Healing Hospitality

ALERT: This episode contains explicit content. 

Join us for an exciting episode of The VegasStrong Revival Podcast as Britt dives deep into the world of hospitality with special guest Susie Izzo! With nearly 15 years of experience in the Las Vegas hospitality scene, Susie shares her journey from working at the Marriott to creating her own corporate wellness company, Vitality.

Here are some highlights you won’t want to miss:

• Behind the Scenes of Hospitality: Susie discusses the importance of service and how it should be felt but not always seen. She shares her insights on what makes a great hospitality experience.
• Handling Pissed Off Guests: We dive into practical tips for managing difficult situations with guests, emphasizing empathy and genuine service. Susie recounts a memorable experience that taught her the value of recovery in hospitality.
• The Birth of Vitality: Discover how COVID-19 catalyzed Susie’s journey into wellness with her new venture, Vitality, which focuses on bringing holistic wellness experiences to corporate events and local businesses.
• Breathwork and Wellness: Susie shares simple breathing techniques that anyone can incorporate into their daily routine to enhance well-being, especially in our fast-paced city.
• VegasStrong Community: We discuss what it means to be VegasStrong and how our community has come together through challenges, creating a unique bond among locals.

Whether you're a hospitality professional or just someone who loves the vibrant culture of Las Vegas, this episode is packed with insights, laughter, and inspiration.

Connect with Vitality:  @CelebrateVitality / 917-648-1464 / CelebrateVitality.com

📲 Stay Connected:

• Text the Podcast Hotline: 702-723-2343
• Social Media: @VegasStrongRevival
• Website: LaCritiqueLV.com/podcast

Let's keep the VegasStrong spirit alive! Share this episode with friends, family, and colleagues who love Las Vegas. Together, we can revive our city's passion for authentic service. 

Stay strong, Vegas! 💪

**LEGAL DISCLAIMER FOR THIS PODCAST AND THIS EPISODE CAN BE FOUND AT: LaCritiqueLV.com

Transcript

Speaker 02 0:00

La Critique believes in living a life full of experiences rather than possessions, which is why we designed a concierge service just for Vegas locals. We're all busy, and can any of us really keep up with all the changes around town? And yet, we still crave quality experiences when we go out and spend our valuable time and money. Now, imagine having a personal assistant whose credentials are quite literally hospitality snob and expert event planner. Seriously, leave all the details to us. Recommendations, personal Reservations? Done. More time enjoying our city and less time researching it? Absolutely. Subscribe today at lacritiquelv.com or give the gift of service by purchasing a subscription for your favorite person. Welcome to the Vegas Strong Revival Podcast. Buckle up because we're taking Vegas Strong culture to a whole new level this season. I'm Britt Whalen, your host, alongside co-host Desiree Wolfe, event professional and host of the Slightly Unfiltered Podcast. This season, the gloves are off and we're ditching the scripts for raw, relatable, and even shocking conversations, tackling real issues locals face, and bringing in voices from various industries like fitness, charity, aviation, and more. Don't forget to follow us on social media and visit Loughran and local business owners reconnect to the real meaning of hospitality. Ready or not, here we go. Guys, today I have Susie Izzo on the show. I am so freaking excited that you are here. I absolutely fucking adore you. I adore you. Beyond.

Speaker 00 1:44

For a long time, too. Almost a decade.

Speaker 02 1:48

That makes me feel really young. Sorry. So I had to have you on the show because you and I share such a passion for hospitality. Absolutely, yeah. event planning specifically but True Blue you love people you love serving people I love it you love being the orchestrator of all the things to make it all happen and the magic and making those guests feel like they just stepped into something that they've never stepped into before

Speaker 00 2:22

yeah right I like the behind the scenes of it too you know being able to like give that to someone without having to be on display doing it you know because service is like it's kind of is like an undercover talent. You know, you want to be, what you do should be felt, but not really seen. You know what I mean?

Speaker 02 2:38

Absolutely. Tell me a little bit about your background of hospitality here in Vegas specifically. And then, you know, just generally why you love it so much.

Speaker 00 2:48

So I came out to Vegas to work for the Marriott. I worked for the Marriott in Kentucky. I did my internship with them after college. And then I came out to Vegas. That's what brought me to Vegas was the Marriott. So I was with them for eight years to total but maybe four years out here and then I moved into the Cosmopolitan and really got my taste of like Las Vegas hotels and I was like I like this it

Speaker 02 3:12

must have been a newer property when you started

Speaker 00 3:14

yeah it was brand new yeah and the Marriott was great I mean I love the Marriott I wouldn't have the skill set the hospitality skill set because you know they're corporate and they've been doing it and they know what they're doing and you drink the juice you know you drink that juice like give me more give me more so all the training I've had I had there really helped me progress and shine in hospitality in Vegas. You know, I would say if it wasn't for, and I came up with the Marriott in Kentucky, but so a small town, but it was still the Marriott. They still had their procedures and SOPs and how to talk to people and, you know, how to respond, how to just all those workshops and those classes and those training, you know, the management training classes really helped me to excel my career. But I love hospitality. It's all I know. I've only worked in hospitality. I never worked in retail. I never worked in, Anything else, like office admin? No, it was always hospitality. My first job was in a bakery. Okay. Which I wasn't cooking. I was in the front, so it was hospitality. But you're

Speaker 02 4:09

a New Yorker.

Speaker 00 4:10

Yeah, I was a New York baker. Italian New York bakery. Okay. Yeah. And that was my first job. I was 14. I don't know if that's a labor law anymore. I don't think I worked that young. Probably. But yeah, and then I worked in restaurants. And that's all I knew was restaurants. Catering halls, restaurants, and then hotels with the Marriott. Marriott was my first hotel experience. And we worked. I mean... Why?

Speaker 02 4:32

Why hospitality, though, for you personally? Like, what is it that fuels that for you?

