Janis Cannon, Hospitality Industry Senior Executive, Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey

Janis discusses how viewing each day as currency helps her find work-life harmony and why women need to advocate for themselves in addition to having allies and champions. She shares how she combines educational resources with outreach to her network to continually develop new skills. Janis also talks about how communication helps her overcome challenges and her approach to public speaking.

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Rachel Humphrey 0:03

Good afternoon. I am Rachel Humphrey with DEI Advisors, and I am very excited to have join me today, Janis Cannon, long time hospitality industry senior executive. And Janice, I have been trying to get you on the show for quite a while now, so I am glad that timing has worked out. Welcome to DEI

Janis Cannon 0:22

Advisors. I'm thrilled and honored to be here, Rachel. Thanks so much for having me today.

Rachel Humphrey 0:27

We are going to jump right in Janice. I want to talk a little bit about your journey to leadership. And one of the things that I love about the hospitality industry so much is that we can all carve our own path. There's no one way to get to where we want to go. Talk a little bit about. You, your background and your path to leadership within the hospitality industry.

Janis Cannon 0:49

Thank you. I feel like my parents instilled in me at a very young age, a love of wanderlust, of travel and exploring different cultures and discovering, different things about different people and different areas of the world, different regions of the world. My father was in the military. And was a career military person. And so we moved around quite a bit. We left the states when I was about 18 months old and moved to Germany, and my early childhood years were there. And then, of course, we returned back to the states and lived in multiple locations. So I always had an opportunity, like I said, to Experience different parts of the world, meet different people, learn about, as different as we are much more the same and really get, appreciate and have many of the same values all over the world, regardless of location. And my mom was an accountant, and she was also a very fashionable accountant and a Southern lady, and she's the one I think really instilled in me and I for detail and design. And overall, like style, like how things come together and the importance of southern hospitality and service. And also, I think even before my career started and I went off to university, I think, even before that came along, it was my parents in the very early informative years, really, that helped to create that. But moving on when I was in college, and it, In school, I did an internship with the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism at the time and worked on tourism as an economic developer and an economic driver. And when I graduated, they gave me a full time job and my job was representing 29 counties in North Georgia. And it was really about attracting capital investment, like new industries and new businesses into those 29 counties to create new jobs and also to reduce the tax burden on the residents of, the state of Georgia. And so really learning about the hotel business through the lens of economic development, that when a hotel gets built, it's really about creating jobs for people. It's really about being part of the community. It's really about the hotel being a part of economic development for the overall good of the community. And that's when the seed was really planted. And I ran into at that point in time, some of the hotel developers and owners asked me to come to work in the hotel business. And here I am a career lifetime later, living every minute of it and really being grateful for every experience.

Rachel Humphrey 3:28

I love the tie to your mom with accounting and fashion and how really in some ways those seem like such opposite trajectories and ended up finding a way to lead you to hospitality. That's really incredible.

Janis Cannon 3:42

The accounting is like the detail part. Yeah, the black and white, not a lot of gray, but the southern gentility that she had, which was about, hospitality and being authentic and taking care of others and putting really servant leadership to the forefront. Those things were really, I think, embedded at a very early age through my mother as well. That's

Rachel Humphrey 4:04

incredible. I want to turn to public speaking for a second. I always love to share with our audience why I have asked this question. specific guest advisor to join us. And it has always been someone who has had an impact on my career, how I see things in the industry. And when I first pivoted from the legal community into a kind of a more traditional hospitality industry role, and I would go to conferences, you were a frequent and are a frequent public speaker, but the difference was. That you were speaking about your subject matter expertise very often. While sometimes you were speaking about being a woman in hospitality more often than not, you were on panels talking about what you know, what you do for a living. And that is very unusual. Even today, we don't see as many women being asked to speak on. Their subject matter expertise as they are talking about women in leadership, D. I. Other panels like that. And first of all, I wanted to thank you for serving as a tremendous example to those of us who want to see more women speaking about their knowledge and their experiences. But talk a little bit about the role of public speaking for you. Does it come naturally? Do you enjoy it? What advice would you give to some who find public speaking to maybe be that hurdle? They're having a challenge overcoming on their path to leadership?

