Defining Hospitality

[00:00:00]
Dan Ryan: Today's guest is a marketing and talent innovator. She's worked with countless hotels to build a connection between them and the surrounding community. She's the founder of Saira Hospitality, ladies and gentlemen, Harsha L'Acqua welcome Harsha.
Harsha L'Acqua: Thank you. That was beautiful.
Dan Ryan: Well, thank you. It's my, my wife always says I have a great voice for radio totally.
Harsha L'Acqua: Or a great face for radio. No voice voice. Great voice.
How are you?
Dan Ryan: I'm [00:01:00] wonderful. I'm so glad you're joining us from Mexico and your, your new adventure and journey down there. So I'm sure we'll hear about that. Um, as we start talking, but one of the things that I'm most curious about with you, because this show is all about defining hospitality. And for me, I'm just very curious about people.
I love, I'm always learning so much from everyone, but with respect to Saira and the education that you are doing as far as, how does it quench the curiosity of your clients, but also your students and walk us through a little bit about what you're, what you're doing at Saira
Harsha L'Acqua: what are we doing as. Okay, so we are, so we're a nonprofit.
Um, for the last six years, we've been partnering with luxury and lifestyle hotels everywhere from Mexico, where we started, or we started in downtown LA as a pilot. [00:02:00] Um, Mexico was our first school and with bond cows, and then we moved to Costa Palmas at 2017, um, Namibia, British Virgin islands, but we partner with these brands, the brands, including Rosewood and four seasons and Virgin, et cetera, um, to create what we've been doing in the past is up hospitality schools for local communities and anywhere we've done schools anywhere from two weeks, I would say to nine weeks.
Um, and where really. Understanding for us from the hotels. What's the opening date? How many people do they want to hire? Um, what are the positions they're looking to fill? Because we focus on entry level positions, and then we kind of work backwards from there and go into these local communities and really operate on a very grassroots level, um, with kind of a street canvasing approach and spread the word about what we're [00:03:00] doing.
And this program that's given to them free of charge sponsored by this hotel partner. And then we take interested students. Through four rounds of interviews over two months, and then we accept them into what's now most often an eight week program. And they're taught everything from the very basics of what is hospitality, which is convenient to this combination.
And what is hospitality? What is the industry? Who are they as themselves? What's a career path look like that's really early on week one. We take them through emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, really what we believe, the skills and knowledge that hotel operators are looking for when they hire these people.
Um, and then take them with through fine dining experiences, because we want them to understand what it's like on the side of the guest.
There's a conception amongst the communities that they aren't allowed in this hotel, because the first thing we do as [00:04:00] hotel, or I shouldn't say we, but as hotel developers as an industry is you put up a wall, which is really fascinating.
And I started to think about this more recently, um, you buy a piece of land and you put up a wall, right? You want to have your boundaries, but what does that say to the community as soon as you do that? And I've been thinking more and more about that, but anyway, We tell them that it's okay to sit down.
For example, in the pilot, for the AA at downtown LA, we sat the students in the lobby of the ACE hotel, right around the corner, um, from a place called home, which was the non-profit and they understand what a hotel looks and feels like. And then we do a back of house in front of house tour and everything, but that's something that a lot of people in these local communities don't think that they're allowed to do, which is, which is strange.
Dan Ryan: I love what you're saying on a couple of different levels, but one you're making me, you're reminding me of a story of a friend of mine was working on a project. It was a luxury hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and in the pre opening, all of [00:05:00] the hotel teams were in there and in the men, he went into the men's lobby restroom and went to the urinal.
And there were cigarette ashtrays above each urinal, but the people who were doing the pre-opening put soap dishes. Or put the put soap in, in the ashtrays. Yes. Because the people that they recruited that were from around there had never been into a luxurious bathroom. Right. They saw this dish there.
They didn't know it was an, it was a cigarette, an ashtray. They thought it was a soap dish. So what I've learned is, and especially going to all these factories and just all over the world and seeing, you know, oftentimes, you know, the people who are making the things that we all use and, you know, you want everything to be perfectly straight and just joined up so perfectly.
But if you think about where so many of these people are coming, oftentimes it's their first job. Um, and they, they might live in a place where they've never seen a straight line before. So it's [00:06:00] interesting, like really starting from ground, ground zero of welcome. And this is a whole different thing because what I've seen is oftentimes hotels will also come into.
A community like a spaceship landing and there's no, it's like a bubble it's hermetically sealed and there's no interaction. So I I'm very fascinated.
Harsha L'Acqua: It leaves all this. Yeah. And I'm also fascinated because I've never been into a luxury men's urinal. Do you pee and then have a little cigarette at the same
Dan Ryan: time, maybe in the, maybe in the eighties or early nineties?
I feel like not very many people are smoking.
Harsha L'Acqua: They should be in India. We go to this like equivalent of like a country club in the woman's bathroom has like couches and like red velvet. And I'm like this. Going off track. Well, I
Dan Ryan: can go on with us because I was just in a Alexa and I were just in Croatia with some friends and everyone is so tall.
They're [00:07:00] especially the men and I'm S I'm over six feet tall, but they're 6, 5, 6, 6. And all of the urinals were mounted very high on all the walls. It was very unusual, even for me as a tall person. I can't imagine being like a five foot seven male going into some of
Harsha L'Acqua: these glandular that shits and giggles.
Um, anyway, well, I forgot what we were doing.
Dan Ryan: Well, I guess so. Okay. So in the, in the sense of how you're teaching everyone and integrating between community and hotel and pulling down walls, and you're teaching hospitality to some people everyone gives and receives hospitality in their life in some way, no matter where you are in stature, socioeconomically anywhere, there's the ability like it's a universal thing of making others feel comfortable.
So how do you. Define hospitality.
