How "Transformational Hospitality" Changed My Life (And Can Change Your Business) - Steve Palmer, The Indigo Road Hospitality Group

Josiah: Steve Palmer is the founding partner and chief vision officer of the Indigo Road Hospitality Group. And in this episode, you're going to hear him talk about how hospitality transformed his life. You'll hear a recent example of him receiving hospitality at another business that underscores the power of great hospitality. Steve gets into talking a little bit about who he learned from that was formative and shaped this view and talks about how he lives this out as he leads their collection of 30 establishments at the Indigo Road Hospitality Group. It's an incredible collection with incredible reviews from their guests. They absolutely love it, but it's not only the guests that love it. It is now becoming one of the industry leaders in culture, organizational culture. I have heard this from so many people who work there, people who know about the group. Steve and his teams are crushing it when it comes to actually living out this notion of transformational hospitality. There are a few better to learn from that I can think of when it comes to really exemplifying real hospitality, not only as a way of living, but as a way of working and a way of building a very, very successful hospitality company. So please enjoy my conversation with Steve. 

Josiah: You had an early experience that was formative to how you view hospitality.

Steve: It was. I was 22. And just to give it some context, not that you don't know this, there was no internet. There was no Top Chef. There were no foodies. There was no Instagram. The food culture that exists today didn't exist. But I had a mentor, Chris Goss, who said to me, and this is going to sound elementary, but at 22 in 1992, it was profound. He said, Steve, people don't go out to eat to eat. They go out to feel something. They want to have an experience. They want to have a first-date experience. They want to have a reconnecting experience, a 10-year anniversary. And we have the honor and the privilege of being in the front row of that experience and the ways that we can help shape and create it. And I was, you know, a pretty lost kid at that point in my life, pretty directionless. And that was my first light bulb moment for what the true meaning of hospitality is, which is how we make people feel. And that's something very different than service. But yeah, that was the first moment that I understood that creating memories and experiences that we were doing something that was honorable and that we were doing more than just serving food.

Josiah: And we're going to get into different elements of your story, but I am reading your book, Say Grace, which is incredible. I'll link to that in the show notes. I'd like people to read it. Incredible life story, incredible story of overcoming obstacles and challenges and building the life that you have today. But I think you also wrote in that book what it felt like to be part of a team, kind of a family-like team where I feel like you wrote, you got a sense of belonging.

Steve: Yes. I mean, it was the first place, and again, contextually speaking, you know, broken home, homeless as a teenager. I always say that what I love about hospitality is as long, it doesn't matter how you grew up, you had money, if you went to college, you know, If you're willing to show up and work hard and be a part of a team, then there's a place for you in hospitality. And not only is there a place, you can thrive. You can thrive in that business. And we have a saying at the Indigo Road, everyone is welcome at our table. even the people we disagree with, which isn't that profound in this day and age. Seriously, if you think about a restaurant, we don't stand outside the door and say, before we're going to serve you, what do you believe? Because we're only interested, we welcome everybody. From an employment side, it was the first place that I was like, these are my people. And I found out that I was good at serving other people. And that instilled a confidence in me that nothing else in my life at that point had given me.

Josiah: I appreciate you sharing that, Steve. And I always love to hear stories of experiences people have that shape how they view hospitality, whether it's early in their life, in their career, or more recently. And before we started recording, you were sharing a recent example of hospitality that you experienced in Cabo as a guest. I wonder if you could tell our listeners that story.

Steve: Sure. So, I am an obsessive traveler, obviously, being in the hotel and restaurant business. I love to experience new things. Typically, once I've gone to a place, I will not go back to that place because I want to go somewhere else. And we went to the Montage Hotel in Cabo San Lucas. three and a half years ago for the first time, and the service was incredible, the food was incredible. One of the chefs I had on an Oku shirt, which is our sushi concept, and I remember we're in Mexico, and he's like, is that the Oku in DC? And I said, it actually is. So that's my favorite restaurant. And so, you know, just very personal, very engaged service. So the following Christmas, I was talking to my wife and I said, where are we going to go? And she said I'd really like to go back to the montage. You know, again, not my style, but I said, sure, let's go. And we talk a lot about surprise and delights. So we check in, and the concierge comes out, and he's holding a checkerboard, you know, $10 checkerboard, nothing, nothing expensive, nothing extravagant. But he said, welcome back, Mr. Palmer. We remember that you and your wife played checkers last time you were here. And we remember that she beat you three games to one. We thought perhaps you might want a rematch. And I mean, my jaw hit the floor, right? I mean, you know, I was like, you gotta be kidding me, right? We check into the room, our dog, we have an English cream retriever named Bella. They had a bone, an embroidered bone with Bella on it, on the bed when we checked in. Our dog was not with us. They just happened to make a bone for Bella. So, you know, I mean, just, and so we're customers for life now, by the way, we've been, we went back last year, we brought our, our niece first time out of the country. Her birthday was in like 30 days. Somehow they've, I don't even know how they figured it out. birthday cake and balloons in the room when we checked in. So it's just, you know, it's just when you receive that, I talk a lot about the transformational power of hospitality and we see it every night in our hotels and restaurants. When you show someone you care at that level, not just a chocolate on your pillow or a free dessert, but when you have gotten to know somebody in whatever form or fashion, And you've connected with them and you've said, I see you and I value you, Steve Ballmer, not you guessed 345. I think it changes people. It's restorative. It's hopeful. It's nurturing. And don't we all need a little bit more of that in the world right now? And so, yeah, I mean, I, I will go back to the montage at Cabo San Lucas for the rest of my life.