Janis Cannon 5:23

First of all, thank you. For those very kind words I do feel like going back to being a subject matter expert and have an opportunity to speak on, content that is really relevant to the work versus something that, like you said, a broader topic like diversity or women you're right. There's not a lot of women really that have those opportunities and we have to create more and more of those because, of course, they have that subject matter expertise to have a perspective and a point of view that really, provides impact and influence and needs to be brought to the forefront. They really have something to contribute. So I'm with you. I hope we see more women on panels that have the opportunity to do that. But for me, with public speaking, you ask a couple of questions in that, that one question, public speaking is, I think, an honor first and foremost, because you're being asked to share your point of view. And I think with that comes great responsibility. I think in making public speaking look easy, the first thing is preparation. It really is about knowing your content, and it really is about studying and trying to create those sound bites that are going to have the most meaning in the short time that has really been allocated, whether it's a panel discussion or whether you're the keynote speaker or whatever. And always starting from a point of view or a place. I like to start with, who's the audience and what do they want to hear? Not necessarily what do I want to tell them or what do I want to share, but what do they want to hear and then how can I share those things in a way that's really going to be relevant and valuable for them. And I think by starting that way with the preparation your. Have a better way of connecting with your audience. The thing about nerves. I think nerves are always there. And I did have someone a long time ago that told me the day you lose the butterflies that you get. Before you speak is the day you need to quit speaking. And I was really puzzled by that. And I thought, why in the world would somebody, say that because you see so many people on stage where it just looks so authentic and they're so relaxed and it's like second nature, but the audience needs your energy and the audience needs you to like I said, be able to really connect with them. And there's a, It requires giving, giving part of yourself away to be able to do that. And so having those nerves is actually, I believe, your body's way, and your mind's way of being able to give you that extra something you need in order to really be able to connect with the audience in what is a meaningful way that hopefully will give them something as well as yourself something from that particular engagement. So I just think public speaking is, everybody's nervous about it. Everybody's always going to be a little bit, afraid about it, but that's part of it. And then rehearsing is part of the preparation process too, and going back to that, I think it really is important to know what are your key bullet points, know what it is that you want to say, how you're going to say it, and rehearse that so that you're comfortable with it before you speak. I could

Rachel Humphrey 8:35

not agree more. People are always very surprised to hear that I get nervous before any type of presentation, but I actually think it's what drives my preparation. It's what drives my excitement or presence on stage when I'm there. I actually think it's a critical part for me. So I definitely share that with whoever gave you that advice a long time ago. Janice, you have

Janis Cannon 8:58

the speaker is one. the audience is many. Yes. So the speaker's responsibility is much bigger. It's, simple math, right? The mathematical equation, and that's why it is. So you can't necessarily just do that in your casual day to day. You really have to be, ready for that opportunity in order to have something to give. I think,

Rachel Humphrey 9:21

too, that somebody has asked me or honored me with that opportunity to speak. And so I always want to do it justice that whoever has invited me, I'm providing value for whatever their vision was of how I might share. You have long been an advocate for others. And one of the things that we hear a lot about is that women especially are not good at advocating for ourselves. But sometimes we look to others to empower us as opposed to self empowerment. Talk a little bit about how you think or how you recommend that people, that women especially really advocate for ourselves and take a hold of our own

9:59

empowerment?

Janis Cannon 10:01

I think the first thing in terms of our own empowerment is we need to know what we want. First and foremost, so we need to be really clear, whether that's writing it on a piece of paper, whether it's creating a mantra you can say on a regular basis, but really defining for yourself what it is that you want, and then being committed to moving towards that and making sure that other people know what you want. I think quite often we, as women, I know in my career I'll speak for myself. There were times when I was like waiting on the promotion. Almost, doing the work and feeling like I was qualified for the promotion when I go back and I look at it in my reviews or whatever. I wasn't necessarily raising my hand saying, when that job comes open, I really want that job. And here's why and let me tell you the value that I believe that I can create, or how I might really be able to help. Grow people and grow the business. If I'm given this opportunity, I wasn't necessarily doing that. So I think that's the other part of it is after you've got the really clear definition as to what it is that matters to you, what it is that you want in your life. It's about making sure then that you're communicating with others and not just the traditional other people, that are in your career, but within your network, it's really important. Tell your colleagues, share with your competitors, what are the things that you're interested in and what it is that you really want to achieve. And again, not just that you want that, but why. You're the best person for that kind of opportunity or that kind of growth trajectory as well. And I just don't think that we do enough of that. I know that there was research that was done and I'll share a little bit about myself with that too. It says, I'm quite often. A woman will read a job description, and they read it through the lens of, I don't have that experience, I don't have that experience, I don't have that experience, I don't have that experience, and exclude themselves. Whereas someone else might say, I have that, and move forward with it. That's the first thing as well, too, is we have to Have self belief in our capabilities. And for me, I know the first time I was a hotel general manager when the CEO of the company approached me and said, what do you think about becoming a general manager? I look back now, and I think about the excuses I first made. It was like I haven't been an assistant general manager. We've got other in waiting that are ready to be general managers rather than saying, thank you for this amazing opportunity. I'm ready to fully embrace it and move forward. So I do think it is about, like I said, getting over some of perhaps of that. Maybe I don't have this and really focus on the things that you do have and you can bring to the table. Wow, that

