Ascension - Ashli Johnson, Hospitality Hued

Josiah (00:00:00):
Hospitality company executive leadership teams and hotel ownership still don't reflect the diversity of everyone who works in hospitality or of the guests and communities they serve. And Ashli Johnson is going all in to change that. As the founder of Hospitality Hued, she's championing the ascension of Black and Brown leaders to creating pathways, not just to leadership, but to ownership in hospitality. With a wealth of experience spanning top global brands and a commitment to advancing equity. Ashli is equipping hospitality professionals with the tools, networks, and insights they need to thrive. In this episode, Ashli shares how Hospitality Hued empowers leaders to break through traditional barriers, build powerful networks, and reshape the future of hospitality leadership. It's time to open the doors to a more inclusive industry. So let's get into it.

[intro]

Ashli (00:01:26):
So we are lucky in that we do this for a living, but most of us we're raised to do this just in our everyday personal lives. Most people have a story about how sweet their grandmother was and how their grandmother would feed the whole neighborhood, or how special holidays were. Typically, that's around some sort of service component, be it food, beverage or otherwise. We all love travel, right? You'd be hard pressed to find someone that's like, no, I hate a vacation. And so I think hospitality when done, when we are living our lives in such a way that we are aware and cognizant of how we can be of service to others through whatever we're doing, if I lead a team, I can lead that team thinking to myself, Hey, how can I be of best service to the people that I'm responsible for? If we just keep that in the forefront, I think all things can be better and easier and feel much better. So yeah, I mean, hospitality can save the world. I need to write that book.

Josiah (00:02:41):
I hope you do. I hope you do. But I've heard you kind of talk in the past, I think about something about this intersection of hospitality being this mix of business and heart. And I hear you sharing what you just shared now, which is a mentality, it's an orientation for me that's so compelling because there's so many different ways that you can think about this, you can apply it. I feel like it's a very rich environment to think about, not only how do you take care of people around you, your community, your city, but I think this really can be a force for affecting positive change. It seems

Ashli (00:03:12):
Absolutely, absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. And so that is what other industries find so attractive about hospitality. That's why other industries actively recruit from the hospitality industry. I literally got a phone call from a friend of mine that's a chief HR officer for a large medical system yesterday, and her question was, Hey, I need to hire somebody that understands employee relations and understands how to create a welcoming work environment, but I also need them to sort of understand data points in terms of employee satisfaction. And I think that's kind of what you do. And I'm like, yeah, it's hospitality. You need to find someone from the hospitality industry. And so it's so applicable and transferable. So yeah, I mean, again, hospitality can save the world if we just let it.

Josiah (00:04:13):
I love that. I want to get a little bit into your story and your work and maybe as a bridge to do that. One of the ways I love asking my guests is who is an influential figure that was formative in your life, your work, my understanding for you? That was the late Ray Bennett, and I wonder if you could share a little bit about how you met Ray, what you learned from him and how he influenced your life and work today.

Ashli (00:04:36):
Yeah, so again, I'm committed to this hospitality thing, Josiah. So I studied hospitality, undergrad and grad school. A crazy person have always worked in hospitality in some shape, form or fashion. And early on in my career, I was under the impression that no one internal to your organization could really be of assistance. They couldn't help you in such a way or they were unreachable, sort of untouchable as you're in the entry level or even mid-level range. It's like you read about these people on the internet, anybody else does. And so when Ray and I initially crossed paths, I want to say we were both speaking at a conference together, extremely unassuming. I just struck up a conversation with him, had no clue what his role was at Marriott International. And I thought, oh, this is so nice. He mentioned that he worked at Marriott, but I had no idea that he was in such an influential role.

(00:05:50):
And so I think anyone that works for MI that knew Ray will tell you that he was just the opposite of what I explained. I can't tell you how many times I have placed a recent college grad in a role and they'll say, Mr. Bennett came to my hotel today and he knew what my name was. Like, can you believe that? And I'm like, yes, I can because it's Ray Bennett, right? Or even someone that's a little bit more progressed in their career. And so Ray was obviously exceptional in all of the roles that he had at Marriott International, but he was really accessible to the folks that worked at Marriott and was also very clear about his desire to support people that look like him in occupying spaces at the very top levels of our business. And so you don't find that most people get where they're going and it's sort of find your own way, figure it out. And so Ray was so well loved and respected not only for his heart, but certainly for his professional contributions and leadership in the industry. And so I'm blessed to have called him a friend and a long time supporter. We would obviously be back to back trying to figure out, hey, how can we solve for some of the issues that our industry is still sort of navigating and working through.

Josiah (00:07:30):
What do you think was behind the way Ray showed up in the world or what was that motivating factor? You said A lot of people in his position will reach a level of success and they're just focused on their lives and what they're doing. What was different for Ray?

Ashli (00:07:48):
Ray did not come from means, Ray was from Detroit, Michigan lived what most would consider a very normal life. And early on in his academic career, even going, he never thought that he would go to college. It was just never in his purview. And so I think that lived experience gave him something to really connect with just average everyday people. And so in that way, he never forgot where he came from. He remembered being that college student thinking, am I even supposed to be here? How do I get to the next level? He remembered being that entry level manager. He remembered his first leadership roles, and so that made it so much easier for him to connect with other professionals as they were sort of progressing throughout their own careers.

