Philosophy

Mindset —

Hospitality; it’s not a lifestyle, it’s about life, where style is just an option and service can be an extraordinary experience. 

What distinguishes hospitality from mediocre and world-class, is not the finest China in the world, nor the best chairs and tables; it’s not the greatest food ever created nor the finest wines; it’s not the 47 different steps of service and whether you cleared a guest’s plate from the left or the right side.

No.

What distinguishes world-class hospitality from mediocre hospitality is…the People. I’m not talking about the guests and I’m not talking about the Investors and the Shareholders. I’m talking about the Employees. And we, as a society have had it wrong for so many years and it looks like this.

Where the needs and well-being of the Investors & Shareholders are put first, Guests & Customers second, and finally at the bottom, the Employees. What kind of message does this send to employees? That they simply don’t matter. And why would anyone want to work at an organization where they don’t matter?

Instead, how I look at it is with a simple inversion.

With this model, your Employees are your #1 priority for wellbeing and needs, because without your Employees you have nothing. Your Guests & Customers still come second, but the needs and well-being of your Shareholders & Investors come last.

The peculiar thing about this new model, is that when you actually put the needs and well-being of your Employees first, they develop a sense of purpose and belonging, and when this happens your employees work harder and care more, which trickles down to the Guests & Customers and by the time you reach the Shareholders & Investors you have double if not tripled or quadrupled your ROI because of your emphasis on putting your employees first.

There is a difference between managing and leading:

Objects have jobs.

People have purpose.

You manage things.

You lead people.

With a servant heart, I’ve served my entire life, though it has been through many different acts of service. In a world where service is seen in many instances as “second-class,” I settle for nothing short of first-class. In the words of Jerry Inzerillo, “There is a nobility when it comes to service.” People won’t always remember what you said, and they won’t always remember what you did, but they will always, always remember the way you made them feel.

My drive for nothing short of first-class comes from my competitive spirit forged on the frozen lakes of Alaska, where my hockey coach, Jack, instilled a hustle that would never die. I hustled then and I’ve never let up. In a sense, I am eternally grateful for Coach Jack and owe him my endless gratitude. My competitive spirit combined with my dream to own and operate my own ultra-luxury boutique resort provides me with the mentality and sheer determination that makes me obsessed with success.

I am fueled by the want and the need to provide others with an unmatched and an unparalleled experience. I used to never really understand why giving back was important or what it truly meant, but looking back through my life already, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the people who played both big and small parts to get me to where I am now. My passion has evolved into so much more. It has evolved into an entity of gratitude. I have been very fortunate to have family, friends, and even complete strangers, believe in me and my dream, and they want to see me succeed, and because of that I want nothing more, then to be able to give back to those who allowed me to get where I am and to where I will be and to what I will become.

In the end though, being the best, for me, isn’t done by reaching or surpassing some arbitrary financial number or gain, that’s not a purpose, that’s a result, instead, being the best is making sure that I did everything I could to ensure that my employees, my team is was and is provided the tools, knowledge, and help to become the best versions of themselves.

And if I can do that, then I will have shown my kids what real leadership is and will have left behind for them, a legacy to cherish for generations to come.