Rachel Humphrey 12:46

is incredibly insightful. I tend to look at the things that I don't have as well. I can think of lots of opportunities in my career. I said, No, I don't think I'm the best person, even though somebody else In a position to make that decision, actually thought that I was in talking about leadership, whether it's as you ascended to become a hotel GM, whether it was through the corporate executive process, we hear some people say, Oh, I knew from a young age. I was destined or desired to be a leader. Others who maybe say I don't even view myself as a leader today, depending on what that means. Was there a point that you either realize that you had become a leader in the hospitality industry or set out and said this is something that I would like to have as part of my role or my career?

Janis Cannon 13:35

Oh, such a good question. First of all, I believe that leadership, while you need to prepare for leadership in the sense of building capabilities and competencies, I think leadership really comes from a desire of wanting to support and help others to become the best that they can be to reach their full potential. Because you can take all the leadership courses that are out there, but if, people don't follow and if you're not helping other people to grow, like I said, into their full potential and assume positions of leadership as well it doesn't. It doesn't really mean anything, it's just words. It really doesn't mean anything. So realizing leadership for me, I did work very hard at building skills, capabilities and competencies, appreciated all the investment that the companies made in me have, throughout my career and individuals have made and coaches have made in me throughout my career and helping me to build that. But I think when I really first began to realize it is when. Very early in my career, people would come and ask for advice, and they weren't like people that necessarily I was managing or in my group or people that I was leading, but it was people outside of that. From other departments within the community, from other hotel brands, from other companies, that kind of thing. And then that's when I really started to realize again, like I said, it's important that, we take these responsibilities that were granted very seriously and very humbly and realize really, what an honor it is to be have somebody trust you with that, to be a leader for them. I like

Rachel Humphrey 15:12

the idea to have leadership being more than the accumulation of a skill set. But being a motivator to provide for others and how you can be seen in that way. If we talk about the developing that skill set, I think many of us, either as we change roles, we change industries, we realize maybe that there are skills that we are going to need that either don't come as naturally to us, or we don't already have. In our toolbox to continue our leadership journeys, and for some of us, that means actually setting out to develop them as you continued your career trajectory. Did you come across skills that you recognized in being self where? You know what? This is something I need to develop further fine tune or even start from scratch in order to continue to feel like you are going to be impactful as a leader.

Janis Cannon 16:04

Yes. Yes. Yes. I'll admit it. Delegation was a tough one for me initially. I

Rachel Humphrey 16:11

like the way you use past tense because I'm not sure that's my best, strongest leadership

Janis Cannon 16:17

attribute today. Yeah, it's hard, right? It's really hard because at first it's it's going to slow me down because I'm going to have to take time to, perhaps explain or train or whatever, not realizing. And so doing that, you may have to do that only 1 time, 1 or 2 times, and then you have the benefit of that, because that person then is, has that skill set, but actually enhances their ability and their capabilities as well, and then also allows. The business to be amplified, through what they can bring to the table with a new skill set. The delegation was, I would say, probably one of the most difficult for me, and it took me a while and it does take focused attention. It does take self awareness, but some of that self awareness came from, people like conking me over the head to saying, you need to let go with some of that. You need to free up some of that. And so it's, I started, I took. Classes identified, where I could learn more about it. Sort of people that I saw that were really good at it. Within either my company or people within, like I said, the hotel industry and reached out to them to say, how does this work for you? How did you make this happen? Did it come naturally? Or is it something that you a skill that you actually had to hone and work on? And again, expanding your community or your network as well, and not just being myopic about it can only move up and down the line of. My boss and people that report, like direct reports, but really expanding that even beyond your company as a way to develop your new skills.

Rachel Humphrey 17:52

I really like what you're saying about a combination to have almost educational resources, but then also the people network, the support systems, the mentors, the allies that can really help you with that. I think that's an incredible combination. That really supports two different learning styles, because what you learn in a classroom may be very helpful. And likewise, what you learn from others may be very complementary to that. And you have always had a great group of mentors, allies, and champions around you and have served in that capacity for so many others. I know you feel strongly that this needs to be a combination of both men and women, that women shouldn't just look to other women and similarly men to men. But talk a little bit about the role that mentors and champions have played in your career and why you think it's so important as leaders that we do the same for the rising leaders in the industry.