Josiah: I want to talk for a few moments about the Indigo Road Hospitality Group. I think most of our listeners are going to be familiar with the collection of restaurants and now hotels that you oversee there. But I think one of the things that stands out to me is actually something that happens when I first pull up your website and, in big letters across the homepage, says to serve is to love. What does that mean to you?

Steve: Sure. So Harry Cipriani, maybe some listeners, I feel like, my generation, not that I'm the old guy, but Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy, it's a famous place. There's a book about Harry's life. This was a guy who always saw what was possible when it came to guest service. In Venice, the floors are uneven and wobbly, so the four-legged tables were always wobbling. He made three-legged tables and he found out that they didn't wobble. I remember this was post-World War II. A guest came in and said, I can't have any cooked meat, but I love meat. So the carpaccio was invented. He sliced raw beef on a plate. So I was reading that and then the, because you opened the book and I'm bad at paraphrasing, but it says, imagine a theater of empty seats. Imagine a restaurant with only tables and chairs. We call upon men and women to bring them to life. we call upon women, men, and women to show us the flawless measures of their minds because, frankly, the quality of their service shows the measure of their soul because to serve is first to love. And when I read that, I was so, um, I mean, I get emotional really talking about it now. It just changed the way that I saw, you know, for so long, the service industry was seen as sort of a menial job, even, and it's a very transitory job, right? You hear, oh, I'm just doing this till I get through school. I'm just doing this till I figure out what I'm doing. But those were the moments for me when I was young and coming up that I was like, I can make a life out of this. And by serving other people, A, it's incredibly rewarding for me. It still is. But yeah, reading Harry Cipriani's book and thinking about service at a different level, I just love serving others. And obviously, culturally speaking in our company, What we've learned is that our employees have to first receive hospitality, that we have to love serving our employees and creating a great culture in order for our guests to have a hospitable experience.

Josiah: Well, I actually want to pick up on something you just said there. You said it was rewarding. You saw the potential of operating this way as being rewarding. And then now, years later, leading a company that oversees so many hospitality properties and businesses, you said it's still rewarding. And I always ask my guests, why do you stay in hospitality? And I think you may have answered my question. It sounds like it was rewarding early. It's still rewarding. It seems like there's a timelessness to this that's attractive.

Steve: Yeah, there is. And I will tell you, and I will go to my grave believing that receiving hospitality, you know, Maya Angelou said, people will forget what you said. They will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. And I don't think, whether it's AI, whether it's Instagram, whether it's TikTok, I think people will always crave the human experience of being served. in a meaningful, authentic way. And I tell my team all, that's why I think we have job security. People are going to want to crave that experience, that social experience of being in a restaurant, checking into a hotel, being at the lobby bar. They're going to crave it. They're going to crave seeing that person who's excited about making a cocktail they've never had, serving them a dish that they've never had. I just think hospitality will stand the test of time no matter what.

Josiah: I'd love to get your thoughts, Steve, on your vision for the Indigo Road Hospitality Group because it comprises such a diverse portfolio of restaurant concepts and now hotels as well. I'll include a link in the show notes where people can learn more and see the whole collection. But how would you describe, I guess, the through line of your vision for the group and what might lie ahead for it?

Steve: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I get asked a lot about, like, growth strategy and this and that. And I always kind of laugh as I'm doing now. Our growth has been organic. I am creative by nature. I've had some friends who came up with a concept, and they did 20 of those and got bought out, and they've always said to me, your problem is you still want to be creative, and I see that as our greatest strength. I love boutique hotels. I love the experience of hotels. We were already operating restaurants within hotels and I was watching other management companies operate. And I thought, you know, we can do it at least as good as they are, if not better. I also love architecture, creation, and design. So, you know, I think the company is going to continue to grow in a way that feels good. There's no grow and exit strategy or there's no On the hotel side, we prefer the independent boutiques. We've worked with some soft brands, but I don't see us ever managing brand hotels. That's really because we just opened the Flatiron Hotel in Asheville last week. It's a 100-year-old building, and there's a speakeasy in the basement, and there's a rooftop bar in this amazing Italian restaurant. And then you get to go upstairs and crawl into a comfy bed after you've had the gnocchi with the gorgonzola fondue. And so it's just another way that we create that sense of well-being. And I think that my, you know, the through point of the company is no matter which concept you're in, no matter which, whether it's Oku, which, look, Oku, you know, sushi, it's hip, it's fun, it's vibey. You go to Oak Steakhouse, I mean, what's more American classic than a steakhouse? But how you're treated is the same. Whether you're at the Rivet House Hotel in Athens, which will open next week, or the Flatiron, or you're at Oku, you're at Indaco, one of our Italian concepts, that our hospitality shines through, and that's what I want. When people experience an Indigo Road hotel or restaurant, I want them to say, you know, I'm not ever going to say like, Oh, we're going to spend more money on design. Or, you know, if you got 10 people in a room in any city and said, what's the best steakhouse, you'd probably get 10 different answers. But how we treat people, that, to me, is our legacy. That should be the thing that we're known for. And that's at the end of my career. You know, that's the thing that I want the Indigo Road to be known for, was how we treated people and how we made people feel. And if we can do that, then I think we've done something that people will remember for years and years to come.