Josiah (00:08:44):
I think it's a good lesson for all of our listeners, right? Don't forget that what it's like to be coming up and not having all the things that you may not have at this stage of your career. Is there anything that he said or did that has stuck with you in your work today?

Ashli (00:09:00):
Man, so back in, I mean this must've been 2016 or 2017, I thought, Hey, why don't we start at the collegiate level? If we can get college students committed to progressing a bit of a different path in hospitality, maybe we can sort of close this equity gap. And so I started a group called hlt, 100 Hospitality Leaders today. It was my personal commitment to developing a hundred young people to do something more indifferent in hospitality. And so of course I talked to Ray about this amongst a plethora of other executives, and Ray said, yeah, however I can help. I'm happy to show up. I think I honestly think in the back of his mind, he's like, you're so crazy. You by yourself want to just, okay, it sounds good. Let me know. I can help. I'm busy. But Ray was never too busy to really lend a hand.

(00:10:06):
And so I can remember he came to HLT 100 and spent a couple of hours in a room with 20 or 25 college students sharing his story, sharing about his current role, how he got there, how to think about your role within a organization in a more sort of holistic way. And he was kind of quiet afterwards. I really couldn't get a read. I'm like, I'm sorry you came all this way. Were you okay with it? And instantly he said, Ashley, who is this, this, this, and this? Just sort of pointing throughout the room. And I was like, oh, that's a young lady that goes to this school. Oh, that's a young man that goes here. And he said, they're going to come into her next summer in Bethesda, just like that. And I thought a whole year in advance, he's like, yeah, have them reach out to me and my team next week.

(00:11:06):
We'll get them into the interview process, but we need that type of creative thinking and energy. And really, he was looking at the time at how much diversity did not exist amongst interns in Marriott's corporate office at the time. And he was like, these kids are fantastic. And so when I think about people that occupy influential roles that can make things like that happen and how often people don't exercise that, and dare I say Josiah, sometimes we're willing to exercise it for the neighborhood kid, our niece, our nephew, our daughter, in the same way we can open those doors. And so those students are now college graduates and doing just phenomenal things in their careers totally changed the trajectory of where they were going and what their contributions could be in hospitality. And so sometimes it just takes taking a moment and saying, I'm going to create a pathway here.

Josiah (00:12:15):
I love that I'm taking away at least three things from what you just shared. One is you mentioned something just kind of as an aside, but you said he had time and sort of bandwidth to give back. And at this point he was at the very top levels of leadership of Marriott responsible for thousands of thousands of hotels. Probably a huge amount of responsibility. It would be very easy in that position to say, I'm too busy and I don't have time for any of that. So I think this is really important for our listeners to think about how can you be effective at work but not become so busy or so wrapped up in it that you don't have time to give back. So he must have protected that in some way that time to give back. And then I'm hearing just briefly there, I think the other thing is opening doors, providing access you mentioned is key. And then I also heard a decisiveness where it's like in that room, he's instantly a year from now this person. And I feel like so many times people are just sitting around and talking and thinking it sounds like he was a man of action. Absolutely. Is that a fair

Ashli (00:13:17):
More than a fair assessment? For sure. It's interesting that you mention that because when I think back on it, I remember him saying, Hey, so shortly after he spoke, I think it was lunch right after that, and he was like, yeah, so I'll be out for lunch, but I'll circle back for an evening reception. He was going to visit hotels in the market. So it's like quite literally, you can do both at the same time. And so while he, I'm sure was extremely impressive to these college students in this room that otherwise may not have ever had access to him, but also popping into hotels and meeting with leadership teams and line level associates while he was in the market. And I'm sure those folks are like, holy smokes, where did Ray Bennett come from? How did he get here? This is so great that he was intentional about his time in that way. So it was never a moment wasted.

Josiah (00:14:23):
I love that. I want to transition into talking about some elements of your career and your work today. I see you representing Howard for people who are just listening to the audio, you got the Howard sweatshirt on. I love it. You were the executive director of the Marriott Center for Hospitality Leadership at Howard University, which was a groundbreaking initiative. How did that all come to be?

Ashli (00:14:50):
Ooh, do we have enough time today? HSI, so the Marriotts Thornton Center ultimately came to be after Marriott's, CEO. Arnie Thornton passed away. And so after his passing, the conversation very quickly became, Hey, let's think about what was Arne working on? What were the problems he was seeking to solve and how can we continue some of that work even in his absence? And something that was high on his list was really trying to crack the code on, yeah, well, where are all the black executives? Why is it that we work in an industry that seems so difficult for a particular group of people to navigate and how can we change that and where can we start? And so from there, the Marriott family, through their family foundation and through the generosity of Arne's wife Ruth, they gave a landmark gift to Howard University to create what is now known as the Marriott-Sorensen Center for Hospitality Leadership that center Arne was so well loved and widely admired, respected in the industry. He really was a once in a lifetime, once in a generation type of leader that had so much social capital and goodwill throughout the industry that Howard University and the foundation were really able to bring together the best and the brightest minds in the industry to say, Hey, what needs to happen here?