Janis Cannon 18:46

It ties back to one of the questions you asked earlier in the conversation we had in that the difference also between the reason you need mentors, allies, champions and coaches is I want to share a little story with you. I had a general manager 1 time your opener and. He asked me to take on a new role, and again, I said, I don't think I can, I don't know that I'm like qualified for that role, and he said to me, he said, Janice, remember, there's a first time for everybody, you're never going to have the experience you need to go into a new role, because there's a first time for everybody, so it's important that you have, a mentor that will share those things with you, a coach for me, When I think about coaches and why coaches are important, a coach for me is somebody that might say, Janice, you need some help with delegation. That's I'd like for you to put that on your personal development plan, pick out some classes and attend some classes or whatever. So that's how I think about a coach being a little bit different than a mentor. Then when I think about allies are someone that, the reason that they're important, I think an ally is someone that They may be in a room or in a meeting in a conversation with somebody and you want somebody to be able to advocate for you. Maybe they're talking about a new position or a new role. Maybe they're talking about a new project and they're wanting to know, who do you know, somebody that would be a good fit for this. And that's going to be your ally, somebody that's going to say, hey, have you thought about, or I know this person. And then that ties, I think, to champions overall people that really have made. The investment because you're also making the investment in them as well, and they've made the investment in you that really champion who you are as a person, who you are as a professional and what it is, the value it is that you can bring.

Rachel Humphrey 20:41

I love the differentiation between the different roles, but what a powerful saying from your former mentor about a first time for everyone. That is really great advice, and I appreciate you sharing that because It's so realistic. We don't think about that, but we can't ever have the experience until we actually have the experience. So that's a very powerful and fortunate that you had someone advocating for you, but also maybe eliminating some of the self doubt that you had and whether or not you were ready for that opportunity. It's like

Janis Cannon 21:15

the first day of school. When you take on a new job and it's a promotion, it's the first time, but there's a first time for everything. And so you have to go into it with the confidence to know that you're ready. You may not be fully ready, but you're ready enough. And that I think is the really important part. What is ready enough? That's great

Rachel Humphrey 21:38

advice. As a female we have a lot of societal pressures, I think, to do it all. To be a successful employee or leader, depending on our role, a successful mom, a wife. Oftentimes a child taking care of parents, taking care of neighbors, baking for the bake school, bake sale at school. What type of work life harmony lessons have you learned over the course of your career? Maybe for people who are on that hamster wheel and really maybe struggling to Find, I always say there's never going to be a balance that word is a terrible way of looking at things, but to really find harmony or management in both of those areas,

Janis Cannon 22:22

I think you have to change or you have to realize that you can't be 100 percent of everything every single day. And how I approach that you're going to give it 100%. You're going to give it your best, but you have to understand and the way I approach it is I think about 24 hours as currency each day has 24 hours in it. I can't make it 22. I can't make it 26, I can't make the day shorter, and I can't make the day longer. There's only so many hours. So you have to, I think really think about today I may need to give 60% of that 24 hour currency towards my job, which means my family's only gonna get 40%, but maybe this Saturday I'm gonna spend 80% on my family. And only 20 percent on work, or vice versa. And it's with that type of, I think, understanding that not every day is everything going to be divided up into, 25 percent here, 25 percent there, 25 percent there, and 25 percent there that every day things are going to fluctuate and you have to give yourself space and acceptance to realize that in the end that does total 100 percent you know, and letting that go, you are giving your 100 percent to all of those things, you're just doing it maybe 80 percent today for this particular area and 20 percent for that tomorrow and that I think is really important. Thank you. helped me a lot, whether it's health, whether it's, family, whether it's work, whether it's friends, whether it's me time, just to realize that there's no way you can do all of it. every single day and give yourself grace for that.

Rachel Humphrey 24:07

What a great analogy to every day being currency because it's definitely one way that we can break it down and think about it in each of those incremental steps. So great advice. When we think about obstacles for many of us, we will learn far more from challenges that we have had than from the successes we've had. And I hope we each take time to learn and appreciate and celebrate the successes. But how do you tackle obstacles or challenges that have come your way as we all do in our career? Having to face those, whether it be a specific project at work or a new role that we've taken on, what is your approach to challenges?

