Transcript: Episode 191: Unzipped and Flipped
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[00:00:00] Susan Barry: This is Top Floor episode 191. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/191.
[00:00:14] Narrator: Welcome to Top Floor with Susan Barry. This weekly podcast ride up to the top floor features tangible tips and excellent stories from the experts and characters who elevate hospitality. And now your host and elevator operator, Susan Barry.
[00:00:32] Susan Barry: Welcome to the show. Sarah Moss is a born and raised Georgian whose hospitality journey began at the College of Coastal Georgia, balancing full-time work as a maitre d’ with her studies. After transferring to Georgia State University, she found her footing and hospitality through an internship at Hunter Hotel Advisors. Despite a brief detour into the corporate world as an analyst at Coca-Cola, Sarah returned to Hunter Rising from assistant to her current role as Chief of Staff. Today she's the strategic and operational engine behind both Hunter's brokerage firm and its signature Hotel Investment Conference. Today we are going to talk about building a career by doing the jobs no one else wants. But before we jump in, we need to answer the call button.
Call button rings
The emergency call button is our hotline for hospitality professionals who have burning questions. If you would like to submit a question, you can call or text me at 850-404-9630. Today's question was submitted by Morgan and Sarah. Here is what Morgan has to say. I am about to start working on my company's annual conference. What are some pitfalls or blind spots that I should be on the lookout for? I know that you have encountered your fair share of pitfalls, blind spots, and full on traps. So tell me, Sarah, what do you think about Morgan's question?
[00:02:14] Sarah Moss: Man, so much. I could probably check a whole podcast about this. When planning your event for your company, it's always, I always keep it authentic to you and who your company is. Make sure you find a location that is somewhere that you can get to for all of your employees somewhere. That's easy for us at Hunter, we love outings that have some type of like physical activity to them. We are very competitive here in the office, so we wanna have something that has like a tennis court or something that we can all go out and do together while we're there. One of the pitfalls I'll tell you is programming sometimes can be really tough. I tell you to work on that first, make sure you get your speakers locked in. Make sure you understand what you're trying to get across for the purpose of programming and what you're really trying to, you know, if it's more of an incentive conference, like praising your employees, like is it something fun that you’re presenting to them? Is it something more salesy where you're looking for someone that's like motivational? Try to figure out your purpose there and make sure you figure that out early. And make sure you plan for budgetary if there is a speaker fee for that too.
[00:03:15] Susan Barry: Very good advice. And that rings so true to me. I help put together a content for a conference and it's, you think you have it on lock and then all of a sudden someone's like, whoops, can't come. Or, oh, I got the date wrong, and you have to start all over. So a hundred percent agree with getting that part nailed down early. So. I always love when I am interviewing people who started out working in restaurants because that's what I did like in my last year of high school and all through college. How did your college restaurant job influence your education and your career choices?
[00:03:53] Sarah Moss: I fell in love with hospitality, working in restaurants. I love to serve people. I love the ability to put a smile on someone's face, which is a simple act of bringing them something that they asked for, like a very simple ask. I think also, you know, you're creating those memories for people. It's their anniversary dinner whatever they have. It's the island. One of the outlets I worked in was a five star dining restaurant. So people who are coming there are just coming there for a special event or anniversary or something that they wanna remember the occasion by. And so it was always so special to me to get to celebrate that with them. And so I think as I've gone throughout my career and my journey in hospitality, I've like, I love the PT bar and I'm quote, that's the nobelist art in life is to make others happy.
[00:04:37] Susan Barry: Oh, that's a great quote. I don't think I've ever heard that before, but I love it. Well, you spent a short time at Coca-Cola. What was your biggest takeaway from that job?
[00:04:48] Sarah Moss: My job at Coca-Cola was a data analyst, very different from serving people on for food every day.
[00:04:54] Susan Barry: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:54] Sarah Moss: And organizing staffing. It really taught me how to analyze data, how to understand it, how to find trends, and then ultimately present it, which is, you know, a whole nother beast in itself. Like being able to actually find the true findings and trends and then be able to make it. Digestible to people is sometimes really tough. And so that's one of the things I think my biggest takeaway was from Cloak, and I use it here every day. It's so great. So I suggest anybody who can go, you know, find something like that, go do it.
[00:05:25] Susan Barry: Do you use data analysis in your job now?
[00:05:29] Sarah Moss: Yes. Gosh, I use data every day and even simple things like the conference, like you're going through the attendee roster and looking to see like, Hey, do we have enough hotel owners balancing out the other attendees that are there, you know, it's simple things like that. Or if you know, we're sending on e-blast for one of our listings for the brokerage firm. It's like, are we hitting the right target metrics for people who like own this certain type of property or own this like asset class or are in this area or own assets around this hotel. Like you're constantly digging through data every day. And so that's why I encourage people. I'm like, it's so important. Like you mentioned, do the jobs no one else wants to do. Like that's one of the things I dug my feet in here at Hunter initially is like, they handed me this huge like old clunky CRM system and were like, have fun finding how to fix this. And I was like, oh great. And you know, it's like 40,000 people inside of it and you're like having to dig through and figure out is this person even still in the industry? Like unfortunately, are they still alive?
