Episodes

  • Why the Best Leaders in Hospitality Are Unforgettable

    Why the Best Leaders in Hospitality Are Unforgettable
    Jun 30 2026
    Real hospitality leadership reduces staff turnover, lifts team productivity, and builds guest loyalty — and according to Eoin Clancy, Principal Associate at Galileo Hospitality Consultants and a 40-year veteran of Hilton, Marriott, and the Cheesecake Factory, the clearest measure of a great leader is simple: would your team drop everything to work with you again? Would you pass that test? Michelle Pascoe is a Certified Speaking Professional and hospitality training expert with over 30 years' experience helping clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues build service cultures that retain staff and delight guests. In this episode, Michelle sits down with Eoin Clancy for a candid, experience-rich conversation about what servant leadership looks like in practice, why the hospitality revolving door keeps spinning, and what it actually takes to slow it down. Servant leadership works in hospitality because it creates the conditions where people stay longer, work harder, achieve their KPIs, and genuinely enjoy their jobs. Eoin learned this first-hand under a general manager at a 1,674-room Marriott in Atlanta who knew the names of all 1,800 staff members. Not from name badges. He actually knew them. That is what retention looks like in practice. Michelle Pascoe and Eoin also explore the multigenerational workforce challenge facing hospitality operators right now, and why blending age groups on the floor creates a stabilising dynamic that younger-only or older-only teams simply cannot replicate. Key Takeaways Servant leadership in hospitality is more aspirational than practised, and the gap between the two is costing operators staff, guests, and profitability. A leader who genuinely knows their team by name — not from badges — creates a level of loyalty and productivity that no KPI framework can manufacture. Reducing staff turnover starts with understanding the season of life each team member is in, and adapting how you support them accordingly. A blended multigenerational workforce is a deliberate retention strategy, not a compromise — experienced staff stabilise younger team members and reduce the speed of the revolving door. Consistency in systems, standards, and service is the foundation every successful hospitality operation is built on, regardless of format or price point. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry and Disney Institute Alumni credentials, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Eoin Eoin Clancy is the Principal Associate at Galileo Hospitality Consultants and a seasoned hospitality professional with 40 years of hard-won experience across Hilton, Marriott, the Crowne Plaza, and the Cheesecake Factory. He has designed, built, and opened operations across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, including his own multi-unit ventures. Eoin now brings that operational depth to hospitality businesses navigating leadership, culture, and performance challenges. Website: www.galileohospitality.co.uk
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    44 mins
  • Why Poor Service Keeps Winning in Clubs (And What It Actually Takes to Change It)

    Why Poor Service Keeps Winning in Clubs (And What It Actually Takes to Change It)
    Jun 23 2026
    Poor customer service keeps winning in registered clubs because the cost of inaction is invisible. Hospitality training expert Michelle Pascoe, a Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the industry, explains that until club leaders build a single service liability number, training investment stays optional, budgets stay cut, and service standards keep drifting.What would change at your club if the board could finally see what poor service is actually costing them?In this episode, Michelle identifies the structural reason service training doesn't stick: the environment it lands in was never designed to hold it. Training works because the culture surrounding it reinforces it. When middle managers aren't modelling the same standards, when recognition systems only notice what goes wrong, and when frontline staff intelligence never reaches the decision-making level, even the best workshop evaporates within weeks.The same revolving door that loses members also loses good people. Every time a service-oriented team member leaves, they take with them the member relationships they built, the institutional knowledge they developed, and the standard they were holding.Key Takeaways Poor service persists in clubs not because nobody cares, but because the cost of inaction never appears as a single number alongside the cost of acting. Service training fails to stick when the middle management layer hasn't been developed to reinforce and model the same standards on the floor. A recognition culture that only notices what goes wrong actively undermines what training is trying to build. The intelligence frontline staff gather about member experience rarely reaches decision-making level because the loop is structurally broken. Changing club service culture requires three things operating together: leadership that understands service as a commercial priority, a visible recognition culture, and training that is reinforced rather than delivered and forgotten. Next Steps Reach out to michelle@michellepascoe.com for a free copy of The Real Cost of Poor Service Calculation Guide - a practical tool for club and hospitality leaders who've ever hit budget or board resistance when making the case for training investment. Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprogram About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms
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    14 mins
  • Is Customer Experience Dead or Just Changing in Hospitality?

