Episode#42: Purposeful Hospitality Driven Careers | Rachel Vandenberg

Looking to break through barriers, go for that promotion or reinvent yourself. Possibly, it’s time to revisit what you find valuable. If so, don’t miss this episode with Rachel Vandenberg. From hotelier to leadership coach, Rachel will explore the VALUE  of values and how to strategically use them to live your best life. 

We also discuss her decision to hand off the management duties to someone else at Sun and Ski Resorts. We will also dive into each beautiful season Vermont offers you and how to get the most out of your visit!

Some of the key takeaways from this episode are:

-Difference between coaching and therapy

- what obstacles point out that you could benefit from coaching

- How to use values for leadership skills 

- Why a sustainable hospitality endeavor takes both leadership and vision

- How you can determine your values 

-365 days in Stowe Vermont 

- Why moving to having a property manager was the right move

 Key Takeaways:

Time stamps:

41:01

13:30

Quote: 

“When you want to bring change about in your organization and sustainability is one of those changes that you might be wantong to implement, you really, as a leader want to inspire and motivate your team. Start by giving them the vision, of why we  are doing this, and get that buy-in and create some connection and purpose around that.”

Show Notes:

Come visit! : www.sunandskiinn.com
Learn about my coaching services: www.thetravelleadercoach.com

Don’t forget to subscribe to our valuable and bite size Sustainable Hotelier Insider to stay on top of all of the news, resources and products you need to know!

#Leadership, #LeadershipCoach, #HotelManagement, #HospitalityCareer, #SustainabilityVision, #Vermont, #SunandSki, #SustainabilityPodcast, #GreenluxeStories