Harsha L'Acqua: Yeah. And I think it's interesting what you just said, right? Cause it's, it is a, [00:08:00] it isn't, it isn't a universal thing to make people feel comfortable. And we talk about what we're calling hospitality gene, and we teach that in week two. And it's all about the, the hospitality.
Gene is more of a mentality that we believe people have that's based on empathy and the ability to understand not only the needs of other people, but the feelings of other people. And so hospitality itself is very much along those lines. To me, it's not the hotel. It's not, unfortunately, the design to me, it's the feeling that can be met if you look at the hierarchy of needs. And you're like, okay, great. I've got shelter, I've got food, I've got water. I'm good. or they could be met hopefully in kind of true hospitality to another level where your needs are being exceeded needs that you didn't even know that needed to be met, are being met.
met but the beauty of that [00:09:00] in terms of hospitality is that once there's, those needs to whatever level. And I think that really goes along the spectrum of luxury to kind of entry-level hotels. Um, but once they're met that leaves this space for the guest to then be able to feel, to come back to who they are as people.
Right. Cause all of that stuff is being done. You don't have to make your bed. You don't have to worry about coffee. That's all been taken care of for you to allow you to have that space kind of within yourself to live. So yourself to others, but also to be inspired again and be creative but sometimes we get so, so, um, absorbed by all the mundane needs that we have.
So hospitality to me is, is when someone can create that space when someone has the hospitality, gene and the desire to serve other people, and they are able to give [00:10:00] that guest that feeling of it's not to me, it's not just about feeling at home. It's the comfort level of home, but it's, it's exceeding what you get at home so that you can actually have a minute to think and to breathe.
Dan Ryan: And so in your life, because you're, you're impacting so many people from hotel owners. So the people working in the hotels at the, at an entry level and teaching them a skill of vocation, developing a career path for them. And you're so passionate about it. I get it just from knowing you outside of this and just in life.
Um, where in your life did you develop this passion? Like how did you find this calling?
Harsha L'Acqua: Um, wait, before we do that, I have to just tell you this quick anecdote of hospitality, because that was recently, you might know Kevin Auster house.
Dan Ryan: I've heard of him. I don't, I've never met him, such a
Harsha L'Acqua: lovely guy and he's become on our advisory board.
Um, [00:11:00] he was with Ms. Moore for a while and he took a, he took a minute out. And so he hosted us at this for a cyber retreat that we had outside of London, kind of near the so far. And anyway, we were staying with him for two days, which in itself is like we couldn't afford in the pandemic, the hotels right now.
And the prices, because we were looking at like 800 pounds in the countryside of the UK, which is ridiculous. So I SA Kevin said, do you wanna stay? And I said, okay. So we stayed at his house and I don't, I don't know if I've told you this, but it's anyway, beautiful traditional countryside feeling amazing.
I think house, um, duplex level and I'm upstairs and I'm in my bedroom and I come downstairs to get coffee and it's like, oh, I come down the stairs and the Capitol had just gone off and I was like, ah, cool, cool, perfect timing. And as I, and Kevin guys know Harsha, that's not perfect telling me what that is is I heard you [00:12:00] get out of bed because the floors are all creaky.
I heard you get out of bed. Well downstairs. Reboil the kettle cause it was already boiled for you, but reboiled it said that the timing would be great so that you, and it was not a oatmeal flatting, it was a big cup of coffee, but that kind of blew me away in terms of hospitality, because what we were doing that day was yes, we were indulging in food and great wine and on conversation, but we will also, that was a day of work and ideation and, you know, moving away from kind of the exploring part of the retreat to the understanding part of the retreat.
And I don't know, that was a very. It's simple experience to me of what hospitality feels like. Cause the thought
Dan Ryan: that is super exciting. And I have goosebumps right now because one of the elusive things that I can't figure out and I've experienced it, it's this idea of anticipation without pestering, but it's anticipation.
And how do you teach that?
Harsha L'Acqua: Yeah. Yeah, totally. It is. [00:13:00] And I have one other story for you, but one of the things that when I worked at six senses, one of the reasons that I still hold that France so highly in terms of everything they do, but especially they taught me what service was about when they would turn the buggy around.
And it was a really simple thing to do, but I'd be in the Villa and I drive the buggy, like a crazy person running to do something. I kind of just like in the middle of the road. And when I came out, it was like fueled or however electric, they fuel it and it was
in it's place and no one, knocked on the door, like they do so often and be like, hi, just checking everything's okay. It's I guess everything's okay. Stop banging on the door. But this was like the way they do that, because like you said, it's all anticipation. It's like, oh, you know what, she's going to need to leave in this direction.
And she probably doesn't want to turn the car around. It's probably low on battery. So I'm just going to do that for her,
Dan Ryan: trying to prevent you from being like Austin Powers when [00:14:00] he was backing up and back and forth in that corridor,
Harsha L'Acqua: which is what, this is what I did not in that resilient. They probably were doing it for their own safety, but I think, you know, that's so anticipation.
How do you anticipate the guest's needs? How do you have a sense of urgency? What's attention to detail. This is stuff that we focus on and it's really hard to teach. Um, but it can be taught that I'm like the hospitality gene I think can be taught. And it's just, it's just explaining things to people in their own way.
And I used the coffee example cause it's, I use simple examples because it it's what resonates with people. And I think if you haven't been to six senses in Thailand, you might not understand that story, but you will understand what Kevin did and how we anticipated just basic needs. Um, but you can go as you know, w we have a lot of examples, a lot of role plays.
I mean, that's really, the core of Saira [00:15:00] is role-playing, which essentially is putting yourself in someone else's shoes, which essentially it's empathy, which essentially is hospitality. So that's a lot of our
Dan Ryan: curriculum. It's amazing on that teakettle story, because I'm always amazed specifically, if I'm flying on Singapore airlines, And it doesn't matter if you're in the front of the plane, in the back of the plane, there's this thing that they do.