(00:16:41):
If we're looking to create a program that is producing students at a very different clip, what does that look like? How can we differentiate this program from the several hundred other hospitality management programs from across the country?

Josiah (00:16:55):
Actually, sorry, could I just jump in there? I should have keyed this up a little bit better, but we do have a lot of listeners abroad as well, and I wonder if you could share just a little background on Howard so people can contextualize why this, why here? Because it has an amazing history and I wonder if you could share a little bit about that.

Ashli (00:17:11):
Yeah, so Howard University is a historically black university that has an incredible roster of alum that have really traversed every industry across the globe. They are known for, Howard University is known for producing a industry leaders in lights and have been doing this for hundreds of years. And so Howard University is based in Washington DC and I think that proximity mattered, particularly in this instance, giving it close geographic proximity to so many hospitality headquarters, giving it close proximity to Myriad international headquarters being really at the epicenter of all things policy and advocacy and legislative related. Here in this country, it is a top HBCU in the nation, and they're a competitive institution, so they don't take everybody. Everybody that applies doesn't get in. So they're known for having extremely bright and high academically performing students.

Josiah (00:18:35):
Amazing. So you have this amazing university with a great legacy of excellence, and then you have everything that you just shared around this was a priority. So there's this opportunity presented itself for, Hey, we could create something special here.

Ashli (00:18:52):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so in coming into the role of serving as the inaugural executive director, that program, a couple of things I was very clear and keen on is that we don't need another hospitality management program. We've got lots of 'em all around the world. And so particularly taking under consideration that majority of the students that attend this school are black, and our industry historically has struggled with identifying black leadership, black owners, these sorts of things, I knew that we had to approach this programming much differently. And so one of the ways that we did that is that the program there is not an academic program. So the student won't graduate with a degree in hospitality. They graduate with a degree in whatever their chosen field is. And one of the really beautiful things about hospitality is that, hey, we need interior design majors. We need supply chain management majors, we need marketing majors, we need engineers architecture majors, we need finance majors. And so people often hear me say that hospitality is the business of service. And so I knew that that could really be a sweet spot for this program is identifying students that understood the business and then just sort of layering hospitality over that they're going to be ready for a very different type of opportunity post-graduation by comparison to maybe some other graduates

Josiah (00:20:33):
And maybe even having an edge. I mean, if I think about this, you think about from what you just described, there's hundreds of other hospitality programs. It sounds, if you're combining one of these fields of expertise with expertise in hospitality, I imagine you have a chance to stand out.

Ashli (00:20:49):
Oh, man, listen, it is the ultimate competitive advantage. I can remember being fresh out of undergrad and was like, yeah, I want to work in development. And everybody was like, you're crazy. Nobody works in development straight out of school. And what was shared with me was, and certainly something that I have confirmed over the years is that hospitality is one of those industries that values both experience and education. And you could have all the education in the world, but if you don't have any experience, it doesn't really take you that far. And also present day, most hospitality students, their thought post-graduation is that, Hey, one day I'm going to be a manager at a hotel. I'm going to be a supervisor at a bar. And those are all great things and we need those folks, but there are also opportunities that exist in development and acquisitions and in franchise relations and in investment. And so something really special started happening when I got to Howard is that hospitality is very broad. Nobody was talking about going to work for the res straight out of school, but that is very much hospitality. And guess what? If you're a finance major that has experience interning with large investment banks, all of those banks have hospitality divisions like this is your pathway to climbing the ladder at a much faster clip than average.

Josiah (00:22:37):
Is there something about the broader business of hospitality that you think is especially interesting? I'm thinking, I mean, just to go with your finance example, why work for a REIT or focus on hospitality investment versus another type of investment? Is this just a more interesting place to work, do you think?

Ashli (00:22:53):
I think so, right? It's like you could work for a large lender and guess what? You are just loaning people money just to be loaning people money. You work in development, you're just, I don't know, building strip malls. That doesn't really sound that appealing to me. Alternatively, I think it is super exciting that you have an opportunity to be an analyst and you are working in feasibility to identify top markets, to put a new resort in. I mean, to me that seems far more exciting. Then just sort of your run of the mill. I always say hospitality is a very unique asset class as it relates to real estate, and it is specific and has its own vibe, but I think it's so much more fun, so much more

Josiah (00:23:53):
Fun. You've been an advocate not only for people building careers in leadership, but also finding paths to ownership. Why is that?

Ashli (00:24:02):
Because again, when I think about the population specifically that I serve, if we're talking about economic freedom, if we're talking about real equity, if we're talking about how to generally lift folks from their current sort of status, finances are a large part of that. And so owning or investing in what it is that we already enjoy, right? Again, I'm hard pressed to find somebody that does not enjoy a dinner out, does not enjoy a quick vacation or a staycation. We know that this industry has made many people very wealthy, and so there are significant opportunities to engage in a bit of a different way than solely just working in the business.