Speaker 00 4:36

You don't know? It's a feeling of service. I just enjoy, you know, I volunteer a lot and all that kind of thing, but it's different. It's not like you're helping them, but you're creating, like, a happiness for them, I guess, you know? I don't know. I just love it. I just... And how long have you been in Vegas now? Almost 15, about 15 years. Oh, wait, I came out here. Okay. So, yeah, 15, 16 years. What do you love about living in Las Vegas? There's a lot I love. I love the accessibility. It's, you know, I mean, now it's gotten a little worse since COVID and all this California people moving in. Yeah, yeah. But no, the flexibility, it's an easy town to live in. It's close to the airport. The greatest of the greater here, great shows, great restaurants. The weather's great usually, you know, 10 months out of the year. It's awesome.

Speaker 02 5:23

It's

Speaker 00 5:24

really

Speaker 02 5:24

hot today.

Speaker 00 5:24

Yeah, it's an easy town to live in. I don't know. I like the history of it, like how new it is. And I don't know, it's a special place. There's no place like it in the world. I was just talking about this with Tony. And we were talking about the pool parties or something. Yeah. And I was like, there's no place in the world, like, you can find nightclubs and all that kind of, like, you know, look like Ibiza and, like, all these tropical locations or the big cities. You know, they have nightclubs, like, huge. But you have the nightclubs and the dayclubs and it runs from the dayclub straight into the nightclub. Like, there's nothing really like that in the world, you know. So in that sense, it's very unique, you know. And then just having everything so condensed, you know, the best of the best or within two miles or whatever it is. You know, and then you have outside of Vegas, which I love too. You know, you have the hiking, which we just did.

Speaker 02 6:08

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 00 6:09

You know, so that's fun.

Speaker 02 6:10

You're really outdoorsy. You

Speaker 00 6:12

think so? Yeah, I do. I don't embrace it, but I am. I don't embrace it enough. I

Speaker 02 6:15

should say you're very active. And if it happens to be an outdoors thing, then yeah, you grasp onto it. Yeah. Your outdoorsy isn't the right phrase, but you're very active.

Speaker 00 6:26

Yeah. And like if someone brings me, I go. I'm like, yes, I'm totally down. Like whatever you want to do. But I don't like really seek it out. The only thing I did seek out, I think, in like my Delphi was snowboarding. I went snowboarding. I was like, I got to go. And like I brought the board and the shoes and I was like into it, you know, like I jumped right in. But everything else, like someone needs to like bring me and then I'll go. But I enjoy it all. There's nothing like I don't like.

Speaker 02 6:44

And we have snowboarding.

Speaker 00 6:45

Yeah. That's where we, yeah, that's where I did it. Then that was it. I was like up there like every day that year. I was obsessed with it.

Speaker 02 6:51

I love it. We'll have to

Speaker 00 6:51

go snowboarding. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 02 6:54

I've

Speaker 00 6:55

been

Speaker 02 6:55

doing it since I was 10.

Speaker 00 6:56

Yeah. So you must be amazing. So this is nothing to you. Mount Charleston is probably like easy peasy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a small mountain. Yeah. Well, I went to Utah and I was like, oh, oh, this is 10,000 feet. Okay. Yeah. I'll take you to

Speaker 02 7:09

Utah. I'll take you to Utah. We'll have a good time. So, okay. Back to hospitality. What was your most exciting hospitality gig or event that you ever put together? Can you, can you

Speaker 00 7:23

think of it? My most exciting? I can't, I mean, I've worked with some famous people, you know, I've worked with, um, of course now I want to remember names and I can't. Of course. It's okay. Pitbull. Okay. Um, I can't. But I think my point is I think that it's not which people is an amazing man. He is so nice Like the things you hear about him. He is so nice He like wanted to his manager was like, okay So when you bring him through like the the green run up the green room the meet-and-greet We'd like move it along like he has to move quick because he's gonna want to talk to everybody like he wants to have like full-blown Conversations with all his fans. She's like so we gotta keep it moving. I was like, okay cool So then I meet him and then he's like, where are you from? Did I like you have to see our photo together? He's holding me like if he knows me for years like he is so so nice. That's amazing. My point is it's more of like the experience and I think the person, right? Because Pitbull could have been a dud or whoever. Flo Rida was the one I was thinking of. Okay. You know, these people could be duds or just like, you know, not cool people and it's not a cool experience where you could have, you know, a no-name artist or a no-name event where there's just a vibe and energy and the people are so cool.

Speaker 02 8:26

Yeah.

Speaker 00 8:26

That's what makes it like your coolest event ever.

Speaker 02 8:28

So when you and I met, you were at Light Group. I came on board and you were primarily doing corporate events at pools and nightclubs. Yeah. That was the best job. Tell all of

Speaker 00 8:40

our listeners how insane

Speaker 02 8:41

your

Speaker 00 8:41

life was during that time. It was so good. Like, you know, the universe gives you what you can when you can handle it. You know, like I was new to Vegas and I was single. I had no one to go home to, no responsibilities. And we just like, we just worked out of so many venues that we were always everywhere. Like we knew everyone. We knew all the servers, all the bussers, all the managers and all these nightclubs and all these day clubs. And you knew all All the back of house. All the back of house. Hallways. Yeah, hallways. So when we went out, it was just like this beautiful, fluid flow of work and play. It was just awesome. It was such a good time in my life. And life really does change as you change. Like, then Light Group kind of, well, the whole story with that, whatever, you know, that. Light Group to Hakkasan. Light Group to Hakkasan. And then, like, you know, Hakkasan was kind of the same, but then I left Hakkasan and went to Dre's, and that was, like, one venue. And that's when I met Tony, my partner. So that, like, going to all the different venues and And being everywhere all at once slowed down completely in my life, kind of slowed down in a great way, you know? Yeah. And my partner, you know, different kind of life. But that time was really, really wild. It was, we were just everywhere all the time, you know? Do you

Speaker 02 9:44

want to say hi to Tony since you're on the show talking about him? Yeah. We love you, Tony. Tony, my one and only. Would you say that you were able to take your experience from Marriott, the training that you had at Marriott, that high level standard of service and apply it to, I guess, any role moving forward?

