comes out to the east and hits the Black Sea. Did you go to cruising right from the port on the Black Sea, or did you travel out of Romania and, and go work somewhere else? Like how, and then how did you, once you were making your way up because you're working hard and you're impressing your bosses and all those things, um, how did you that you wanted to make the, the jump to trying a cruise?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: well, basically I, I did want to, to work for the biggest, uh, cruise line in the world ultimately, and I was lucky that at that time there was a selection in town, particularly for Carnival Cruise Line. And, um, you can imagine that, uh, I didn't think twice and I applied. Uh, I've been selected and, um. I didn't even finish my, um, I, I was supposed to have an exam schedule for, for that summer, but I, I didn't, I didn't wait.

I decided to just take [00:10:00] the, take the plunge and join the Carnival. Paradise was my first ship. I. At the time, I remember Carnival Paradise was in, um, Helsinki in Finland, and it was just coming out of, um, out of the shipyard, brand new ship. All everything was smelling new. It's a beautiful experience, uh, and very vivid in my memory and, um.

Uh, yes. I was the only, actually the only female and the first female at the time in, um, in the kitchen because I joined as a, as a cook. Uh, I had dreams to become a chef. Uh, to be honest with you. I'm revealing something new right now, you

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: okay.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: know?

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I also love that you shared that because you, you did, your dream was to become, it's, it's pretty cool that can all have these dreams to do X, Y, z, whatever to infinity. But it's okay as you're going through [00:11:00] life and experiencing things to change things, like, I find that a lot of people, um, a lot of people I know, um, they, these dreams they're locked in. Sometimes it might not be exactly what they want to do as they start going, but they're so locked in, they don't know how to get off the bus. Um, but it's also, it's pretty cool to hear your experience of having this dream. It gets you on this one path and then you're like, oh, I didn't consider all of this other stuff.

Was that a difficult decision for you to reconsider a different dream?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: it was, um, simply because, um, uh, I had to give up this dream right, of becoming a chef for the love of my life, which I had met actually also on. Carnival Paradise.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: thought you were gonna say the love of your life was the cruise ship. Okay,

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Uh, yeah, meeting the love of my life basically, um, um, enabled me to make a choice in order to [00:12:00] be able to, to be on the same ships together. I, I really had to make a choice and, uh, and turn into a different, uh, different department and I had to choose the front of the house instead. which turned out to be the best, uh, the best decision I've made because, uh, it, it showed me a different, uh, a, a different, um, facet of the hospitality industry.

Uh. I've had the pleasure and the privilege of meeting and, and knowing so many people within millions. You can imagine cruise, right? Cruise liners carry three, 4,000, 5,000 nowadays, 7,000 guests at one time, um, with cruises of five, seven days. Uh.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Well, and then for however many guests there are, how many are there?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: it depends, like, for example, for a ship of 3,500, uh, [00:13:00] 1,200 crew, um, it, it depends really on, on the type of, um, the type of cruises, the lent of cruises as well. Um, it, it varies.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I wanna jump in here a little bit and, um, so your dream was to become a chef. You go on this cruise ship, you're back of house. You're, you're on that path. You meet the love of your life. Then you get to. Go to the front of the house and then you're like, whoa, this is totally different, and this is what I want to do.

I've never actually been able to try this out. What was the moment? Was it like day one or minute one of walking out? Like how did you know that the front of the house was new path for you?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well, I thought is very intricate, honestly, because people are intricate, they're, they're very complex and, uh, to, to get to, to the point where you would want Uh, to have an [00:14:00] intuition of, of what people would would want and what exactly is their outcome of a particular situation, uh, and anticipate their needs.

Uh, that to me was, was really amazing. I wanted to get to the point where I would anticipate their needs successfully and not just meet their expectations, but. To the, to go to the level of, uh, exceeding their expectation.

And that's, that's something that has to do with psychology. It has to do with how understanding the human nature on a deeper level and.