Josiah (00:25:06):
So we talked a little bit about the opportunity that exists both on a career level, on just an industry level in terms of opportunity, both before we started recording and earlier in this conversation, we were touching on some of the things that are holding people back that it sounds like both in your work at Howard and then today, which we'll get to in a moment, but there are things you're observing in the industry that are things that you're trying to address then at Howard and now in your work today. I wonder if you could share with our listeners what are some of those things as a way to build awareness and hopefully build a more equitable industry?

Ashli (00:25:46):
I think tradition status quo is probably holding us back more than folks are willing to acknowledge. I think sometimes I really have to challenge people to think about why is it that you don't have that? You're not seeing diversity in your leadership. It's not because the talent is not there. Then I'm led to ask the question, well, where are you fishing? Where are you traditionally recruiting from? Because I hear all the time from friends and colleagues, it's like, oh, we just never get any applicants. We'd love to hire a woman, but they just don't apply. It's like, why is that? Sometimes we just have to ask more questions and be okay with getting realistic responses from that. And so I think a great example of this, a group that I have a ton of respect for is Pebble Bur Hotel Trust. John has built a phenomenal organization.

(00:27:00):
I think he's one of the goats of our industry. And so when you take a look at your organization, it's like, Hey, we would love to be more diverse. Why aren't we right? So even from a collegiate perspective, I don't think public work was unique in this way, but typically they recruited from one or two schools. Nothing wrong with that if you're not trying to build diversity amongst your teams. And so they really have been intentional about saying, Hey, we don't want to talk about this anymore. We want to be about it. And so what they've been able to do when they sort of have changed their recruitment strategy and have to give a lot of credit to Keegan on their HR team and of saying, Hey, they're our super talented, maybe even more talented candidates that are outside of our current pools. Let's go fish somewhere else. And they've been super successful in doing that. And by doing that, naturally they have become a more diverse organization. And so again, it's just the intentionality and being okay with someone asking the question and being able to embrace the response and doing something about it.

Josiah (00:28:26):
I love it. It sounds like I might need to talk to them for an upcoming episode, but I want to spend a few more moments talking about your work at Howard because we talked about the opportunities, some of the structural barriers. I'd love to get into as much detail as you're comfortable sharing around things that you're most proud of there because I heard one thing that stood out to me is this combination. People aren't going to major in hospitality, they're going to major in something else. We're going to have a layer of hospitality over there. Are there other things you're really proud of as you were launching the Marriott Center for Hospitality Leadership at Howard that I think our listeners should know about?

Ashli (00:29:02):
Yeah. So first of all, let me just say Josiah working in higher education or in academia in saying that you're not going to create a degree program, not a popular opinion, okay. They're like, what are you talking about? You need a degree in this. And I'm like, do you though?

Josiah (00:29:24):
How'd you get it done though? I love when people pushed past the just kind of status quo. So how did you convince them? I mean, you're a pretty convincing person, but practically for the rest of us, how do you get stuff done?

Ashli (00:29:36):
I mean, part of it is like, hey, let's just take a snapshot of C-suite leaders at 30 different companies, and how many of them have hospitality degrees? Okay, well, we now know that these people are perfectly capable that they've done great work, they continue to do great work, and somehow they just got bit by the hospitality bug somewhere along the way. And by comparison, what we're offering is a student that understands the business of how all of this works and an interest or a particular passion about some portion of hospitality. It really makes for a much compelling candidate. I would always tell our Marriot Thoreson scholars is that it is my goal that upon graduation, you and your resume will be indisputable. No one will be able to say, oh, well, you don't have more hospitality degree. It's like, yeah, but I interned at Hilton Corporate and I interned at Apple reit, and I also interned for Ford Investment Bank in New York in my third summer.

Josiah (00:30:48):
Can hear

Ashli (00:30:48):
That. Oh, by the way,

(00:30:50):
I've been attending these industry conferences. And so some of the other things that I'm really proud about from my time there at Howard is really opening up the minds of folks on campus because hospitality has not been a part of the fabric of Howard University for quite some time now, back in the day, and I'm talking about way, way, way back in the day, Howard University, once upon a time, had a hotel on campus before it was even a thing. I think people just sort of forgot about hospitality, forgot that it was a viable career path. And so yes, we are competing with the JP Morgans of the world. We're competing with Google and Apple and Nike on campus recruiting these students, but helping not only the leaders at Howard and students at Howard understand that there are phenomenal opportunities that exist, but also sort of tapping industry to say, Hey, newsflash, there's some really phenomenal students at Howard University.

(00:31:58):
You should come see about 'em. And so being able to provide really an unprecedented amount of access and exposure to our industry for those scholars is nothing short of phenomenal. If you're, I mean, think about this, just you're a college student, you love hospitality, you'll want to be somebody in hospitality one day, and David Marriott sits on the board of your center. That's not normal for Bart character, the CEO of Aramark Healthcare to spend physically with you and your colleagues in the center. That's different, right? For you to be able to visit Hilton corporate, spend time with Chris nata, understand what his teams do, it's a game changer. It's an absolute game changer. And then from there, it's like, oh, this is great. So I've got the hospitality team from Wells Fargo here in the center today. Now I understand that there are hospitality opportunities that exist in lending and investment. It completely changes a student's perspective on what is even possible. And it is also eye opening for the industry leader to say Barry Stern from Starwood, to be able to come into the center and say, okay, alright, maybe I wasn't thinking about Howard University, but now I am because I've been here and I see the talent that's being developed here.