    Is Customer Experience Dead or Just Changing in Hospitality?
    Jun 16 2026
    Is customer experience dead? No -- but the way hospitality leaders have been managing it is. Rick Denton, host of CX Passport and a 30-year corporate customer experience veteran, joins Michelle Pascoe to explain why CX as a discipline isn't dying, but the branding around it is -- and what hospitality leaders must do differently to stay ahead. Are your venues investing in the right things, or are you cutting the very people who make the guest experience worth returning for? In this conversation, Michelle and Rick get specific about what hospitality leaders are getting wrong right now -- from over-relying on data dashboards without acting on them, to cutting frontline staff in the name of efficiency and wondering why revenue is falling. Rick's view is direct: CX will never die because customers and experiences will always exist. What's dying is the version of CX that couldn't prove its value in dollars. Key Takeaways Why the branding of customer experience is fading and what hospitality leaders should focus on instead. How AI is freeing frontline staff to spend more time with guests -- and how companies are getting that trade-off dangerously wrong. Why CX data and dashboards are worthless unless leaders take meaningful, revenue-linked action on what they find. How frontline teams hold the most valuable guest insight in any venue, and why most leaders never access it properly. What hospitality leaders must do to stay relevant as AI, cost pressure, and the polycrisis converge. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Rick Rick Denton is the creator and host of CX Passport, a global customer experience podcast with more than 250 episodes and listeners in over 100 countries. Before podcasting, Rick spent three decades leading customer-focused initiatives inside large organisations. He is also the co-host of The Loud Quiet, a podcast and community he launched with his wife Clancy for empty nesters navigating a major life transition -- which became the basis for their 2026 book, The Loud Quiet: Love, Laughter and Life in the Empty Nest. Rick is based in Dallas, Texas. CX Passport: https://www.cxpassport.com CX Passport on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cxpassport The Loud Quiet: https://www.theloudquiet.com
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    39 mins
  • Your Guests Loved Their Stay. So Why Don't They Come Back?

    Your Guests Loved Their Stay. So Why Don't They Come Back?
    Jun 9 2026
    Guest loyalty in hospitality breaks down when operators rely on third-party booking platforms and treat checkout as the end of the guest journey. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional and hospitality training expert with over 30 years' experience, explores how hospitality operators can own the guest relationship, reduce platform dependency, and build the direct connections that turn one-time guests into loyal repeat customers. Are your guests leaving happy and never coming back -- and you don't even know why? In this episode, Michelle sits down with Carlos Castillo, founder of DirectBookMe, to examine the service gap that opens after checkout and what smart operators are doing to close it. Guest loyalty in hospitality is built or lost after checkout. When operators hand the guest relationship to an OTA or third-party platform, the guest remembers where they booked -- not where they stayed. The data to fix this already exists inside most hospitality businesses. It simply isn't being used. Michelle and Carlos discuss why the post-checkout gap is where loyalty disappears and how to close it with direct, intentional systems. Key Takeaways Why third-party booking platforms own the guest relationship -- and what operators must do to take it back. How checkout is the beginning of long-term loyalty, not the end of the transaction. Why existing guest data is worth gold and how to use it to drive repeat bookings through personal connection. How a shift in team mindset from delivering a stay to starting a relationship changes the entire guest experience. How hospitality operators can start building direct booking infrastructure without overhauling their entire business. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Carlos Carlos Castillo is the founder of DirectBookMe, a platform helping hospitality operators increase direct bookings, build stronger guest relationships, and move beyond third-party platform dependency. Based in Arizona, Carlos works with property owners and operators globally to create repeat, direct business. Website: www.directbookme.co | Email: carlos@directbookme.co
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    18 mins
  • Can AI Replace the Human Touch in Hospitality?