And I don't know how they do it. I'm usually sleeping. It's a long flight and I, I, I get up, I'm just a little thirsty and there's someone there with a glass of water and I don't know how they do it unless they have like seat sensors, they sense like a certain movement or, and they're just, they just come, but they don't, they are not asking me every five minutes if I'm thirsty.
Harsha L'Acqua: No, but they know. I mean, I think, I guess I'm not as blown away by that. Singapore is still some of the best hospitality, but you know, you're on a plane. You're dehydrated. If you get up, you're either paying or you're getting fast. You have to go to the fast. [00:16:00] Exactly. You're not going to have to go in the bathroom one Monday, but yeah, no, I think, I think.
I think, I mean, Singapore, if you can look at cultures, Singapore, Thailand, Bali, all these places just have it down. It's just in their culture. And the tricky part for us has been going to places where it's not in their culture, like the British Virgin islands and understanding taking time and extra time.
Normally we need two months before school here, we needed three because we needed to understand why they had this aversion to hospitality.
Dan Ryan: And what did you discover in that journey?
Harsha L'Acqua: It's um, they associated service with servitude and we didn't know that. And it took a long time to figure that out, um, because we couldn't understand why it was like the menus thrown at people.
You know what, and also, you know, it's, [00:17:00] it's just kind of been instilled in the locals of the British Virgin islands, many different. Mentalities and, you know, the idea of the jobs are for them and not for us, that was a big one. Them and us is always a big concept, um, at Saira when we're working with local communities.
But, you know, that was a mind shift. What is service and moving it away from servitude. Yeah. So
Dan Ryan: that's super powerful because if you look at service on one side and servitude to me, they're stark differences, but how do you start to kind of unpack that and then explain the difference and stay in the service thing without building resentment,
Harsha L'Acqua: right.
Without building resentment? I think that's the key, because I think it's it's, there was a lot of, a lot of pushback. Most of our students in the British Virgin islands were women and all kinds of women from all different ages. Um, and they [00:18:00] just didn't want to serve no offense, the white male. Right. They just, they, they had.
And I think it's about respecting that totally like listening to them, respecting it, understanding where they're coming from taking that Mendela approach and being like, okay, that's not coming here. We do this with all our schools. We don't come into markets because it's one of the things I can't stand is assuming what they need.
How to teach them the New York way of service. None of that. So, so I think that's part of it is just really respecting where they're coming from. But then when the time is right, you introduced to them, what service to us is about and what hospitality to us is about.
And I shouldn't say us, but to Saira I guess, and enter the brand, that's sponsoring the education because a lot of that brand loyalty starts from very much day one, um, of interviews and when they understand the brand. So I think, I think shifting. [00:19:00] Mindset. That takes a lot of time, but also it takes a lot of, it takes a lot of education through experiences.
So they're living on towards Pella, Virgin Gorda, but they've never been to NEC island. They've never mentioned mosquito island. They've never been to scrub. They've never been to any of our partners. And in a way, you can't really expect them. If all they know is mundane cafes, where they're not feeling inspired and where people aren't treating them with respect, then why would you want to work in hospitality?
So this luxury hotel excursions that we do and the fine dining experience, it's all part of this kind of PR campaign that we create for the students to be able to get excited about the industry and start to think about where they can. They can also be the GM. I fully believe they can also be the GM.
Our student here, Alex was just promoted to FNB supervisor after FNB manager, after cashier, after having never worked in hospitality. So [00:20:00] I think
Dan Ryan: my, my opinion right now, for all of these entry level positions, whether it's food, service, housekeeping, um, whatever, to me, it's, there's never been a better time to get involved in hospitality because the path to management, if that's a path you want to choose as a career path, it's so short entering from there because we're in such a, a crisis right now where it's so hard to find good people.
And then my question to you is, is it really that hard to find good people to have this or people going out at the wrong way, as far as being innovative and getting them to come, come take a look.
Harsha L'Acqua: Yeah. Yeah. I would go with option two quite obviously. I think. I think it's hard for people to change their, their ways.
And as an industry, as probably the world's biggest industry, I think it's even harder for the industry to start thinking differently, but they are, and the crisis has [00:21:00] forced them to think differently. The crisis has forced them to say, okay, because actually I was talking to a hotel in London yesterday and he said, you know, it's like, we're all opening at the same time, which sounds obvious.
But I hadn't really thought about that so that all it does, if all hotels in London plan their development scheduled to open at the same time and are fighting over the same pool of talent. So you have to look at places you don't normally look, um, which is what we've been doing, I guess, for the last six years.
But now everyone has to, and. Launching a school in London, predominantly working with, um, previously incarcerated with refugees, with the demographic that we would love to always work with. But hotels in the past have kind of, I guess, been a bit snobby, especially on the luxury level as to who they,
Dan Ryan: so I'm really intrigued by this because if you think about service and servitude, and then you you're, you're recruiting now among others [00:22:00] previously incarcerated people where you think about rehabilitation.
Do you have any success stories that you have that you could share about that
Harsha L'Acqua: we haven't really worked yet with? I guess the, we haven't the universe going in a more spiritual way. It hasn't really aligned with us to be able till today to work in markets like London. Uh, like New York, like LA, where we're getting to this demographic, Mexico, maybe some have been previously incarcerated, but it's minor.
You know what I mean? It's we haven't really gotten to work with refugees. So I would say the majority of our students would be struggling. Unfortunately, in some way they would be unemployed. They would be underemployed. They would be single moms. Um, you know, they may, they, they come from a drug [00:23:00] or alcohol background, you know, they are in need because that's the whole point of, and especially one of the reasons of us access, unfortunately, is because they need this job and therefore they stay at the brand hotel and that's why our turnover is lower.
The success stories to me have been seeing, have been seeing the promotions and has also been seeing some people start their own businesses, which we taught entrepreneurship just once in the British Virgin islands, but we didn't, um, we didn't continue because I think it's a separate offering. And I think people who want to be entrepreneurs are going to be entrepreneurs and people who want to work in hospitality at going, there's the idea of intrepreneurship, but I think that's a push.