Josiah (00:33:41):
I'm hearing a lot of names, a lot of groups. It's really standing out to me how it feels relationships and for both sides were really key in doing what you achieved there. It wasn't just you or someone else on the faculty talking about this. It seems like a lot of real world exposure.

Ashli (00:34:00):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Although I would like to think that everyone on the search committee just thought I was the most phenomenal candidate and the most well positioned for the role, which I may have been. But I think that obviously relationships are so key and pivotal in the work that we do in the industry. And of course that stood out to the headhunter and to the search committee that like, Hey, this isn't going to be, you need two years to go meet all these people and try to get them here. Thankfully, I lived a life in hospitality before I got to Howard, and so it's helpful to be able to lean in on those relationships for sure.

Josiah (00:34:51):
I'd love if we can transition to talking about the work that you're doing today. If you could share with our listeners where you're focused today. I am observing in your work today a lot of themes that continue on this, but can you share a little bit about Hospitality Hued and what you're doing?

Ashli (00:35:08):
So Hospitality Hued has become a community that's really focused on the ascension of black and underrepresented hospitality leaders and owners. And so it is a group of folks that understand where they are. I would venture to say all of them are interested in taking their careers to a next level. And by the way, most of these folks, not line level team members, if they're coming from the property level, usually minimally, they're at a director level, if not a general manager. But one of the things that I've noticed over the course of my career is that black hospitality leaders are unconference and under networked. And so Josiah, you and I are privileged to be able to attend lots of hospitality conferences. It's great that I'm able to be on stage at so many hospitality gatherings, but really when I assess the room, the diversity just is not there. And so

Josiah (00:36:21):
Why is that? What's holding that back? I've seen that too on stage, but also among attendees, what's going on?

Ashli (00:36:27):
Yes. Well, Josiah, I could think of a lot of things. I think barriers to entry are great. Every time I look at a conference in the registration, it's $3,000 I think. I don't know how we are ever going to diversify this, right? Because as a unfortunately not enough, black leaders have ascended into a rank where they can even justify their company paying for them to be there, even if they have an interest, even if that's the direction that they're hoping to go into. So cost obviously is a barrier to entry. I find that so many leaders are so laser focused in their roles, they have no clue what's happening in industry, not even a clue. Sometimes I find that they're not even really super well-versed in what's happening internally in their organization. Again, I'm in my role, I'm focused on me and my team. That's all that really matters.

(00:37:33):
But if we really think about the important components to ascending through the ranks, you're going to need to know what's going on within your organization, what's going on within your competitor organizations. You're going to need to be abreast on best practices, changes in the economy, all of these things. And unfortunately, I run into a decent amount of leaders that say something like, well, I went to a brand conference once. And I'm like, yeah, that's great. That's wonderful how endeavor. There's a lot of other things happening out here. So because they tend to be so unconference or under conferenced, that leads to them also being under networked.

Josiah (00:38:18):
I appreciate you sharing that because it's important to look at some of these structural barriers. But I think to this notion that I imagine a fair amount of our listeners will resonate with of just, I have too much going on, right? It's important to think about. You have to make moves to break out of that your organization. You need to get ideas from everywhere. That's why I appreciate you coming on the show, right? Because even if someone is so busy, they can't do anything else. They can listen to us talk on their commute into work, they can do that, but it's also important to get together people in person. And I mean, I was again, just pulling up, I would love to actually talk about the event that you held a few months back, because I was pulling up the website again. I was looking at just an all-star cast. I see Dante Johnson on there, I see Jason Bass, I see

(00:39:04):
Damon Lawrence, I see Thomas Spin. So many Bashar Wali, just really incredible individuals. And I think I actually saw Bahar at an event a couple of weeks ago, and he was talking about just there's so many events are just like echo chambers. You have this kind of small 0.001% of the industry that goes to all the same conferences and just pats themselves on the back saying the same things, and it doesn't move things forward. And so my understanding is that you created an unconference, if you will, that rethought everything. I wonder if you could describe how you thought about putting this event together, what it included and what it covered there.

Ashli (00:39:43):
Yeah. I think the feedback that I received from Hospitality hu this year, some of the things that stuck out to me and just really tugged at my heart was that there was a speaker on stage that said in closing, this is the first conference that I will not need recovery time from that I've ever attended. And I knew exactly what he meant when he said that because Josiah, there are some conferences that I come home from. It's like annually I know that I'm going to lose my voice when I get back home because that's how much talking and interacting. And it becomes almost like socially draining.

(00:40:38):
It becomes taxing almost to be in attendance at so many things on an annual basis is other attendees said, I've never felt so safe in a profession of space before. And that just put tears in my eyes to think, man, we've got so much work to do. To Bihar's point, it's so true. We see the same people at all the same conferences. We're all there all the time. I mean, it's literally like, Hey, see you in three weeks. Or hey, every year at the same time, you're going to be seeing these people. And so you asked about the ways in which I was intentional about creating and developing the programming for Hospitality Hued. One thing or the first thing that comes to mind is that I hear so often, oh, we'd love to support more underrepresented minority vendors and suppliers. We just don't know where they are.

