Today’s guest is responsible for guiding the design of all North American projects for the Canopy, Tempo and Motto brands at Hilton. He has a fabulous eye for interior design and it shows in his work. Barry Sullivan is The Senior Director of Lifestyle at Hilton Worldwide. Barry joins host Dan Ryan to share his #hospitality journey and what it all means to him.

Takeaways:

Hospitality is about making others feel comfortable in a place that is unfamiliar to them or a new environment. You want them to find the versions of the things they find familiar in a new setting.
People gravitate towards areas that they are most comfortable with. You want to create a sense of comfort with them.
A soft brand is a hotel that can be whatever it wants to be but the infrastructure might not be all the same.
As your business grows, you need to keep your passion alive and be involved enough for it to grow in the right direction and not lose sight of the ultimate goal and culture.
The pandemic has made some projects go on longer than were originally planned, so you want to make sure you are ready for a project to be extended in certain cases.
It’s a rewarding experience to see a hotel from the beginning all the way to the finished project.
How you treat your team members is how they will treat guests. You want to make sure you are taking care of the team so they can give the guests their best experiences.

Quote of the Show:

12:16 “Hospitality is making people feel comfortable, or my definition is making them feel comfortable, welcome, and warm in an environment that's not their own.”

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-sullivan-04933637/
Website: https://www.hilton.com/en/corporate/

Shout Outs:

0:57 Steve Higgins

1:11 Jim Northcut

2:04 Linda Ronstadt

2:13 Harry Dean Staton

2:19 Kevin Bacon

2:43 Eda Hallinan

2:50 Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City”

6:03 Wimberly

31:44 Larry Traxler

32:29 Sue Firestone

32:42 Design One

32:57 James Northcut Associates

42:24 Margaret McMahon

44:05 Small Giants by Bo Burlingham

49:54 Chris Nassetta

51:14 Conrad Hilton

Ways to Tune In:

Defining Hospitality is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/

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