You don't, you don't get that from, you know, from the, from the first months that you're working. I mean, that requires, um, a repeated experience and, um, you know, a, a lengthy, a lengthy career. So that's when I decided basically to, to take on this career and, um, better myself. By understanding the human nature [00:15:00] and getting into the intricate part of, uh, um, of what human connections truly are.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Mm. And then, so then you started this company, global Hospitality and Maritime Leaders. But it's, that's probably years after

Um, experiencing the front of house, um. How long did it take you working in that dream, new dream or what made you start this company?

Global Hospitality and maritime leaders.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well, after a while of working, like over 11 years of working within the cruising industry, um, I had my son and so my husband and I obviously had to establish, uh, our lives on land Naturally, I, I turned back to the hospitality, to the land hospitality industry, uh, namely hotels, uh, and so on. And, um, I've had to re, I was in the position where I had to, uh, go back to school.

In other words, I realized The lack of my [00:16:00] education basically, uh, at that time. And I wanted to bring the education at the same level of proficiency, uh, in my personal expertise. And, um, I felt this need of, of searching for more. And, um, I went, I finished my studies, um, went through the, um. I studied management marketing, then I did an MBA in international business and entrepreneurship, uh, because I wanted to start my own business.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: was that all in Romania or had you moved to a different country at this

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: No, it was, um, I was doing the studies in Romania while working, uh, in the uk,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Okay.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: For an English company. Uh, so I had to juggle those together. Um,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And being

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: I. And being a mom as well. And meanwhile, I've divorced as well. Unfortunately, our relationship, uh, you know, our ends, our, our road together, our life road together ended up at some point.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Hmm.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: it was good. It was [00:17:00] very good, uh, to the point where, um, after finishing my MBA, um. I felt the need of, of deepening my research within the cus within the, the domain of customer experience. and so I focused my research, um, within the cruising industry and, uh, studied basically, um, the Covid pandemic and how it influenced the covid pandemic, the customer experience within the cruising industry.

Uh, I I thought that was, uh. A very interesting topic to research at the time because, um, the biggest industry in the world, the biggest segment of the tourism industry, um, had gone from a, a multi-billion dollar, uh, industry had gone to zero from basically it, it is been stopped. It went to a halt and it was tremendous for me to see.

[00:18:00] Exactly the, the ability of the industry to regain, you know, its momentum.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Hmm.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: And that's what I dedicated my time to research.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: So what was, what was the biggest finding that you found in that research? Because to go from a multi-billion dollar a year industry to grinding, to really zero.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: That's amazing.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: of the supply chain in, in the case of cruises, like the ship yards and just all the workers that are all over the world distributed at this point.

Like what was your biggest finding about. From a thriving business to zero to coming back to life.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well, the, the, the studies and the research had shown, um, had revealed that the, this industry has an amazing ability. To, to, um, to regain its momentum and, and it has an amazing resilience.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Um, well [00:19:00] first off, what drives that? Uh, it's their focus on customer experience.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Mm.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: They basically redesign all their processes, having their focus on, on, on, on the hospitality and how.

How to basically, um, redesign all of their business operations in such a way as not to affect the customer experience, but on the contrary to, to showcase their ability to immediately reposition themselves and reboot themselves. And I, I think that in itself, it, um, it created an environment of trust and confidence within the customer segments, uh, to the point where the, um, people have chosen the cruising industry immediately after the, uh, the, the traveling ban was lifted by the CDC and, um.

