Lead With Hospitality With Taylor Scott

Taylor Scott is a best-selling author, inspirational keynote speaker, and organizational development consultant. Through his books, workshops, keynotes, and licensed content, he inspires audiences at Fortune 500 companies, Universities, and community organizations nationwide to become their best, deliver their best, and experience the best life possible. Taylor leverages his personal experiences and 20 years of working in the hospitality industry at Disney Parks and Resorts, Gaylord Hotels and Resorts, Wynn Resorts, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to connect with and inspire leaders at all levels. 

Taylor earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Hotel and Resort Management from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, in 2001 and a Master of Management in Hospitality from the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in beautiful Ithaca, New York, in 2008.

Taylor lives in Henderson, Nevada, with his beautiful wife, Jenna.  They enjoy working out, traveling, shopping, dining, and visiting as many hotel lobby bars as possible.

You can find Taylor at https://leadwithhospitality.com/ and on IG here

I’m Samantha Perkins and this is Why You Write That?!?!?  This podcast is for anyone who wonders what authors were thinking when they shared that really detailed secret or their most embarrassing moment.  For writers, future writers, readers, and those who love words Join me as I interview authors and writers to uncover the truth behind why they share all the of those cringey details and what it feels like to air it all! So press play and get ready to hear the story behind the words

Thank  you so much for listening! Please support the author by buying their books, attending their events, and liking and following them on social media.  If you liked this episode help please share with a friend and leave a review! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, Taylor. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to talk to you and for my listeners to learn from all of the great things that you're going to share with us. Thanks for having me. Let me introduce you to our listeners so they can know who you are and what you're all about. Taylor Scott is the best-selling author, inspirational keynote speaker, and organizational development consultant. Through his books, workshops, keynotes, and licensed content, he inspires audiences at Fortune 500 companies, universities, and community organizations nationwide to become their best, deliver their best, and experience the best life possible. Taylor leverages his personal experiences and 20 years of working in the hospitality industry at Disney parks and resorts, Gaylord Hotels and Resorts, Win Resorts, and the cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to connect with and inspire leaders at all levels. That's quite a big resume that you have there. I always like to start telling the listeners how I know the authors. And this is a very interesting one because Taylor and I actually grew up together. And I was thinking back as I was getting ready for this conversation. And I don't think there was ever a time where I was like, that guy's going to be an author. And I think you probably thought the same thing. There were things that I thought you were going to do, like that guy's going to be amazing at whatever he does. But I wasn't ever, oh, he's definitely on a path toward becoming a published author.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

It was something I didn't really realize I liked to do, wanted to do, probably should do until much later in life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah. So you've written three books. Why don't you tell us a little bit about them?

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Yeah. So the first one, how this all started for me was like blogging. And it was really a project. As the story goes, I started my career working at Walt Disney World. And it was this series of starts and stops. And you know, when I graduated undergrad, 9-11 happened like five months later. So that that little season of life at Disney was sort of paused. I left and went to Gaylord, but then came back to Disney and then worked in a couple of different lines of business. And then I decided I wanted to leave and go to graduate school. And then I went to Las Vegas. And then I wanted to go back to Disney. And I was at the time back in 2010, late 2010, early 2011, I was basically pouting. I was in Las Vegas. I got this job at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. And uh my mom went with me to help me move like back out to Vegas. That was my second tour of duty in Vegas or at the win before. But I was just upset because I didn't get these jobs at Disney that I was going for. But I got this great job at the cosmopolitan to be on the opening team as the director of loyalty marketing. And my mom said to me while we're moving into my new apartment, she's like, You're afraid to be successful here. She's like, You have an opportunity to just sort of dig in here and you know make the best of this. You're going to sound like my mom, you're gonna get out of this, what you put into it. And I was like, Oh, and so that all of that to say, during that season of life, I was single opening a brand new hotel in Las Vegas uh for the first time, basically. Uh the first new build in Las Vegas coming out of the next time the world ended in 2008 and 2009 with the financial crisis.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

And all new developments stopped. But then the cosmopolitan was like this first you know, opening, um, brand new build. And I started blogging about it. And I would like blog about things that I was passionate about, about whether it be making magic for people or really leading people in such a way that it would inspire them to want to do more and become more. And so the blogging showed me, like, oh, wait, not only not only am I pretty decent at writing, but like I actually loved it. And I loved the part where you got to inspire and encourage people, where you get feedback coming from people that would read it. And that led me to write my first book, Ball Games to Boardrooms, Leadership, Business, and Life Lessons from Our Coaches. We never knew we needed. So my thought was if I'm always trying to write a book, I wanted to write about something I knew a lot about. And those for me, you know, you you were riding on those high school basketball buses to RAWA games. You were uh on our team, on our staff. You were like what were you like the stats person?