[00:06:22] Susan Barry: Uhhuh.
[00:06:23] Sarah Moss: You know, some of the things like that. And it just makes you invaluable being able to take all that data and make sure like that's what people need for a daily basis to do their job now. I mean, thank God the AI and the technology and advances, like there are things now that I'm like, wow, I wish I had that when I started 108 years ago.
[00:06:40] Susan Barry: Yes, totally. So talk about that. Talk about your trajectory at Hunter. You, I think your first internship was as a conference intern and now you're Chief of Staff. What all happened and what's been the most surprising part?
[00:06:55] Sarah Moss: What all happened? A lot has happened in the eight years I've been here.
[00:06:58] Susan Barry: Tell me everything that's happened in the last eight years, but tell, talk about the different positions that you've held.
[00:07:04] Sarah Moss: Yeah, so my first position here at Hunter was a conference intern. I did that for two years, my junior and senior year of college. I moved into then, into more of the brokerage business. They offered me a job when I went and graduated college was a Teaks executive assistant for a while. They then graduated me to Team Mom, which was a weird title, but also kind of fun to have.
[00:07:26] Susan Barry: Was that really your title?
[00:07:27] Sarah Moss: That was, that was really my title. Like
[00:07:29] Susan Barry: What?
[00:07:29] Sarah Moss: Like I didn't put it on my email signature, but like people knew. That's what I was like when you, I'll still see some people and they’re like, Team Mom!
[00:07:36] Susan Barry: Oh, that’s so funny. Oh my God.
[00:07:40] Sarah Moss: I think, you know, over time I've just, you're in a small business, so you take on more and more like Susan, you're director of sales. Like, you know, this, it's like innately you're first in, you're, you know, learning the most, you're like digesting everything. You're trying to take on more and more and more as you grow and learn and get older too. And in a small business, you unfortunately have to keep all of those hats as you keep growing and growing and growing. And so, for me, the trajectory has been, you know, just the willingness to accept the challenge in front of me, or, hey, what needs to be done? Or hey, I can help fix that. And that's what's been really cool to see here at Hunter of like, they've kind of given me my space to do me. And that's when I, you know, I feel like employees are their best when I can go in and creatively problem solve all the time. And I'm just so grateful. Hunter has like fostered an environment for that for me where I can take on more and more and they have ultimately now promoted me to Chief of staff, and that's the title I hold now.
[00:08:41] Susan Barry: So as Chief of Staff, you definitely have your hands in everything from internal operations to finance to the strategic vision of the company. Which of those things do you find the most energizing? Like if you could just tease out the one, I don't know, disciplinary area that you get the most energy from. Is there one?
[00:09:06] Sarah Moss: For me, it's probably strategic vision. I love being able to brainstorm, figure out creative problem solvers talked about that, like connecting the dots. You're taking ideas, you're like trying to figure out like actual plans for them. Being able to bring together our amazing team we have here, figure out how they fit into the pieces of that puzzle. Using their talents and their gifts that they have here. We have so many talented people here at Hunter. And then, you know, it starts creating this momentum and you can see like this vision working and you can see the goals that we hit. And you can see all these different, you know, real growth from it. And I think that's just really what gives me my bark and what ignites me at the end of the day where I'm like, look what we're able to achieve when we like put our minds to, we're able to creatively think together.
[00:09:50] Susan Barry: So to that end, you have taken the reins of the conference again. How has the conference evolved over your time and what are your hopes for a next, what I think is going to be exciting chapter?
[00:10:08] Sarah Moss: Mm-hmm. When I started at Hunter, the conference had just crested a thousand people. And today we are more than 2200 industry professionals, individuals. So, from a growth standpoint, it's been amazing to watch that over time. It's been amazing.
[00:10:23] Susan Barry: And also a pandemic in the middle, right? I mean.
[00:10:26] Sarah Moss: is with a pandemic in the middle.
[00:10:23] Susan Barry: That’s crazy.
[00:10:28] Sarah Moss: And we were the first industry conference to come back after Covid too, which was really unique to see and really fun to be a part of. Like not knowing how it was gonna be received. But I think people in the hospitality industry, they just wanna be together and they want that connectedness. And so we were so grateful we were able to foster that. But one of the things that I've had a big hand in and love to be involved in is the diversity that we've shown here at Hunter West. Actually, we announced our on stage presence, but they were 50% diverse individuals. Obviously I think there's room for growth and I would love to see it be bigger and better in years to come, but I think that's one of the greatest achievements I've been able to really put my hands in more recently in the years here.