Speaker 00 10:07

Yeah, absolutely. It was, you know, the standard of services, like the hospitality principles, you know, things that are so kind of common knowledge once you know them, like taking responsibility at an event. You can't just say, look, I don't know how that happened. Like, no, that happened. So how did it happen? You know, like the client wants to hear that, you know, and like just learning like how to, and how to recover. That was huge at London Marriott, guest recovery, like how to take a client that's really pissed off and make them really happy. That was a huge lesson.

Speaker 02 10:33

Okay. Tell No, because this podcast is all about helping locals, either who are in the industry or not. Let's be honest, pissed off guests happen in any industry, including retail and medical and everywhere else. So give our listeners a few tips on- A few tips. How

Speaker 00 10:52

to handle a pissed off customer. Yeah. Well, I think one is take your ego out of it. It's not about you. Whatever they're pissed off about has nothing to do with you. Unless they're literally like, I hate you. You're the worst person ever. Then you should probably- I would just turn around and go home for the day. Like, that's it. You're done. Like, we don't need any more. Clock out. We're clocking out today. No, but, you know, that was a big thing, like, not getting upset when they're upset, you know, and, like, trying to be empathetic. Like, this person is clearly upset. They're physically upset. You know, maybe they're sweating. Maybe they're red. Their voice is loud. They're physically reacting to their emotions. So, like, you know, taking your ego out of it and coming from a place of service and how can I fix this for you? How can I make this better so you're not upset? And I'll never forget the Marriott. I was, like, brand new to the front desk. And I was like two days old. And I checked in like a platinum member to a dirty room. Oh, no. Yeah, like the penthouse was like dirty. Like I checked him into there. So he comes back down. Oh, my God. I remember the feeling. Like I remember like, what? And he comes back down. And I was like, you know, I was sweating. I'm like visibly upset. And he's like, calm down. It's okay. And he was such a nice man. He goes, it's not the fact that you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. He goes, it's how you recover. And that always stuck. with me, you know? And then I was still learning then. So I was like, tell my manager and like, you know, you send him stuff and like give him points on his card or whatever that looks like, you know? Yeah, the compensation part of it. The compensation part of it, yeah. Which needs to be heartfelt too. That's another part of it. You can't just offer someone, well, let me take 50% off your bill, you know, and have an attitude about it. Is that really even what they want? Listening, right? Which comes back to being empathetic, listening. Like what are they saying? Take my ego out of it. Don't involve my own feelings about it. Like it's, you know, it's about them and them having the experience. That's why we're here.

Speaker 01 12:34

Yeah.

Speaker 00 12:35

We're here to have good experience. So if someone's not, like, how can we, where's the yes? You know, there's always a yes. How did he come back down from

Speaker 02 12:41

that dirty room and you were there and you had attitude or you were like, I didn't send you to a dirty room. What are you talking about? Yeah.

Speaker 00 12:49

Oh, as a guest? He would have changed real quick. Yeah. Yeah, totally. You know, so. Yeah, and like taking ownership of things and

Speaker 02 12:58

everybody makes mistakes, but just let's move forward. Everybody makes mistakes. Yeah. If you are genuine, I think, if you're genuine about how you're told in that moment about a mistake that you made and you, again, to your point, don't have an ego about it. Like, oh, I'm this perfect human being who doesn't ever make mistakes. You're wrong. Yeah.

Speaker 00 13:25

No, I didn't do

Speaker 02 13:25

that. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah. It changes the whole dynamic. But if you're humble about it, you're like, I can just... Just imagine your face because I know you so well. It's like you probably were mortified.

Speaker 00 13:37

Yeah, totally. Yeah. Totally. Embarrassed, mortified. I was like, oh. You know? But yeah. And I think– and then if the customer still goes on and on, then it's just not about you. That person is in a bad space in life. You just have to pray for them. Again, clock out and go pray for them. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray for you. Yeah. How do I say it? I enjoy almost– I'm making mistakes. Like when I make a mistake, I've gotten to the point where unless like it's a fatal mistake, quote unquote, you know, unless I'm the really awful. That's putting people in bad positions. But if it's a mistake that I can fix, I almost enjoy it because I'm never going to do that again. Right. I'm never going to make that mistake. In fact, I think I had told you this when I worked at Light Group. They bought me, remember that Staples commercial with the I'm sorry button? Yes. They bought me the I'm sorry button because I'm like, I'm sorry! Because I was new to events. I worked in hospitality, restaurants, hotels, but I never did the detailing and the multitasking and the crossing every T and dot every I of event planning. Event planning is like... Oh, event planning is brutal. Event planning is like, you know, you've got to be honest It's the best level of brutal. Yeah. Yeah. So when I was, when I first got into that, I would make a lot of mistakes, but I never made them twice. And, but I made so many that I was like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I own them. And like, it was kind of like, okay, we accept these mistakes because you own them and you learn from them. I just got flashback, you know? Yeah. You were there for the I'm sorry button. Yeah. Remember? I'm so sorry. You were saying it just like that. Yeah. I would like yell it over the cubicle. Sorry. I love

Speaker 02 15:01

it. I love it. My bad. You and I both. both know the level of burnout that comes with event planning and that lifestyle, that industry, that position. And COVID happened. All the things in our city have kind of morphed and changed a lot of people's direction. And you're one of those people. I don't know entirely exactly when you started Vitality, but you have now ventured off into your own wellness. Tell me all about it. Tell our listeners all about it I know some but you know