Um, you know, but yeah, I think the success stories really come from people who have either stayed and are super content because it's beautiful. Often the locations they work in, um, or it's high design. If it's in a city, if it doesn't have to be by the beach, but I think they either stay for that [00:24:00] reason.
Um, or, or it's, it's a success in another way. It's a success. Sometimes, you know, some of the women, especially in the British Virgin islands told us that their marriages had been healed through communication, because so much of what we teach is life skills is not you're interacting with people. Hospitality is people.
So you can take what you learn at school and apply it at home. And all of a sudden you're having you're, you're just, you know, if you were anticipating the guest's needs, you're going to anticipate your husband or your son or whatever. And so relationships domestically have been improved, which is not something that really necessarily so coming, but makes total sense.
That is
Dan Ryan: totally unsurprising to me because one of the themes that I keep hearing about from all, all these leaders like you, that I'm speaking with when you really get down to it and this idea of service, and it's this idea of really being an open-hearted listener and the only way that we can all open our hearts and really hear what the other [00:25:00] is saying is by practicing and repetition.
Right.
Harsha L'Acqua: Right. And we did, we do something fun. Uh, so we take some stuff from masterclass. Um, And who is it? It's a CIA negotiator. I forget his name. Chris Chris falls, maybe I think Chris Voss and he, uh, I was, I was working on some content during the pandemic early on. Um, we were revising all of our curriculum.
It seemed like a good time to do that. And he was talking about the art of listening and how you can use that, um, to, to, to, to be able to negotiate. And I was like, this is, this is relevant for, for Saira and it was a really simple trick of just repeating the last words that people say. So, you know, it's just picking up those last three words and then they keep talking and you just ask one open question, like, um, you know, tell me about that.
Whatever it was in this case, I tried to practice it at home and Michelangelo was talking about his [00:26:00] trousers or something. And I was like, oh, this is so boring. Let me use this trick. So I started like asking him, I was like, oh yeah, linen. And then went on and ah, the size. Ah, okay, great. And now you got it from J crew.
I just kept going for like five minutes. And at the end of it, maybe even longer, he could talk about these pants all day. And at the end of it, I was like, did it sound like I was interested? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, oh, amazing. I wasn't at all.
Dan Ryan: That's hilarious. I was hoping you were going to finish.
That was that he was huddled in a mass crying on the floor, like in touch with his inner child.
Harsha L'Acqua: He talks to his buddy and a child every day. That's just day to day living with my glandula. This is, this was fun. So anyway, um, I forget why I was telling you that story about, oh, it's,
Dan Ryan: it's the idea. It's the art of listening.
And so often we're all going through life and you know, you and I, we did a little meditation just before this started and I find that just taking [00:27:00] that moment of pause, it helps me really focus on you as the subject. Right. I just wanted to open up and so that every I'm hearing everything from you, um, I want to go back to the refugees because so many of the refugees are coming from east of Greece, uh, yeah.
East of Greece. And if you read like throughout all the literature that I've read and just that whole thousands of years, Hospitality and just how important it was. And so many of those cultures from Greece, Turkey, through Persia, all the way up, all the way through Afghanistan, um, Pakistan, India. And I'm just wondering, like with everyone kind of trying to escape a terrible situation, this must be a tremendous opportunity.
And I think that from the stories I've heard, hospitality is just so ingrained in their life. And I'm curious at what successes you're having there, [00:28:00]
Harsha L'Acqua: we are just getting started. We, so it's interesting because in London there's actually quite a lot of, I guess, competition in terms of, in terms of other hospitality training programs that are working, I'm trying to get into trying to work with these organizations.
So I think there's one in particular that we are. Thanks to cold breaking barriers and they have a referral system. So that if you're, if you were, um, bringing on, I guess, one of their database people, individuals, um, to, to the training program, and then they get hired, they get a fee. So we're trying to, it's a new, it's a new partnership for us, especially in London.
Um, so I couldn't, honestly, I couldn't speak to you yet in terms of what that looks like in terms of working with the refugees. We haven't done it yet. Um, but it's something that I'm really excited about and I think it's a key [00:29:00] part of their, I guess, transformation into this. Environment. Um, I think we're going to start working with psychologists and sociologists as well at Saira when we're, when we're entering this demographic, because it's new to me in all honesty.
So I don't think we can assume it's going to be the same as working with local communities in Namibia or in, you know, Mexico. Um, I think when you're coming from that much trauma, any of that being said, I'm thinking about a student who in Namibia, when we went around the class, we always talk about something that happened the day before that was positive or negative.
Um, just to, just to kind of end that day and start a new one in a way. But his story was about, um, being held at gunpoint on his way home with his brother, but he didn't, he didn't say it. It was almost in a way of like me saying, [00:30:00] I saw an amazing sunset at the beach or, you know, it wasn't. In a way that he was asking for, um, sympathy at all, it was just, that's what happened.
That's what he's dealing with. He was thinking about, you know, my guess is it doesn't, it's not the one-off time it's happened. Um, but I guess, you know, when you're working with people who really need this opportunity, I mean, he is, this guy was one of the, had a great smile, great energy on time. Like no phones.
There's just, he was like the perfect student, but I don't know. I think, I think the reason also I'm that's one, no, maybe it was one of the most impactful schools for us because we were working with a demographic like that who needed it. And I think the same will go for London and any other cities where we're able to tap into the demographics that we really want to work with because they get.
Like they, they get this opportunity. They're not, they're not kind of turning their nose up at it [00:31:00] or, you know, wondering if they could do what the things or, you know, that they're just like, this is amazing. And this hotel is amazing and Saira is, you know, a gift that's been given to us and, and they're just grateful and motivated and ready to, to take what is given to them and rightfully so.