[00:11:09] Susan Barry: So what about the move that you recently announced?What's going on there?
[00:11:18] Sarah Moss: I think it is symbolic of many things for us here at Hunter. We're so excited, as Susan alluded to announce that moving to Signia, Hilton Atlanta Signia, next year and excited to really offer that premium experience to our attendees and our partners. I think it's a big step for Hunter, in the right direction. When you look at the conference overall, I think it'll look different. I'll be honest with you. It's the new chapter of Hunter. We have evolved over time and we want people to understand that, but we want them to know that it's gonna be the same Hunter. Like you should feel the same welcome. You should feel the same Southern hospitality. But it may just look a little different. We're gonna be a new venue, new programming, and we hope to see everyone there.
[00:12:04] Susan Barry: We like to make sure that our listeners come away from every episode of Top Floor with a couple of really specific, practical tips to try either in their businesses or in their day-to-day lives. Sarah, you have said that you were successful because you always pick up the things that nobody else wants to do. What advice would you give to young professionals trying to make their mark.
[00:12:29] Sarah Moss: Become a professional Googler?
[00:12:32] Susan Barry: That's a good one.
[00:12:33] Sarah Moss: It's my quick answer to you. Okay. I think, we host a lot of students here for internships every year, and one of the things I find is like, they don't like problem solving is one of the things I see consistently that's like tougher for the newer generation. And I'm like, Hey, have you googled it before you came and asked me? Like, have you looked at your training manual? Have you like used all your resources at your hands before you come and ask me? That's one of the things. Majority of the time the answer is no for me.
[00:12:57] Susan Barry: What do you think that is? Maybe we should do a whole other episode about that. I have at so many points in time thought I need to make a course on problem solving, but it seems so obvious to me that like writing down the steps is embarrassing. Get out your phone. Google the question, do what it says. Like, I mean, that can't be that hard. Why are people so bad at problem solving?
[00:13:25] Sarah Moss: I think, you mean to answer this question?
[00:13:28] Susan Barry: Sure. If you have an answer. I mean, it can't just be they're dumb.
[00:13:33] Sarah Moss: No. Gosh, I, gosh, I hope not. I think in this generation, everything is at your fingertips constantly. And when you have to, you know, go the extra step for something, I think that's when we just, they just haven't been trained to do that.
[00:13:46] Susan Barry: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:47] Sarah Moss: You are like, Hey, I need this. Amazon. Boom. Be there in two days.
[00:13:50] Susan Barry: Got it. It's not like you have to go searching through the streets trying to find what you're looking for. Yeah. I, we have to move on because I could get on a full soapbox about this problem solving thing for an hour and a half. What are some behind the scenes truths about running a hospitality conference that people might not realize?
[00:14:10] Sarah Moss: I'm not trying to put anybody on blast here. I'm gonna make sure I really say that really quick. A lot of conferences, now they're pay to play, which means I have to pay for a sponsorship or I need to pay for a speaking spot. And Hunter, it’s never been that way, and I hope we never get there. And I think that's one of the things that it's been like a hard truth for even us to learn. We're like, Hey, we wanna be on this panel. Like we're industry experts in this subject. Like we're amazing at it. And they're like, sorry, here's the sponsorship, it’s 30 grand. I'm like, whoa. Like, yeah. That's kind of tough for people to understand. Like even for me, like we run a conference and I'm like, wait, what?
[00:14:47] Susan Barry: Uhhuh. No, it's true. It's interesting there. I can't remember who, like what this person's job was, but I got into this whole conversation with someone one time about, they were like, well, there should be more line staff speaking at conferences. I'm like, bro, their conference has to make money. Like they can't have the chief engineer of a 400 room hotel come. That person can't pay for it, you know? One thing I thought you were gonna mention is that there is such high expectations for food because when you get all of these hotel people together, they're the biggest snobs in the history of time and you can't just serve like the ordinary rubber chicken that you would get at an event, you know?
[00:15:32] Sarah Moss: No, it's true. The team quotes me on this like. You always see it too much. I'm like, it's the conference of one percenters. They expect the highest expectations for everything and everything we do has to be thought out down to the very minute detail of like what the garnish is on that food too. Yep. So food, you know, for us it's really interesting. It's always the hotel and like the amenities the hotel's able to offer and you know, what type of accommodations there are because they're in the hotel business.
[00:16:01] Susan Barry: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:02] Sarah Moss: It's so unique of a population for attendees and it's hard to help our vendors like understand that when they're coming in. I'm like, Hey, they are really used to this, so no, if we're gonna change it, it's gonna have to be even better.
[00:16:20] Susan Barry: What is your process for deciding what to take off your plate as you continue to sort of level up in your role?