Uh, it showed ba basically the statistics [00:20:00] thereafter showed that the people, uh, disposition to travel, um, within the cruising industry was a lot higher than the, than than the land establishment. I.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I'm also cur, I might be going out on a limb here, but I'm also curious, like this resilience and ability to adapt, by focusing on customer needs. Like, I guess the people always want to travel. They always want those experiences, so, but the cruising in industry in particular did that fascination of doing a. Uh, getting your MBA and doing a thesis and, and exploring that, could that, was that born in any way of stagnation you may have felt growing up under a CCU regime where everything was centrally planned and controlled.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Interesting that you're asking me this question. Um, I guess, I guess I, I have a thirst of, of, um, somehow going into the intricacy of things. Yeah, [00:21:00] especially within the hospitality and analyzing. Yeah, there, there is, there is an an istic nature that I, that I have and I wanted to explore that. I felt the need to explore that further.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: But it is amazing to

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: I.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: me how in many of these regimes, and they're happening again now, even here, where it's like some central planner thinks that they can, I. Organize everything. They have a plan for how everything is gonna happen, and I feel like it, it takes away the ability of the market and the hu and the people who want those experiences to find their own way.

I just find it very, um, selfish and limiting for the, the creativity of like, of the people that live under the thumb of a regime like that. Is that, is there truth to that?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Uh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It, it makes you, it. It's like the forbidden. Right. The, the more you are told that you're not allowed to have it, the [00:22:00] more you want it and the more you pursue it. It's something like that.

Speaker 2: 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 Fall 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.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Okay. So fast forward to you start Global Hospitality and maritime leaders and you have this entrepreneurial drive. Tell us. Like, what do you do? What, first of all, what started you on that entrepreneurial path and what is the, like the driving thesis of your company?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Um, basically, uh, what global hospitality and maritime leaders is all about, um, is dedicated to, um, actually giving back [00:23:00] to the, to the society, uh, namely. New entry level students within the, uh, hospitality industry, uh, aspiring managers, um, or just simply, uh, people that are, have pursued different careers other than hospitality and are looking to pivot.

Um, and so, um, what this platform is, is about is, um, bringing together professionals from this industry, uh. Colleagues that I worked with as well. And, um, other names within the industry that are willing to share from their expertise, um, besides of the theoretical aspects of a certain, um, specialization to bring in other, um, secrets and, uh, insights that are no, um, that are not otherwise, uh, readily, you know, available or that they are willing to share with others.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: So if someone out [00:24:00] there in the world is doing one job and they say, you know what? I want to try and get into cruising, or, um, some other form of the hospitality industry from an operations perspective, how do they find, like, how do they find you? Are there other, I, I would imagine there's other like, learning platforms like that out there, but like what sets you apart from the other ones and how do they, how does that ideal customer, if you will find you?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: The ideal customer can find us on a website. We have a website, global Hospitality Leaders. J um, uh, GH leaders is called.com. And um, um, they will find us basically, um. Just, uh, searching for different courses, um, leadership courses as well as personal development courses, um, customer experience courses as well, uh, on the same platform.

Um, there are different, [00:25:00] um, other services that, that we provide. Um, namely counseling service. Um, we also have, um, mystery shopping for hospitality, uh, organizations as well. Um, consultancy, servicing, life mentoring as well. So it, it's an area, uh, it's a, it's a broad area, um, of, of development for a large, uh, segment of people.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And you started this coming out of Covid, correct?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: actually two years ago.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Oh, two years ago. Okay. So. Okay, great. So that would've been 2023. 2023.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Yes, yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And then, so in the two years that you've started, what's been the most surprising thing for you as the leader of this company? I.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: The most surprising was when we had actually, um, a group of, uh, of guests from an organization, um, who wanted to welcome us within the, within their [00:26:00] team and, um, talk about their team. Talk about, um, the inspirational side of the, of the story and how to motivate teams. And, um, they had a little bit of, um, see coming out of Covid where people had worked, uh, mainly remotely.

Um, they had a disparity within the team cohesion and, um, things were not very well, um, jelled as before. So they approached us, um, asking if we can, if we can come over and have an introductory session. Um, um, and we had a chat with them later on.

Um, we had a workshop organized for them, a very interactive one where they started basically. Uh, sharing more about themselves and, uh, they started feeling more at ease. And, um, ultimately, um, I dared better to the, um, organization's goals. they [00:27:00] chose to go back to the office and, uh, work together again.