But yeah, I think, I think that's, what's going to come from working with refugees and hopefully previously incarcerated, but who knows? I mean, a year from now, I can probably answer that one.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. When I was in college, I painted a bunch of houses in Southern California and I was always recruiting painters.
And I had a couple of, uh, previously incarcerated guys that were just the most terrifying looking human beings everywhere. Um, but I needed to paint these houses and, um, then I really just sat there and the whole look is I was terrified, but then I start talking. Some of them weren't right. Some of them flaked out, but there were a bunch of that were really, really awesome.
So it was just a great way to kind of [00:32:00] plug in and, you know, a lot of these guys are just looking for their next shot, a second shot, and it's about rehabilitation and it's just missing so severely
Harsha L'Acqua: well. Yeah. And that's why I love to, I want to work with costs. Do you have costs, Marty who started, um, uh, he's great.
You should definitely talk to him. He started, why am I blanking on his company's name? Um, uh, I'll have to come back to you on what the name of his company is, but it's a workout. So he works with previously. He was incarcerated twice. He has a fantastic story. I wouldn't even try and tell it as well as he does, but he created this work out in his cell.
Um, and now has these studios all over New York and probably outside of New York now. And he's like in Saks fifth avenue and it's it's about ex-convicts or previous incarcerated and. Learning how to be these trainers and working with him, he's only hiring them and all these fancy women upper [00:33:00] east side are going to these workouts and like loving it because it's, and I've been, I went to the one on the low RISD and con body con body.
It says I've seen this so good, but no joke. There's no laughing there. You can't charm the chopping instructors. They're very serious about what they're doing, but like, he's, he explains this to me. Like it's impossible to not go back. The system is so fucked up that it's you have to, I mean, I think, I think what we're doing is going to be hopefully crucial to changing people's lives in the sense that they don't go back to prison.
They don't go back to what they were doing. Um, I think, yeah, I think on hospitality now has to hire and they have to hire anyone and everyone, because you've got just this morning, I got an email from the head of revenue management at, um, one of the brands where I was talking to. And she's like, [00:34:00] sorry, I couldn't take your call yesterday.
I was cleaning a room.
Dan Ryan: Okay. So insane. It's so crazy. I can't, I can't tell you how many places I'm going, where it's like the head of rooms or the general manager, the head of rooms is checking people in, or the general manager is making bets. And, but this
Harsha L'Acqua: should be that way to be honest with you because how often have they done that before?
And then when you're working front office and you're speaking to housekeeping being like, turn that room around. If you've never done it, I think it's going to lead to a lot more compassion and equality.
Dan Ryan: I think compassionate equality and kind of going back to what we were talking about before, as far as career path, that kind of cross training is as a team, you just understand what everyone's dealing with and it develops it's that you said, just being in the other person's shoes and developing that empathy cross training.
And it's just the greatest thing ever because it, it makes us understand what the other person is dealing with.
Harsha L'Acqua: Totally. I've always, when [00:35:00] I worked at hotels, I always would break them to say, let me cross train, but it's, I mean, I get it. It's, it's, it's difficult. It takes, it's not difficult. I get that. It's not difficult.
It just takes more effort for people to like move their schedules. And that just goes back to the original mentality of the industry, where everything that takes a little bit more effort, like maybe we don't recruit from other hotels. Maybe we don't do hiring fairs. Maybe we look at communities that really need the opportunity, but it's only happening now, but it's great that it's happening.
Fantastic.
Dan Ryan: Actually, when you, when we first started talking, you said it's really about a feeling. If you were to go back in your life to when you first exhibited that or felt that feeling of hospitality, where was it paint a picture for us?
Harsha L'Acqua: Hm, that's a good question. When did I first feel hospitality? I would say I would, I wouldn't go to home. I'm skipping [00:36:00] fast home, no friends to my mom, but, uh, it didn't, it didn't really feel like hospitality. Um, I would say it was, it was, uh, it was six senses, you know, I would, I would think that they really understood it was a luxury level and I'm sure it's happened to me prior to six months on a non luxury level, but.
They just seem to get it. What I loved about their style of hospitality was that it was a very barefoot luxury concept that they, I think they created, um, that's now probably coming more and more popular, but the essence of hospitality was that yes, it's luxury. And of course it's luxurious, you're on a private island with like the highest, you know, the best mezcal and everything else, you know, but it's not about, it's about being able to walk barefoot.
It's about not wearing makeup. It's about, um, [00:37:00] just kind of switching off and, and, and feeling the nature because of course they're all about nature. And that idea felt to me like, oh, this is what hospitality is about. It's the ability to, to, yes. Have all that luxury, have the great food, have the great bed and the mattress, et cetera.
But it's also about. The idea of connection and the service, they're just, just continue to, to blow me away in terms of, in terms of how they approached the whole concept of service and what it is. And yes, it was easier because it was Thailand and it's natural in their, in their kind of cultural, I know you
Dan Ryan: mentioned you gave an example of the golf cart, but if you were to go back to your six senses experience, was there a singular event or person that really kind of change your trajectory, so to speak
Harsha L'Acqua: and six senses?[00:38:00]
Yeah, I mean, there was that I worked with, yeah. I mean, a lot of, a lot of people, it was a great, it was a great team. This was prior to it splitting. Um, and of course, prior to it being bought, but, um, you know, I worked right. We, we were on the residential team, so I was the, I became. Eric the marketing for the residences and because my background was real estate.
So actually, yeah, just diverting for a quick second. But there was an experience when I worked in real estate, I used to work for Andre Balazs building downtown New York, William beaver house in 2008. And so that was my, I left, worked in real estate in London, moved to real estate in New York and he or his building working there was, um, kind of the first experience I had in terms of lifestyle hospitality, because he's, I'll tell you of course, and developing this [00:39:00] residential building.