Speaker 00 15:35

yeah so so vitality is a corporate wellness program that caters to meetings and conventions so we bring all different type of modalities from yoga to stretching to breath work to aromatherapy to tai chi all these different type of wellness modalities but the goal is to bring them to the convention space so I always say as event planners you have the ability to touch so many people right you can offer them an experience whether it be what we're used to is shooting guns or maybe a chef tasting or you know whatever it is, a hop around tour. So you have all these experiences and you have access to so many people. Well, why not put something in front of them that's going to make them feel better, right? That's going to enhance their overall well-being. That's going to get them through that day a little easier. So what I noticed when I was doing all my events, that there was that separation, there was that disparity that we were whining and dining our clients, but we were never taking the time to like give back to them in a more holistic way. And then simultaneously as my event planning career was moving forward, I took my own health and wellness more seriously. I don't know if I like got real fit. I don't want to say skinny. I remember. I was like fit. I was like fit and I was eating right.

Speaker 02 16:43

I remember I went to a class with you. Yeah, I started teaching. A yoga class or something with you and I had a hard time keeping

Speaker 00 16:49

up with you. Like I was, yeah, I was taking classes and I loved it so much. I started teaching classes. Like I became as a, you know, as a passion, like obsessed with health and wellness in a way that I had never was before. It was like everything I thought I knew about wellness was wrong. And I learned so much. And I was like, this is amazing. This is not what I thought it was. You know, I don't have to live on 400 calories a day and be on an elliptical machine for an hour and 40 minutes, you know? So I was like, so, well, how do I back it up? So then, so, so as I'm, you know, parallel, my event planning career is going and then I'm, I'm finding my own health and wellness. And then I, at the same time, I had noticed that there was this, this bridge between the two, between corporate events and health and wellness. So I kind of like had it in the back of my head, like, oh, like it'd be really cool there's a company that could like offer this type of stuff.

Speaker 02 17:36

Well, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it was like in the 2010s when we started seeing those massage chairs show up at the corporate, on the corporate, um, trade show floors and stuff. Right. So there was some recognition of that issue to 15 years ago. Oh, for sure. Um, or let's call it 15 years. And it just, it was like this temporary little bandaid,

Speaker 01 18:01

you

Speaker 02 18:01

know, people were on the trade show floor, the convention floor all day long and they could just stop in and get a 10 minute shoulder rub

Speaker 00 18:08

yeah

Speaker 02 18:08

and although that's helpful it

Speaker 00 18:10

was like a touch a touch on what can be done yeah and then it was happening right so then fast sort of like the walk runs were happening and like the yoga was happening but no one was like benchmarking it you know there was this company called Bella strings if you remember and they had the girls the pretty girls come out and play the um violin the violins like acoustically to like like 40 top 40 music so then other people follow them but you only asked for Bella Strings. Even if it wasn't Bella Strings, you asked for that because like Kleenex, right? Kind of a Kleenex. It might be the brand name. So that's what was happening. Like people are doing it, but nobody's branding it. No one's saying like, okay, Vitality does this or this company, whatever does this. Like event planners are reaching out to local yoga studios and the yoga studios like sending someone down. That person doesn't know what we know about what those clients need. And so my mind is going, I'm like, wow, that would be like a good company. But I wasn't really focused on that because I had my career And I was happy where I was. And so I didn't really like say, oh, I got to do this. I was like, oh, it'd be really cool if somebody did it, right? Like I wasn't there. And then a little time passed. And I say it happened. COVID was just a catalyst. So right before COVID, I told the company, I was at Mandalay Bay working for an entertainment company. And I said, I want to start my own business, but I don't want to leave. I don't want to go, you know, cold turkey, have no income. I was like, so let me work. I was like, keep my salary and let me work commission-based only or vice versa. whatever it was. And they were like, you negotiated. I negotiated. They were cool with it. I was like, I want to start my company, but I still want to work for you. You know? And they were totally cool with it. So I'm like, this is awesome. I can still have an income where I'm not stressing about it, you know, but still do this startup. And then COVID happened like literally three weeks later. Oh, so I opened my, I got the go ahead for my company and I opened my LLC on like March 8th. And then COVID was like a week and a half after that. Oh my

Speaker 02 19:57

gosh.

Speaker 00 19:58

Yeah. So then not only did I lose my job, but I just, negotiated this killer deal with for me, but then it was like, oh, what I wanted to do is now out the window too. But in hindsight, for me, COVID created this awareness of health and wellness, especially in the workplace, which was never there before. People are so much more aware of balance and taking care of themselves. I feel like the whole world is

Speaker 02 20:24

way more focused on their own self and, you said, balance between work, And regular life. Yeah. When everybody in the entire world shut down, everybody was like, oh, this is what this is like.

Speaker 00 20:40

Not working 60, 70, 80 hours this week. Spending time with my family.

Speaker 02 20:45

What? Yeah, exactly. Everybody's eyes opened up a little bit, I feel like. So I could see how that would relay into your vision of vitality. Yeah. So what happened when everything shut down and you thought vitality

