206: Cater Waiter Diss
Steven Moore is the CEO of Actabl, a hospitality operations platform uniting four hotel operations tools into one streamlined solution. From his early days as a catering busboy to leading Transcendent through the pandemic, Steven’s career has exposed him to more than one challenging situation. Susan and Steven talk about crisis leadership, labor challenges, and competition.
What You'll Hear About:
Why “over-respecting” a crisis beats pretending everything’s fine.
The unexpected CNBC debut that taught Steven the power of saying yes.
Why hotel tech can be a hot mess of fragmentation.
Why “no silver bullet” doesn’t mean labor problems can’t be solved.
How gamifying hotel engineering boosts employee retention.
Steven’s bold prediction: the death of single-workflow vendor tools in five years.
Our Top Three Takeaways:
1. Lead with data and quick wins when driving change
Whether selling tech to hoteliers or encouraging adoption inside a hotel company, success comes from proving ROI with clear, relevant data and starting small. One quick, tangible win builds credibility and opens the door to broader adoption.
2. Over-respect a crisis
Steven’s COVID-era CEO experience reinforced the need to anticipate that crises may be more painful and longer-lasting than expected, communicate more frequently, prepare for universal skills like clear thinking and empathy, and balance realism with inspiring optimism.
3. Balance long-term vision with near-term pressures
Steven’s time in a family office taught him to think in decades, planting “oak trees” today to enjoy the shade later. In a fast-paced, urgent hospitality environment, he stresses the importance of making sustained, compounding investments while still meeting short-term demands.
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