Speaker 1: 0:10

Good morning LinkedIn. Welcome to Talk About TV, where we talk about all things experiential hospitality, primarily in the outdoor space. I'm Michelle Oliver. I am the CEO and founder of X-Pitality, and X-Pitality was formed to help our clients create exceptional experiential outdoor hospitality properties because I believe that the experience of hospitality can truly transform the world.

Speaker 1: 0:46

On Friday mornings I like to come on and just share some things from the week, insights and lessons learned from working in the experiential outdoor hospitality space. I'm usually here with my associate, randy Hendrickson. He's not here today. It's always a little bit awkward for me to just come talk by myself, but there are some things that I hope, if you happen to be listening, will give you some inspiration or just something to think about this week. Of course, like every week, the week is full of an entire lifetime the good, the bad, the in-between, the ugly, all of those varieties of experience, but one thing that really stands out to me. I spent a few days with a friend of mine who invited me to go up to Wyoming to look at some properties that some he is under contract, some he's looking to purchase and he just wanted my professional opinion on these properties and what was possible to do with them to determine if it's feasible. Of course, I could just speak to you about the properties and all the things I learned in that regard, which was really a lot of fun, and that'll be another conversation. But the thing that stood out to me the most, that I want to talk about today, is something that I work with all of our clients on. We always start with, you know, vision and values and all of that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 2:24

Well, this friend of mine who happened to also be on my staff he was, he was one of my employees when I had a hospitality venue. Gosh, it was like I guess seven, six or seven years ago now, and the interesting thing about that is it was a short-lived experience and yet that venue somehow impacted very powerfully everyone that was involved, and so my friend was. He kept coming back to this. You know the experience I, the experience that he had working as part of the staff and all of the things that he observed, um, the way that that we interacted with guests and how the guests responded, and I I really got to thinking about it. I I kind of put it out of my mind a bit, cause it was a while ago and it was a painful thing for me to lose that business. But honestly, every month, even seven years later, I hear from I don't know between two, I guess between two and five people every single month from that history, reminding me of how they were impacted by the experience of working there or being a guest there and comparing it to what's there now and all of this kind of thing. So I got to thinking what was it really that made the difference there? And it really does come down to something that I hope anybody who has excuse me, I'm not coffee or anything yet this morning, that anybody that has an experiential hospitality property, will take into consideration myself and anyone.

Speaker 1: 4:22

It's really easy to kind of overlook the power and importance of being clear about your vision and your values. So you can think you are and you can have it written down, and but values excuse me, I'm so sorry Values oftentimes are communicated with one word, you know. So, like, my top three values are freedom, service to others and joy, but then of course, beneath those are a number of other values that just kind of fall in line with that, like obviously and automatically. But the real difference is not to communicate those values in words or just a statement to your guests and to your staff. But I think what we did so well is we took those values and this is a a process that I go through with all of our clients and you'll have a different terms for it as you work through it yourself but take those values, and those values like if you're living your values. They become a key characteristic of your behavior. Right, that's how it should, but what happens so often is the business owner has this audacious vision and then, yes, we know our values and they mean something to us. But I can guarantee you that if you just state your values, even to a partner or a staff, that they are going to interpret those words in a very different way and it can become complex, but it's really not. So I know that what I like to do with staff is help them come up with their own, to get really clear. Not come up with, but to become aware of and become very clear on what their vision for their own personal life is. And when you do that, you can help them understand, because you are so clear about the vision of the business, of how they can accomplish their own personal goals and achieve and experience their vision by becoming a hero in your story too, by becoming part of your overall audacious vision, and that that will carry them as well.

Speaker 1: 7:04

So one of the things that happened is we were so committed to the reason that we existed that every one of our behaviors exhibited that exuded those qualities. Every action was built in alignment with the core vision and those values. So those values become, like I said, kind of like the way we behave or the way we interact or the words we say. That's what you build your language out of, and this kind of thing. A lot of people just blow it off as like yeah, yeah, that's all fun and it's a feel good and I enjoy that and I've done that and yeah, of course. But they don't actually live it and the words you say are flat If you don't have behaviors that are built into your daily systems, policies and procedures. But they have to be built in a way that is not stale, that is not sterile, that is not academic, but that is full of the very life that you want to pass on to your guests.

Speaker 1: 8:33

Your guests don't want to hear oh, yes, we value you know everybody has. Like I don't want to say them because I don't want anybody to feel bad, but pretty much every business will say we value, you know, whatever honesty, integrity, whatever they are. But then what does that mean to you? How do you translate that into a key component of your daily behavior that you wouldn't? That becomes so automatic that there is no question in anyone's mind what is going on. So when he was feeding back to me, he's like how do you do this? How did you do that? It was so natural. Everyone that left that that establishment was, was, was filled with they. Literally we would create a transformation for everyone that came to this venue and that's also what my goal was to create with every one of my staff.

Speaker 1: 9:38

Growing people to grow business is what it's about and and how we work as well. So experiential, everything right. It's like as the owner, the CEO, the manager, whatever your role is in your organization. It's about expanding and growing as a leader, regardless of what your position is. So when we come into these outdoor experiential hospitality opportunities and businesses and properties, like we were looking at some extraordinary properties and I guarantee you it's like wearing the most beautiful clothes but not feeling confident in them. You cannot purchase a stellar looking property and lean into that as being what's going to deliver to your guests. If you do not have, if you don't spend the time, I'm just encourage everyone, spend the time.

Speaker 1: 10:44

What do you really want?

Speaker 1: 10:46

What is your vision? How do you want your people to feel when they come your guests, your staff? How do you want to feel when you come to the property or if you're working on the property? This is what people are looking for. They're looking to expand and become better versions of who they are. They want a bigger life. They want to embrace possibility and in the hospitality industry we have the opportunity to provide that for people.

Speaker 1: 11:19

So the biggest takeaway from my week was to not be shy about this and to really embrace the vision that you want to create and turn that into action. Key characteristics that just are so that there's no question. I mean think about it. Like, even when you're talking about the people who have the best systems, everybody often goes back to McDonald's. Those are predictable, right, predictable deliverables and products and qualities. The same thing can happen with your vision and your values and that is what is going to really stand out to people and they will remember it.

Speaker 1: 12:10

People are still reaching out to me from that short-lived business I had, of how it changed their life, impacted them, changed the way they do business, and these things really matter. So, all right. Well, I was hoping to be outside today, but it's pouring rain, which is a really, really beautiful surprise for us. It rained all night in Colorado, where I'm living, and I am wishing each and every one of you the most extraordinary experiences as you move into the weekend, experiences as you move into the weekend. Please do something to lift someone else in your organization today or wherever you happen to be, and that's what hospitality, I think, is all about. Be generous with your kindness and it will be an extraordinary weekend, god bless.