Working With The LeBron James Family Foundation To Empower People Through Hospitality Skills Training - Stephan Bogardus and Tommy Ostrum, Graduate Hotels

Josiah: Could the skills of hospitality be applied to empower people? If so, how might that look? Today I'm delighted to have Tommy Ostrom and Stephan Bogardus from Graduate Hotels joining us to talk about a project they did with the LeBron James Family Foundation to empower people in Akron, Ohio.

Tommy: Tommy Ostrom, Chief of Staff of Graduate Hotels. I've been with the organization for just over seven years now and held a variety of different roles and most recently, you know, ended up in this position where I support our leadership team on a variety of different sort of brand marketing and hotel ops initiatives and help our team advance the business, you know, in a variety of different forms. I'm based here in Nashville, Tennessee and happy to be here.

Stephan: Yeah, so my name is Stephan Bogardus and I am the Corporate Director of Culinary Operations for Graduate Hotels. I've been part of the company for about two years, focused on new openings, strategic repositionings, and problematic trends to try to help our food and beverage and hospitality divisions thrive.

Josiah: Amazing. Let's talk a little bit about this involvement of your supporting House 330 that is training camp program. It's an incredible story. I want to get into all the details of it, but maybe just to tee it up, help our listeners understand kind of what was this program and how did it all come to be?

Tommy: Yeah, so Graduate Hotels was introduced to the LeBron James Family Foundation and they had just launched. They were in one or two of their I Promise School. And when they met us, we kind of came with open arms and said, how can we help? You're doing incredible things in education and with your school, but we want to be involved and think that for a variety of reasons, you know, our sort of missions. And then values align and how can we help? And, you know, they came to us originally, you know, with a need for, for housing, for transitional housing. And of course, that is what we do. Graduate Hotels helps people stay in a variety of university towns across the world. So, you know, in 2020 we helped them open the I Promise Village, which is a transitional housing facility located just down the street from house 330. We can get into more of that, but fast forward to the end of 2022, and the LeBron James Family Foundation was on the heels of opening this House 330 facility, which is 60,000 square feet of community and hospitality space right smack dab in the middle of their community. And they had a mission of not only providing a safe community space for all of the various members that they support. But also, you know, equally as importantly, wanted to create a platform for job training, help their community members advance skills in hospitality. And again, we had maintained, you know, our relationship from when we opened the I Promise Village a few years prior. And thankfully, you know, they believed in us and as did we. We believe that our values aligned. And so the short of it is, you know, in March of February, excuse me, of 2023, we launched House 330. And I guess Stephan let you talk a little bit more about the program itself.

Stephan: Yeah, so my involvement began probably December of 2022, and we started looking at what the initiative was. It came down to how many people are going to be training, what are the actual jobs we're looking at, who the workers are, and what's our baseline. Ultimately, what the space is going to be used for. And as Tommy brought up, you know, multipurpose community outreach. And we love the storytelling narrative. that LJFF had like from the bicycle wheels when you first walk into the building to go back to LeBron's early childhood memories and the community outreach, like teaching fiscal acumen with the Chase Bank that's located at the beginning of House 330. So we started working toward what the curriculum was, how many people were going to be training, what jobs we want to focus on, what involvement and how would we handle Saira Hospitality. And ultimately the number fluctuated a little bit. We really didn't know quite what we were getting into. The amount of time that was allocated toward each class period kind of changed. And ultimately, what it came down to is we broke it up into two seven-day regimens that had an AM and a PM service. And we broke it up into front of the house and back of the house and built out the curriculum from there. Everything from hard skills, like how to, you know, julienne an onion or mince chives, down to soft skills and how to build a brand and how to interview and build your own resume.

Josiah: So this is probably an overly simplistic question, but how do you start from scratch in such a short amount of time? What were some of the things that you prioritized? Are these are essentials to get started and build a career here?

Stephan: I mean, to shout out some of the people that were involved. I mean, we have such dynamic leadership throughout AJ Capital and Graduate Hotels. There were lots of ideas being shifted around. And really, I mean, hospitality, right? The root of the word is hospital, a place where care is given. And I think that that's what we looked at, is how to outreach to the community, how to establish that compassionate narrative, and how to work together toward excellent hospitality, and really teach fundamental skills that could go from discipline to discipline, depending upon where the job of the new team member was going to lie.

Josiah: Amazing. And you said this was a seven-day sort of intensive introduction. Did I hear you correctly? Is a seven-day training?

Stephan: Correct. So it was two seven-day regimens. I believe as though there was 57 original team members and it was broken up into four classes. So we had kind of like week one, week two, and everyone was involved for both week periods, but where they were focused, whether it was front of the house or back of the house, that fluctuated from week to week.