Speaker 00 20:58

was not going to happen? Well, again, I was kind of doing this anyway. So to like legitimatize myself. In the wellness world, I felt like I needed some certifications or something. And I was teaching Pilates, if you're not familiar, mat versus reformer. Reformer is a machine. Mat's done on a yoga mat. So I was already certified teaching Pilates, mat. But I was like, let me get a reformer certification because reformer is very much also about anatomy. Yeah. So you learn a lot about the body. You learn a lot about how the body works as well as the technical skill of teaching the machine. Okay. So that's what I kind of did. I got my, which was a lot. It's 450 hours. Oh. Do that math. Like if you did that, 40 hours a week that would take you three months my first internship in college was 200 hours unpaid and it took forever because you can't do so much right you can't teach classes 40 hours a week it's like literally impossible so that took me a long time like that took me I think it was over I remember being at home because I actually got COVID and I had to do some classes from home so I'm not sure the timeline but I did do that I got my Pilates reformer certification to kind of like you know give me a certification like a higher certification in the wellness world okay so COVID allowed me to do that right so I was like building my website I was getting my certification. I was connecting myself to all the different healers that I met because that's what I always say. Like with Vitality, I don't teach the classes. I teach the ones that I can, which is Pilates. We do offer that and hit class because I love teaching. I'm more of like, you know, high energy fitness. Let's go, go, go. Yeah, your personality is high energy. Yeah, like yoga is like challenging for me. Like I take yoga. I do not teach yoga. You'd be like, you're a yoga teacher. No, I'm certainly not a yoga teacher. So, you know, my job in Vitality is to find these healers that have dedicated, I've dedicated my life to hospitality find the healers that have dedicated their life to their practice and then bring that into the hospitality world as a service like that's where I fit in vitality I'm not the healer I'm the facilitator of these healers and I've learned so much from I mean there's so many beautiful people in Vegas that have so much to offer and I just want to expose them as much as I can you know I use different people for different classes just because I want people to get out there and there's been plenty of times where you have like I've seen convention attendees have that like aha moment say like I needed this so bad Like, I didn't even know I needed it. Oh, my gosh. Like, I've seen, like, you know, people have called on my yoga instructors, hey, can I get a private with you tomorrow morning in my hotel suite? Why? Like, it happens all the time. So that makes me so happy. In fact, like, for Thai, one of the– I love offering Thai cheeks. I feel like it's something that people don't really know about. I don't. It's a transfer. You see people, like, you know, Asian– In the park. Yeah. Or Asian people in the park, like, doing their slow movements. Like, what is that? Yeah. It is amazing practice. It's about transfer of energy throughout your body, and you just feel, like, on fire. Like you're just buzzing afterwards. Okay. Now you're going to have to teach me Tai Chi. So like this. So back to my point about, you know, event planners being able to touch so many lives. You plan this as an event planner. You bring your group in and 30 people, 40 people, whatever, do Tai Chi. And maybe it doesn't resonate with a lot of people, but maybe three or four people it does. And now they go back to their hometowns and they seek out Tai Chi. You just like change their whole health path in life. Oh, I love that. Right? Yeah. And that's the goal. Like as the event planner in me that loves logistics– and planning and creating that experience. And then the wellness part of me that wants that experience to help you, it's like vitality is that perfect fit for me. I get to help people, but create a good experience, but in a holistic, helpful way, you know? Yeah. So yeah, that's really the most exciting part to me. So

Speaker 02 24:18

that is focused on convention floors, right? Like that's one side of vitality. But from what I saw on social media, not that long ago, you're also going to local businesses. Locals, yeah. And helping local businesses to get their employees moving.

Speaker 00 24:34

Yes. Okay. Tell us about that. And that's really my next piece of where I have to like, where I want to push Vitality to because I've done so much. Like I'm a member of the LVHA and I put myself out there in the hotel scene, you know, with the convention service managers and all that. But now I want to move towards a more local business, which for me as a business is what I need because I need that recurring, you know, a convention comes out here, they might not come out here again for two years. Yeah. You know, so for me as a business, I need that recurring local business. So yeah, reaching out to So like in the law firms, anyone that really, I mean, you can do any size, but 10 people or more is a little more beneficial for you as a business with, you know, pricing and all that kind of thing. Sure. So 10 people or more vitality comes in and we have a whole folder call it that you can pick from. And then say you want to do just yoga and, and meditation, then you can, but if you want, you can do the yoga, the breathwork, the meditation, the aromatherapy, the Tai Chi. And every month it's like a membership. And then every month we would come in and give your, your associates a different wellness modality class. And then if you like one of the feedback is like, hey, I really liked the Tai Chi, but not so much the meditation, then we can continue with that. So I've really hit the market of elderly care because I love old people. I have a strong place in my heart for old people. So we're in a few assisted livings and they love, they love our dance class. They just can't get enough of moving and shaking. Oh my God. It is the best. I just want to come watch. Yeah, it's like chair Zumba, right? Yeah. It's like chair dance. Yeah. So we just, you know, we arms, lift our knees up. We twist it out. And it's all like fun music. You know, I have so much

Speaker 02 26:11

fun. I love that. Okay. So who in Vegas, I mean, we're approaching 3 million people in the city. Massive amount of growth of corporate business here in Vegas is wild. Who would be like your ideal client, I guess, locally? Other than anybody 10 and more in a law firm.

Speaker 00 26:31

Yeah. Really anyone, anyone. You want 10 or more. You could be a restaurant. You could be BJ's and you want to do it for your employees once a month. Restaurants, huh? Yeah. Restaurants. Yeah. I know some people in some restaurants. I don't know

Speaker 02 26:42

how

Speaker 00 26:43

that would, you do it in their space though. As long as, I was going to get to it. As long as they have the space. As long as you have the space where we can do it. And then again, if you want to, we can go to a park. Like that's an option too. If you don't have the space, like I was just talking to a dispensary and like all our space is like filled with our products. Yeah. Like we don't have, we have a lot of space, but none of that space is for that. Yeah. So it's like, we can go to the park, you know, if There's a park near your office. That just creates a little bit of a challenge because you want to kind of keep it inclusive. So you want to make it easy for them, right? You don't go to the gym if the gym is too far. So you kind of want to make it easy for them like on their time while they're in the office anyway. So that is really the goal to do it in your existing space, but really anywhere, anywhere you can do it. Okay. So

Speaker 02 27:22

then how do people, I mean, I'm thinking in my brain, a law firm, I'm dressed in my business attire, but I know that my company has now scheduled this physical activity, are they just like give an advance notice to bring an extra pair of clothes?