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Oh, yeah, stack, stat keeper. This was my first time using a writing instrument to keep the stats on how many assists you you would get during the game. So it was really fun.

unknown 4:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

So I wrote a book about all those lessons we would learn from our coaches um growing up, and especially growing up where you and I grew up in eastern Kentucky, but how we can apply those lessons today in our lives out here in corporate America. And that was sort of this self-published project. And then I knew I wanted to sort of like do a career switch and get into more of the learning and development. And actually, I wanted to become a keynote speaker, an author speaker, where you'd go and you'd do the speeches, the keynotes to kick off a conference or to wrap up a conference, and then you'd have your books there, and it would be these resources that leaders in these organizations could read and use and use them as ways that they could get better, become the absolute best they could be, just like I would read my favorite author's books, like Mark Sanborn's book, The Fred Factor, and whether it be John Maxwell or Jim Collins or Seth Godin, like I would be so inspired reading those type of books. I'm like, I can do that, and I just wanted to do it. So so I then did a career switch and I worked for a guy who had a little consulting firm that he would do learning and development, live learning experiences, workshops. I had some really cool clients, and then he allowed me while I was working for him to still pursue my own writing. And that's where this passion project that I had lead with hospitality. I always wondered why is it that we love certain leaders more than we do others? Why is it that we want to do more and step up and work harder for some leaders as opposed to others? And the more I would research, the more I realized, man, we really love our favorite leaders for the same reasons. We love our favorite hospitality destinations, our favorite hospitality brands. And that's really where I came up with this whole lead with hospitality, which is just to say, as a leader, whether you're a teacher, professor, coach, a consultant, a ghostwriter like yourself, somebody that has a role in whatever show that you might be in, that you're leading, inspiring, or motivating people, when we bring the same types of characteristics, the same types of skills, the same types of mindsets and especially heart set to leading people as the Disneys of the Worlds, the Marriott's, the Hilton's, the Hyattes, the greatest cruise lines, the way that they bring a sense of hospitality to their guests. It's amazing what happens when we bring that as a leader to our teams. So that allowed me to then caught some eyes of a few different brands. And then that opened opened me up to the opportunity to start my business, Lead with Hospitality LLC, where enough businesses, enough organizations wanted to work with me, learn from me, and they wanted to use my books and my I created leadership development experiences, workshops that go along with my book. Then they wanted me to come in and do leadership development training. And then that's afforded me these last five years, been out here on my own as an entrepreneur, and then give hospitality. It was my my first attempt at writing a business fable on Gordon's books. He wrote the book, The Energy Bus. He actually wrote the foreword to lead with hospitality. So I've seen what he's been able to do. John Gordon, Patrick Lencioni, Bob Berg, and John David Mann wrote the book The Go Giver, which is a fable about a powerful business idea, all about generosity. And so I just had something on my heart where I wanted to create a story of a young up-and-coming female that leaves a toxic job. And stop me if you've heard this one before. A young up-and-coming leader in corporate America that leaves a toxic job. And she goes to work for a more magical place that I've dreamed up in my heart and in my mind called Calvella Resorts. Calvella means summertime in Hawaiian. And so I made it a Hawaiian theme on purpose with a purpose for a purpose. Because the story is about her first two weeks on the job, where she goes to like an orientation program, which I paint the picture of basically what my team and I do at different organizations across the country where we will do our workshops and it'll be very interactive. And it's like Disney and Vegas had a kid, and like that's us, that's our. But I did it on purpose because I'm donating a portion of the proceeds of the book, give hospitality, as well as any keynotes and any um live learning experience programming. I'm donating a portion of those proceeds to the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund to help them rebuild Lahaina Harbor and to help support all the victims that have been displaced and their houses burned down from the wildfires in 2023. So a long-winded way of how it started, why it started, and a little bit about those three books: ball games to boardrooms, lead with hospitality and give hospitality, all available. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and wherever books are sold.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

