It's Personal Stories, A Hospitality Podcast

Scott Berman, Hospitality & Leisure Expert, interviewed by Lan Elliott

• David Kong

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Scott discusses the trajectory of his incredible career journey, from 30 years at PwC to his current chapter.  He shares his personal connection to Howard University’s Center for Hospitality Leadership and Marriott’s Arne Sorenson.  Scott also explains his approach to networking, why saying Yes is so important, and what it takes to be successful as a consultant.

Lan Elliott:

Hello and welcome to It's Personal Stories, a hospitality podcast. My name is Lan Elliott on behalf of It's Personal Stories. And today's guest is someone I've admired for many years, Scott Berman, who is joining us. If you're not familiar with Scott's extensive accomplishments, I hope you go to our website and check out his profile. Welcome Scott.

Scott Berman:

Good morning. Thank you for the invitation. So excited to talk to you this morning.

Lan Elliott:

So excited to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us. As I mentioned, your career is one that I've admired from a far from a long time, because when I graduated from school, it was actually the career that I envisionally had aspired to. And you've had an incredible career, 30 years with. P. W. C. You led the hospitality consulting practice and you're now in your next chapter. And so I'm so interested to hear more. Could you share some inflection points from your successful career? And if there were any factors that you think led to your success.

Scott Berman:

I know we only have a few minutes. So let me try to condense this. Yes, certainly PwC was the focal point of my professional career. There was a good seven or eight years before PwC that really grounded me and framed who I was as a hospitality executive. I think coming from a a degree in hospitality and starting my career in consulting in Miami was a great first step. But I had three or four jobs actually three jobs before I made it to Coopers Libran in 1992 that ultimately became PWSC. in 1998. When I think about, I think it starts at home. I'm a Baltimore kid. I have that Baltimore grit. I went to Cornell. I was a student athlete playing tennis studying hard and, trying to do my best. And so athletics had a lot to do with my path and my discipline. And I do think about those early years as being so important and framing who I was and who I became. I experienced both personal and professional adversity, which, I. Was able to facilitate and overcome. And I think, yes the spotlight was on 30 amazing years at PwC but I really do owe a lot of my success. To those first couple of jobs, Laventhal and Horwath, Arthur D. Little, and Hilton International where I led development in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Lan Elliott:

Amazing. Do you think there was anything that you did or any characteristic, you had mentioned sports and the grit that came from being a student athlete. Do you think there was anything that really flowed through your career?

Scott Berman:

I use the word discipline. And to be a student athlete in the late seventies, early eighties, I think still applies today. You're practicing almost every day, you're traveling on weekends you're, you still have a full load of academics and, it was. An incredible experience, but one that required every bit of my focus and my grit to grind through it and succeed and do well. I knew I wasn't going to be on the professional tennis tour. And so I needed to find my groove. Academically in my comfort level and I know we're going to talk about mentors and leaders at some point in this interview, but, certainly, I think about those teachers and professors and those coaches. Who influenced me and kept me grounded, kept me focused. We're always there on a difficult day, to prop me up. And I stay connected with many of those folks today that, that influenced me and I. I certainly never forget. My wife's a third grade teacher. She influences young people and her favorite day of the year is graduation day when she gets to go see those seniors walk down the aisle and she feels that that gratitude. And affection, and so I think those are very real components that have influenced me throughout my journey.

Lan Elliott:

I love the the call out to discipline, but also gratitude and sometimes you just need to get, keep going. But for you, you've decided to pivot a bit in this chapter and. Step back from P. W. C. and you were instrumental in creating Howard University Center for hospitality leadership. And in addition to some company boards, you're also on several hospitality school boards. I'm curious, could you share the story of how your work with Howard came about? And if there are any. Advantages or lessons you've learned through these efforts. What does giving back offer or teach you?

Scott Berman:

Let's watch the clock because I want to spend as much time as we can on this this topic because it is, it means so much to me. So in a 30 year consulting career at PwC, there were hundreds, maybe thousands of engagements. And through some of my partners at PwC who were Howard graduates they made me aware that the Marriott foundation was going to make a gift. In the memory of Arnie Sorenson the CEO at Marriott, who we all affectionately loved and who as an outside of Marriott person was a true mentor of mine. But through by my contacts inside PwC who were Howard grads they made me aware that, that. The Marriott family was going to make a gift to Howard to create a center for hospitality leadership in Arnie's name. And so the foundation and Howard went out to bid for a consultant. blueprint what that center should look like. And we didn't necessarily win the bid because of our credentials. We won that bid because PwC recognized that it was the right thing to gift our services. And my personal story with Arnie is near and dear to me. One of those personal adversities that I faced in my twenties was losing my father to pancreatic cancer at a very young age. And this is the disease that Arnie fought. And we admired him through his his cancer journey. And I went to Arnie, I knew he was sick. A friend of mine had come to me and said, I've been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and I'm lost and I would, I, I know that you've had a personal experience with it and your family, I'd like to talk to somebody at 9 a. m. that day I emailed Arnie and by three o'clock, in spite of all that he was going through and, All of his commitments to Marriott and the industry by 3 p. m. He had talked to my friend. And I feel a debt of gratitude to Arnie to carry out his vision, which was to make sure that diversity and inclusion was front and center in our industry, not only at Marriott through the entire industry. This is one of his passions. And I knew that from interviewing him and then having moderated dozens of panel with Arnie and our peers on stage at the various conferences. And so I recognized through the consulting assignment that this was a way for not only PwC to give back. But for me to give back, all right, and honor Arnie and do the right thing. And I must tell you, touching and working and mentoring the students at Howard has been incredibly gratifying. They are the secret sauce. And, they have a passion for our industry. They're it's not a hospitality degreed program. It's a center there in Washington, DC. And these black students have access to the working laboratory of Washington, DC, the operators, the owners, the destination services people. All aspects of hospitality, the center of the hospitality universe might even be Washington, D. C. Right? And so having that access, to those folks is what the center is all about. And so these are Marriott's Marriott scholars that are going through could be a business, a law, an architecture curriculum at Howard. But have this access to the center and all of the partners that are aligned with Howard. within the hospitality ecosystem. So that's a really short version. There's a lot more to it, but I, at my retirement dinner at PwC, I talked about, givers and takers in life. And if you don't mind, I'm just going to read a paragraph from that, my remarks because they are so meaningful. Lon, I said the takers take from you to better themselves and their interests. Givers give for the benefit of others, wanting to do the right thing, no matter the circumstances. And so chapter two of my career, I wanted to make sure I was a giver and Howard and other others have given me that platform. Yes, I'm on a public board. I'm on multiple private boards. I'm on the academic boards, as you mentioned, but Howard is a real passion to give back. That is incredibly meaningful to me personally.

Lan Elliott:

I think Arnie would be incredibly proud to see what you've done and he was definitely one that lived his beliefs in his actions and we saw a lot of that when he was at the helm of Marriott and creating opportunities for a lot of people to move very far within the organization. So I love that you're continuing to honor. That was with your work with Howard. So

Scott Berman:

Arnie would be proud of the industry. The industry has really stepped up and, we did dozens of focus groups at PwC and blueprinting the center and, from all walks, from the student body to perspective students to their parents to obviously the leaders of the hospitality industry, which expands across many different subsectors. And so that was incredibly rewarding.

Lan Elliott:

Thank you for doing that for our industry, for the future of our industry, too.

Scott Berman:

Thank you. And there are many others that are with me, behind me, in front of me, doing this with me. And they're special people as well.

Lan Elliott:

Absolutely. You had touched on your father's passing and I'm curious if there is adversity that you wanted to share that has taught you a lesson and if you could share a story around that.

Scott Berman:

Parents are often your mentors. And my father was a true mentor to me. He was a small time lawyer in Baltimore. He had a street front office on Broadway. I used to go down there as a kid and sweep the floors, and, he would hold client meetings on Saturday. He worked for the, a working class citizen group of the community who had little money. And so I saw him, give back and, losing him, was a tremendous loss. But it did motivate me, to emulate, many of his his qualities and values. And when facing adversity, I always think back to how he would handle it and walking in his shoes and a very gentle man. and, never raised his voice always looked for a solution. And so in life, there are many adversities professionally, personally, and it's how you handle them. And, looking for that solution and looking for ways to solve. not complain or whine or, and there are days of, we're humans and, we all have our days, but I, he is always with me. I look around my office. There are artifacts that I took from that office on Broadway that today still motivate me even in my sixties.

Lan Elliott:

I love that you have parts of his memory, maybe even physical parts that are in your office to continue to motivate you and to use his memory and his amazing qualities to emulate. So thank you for sharing that.

Scott Berman:

It's a pleasure to.

Lan Elliott:

Wanted to talk about taking risks because you don't get to the levels that you reached in your career without taking a number of them. Could you? Share some examples of success in this regard, and how do you prepare yourself mentally when you're about to take a big risk?