And, um, although the option of working, uh, remotely was there, they, they'd rather. Come back to the office.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I like people. I miss people. Um, since being so remote, unless I'm traveling and in front of customers or in the city or somewhere, like normally I'm just like alone and it gets lonely and I miss people.

Um,

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: That's what they discovered during our sessions.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Yeah.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: uh, they felt so, um, in touch with each other and, uh, um, they, they established new friendships and, uh, uh, they found common points, uh, you know, that, that they were all going through the same thing, but nobody was talking about it. But during our sessions and our seminars, uh, really a a lot of things have, uh, have become clear to them and, it was really good. And for me, uh, that only told me that, uh, that's the [00:28:00] way to go and move forward and, uh, bring in new professionals to, um, to design courses. And that's where we are at the moment. We're designing the courses, we're bringing in new professionals to join the Global Hospitality and Maritime Leaders movement.

And, uh, yeah, stay tuned. There's more to come.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Okay. And then, uh. So one can argue that this business that you started was really to impact others who maybe were considering in hospitality. And despite that to impact others and change their lives, you also then started a charity called Angel's Wings, which also helps people and hopefully will help change their lives.

So how did you go from one business? do this, to then also founding a charity to do more of the same.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: That's so true, Dan, and I'm happy that you, um, you asked me [00:29:00] this. Um, I really felt compelled at some point, uh, between finishing my PhD starting, uh, and continuing, um, this project, uh, that I have, I felt compelled, uh, of, of starting a charity as well. Um, Within the areas of Romania, there are many communities that, uh, lack the basic needs.

Um, uh, they, they lack access to school supplies, uh, books, um, you name it. I mean, to us, these are basic needs, but to them, uh, it's something that they, you know, they're longing for. And, uh, so I looked at the educational aspect of, of our, um, communities, the vulnerable communities, and I said, uh, I decided within my soul that, you know, this is something that I, I felt a duty to, to start doing something for them as well.

And so I, um, [00:30:00] I started, um, the charity Angels wings charity org, and, um. Yeah, we're trying to give back to the society in this aspect as well. We are raising funds, uh, funds that are actually, um, getting back to these communities in the form of school supplies, uh, backpacks, um, school bags, um, books, um, you name it, clothes as well.

Food. Sometimes there is a need for food as well. And so yeah, we're doing everything we can, uh, to, to inspire people to be that change that they want to see in the world. I.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And then point. Through starting your company or going back to school, starting your company, and then starting this charity, did you decide to write a book? So how did that all come to be? And then tell us about this book that just came out this past March.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Um, originally there were supposed to be two books. One, [00:31:00] um, one on customer experience and hospitality, so on a professional side. And the other book was going to be about inspiration to never give up and motivation for people that are, you know, going through difficulties in their time, in their lifetime.

And, uh, how to find the power within themselves. And the resilience to move forward and never give up. And so, um, these two books, uh, ultimately became one because of time constraints as well as, um, um, other constraints, but mainly time. Um, so these two books were merged into one. And ultimately this, this choice was, was the best, the best thing that I could have done because there are many books on personal development, uh, and resilience and, uh, how to discover your true person life.

And there are [00:32:00] other many books on leadership, management, hospitality, and customer experience. but there are very few. Or none that I came across That basic basically treats the two subjects together because let's face it, what is customer experience? I. If you have, if behind the desk you have a person that is, that doesn't feel like they're on the right track or doesn't, doesn't feel that they're on the right, uh, um, path, life path, uh, or that is struggling with, with a lot of internal turmoil and it's not, it doesn't feel aligned within their true life purpose, what is customer experience without that?

Right. I mean. Let's face it. I mean, if you don't have the right person in the right, you know, uh, in the right, uh, place of work, and that it feels, uh, complete, that it feels happy, [00:33:00] that it feels, uh, um, that they have a good life work, work life balance, they're not gonna give their best right to their customers because their, their ability of giving their best is hindered by the very fact that.