I love so much about the story. I think for me, I had a very similar experience. My story is about I discovered that I was engaged in a toxic relationship with alcohol and I started blogging about it once I stopped drinking. For me, it served two purposes. One, I really kind of unearthed this shame and guilt that I was feeling that I thought only I, Samantha Perkins, could ever have experienced. And when I wrote about it, I discovered that other people actually were struggling with the same thing. And so, much like you said, that feedback, that immediate feedback on my blog was like life-giving. It was just like a source of inspiration for me that I'd never felt before. And that really got me to continue to write. But when I hired my writing coach, she had been in the business for a long time. She's written a lot of, she's been on the New York Times bestseller list. She lives in LA. She was living the author's dream. And when I started working with her right away, she started teaching me about how you need to use your book for your career, not your book is your career. And I learned that approach. She kind of beat it into my head. I just had this conditioning that your book is kind of like your business card. It will be the thing that will guide you to your desired dream job, essentially. And so I never had any other, she was, I didn't know anything about writing. She was the only person that I'd ever encountered. And so to learn it from her, I just took what she said at face value. Well, then after my book was published, obviously I like you got invitations to do keynote speeches. And suddenly people were hiring me to consult on this and come and talk about this thing. And I was like, wow, she's right. This is cool. But I would be around other authors who didn't take this approach in any way. And I just noticed how like how different the mindset was essentially. Like your book can you? They were just like, oh, my book is not doing anything. My book's not selling, my book's not whatever. Versus for me, I was like, what next job can this book get me? Like what next speaking event can I get from this book? Or what next opportunity? What next person can I meet? It doesn't always mean I was looking for like a paid of trying to capitalize on making a bunch of money, but even just what is the next thing that can come from this? And I know just watching you over the years that this is how it's unraveled for you. And I think it's so cool that you were able to take this. I mean, both of your first two books, they're different in their content, but they still have the same message and that you're able to take it into this, like you said, your own business, basically. Lead with hospitality isn't just a book, it's a business. It's your LLC and it's you, Taylor Scott. And that's just something that I think is so inspiring and really cool. And the fact that you're still writing with Give Hospitality, you're fulfilling both purposes, that writing, writing feeling, and then also that you're the business aspect of it.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah, for sure. I learned I learned that lesson the hard way with because our stories are very similar. Like with ballgames to boardrooms, same thing. Like I hired a book coach because I didn't know at the time I was working at Disneyland. I was leading the sales team at Disney Vacation Club, Disney's version of Timeshare, vacation ownership, Disneyland Resort. So I decided to all of our listeners, I do not recommend. I decided to like move to a we moved from Las Vegas to Southern California. I took a brand new job, I got engaged and decided to write my first book all at the same time. So I was like just full of all of this passion, all this stuff pent up that I just I had, you know how it is. All of us authors that are listening, you know what this feeling is like where you have to get it out.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

I was very like bullish on how well it was gonna do. Ball games boardrooms is gonna change. Like, I was ever the first guy ever to write a book about the lessons we can learn from sports. And what I learned though, shortly that I was I was like a lot of the people that you're talking about, where they're like, man, my book's not doing anything. Well, mine didn't. I would my joke is like League with Hospitality did way better, and there's a reason for that. Um, I actually had a strategy for the messaging around it. I had a stretch strategy for marketing and I had a strategy for the to your book coach's point, I had a strategy for the business that I was going to build from the messages in the book. That was the big learning for me. Ballgames to boardrooms to this day, I believe is the best book I've ever written.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

And it may be the best book I will ever write. And it I believe it is, is because it came right from my heart. I didn't know any better about any of this other stuff. I just wanted to help people. I had in my mind a target market, a target reader of what they probably were going through uh as an up-and-comer, because I my whole thing is I'm 46 years old at the time I was 36. And I'm like, I, and I'm still feel the same way today as I did then, is I just did the next 15 years you're getting ready to do.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