I was like, interesting. Like it's not like a typical condo. It was something that he did that always stays with me. And I met the head of design for his properties recently and she was laughing because she said a lot of people found this fascinating. It's just that he had a hole in the shower. Let me see.
Just the glass holes. That's cut out of the, so, so, you know, when you go in to pick the shower, you turn it on, you get wet, right. It just is what it is. It's kind of hard often to do that without wetting your hair or something. So he just cuts a hole out of it. So you just put your hand in and I was like, I don't know to say these are the simple things that, you know, when you say it, it doesn't sound, but I just think, oh, that's the thoughtfulness.
The thoughtfulness of hospitality is always what blows me away, whether it's the whole, whether it's the golf cart, whether it's Kevin putting on the kettle, it's always the thoughtfulness. And I think it goes into a deeper level of. [00:40:00] Well, what do we need as, as people, right? Forget about hospitality. You need to know that someone's thinking about you and you need to know that you were being seen, right?
That's all anyone ever. Once we tell the students all the time, all they want to know is that they're heard and that their scenes, if they're shouting, just listen, just listen, just pay attention. That's the very core of human need. Forget guests. So when I see these examples and when I think about it, I'm just like, it's all they're doing is telling me that, oh, they've thought about my need here with the whole, I've thought about my need, you know, with, with not killing anyone in the golf cart.
I mean, it's just the willfulness and that always blows me away.
Dan Ryan: It's it's, you know, that idea and that need the human need to feel important. Um, I recently re-read, um, Dale Carnegie's book, what was it called? How to, how to win friends and influence people. And then that was one of them. The big things was [00:41:00] like, Hey people, everyone just wants to feel important.
So don't argue, just listen. And then you'll, you'll, it's like, you get way more bees with honey than with vinegar, but everyone wants to feel important.
Harsha L'Acqua: Yeah. Yeah. And it's, I'm listening to this book called a time to think, have you come across that one? And it's, it is, it's like, it's hard to listen, especially when you're passionate, especially when you're even working by yourself for like 60 minutes.
So now I have a small team and it's quite hard to just stop talking and to listen, but I think it's, you can be the most interesting person at a party. They say, if you say nothing and just ask questions, and then I'm going to walk away from that conversation and be like, oh my God, that was a fantastic conversation.
But you didn't see,
Dan Ryan: as you're saying that, it made me think of that moment in, I think it was Namibia where at the end of every day, in the beginning of the day, you pause for a moment and everyone tells you. A story. And as I'm speaking to a lot of these people, like you, [00:42:00] there's these, um, I'm calling them gathering points.
If you will, where you're just there, everyone shares something, just take a moment and just be mindful and be present because then we can all feel what the other is going through.
Harsha L'Acqua: Right, right, right. Exactly. And you don't have to offer solutions. You have to talk actually just listen. Don't like jump in with Al I'm sorry.
Or just, just don't like, it's not, that's not the point we say, I'm sorry for ourselves. Sometimes, you know, I think. Thinking that that's what the other person needs, but it's very interesting. I mean, I'm learning a lot with marriage also in the last two years.
Dan Ryan: Well, yeah, you just keep repeating back the last two or three words that Michelangelo says, and you'll have a, you'll have a lifetime of joy, love and happiness,
Harsha L'Acqua: I think to that.
And don't say anything.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And now you can [00:43:00] become a hostage negotiator for the CIA
Harsha L'Acqua: students can, hopefully I love to throw in weird things into the curriculum. It's like a weird power. I have.
Dan Ryan: I love that. Well, I also think like speaking of weird powers, I think that one of my super powers is I'm very good at hearing what's unsaid.
And I think that, that, and I don't need to address it right down, but I just can file it back away and then deal with it at another time. Cause oftentimes when I'm hearing what's unsaid in that moment, usually it's not something that needs to be addressed right. Then because then it could turn into an argument or you're going to make someone feel less important.
Um, but it's, it's all about timing as well.
Harsha L'Acqua: Wow. How do you do that? How do you hear, what's not said, um, body
Dan Ryan: language. I think it's body language. It's language. It's like, okay. Like in work there's there usually is an issue. There's just a lot of coordination for opening a hotel. And someone's not saying something that it's like an elephant in a room, right.
That usually in every [00:44:00] kind of heated thing, there's an elephant in the room and oftentimes people are scared to go there and sometimes it's not appropriate to go there right away, but never let it go away because if you don't address the elephant, resentment can be.
Harsha L'Acqua: Yeah, interesting. I've got to look out for that elephant more.
I don't see it much. And I feel like I just assume everything's good.
Dan Ryan: harsher as you think about like where we are right now, where you are right now, like what's keeping you up at night
Harsha L'Acqua: jet lag.
I, I, I guess, I guess I'm not in a literal term because I'm thank God able to sleep very easily. Um, what keeps me up when I, okay, wait here. This is, this is stressing me out a lot. We're in todo Santos. We've moved here and all around. So we were hearing more. We didn't plan to move here. We came here for my lunches birthday for two months in March and.
Then [00:45:00] kind of what, like, wow, it's really changing and it's, I've been, every time I come, I had a project or I'm working. And so I haven't really seen it as the beautiful retreat that everyone loves and I did this year. And so we come back here and we're like, okay, let's spend a few years here cause we're happy here and why not?
And so we see all that, but now I come back six months and I've seen all the, and this is like an immediate thing that stresses me out if you want to go into politics and all that. Sure. But, um, just, just the fact that I've always focused so much on the social part of ASG and here I'm concerned that everyone is getting caught up with this crazy real estate bubble and development and todo Santos is the need to loom.