They themselves don't feel, you know, um, very well aligned or happy or fulfilled or content within their lifetime. So, um, basically by, um, by writing this book, I decided to create a bridge between the customer experience aspect of, of our society. Which is no longer within, just within the hospitality industry.

Let's face it. We talk about customer experience in, in every aspect of our society. and I created a bridge between the professional side of it and the personal life of it, and zoomed in to the inner most core of our human potential. [00:34:00] And basically I'm treating subjects that have to do with developing your personal, abilities in such a way as to develop your outmost potential and manage to create a life of abundance ultimately.

To improve your creativity, to improve your resilience and, and all the abilities and gifts that, uh, are naturally, uh, given to us

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: I'm just taking notes here because like as you're talking, I'm feeling like imagine a funnel, right? So you have this charity that impacts maybe younger people, and then you have these courses that can help. Direct them into

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Yeah.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: And then a book that they could read along the way.

Do you have, is it still too early, but do you have an example of someone who you impacted in the charity, then they went to the courses and then they read the book along the way and like you've, you've changed the arc of their life.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Um, at this point, [00:35:00] um, we are working actually with, uh, with a student. Yes, we're working with a student whom we've helped to, um, to, um, to have access to, to funding. In such a way that, uh, uh, they managed to find their, uh, additional tuition in order to be able to gain, you know, to finalize their exams. And, uh, further on, um, they're looking to, to start a career in hospitality.

Yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Okay, so there's that. The one that you mentioned and then. As far as like your dream and success, like what does success look like? You know, 10 years down the road after you have these three different channels and more that I'm sure you'll come up with, like, what does success look like in 10 years for you?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: so yes. Um, the idea would be to see this, uh, this particular, uh, kids and students that, that we, we help along the way to see their, their evolution [00:36:00] at different stages of their life. Uh, basically the new youngsters, um, to see how they choose career paths that, uh, it's within their, uh, their abilities, their natural inboard, uh, inborn abilities, and.

Passion ultimately, and to see them, um, succeeding within the environments that they're, they're choosing,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: so one of the cool things, well there's so many cool things about doing this podcast, but you know, you record these, you publish them, and then when there's like, I. On the app that hosts the podcast and it goes out to the world or the program or the website, whatever the hell it is. You can see all the different countries. I think at this point, it's just a matter of the couple of countries that, one, at least one person has not listened to this podcast. It's pretty awesome. The, the reach for the, the courses that you've created, what's the reach globally, um, that you've seen thus far?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well, at the moment it is, is not really impactful [00:37:00] in a way that, that we're wishing. We're basically at the beginning of the road, although I started two years ago, I, because of my PhD, which I finalized last year, and 'cause of the book that I've had to, you know, dedicate my time to, um, I haven't really had a lot of time to dedicate into it.

So I, I couldn't say, uh, you know, a global impact. Uh, but we are heading there. Um, national wise, definitely there are, um, there are people who have taken the courses, they're happy with it. And, um, yeah, um, they've actually, we've discovered that there is a need, uh, to, to broaden the spectrum of the actual, uh, course range.

And so we're looking at, uh, horizontally developing into starting and organizing different courses as well.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Wow. Okay. And then I know, um, I asked you like what success looks like in 10 years as far as the, the courses and the charity that you have going, [00:38:00] but you also look to the future and kind of. Looking backwards on your path, what's exciting you most about what you see in the future?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: What's exciting is the, um. the probability of developing ourselves on a, on a, on a global scale. And, uh, dare to Care book does that because, um, it's, it's, it has already global reach. Uh, so the book is, uh, intended to go where the courses would like to be. In other words, um, yeah, to have, um, to have as many people as, um.

You know, as possible, uh, enrolling within our courses and, um, and have a wonderful feedback. You know, that's, this is always, uh, it warms your heart when you have, uh, wonderful feedback from your, uh, from your students.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Cool. Yeah. Well, I wish you success on that path. I do.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Thank you.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Question. Like if [00:39:00] I look at the map of Romania, it's in eastern Europe, right from Greece, northward all the way up like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. But the language is a romantic language in the sense that it's. Derived from Latin, correct.