Transcript

Welcome back everyone to the Sustainable Hospitality Podcast. Today's episode is sponsored by GreenLux. Make sure you go to our website, that's www.G-R-E-E-N-L-U-X-E-I-N-C and sign up for our new newsletter. We're gonna bring you bite size information to stay up to date on all of the sustainable hospitality news that you need to know to start your sustainability journey. Today, though, we are so thrilled to welcome Rachel Vandenberg. She's a hotelier. She is a leadership coach, a speaker and a podcast host. And she's going to tell us all about her journey in and out of hotel ownership and operations and now how you can really propel yourself in the leadership space, really regardless of the industry you're in. Hi, Rachel. How are you today? I'm well, how are you, Amy? Thanks for having me. I'm great. Thank you. Absolutely. I'm excited about this conversation. I am excited about the intersection of leadership and hotel management, ownership, life, and really how you kind of identify your values to help you drive whatever mission you're on in life, which we're going to talk about. We actually met at the Forward Conference this past... I think that was April, May. And the end of April, yep. You gave an incredibly valuable presentation and hopefully we can talk a little bit about that. But enough of me talking, would you introduce yourself to the audience and just give us a little background how you got to where you are today? sure yeah so I actually grew up in the hotel business I lived above our farmhouse in it was a converted farmhouse in when I was a kid and as a teenager and college student I worked in our family's restaurant I also held other positions at the front desk over the years and then really took a kind of 180 pivot away from hospitality and pursued politics and sociology in college, was much more interested in international relations and human rights and development work. And then ended up going to the Netherlands where my family's from and pursuing her career there and living there for nine years before getting the call, I guess you could say, um, to come back and take over the family hotel. Wow. Uh, so that is not the typical path of hotel ownership, but it makes sense that because it was in your blood. Um, but you, you really kind of resisted that in the beginning. I think I've read in a few places and we talked about that. Correct. Yeah, I mean, well, I also shared it, I think, at the beginning of my introduction in my workshop that I gave it forward as well, that It really it didn't seem like the industry that I wanted to go into after having experienced it as a child. But I really turned around from that. And when I remember what kind of lifestyle and opportunities that our family hotel had offered me as a child and had at that point two children of my own, I started to think differently about it. I also started to think about the opportunities to work in a business where you can have in your your hands in so many different topics from operations to sales and marketing to running a brick and mortar business to building your community. It really it offers really an awesome challenge and opportunity to stretch your skill set. And I came to love it. And that's why I ended up running our hotel for 12 years up until last year. And then really started focusing more on my biggest passion, which is leadership development. And that led me to become a certified coach. And because I still love hospitality very much, I'm very much focused on professionals and leaders in the hospitality and travel and tourism industry. And we're going to, of course, talk about the travel leader coach business that you have in the podcast. But I really want to know, let's start out by talking about some of the stories that you remember as a little person in the hotel. I'm always so fascinated about, you know, I think a lot of us get that travel bug if you didn't grow up in the hotel business as a little person. So I would love to know what some of those, you know, really unique memories that stuck with you were. Yeah, sure. I mean, obviously having the amenities of a hotel at your fingertips as a child is pretty cool. We had an outdoor pool and eventually my parents had built an indoor pool that they added on with a game room and pool table and ping pong and all of that. So, you know, that feels pretty fun when you're a kid. And so I have very fond memories of that. And I think growing up, there was always a job for me and there was always a way to make my own money. And I loved also being part of the excitement of a bustling hospitality business. My father started with my mother a breakfast restaurant called the Dutch Pancake Cafe. And they serve Dutch pancakes, which are similar to crepes, but thicker. have a lot more ingredients in them. And it was hugely popular. And so there was just always this just vibrancy around. And I have very fond memories of that as well growing up. And I'm sure you take so many, you can adopt so many different skills and skill sets and working and learning in that environment, you know, from communications to, you know, practical skills, I would think. Do you feel like you took away those as well? Yeah, for sure. I mean, uh, you just get a really good feel for what it takes to run a business. Uh, and obviously the customer aspect, customer service aspect is huge. So learning to work with, uh, with guests, but, and also with other employees and the relationships that you have with team members and staff members, that was also something that definitely stuck with me over the years. So you found yourself working in the hotel, raising a family, doing all the things all at once. When did you really realize that you felt a different calling and you decided to pivot into not that running a hotel is being a leader, but focusing more on just that leadership aspect? What made you want to do that? Well, I think a certain point, um, you know, I think everybody comes to a point in their career where they've, they've been, they've gone through all the levels of challenge in their position. And I used to talk about different frontiers