Josiah: So I know our listener, anyone who is listening to this has worked in any aspect of hospitality can only imagine all of the challenges of teaching in such a compressed time frame. I'm curious for you, because you've built a incredible career in this area. What did you see as some of the top challenges in training in this time frame?

Stephan: There's so much information. I mean, it's years. I think we all know how extensive the hospitality industry is. Focusing predominantly on back of the house, we opened day one with a tour and introduction of the space where we covered safety. because I think that that's critical. Not taking for granted that everyone knows to wear non-slip shoes, or how to turn on and off a fryer, or how to handle a combi oven. We wanted to focus on applicable skills, whether it was how to set up a station, what mise en place was, certain terminology, and then some skills like we did daily knife trays, and then we highlighted certain ingredients. We did a call it chef's table, where we got about 150 different ingredients and laid it all out. We had one whole day that was just around proteins, and then another day that was around produce, spices, fruits, and vegetables. Really, it was to try to expose them as much as possible. Similarly, with Farm to the House, we had bar focus and service focus with games like races with trays and beverages on them. So we got a little weird with it too, because we wanted to make sure everyone had fun.

Josiah: I'm glad you touched on that because I've spoken to people who it feels like have a whole range of perspectives on what is the best format of training. Some people are about online videos, sometimes say you got a shadow, an expert, and maybe it's a mix of both. I love the games idea. Were there other, I guess, training formats that you focused on that in your experience has been really helpful in helping people learn fastest?

Stephan: I think we kind of did repetitiveness. So I mean, in kitchens, it's hard to do anything without an informative demo. So often we do a demonstration followed by practical application by the students. So we'd show the team how to do something, whether it was a training module or actual physical act of cookery, and then we would oversee them while they were doing it themselves.

Josiah: I love it. I guess my last question on this, you mentioned there were people across the organization involved. Are there specific roles, I guess, that you look to as especially important to get input from? Because it seems very kitchen-focused, but I'm curious: was there any other aspect of Graduate or AJ Capital's expertise that you were tapping into in designing this?

Stephan: anything and everything. I mean, as simple as physically telling people to greet people with using eye contact and warm embrace. It sounds silly, but little cultural elements. I think it's really important that we all greet each other every day. So when we're on property, a little fist bump to let everyone know that you're physically and mentally present, it creates a sense of accountability that is the route we show up first for ourselves, then for our team, and then for our guests. And when those three align, it's hard to not win. But if someone kind of isn't there, it also helps act as a litmus test as to evaluating, are their needs being met? Do they need extra one-on-one time? Can they show up today? Or is something happening personally that's creating mental barriers for them to perform? So I think, I mean, again, there's so much that we could unpack there. It's hard to say. But I think that cultivating a sense of presence and teaching people how to show up first for themselves, then for the team, and then for our guests is critical.

Josiah: I love that. So you spend months going through the preparation of this. You build the training program. Day one arrives. How does that go? Does anything stand out to you in terms of things that were maybe a little surprising? What do you recall from the first few days of the training?

Stephan: It was long. I mean, it was like 16-hour days. I mean, we had our training binders, you know, we ordered a crazy amount of stuff. We did a lot of the legwork. The team really came together to make sure that that preparedness was we had our mise en place in place. We had what we needed to be successful. I remember the culture that LeBron James Family Foundation, their be best period, where we'd all sit around the tables, we'd listen to music, we'd talk about how that music resonated with us, where we were emotionally. There was such a beautiful cross-pollination of how we prepared as a team to focus on hospitality and how they were gracious enough to display their vulnerability and how they encourage emotional I guess, ability with themselves. It was really pretty special. I mean, the day flew by, but the moments within the day were never-ending. It was long.

Josiah: I love that. And so go through the training. What were some of the results coming out of that training for the people who participated that you're most proud of?

Stephan: I mean, fast forward, we just recently had a gentleman who was in Akron who was doing task forcing there, one of our corporate chefs that's on my team. And he told me he put together an event for 400 people using three of the individuals that we trained, all three of whom swore that they would never be in the kitchen. But sure enough, like they were the ones, you know, putting stuff in the oven. They were cleaning the dishes. They were plating food. And they were actually doing things that we helped educate them on over a year ago. And I think that's kind of cool.

Josiah: I love it. You've touched on this a few points in our conversation, but I guess, you know, kind of now looking back a year later, does anything else come to mind in terms of what you learned going through that process that stand out to you? There are so many elements of it, like any kind of learnings or reflections on what you did that you kind of like, if you could go back, you know, year, year and a half, you could kind of tell yourself when you're kicking this off, what did you learn through the process? Yeah.

