Shelley Brown is a keynote speaker, artist, and former hospitality pro who has built a career by challenging the status quo with heart and humor. After decades navigating buttoned-up boardrooms and high-stakes sales, she ditched the script to help leaders embrace imperfection, foster belonging, and lead like actual humans. Susan and Shelley talk about legacy, leadership, and the Dead.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

🎤 The surprising first step to becoming a paid speaker
🪞 How self-awareness fuels stronger leadership
💥 The difference between being real and being unfiltered
💡 What “Rebel Leadership” actually looks like in practice
📉 Why data won’t fix your culture—but conversation might
🫶 A fresh way to think about purpose (hint: it’s not always profound)

Sarah Moss is the Chief of Staff at Hunter Hotel Advisors, where she’s the operational glue behind both the firm and its booming hotel investment conference. A hospitality lifer, she started as a maitre d’ and worked her way through college before joining Hunter full-time, pausing only briefly to crunch numbers at Coca-Cola. Susan and Sarah talk about growth, grit, and good data.

💡 Learn why saying “yes” to the jobs no one wants can be the ultimate power move in hospitality.

🏗️ Hear how Sarah Moss helped double the size of a major hotel investment conference—pandemic and all.

🎤 Get the truth behind conference programming, from booking speakers to dodging $30k “pay to play” traps.

🌟 Find out how she’s leading the charge for diversity and strategic vision in an industry built on tradition.

🧠 Why becoming a “professional Googler” might be the soft skill of the century—and her advice for future leaders.

Donte Johnson is a hospitality veteran with a 20+ year career of transforming hotel experiences through cultural integration and community connection. Now GM at Thompson Atlanta Buckhead, he’s known for blending operational excellence with authentic local engagement. Jason Bass is a serial entrepreneur turned hotel innovator, bringing his background in fashion, spirits, and tech to a new role as Director of Culture and Impact. Together, they co-authored The Impact Hospitality Handbook, diving into passion-powered hospitality, purposeful partnerships, and people-first playbooks.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

🧾 What happens when you toss the traditional org chart and ask, “If we didn’t know how to run a hotel, how would we do it?”

🎽 Why letting hotel staff choose their uniforms might be the most empowering—and stylish—move you can make.

📈 How community-focused strategies drove hard business results, from full staffing to 3 billion impressions.

🍵 What organic tea, local DJs, and free meeting spaces have to do with redefining hospitality.

💼 How not to onboard a consultant.

Adrian Balcan is the founder of Feed Check, a platform that helps hospitality businesses decode customer feedback and outshine the competition. With a brain wired for both economics and engineering, he started his company straight out of university, pivoting from tech reviews to the tasty world of hospitality insights. Susan and Adrian talk about fake reviews, feedback-fueled fixes, and futuristic formats.

🔍 What the signs are that a hotel review is fake.
📊 How reading competitors can sharpen your strategy.
🤖 Why your AI-generated review responses shouldn’t sound like a robot on repeat.
📱 Where customer reviews will come from next.
🛠️ How to stay on top of online reviews on the cheap.

Renee Rubens is the founder of Symphony of Leaves, a luxury tea company rooted in ethical sourcing and sensory sophistication. After decades in global media sales, she followed her passion for tea into a new venture that blends her business savvy with botanical elegance. In this episode, she dishes on premium pu-erh, purposeful partnerships, and proper preparation.

What you'll learn about:

✨ Why tea bags are basically dust in a disguise (and what to sip instead)
🍵 How a Brit’s sass and a global pandemic led to a tea empire
🏨 Why hotels and spas are the new hot spot for high-end tea
🌿 What makes real tea real—and why chamomile doesn’t count
💧 The water temperature trick that’ll totally change your cup
📱 A henna mishap + no cell signal = Renee’s wildest travel story

Michael Blank is a hospitality veteran who’s worked every angle of the hotel biz—from slinging room keys at the Willard in D.C. to steering multimillion-dollar acquisitions. Now the Principal of Woodmont Lodging, he owns and asset-manages properties across the U.S., with a soft spot for extended stay. Susan and Michael talk about counterintuitive takes on the hotel industry.

What You’ll Learn About:

🚮 Pick Up Club! Why picking up hallway trash speaks volumes

🏩 The extended stay segment decoded: housing shortage, high margins, and why the hype is justified

🪄 Why AI is not the magic wand everyone thinks it is

📏 Why RevPAR might be obsolete, and why smart hoteliers should be thinking in square feet, not just room nights

🪙 One big change hotels should make: owning their guest data like it’s gold

Mike Mumford is the General Manager of Brand g Vacations, a leading luxury travel company serving the LGBTQ+ community. After a long career in corporate finance and tech, Mike traded spreadsheets for sunsets, turning his passion for travel into a full-time gig. Susan and Mike talk about career pivots, curated group experiences, and the power of packing light.

🌏 Why cotton candy, corn on the cob, and a theme park mentor helped spark Mike’s global travel bug

🌏 How a post-pandemic sabbatical turned into a bold leap out of corporate life and into the world of luxury LGBTQ+ travel

🌏 The unexpected freedom of planned tours—and how they actually do leave room for spontaneity

🌏 What it really means to be GM of a travel company (hint: he's already working on 2027)

🌏 A sushi-making snafu in Japan that proves sometimes you just have to improvise—and charm your way through it

Episode Summary:

Steve Fortunato never planned to make hospitality his life’s work—until he realized it was embedded in his DNA. After starting roomforty, an innovative catering company designed to deliver restaurant-quality experiences anywhere, he went on to open Fig House, a sought-after event venue. Steve's book, The Urgent Recovery of Hospitality [please bold and italicize the title], looks at relationships through the lens of hospitality and explores how generosity can restore civility. Susan and Steve talk about why modern service culture has become transactional, how to break free from the "customer is always wrong" trend, and why a little squash milk can go a long way.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

🍽️ Why catering gets a bad rap – and how Steve set out to change that.
🚀 How Steve transformed his business by embracing venues.
🤝 Why true service is about relationships, not transactions.
🔥 When restaurant culture gets in its own way.
🎭 How trying to impress customers can actually backfire.
🌱 Why giving value first creates better experiences for everyone.

If you are seeking a more hospitable world, this episode and Steve's book are for you!