Longevity through Legacy: How I Lead Thousands at the World's Longest-Running Forbes Five-Star & AAA Five-Diamond Resort - Ann Alba, The Broadmoor

Josiah: I recently stayed at the Broadmoor in Colorado and was deeply impressed by the culture of service and hospitality I experienced. I had multiple people tell me that I needed to talk with Ann Alba, vice president and resident manager, and in this episode, you'll hear our wide-ranging conversation from her career journey, to mentorship, to building on legacy, to thinking about change and resilience. If you're a long-time listener of this podcast, you'll know I usually focus our episodes on one topic, but I came away from my conversation with Ann impressed about how all of these elements tie together. So, I hope you'll listen and be inspired by her vision of what excellence in hospitality leadership can look like. 

Ann: I was raised in a bar back home, and I don't tell that to too many people, but I understand there's a mere, I don't know, 300,000 listening. So I was raised in a bar. Since the age of two, my father built a bar. My middle brother still runs it 58 years later. So hospitality, serving - and I think that's a great word - is really part of my inner being. It's everything that I know. So when I came to the Broadmoor, I was hired over a cup of coffee in the West Banquet Kitchen. I was hired as a banquet server. I had met a golf club member here who really probably changed my life for the fact that I had the destiny of being in this business in mind, but I never dreamed that I would be at a place that was a kingdom such as the Broadmoor. To this day, am so proud that I was hired over that cup of coffee. So when I got to the Broadmoor, I had really the same feelings. I hate to sound Pollyanna, but I have the same feelings as I have today. I was just amazed to be a part of something so special. There are presidents who have walked through this door, celebrities, there's people who have just planned a lifetime to be here, which is equally as important. So, when I was hired as a banquet server, I knew that I wanted to be here for a very long time. My mentors were here 35 years, 40 years, 45 years. And so my role here at the Broadmoor is really just as it was as a banquet server, resident manager. is now the honor of serving at the executive level. So I have a team of anywhere from 1800 team members to a couple thousand, depending on season and where we're at. But to me, it is the greatest, greatest role in the world. Resident Manager is a very old-school title. My job is just to take care of those from start to finish, literally. I am probably the one to focus on arrival, departure the most, but all in between. I was food and beverage-bound. Having been raised in the bar, I ran the bar upstairs, the hotel bar. I was also in restaurants. I was the night manager with many stories to tell. And I've been in the seat of resident manager for 24 years. And it's a role of just serving, serving everyone who walks through our door.

Josiah: That's incredible. And you mentioned your mentors were working at the Broadmoor for 35, 40, 45 years. You've spent 30 years of your career there. This really stands out in the hospitality industry. So many people I talk with struggle to keep team members around for three months, six months. And both you and so many at the Broadmoor have built really long careers. What is it about the Broadmoor that makes you attracted to show up year after year and invest in building the legacy that it is?

The rest of this transcript is available exclusively to members of the Hospitality Daily Huddle.