It, it's

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Language, but there's this

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Um.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: like Slavic speaking countries that go up to the what? what are you, how do you, why is that? I'm very confused and intrigued by that.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Well, this goes back in history. Um, luckily and proudly, we were able to conserve our language as well as the borders of our country. this thanks to our ancestors and hopefully because we're discussing, we've just recently come out of, uh, elections, presidential elections, and, uh, you know, that the political, uh, economical climate lately has been very volatile in the region.[00:40:00]

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Yeah.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Hoping that, uh, you know, there'll be many, many hundreds of years ahead that will be able to. Say proudly the same thing that uh, uh, you know, we've been able to preserve the borders and our culture and our language in the same manner that it's always been a Latin language. Yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Yeah, it's interesting how it's, and then you even have like the Germanic ones up in there and somehow Romania is like this island. It's really interesting. I gotta do some reading on that. But I would, I imagine it started from back with Romans.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: with the Romans, obviously. Yes, yes,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Okay. So it was probably some expedition that. Created

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: yes.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: of a kingdom out in Romania. Okay. I need to do some research. Um, but Carmen, this has been so fantastic. If, if people wanted to learn more about you or all the things that you have going on, what's the best way for them to do that?

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Um, well, they can check out, [00:41:00] uh, my website, uh, global Hospitality and Maritime Leaders. Um, also they can look up there to care. The book as well is very insightful. Uh, it, um, they can take a peek into the pillars of, uh, of the care model.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Oh yeah. So tell us what they are.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: It's about connection, authenticity, resilience, and ultimately evolution because, uh, it leads to evolution. Uh, yeah, it's a recipe for success, uh, not just professionally, but also personally as well. So

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: it.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: that's, uh, yeah. That's, that's the book, uh, which is meant to be as a, as a bridge between our personal development, uh, which let's face it, we all are doing it, uh, throughout our lives, uh, and our professional, uh, careers.

I.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Wonderful. And we'll be sure to put all that up in the notes just in case anyone is interested. Um, but I just wanna [00:42:00] thank you for signing in all the way from Bucharest. I assume you're in Bucharest. Yeah, you're in Bucharest

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: the moment, yes. I've just returned from my book launch. I've been in England last week, and, um, I've launched the, the book there to care. I've launched it, uh, in a beautiful majestic, uh, historical Victorian castle. in the heart of London at the Royal, um, Royal Victoria Patriotic building. The launch, took care, um, took actually place on, uh, May 7th.

And it's been a beautiful event, which, um, uh, brought together professionals from the industry, uh, cruise, cruise industry as well. Hospitality, uh, the Institute of Hospitality as well was present. Um. Uh, sports arts culture, um,

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Cool.

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: NGOs. Yeah, it's, it's, it's been brilliant indeed.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Well, and it's also, I feel like it's almost Queen Victoria's birthday coming up. I think she was born on the 24th of, I was just [00:43:00] talking about this, this morning with some

carmen-vlasceanu-_1_05-19-2025_165229: Yeah.

dan-ryan_65_05-19-2025_095227: Canada. Uh, they had, she was born on the 24th of May, and I think she would be over 200 years old now. I forgot what they said, but anyway.

That's cool. Um. Awesome. Well, we'll be sure to put that in the show notes. And I just wanted to thank you and also thank all of our listeners, uh, because without you we wouldn't have this global reach and we wouldn't be able to inve, uh, interview these great speakers and thought leaders such as Carmen, who are really making a difference kind of. One person at a time or one idea at a time. And, uh, if this has changed your idea about hospitality or how to impact others, or you know, someone who might benefit from this, please pass it along. I'll be sure to put all those links, um, in the show notes. And thank you. Thank you, thank you. We'll catch you next time.

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