.png)
It's Personal Stories, A Hospitality Podcast
It's Personal Stories is a podcast series highlighting the inspiring career journeys of prominent leaders in the hospitality industry. The series features over 200 interviews, with new ones added weekly. Each interview presents the unique personal story and insights of C-suite executives, educators, and other industry professionals. Guests share their experiences, including overcoming self-doubt, achieving work-life balance, facing challenges, public speaking, taking risks, networking authentically, developing leadership skills, and more. Through these deeply personal stories, you are encouraged to dream big and confidently pursue your personal and professional goals.
Founded in 2022 by industry veterans David Kong, Dorothy Dowling, Rachel Humphrey, Lan Elliott, and Huilian Duan, It’s Personal Stories has been recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as a top hospitality podcast each year since it launched. To watch or listen now, visit www.ItsPersonalStories.com.
Episodes
222 episodes
Dr. Kelly McGuire, Managing Principal Hospitality at Zs interviewed by Dorothy Dowling
Join me on It’s Personal: Journeys and Wisdom in Hospitality with Dr. Kelly McGuire. From academia to early SaaS revenue management innovation, pioneering revenue strategy in casinos, and consulting in commercial strategy, Kelly shares...
•
33:23
.png)
Bashar Wali, Founder and CEO, This Assembly and Practice Hospitality, Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Bashar discusses the many ways his passion and love for hospitality fuel his career journey. He talks about public speaking, how self-care means something different to everyone, and how he took every opportunity to learn through doing. Bashar s...
•
32:12
David Eisen, VP and Editor-in-Chief, HOTELS Magazine, Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
David shares his strategies for effective panel moderating, how he uses LinkedIn to share his take on industry news, and what he's curious about right now. He discusses overcoming self doubt and developing new skills. He talks about why reading...
•
28:53
Hoda Tahoun, Practice Leader, Global Leisure & Hospitality, Russell Reynolds Associates interviewed by Lan Elliott
Hoda shares the tool she uses to create more authentic, human connections. She discusses current trends in executive recruiting and what hiring managers and top talent are looking for when interviewing. She describes the key attribu...
•
27:14
Naureen Ahmed, Founder, Inspiring Women in Hospitality interviewed by Lan Elliott
Naureen discusses the Pie Theory, which says 60% of career development comes from exposure, which can come in the form of public speaking and developing one’s network internally and externally. She shares the 3 things she focused on to de...
•
32:40
Dina Belon, President, Staypineapple Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Dina discusses how her interest in sustainability and deep dive into it ended up being a pivotal moment in her career journey. She talks about advocating for yourself, having confidence, and seeking out mentors and allies who believe in you. Di...
•
30:08
Hannah Greenberg, Chief Executive Officer, Eleven Software interviewed by Dorothy Dowling
Hannah she shares her intentional career journey, from childhood entrepreneurship and Cornell Hotel School, to consulting and private equity, and her transformative time at Berkeley Business School. Now CEO of a SaaS tech company, she reflects ...
•
36:52
Dr. Michael Cheng, Dean and Professor, Chaplin School of Hospitality and Management, FIU
Dean Cheng shares his career journey and the important lessons he learned that enabled his success. We discuss the important qualities of a visionary leader, navigating a political environment and his general approach to challenges. Dean Cheng ...
•
30:44
Amit Sripathi, Chief Development Officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Amit discusses his path from engineer to CDO of Wyndham with the pivotal reset and opportunities in between. He shares his leadership evolution and the skills he's focused on developing in his own leadership style. Amit also discusses the role ...
•
31:58
Zack Gharib, President, Red Roof Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Zack discusses his journey from growing up in Lebanon to being the new President of Red Roof with various stops in between. He shares his personal mantra of 'people first' and his advice to his younger self to "trust in your path." Zack also ta...
•
30:18
Brian Barker, Executive Director, Alliance for Hospitality Equity and Diversity (AHED), interviewed by Lan Elliott
Brian shares advice on finding mentors, cultivating champions, and what it takes to nurture those relationships. He explains how leading with kindness is a key factor in his success and how it can help young people distinguish themselves....