And uh, and it's like, yeah, you're driving by huge pieces of trash, just being burnt. Constantly like trash is a huge issue. And so [00:46:00] it's not the trash that's keeping me up. It's the fact that people are overlooking it and I'm shocked. Cause I'm always, I'm not shocked anymore. Why hotels don't look for kind of innovative sources of fresh talent,
that's just, I'm used to that. But this part I'm like, wait, what is happening? So, so there's no plan. There's no recycling. There's no, there's no, there's no master plan here because yes, the development is totally coming and yes, this is going to be the new spot if it's not already. But that in an immediate sense right now, just being right here, that worries me.
Um, the fact that real estate developers are just making huge amounts of money. And I don't know, who's really thinking I need to ask more questions. I mean, we just got here. I can't, I can't assume that there's no plan, but from the very little research I've done and the questions I've asked. And we're right on the cusp where this critical point where to loom was your 10 years ago, wherever it was that it took off and todo Santos [00:47:00] is at that point.
So, well, I
Dan Ryan: think that what's different from 10 years ago to today is finally, I think everyone was talking about sustainability, the E on the ESG part, and 10 years ago, maybe 13, 14 years ago. It really started in earnest from the upstart of lead. And, and it's really transformed how everything is happening, but right now I feel like a lot of the big money.
So from all the banks and just the retail and I'm on the retail side, but also on the, um, on the bigger side, the institutional side, they're all looking for measurable ESG returns. And I don't know really what's changed that, but it's actually exciting. So I'm hoping in the case of where you are and everywhere else, rather than where we were 10 years ago, There's going to be a change in how, what the impact is.
And I think because all the, all the big money guys want to have some kind of measure measurable that they [00:48:00] can get back to their investors.
Harsha L'Acqua: Well, CSR is now a thing, right? There's now five years ago, or six years ago, I called up one very large brand and asked to speak to their CSR department and they didn't know what I was talking about.
And I was like, cool. Precision with ones. They'll do nothing. I was like, this is not normal. So now yes, they have to have it. And I really like, so I was with my dad. I went to see him after two years, just recently in India for 10 days. And he was telling me he's, uh, he's he, he's a philanthropist has so, um, I guess what, what keeps him going these days?
Right? He believes if you're offering curable blindness in India and Nigeria, clean water for everyone talking about needs, he's going for the basic, right? He's like, he's not in the hospitality sense necessarily, but he's going for what are the basic needs that people have.
And they need to be able to see because he loves nature. He's like he can't. And that, that, that keeps me up at night to the fact that millions and millions of people [00:49:00] all over the world, a blind for no reason, you're talking about $60 for a cataract operation or $40 even I might be misquoting, but that is obscene to me, obscene.
. But, um, uh, going back to that, so he was telling me about the change and. That's happening right now. He's always like, how do we, he has this philosophy of caring capitalism and he's like, how do we make this a thing? How do we, I was like, you know, dad, you're 74.
Just, just relax. You've done enough. Like just, just take it easy. But he won't. And he shouldn't, and I'm grateful that he doesn't, but he did tell me that recently, I think it was the head of Citibank who was in India. And so what was happening with the pandemic and, um, just the real tragedy that happened in Bombay when COVID hit badly there, um, you know, [00:50:00] talking about bodies being thrown into the river, like it was, it was seen.
So he saw it, which I think isn't necessary for anyone to do anything is to see it and to see firsthand. The reality of it to actually make you change. Um, but yeah, he's, he's told me the head of CSR, I think, is for Citibank gave $5 million to the new COVID wing of my dad's, um, kind of hospital that he was, he was working on in Bombay.
And I think that would never happen before. I think the reality of what, like going through whether it's the pandemic or whether it's the world overheating or whatever the challenges are, are causing huge change, that's going to save it. I'm pretty optimistic. I'm not, you know, my conscious, like, be worried that if we had a child, what kind of world are you bringing it into?
You know? But I think we'll come through. I'm pretty optimistic about that because [00:51:00]
Dan Ryan: yeah, I think there's a generational shift happening right now with this big move into here, because. It's not sustainable what's happening. And I think we just need to be aware and I think awareness is being created. Then change can come and we're in the middle of this big change.
And I guess, you know, talking about a baby in the future, what's exciting you most about the future?
Harsha L'Acqua: Um, well this, this, what, we're exactly what we're talking about that I think for Saira it's been like six years of talking about how we need to think differently about talent and, um, you know, where we should be sourcing talent, farm, et cetera.
So that's all. I think falling into place right now. Um, and we're expanding into permanent schools. So, so London, hopefully San Jose Cabo will be the first to London probably sooner in spring. Um, I think we've got about 50 as of today, we got about 50% of the funding that we need, so we should be on track [00:52:00] with that one.
Yeah. Which is great. Um, so I guess, I guess that's, that's very exciting. I've hired an amazing director of partnerships for the first time in six years, something I should have done years and years ago probably, but Greg and he's based in the UK. And so that's, that's exciting, um, that the team's growing, that we're being recognized that hotels, so thinking differently, I think all of that, um, is exciting.
And then for me, we just took an epic. Six months or three months of travel and making up for all the lost time and just helping around Europe mostly, but I'm quite excited to go deep into two countries and one being Mexico and one being Portugal and just kind of focus my efforts in two places, ideally one place, but it might be too.
Um, so yeah, I think just, I'm quite excited to just stay put [00:53:00] weirdly, um, and, and kind of be an adult and, and be married and not jump around and see what adult lives.
Dan Ryan: Well, I love Mexico and Portugal is amazing. And I think I first met you. I think I met you before Monica and Peter's wedding and Portugal, but we should have them renew their vows in Portugal.
And then we can just
Harsha L'Acqua: all a hundred percent, we caught up with them. Uh, we overlapped for a couple of nights, um, in Portugal. And now everyone's talking about the disorders. We should go back. Well, they're
Dan Ryan: starting in may and a nonstop flight from, uh, Newark to the source. It starts in Matthew, Monica. Very excited.
Yup.