And I just want to help them. I want to help them dodge some of these like frustrations and not feel some of the pain. Like I've been hired and fired more times than I'd love to admit. I have some ways that will help people. So, anyway, my point is ballgames to boardrooms didn't have any learning and development content to go with it. Ballgames to boardrooms really didn't have a well-developed keynote experience with principle, illustration, application. Right. Hey, here's the principle. Like, here are the six virtues of leading with hospitality. Boom, ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom. The way I learned to do keynotes from Mark Sanborn, New York Times bestselling author, I believe the best book besides the Bible ever written, The Fred Factor. He would hire me to go do keynotes on his behalf. Like back in the day before I even really started writing on my own. Um, so he I learned from like one of the best to ever do it in terms of delivering a keynote, not a speech, not a method, but an experience where people are leading. It's like it's like a circle. I'm kind of like that style up there. Well, I didn't have any of that with ballgames and boardrooms. I just thought, cool, let me write the book. Look at this cover. It's so cute. It's the silhouette of me. There's all stories in here. Let's throw it on Amazon. I'll obviously become a New York Times bestselling author. My joke is like 12 people bought it. My mom, my dad, you, you know. Um, but but the difference was is I didn't have a business plan. So that's what I would tell anybody.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

It really but it just comes down to what is your goal with the book? What is your goal with writing? If your goal with writing is to just get your your thoughts down and package it up and just to have something, that's a great goal. Sweet. If your goal is to is to help people, well then challenge yourself. And it's just like starting a business. Like this book is just like if you were going to go out here on the out here in the world and say, I'm going to start a business. What is the purpose of your business? What is the problem it's going to solve? Who's your target customer? In this case, who's your target reader? Um, who will who will pay for your thoughts, your lessons, who will pay for that? Why, why is you, why is your message important? And most importantly, why are you the person to deliver it? And those types of thoughts, that type of exercise, I'm sure you work on that stuff with your clients, that will change your mindset. It will change your approach. And with if you it's the old tat the old cliche, you know, Stephen Covey thing, beginning with the end in mind. So now when you're writing chapter three and chapter four, like when I did lead with hospitality, for example, during the pandemic, it's kind of like a Hail Mary, thank God it was kind of thing. I would be writing it and I would have to stop myself and go, wait, I'm getting too far off the too far off the the purpose here, the message. Let me bring it back because I was thinking about what will be the two-hour learning and development module that one day I'll be able to go do at United Airlines or montage resort in Laguna Beach. And so that will help you with your writing.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. And I think that a lot of the people that I work with are writing more memoir style books. And I think that those can also be a tool for helping connect your clients. Like I think about there's this guy, you might have heard of him. He is running for office here in Kentucky. His name's Charles Booker. He wrote a book and it's kind of like a memoir. His book is called From the Hood to the Holler. I read this as a memoir, and suddenly I'm like, I love this guy. I love what he stands for. I love what he talks about. I love his message in this book. And so now I am a fan of his work, whether that be for him, it was running for office. But that also works, I think, for business owners and entrepreneurs. Like when we get to know you, like you, and trust you, I'm into whatever it is that you're selling because I feel more connected to you. And I feel like I have some sort of like, especially with memoir, like I have some sort of insider scoop, which is always exciting. And so I do think that sharing those personal stories, which I'm sure you do, this is probably part of your keynote preparation. You've got to connect beyond the message before you can get them to listen. We grew up with the idea of don't bring personal into business. Your personal stays at home and your business stays with your business. And while I agree with some of those aspects, I also think that without anything personal, especially for people who are entrepreneurs, then how do we reach, how do we take it beyond just this financial transaction? It's the personal stuff, like for me, like I'm so emotionally invested in this because I want the world to be a better place, you know, and I know you do too. And so it's how do you get comfortable with sharing some of those more vulnerable pieces, especially for you in like a corporate setting where maybe people aren't as used to hearing some stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Yeah, for me, it's a balance. And this is feedback that I got too early on, and I still get it to this day, where people be like, Man, it's a you're you're at your best when you're just like you're you, and we we and I'll give feedback that says, like, like give hospitality for Tim. Like, I wrote this like fable, and I put a lot of heart and soul into it and trying to come up with the characters and a little bit, it wasn't much of an arc, but there's somewhat of an arc. And and I got feedback from like people that I really trust and respect that said, you know what? The best part, bro, is like at the very end when you did the epilogue and the message from Taylor, that that's the part that a lot of people have told me we we kind of want more of that. Yeah, I might have missed that, but I would say, I would share with people a couple things that people told me when I've started. Like my book coach, for example, the very first book, she told me something that it has stuck with me. She goes, and then I have other thoughts on how to build yet, you got to build the credibility first, and you have to be very human with it, or else it's gonna sound like you're just bragging, that you're just sharing your story, and like the reader's gonna be like, Well, why would I why should I care about your story? So I have some answers to that, but I will share everybody. This is like a really important thing. My book coach told me 10 years ago, I don't have her as a coach anymore. And she said, Nobody wants to be told what to do anywhere else than when they're reading a book. So that gave me so much because I was I was hesitant, I still am. I still struggle with being hesitant to be this authoritative, sort of like, I don't want to come across overbearing, I don't want to come across like one of these leaders that I'm trying to inspire people to not be like, but at the same time, there's a balance that if somebody's open to your book and is reading it, right, and they purchased it, then they're they want to know. So, like that's an opportunity for all of us to lean in and be vulnerable. And I'll say it uh, I'm gonna, it's become my brand. It's the subtitle to lead with hospitality, my sort of anchor book, be human, emotionally connect, and serve people selflessly. So that's that's why I love that whole sentiment. That's why I love lead with hospitality, the work that we do. I love lead with hospitality, the concept.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