(00:41:37):
We don't know where to find 'em. Hospitality Hu supported more than 40 black-owned businesses through bringing the conference to New Orleans, Louisiana. That means that the entertainment was a black owned company. That means that Stage Furniture was a black owned vendor. That means that our welcome reception featured all black owned wine and spirits. And before that welcome reception was a panel of spirit's founders to learn about their brand and their journey. And so it's not only important for me to support those businesses, but it was equally as important because we have decision makers in the room to say, I had no idea that there was a black owned bottled water company, but we've been drinking this water all weekend. And everybody's like, where are these people again? Is that the guy? Where do I order? How do I get this to my hotel? And so that creates the ripple effect of impact. And that's just on the procurement side of things.

Josiah (00:42:55):
Just on the procurement side,

Ashli (00:42:56):
We start talking about the rest of it.

Josiah (00:42:57):
Yeah, you're right. You're right. I mean it is a slice, but it is, I think I'm glad you share it because actually I was talking to Dante Johnson a while back when he came on the show, and I think that's one of the things that stayed with me is this notion of you think about driving change and think about it holistically, which you're doing in your work. But I think he was describing this in the hotel context, and you think about all the things that a hotel purchases just to run the business. And he was sharing, this is actually a really interesting opportunity where you can think about empowerment of others through where you buy the stuff, right? There's this interesting opportunity anyway, but I'm glad you call it out because you have to think of the whole picture.

Ashli (00:43:37):
And even from an ownership perspective, the Four Seasons of New Orleans is a beautiful property. I mean, who doesn't want to go to a conference at the Four Seasons? We all do. I don't know if you've ever seen that viral video. It's like the mom is asking her kids who wants to go to the Four Seasons New Orleans and a little baby is like, can't even talk, but hand raised in the air. Yes. Take me to the Four Seasons. And so although it's a beautiful property, love being there, I was intentional in identifying a hotel property that had black ownership in it, right? Again, solely as a means of being able to say to all attendees, whether they're black, brown or anybody down, as I like to call it, they're all men or people in the room to be able to think about, Hey, how can we be just a tad bit more intentional about where we spend our money, how we spend our money? And thankfully, it's a gentleman by the name of Henry Coum, he was actually able to join us for the summit, and people are like, what the heck? This is so fantastic. How did you think about all of this? I'm like, I just took a few minutes and thought about, Hey, how many ways can I make sure that people feel seen?

(00:45:01):
I think one of the more popular aspects is that usually you go to a conference, you get a whole bunch of swag, right? Josiah, I'm sure you have lots of post-it notes and highlighters and pens and pencils and all these things. And I really thought about in that frame of mind of this being an unconference, I thought, how can I do this a little bit differently? So we actually did a snack swag bag because who doesn't love a snack? Josiah, now you're

Josiah (00:45:29):
Speaking my language.

Ashli (00:45:30):
Everybody loves a snack. And so the snack swag bags were filled with snack brands that were owned by black people, women owners, underrepresented minority owners that have legitimate distribution, not just something that you can only get it here because I gave it to you, but this could be in your mini bars. This could be sold in your gift shops down to the oat milk that we serve with coffee service throughout the day. As a black woman owned oat milk company out of California called Ghost Town Oats. That's how intentional we were about producing an experience that was going to have some ripple effects, not just great while you're there, but great when you go home too.

Josiah (00:46:28):
I love it. I wonder if you could speak a little bit more to the programming or how you structured the event itself as well, because I'm just thinking back to what you shared earlier of people feeling they've

Ashli (00:46:38):
Seen it

Josiah (00:46:38):
All. I dunno if relaxed is the right word, but it just different. It felt different. So what was behind the scenes? How did you create

Ashli (00:46:45):
That? Yeah, so I very intentionally split the locations because we've all been there. You're in the same place all day. It's cold, you're ready to walk around, get moving. And so our first location was actually the ACH house. If anybody knows anything about New Orleans, ACH is the official spirit of New Orleans. And so the ACH house is really a spirit's museum almost, but they have beautiful event space that is so conveniently located on Canal Street, and I thought, this is perfect that you're already showing up somewhere unexpected, which helps me drive the expectation that from a programming or a programmatic perspective, you're about to get something very different. And so that opening day, I made sure that things were, again, not casual, but just far more lax. I told people, wear what makes you feel empowered. If that's a T-shirt with a slogan on it, if it's jeans and a blazer, I definitely had on Jordan's the entire conference, you don't need to be anything other than what you are to show up here authentically in the space.

Josiah (00:48:08):
I just think on that point, I think you handled it well in the frequently asked questions. I think you said you'll be in in a Placer. Absolutely. But it was great. Absolutely because it was kind open-ended, but it also gave people a sense of sometimes when people say you can wear anything, I'm like, okay, but what does that mean? What

Ashli (00:48:22):
Does that

Josiah (00:48:22):
Mean? You kind of gave, here's what I'm going to be doing.