in our business. And a lot of that had to be, had to do with like, had I worked in a particular department before? And by the time I finished, I had worked in every department in the hotel besides, the only thing I had not done is been behind the line in the kitchen cooking. But my husband has really done every position because we work together. as co-managers and also from just the sense that I just felt like I was starting to reach a ceiling of what I could achieve as an operator. But also, I just I just really became clear about what my favorite part of of being a GM of the hotel was and having a team. And that was a really around leadership. And I was fascinated by what really looking at what are the skills that need to be developed as a leader to, to lead a team and also my own personal development. Like how did I need to change myself and role model? good leadership behavior and professional behavior in order to influence the success of the operation. And there were obviously some personal reasons involved as well. My children were all becoming close, either teenagers or close to being teenagers and feeling just like I needed to create some more flexibility at this point in my life. Um, to be able to, uh, to kind of manage that part of my life as well. Um, and finally the, the real, we ended up hiring a management company for our hotel. And the reason for that as well was there's a lot of economies of scale you can get with bringing in a third party partner like that, who manages. Our partner manages over 30 hotels and there's a lot of efficiencies. We're just one hotel, we're reinventing the wheel a lot. So they have tried and tested systems and all of that. And we just felt like we could be more competitive in the market as well if we were to make that change. Interesting. I, we hadn't talked about discussing this, but did you vet a lot of management companies or did you just know instantly when you talk to the right one? How did that, what did that look like? No, we definitely, I mean, on paper, you know, I re we researched several management companies and then we kind of honed it down to a smaller list that we had conversations with and went through the process. of exploring a partnership and then honed it down to our favorite. So let's talk about the leadership aspect, how that really integrates into your role in a hotel. How do you see, I mean, we all know that as a manager, as a general manager, your job is to lead people. But how do you help enhance someone's leadership skills and really set them up for success, not only in their current position, but maybe as they're going through their career, just like you were saying, if they reach a ceiling, now they can kind of dig into their toolbox or they've already displayed these incredible leadership qualities that then qualify them for a higher position or a different position. So so you mean how how do I do this as a coach now with with professionals in the industry? Yes. I mean, sorry if I wasn't clear. Don't give away all your secrets, of course. Right. You know, is there a framework or how do you start to. talk to someone or, you know, why does someone come to you? Do they feel like they need help with it? Where do they feel stagnated? And what does that conversation look like? And then that process? Yeah. So I think the reason why someone would approach an executive coach or a leadership coach like myself is that maybe they're feeling stuck in making progress in their leadership and, or they've identified, you know, some areas where they've run into challenges and they don't know how to break through those challenges. So, and you know, oftentimes what it takes is that there's a pattern, right? Like something comes back over and over again and they keep running into the same wall. And then it's like, okay, now I really need to do something about this. Um, you know, and a lot of it starts, it could be things like interpersonal relationships. It could be, um, things like wanting to more like goal-based, like wanting to pursue a promotion or a different job, um, at their companies within their company or outside of their company. Um, And a lot of it too could stem from a sense of confidence, wanting to build their confidence in their position and really not being able to pinpoint the source of that in order to achieve that. So that's where it kind of begins. So when someone comes to me, we take it you know, basically one issue at a time and they bring a topic to the session and in the session, we're able to unpack, okay, what's at the root of the challenge, the source that is maybe causing conflict or discomfort or stagnation? And how do we how do I then can guide them through a process which allows them to move forward in that situation and identify first, you know, what kind of mindset changes might be necessary and then perhaps what kind of action steps might need to be taken from there to make change? so I hope this isn't the wrong thing to say but it almost sounds a little bit like therapy well there's a lot of you know complementarity to therapy but it's definitely very different uh you know with coaching we're really looking not that I've ever been no there's nothing wrong with it. I think, uh, you know, everyone, uh, at some point in their life could probably use both a coach and a therapist. Um, but you know, we, I, I take situations from, from, you know, what's a client brings in a session and we look at, okay, how can we move forward with this situation? Um, And with therapy, you're more looking at looking backwards, actually, and looking at in your past, what could be some of the causes for the situation you're in. There's also a very clear difference when you're dealing with mental health issues. coaches are not generally qualified to deal with mental health themes. Some coaches are actually certified therapists as well. So you could have both, but that's a whole different area. And we have a code of ethics as coaches to refer in those situations people to the proper resources for handling that. no absolutely and I don't want to you know um misguide anyone or you know imply that coaching is therapy or vice versa I just found it interesting because it seems like unpacking um and getting to the root of problems is similar in the sense yes you know absolutely right just about other you know other issues but I i really liked that you pointed out three really specific issues that someone would have. So if they're stuck, They feel stagnation if there's reoccurring patterns. And then if there's maybe confidence issues. So if you're listening and you're in a leadership role or you're just in any kind of a role and you want to work through those, I think those are good signals to look for. I'm such a believer in seeking advice and seeking help that I think sometimes people, it's hard to recognize until you know what to recognize, if you will. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's really great. So how do you foresee these being applied really in a hotel specific situation? Can you give us any situations where a hotel manager could identify some of these things in practice? Yeah, sure. I mean, I, I think that, um, you know, one thing that often comes back in leadership and management relationships as part of your job is giving feedback, right? Like giving and receiving feedback. So, um, and that's not an easy thing to do, right? So it's, if you've identified that a team member, uh, that you have, may perhaps need some some um uh con they need some constructive criticism and you need to have a strategy in in order to be able to give that and a lot of times there's a lot of there's internal beliefs and and uh limitations within ourselves that keep us from effectively doing that So that's maybe that's one sort of topic that might come up in a coaching conversation is, OK, what are those beliefs? What's holding you back from giving that feedback? And how can we kind of break through those? And if you need support and kind of coming up with an action plan, let's walk through the process. And, and through my curiosity as a coach, I would, I'm not providing the answers to the client on how to do that, but I'm asking curious questions so that, that the client can themselves come up with the most authentic way for themselves to do that. That's a really great example. And yes, very hard to do really, if it's not, It's not something that comes natural to you or like you said, you have some underlying issues preventing you from doing that or receiving it, either one. So let's talk about values. I know that you talk about values a lot, which I absolutely appreciate. I think it's so important for all of us to know what those are and know how to leverage them to make our lives better in work, at home. And I find myself talking a lot about them in a sustainability sense, in an organizational sense, a culture. But how do you apply those to an individual and in a coaching situation? Yeah, I, well, I love this topic values is one of my most favorite themes in coaching. Um, you know, and I, I think it's, it, I can start with an example for myself. And so years back when we were doing our hotel expansion. I was really just not myself. And I had gone to a really low point where I wasn't taking care of myself and everything was completely focused on the expansion project that we were doing and all that it took to get this project off the ground. And then also having three kids under five years old really makes it challenging. And I lost myself in that process. And really, I didn't have clearly defined values. I mean, values, I think they're always there, but you don't always put words to them unless you've actually done it some reflection very consciously. And at that time, I didn't realize either the power the values have in directing your life, in your professional life and the way you behave, the way you set goals, the way you pursue your success and all of that. And when I discovered that the power that values have and that they help you They help provide a framework in which to make decisions. And that could be at the level of the individual. It could also be at the level of the company, right? As you were just talking about from a sustainability lens, one of the best arguments is coming at it from a value standpoint. Um, so when I identified those values, I started making better decisions that aligned with those values. And the first one was my health and wellbeing. my wellbeing I knew was something that I valued very, very much. And, but my actions were not aligned with that value. So I began to change those actions and behaviors and it became really sacred for me from that point forward. So in a coaching relationship, what will often come up is in like, let's go back to that example of giving feedback, right? So we may identify in that conversation that someone really values like, okay, what could they value? They could value like happiness and And they could value like a joyful working environment. And for some reason for them, they associate giving constructive feedback or criticism as coming in conflict with that value of happiness and joy, because someone who's receiving the feedback might not feel so happy and joyful. About that. Right. So in, in that situation, we, we call it out and, and I would reflect back to the client and say, listen, I understand that joy and happiness are, that is one of your values. How can we knowing that, how can we structure the way in which you give feedback so that you can stay in alignment with your values? Um, and if that's for that first part is about the self-awareness, even knowing in the first place that it was so important to you, um, you know, from the get out, uh, is, is a really important first step. Are there, are there any tools? Are there anything that people, you know, if you're listening to this and there could be a lot of people that, and I think values are fluid, right? Sometimes they do change. based on the time in your life, do you agree or? Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. Is there something out there that some kind of test you can take or, you know, something you can do to solidify what you thought your values were, or maybe it's the first time you're doing this? So there's lots of different values exercises out there. And I have one that I've honed myself, which is my favorite. And I'm happy to give it to any of your guests if you want to email me or if you want to put that into the notes. Absolutely. So happy to send that to anybody who's interested. And basically what it does is it takes... a list, a long list of value words and asks you to go through a process of like refining, okay, first choose 10 that feel real, you feel really strongly about, and then whittle them down to about four or five core values. And the questions get more and more difficult. or they challenge you to think about, okay, what is really the most important to me in my life? And from there, once you've chosen those core values, a next step could be to say, okay, what kind of goals am I going to set for my personal and professional life that will get me more in alignment with those values? What a great tool to use both at the beginning of your career, all through your career to ensure that you're really doing something that feels purposeful to you. Or you even can look ahead and say, where do I see myself in so many years based on these values? Yeah. You know, I've forgotten what a valuable tool that is sometimes for work. I feel, I feel very lucky that I'm incredibly passionate about what I do, but that doesn't mean that I'm always operating in line with my values. So it's a good reminder, right. To, to go back and kind of check in with yourself and. Oh yeah. I think, yeah. I mean, I, I think you could, easily on a yearly basis, go through the process, maybe try even a different approach to looking at your values and looking at them in different ways can actually reveal different things. Sure, sure. So let's switch gears a little bit. You know, we can't have this conversation without talking about sustainability. And I know that you've mentioned that there were practices. It's something you value a lot. You had a career in sustainability prior to being a hotelier. What did those practices look like? How did you decide what to implement? And yeah, what experience did you have in the hotel business implementing sustainability practices? yeah sure um so you know I think after I kind of got settled in running our hotel I definitely and started to get a better understanding of the day-to-day operations I started looking at okay well where are the big issues around waste packaging, use of resources, all those types of things. Recycling, although I've become more of a skeptic of recycling because I'm really not sure how much is actually getting recycled. But that was one of the first things we did is we put a recycle bin in our hotel rooms. You know, at the time, like nobody was doing that. So that at least, you know, we kind of felt like we were doing something and we we have, you know, to two bins that gets separately picked up. We have the trash container and we have the recycle container that gets picked up by our our vendor. Um, but then it, then I started looking at other areas. So for example, I hated the waste from, uh, single use amenities. So very early on, we went to bulk, uh, products and bulk dispensers and also way before they were really mainstream or being starting to be talked about in terms of regulation. Um, Another area, when we opened our restaurant, I knew that from the get-go, I wanted to make sure that we were composting, even though the law was not coming into place for a few years. But I wanted to be sure that we were taking that step from day one. So those are some of the small ways. We also looked at our breakfast when we were doing a continental, when we started, when we took over the hotel and we were doing the continental breakfast, everything was single serve, yogurts and everything was packaged. So we transitioned to bulk and using dispensers to bulk serve everything. And one of the biggest things we did was implement geothermal when we did our hotel expansion. So, you know, there's been some things along the way that have happened. But, you know, unfortunately with COVID, there were also some setbacks. You know, just look at the breakfast situation, right? Like you could not serve in bulk containers. Everything had to go back to being prepackaged. And there were so many hurdles around that. So, yeah. That's disappointing to see the losses that came from that. It also, the breakfast issue demonstrates also one of the biggest challenges in implementing sustainable practices is that the cost benefit analysis of labor versus when you have a buffet style that has to be you need the human resources to keep up with it and to not use you know, plastic forks and knives and plates, you have that means you have to have someone there to wash the dishes. Yes. So that's that has been really challenging, you know, from a labor perspective, especially after COVID labor has skyrocketed and has forced us to make some changes that I would have rather have not made. But Yeah. And I think you touch on some good points. There's, you know, there's, there's lots of barriers, although we see a lot of momentum happening right now, there's still those barriers, cost barriers, you know, labor barrier, time, you name it. What are some other things that you think prevent a hotel from adopting practices? Well, I think what complicates things is when sometimes regulations that are in place that are supposed to be environmentally friendly are really completely impractical or irrelevant or don't make sense and cost a lot of money to implement. We've had some challenges with that where just the process that's been put into place through regulation has just gotten completely out of control. I mean, for instance, when we were building our expansion project, as part of the energy efficiency requirements of one of our biggest regulations, permit processes to build the new building, we had to identify fixtures, lighting and plumbing fixtures at a stage in the project where we were completely not ready to provide those kinds of details. And so you go through and you're, I mean, you're literally identifying which kind of light