Scott Berman:

So I mentioned that, that period before PwC and, I grew up in, in Maryland. I went to college in New York State. I played some competitive tennis in Florida. But in the early 80s, I took my first job in Miami at 22 years old. And while I had visited, I knew nothing about the community. And that was taking a great risk because all of my friends and fellow classmates were taking jobs in the, in Boston and New York and San Francisco and DC, and I it felt weird saying, Hey, I'm going to Miami when I'm, from somewhere else, but. It was one of the most risky and anxious decisions of my life and never regretted it for a minute. I have been here for over 40 years. I feel like I've been on a 40 year spring break, but I was able to brand myself. Because it was at a time when markets like the Caribbean and Central America, Mexico, South America were all starting to find themselves on the hospitality and tourism radar. And I always said yes to an assignment. When someone asked me, do you want to go to Jamaica? I'm 20 in my twenties. Sure. I want to go to Jamaica. That would be great. I didn't have a family at that point. And, and I, I. I turned that early period into a personal passion and without any roadmap, I became truly a subject matter expert. Hilton International hired me to run their development in my twenties, in a region that was, growing, by leaps and bounds. I took many of the brands. To Costa Rica, a market today that is mature and successful. But when I went there, it was virgin, it was green fields. And it took risk for me to recommend to my clients that this is the next, resort opportunity. I worked on all inclusive resorts when it wasn't cool, when they were losing money. Okay. And we used to call them AI resorts. Different type of AI than we're talking about today. It's not artificial intelligence folks. It's all inclusive, right? I took some risks and I stepped up to the challenge. of working with clients at a relatively young age and really finding, that comfort zone and in markets that very few people knew anything about. So the risk was taking that leap to come to Miami. Who would have thought 40 plus years later? I actually live in Fort Lauderdale technically, but South Florida and I've watched a market in and of itself. grow. I sit on the board of the Greater Miami and Beaches Hotel Association. I've been on that board for over 30 years. And I continue to stay engaged with the local market and the local GMs and listening and hearing what the issues of the day are and it's, it keeps you relevant. It keeps you current, keeps you engaged. And it's truly a journey, but you have to take some risks early on. And I'm glad I did, obviously.

Lan Elliott:

Yeah, you've done very well in Miami, obviously, and it was also my first role outside of school was to move to Miami to get into real estate consulting. So we share that, but it was definitely a bright spot in the early nineties in real estate in hospitality, where you can work on new things like the Caribbean, because the rest of the U. S. wasn't doing that well, and it was a bit the land of opportunity because. Latin America and the Caribbean were somewhat known, but it was really a Miami phenomenon. So you were really poised in the right place. And I do see sometimes people following the pack when they graduate from school, going to New York City with everybody else, their friends, or going back home and working there. But I think striking out and taking the risk, it's incredible. And you've built an amazing career there and really established yourself in South Florida.

Scott Berman:

Thank you, Lon. It's very kind of you.

Lan Elliott:

One of the things I wanted to ask you about is developing a network because I like to think hospitality is unique and that people tend to stay in this industry for a really long time. And the relationships that you build might start as business relationships, but we tend to see people again and again, and they can become friendships over the years. And. Yet networking still is that thing is that's intimidating for a lot of people. And I'm curious how you've built your network over time in a way that's felt authentic to you.

Scott Berman:

It's it's like building a house. You lay the foundation, you lay the floors, you paint the walls, you tile the roof, right? It's one brick, one panel at a time. The blessing I've had is being largely an advisor. A consultant is that I've had this opportunity to work with so many different people from all walks, all sectors tell the story like this when I was moving from Hilton international to Cooper's library and PwC I got a call on my first day of work from someone who said, Hey, I am about to take over as the leader of development. For my company in the Caribbean and Latin America, which we effectively call Cala. And I know that you've spent the last couple of years, focus on that. Would you mind, spending some time with me? Can I buy you lunch? That's what he said. I remember the lunch like it was yesterday because took the lunch. I recognize what he would, what he was trying to do. And the short story is that in five years he became my best client. And we did over 25 deals in the region. And I ultimately became a partner at PwC largely because of this recurring revenue from this one first day on the job call. And I had a relationship, right? But we built that relationship into, being, a dear friend. And the advisory business, you're really only as good as your last gig. And those clients become referrals, they become advocates for you and your team and your firm. And so that generally leads, to more opportunities. And I spoke about, saying yes. And as a consultant, you learned to say yes. It's hard to say no. I think today I'd like to learn how to say no more than yes, but saying yes and, attending functions, dinners events, conferences, volunteering in your community, going the extra mile and building that community. Whether it's through your own kids sports. I can tell stories how, people I met on the soccer field or at the tennis court or wherever, who I didn't know and were not involved in my early life became clients, personal friends. And friends for life.