Ashli (00:48:25):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so like I said, we kicked off the summit at the size rec house. We had a really awesome, we started off with a really awesome presentation from Jason Bass on luxury and sort of redefining luxury, what does luxury mean to you? And so we ended the first day of programming, which is presentations, panel discussions, introductions. We ended that with a welcome reception in the same space, but also attendees were able to tour the Sach House throughout the time that we were there as well, which is, listen, any museum that's going to let you sample liquor while you're there, it's a good time. And so we started the second day Again, you asked about sort of the small touches. It's a 10:00 AM start time, right? Trust you. Me, I've been to more than my fair share of conferences that are like, yeah, it's a 7:00 AM First session is at seven 30. It's like, wait a minute, I just flew in last night.

(00:49:35):
So a 10:00 AM start time, a full breakfast, a legitimate breakfast. But we had photo opportunities and one of the ways that I prepped speakers is that I was not okay with anyone just flying in, speaking and flying out. By all means, I appreciate you being willing to make that sacrifice, but access is part of the issue that we're looking for a solution for. So if you can't be present, spend time with attendees, make yourself available. This is not the unconference for you. And so down to the second day at the Four Seasons New, our welcome was provided by State Senator Royce, and I was thinking the entire time like, Hey, you know how it is with politicians. It's like, just show up five minutes. I can get you back to whatever it is that you're doing. I mean, he showed up 45 minutes in advance, wanted to have breakfast with all the attendees, wanted to spend time, was super interested in what was happening here because hospitality is such a large economic driver within his district, which makes perfect sense down to folks like John Reed. Nobody is expecting the global chairman of the largest hospitality consultancy firm and consulting firm in the world to actually be present and spending time with folks.

(00:51:19):
But John was there and accessible and not his session out of the park, but also so many folks got additional questions answered and really, I told everyone there, Hey, there are a hundred people in the room if you leave here, still disconnected, that's a problem. And so it's been really great. Still, the conference was in August and here we are a few months later and I'm still hearing, Hey, I had lunch with so-and-so and we met at the Hospitality Hug Conference, and those types of stories are just phenomenal.

Josiah (00:52:00):
It's got to feel so good. It's got to feel so good. I love it. I love it. Well, I love all the thought and intention behind it, and I feel like that's something I'm thinking about a lot. I think with events, it's a huge opportunity. You're providing this as a service to bring people together in hospitality, but I think there's such an opportunity to show hospitality as you do that. And I think everything that you described is showing hospitality. I think a lot of our listeners think about doing this with guests, but you're doing this for the people that you're serving. And so I think for people who might want to participate in an upcoming event that you have, I encourage them to participate, to attend and feel what this feels like, right? It's like hospitality can be shown in so many different contexts. I am curious, what are you working on now, Ashley? Whatcha are working on now? What's next for you? What are you excited by?

Ashli (00:52:49):
Yeah, so 2025 will be a busy year for hospitality hued. One of our signature events is called Honor Hour, and it's essentially a play on a happy hour. We've been having them in different markets around the country for a few years now, and the entire concept is about, Hey, we're going to have a guest of honor in a particular market, someone that works in hospitality in this market should know anybody in Atlanta, should know who Dante Johnson is, period legend. He is a thought leader. I always tell him, I need a new title for you, other than general manager, you're not the average general manager. And so we'll be having more honor hours across the country. We've been in New York, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and so we'll continue to be in those markets, but also expanding to some additional markets. In 2025, we're going to pull up on some HBCU campuses to spend some time with not only students that are interested in crafting an exceptional career in this business, but also to spend time with faculty members.

(00:54:14):
I often remind folks it's like you think about it, most faculty members, they've been in the classroom for a long time, which means that maybe we can shed a little light on what's happening in industry. And so we want to make sure that we're sort of pouring back in to the college and university community. We'll be doing also some corporate visits for members of the hospitality, huge community. I think it can be both interesting, but also inspiring to see how other organizations role, how they operate. And so we've got some exciting visits coming up for sure. Of course, we'll be represented at conferences, so all the conference organizers out there, we want to be in partnership with you all such that we can create access for members of this community to be able to experience your conference to be able, and in turn, that's going to help you diversify the room and hopefully diversify the stage.

(00:55:25):
So of course we'll be at all the major conferences and even some of the smaller ones. And of course, huge 2025. You're hearing it first. Actually, Josiah, I haven't announced this anywhere, but we will be back in New Orleans in early August, so this year will be even more phenomenal than last year. So you want to be there, right as an attendee. There were so many companies that were well represented. And it's so funny, I hear from other people at company X, Y, Z who'll say, said that they went to your conference. I'm like, yeah, they were there. You're like, we want to come too. I'm like, come on, on Black Brown and anybody down just so all are welcome.

Josiah (00:56:15):
I love it. Before we go, Ashley, I wonder if we could just close with some advice for action or for our listeners, and I'm kind of thinking of two groups. I'm thinking of students, people who are new in their careers, and I'm thinking about hospitality leaders. I'd like to start with students because I see you at conferences before we went on Air is telling you, every conference I go to, you're surrounded by so many people, I can't even get to you. You're so popular. But I think, well, that's for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is you really actively mentor people even as you're at events. We're just recording this a couple of weeks after another big industry trade show. You are connecting with students from so many different universities, helping them around. I guess what do you do when you're at a conference and in terms of what is your advice for how they engage in a conference or one of these types of events?