Janis Cannon 24:49

Communication. If I may, I'll give you another example of that or, personal experience with that. I got to where I would raise my hand for jobs. I learned that, I wanted, there was something once I knew really what I wanted to do within the industry, I would raise my hands for jobs. And I raised my hand one time for a role and the obstacle was that I was the mother of a young child. And the. Person that was interviewing me said how are you going to be able to do this and take care of your child? And so I paused and I smiled because I knew that this gentleman had a child the age of my daughter. And I said, do you mind if I ask you a question? And he said, no. And I said, how do you manage with your child? And a big smile broke out on his face. I guess it could have gone the other way. A big smile broke out on his face and I never had any more of those questions, and I got the job and moved forward. So I think, communication, being bold not being afraid to have the difficult conversation, I'll figure it out later. Maybe I'll just I won't talk about this now and I'll try to figure it out later that can cause a lot of stress and anxiety that ultimately can impact performance with obstacles, face some head on and have the communication because I think through the communication, you can find the place around the obstacle, whether it's run through it, go over it, dig under it or go around, The side, but when you talk about it, then you become partners and I think you find the best and right solutions. That way.

Rachel Humphrey 26:28

Wow. Communication is such a critical part of leadership and cover so many of the categories that we've talked about today. I like to look at it as well as 1 of the. Strategies for overcoming obstacles. Just as I told you before we even started, I know I could speak with you all day long and we are going to run short on time. One of my favorite questions both to be asked and to ask in return is what advice would we give to our younger selves? And part of that is because I feel like as humans, we are all works in progress. And part of the way we grow is to reflect. So what would you tell us? 21 year old Janice today about either something you wish you had known at that point or about how things turn out for you along the

Janis Cannon 27:14

way. The first, if I can provide two, the first is, and we've touched on it, is when the opportunity knocks evaluate it, but don't be afraid of it and walk through it. And walk towards it. Know what it is that you want. Don't have the hesitancy. Have the conversation instead. Don't hesitate or try to figure it out all by yourself. Be willing to have the conversation with whoever is offering the opportunity, as well as with your family and, and friends. And we talk, at times about personal board of directors, even your personal board of directors, be sure to have the conversation with them. I wish I had done more of that earlier in my career. I did probably. I don't know, midway through my career, came to realize that, or even before that, came to realize just how important that was in terms of getting where it is that you really, want to go. The other advice, which is the reality, thank goodness, and I think probably one of the biggest blessings in my career as well too, is keep your, always keep your network, and it's not only important how you go into a job, it may even be more important how you leave a job. That you work with and all it's really important because in my career, I've actually. Circled twice. We hear back twice with the cyclic. But I started out, as I said, as a regional representative with the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism and years later, wound up as the deputy commissioner for the Department of Economic Development for tourism. So wound up going full circle and coming back in a leadership role. And I think you really get those opportunities because it's so important how you enter a job. What you do in the role, but it's even more important how you leave that job that it's set up for success of the people that are there and for the business that needs to be done. That's

Rachel Humphrey 29:11

such great. Great advice. As we wrap up, Janice thinking about the D. I. Advisors motto of empowering personal success. Is there 1 more thing you'd like to share with our audience?

Janis Cannon 29:25

There is 1 more and 1st of all, I love the mission statement of advisors and I believe in it so much about empowering personal success for some of you may have heard Anna blue with HLA, speak about the importance of vocabulary in the word empowerment and empowerment does imply that. Where someone is gifting power to someone else, and then that means that somebody is probably waiting to receive that power. The advisors has taken the approach about it's about personal success, which is empowering ourselves, which is what we really need to do is recognize our own personal power. And I want to give one another example. I was in Brooklyn a couple weeks ago and did some research for a speech for a presentation and found out that Ruth Bader Ginsburg. is from Brooklyn, so the Notorious RBG is from there, and she graduated the top of her class at Columbia Law, number one in her class. At the time, there was not one single New York law firm that would hire her that she interviewed with because they saw her as a female that was five feet tall and had a young child at home, and they didn't think they were going to get the kind of work that they needed from Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But rather than wait for somebody to give her the invitation or to invite her in, she took her personal power. And knew who she was and what she was capable of and became our Supreme Court justice is the notorious RBG. And so I like to think about that when I think about empowering personal success, it's we have to own it first and we have to realize and recognize who we are. And that we're a value and that how about working together, we can empower one another and really achieve the goals that we all have together.

Rachel Humphrey 31:22

Wow, that is such a great way to end our conversation today, Janice. Thank you so much on behalf of DEI Advisors for joining us today, on behalf of myself and the hospitality industry for all you do to lead and elevate others, and for our audience listening, if you have, Liked what you've heard. We hope you'll go over to DEIadvisors. org and listen to other industry leaders share their paths to leadership and the insights they've learned along the way. You can also stream us from your favorite streaming podcast service. Janice, thank you so very much.

Janis Cannon 31:55

Thank you, Rachel. Appreciate it. Thank you.