Speaker 00 27:40

Yeah. It would just depend. Like if we would do a guided hike, let's say, then obviously, yeah, you want to come out with different... Guided hikes too? Yeah, we do guided hikes. What? Take your group out. Yeah. Tell them to come out in their cars or if you want, if the company wants to arrange transportation, which is great about Vitality too, because I can help you with things like that. If you want to do a whole day of it with food and beverage and all that kind of thing, I can obviously help with that. Yeah. And then, or, but a lot of stuff we do is business attire for you know we can totally do desk yoga where you don't even stand up and you're doing everything sitting down we do stuff virtually I just had coming back to well it's not elder care but hospice I did a hospice group and they had their leadership program in Reno they had their leadership program in Reno and we went in virtually and we did desk yoga with them every day

Speaker 02 28:21

wow

Speaker 00 28:22

yeah so you could even be in some things obviously you can if you want to do a HIIT class or a boot camp class we're not going to do that in corporate attire but I mean our aromatherapy classes our meditation classes our breathing classes especially I mean breath work is so important breath work is such an under talked about modality if you ask me oh breathing is breathing life yeah so my my instructor Andrea she broke it down to me and I always mess it up but I'll try to get it right she said imagine we only if we need a thousand calories a day we only ate 300 how like depleted and like you know run down and foggy would be well our breath we only use 6% of our capacity we always breathe into our chest we always breathe into our chest. We hardly ever breathe into our stomach unless we're cued to. So if we're only using 6% of our lung capacity, our breath capacity, imagine how much better our body would operate if we use that 100%. Same thing as your calories. Are you getting enough calories or are you depleting yourself? Are you breathing enough or are you depleting yourself? And most people hold their breath. Yeah, we all hold our breath. Watch it. Next time you're someplace, watch people. They hold their breath. Like it's all that chest, you know, never getting into the belly, never expanding your lungs left to right, that lateral expansion. Yeah. You know, so you start doing that, again, you have all this energy, all this more clarity. It's amazing to see. Okay. You're aware of all of this.

Speaker 02 29:42

You practice it. What would be a tip for any Vegas local listening to this right now on taking a moment and breathing properly? What's the tip?

Speaker 00 29:52

Set your timer for 60 seconds. Okay. Right? Inhale for five, exhale for five. Okay. Start with a minute. Tomorrow, do two minutes. The next day, three. Top Four foot five, because that's a lot. It is. Hold

Speaker 02 30:05

your breath for five.

Speaker 00 30:06

Yeah, but actively breathing. Yeah, actively breathing for five minutes is a lot.

Speaker 02 30:10

You can exhale for

Speaker 00 30:11

five? Well, no, no, no. But no, you still do like timer, like inhale two, three, four, five. Exhale two, three, four, five. Yeah. And getting it into your belly. If you watch a baby when they breathe, their belly rises and deflates. If you watch an adult, it's the chest. Nobody breathes into their belly. Unless they know or they're cued to. But if you're just the random person that hasn't really discovered breath work or know what it means to breathe it's all that chest breath and the holding of the breath I still I do it yeah I'm not this guru of health by any by let's get let's get it straight people I am not this guru of health by any means

Speaker 02 30:47

you're not the Jillian Michaels

Speaker 00 30:48

no I'm the facilitator I'm the facilitator and the student hello okay let's be clear love it let's be clear but yeah so I catch myself all the time and then even like I'm very impatient when I'm waiting for something It could be like, you know, when you put in like, wait for your email box with a six digit code. I breathe while I'm waiting. I actively breathe. One, why? Because I'm impatient. That calms me down. That slows me down. And then I get those moments to get into that belly breath. So that's just kind of a habit that I've created that anytime I'm waiting for something, I focus my attention on my breathing and then the weight becomes shorter because I'm not paying attention to it. And then I'm getting that benefit. So that's a good tip too. Anytime you're waiting, just focus on and just feel your belly rise and deflate. Like you could feel it. You could open up your rib cage left to right.

Speaker 02 31:32

Can you Can you imagine if everybody would take this advice and apply it to when they're driving in town?

Speaker 00 31:36

That's a great, that's a, that's a wonderful example. Yeah. I do a lot when I'm driving, I'm in traffic. Again, with the wellness, it's your, it's your frame of mind. You know, taking that moment. This is a grateful moment that I have to be able to practice my breathing rather than, I hate this traffic. I kill myself. These fucking cones. You know? Yeah, yeah. Oh my God. I drive through them now. Just FYI. I don't care. Arrest me. Do what you gotta do. Ticket me. I'm not. You have cones set up for a mile and There's nothing around. There's nothing around. Three

Speaker 02 32:04

miles. It's insane. I was on the freeway.

Speaker 00 32:07

It confuses people. We are confused out here. No one knows how to drive because you have all these cones out. Yeah. Pick them up. Pick them up. Clean them up. Exactly. That's vitality. That's vitality. Bringing that health and wellness awareness to a place that is not often found.

Speaker 02 32:22

Okay. What's the best way for them to get a hold of you? Contact Vitality. Set up something. Set up a consultation.

Speaker 00 32:27

Yes. So my website is CelebrateVitality.com. Vitality.com was taken number one At the same time, we're having fun doing all this, right? It's not like these serious like yoga classes where everyone is like, shh, be quiet. We have to have fun. And that's another thing too. All my instructors, you know, I don't want to call it interview. I don't interview them, but I make sure that they have that hospitality to them as well, that they can make a room laugh, that they can command a presence in a room. They know how to speak to people that I can trust them. If someone does want to private with them the next day, they're representing vitality properly, you know? Absolutely. So I definitely vet my instructors in that way and most of my instructors unless they're a recommendation I've known them I've been their student for years so that's really nice too to have that new kind of relationship with them you know like you've taught me so much and now I just want to have you teach everyone else so celebrate oh so thank you so celebratevitality.com but then really on Instagram I post most of my you know Instagram is so easy to see everything so I post most of my events on Instagram and it's celebratevitality is that your handle you don't know maybe I'm pretty sure That's how much you and I love those. Social media, yeah. I post a lot of events on there so you can see a snippet of what we do.