    Can AI Replace the Human Touch in Hospitality?
    Jun 2 2026
    Human connection cannot be automated away in hospitality. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional and hospitality training expert with over 30 years' experience, sits down with Brian Vujnovic, CEO and Co-Founder of MIA Hospitality Management, to explore how AI is reshaping hotel operations and guest experiences while the human touch remains the irreplaceable core of the industry. Can technology make us more human in hospitality -- or does it risk taking away the very thing guests come for? Michelle Pascoe is a Certified Speaking Professional and hospitality training expert with over 30 years' experience helping clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues build service cultures that retain staff and delight guests. Michelle brings together global voices to explore what it really takes to lead, connect, and deliver excellence in hospitality. Brian Vujnovic brings 25+ years of hotel operations, development, and asset management expertise. His view is clear: AI will automate the administrative so that hospitality teams can invest more in the experiential. The guest who wants a seamless text interaction gets that. The guest who wants a human moment gets that too. Both are possible -- and both are necessary. Key Takeaways AI is most actively reshaping hospitality through marketing search optimisation and front-desk administrative automation, not yet through robotics or culinary replacement. The ultimate goal of AI in hotels is to remove administrative burden from guest-facing staff so they can dedicate more attention to the person in front of them. Leadership in hospitality has grown harder post-Covid, with leaders now required to be more patient, more present, and more invested in training multigenerational teams. Ambition is the quality that cannot be trained or installed -- and it is the number one thing emerging leaders need to go counter to the trend and build a meaningful hospitality career. Off-site community connection, particularly giving back locally, is proving to be one of the most effective retention tools for Gen Z hospitality teams. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms  About Brian Brian Vujnovic brings 25+ years of hotel operations, development, and asset management expertise. He previously led asset management at Robert Finvarb Companies, overseeing 10 new hotel developments, and played a key role in launching award-winning rooftop venues Rosa Sky in Miami and Charlie Park in Tallahassee. He now leads MIA Hospitality Management, a Marriott and Hyatt-approved platform driving operational excellence and portfolio growth across the US. Website: https://miahospitalitymanagement.com/
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    51 mins
  • Could You Replace Your Best Manager From Within Right Now?

    Could You Replace Your Best Manager From Within Right Now?
    May 26 2026
    Building a leadership pipeline in hospitality means investing in your managers' skills, confidence, and capacity before a crisis forces your hand. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the Australian hospitality industry, explains why promoting without a development plan sets managers up to struggle and clubs up for costly, avoidable turnover. If your best manager resigned tomorrow, who would step up — and are they actually ready? In this episode, Michelle draws on conversations with three of the sharpest leadership minds she has interviewed this month — Christin Marvin, Hanna Bauer, and Rich Ellis — to bring together a practical three-layer framework for building leaders who last. Michelle Pascoe's core argument is this: a leadership pipeline is not a spreadsheet or a succession chart. It is a living, breathing investment in your people. When clubs promote the most loyal person in the room without a structured development plan, they are not building a pipeline — they are setting that person up to struggle and the venue up for the consequences: manager burnout, team turnover, culture drift, and the CEO back in the weeds handling issues that should have been resolved two levels down. The clubs that will thrive over the next five years are the ones building their leaders now, not when the crisis hits. Michelle Pascoe's Middle Management Movement and Executive Leaders Movement programs are built specifically for registered clubs and hospitality venues that are ready to make that investment. Key Takeaways Why promoting loyalty without a leadership development plan sets managers up to struggle and clubs up for avoidable turnover The framework that reframes the order in which clubs should invest in their teams Why middle managers are the critical connector between strategic leadership and frontline performance, and what happens when that layer breaks down Why burnout is a leadership pipeline problem, and the early warning signs that a manager is running on empty before the dramatic crash The three-layer framework combining energy, connection, and process that underpins a sustainable leadership culture Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for hospitality leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book workshops and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues — including the Middle Management Movement and Executive Leaders Movement: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms Resources & Links Christin Marvin: https://www.columbinehospitality.com/ Hanna Bauer: https://heartnomics.com/ Rich Ellis: https://www.richellis.nz/ About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms
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    8 mins
  • The Silent Signs Your Hospitality Team Is Running on Empty