Ashli (00:57:09):
So from a student perspective, I tell them all the time, listen across the board, the student is going to be the minority at the conference. You don't need to take up a ton of time from anybody. You don't have any money. You didn't come here to do any business with anyone. So obviously you want to be respectful of someone's time, but I always try to remind students to A, make yourself memorable, but also be very clear in what it is that you're asking for. So I tell anybody before attending a conference, you want to know who all the speakers are. You've already done your research in that way, and it's like, Hey, I really want to work for company X, do the research in advance. And then that's where you start planting the seeds towards developing a meaningful relationship. I also think that sometimes we do this so frequently, it's very easy to just almost run down a script with every single person that you meet, and that's not hospitable.

(00:58:13):
So I usually try to focus on spending time with the person that is in front of me. And even sometimes, and I love it when the magic happens, right? And the magic sometimes happens when I just finished talking to somebody and the person that they need to talk to is the person that's talking to me right now. And I can literally reach out and put my hands on the other person and say, Hey, this is the connection that actually needs to be made. And anybody that knows me knows that I will remind any and everybody that your fortune is found in the follow-up. So if you're not following up with these folks, forget about it.

Josiah (00:58:50):
You're literally connecting people. I love that. Literally, literally making connections. I love it for the hospitality leaders that are listening. We've talked about driving change across a number of different dimensions in our conversation today. As you think about what the hospitality industry needs, so a lot of people listen to this show. What would be some action that you would advise they think about, but more importantly, do to move the industry forward?

Ashli (00:59:15):
I would encourage everyone to have an honest conversation with themselves first. If you just think about your career, you can probably think about some milestones like, Hey, how did I get there? Oh, I got there because this person made an introduction on my behalf. And then that sort of snowballed into something else. So if that is the magic point, the next conversation that you need to be having with yourself is, how can I make that a reality for someone else without them having to ask for it? Because sometimes I hear folks say, well, I have someone in my organization, or I think they have high potential, and I asked them how I could help, and they said that there wasn't anything that I could do. It's like, yes, because they don't a know the extent of what you're willing to do for them, and also they're not at that level, so they don't know what it takes to get there.

(01:00:07):
So I would just encourage everyone to sort of be a hospitality ninja. You can move in silence. You don't even have to tell the person about what it is that you're doing, right? You could just pick up the phone and call someone and say, Hey, you know what? I think that there's someone that you should meet and have a conversation with. Is it okay if I facilitate an introduction game changer? You don't even have to preface. I find more times than not, you don't even really have to preface the conversation between person A and person B. The magic will organically happen on its own. The other thing I try to encourage leaders to do is for all the things that we have going on, I often ask folks, why didn't you bring anybody with you and also not the person that we could have guessed you would've brought, right?

(01:01:04):
Do you know anyone in your organization maybe? Listen, you don't even have to know that they're interested in attending whatever conference. Hey, you're so great in your role. I think maybe you should know a little bit more about what have you. Have you ever attended this conference? Great. We're gone. And sometimes depending upon who the person is, and sometimes we'll encourage leaders to almost find a conference buddy, because we all know someone either that just isn't super social, they mean well. They want to know, they want to be engaged. And I try to do that as well. Just, I just try to keep it top of mind that, Hey, I know so-and-so is here for the first time, and they probably don't know any of these people. Hey, come spend 30 minutes with me so you can now be connected to everybody that I stop to hug and kiss and say, Hey, see you in three weeks. But they also can be connected, and we never know where those little magical touch points where they end up, but they typically make for a pretty good story and testimony in short order,

Josiah (01:02:21):
A good story. And also it's insanely powerful. And I think to your point, we don't always know where those things lead to. But as I reflect back, just taking your advice, reflect back what has led me on my career so far. It's all been things that you've described, right? And I think that is a very practical thing our listeners can do. So I appreciate you sharing that. Ashley, I appreciate you making time to talk. Of course. Where can people go to learn more about you and your work?

Ashli (01:02:44):
You can go to Beyonce's internet and find hospitalityhued.com. You can also connect with us on Instagram and do some fun posts there. Sometimes post some opportunities or shout out someone in the community. It's just at Hospitality Hued, and there is also a LinkedIn group called Hospitality Hued. So definitely find us there. Will, like I said, there's a lot going on in 2025, and one of the things that we are very excited about as it relates to huge 2025, the Unconference, is that next year we're going to add on a black GM summit, which is going to be, I think, really phenomenal and probably one of the first times, if ever, or first time in a long time, that we've been able to gather black GMs and AGMs for a time of not just it being social, but also building in some development pieces into the programming. So I think that's going to be really special.

Josiah (01:03:57):
So exciting. Ashli, thanks so much for taking time to talk today.

Ashli (01:04:00):
Of course. Thank you so much, Josiah. It's a pleasure. Bye.