Lan Elliott:

That's incredible. I love the first part of the story where you shared about this person who reached out to you for the lunch, but there is that piece that goes into who do you reach out to? Because you don't think everyone's going to let you buy them lunch and let you pick their brain. And so there is a piece of that, which is being open enough that people would actually reach out to you as a resource. And I think that's going back to the giver piece that you had talked about earlier, that trait of being someone that would share your knowledge with others. And I think that's maybe I'm starting to pick up

Scott Berman:

Very much. Listen in our business, you get up in the morning to serve clients. And if that isn't your motivation and delivering and executing on the scope of the day, you need to find something else. And in fact, many. Successful leaders in our industry came and went, I'm very proud of the Hall of Fame that has come out of PWC and are now leaders in the industry, but it's not for everybody. And really, you have to dedicate yourself and not get distracted, which is quite easy to do, but dedicate yourself to the mission and the mission is that engagement. Okay. And what's unique about consulting and advisory is it tends to be different from one assignment to another. And that keeps you energized and constantly in a learning mode, even today. I'm fascinated by what we can learn about the changes and evolutions. I'm in fact working with a major parking vendor. Okay, I didn't know diddly about parking. Through the bulk of my career and their technology and their focus on delivery has taught me really a lot of new foundational lessons, which I am now sharing with my community and they want introductions to the company. So again, connecting dots. Building relationships is I this the keys to my personal brand and success.

Lan Elliott:

I wanted to ask you about leadership myths, because there's a lot of. Discussion and there are lots of books about leadership that are out there. Is there a common leadership myth that you think we need to let go of?

Scott Berman:

Let me begin by saying I'm not a big proponent of, leadership books or philosophies. I think it's innate. I think my leadership skills came from watching others. Some that were good, some that were not so good, and some that were awful. And the, frankly, the awful ones taught me a lot, right? That, be kind to others is a good place to start. But the myth is is one where I related to my kids on the soccer field and they're now in their late 20s, approaching 30. But at the end of the soccer season Everybody won a trophy, even if you finished in last place. And the reality of life, in general, is that, Yes, celebrate your wins, earn your trophies and I certainly, was blessed to earn my share on the tennis court, not everybody won a trophy and those losses on the tennis court were hard and it motivated you to do more. And so the myth is everybody can win the trophy. Not everybody can be rated exemplary. There are always areas for improvement and development and you need to be able to accept those messages, and try to better yourself. And the fact that everybody, believes they should be promoted and they should be put on a pedestal is not reality. So it's a little bit of tough love. But tough love is good.

Lan Elliott:

They've said that if you fail a lot, you have the opportunity to learn the most. If you're able to take that and use it as fuel, but also as an opportunity for self reflection and a way to improve Scott, I'm curious. What advice would you give to your younger self? Maybe the Scott that was graduating from school, moving to Miami. What advice would you give?

Scott Berman:

I it's hard to pick one, but you don't know success until you've failed. Taking that personal adversity and turning it into a positive. And if you're able to do that, you're going to find lots of success. And so I say that and my teams would always hear B's also give them the following advice, which is look at your professional journey into your increments, yes, it's great to have goals and to aspire to be this, that, or the other, but what's the path to get there? And what is, the culture that you are working in living in, it doesn't necessarily always espouse to success. It's what you control versus what you can't control. And I always took those adverse moments and really turn them into lessons learned. And I think I owe my success and, the development and what we grew at PwC to all of those foundational lessons.

Lan Elliott:

Scott, we're coming to the end of our time, and you have shared a lot of really great advice and also about adversity and grit and persistence and taking risks. I'm curious if you have one final nugget of advice for our audience, for people who are trying to advance their careers.

Scott Berman:

Be flexible, be agile, say yes more than you say, no, that's terrific.

Lan Elliott:

Thank you so much, Scott. I really appreciate you being on. And as I mentioned at the beginning, you're someone that I've admired being in the Miami market very early in my career, and I admired your career from afar. And I'm so grateful to. Be able to know you through all these years and have you share your wisdom with our audience. So thank you for being on.

Scott Berman:

Thank you for the invitation. And it's been a privilege, Lon. Thank you.

Lan Elliott:

And for our audience, if you've enjoyed this conversation with Scott, I hope you'll go to our website. It's personal stories. com where you can find many more interviews with industry leaders. Thank you.