How I Empower Emerging Leaders - Jennifer Clay, Appellation

Josiah: How do you take someone new to their career, uncertain in their abilities, and turn them into a confident, empowered leader? Today, Jennifer Clay, VP of Operations at Appellation, reveals how she helps emerging talent step into big roles, even if they're scared or unsure. Jennifer shares her approach to fostering curiosity, encouraging collaboration, and pushing people to embrace discomfort as part of their growth. She believes that the hospitality industry is more than just a job. It's a career with limitless potential. In this episode, she explains how to build trust and empowers her team to excel. If you care about inspiring people to rise to the occasion and rise to their potential, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Josiah: In talking with Christopher, there's one thing that really stood out to me. He was saying that you do a really good job of taking people who may be newer in their careers, getting started, and giving them these opportunities to step into big roles. And he was saying that a lot of times they're really nervous. They're like, I don't know if I can do this. And he said that you do a really good job of empowering them, giving them confidence to be like, you can do that. I'm super fascinated by this. How do you do that?

Jennifer: Anytime anyone embarks on a new endeavor, it's always unsettling. And you know what? If you're not nervous and a little anxious, then there's a problem. You know, it's almost like you need to have that little level of nervousness for that, for lack of a better term, game on. But it's trust. I can train someone how to read a P&L. But are they inquisitive? Do they want to learn? Willing to get a little uncomfortable? Are they willing to lean on their colleagues and ask for support so that, you know, they can check their ego at the door? You know, it all comes down to the willingness of people to collaborate, the willingness of people to embrace change. And change is so difficult, but amazingly enough, we do it every single day. It's just to a different varying degrees. I think that it's important. Unfortunately, for so many people, our industry is still perceived as a job. It's not perceived as a career. And yet it is an incredible career. You know, I think I took a very classic route when I graduated from hotel school. I went and worked in hotels. Now I look at the course curriculums of hotel management schools, and they're positioning themselves as business schools. You can get into real estate, you can become a lawyer, you can get into design. There's so much more that the world of hospitality is so broad compared to what most people perceive the definition of the word to be. So if you take someone and say, if you're willing to be curious and enter into this truly incredible profession, it can take you in all sorts of different paths. You can travel the globe with it. You can do anything you want with it if it interests you, and then you can have all sorts of subspecialties.

Josiah: I was going to ask you why you work in hospitality, but you may have just answered that. It seems the options and opportunities are almost limitless.

Jennifer: Absolutely. You know, I've been very fortunate. As I said, I took a very classic route. I went and started working in hotels, which at the time was really and truly the only path to take. You know, it was when you graduated and then started working in hotels. And there was a path that you took. But now there are so many directions you can follow.