Stephan: I love businesses and hotels or organizations as much as the next person, but it's all about the team. It's all about the people that show up. And so the connection that we build and the ties to the community that those connections then help cultivate, that's what it's all about. So I think that having more downtime, the culmination of each week was a family meal where everyone worked together to produce a huge table filled with food. And it was awesome. And people had autonomy. And it wasn't just like, what kind of vinaigrette do you want to make? But we made sauces and we had this really nice meal. Around that table, you learn so much about what makes people individuals. and how that knowledge can help them cultivate their best, which then I think will help them cultivate the spirit of hospitality. So team building, you know, there's never enough time for that. And the more trust and visibility that's put on people, I think the more that they're able to then dial into what our guests need and how to offer that to them.

Josiah: I'm sure you're doing a lot of this with Graduate Hotels already, but I'm kind of curious if there's anything that you've learned or observed or was impressed on you that you kind of brought back to kind of your day job at Graduate. Any, does anything stand out in that regard?

Stephan: I mean, the I Promise School was some really, really, they're doing some really impressive work there. I mean, walking around the halls, some of the trainees that we had were teachers. So they invited us in there and just seeing, again, like how did, There's no one-size-fits-all solution for the trials that life offers. And this is such a great way to try to even the playing field, to get meaningful resources to where it's most felt. And I think, like, It sounds silly, but in the age that we live in, you know, if someone doesn't show up to an interview, you know, maybe 10 years ago, we wouldn't have given them that second opportunity. But like, life happens. And, you know, maybe someone never used Teams or Zoom or whatever it is before, like, give them that second opportunity and give someone the chance because you never know, you know, you might have the next diamond in the rough, who just had a bad day.

Josiah: I appreciate you sharing that. And I feel like I'm trying to create this little sort of PR campaign around why people should consider working in hospitality. I think some of the things that you've described feel very life-giving and I'm excited coming out of just this conversation with you. I guess if you could speak to someone who is maybe not working in hospitality yet or maybe they're working in hospitality and I think you're moving outside. From your perspective, why work in the hospitality business? What have you found compelling for yourself?

Stephan: In the clip that we did for the LeBron James Family Foundation at House 330 launch, you know, we talked about the culmination of excellence and compassion. And for a long time, it was kind of one or the other. And I think that hospitality as a whole is given a great opportunity where now there's an opportunity to have a balance of life. and we're able to be kind of compassionate toward each other while still cultivating what is the sense of excellence. And I think that now more than ever, it's really important that we practice empathy and compassion as an industry. And I don't know anyone who has too much of those two skills. I think that any opportunity we can to encourage each other to understand what someone else is going through and or how to work together as a team to create unity working toward a strategic goal or initiative. I think that it's such a great building block. And I mean, toward high level leadership, a lot of times it's hard to be given what is a full operation, but there's lots of opportunities to manage within restaurants. So it's such a great way to learn large overarching leadership abilities in a smaller scale that helps people gain confidence and comfortability that maybe, you know, you go vertically in a different position that's not within hospitality, that could be within hotel ops or something else. But those fundamental elements are so present in what is hospitality that it could be a really great stepping stone if not taken up as a full-time career.

Tommy: I think just to piggyback a bit on what Chef Stephan was talking about on how hospitality can be a sort of means to, you know, a better team or a better life as an individual. I think that it's no secret that we as a society are in a mental health and loneliness crisis, particularly among young folks. And I think that hospitality can be a way to begin to solve that, as Chef had mentioned, you know. How you first learn to be empathetic and graceful and have emotional intelligence about yourself and then how that translates to a larger team and how that translates to then delivering service and putting the needs of others before yourself, I think is remarkable. And, you know, I had, I think we all had a front-row seat to see that play out, you know, with training camp and our involvement with House 330 and our ongoing involvement with the LeBron James Family Foundation. You know, I think Graduate Hotels, as a leader in the industry, both an employer and a service provider, I think we have a responsibility to continue to provide opportunities for folks to experience and to have the opportunity to work inside hospitality. So that excites me and I'm super grateful for the opportunity to see that play out with this training camp.

Stephan: There were so many people involved in this project. I'm extremely grateful to have the opportunity to be given a voice, but I just hope that throughout the duration of the episode, a huge shout out, if and whenever possible, to all the people involved at AJ Capital and Graduate Hotels. There's a lot that went into this lift, and there were a lot of really key players, whether it was our people in culture or hotel ops or brand-driven executive leadership team. There was a lot of people involved who brought it all together and couldn't have been done without all the dynamic leadership.

Tommy: I spent a lot of time boots on the ground in Akron, amongst the craziness of opening hotels and evolving a brand of, at the time, 33 hotels. Also mentioned, I think Chef did briefly, Saira Hospitality was a partner of ours in this and helped deliver some of the soft skill leadership development and communication skill training. That was a big piece of this also.