I love lead with hospitality, the lifestyle, the mindset, the heart set, because it works. Yeah. And here's why. Like when we were getting ready to launch it, and we just hit our five-year anniversary.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

I had a little moment the other night. It was five years on April 27th, 2021. It came out. That was our pub pub date. And I was like, man, I didn't really five years. But I remember shortly before it came out, it was everybody listening knows this feeling where it's like, you know, it's not really in print yet. And you're putting the final touches on the drafts and everything. And my publisher called me. And at the time, I was, I'm still, I was still new. So like my subtitle was like a paragraph. In a world of blah blah blah blah. And this is like during the throes of the pandemic, my dude. And he calls me Matt Holt. He Matt Holt's my publisher. He called me. He's like, What are we going to do with the subtitle, man? I'm like, oh no, bro, you tell me you're the editor. And he's like, well, no, what do you want people to know? He's like, what do you want people to know when they see lead with hospitality? What do you want people to know that's in this book? Like, what do you want people to walk away with if there's like one thing, two things, three things? When they read it, what do you want them to be able to do? I'm like, I don't know, man. I've just been out here for like 20 years working for some great leaders, some really crappy leaders, and a lot of leaders in between. And I tell you, man, like the best leaders I've ever had, they were human. They emotionally connected with me and they emotionally connected me to the brand. And they just served me, man. They just served me like selflessly with like no seemingly like no agenda of their own. They wanted the best for me. He's like, nice talking to you. Appreciate it, man. I think we got it. And that's how we landed with be human, emotionally connect, and serve selflessly. So, all of that to say, for anybody listening that's that's trying to figure out your message or how to relate or how to resonate with an audience in a keynote or a reader in of your books, is this balance of the one thing we all have in common. And I say this all the time when I'm out here doing my stuff and we're from eastern Kentucky, whereas a lot of white people, but then those of us that have had a chance to travel a little bit and get around, and we learn so many different perspectives and so many different, you know, things that we can learn from people that grew up differently than we did, that look differently than we do, whether it be race, religion, they come from different parts of the world. And for me, working in hospitality, that's been my favorite, one of my favorite things about this whole journey is whether I'm in a Walt Disney World or Disneyland or Wynn, Las Vegas or the cosmopolitan Las Vegas, I'm sitting right now in Los Angeles, California. It's like we got black people, white people, Latina people, Latino people, Asian people, Asian American people, Indian people, Native American people, gay people, straight people, transgender people, baby boomer people, Gen X people, Gen Y people, Gen Z people, one thing we all have in common is we're all people. We're all human beings. So what I've found is that when you get up and either write that chapter or write that blog or say that thing, if you can just be human and say, I got some stories, I know you got some stories, and let me tell you a couple and include the parts where we messed up. I'll say that up there, and it'll draw people in. And it's say, here's why, like I share that story is because of this principle. And I wish I knew this principle that I'm getting ready to share with you then, because if I knew that then, I wouldn't have had this frustration or this heartbreak. And here's why I'm sharing, and you can just feel the room leaning in.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