Harsha L'Acqua: Wow. Yeah. It's um, I think countries like that are just, I think it's honestly, it's the people that make me really excited about these places and
Dan Ryan: accompany I'm working with. We're just starting to make furniture there, to ship into the U S as well. And we're really excited about that. Um, I'm [00:54:00] excited to just go factory tour and drink.
Harsha L'Acqua: Totally. I think that's, yeah. I mean, there's so many places in Mexico just to start with that. I want to go explore in terms of, and I want to learn, you know, I want to learn my content. I've always dreamed about having our own hotels. I want to learn about architecture. I want to learn about what you do. I want to, you know, get deeper into things.
Not just Saira Saira has been my world for seven years, but I feel like, okay, we're good. You know, we're at a good place. Things are happening. And actually it's not so much the sell or the education isn't so much needed by me anymore. So I think we're in a place where things will move and in a nice, hopefully a good pace, not too fast, but I want to get a bit more out of, uh, you know, out of just focusing on, on a Syrah and also educating myself, starting at the beginning again, because for six years, it's like, let me tell you why we do it and what we do.
And I don't want to do that anymore. I kind of want to go by. [00:55:00] What is architecture? What is design? What are all these things that encompass the hotel? Well, the
Dan Ryan: little secret about me is one of my dreams is to have a hotel as well, and to be the innkeeper. I really want to do that. So you guys, as your, as your ideas are percolating, you got to keep,
Harsha L'Acqua: I love to hear that.
I will, I will, for sure. I think this is an interesting place to look at in total census. Of course, like everyone else's but, um, yeah, it's just, it's just time. I'm approaching 40. So it's time to grow up a little bit.
Dan Ryan: So, and you are growing up, but if you go back to yourself at six senses where you first really had this hospitality awakening, and you as your almost 40 year old self could go back to yourself then and give yourself some advice.
What would you say?
Harsha L'Acqua: Hmm. Wow. Look at you getting deep at the last minute. What would I say? Um, [00:56:00] I would probably say don't waste so much time on, ex-boyfriends
probably say should've ended those relationships much sooner. No offense spend. Um, I would, you know, I don't know. I mean, it's, it's cliche these days, but if I could have done, I did Iowasca show like many people, um, a couple of years ago. And one of the lessons that I learned, there were many I think, but I think I would encourage, I would encourage things like that, you know, I would encourage, um,
I would, I would just be more probably open-minded to. Really taking a look [00:57:00] at yourself and understanding the flaws and understanding your family. And I would probably start, I would've liked to start that journey a bit earlier. Um, you know, for, you know, when I think we spoke or, or emailed and, you know, one of, one of the inspirations has always been my dad of course, and watching him work with mother Teresa.
And, but what that did is really kind of instill in me this why, why I do what I do today is a lot to do with what my dad and my parents exposed us to as kids. But I guess I, I always thought that's, that's what you need to do. You know? And, and I kind of felt like, you know, you can't, I and I, and I like that.
And I also, it adds a tremendous amount of pressure to my life because I'm always thinking. Uh, what other people don't have and struggling with and their [00:58:00] challenges and what do we have to do? And I guess I got that from my dad at 74, like, oh, we can't stop. Can't stop.
We got to do this better. And it adds this kind of crazy pressure and what Ayahuasca did for me, it was just in a way, awakened me to the sense that, of who you are and you can actually do what you think is nothing. And you can just have a day, a normal day. Why are you not trying to save the world? And you're not trying to, trying to change an industry and you can just take a walk and, and bring your energy and your light and your you yourself as an essence to other people without even saying.
And that's what I think so many of us, you know, funding us talking on a podcast, but so many of us think that we have to be the smartest person in the room. And we have to say the most interesting story. We'll be the funniest or there's all this pressure. [00:59:00] And I think at the end of the day, if you, I think some of the most incredible people that I've come in touch with recently, someone like Klaus who started design hotels, he has an energy.
These people have an energy about them, where they don't need to say anything. And it's not about that. He started design hotels. It's not about what he's done, but I think there's a certain light that you can feel when someone enters a room. And I think we all have it in ourselves, but I'd probably tell myself to take the pressure off a little bit long story short.
Dan Ryan: I agree with you. We all do have this light. And oftentimes I think you said flaws a couple of times through that. And I think, you know, I've not done Ayahuasca yeah. But, um, I think understanding our whole self and embracing our hosts up the good, the bad, and being okay with our whole self is really important.
The work that you're doing with Saira you're [01:00:00] oftentimes you're giving so many people, whether you're just coming up as, as an entry-level position in hospitality, or you're the CEO of a huge bank. So many people don't take the time to work on that empathy and interpersonal skills and being cool with who they are.
So I really appreciate everything that you're doing. Um, and I wish you incredible success there and we have to get together with everyone and have a good time down there.
Harsha L'Acqua: And I'm excited. Come here. Go. We'll go to Portugal. Yeah. Um,
Dan Ryan: so Harsha, how can people connect?
Harsha L'Acqua: What's that mean? It's what they do down here.
Um, yeah, I mean, we have the website, Saira hospitality.com, S a I R a it's quite tricky. Um, hospitality.com. We're on Instagram. You can email me, call me. I'll be here.
Dan Ryan: Great. And I also have your LinkedIn, so I'll, I'll, we'll put [01:01:00] all that in the show notes.
Harsha L'Acqua: Yeah, I wouldn't focus on LinkedIn. I'm not on it too much, but does the website email me?
You can email me straight from the website.
Dan Ryan: Wonderful. Um, Harsha I just want to say thank you so much for your time. And I love this conversation.
Harsha L'Acqua: I'm glad I loved it too.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And I'd also like to thank our listeners and I'm hoping this talk with Harsha really evolves your idea on how to make others feel comfortable and how to actually recruit and train and just give people an opportunity to an amazing career path in our industry. So if you walked away and your thinking was changed a little bit, please share our podcast to someone else and thank you everyone.
And we'll see you next time.
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