Hospitality Daily Podcast How Staypineapple Enables Every Employee to Surprise and Delight - Dina Belon, Staypineapple
Sep 22, 2025
Dina Belon, President of Staypineapple, champions a people-first hospitality culture that empowers employees to share their authentic selves. She discusses the importance of emotional intelligence in hiring and how personal passions of team members are added to CRM profiles to enhance guest connections. Dina shares a heartwarming story about a Puerto Rican guest, highlighting the power of local knowledge in creating memorable experiences. Ultimately, she emphasizes that personalization should be operationalized at the local level for maximum impact.
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Hire For Judgment, Not Rulebooks
- Staypineapple hires for emotional intelligence and critical thinking rather than enforcing rigid SOPs.
- Empowering staff to be authentically themselves produces better guest connections and adaptive service.
Authenticity Requires Psychological Safety
- Authenticity at work requires psychological safety because being yourself can be uncomfortable.
- Encouraging whole-person expression creates emotional energy that boosts team engagement and guest impact.
Personalized Culture Match Creates Rave Review
- Staypineapple built deep team profiles and asked guests pre-arrival why they were visiting to connect passions.
- A Puerto Rican team member created a personalized snack list and local recommendations that produced a first-ever rave review from guests.