And you can feel it. I'm sure you feel the same when you're writing it, you're like, you hit you, everybody knows this. Listen, you hit that groove and you're just like, Yeah, this one's gonna, this one's gonna be the thing. Like this paragraph, this page, this chapter will be the one, and it's there's no other feeling like it because you know it's gonna help somebody. Yeah, that's the balance, though, of you gotta be human. We're all not like perfect, nobody is, there's only one Oprah, there's only one Robbins, and we ain't that, or else we put in your heaven, no offense to either of us, you know. Um, but that's the balance is if you can be human, emotionally connect with people on that human level, and then just give. That's why I love the give hospitality sentiment. That's another thing that I've found is like whether be the best leaders, the best coaches, the best friends, the best family members, the best co-workers, they're the ones, the best, the the people that you're you meet on the airplane, that you meet like you're you're walking around when you're when you're going out to dinner, the best servers, the best, the best hosts and hostess, they're generous.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Generous with their time, they're generous with their talent, and they're generous with their heart. And those are the things that people um I have found that they appreciate the most and that really will set you apart. The challenge is there's not many people out here doing it that way. There's just not because it is harder, it does take longer, and then and you'll run into times where unfortunately, whether it's clients or prospective clients or even readers or customers or consumers, whomever they may be, they don't all admit that is the thing that is resonating with them at the time. But what I've found is that's not that doesn't mean we should stop giving. That doesn't mean we should stop being human. Because we all know we've had those moments when it does work. It's like you forget about the 15 that just slammed the door in your face, the people that either didn't write back, didn't give the feedback, or maybe they had a bad review. You forget about those because you know your message was right, because it came from your heart and you know it was going to help somebody, and you got that one or two back where where it really, it really was that magical connection.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Yeah. I think that when people hear, you know, give hospitality, especially right now when everyone just feels completely overburdened that they hear do more and or I have nothing left to give because I'm already so exhausted with blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all these things. And I know for me, it's easier to lead from a place where you are giving. I always tell my clients, and as an entrepreneur, we were talking about this before, like I try to do probably the best work I've ever done. I mean, I have the highest expectations for myself. So I always say that I um undercharge and way over deliver. And I'm trying to get to a better place of balance for that because I'll work endlessly on something that most people in my position would have spent an hour on. I'm spending five hours on it. And it's just because I really want both I want it to be good for the other person. I want what I'm producing to be good. And so I think that sometimes for me, I like I get so much from giving. And so it's it isn't what people think, like, oh, this is an extra thing. Now you want me to add this to my plate and add this to my plate by by being this type of leader. When really I think it's it's about when when we're giving generously, we're also getting back. And the getting back is what is the gas in the tank. I guess we're getting giving the next time around. And I'm sure that's what you're talking about on a regular basis. But I know for me, it's worth it to try to connect on that emotional level and to give everything that I can in the opportunity that I have in front of me.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Absolutely. Yeah, there's research out there I learned that there's a reason this stuff is a thing.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

That when we when we give, when we are generous, when whether it be your time, your talent, your your heart, your money, there's chemicals that go off in our brains.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

That are the same chemicals that are the joy and the, you know, that it's literally the same type of thing. And that's what that's what was really eye-opening for me. And it goes back. I mean, it's there's also probably a reason why there's a very famous book, Everything I Needed to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten, kind of thing. I'm I'm lucky enough that my mother was my kindergarten teacher. And every time I can look back over 25 years, it's crazy. I I got out of undergrad in 2001, 25 years ago. And every stop along the way, you know, Orlando, different things, Southern California, Vegas. I'd call my mom after work and during work and be frustrated. And there's so many times over the years that she said, it sounds like somebody needs to take the focus off themselves and put it on other people. She's been correct every single time.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

