One of my favorite birthday memories in hotel business was - I was turning 22, recently promoted to management at a 4 diamonds casino resort - I usually worked the early morning shift - and they knew I was a bit of a partier - and would ummm "call out" sometimes if I had too many drinkies ... So, they scheduled me the day after my Bday (a busy one) for later 12pm, gave me free room for me and some friends, and comp dinner and drinks at one of the restaurants! It was funny, and appreciated. I ended up coming in early anyway!

June 11 is my Bday - and all I want these days is to have a hang out day w wife and kids - and I get to pick the restaurant!

Multi Unit Hotel Management and Owner Relations - they'd say I'm a good trainer of trainers, very good at delegation of duties, and drive employee/manager engagement to be retained and reduce turnover, and also I'm a cheerleader for the company, attracting enthusiasm and positive attention for the organization.

I scream about innovation needed in hotels, but I'm also quite old school! For anticipating and fulfilling the needs of a team member, I'm all about the log book! Not digital, an actual book. Front Desk log books, with 50% standardized with the same stuff written, every shift, and 50% narrative and needs or happenings of the day. The standards are where the anticipating lives. Every shift, one thing to write is "Here's what I did for the next shift: - and other, like Weather, guest requests that needed passing along, write a quote of the day, and any lost and found stuff, whatever... and then the FOM leads by example and follows up on each, communicating between shifts....

This happened - 3am, I'm working hotel night audit at a luxury casino... Luciano Pavaratti's butler calls me! (not room service or anybody in F&B), says Luciano wants a large dish of cacio e pepe, then he hung up the phone! After 15 minutes of me sprinting to the room service kitchen, trying to sound out what he asked for, "it sounded like Catching a Pepper?"....speaking to the one chef that didn't speak Italian, or English very well....who had 10+ other tickets to process....I called the casino host on duty, and he knew exactly what Pavarotti wanted, came down to the kitchen, we made cacio e pepe together and brought it up! Pavarotti himself answered the door and smiled so big, said something loud with grazie in it - and closed the door. All done within about 30 minutes, faster than the 45 minute wait everyone else was getting from room service! So - I was right for this business from the start because I got that rush of adrenaline after that butler called and hung up. I had to make it happen. Had to. I needed to exhaust all options quickly before calling that butler back. Sometimes, it turns out to be actually impossible request, and there have been 100 stories similar. My opinion - I'm not too concerned if it's actually possible or not impossible, it's in the striving, the fight to make it happen that makes the difference to the guest, and the server can find life's meaning in that struggle to serve.

📍Where were you - Westerly, Rhode Island, grew up nearby Pawcatuck-Stonington-Mystic, Connecticut. 😁 What song or saying instantly brings a smile to your face? - Songbird by Eva Cassidy (Fleetwood Mac cover) 🗺️ Where is your favorite place to go? - Individually, going to take a nap. Kidding (kind of)... I love going to any new place that I've only read about. For example, Hershey Park PA - always heard about it, didn't visit until I had kids, and the anticipation was immense, and made me enjoy it even more, it's a mix of new experiences with interesting experiences. That's where I hope to be all the time. - With family, the NC Blue Ridge Mountains, Smoky Mountains, Boone and Appalachian Mtn area 🐾 What is your favorite animal? What is your pets name? - Gorillas, Chimpanzees and Koala Bears I'm obsessed with all of them since a little kid, and I wish I could move to their respective environments and just hang out with them and be best friends. 💻 What kind of work do you do to be of service to others? I'm in hotel business, 30 years, about 10 years as a hotel manager, 10 years as a Hotel Mgt Company "corporate", and 10 years as a Hotel Owner/Consultant. I committed in 2018 to remain independent, and create systematic changes that make the entire hotel US Hotel Industry more attractive and financially rewarding to generation of hospitality managers and creative entrepreneurs. To serve, I do the hands on engagement work that most in my position cannot do (because of time, budgets) and I spend as much time IN PERSON as I can with the youth with DECA.org in high schools, preaching about the hotel industry and that you can find purpose and meaning in it and it can be incredibly financially rewarding and unlimited potential to make a great life and career in it. I debunk the current perception that it's all work, no play, low pay and stress filled. That's just 5% of the concern, it's not the story. So I spend my time changing the narrative back to reality.

Thanks for the gift of this ice breaking topic @Kylie Fitzgibbons - it was valuable "me" time which I forget to do sometimes!