Josiah:
Robin Coleman is one of my favorite people to follow because she brings so much energy and perspective to the conversation on recruiting and talent development. In this episode, you’ll learn how she invites others into a career in hospitality and why she’s so focused on the multi-dimensional nature of the people she works with. This is Hospitality Daily, the show that helps you stay informed and inspired each day by the most interesting people in hospitality. My name is Josiah McKenzie and my goal is to help you reconnect with why you work in this industry and get fired up to go out there, delight others and reach your goals. Let’s get started. Robin, thanks so much for coming on the show. I’ve been looking forward to this conversation. I appreciate what you do in the industry to get us motivated, to get us inspired around why this is a great place to work. I wonder for our listeners if we could maybe just set the stage and spend a couple of minutes talking about your career journey. What led you to the role that you have today?
Robin:
That’s a very interesting question. I actually became a part of hospitality. I enjoyed working in the hospitality community because I enjoyed working with teams. I enjoyed team building. I enjoyed teamwork. I liked the energy that teams bring and the camaraderie that teams bring. That’s one of the things that actually led me to working in the hospitality community is just the team building and the team camaraderie. I enjoy just vibing off of the energy of working with teams. I tell people all the time that I liken the teams to I’ve always because of my personality, which is very edgy and urban. I love basketball, baseball, football. I love teams. I think that working with teams has helped me and pushed me a, catapulted me to just loving working with teams. It’s just the team dynamics that I’ve enjoyed.
Josiah:
That’s awesome. I appreciate you explaining that because I’m often interested in why do people work in hospitality? It’s that team nature. It’s very much of a people business as people working together. It’s hospitality. Tell me a little bit about your work today, the role that you’re working in and your journey to that role.
Robin:
I graduated high school in the late 80s. I started off teaching school. From there I started working as a breakfast attendant doing because I taught school for a number of years I taught my youngest daughter. I matriculated into the classroom with my youngest daughter because I just wanted to be more cultivated and involved in what she was doing. I matriculated with my youngest daughter into the classroom when she went to middle school I branched out and started working in hospitality. The thing that intrigued me about hospitality was I love working with teams. I started off as a breakfast attendant. From there I went on to working at the front desk. Then there I went from being a housekeeping supervisor. There was something about working as a housekeeping manager, the team commotory that I think I really found the best version of myself. Working and building and seeing people transform. And two management positions or supervisors positions in Harder house was the thing that really cataported me into into loving hospitality. You know what I mean seeing a lot of housekeepers come from housekeeping in entry-level positions cooks, servers, you know breakfast attendance, those line-level positions and and reaching for more the management positions and being able to help. You know, I won’t even say use the word push, I will use the word. Just encouraging them to reach for more was what really catapulted me into the hospitality industry. So it’s the transformation for me.
Josiah:
I, I love that. It’s got to be really cool to see that. He also said this is where you kind of saw the best side of yourself. What did you see personally in yourself as you’re leading people through the journey that they were on?
Robin:
for me it’s been Any job that I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve always started in an entry-level position. So for me I’ve always been so passionate and seeing people grow you know what I mean me starting off in any Level of any job that I’ve ever had from an entry-level position and seeing people grow into multi-dimensional positions, what it? It just kind of grabbed my heart, you know. I mean I love to see people grow. I love them see people reach, I love to see people evolve. When I was a school teacher I was always captivated by the life cycle of a butterfly Into the caterpillar, into a butterfly, seeing the metamorphosis of people grow. The hospitality industry has Such a phenomenon, a phenomenal stage for that growth. Seeing people come in an entry-level positions and move into management positions has been Fascinating to me. I know a lot of people in the industry who started out in entry-level positions housekeepers, valet housemen, cooks, bellman and they have gone on to be GM’s, a GM’s, vps, even owners of hotels. It has been so passionate for me Just seeing that metamorphosis, that transformation in the life cycle and hospitality from a caterpillar to a butterfly. It’s been phenomenal for me.
Josiah:
That’s really exciting and it feels like you hear kind of stories time and again where people start out in. You know, I started working at the front desk of a hotel and you’re doing something else now and people Across different areas of the business, starting out, learning the business and growing their own careers. What would you say to someone who is working outside of the industry, is looking for a career or job opportunity and hasn’t considered hospitality?
Robin:
well, you know and that’s a very interesting question because you know, what I would say to a person is, the hospitality industry has so many disciplines and there’s so many parts and pieces and so many dynamics and it has it offers so many areas of, of Strategic management. You know, I think of a housekeeper and I’m always gonna bring you back to housekeeping because that’s my passion and that’s where I was able to find the best version of myself. People look at a housekeeper as just a person who’s just cleaning rooms, but it’s more to it than that. Not only are you cleaning rooms, but you’re managing Gotta manage your board Customer service. You got to make sure that you’re providing the best experience for that guest. You also Gotta make sure that your detail oriented and make sure that your focus to details you also got to make sure that you’re providing the best Experience in terms of cleanliness for the guests. So the one thing that I would tell a person who’s in another industry that’s looking to transfer into the hospitality industry Is that coming into the hospitality industry there’s so many parts and pieces that you know would afford you the opportunity to grow and to branch out until any in. In every area of Disapprent within the workforce. There’s management, there’s sales, there’s team building, there’s team training, there’s supervising. You know what I mean. There’s engagement, there’s hands-on, there’s mentorship. There’s so many parts and pieces in the hospitality industry. There’s F&B, there’s even comedy, because a lot of our bartenders have to engage in creating an environment of laughter and creating an environment of setting for our guests. You know what I mean. So there are so many parts and pieces that will catapult you into so many leadership positions or so many teaching positions or so many disciplinary positions in the area of hospitality.
Josiah:
I wonder if you could speak a little bit to something that I’ve noticed you share in your post. What is this word multi-dimensional? And I’m really interested in what that means to you, because I believe there is worth in all work. All work is good, all work is as. Dignity is important, and sometimes people are in a role for a while. Sometimes they do something else, but I think the way that I look at that word is a little bit of. We have many sides to ourselves, right, and so just because you work in a role doesn’t mean that is all. You are right that you’re working in that role. But I’m curious for you when you use that word multi-dimensional, what does that mean for you and what are you trying to communicate?
Robin:
when you share that. So when I use the word multi-dimensional, I like to look at the fact that we you know, when I say we, I’m talking about us as a community within the hospitality industry or any industry Multi-dimensional means that we shouldn’t limit people to just one discipline. When a person’s multi-dimensional, they’re reaching to be able to do other things, they’re learning and they’re instrumental in doing other things. You know what I mean. So you know people in the hospitality industry and I think about the discipline of front desk or housekeeping or rooms division. When you’re asked to do other things, it’s okay. Reach for it because you’re learning to do other things. You’re learning other disciplines. So when I look at a multi-dimensional person, I’m looking at a person that’s not just limited to their discipline, but I’m looking at a person that’s open to reach for other opportunities, who can do other things, who can creatively multitask and who’s accessible to be able to reach and do other things. That’s what I look at as a multi-dimensional person. They have a deep bench, the bench is stacked and they’re saving their skill sets to be released to do other things. That’s what I look at.