•
29:07
Susan Barry, President & Queen Bee, Hive Marketing, interviewed by Lan Elliott
An entrepreneur by nature, Susan delves into how she approaches risk and why her tolerance for risk is getting higher. She shares the story of how she became an expert networker at a young age, and how she creates real connections. ...
•
34:38
Jim Burba, Co-Founder, Burba Hayes LLC, Burba Hotel Network (BHN), interviewed by David Kong
Jim Burba, well known co-founder of Burba Hotel Network (BHN) and former producer of ALIS, HICAP and other industry investment shows shares his career journey and credits mentors such as Tony Marshall, Bob Hazzard and his partner Bob Hayes for ...
•
28:50
Zach Demuth, Global Head of Hotels Research, JLL Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Zach shares his experiences with imposter syndrome and find out whether he's a risk taker or risk averse. He discusses his strategies for public speaking, how his curiosity drives him, and how he tries to combine his career and personal life in...
•
30:47
Heather Balsley, Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts, interviewed by Lan Elliott
Heather shares how her love for solving big, complex problems has led her to spearhead transformative initiatives within IHG, and she describes how she navigates cross-functional, multi-year challenges. She explains why having champions i...
•
35:04
Jolyon Bulley, CEO, Americas & Group Transformation Lead, Luxury & Lifestyle, IHG Hotels & Resorts
Jolyon Bulley shares the ways in which working internationally has shaped his career and the role one particular mentor/champion had on his path. He discusses why it's important to not underestimate yourself, have courage, and develop others ar...
•
32:59
Sima Patel, CEO, Ridgemont Hospitality interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Sima shares how the hospitality industry chose her, how her board service has propelled her career, and the biggest leadership lessons she's learned along the way. She talks about how she unwinds and how she overcomes self doubt through leaning...
•
28:18
Aik Hong Tan, Chief Investment Officer, Hotel Equities & Founding Principal, Greenwood Hospitality Group, interviewed by Lan Elliott
Aik Hong shares the key leadership skill he identified early on and the significant learnings he gleaned navigating downturns. Following a successful career in Asia, he describes how he established himself in the U.S., then launched a new...
•
32:16
Delphine Millot, SVP for Advocacy and Sustainability, GBTA interviewed by D Dowling
Delphine Millot, SVP of GBTA, she shares her thoughts on how to effectively power and advance your career. Delphine discusses her commitment to continuous learning and growth, her proactive approach to taking on diverse assignments, and her inv...
•
34:07
Jonathon S. Zink, Chief Operating Officer, The BHN Group interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Jonathon shares what he's learned from living all over the world. He talks about how several company mottos have, in ways, evolved into his own personal mantra. Jonathon also discusses how running is an important part of his business travel exp...
•
30:17
Brian Quinn, Chief Development Officer, Sonesta International Hotels Interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Brian discusses why resiliency and learning to work through ambiguity are two critical leadership traits. He shares his strategies for managing business travel, balancing life, and adapting to new roles. He talks about engaging with mentors, ...
•
36:47
Evan Frazier, President & CEO, The Advanced Leadership Institute (TALI), interviewed by Lan Elliott
Evan describes his path to leadership and how seeking broader experiences led him to found his nonprofit, TALI, which is focused on cultivating black executive leadership. He shares why those aspiring to leadership roles need to develop t...
•
33:56
Antonia Sisti, President & Executive Producer, GO Productions
Antonia Sisti, the founder, owner, and president of Go Productions, shares her journey of building her company and offers valuable advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. In our conversation, she emphasizes the importance of taking risks and details ...
•
28:56
Donna Quadri-Felitti, Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University, School of Hospitality Management, interviewed by Dorothy Dowling
Donna shares her journey in education and hospitality, driven by her passion for empowering others and her extensive experience in foodservice, hospitality sales and marketing, tourism consulting, and hotel asset management.
•
36:22
Lynn Mohrfeld, President & CEO, California Hotel & Lodging Association interviewed by Rachel Humphrey
Lynn shares why knowing his audience is an important part of his public speaking preparation. He discusses his leadership style, how it's evolved, and which leadership skills he's focused on developing over time. Lynn also talks about wellness,...
•
30:48