Speaker 02 33:40

Okay, let's divert for a moment. This is the Vegas Strong Revival podcast after all. Tell me what Vegas

Speaker 00 33:48

Strong means to you. Vegas Strong means to me that Vegas has become a place of unified people rather than just transient folks that have had family here at one point and And now they don't. Vegas Strong means to me that there is a community here that didn't exist 10 years ago that has come together through tragedy, through sports, through just being a local after COVID and what that means, through understanding of what COVID did to the city and still being here. That's what Vegas Strong means to me, right? Yeah. No, I love that. Yeah. What

Speaker 02 34:24

does it mean to you? Oh,

Speaker 00 34:24

it

Speaker 02 34:26

means love to me, I think. Yeah. Yeah. It was... so incredible seeing my hometown come together like it did after that shooting. And to be honest, I haven't seen it since. I haven't seen that unity since, which is why I have this podcast, which is why I have the business I do. I kind of, I just want it back, but I don't want the tragedy

Speaker 00 34:52

associated with it. Yeah.

Speaker 02 34:54

Right. I'm just trying to inspire people to keep loving one another. Love your neighbor.

Speaker 00 35:00

Right. Yeah. Embrace them as your neighbor not just as like I said like a transient city but I feel like there's been more of that for sure I think since I think COVID changed things a lot for locals that have been here not the ones that came not that anything wrong with them we love you too not the ones that came here after COVID the ones that experienced the city you know because we're the hospitality capital of the world you know so for hospitality to shut down that was like that was I think more impactful for us and other places tell me

Speaker 02 35:29

about really great dining experience that maybe you had around town recently or a really bad one

Speaker 00 35:40

well I was going to say before I go into that I was going to say I love what you're doing though because you're creating that local bond with the restaurants right you're creating that come you know keep it local let the locals tell you and decide where you belong as far as like the rating and all that so I think that coincides perfectly with Vegas Strong

Speaker 02 36:00

I think you and I talked a little bit about it it's you and i have all this experience on the strip with these really high standards we know exactly how to welcome a guest and make them feel important and valued we know how to wow them we know how to roll out that red carpet we know how to process their requests in an efficient and meaningful way and we know how to communicate period right we know how to get the job done so well we can do it in our sleep yeah and everybody in the world knows that when you travel to the Las Vegas Strip, you get a high level of service. I do not get that level of service anywhere else in town. Generally speaking, I shouldn't say anywhere. It's not 100%, but it's really high, right? The last restaurant I was impressed by, and I'm so proud to be able to say this on my podcast, was Ada's Wine Bar in Tivoli Village. I don't know what training they're doing. They do have a celebrity chef influence there. For the life of me, cannot think of the name off the top of my head. I'm sorry. I wrote a personal email to them. Just... That's awesome. Like, I was so impressed with my server that I had to write and tell them. That's what it is. I had to tell the management about their amazing server, right? Because she had it. She had the smile. She had the welcoming greeting and all the things. And she was knowledgeable about the menu. And it It was just impressive. She embodied what she should be doing. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And so if we can inspire other servers in Vegas to really embrace your job, you know, yeah, you're there. It's a job. You have to clock in and out. It kind of sucks from time to time. But truly, you have the power to make a first date or an anniversary or a birthday or just a night out where they didn't have to bring the kids. You know, you have the power to change somebody's night or day or whatever it is. So if you're listening to this, I hope that it can inspire you. You are in such a crucial position as a

Speaker 00 38:12

food server. So important. And people pay money now. I mean, we always pay money, but it's not cheap to eat out. It's more expensive than it's ever been. So not only are you, you know, like the pioneer for this experience, but it's an experience that people are coming out of their pocket. They're hard-earned money to experience. So like it's extra important. And we're all neighbors. If we're loving

Speaker 02 38:32

our neighbors, guess what? When we show up at work, we're going to continue that love and give it to our guests. And honestly, one of the things that blows my mind, Susie, is that the servers in town don't actually understand that their tips are directly associated with how they treat their guests. That level of hospitality, every time they come and touch the table, it freaking matters. And if you're a server and you are touching your table and you're doing a great job, I swear on my life,

Speaker 00 39:07

you are going to get higher tips. Absolutely, yeah. There's no doubt about it. Period. When I worked at the Cosmo, they've changed since MGM, but they used to not wear name tags. That was their, when they first opened up the Cosmopolitan, that was their thing. Like, you have a conversation so someone remembers your name. You don't just... I hate that. You hate that? I do. Why?

Speaker 02 39:24

I love that. Tell me why. I hate it because if somebody says their name once... You couldn't forget. I will forget. But also, I think that- I can see that point of it. Most dining experiences, they don't introduce themselves. No, they shouldn't. So I want the name tag, so

Speaker 00 39:42

I know their name. That's true. That's true. So

Speaker 02 39:44

when the water guy or girl comes by and I can say, hey, I need my

Speaker 00 39:48

server Jenny. As a buyer, it's a better experience with a name tag. Yes. Because then you can see. But as a manager, if I know, if you're not wearing a name tag and someone knows you by name, then I know you made that connection with them, that they remember. You know what I mean? Yes. That's why I liked it. But I can see your point. As a user, it might be user unfriendly. Yeah. I'm a fan of name tags. Especially if you're having a couple glasses of wine and you're like, what's your name again? I'm sorry. Sorry, Charlotte. It's Sherry. Thanks. My bad. Yeah. No, that's a good

Speaker 02 40:18

point. That is a good point. Here's the truth. I usually don't even know my server's name until I get the check. Yeah. Right? Like, what? I'm sorry? What? That's the standard now? That's the standard.