And so that's where the give hospitality thing really for me has always been there on my heart, and it can't culminate it with like what I thought was a pretty good story I wrote. You know, give hospitality of summer grace is her name. And she goes, and the the culture of Calvella Resorts, being a Hawaiian, it was all on purpose. Um, it follows the spirit of Aloha. If you don't know anything about Hawaii or the aloha spirit, excuse me, it's just it's more than just a greeting, it's a way of being, it's a way of life. And there's an A-word, uh, an L word, an O word, an H word, and an A word, aloha in Hawaiian that means that has meaning, right? And it literally means compassion, kindness, encouragement, hospitality, and this humble leadership. That's why I did the Hawaiian thing. So, like for me, giving hospitality is like give compassion, give encouragement, give kindness to people, give this sense of hospitality where you're I'm here, I'm here for for for what you need right now. I'm not worried about what I need to do later, but for right now, this moment's I'm here for you. And then leading people in a way that you are. You're you're you're sharing them the the some of your stories, some of your lessons that you've learned so that they have a smoother path in the future. I love this this quote. I use it in all my stuff. It's good for authors. Morgan Harper Nichols, a Christian contemporary musician. It says, tell the story of the mountain that you've climbed. Because it could be a page in somebody else's survival guide.

SPEAKER_00 32:35

Yeah. But we do. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

But we do as like authors and uh speakers and consultants and facilitators of whatever kind of experience, learning experience it may be, leadership, hospitality, writing, or or or otherwise, is is we'd love to do that. We love to help people with their their survival guide going forward.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

That's right. That's awesome. So, Taylor, how can people learn? I guess your books are online everywhere you buy books. Am I right about that? Yes. And you still have a website, Lead with Hospitality. I'm gonna link it in the show notes for people to be able to find it and find you. And um, you're traveling the country to offering consulting to corporations, but also I'm assuming smaller businesses, large businesses on every scale.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Absolutely. Yeah, leadwithhospitality.com. Um, there's more information on me, our books, all of our learning experiences that we have. And yeah, I work with Fortune 100 companies, Fortune 200 companies, uh, smaller organizations, uh, both in the hospitality industry and hospitality adjacent industries, if you will. Um, I did my graduate work at the Cornell Hotel School. So I go back there five or six times a year and I work with the team. There's a hotel there on campus, the Scotland, and I gifted all of my stuff, all of my content, all of my resources. I send them boxes upon boxes upon boxes of books all the time. And we that so students will work in the hotel. There's also full-time people that work at the hotel as well. So I go up there five or six times a year and I give all my stuff and I spend some time with the students and the leaders there. Also, for the last five years, we've been working with United Airlines all around their multiple different lines of business that they have. We just wrapped up a five-year program with them, different hotels, highgate hotels, choice hotels. And we're we're we've begun working with sports teams. A couple months ago, I worked with, I went and did my whole lead with hospitality message for monumental sports in Washington, D.C. They own the Washington Wizards NBA team, Washington Capitals hockey team, Washington Mystiques, Mystics WNBA team, and then the Capital One arena. We're this hot trend right now with sports is these arenas and these sports teams are upping their hospitality game. Um, we're we're slowly but surely starting to speak with more teams and more arenas out here. So, yeah, we're definitely we're definitely still out here doing our thing. And I look forward to connecting with anybody who would like to learn more. And and congratulations to you and all you're doing and have done with your work, and congrats to all the listeners here on all the work that you're doing and writing and giving to the world. The beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Yeah, and same to you. Congratulations to you on everything you've done. And our listeners, when they're out traveling and they go to a place that they really enjoy, they probably can thank you for that. So um, thanks for coming on. This has been a great conversation. And um, I hope our listeners will check out all of your books, especially if you're in a leader. And leader doesn't mean necessarily I've I've read Taylor's books, and it doesn't mean the leader of a huge company. If you're a principal or if you're the leader of a PTA, you're gonna benefit from this. So definitely buy the book, check it out, leave him a review, and follow him on social media so that he can feel the love. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Thank you.