    The Silent Signs Your Hospitality Team Is Running on Empty
    May 19 2026
    Burnout in hospitality teams shows up long before the dramatic crash — in dropped shoulders, extra coffees, and withdrawal from team conversations. Michelle Pascoe, a Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years' experience in hospitality, and energy coach Rich Ellis share practical tools for reading early warning signs and embedding a simple 1-to-10 check-in system that prevents burnout before it becomes a resignation. Are you seeing the signs in your team — or are you too busy to notice them? If you have ever ended a busy season wondering how your team made it through, or found yourself managing someone's exit that you never saw coming, this episode is worth your full attention. Rich Ellis has spent nearly two decades helping leaders understand that energy is not a wellness topic — it is a performance discipline. He and Michelle Pascoe explore what burnout actually looks like in a hospitality environment, why the standard responses rarely work, and what small, sustainable changes make a real difference over time. This is not a conversation about self-care programs or office fruit bowls. It is a practical framework for leaders who are serious about retaining their best people. Key Takeaways The body language and behaviour shifts that signal a team member is depleting — weeks before they say a word. The science behind morning light exposure and why 7-10 minutes outdoors is the single highest-return daily energy habit. How the 1-to-10 check-in system works in a team setting, and why it becomes self-managing once it is embedded in the culture. Why building a genuine wellness culture requires a 12-month commitment — and how to demonstrate return on investment to a board or owner group. A practical mindset for helping frontline staff deflect disrespectful customers without absorbing the impact. LINKS AND RESOURCES Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for hospitality leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms WORK WITH MICHELLE Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms ABOUT RICH ELLIS Rich Ellis is an energy, resilience, and wellbeing coach with nearly 20 years of experience working with business owners, leaders, and corporate teams. Known as The Energy Coach, Rich helps organisations take control of their energy through practical, sustainable habit change — combining his background in fitness coaching with workplace wellbeing strategy to reduce burnout and build cultures where people genuinely thrive. Website: https://richellis.nz/
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    31 mins
  • Why Leading with Love Actually Lifts Your Standards

    Why Leading with Love Actually Lifts Your Standards
    May 12 2026
    Middle management in hospitality is the critical connector between leadership vision and frontline guest delivery. Certified Speaking Professional Michelle Pascoe and leadership expert Hanna Bauer of Heartnomics agree: middle managers who make daily trust deposits, hold non-negotiable service standards, and champion psychological safety are the primary defence against team burnout and high staff turnover in clubs and hotels. What if the gap between your service vision and the experience your guests actually receive comes down to one overlooked role in your organisation? Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. In this episode, Michelle sits down with Hanna Bauer, founder and CEO of Heartnomics, to explore why love and excellence are not opposing forces in leadership, and why the middle manager holds the heartbeat of any hospitality organisation. The conversation covers a critical truth: you cannot consistently meet high service standards without first acknowledging the human delivering them. As Hanna explains, love in leadership is not about softening standards. It means holding them with consistency, because inconsistent standards are not kind, they are confusing. The standard does not change to fit the person. What changes is how leaders communicate, support, and see the people upholding it. Michelle Pascoe has spent decades working with hospitality venues that confuse having standards with communicating them. This episode tackles exactly that gap, with practical insights on how to stop burnout before it starts, how to lead through rapid change without burying your team, and how to make the daily trust deposits that mean your people show up for the hard moments. Key Takeaways Middle managers are the human connector in every hospitality organisation, bridging leadership vision and frontline delivery in ways no system can replace. Love in leadership means holding consistent service standards without exception, because it is precisely that consistency that creates psychological safety and trust. Burnout in hospitality teams most often stems from misalignment, not workload: team members who do not understand the standard, or who feel unseen, disengage first and leave second. The trust deposit principle holds that leaders must make daily investments in recognition, communication, and visibility before pressure arrives, not during it. Rapid change adoption without the deliberate removal of old processes is a leading cause of team overwhelm and cultural breakdown in hospitality venues. LINKS AND RESOURCES Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and leadership programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms WORK WITH MICHELLE Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and leadership programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms ABOUT HANNA BAUER Hanna Bauer is the founder and CEO of Heartnomics, a leadership and organisational transformation firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. A Maxwell Leadership faculty member, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and Baldrige examiner, Hanna blends human-centred leadership with practical systems to help organisations eliminate burnout and align culture with purpose. Her Heartnomics framework draws on her experience as a childhood heart disease survivor to reframe love and excellence as the twin foundations of sustainable leadership performance. Website: www.heartnomics.com Complimentary Alignment Assessment: https://heartnomics.com/assessments/
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    44 mins