fixtures before you've even designed the room. And then months later you have, we had to go back and do it all again because we weren't, we weren't, it was like a chicken or egg situation. Sure. So there's there's just things like that where there is a mismatch in understanding about the process, the process or just the lack of care. You know, they don't care. And well, we're just going to put this in there and you need to comply with it. which is really frustrating and creates a big challenge even for someone like me who does have that value of wanting to be energy efficient and doing the right things in terms of a sustainability perspective. That's really good insight. When I think about that, I think that's why our state associations are so important to make sure they're working with the governments and officials and in a perfect world, be working in tandem with them to create those regulations and those policies. But that's not necessarily happening either. Think in a perfect world that would happen. So let's talk about sun and ski resorts. In, I apologize. No, that's okay. Sun and Ski Inn and Suites. Yeah. Sun and Ski Inn and Suites in Vermont. And you're in Stowe, correct? Yes. Somewhere I've never been. It's on my list. I've heard it's so beautiful. Tell us all about it. And how can people that are listening book their next vacation? Do you operate in the summer also? Is it seasonal? How does that work? Yep. So yeah, we're open all year round. We live and operate in a mountain resort town. So in the winter, there's skiing. We have downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and other snow sports. And in the summer or other dry seasons, both in spring and fall, we have hiking and walking and running. We also have a nearby reservoir where people can do some water sports. Mountain biking is really big here in the summer as well. So it's a very outdoors community, very picturesque and beautiful and lots of different events sprinkled throughout the year. And we have great restaurants, a very beautiful and cute historic downtown village, which just adds to the whole atmosphere and vibe of the area and just a really great community. which I think even as a visitor, you get really a sense of in terms of that local spirit. So you're a full service hotel, correct? Yeah, yeah, sorry. So I forgot the part about the hotel. So yeah, so we are a full service hotel. We have 39 rooms. Oh, that's a good size. Yeah, 39 rooms. We have an eight lane bowling alley with a boutique. It's a boutique bowling alley with a restaurant and bar. We also have an 18 hole miniature golf course. Oh, my gosh. And so, yeah, very family friendly and family oriented or the adventure couple, as we like to say. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And so how far out do people need to book? Is this, you know, do you guys, you know, book up for instance, for the ski season way in advance or? I would say for the weekends, particularly in our high seasons, our busiest months of year, August, September, and February. So we touched upon three major seasons. So I definitely recommend if you're looking at those peak weekends, you need to be several months in advance to be sure to get availability. There may be some holes here and there that get filled or that are open. But just be safe. It's good for those peak times. But otherwise, you know, midweek or shoulder seasons can be much more last minute. Awesome. Makes me want to go right away. I love skiing. I'm not great at it, but I enjoy skiing in the hole. Yeah. You know, the whole culture. So, Rachel, how can people get a hold of you? You have a podcast. Tell us all about that. And yeah, how can they reach out if they would like some more information on coaching and. and all of the things that you offer. All the things. All the things. So our hotel website is www.sunandskiin.com. And my coaching and content company is www.thetravelleadercoach.com. And definitely reach out to me on LinkedIn anytime, Rachel Vandenberg, and listen to my podcast, The Travel Leader on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and all your major outlets. Yeah. And we will list all of those in the show notes. So everybody, we make sure they can find you. What can we leave the audience with? Do you have any good zingers or one-liners or really powerful. I'm catching you off guard. I didn't tell you to do this. Just thought I'd ask you to do this. That's fine. No, I think, well, now that you're asking, I'll just say, I think, I mean, your business is all about sustainability. And I think where you cross over with the work that I do is that sustainability really requires It requires leadership and vision. And it kind of reminds me as well as the presentation that you saw in the workshop that I gave back at Forward in May, that when you want to bring change about in your organization and sustainability is one of those changes that you might be wanting to implement, you really as a leader need to inspire and motivate your team and give them the vision of why we're doing this. Um, and get that buy-in and create some connection to the purpose around that. Um, so yeah, that's what I'll leave. I love that. I caught you off guard and you deliver. Yes. I hope you're not mad at me. no not at all not at all that was a great way to wrap up we talked about so many things thank you for spending time with us and pleasure I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your summer um spending time with your kids in vermont and everyone we are so grateful for you listening and tuning in but we have to ask if you could please like subscribe Leave a review so we can continue to bring you these great, insightful conversations with hospitality leaders and people that are doing really great things out there. So please reach out to me on LinkedIn, Amy Wald, and let me know what you liked about this episode, what you'd like to see more of. We're always looking for ideas from you, so we make sure we are bringing you the content that you want to hear about. so we will see you next time on the sustainable hospitality podcast thanks amy thank you