[00:16:28] Sarah Moss: You spoke about this earlier, when you're in a small business, you start taking on a little bit of everything. And for me, that's probably been the toughest thing I've had to deal with in my job, in my years here at Hunter. And one thing I will say is when it becomes enough on your plate where it can be someone else's full-time job or part of it, that's when it comes off for me.
[00:16:52] Susan Barry: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:54] Sarah Moss: Can I fulfill my someone else's time with this? Is it taking too much of my time off? And the only other caveat I'll say to that is, where is my talent? Where do my talents lie? And what is the best for Hunter to utilize those in? And that's really where I, my more recent strategic vision has been, it's like, Hey Sarah, you're really great at this, but we don't really want you to spend all your time on this, but because you're really great at this other thing and we really need this.
[00:17:20] Susan Barry: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:21] Sarah Moss: And so being able to utilize people's talents and gifts and to the best of their ability and what's gonna suit suit best for the company, I think overall is really where I've had to focus more recently.
[00:17:32] Susan Barry: It makes a lot of sense, especially if you've got, if you're sort of juggling a lot of balls that the things that you're good at, you're going to naturally spend more time on because you get pleasure from them. So I can imagine that's a tough one to decide. Well, we have reached the fortune telling portion of our show, so now you have to tell the future, and then we will come back and see if you got it right. What is a prediction that you have about the future of hospitality investment conferences?
[00:18:05] Sarah Moss: I predict there will be some winners and losers in the Hospitality Investment Conference arena, and what I mean by that is every decision that we make at Hunter and Jesse Cole alluded to this, our keynote speaker this year was like, Hey, every decision that our team makes, we ask, is it fans first here at Hunter, we ask, will this be best for hotel owners?
[00:18:23] Susan Barry: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:24] Sarah Moss: Our primary audience, and I think some of the conferences in our industry have stray away from that principle and like really why they put on conferences and maybe they're focusing on bottom line, maybe they're focusing on sponsorships like I don't know what it is, but even for us on the broker side of the business, it's like some of the conferences are getting tough to attend because I just, you need to be there. You have a presence, but like, you don't wanna honestly be a part of the conference in a lot of ways now because they've gotten away from. I think their audience in a sense.
[00:18:57] Susan Barry: Interesting. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about hotel brokerage or even hospitality leadership operates today, what would it be?
[00:19:09] Sarah Moss: Man, leadership.
[00:19:10] Susan Barry: Yes. Perfect answer. Ladies and gentlemen, the show is over. Sarah won. I didn't mean to cut you off. Please go on.
[00:19:21] Sarah Moss: No, I honestly, it's like a period at the end of that statement for me.
[00:19:24] Susan Barry: Okay, folks, before we tell Sarah goodbye, we are going to head down to the loading dock where all of the best stories get told.
Elevator voice announces, “Going down.”
[00:19:38] Susan Barry: Sarah, this is not your first visit to the loading dock, but I'm curious what a story is that you would only tell on the loading dock today.
[00:19:47] Sarah Moss: So I'm gonna take you back to my Sea Island days. When I was there, I probably shouldn't even say that. I'm probably an NDA of some type who knows? And one of the evenings we had this wonderful older couple coming in for their 50th anniversary. Huge momentous moment for them. Obviously 50 years of marriage. They're quite older. And one of the ladies, I think had like fallen ill during dinner and she went up to get up to go to the restroom and she ended up passing out on her way to the restroom. And our sommelier.
[00:20:22] Susan Barry: What?
[00:20:23] Sarah Moss: Yeah, our sommelier caught her. And I was one of the only women that worked at the restaurant at the time. And so they were like, Sarah, can you please help her get to the bathroom? Like she's, you know, awake and alert. And I was like, no problem. We had on this absolutely gorgeous dress, Susan, like, I don’t even wanna know how much it was worth. I really don't. And we get to the bathroom and she's like, I'm so sorry. Do you mind helping me and zip my dress? I need to go to the restroom. I was like, no problem. When she had passed out, unfortunately she had defecated on herself and when I went to unzip her. It was there.
[00:20:56] Susan Barry: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:21:01] Sarah Moss: And after that, I think I took a bath of bleach and went home.
[00:21:04] Susan Barry: Oh my God. Sarah Moss, never tell that story again. But thank you so much for being here. I know that our listeners loved hearing about your journey, and I really appreciate you riding up to the top floor.
[00:21:20] Sarah Moss: Thank you so much for having me, Susan.I really appreciate it.
[00:21:23] Susan Barry: Thank you for listening. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/191. Jonathan Albano is our editor, producer, and all around genius. He even wrote and performed our theme song with vocals by Cameron Albano. You can subscribe to Top Floor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen. And your rating or review will go a long way in helping us give you more of what you like.
[00:21:59] Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Top Floor Podcast at www.topfloorpodcast.com. Have a hospitality marketing question? Reach us at 850-404-9630 to be featured in a future episode.