Speaker 00 40:28

Well, and yeah, I will say, like, I think that standard has service has gone down since covid i don't know i don't know why maybe there's a lot of reasons why well i mean i don't know like i don't know why it's still happening maybe that's now yeah i don't know why it's still happening but yeah i mean that that was a change for sure i think that was felt anywhere you went any city you went things change after covered all right so if

Speaker 02 40:56

you could fix it in like i don't know jeannie showed up and you could fix All of our dining experiences in town locally. What like one thing would

Speaker 00 41:06

you wish for?

Speaker 02 41:07

Yeah.

Speaker 00 41:08

Maybe I'm big on anticipating needs. Anticipating

Speaker 02 41:11

needs.

Speaker 00 41:12

I mean, I'm big on that. You know, I always tell when I train people, I'm like, when you look at a table, what do you need? If this person ordered this dish and this cocktail, what do you need to enjoy that dish and cocktail? And that's what you should be bringing to that person. I'm big on that. Oh, that's a pro tip, guys.

Speaker 02 41:27

Yeah. If you're in the food and beverage industry, that is a pro tip. right there you will not hear that in most other places period even

Speaker 00 41:37

from your management and even simple things like letting someone know where the restroom is welcome here you are this is who I am happy to be here if the restrooms are over there like letting like just what would you say in your home what would you say in your home yes if someone came to your house you would say have yourself a drink the bathrooms are over there if you need a towel for the pool go help yourself like you would you would set the tone of this is my mi casa es su casa Hospitality. Hospitality, yeah. But I'm anticipating my needs. Being a host. I don't eat, like, cheese and all this kind of thing. And, like, if I ask for something, like, if I ask for my appetizer without cheese, like, I want you to know that I need my entree without cheese, too. I don't know. Call it bratty, I guess, for hospitality. But that's kind of, like, where my expectations land. Yeah. And that's not something, like, that comes second nature unless someone really trains you on that. You don't think about that.

Speaker 02 42:28

No. No. That's why training is important. through this podcast I'm really really hoping that anybody in food and beverage industry hell even any industry I think this is applicable it's if you're in management or if you're an employee you're gonna hear this and maybe just take a couple nuggets and utilize that and the goal is truly let's make everybody a little bit more money let's not and it's not money driven but let's be honest when we know we can pay all of our bills as an employee yeah and we have some left over for fun guess what we're gonna have more fun in our life then we're gonna show up to work happier

Speaker 00 43:06

exactly and be happy to be there because that that money I just made last night got me this that I wanted so like it's yeah so I'm gonna crush it this next day because I see the the reward that just happened it's even like with upselling like I look at upselling like yeah you want to upsell because you want your check average but you're also upselling because you're creating that better experience you know what I'm saying like do you have enough space for dessert like that's a serious question because if you do then we need to get you some because It's good. And you might not have it again. Who knows when you'll be here again? So I want you to feel that. I want you to taste that. I want you to go home and say, wow, I had everything. Now, if you don't have any room, fine, we're good. I don't need to, you know, it's like an upsell, but it's not really an upsell. It is, but it isn't. You know what I mean? And when you look at it like that, I feel like then people, they want that dessert because they don't feel like they're being pushed. You know, it's like a genuine like... Oh, you don't have room for that dessert? Let

Speaker 02 43:53

me

Speaker 00 43:54

recommend a dessert cocktail.

Speaker 02 43:56

Yeah, there you go. You know? Or a, you know, dessert wine. Yeah.

Speaker 00 44:00

Yeah. And if you're getting that... That higher check average, but you're also giving them that experience. Like, wow, that was such a good cocktail. Let me have another. You know? So it's a mindset like most things, which I'm learning a lot about. I'm going to put a class into Vitality about mindset. It's such a big thing. Your mindset is huge. That's another tip. Research mindset. Yeah. Read some blogs or books or whatever. You'll get your information about the mindset and how that controls your output. It's amazing.

Speaker 02 44:26

I love it. I love this conversation. I know. I could talk forever.

Speaker 00 44:30

It's so easy to talk to. Aw. Yeah, you're so good. I'm

Speaker 02 44:32

not a professional interviewer, so I'm learning as we're going. No, you're very good. She's amazing. Holy shit. Like all this, I can't. I can't. So good. Thank you for being here. Yes, thank you for having me. Guys, it is CelebrateVitality.com. Suzy Izzo, founder, Wonder Woman. Thank you. All the things, wellness, Vegas for

Speaker 00 44:52

businesses. Yes, and if you don't have a business, but you're just curious about different modalities, I can connect you to whoever I have in my network from nutritionists to movement specialists to breathing specialists.

Speaker 02 45:05

Or if you want to schedule a group hike, a guided

Speaker 00 45:07

hike. Yeah, a group guided hike. You can do a whole picnic, the whole thing. I have a chef. I do wellness shots like, you know, turmeric, all these kind of things. So yeah.

Speaker 02 45:15

I love it. Guys, thank you so much for listening. Have a great day. Yeah, thanks for being here. Thank you. And that's a wrap on this episode of the Vegas Strong Revival Podcast. I hope you found our discussion engaging and even thought-provoking. A big shout out to all of our amazing listeners for tuning in and supporting the podcast. because it truly means the world to us. So thank you. Let's keep the Vegas strong spirit alive. Share this podcast with your friends, family, colleagues, and just anyone who loves Vegas. If you have ideas, suggestions, or want to be a guest on the show, simply reach out online or feel free to text us on our super cool podcast hotline, 702-723-2343. And of course, don't forget to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. Let's keep pushing the boundaries and reviving our city's passion for authentic service together. Stay strong, Vegas!