Defining Hospitality Podcast | A Place of Belonging - Alexandra Cole

A Place of Belonging - Alexandra Cole - Episode # 075

October 12, 2022 / 51:12/E84

Today’s guest is an industry innovator who uses her talented mind to create beautiful spaces. Alexandra Cole is the Principal and US Managing Director at DesignAgency. Alexandra is incredibly skilled at Interior design and running teams across many different timezones. She joins the host Dan Ryan to share her journey through hospitality and what it all means to her. Takeaways: After discovering that she has dyslexia, Alexandra looked forward to the creative arts in school and she found the arts to be a creative outlet. Hospitality is the feeling of welcoming, accepting, and coming together and sharing experiences with people. There are certain scenarios that exude hospitality like a nice warm farm and a comfortable couch and armchairs. These are part of the overarching feeling of having a space where you feel like you belong. The “instagramable moments” are a faux pa in the design world. You don’t make designs to be seen on Instagram, you make designs that are comfortable and make the guest feel warm and invited. It’s always a good idea to push the envelop of curiosity and try to increase your knowledge about your industry and the world around you. Coming out of COVID, there has been a lot of opportunities in the hospitality industry for branded spaces to really take off. People will get used to certain brands and staying at the same hotels because it provides them with a sense of familiarity and a feeling of welcomness. Quote of the Show: 15:17 “It's really kind of about that feeling of welcoming and acceptance and the coming together of experiences and people.” Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-cole-15aab316/ Website: https://www.thedesignagency.ca/ Shout Outs: 1:18 Dune 6:08 Vito Lotta 6:09 Hilton 23:49 Ennismore 23:50 Hoxton 24:03 David Collins 24:38 The Connaught Bar 25:00 Ritz-Carlton 26:15 Aliya Khan 36:36 ILC 44:28 Bentley Residences Ways to Tune In: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419 Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/ Youtube : https://youtu.be/BDAFehGxzxY

Takeaways:

After discovering that she has dyslexia, Alexandra looked forward to the creative arts in school and she found the arts to be a creative outlet.
Hospitality is the feeling of welcoming, accepting, and coming together and sharing experiences with people.
There are certain scenarios that exude hospitality like a nice warm farm and a comfortable couch and armchairs. These are part of the overarching feeling of having a space where you feel like you belong.
The “instagramable moments” are a faux pa in the design world. You don’t make designs to be seen on Instagram, you make designs that are comfortable and make the guest feel warm and invited.
It’s always a good idea to push the envelop of curiosity and try to increase your knowledge about your industry and the world around you.
Coming out of COVID, there has been a lot of opportunities in the hospitality industry for branded spaces to really take off.
People will get used to certain brands and staying at the same hotels because it provides them with a sense of familiarity and a feeling of welcomness.

Quote of the Show:

15:17 “It's really kind of about that feeling of welcoming and acceptance and the coming together of experiences and people.”

Links: