Episode 2: After Hours with JP and Crystal

Episode 2 is here! AMAC LA Chapter President, Martha Valenzuela, and Vice President of Programs, Ravi Singh, recorded a late session of AMAC LA's hot podcast and somehow kept their energy up due to great guests!

One of our favorite parts of launching the AMAC LA Podcast has been capturing conversations that probably wouldn't happen in a formal conference room.

After a long day at the AMAC National Business Conference—and following an evening of networking at our hospitality reception—we convinced two incredible leaders to sit down with us in a relaxed, unscripted setting.

This episode features Jean Pierre Tabet of Los Angeles World Airports and Crystal Lee, former LAWA executive and now City Engineer for the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering.

Together, we talk about their unique career journeys, what it really takes to deliver world-class airport infrastructure while continually improving the passenger experience, the exciting opportunities ahead across the region, and the importance of creating pathways for the next generation of aviation and infrastructure professionals.

What makes this conversation special isn't just the projects—it’s hearing two authentic leaders share the lessons they've learned, the challenges they've faced, and the advice they wish someone had given them earlier in their careers.

Whether you're an established industry professional or just beginning your journey, there's something in this episode for everyone.

Thank you, JP and Crystal, for ending a very long day by spending time with us and sharing your experiences with the AMAC community.

Episode 2 is available now. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it.

#AMAC #AMACLA #Podcast #Aviation #Infrastructure #Leadership #Mentorship #LosAngelesWorldAirports #LAWA #CityOfLosAngeles #Engineering #PassengerExperience #EmergingLeaders

Learn about AMAC, click the link: https://www.amac-org.com/

Join the AMAC LA Chapter: https://www.amac-org.com/los-angeles/

Reach out to the podcast hosts: 

Martha Valenzuela, AMAC LA President: mvalenzuela@moderntimesinc.com

Ravi Singh, AMAC LA VP of Programs: rhsingh@pbsengineers.com

Listen to our podcast on the podcast platform of your choice! Available on Apple, Spotify, Buzzsprout, and more!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to AMAC LA's podcast series, Access Granted, Runways and Roadways. We continued with another episode that was recorded at AMAC's National Business Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, this time featuring two guests, both from Los Angeles World Airports. Jean-Pierre Tibet, who's a deputy executive director for commercial development, and Crystal Lee, formerly of Lala. She's now the Bureau of Engineering City Engineer for the City of Los Angeles. So we all applaud Crystal in her next chapter, and we look forward to the many accomplishments ahead of her. So enjoy the episode. Great discussion. And we really appreciate JP and Crystal Lee hanging in there. Let's get to the episode. We're on a marathon here. Four podcasts in a row. Usually I'm just dead tired talking this much. But those that know me, I continue to just keep talking and my wife just tries to shut me off. It doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

So Access Granted.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

A Mac LA. We're at uh A Mac National Business Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, the DMV. That's DC, Maryland, and Virginia. For those that don't know, uh, you should know. So anyway, so we're here. Access granted, runways and roadways. We are at the podcast series here, launching it here live. We've got Martha Valenzuela, our president of the A Mac LA chapter, and me, Comic Relief.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Ravi. Yeah, Ravi of Programs bringing all the people together.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

And you'll get our names when we do the music intro and stuff like that. Don't worry about that. You know, you don't need to worry about me. But we've got two amazing guests and biased right here for me, and probably Martha too, right? Our LA X friends. We got JP and Crystal Lee. Yeah, that's amazing. You guys go ahead. We're in. We're in. Like, welcome to the table, Crystal Lee.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

Hey, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Welcome to the table, JP.

SPEAKER_05 2:05

Yeah, and same for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. And then um, well, what's JP stand for?

SPEAKER_05 2:10

JP stands for Jean-Pierre.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Oh, God, I wish I had a name. Jean-Pierre. But never I didn't curse because that I almost did. But I can never have a good name like that. That's amazing. Jean-Pierre. I asked my wife if I actually had a different accent. Would she have, you know, if I had a French accent, would she have fallen in love with me quicker? She said yes.

SPEAKER_05 2:32

I'm kind of speechless. That's amazing. That's funny.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

But she said the Jersey accent was good enough.

SPEAKER_05 2:39

That is definitely good. But fact, I'm not French. Oh, you're not from history. Um, I was I was born in Beirut, so I'm German Lebanese. Lebanese German, especially.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

No, see? That's the the obnoxiousness of a Jersey guy. Of a Jersey guy. My God, my bad, my bad, JP. All right. And that's recorded. That sucks. That's great, though.

SPEAKER_04 2:58

That is good. This is good.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

So we gotta bring the LAX people um uh late night, right? So we've got the late night crew here because we know LAX can handle that. So let's launch into it, Smartha. Let's do it. It's all you.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

So I'm gonna start with JP. Um, I know JP, there's a lot going on at LAX. And when most people are walking through an airport, they see restaurants, they see retail locations, but behind the scenes there's an uh an entire strategy really um that's shaping the passenger experience and partnerships and revenue and airport identity, if you will. Um give us a sense of the scale and vision behind the commercial development at LAX right now and bringing LA into LAX.

SPEAKER_05 3:44

Well, there's a lot going on as we as you so rightly said, with uh over 24 gates down, um, a terminal just recently closed, another one under construction, uh, a third one being refreshed, um, others are in planning, so there's a lot going on to support the development of the passenger experience. We all know that the passenger is relying on a functioning airport. So it's they take it for granted that the operational side is covered. That's it. So we're working on the entire curb to gate experience actually prior to the curb as you enter the airport, so to make it easier, more accessible. Um in terms of the experience, we had let's say older assets which we are now upgrading and renovating and bringing up to standard, bringing up to speed. Um, LA as a city is amazing. Um ditto. I do come from the DMV. Um just just moved to LA. Um exactly. So I'm just gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Just let everybody know that not the actual car place DMV licensing. Exactly from because we totally look at DP differently.

SPEAKER_05 4:41

Maryland, Virginia. So I'm just a new transplant to LA from Virginia, from Northern Virginia. LA, okay. Um I've worked on let's say airport projects here in the on the more on the east coast, and we're bringing LA back into LAX. As I said, LA has so much to offer, and what we want is that when people are at the airport, they know they are in Los Angeles, and they are not anywhere, you know, when on transfers, on departures, on arrivals, they experience the the the West Coast, the beach, the life, the the attitude that we have on the on the West Coast, and we want to transmit that through the concessions program, through the arts program, through the experience that we're going to be providing, through concessions, through the various programs that we are building.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I can't first of all wait picks up the California accent. You mean like five years and he'll be like that. Oh my god, that's one of five is so not cool.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Don't ever do that, JP.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

We're not we're not separating live, but it's actually.

SPEAKER_05 5:47

I admit defeat already now.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

But crystal, crystal, crystal Lee, you you've been you've been LA for a long time. Long time. And I mean, you we can call you Miss LA. I know your Bay Area. Your Bay Area, you're California native. Yeah, NorCal. So uh, I mean, you've seen a lot like in different areas. You're not just this isn't for those that have met Crystal Lee recently, she's not just uh LAX. No, she's she's done it all in the city of LA.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

So it combines a little bit of the technical excellence and experience and then strategic vision and mentorship and people centered. I know we wanted you at AMAC LA, you were nominated for an award. Boop whoop.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Oh, where's that applause button? There it is.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

But from your engineering and development um services and background, definitely full package, I would agree, Ravi.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Oh man, thank you guys. That's really it's okay, drinks are on you. So you guys to say.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah. So how about okay, so you you've seen quite a bit. I know. Um let's first of all, let's just pause for a second. Like, what's your current role at LEX or LAWA?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Currently I'm the deck deputy executive director in the airport development group, uh, overseeing a lot of development services and environmental services. But uh my role will slowly be changing soon.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

But before that, you were you weren't always airport, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:13

No, I've only been in aviation for two and a half years. Wow. Short time. Uh big impact. I've been an engineer for over 20 years. Uh started at Harbor Department, and it's been a whirlwind.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Harbor Department. So that's all the ports. Port of LA.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Port of Los Angeles, very industrial, very amazing, heavy civil, like as a civil dreams. I'm building big things. Uh went to public works, had an amazing time there, learned a lot about wastewater, like definitely not sexy.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

How did you end up in this career? How did your like what what life trajectory changes? How did you end up? Like, did you wake up knowing you wanted to be an engineer?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

No. I I liked math and art and just went in a direction that brought me to a school that was good at bringing people up. I went to UCI. They had a solid civil path. And then I actually transferred to Cal State Long Beach. Okay. And then went to LMU. So of those three schools, the the theologies and the mentality of all three gave me a wide perspective. This nice theoretical, hands-on, very professional. Like these three groupings made a total difference in the way that I perceived profession. Which is different than if you just went to one.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

One, right, right. The perspective and the changes of wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

That's interesting too. I mean, because it I think you both have similar experiences in terms of JP. You're not, this wasn't like a traditional path, like, yeah, I'm going to aviation. This is it. I'm waking up, done. I'm an aviation guy.

SPEAKER_04 8:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

So what about yourself, JP? Like what was your career path in terms of just getting into where you're at today?

SPEAKER_05 9:00

Well, okay. As every young boy, I wanted to become a pilot. Oh, that's precious.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

I actually wanted to be a WAF wrestling.

SPEAKER_05 9:07

Yeah, so and so I did the next best thing, and I went into engineering. I did aeronautical engineering, actually relating to aviation, development of um, let's say aircraft and aircraft components. Um, but I was also wanting to move abroad. So my family um had lived in multiple countries, my parents had been expats. So I wanted to live that similar expat life. So I started you know looking around. It wasn't up through planning, it was maybe through luck that I wound up then working for a major European airport operator, and that's where I might gain my aviation experience. And with that air at that with that airport operator, um, I went abroad, worked in different um in different functions at different airports, and that is actually what ultimately brought me into the US, into Pittsburgh in all place of all places. Oh wow, Steel City. And uh Steel City, so Steelers Forever. No, no, no, no. We got Eagles over here, 49ers over there, Cardinals over here. So it was it was a combination of I'm not gonna say planning, being in the right place at the right time, and it's honestly it it worked out, and I love what I do. Um managing concessions and non-aviation revenues, and it's exciting. There's not a single day that's you know similar to the other.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

But concessions are it's very specific. So how how did you fall into the concession space?

SPEAKER_05 10:28

How if it's it's a good question. Um, see when I started with that airport operator, I was looking, I was working more with the MA P3s, P3 models. Um I worked on an RFP, which we won. Nice while we had the operations expert, the financial experts, the development experts, they didn't have a concessions guy. So here comes JP. And um I was lucky to have gotten that um that position, and um I started basically learning and um seeing how it's the best way to do RFPs. And I have to admit, I like shopping, so I do know brands. Retail therapy, so the retail the retail aspect is there. So and that's how I started a long time ago, back in 2005, and I've been doing it since.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

So how how I mean we've got pastures everywhere, right? They're coming in and out. The uh oh my god, the numbers are just up, down, and they have all these different needs. Yes, it's like kids. Um so how do you make that concession side unique? How do you keep ahead of everything? Like what what what's that that that one thing or a few things that you're looking at? That's critical. Oh, Crystal.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

I'm gonna say that JP's perspective is absolutely amazing. He came from the outside and he's looking in and looking at how we're doing things and just seeing how we can do things differently and what we're doing right and doing wrong. Right. Um, really trying to analyze how we can do better. I'll give him the floor, but that is something I totally appreciate about him.

SPEAKER_05 11:57

Thank you, Crystal. Greatly appreciate that. I must I must admit that. Um we want to be different. You know, we want to we are a unique airport. We're an iconic airport. We have an iconic and unique destination. I'm using the same word every time.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

I don't even know how many airports have been in more movies than LA. None, right. None. None.

SPEAKER_05 12:16

So so and we have so we have a lot a lot of things to offer through our cuisine, through our products. And why do we want to replicate something that is maybe hot in New York? You know, we are in LA, we have our own stuff, and this is what we need to get into the into the airport. So we ful I fully support, you know, uh our CEO's vision, John, with you know bringing LA into LAX because we can do it. Um there are some uh aspects, some challenges that we have to overcome being where we are in, you know, in on the West Coast with with costs and and and things like that. But I think we can I strongly believe that with um not necessarily incentives, but with progressive uh agreements and contractual models, we can make it work. And so this is what we're trying to do.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

So I'm sure you guys feel a lot of you know, hey, I've got this idea, I've got this idea from just people on the outside. Uh JP, for you, for the concession side, how do you kind of prior like really navigate all that? And like, okay, what do I want to do? What do I want to bring in to make us different, make us keep us unique, keep us LAX unique.

SPEAKER_05 13:21

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

I mean, that's that's a tough because you're I'm sure you get thrown a lot of ideas.

SPEAKER_05 13:26

Yeah, I mean, there's a I mean there's a lot of things out there, but ultimately we have obviously have to see not what we like, but what the passenger wants. So obviously we have to rely also on data.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Do you guys do a lot of training for that data, or how do you get that?

SPEAKER_05 13:38

We kind of do, yeah, we do. We should be doing more. Um but we do. And you know, uh a passenger traveling is different than a potential passenger in town. So so what we need, we have to be fast. Um we have to provide the right stuff. People from outside of LA may not know the LA brands, so we have to have a combination of everything. And on that is what we are trying to do. So obviously, um the national brands are there, they have to be there. They're they're drivers, they bring in you know the sales. But we obviously would like to go more with sort of local. There's so many strong local brands that oh yeah, that's great to hear that. And especially in in LA, that's so many goods. That will do well at an airport environment, and this is what we're trying to support.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Local and the cultural ones as well, right? It's like the local LA brand. You got so many different folks coming in, international folks coming in. LA X. It's like, okay, we're not just catering to the the guy from Jersey. But uh, you know, we don't want cheesesteaks, we want something different. We want folks from Asia, Middle East, yeah, Europe, they're from everywhere, Australia, New Zealand, let's not forget those guys. It's it's a struggle, it's a battle. But they all love cheesesteaks. But they all love cheeseates, they do love cheesesteaks, yeah. But I mean, even the vegans, so speaking from our wife, the pescatarians. Like, it's your wife a vegan, bro? She's a pescatarian. Oh, okay, okay. I always say I always say pescatarian if she goes to church, pescatarian church, but I'm just kidding. Uh but that to me, like that keeps that would keep me up at night. Like, how do I keep this fresh? Like, all these people. I mean, people got to remember this isn't like a little regional tiny airport. This is LAX.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

This is Los Angeles, California.

SPEAKER_05 15:14

But you are right, you are extremely right. The thing is how to keep it fresh and actual. Because you know, brands come and go. Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Um funding comes and goes. Funding comes and goes.

SPEAKER_05 15:25

Potential operators have a different perspective to certain things than we do in terms of certain people maybe looking for the bottom line. We're looking at the passenger experience and providing the service. So there is a constant, constant, not a battle, but a constant cooperation on how we can keep these things um fresh. Ultimately, we may have to do it contractually, but most of the time I think we have good partnerships so we can progress.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

And that's a huge impact in terms of community, right? With the concessionary side and then folks coming in and out of the airport. But then let's pivot to the crystal side on the sustainability, environmental, and everything else that you're involved with. But there's some I'm gonna hit the small business stuff too. But how do you also, when we're trying to bring in different businesses on the concessionaire side, different ideas for the airport, the design, and you know, kind of meeting all the pasture expectations, also hitting that sustainability goal, that target?

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Yeah, that's something we've actually really been trying to target. We've identified a core group of concessionaires that are giving us great feedback. We have a quarterly feedback loop where we're asking about what would happen if we implemented a sustainability policy. How would that impact you? Would it be financial? Would it be operational? I want to understand truly because I don't know from their perspective what that means to me, but I do know that we are all driving in the same direction and they're all on board, as far as I understand. And these quarterly meetings are really getting us on the same page, which is very nice. I want to see more impact. I want to see more participation. We see big groups where I I've heard from a couple people today, actually at AMAC, that they want to be part of these conversations too. So I'm I'm very welcoming to bringing them in. And this is what this forum is. It's amazing. I'm so glad they're bringing it up, but I want to hear their feedback too. What would this impact look like? Yeah. And I'm not impacting, or I'm not gonna implement anything that's going to be policy-driven until I get that feedback because it is it's so important to have their voice as part of that decision.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

And thank you, Ravi, for transitioning to Crystal because I do want to talk about breaking barriers and leadership, and specifically with you becoming the first female district engineer and one of the youngest female deputy city engineers, what did that journey teach you? And what did that look like for you? And how did you navigate the environment? Like, I'm so inspired, and I have so many questions. But like, what did that look like to navigate those environments and where you may have had to have to prove yourself differently from others, right? And what leadership qualities helped you really hone into that and like wake people up to your greatness?

SPEAKER_01 18:15

And you can't just say piece, it was piece of cake, it's all good.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Yeah, no, you can't just say that because when I really started, like, unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to really get to know Crystal, like on a personal, uh, intimate level, if you will. But when I started researching you and like your bio and your background, I was like blown away. Like, this is so impressive.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

And it's it's not even that. We're we traveled here on the same flight. This person was taking a photo of the recycling of boxes of LX code. I'm like, what are you doing? Can we just board the plane? She's like, no, hold on.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

She's like, no, I'm providing feedback to the team that needs to improve this. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

And that's that's that's that deserves an applaud. It's folks like JP and Crystal and others that have that mentality of like we gotta keep, let's keep going. It's not just like clock in, clock out, like Fred Flintstone, you know.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Right, right. I speak uh if I need to, for my cohorts, Arcel. We all want the best for the agency, for LAX, for LAWA, for everything, um, as a representative of some minorities. Right. Uh, yes, I was the first Harbor District Engineer female. Uh there's, you know, even in college, I was maybe like the only female in my class, blah, blah, blah. It was a lot. And I even got blamed for cheating because I was getting good grades. It was like very not understand the Asian culture that we did.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

They did not understand. They did not understand. I felt that way with Dr. Rita, and she was like, my Nigerian family, everybody's doctors, and they frowned upon her for pursuing transportation.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Yeah, there was a concern that because I could do some basic calculations, I was cheating in some way. Yeah, not in on their realm. I'm like, okay, well. And then it turned out I didn't get the same information they did, and they actually had more information. It's irrelevant. But it just college was weird, and people perceive me as um You were a unicorn. I was just a human moving through life. Yeah. As far as I was concerned. Right. I was, you know, vice president of AACE. I was doing things, but yeah, I was kind of the only one of my kind. Yeah. That's why I say unicorn. It moved through.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Um Yeah, but did you have struggles where you're like, uh do I belong here? Or were you like, you know what? I belong here.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Constant imposter syndrome for the first nine years or so. Um I'm so sorry. No, don't be sorry. I actually think that that was my growth. Yeah. That was exactly how I grew. I understood what I needed to do and why I was not where everyone else was, where I met their thought. And I had one supervisor come to me and she said, Crystal, you're very passionate. She meant to say it's overreacting, girl.

SPEAKER_03 21:09

I've been called aggressive, all the things other than being a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

It was a nice callout. And that honestly hit me for the last 20 years. I've been reliving that and revisiting that and honing it for that 20 years, which saw me through this vision of who I am today, I think. Yeah. Um, but I have also excelled at it at a weird rate.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Yeah, I think that's that's part of that that imposter syndrome where everybody's like, oh, it's miserable. Like I actually embrace it.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

It's in you have to.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Screw it. I belong here. That imposter syndrome is gonna keep you driving.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

So took me a second.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yeah, it's impressive. JP, how about yourself? When you you were jumping into your career back in the uh your nice youngers, nice young days, and that well, you still have hair looking at your hair like in like when you The hair is fabulous.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Fabulous hair. Fabulous. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

We're not doing a video podcast for a reason, folks. Because I don't want anybody to see my bald head.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

Ravi had to talk me out of it. I'll just be honest. I'm like, we can record. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

How about? So what what was your were there moments that you also kind of doubted yourself? I mean, you're uh, you know.

SPEAKER_05 22:22

I mean, honestly, yeah, yeah, actually during college, I wasn't sure that what I was studying was actually what I wanted to study, you know? You have those. But then I, you know, I just pulled it through and um started with engineering. And but I realized I may not be the engineer that I maybe need to be or want to be. I just talked too much for that. I got the conclusions far too fast. So sometimes that's good though, trusting your gut instinct and just move in. So I pivoted and um I mean everyone has its, you know, has its pros and cons and and days, but ultimately I think I've just had uh lots of luck on my side and uh and support from the industry, from colleagues, from from from partners, and uh I I grew into it and I just love it. I'm I'm very passionate about what I do. Um I'm vocal about it. People say sometimes this may be rude, but actually I just like what I do.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

I love that. JP's not rude at all. It's not rude at all. And I'm so curious, like, how much uh psychology and customer experience goes into the airport concessions strategy? Like, how much of like what's weighed?

SPEAKER_01 23:29

How what helps you determine you're talking about like, oh, I like the color green.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Right. Like the psychology behind it all of you know interesting. For example, like when you check out every time I go into Costco, I'm intending to buy one thing. Oh, and I always walk out spending way more than what I intended to because they put all the things at the front.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

I do the same thing when I walk through.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

So I'm not five. I have to be honest. So there's a psychology behind that, right?

SPEAKER_05 23:56

We do work together with the operators who have, and coming back to data, so they have the analysis, they have the data, they know exactly how the people walk through the stores. Um, so what we're trying to do is we have obviously as a as a traveler, you have the hierarchy of needs. You know, you go through uh security, first thing you may need is a bathroom, and then second thing you may need a convenience, and then you need some food. If you have, let's say, additional space, we might think of adding some additional specialty retail in in in locations where you have the most footfall. And if we do have even more space, then we start start supporting with additional services, you know, like massage and air blowouts and things like that. So it all depends on the space availability on and on the passenger flow. Okay. So this is what we sort of try to look for. And within the, let's say, certain category, there is coming back to what to what you need, depending on the peak, you know, how our passenger segment is spread through the day. We have to cover all day parts. So at many airports you have a very strong morning. So you need a coffee, you have a very strong afternoon, you need your bar, you need your food. So we're looking at you know, wherever it's possible, whether we can do uh multiple day parts, where you can you know, start with a coffee, maybe with a smoothie and then spike it in the afternoon. Well, I don't have a 7 a.m. at the airport, you can always have a directly. So keep in mind that however airports are different than shopping malls or downtown retail, it becomes so expensive in terms of location to build at. And space is very, very constrained. So we really have to focus on what, according to the hierarchy of needs, what are the top priorities the customer may need to have that and maintain that happy customer. So that is sort of our our focus. Specifically back, let's say on the East Coast, sorry, uh West Coast. Um sorry to say that. We're we are here now, exactly. Uh the costs are high. We have an expensive, very tight labor market. In other places, uh obviously building out a unit is less costly. You may want to build more and bigger facilities, but we have to be operationally efficient and we have to work along that along those lines as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

And those are the things uh that kind of cause those or present really those challenges on bringing even more local small business concessionaires into the space. Yeah, sure, it sounds great, easy, right? Hey, bring them in. Oh yeah. Oh well, there's no, oh yeah, we didn't think about what goes into all that, how to make that possible, and also make it possible for them to succeed. Because if you you could say bring them in, but then they could fail. Right. That doesn't really help them. Puts them out of business, possibly.

SPEAKER_04 26:22

Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

So even for me, as just I'm putting myself in a pastor role, right? Um, not anything to do with airports that come in, I'm like, well, why are you not bringing in over, you know, our local Mickey Zelly from Harmost, bring them in here, you know? It's like, well, it's not that easy. There's there's a lot of cost coming from that.

SPEAKER_05 26:39

Yeah, cost and look, you know, complicated logistics. So post security.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Well, my daughter does want, can you we do want Chipotle? And uh I'm just that's what she asked for. I'm like, that's not local, that's natural. We're not good at Chipotle.

SPEAKER_03 26:53

Yeah, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Shout out to Chipotle if you want to if you want to sponsor. We call it Chipotle. Chapoodle. But it is a challenge, and that's interesting to hear. Um, you know, it's not just like bring them all in, let's go. Like, yeah, in a great world and where everything happens, like that would be wonderful.

SPEAKER_05 27:09

But there's a lot of there are many examples of smaller local companies that have succeeded, and it's getting more and more, and we are very, very supportive. Um, so we start with let's say preliminary, let's say incubator program. Um, and as people go I love the idea of that. Um it's just to give you an idea of the complex logistics that you have at any airport. It's different than opening a store at 11 and closing at 7 p.m.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Very good.

SPEAKER_05 27:31

Uh where you have, let's say, a set menu that works for that period of time. We have to, as I said, cater for all day parts. So you start with a coffee, you flip to let's say lunch, you go to alcohol in the afternoon, um, you have to maintain those um, you know, services for the angry customers that missed their flight or they have a flight delay. They know you're right. So so with that said, you have to stay open um to cater for those passengers. So it's it's it's um it's a stress factor for let's say employees and for the for the for the operators. But we like to cooperate. Uh in other instances, we have provided training. We have in other instances um prior to me joining Lawa thought of even financial support through let's say cheaper loans. Um maybe more difficult for a government entity, for a private company, it's a little bit easier. So there are uh means and ways to support uh let's say smaller um operators um and being quite honest, as as as you mentioned, that it it's a different setting. It's different, it's more difficult. It's uh but we're gonna work it together, and it is possible, but it's totally different, and you have to be aware of it.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Yeah. I think that's half the battle is being aware of it and figuring out the dichotomy of all of the different nuances that you just mentioned. Where does it fit?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Correct. Well, we got a couple minutes left, uh, because you know, we have so we want to talk about some opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

LAX is how many billions of we just reposted something that Crystal posted and Lava posted the environmental.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

And they they talk about other airports say, Oh, you got a billion-dollar program, like, well, you know, LAX has a 30 billion or something like that, like crazy program. But and it's really transforming. And it's great to see the effort from folks like Crystal and JP and all their other colleagues on getting small businesses in, diversifying Matox, multiple word task order contracts for those that are not familiar with that term. Um, Crystal, you've got an environmental Hytox.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

I I first want to thank uh JP for joining Super Last Minute. I just put him on the spot and brought him in for he's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

If he put me if he put me last minute, I would like to. I agree with Crystal on the last minute edition.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

He is our commercial development representative that is taking the lead and taking charge, honestly, of a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

And Mark Frank also procurement.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Although let's just tell Mark together the Mets suck. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 30:09

Mark is here, right? I understand he's here, but he's not I did message him because when I said the I thought I saw him say he was supporting something with Robert Roblox.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

Supporting.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

After we're done recording here, we'll go search for Mark.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

But he might not be here. Uh Loa, Los Angeles World Airports, uh, ADG Airport Development Group has an environmental May Talk out. And the current uh it's open right now, but we also have an event happening June 23rd.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

At the Flight Path.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

At Flight Path.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Flight Path Museum.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

1 p.m. It will be an event. It will be amazing for both an explanation of what the procurement is and an opportunity for primes and subs to join up and have a connection. We plan on facilitating that and having some snacks, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Um what's great about those? You guys do a great job of having those outreach events. And shame on the folks that don't go. Like the opportunity. So Crystal, JP, like all the Wawa folks really do a great job of putting out these events. And there's some other airports that do it, but not your level. I'm like, it's it's insane the outreach. So it's I highly recommend folks coming out there, getting out there, even if you think you have no chance of getting on a contract, that get that out of your head. Go out there and just connect with folks like Crystal and JP and other folks at Lawa and Mark.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

We're really trying to connect the primes and subs, and this is like a $50 million Maytock. So it's huge putting it out there because the next Maytok is expiring, and this is the next new wave.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

So, what what kind of companies are you guys looking for? I mean, are you you know, there's there's chatter from like, you know, everybody. They're always like, ah, I'm not gonna go after it. They're gonna go give it to the same people.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Yeah, right now we have two really benches. We have the environmental Maytock bench, which is entitlements, MMRPs, Sequanipa, and that. And then there is also environmental compliance and air, water, quality, noise.

SPEAKER_04 32:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Those pieces, they're all merging together into this conglomerate of a giant Matock, which is what we're looking at for this new scope.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

So, how's it gonna work? Is it gonna be similar to the Matox that Lawa has where it's like small, medium, large? Is it gonna be more of like a bench and task orders will come out? It'll be small and large. Okay. I definitely tagged some environmental firms that I know and I feel will be great, at least to get the exposure and understanding of how a behemoth like Lawa is moving and intend with intentionality and bringing opportunities to the community. So kudos to you and the Lawa team that are bringing this as a May talk and this opportunity. Um but definitely curious. So, how how many people are intended to be awarded from the small and large? Like, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Yeah. Well, right now we have two separate benches. Okay. One is five, one is four. It's not a huge industry in the environmental. We are really trying to figure out how we can bring in more subs. Yeah. Um, the idea is that we gather as many as we can as far as primes and let them figure out what their subcontractor is. Where they can support each other. Yeah. Because we we really have a giant breadth of scope. And you can really do any one of the three different scopes that we have. It's kind of a blend of I don't want to talk too much about it because I'm in the cone of silence, but it's it's it's a blend of it's a blend of what we already have. Yeah, yeah. Um, but we will have that pre-contractor meeting where we could talk about a little bit more about the scope. I love the cone.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

I love the cone of silence.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

I love the cone of silence. I'm having some. Thank you for yes, and I apologize. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Actually, you know, I should open a bar up and call it the cone of silence. That one's actually a great. Come in and you drink and just shut up.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Is it like a cognac cigar, some like vinyl records?

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Come to the June 23rd event and that we're taking more.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

So plug. Good. You want to wrap up?

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Let's wrap with the uh the legacy question.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Let's wrap with the legacy.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Actually, the quicker you guys answer, the quicker we can go down to the uh other places.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

To the legacy of our evening tonight.

SPEAKER_03 34:27

Scotch twisty it is.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

There it is.

SPEAKER_04 34:29

So absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 34:30

So, what legacy do you hope to leave through your work at Lawa and within the aviation industry? A loaded question.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Easy question, JP.

SPEAKER_05 34:38

Come on, easy question. No, um I'm proud to be part of this amazing development that is happening. And I still do hope that you know one day we'll be people will say, okay, this is what JP did. That was his part, and they re and they recognize that. Um and that people, you know, at a cocktail party or something, hey JP, just so you know, now we head to the airport earlier because we love the amenities. Uh-oh. So I've heard that uh in in a in a previous role I had, and it it just makes me happy to see, okay, I did I did do a change. It has changed the perception, and now people like to actually use the airport.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

What advice, JP, would you give uh emerging leaders um not to compare Crystal to an emerging leader because she's been doing it for a while now, but uh emerging leaders that um that you have the privilege to help shape or grow. What advice would you give to somebody that's like a young JP coming up?

SPEAKER_05 35:34

I've I've always trusted uh other people. I've you know when I've delegated or I've asked people to deliver something and it was good, I I supported. I was always standby to help if there were questions. Um I don't necessarily want to take the ownership. And if someone shines, then I will help them shine, you know, and and and and put them out there and say this was done by XYZ and not by me. Because I mean all of us have have the experience where we've worked with someone and someone will take your ideas and run with it. I just let the people run with their own ideas and support and develop new ideas that that actually work.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

That's important.

SPEAKER_05 36:09

That's extremely important.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Um I think that's important to continue to push that forward. Any of us, like any of our companies where we're at, we're working with young engineers or young whoever, programming, project managers, whatever they are, um, whatever business you're in, that is critical to have that mindset. Yeah, Crystal, legacy.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

What do you hope to leave through your work at Lawa Crystal?

SPEAKER_01 36:31

It's not like you're retiring tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Right. Well, and within aviation in general.

SPEAKER_00 36:36

Well, I don't hope that I'm leaving aviation forever. I I really hope that I'm coming back.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Well, you're still flying planes, you're still flying in an airplane.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

But I I do think that everything that I've done is for the organization. That's always been my landscape. I've never done something like, oh, I think this would be good for me. It's always what would be good for my team and what would be good for the organization. Because ultimately that will outlast me completely.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

I I don't need a legacy. I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for how can we do better? How how as a team can we do better? I want my people to succeed. Like I've developed relationships over 20 plus years, and I want those people to succeed, and that's where I I want them to be successful, and it's not about me at all.

SPEAKER_02 37:33

I love that. That's that selfless aspect of the work. That's true. That verberates, really. I mean, all right, it's true.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

All right. Well, you know, I was gonna ask a fun question at the end, but she's gonna be able to do that. All right, pet peeve, travel, airports. What's your biggest pet peeve? Getting on a plane, traveling, done. Pet peeve means like stuff you can't stand when they're you know uh that annoys you. Yeah, it's like annoys me. Yeah, in travel.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

In travel?

SPEAKER_01 38:02

I'll give you an example for me. I'll give you an example.

SPEAKER_05 38:05

The fight for being first in line on the morning. There it is. I honestly hate that.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

I call them gate lights. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

What do you call it?

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Gate lights. Annale, what does that mean? They're just sitting there like oh, lights just running around with it. I'm like, I go, dude, you're zone, you're like zone seven.

SPEAKER_03 38:19

I mean, we don't gate lights. I get it now.

SPEAKER_05 38:22

Okay, now he calls them that. I I I like to call certain people that don't utilize the beautiful amenities that we're building, you know, the restaurants and stuff like that. I can see being a bit the gate huggers that just stay at the gate rather than explore what the terminal has to offer. I have a good one, but good.

unknown 38:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Mine is very simple. I experienced it on the way here. There were several people that put little tiny bags in the overhead. I'm sorry, no, I did not.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

I was trying to carry my pockets.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

There were like four, and it prevented three people from putting on actual luggage. Actual luggage. And then everybody had to shovel back, and it actually created a huge dishevel. It was a backlog, and I watched it all go down. I was one of the humans in the mix. Didn't love it. First of all, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

I apologize, firsthand. Okay. You were not the Martha.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

What about you, Martha?

SPEAKER_02 39:23

What about it? Oh, what about it? You know, honestly, I think my biggest pet peeve as it relates to travel, and I said this earlier in the prior podcast. I'm not loyal to anyone airport, unfortunately. At least in California. I'm from Arizona. I've flown out of Burbank, Long Beach, LAX, Ontario, all of them. And it really matters based on pricing, direct flights, all of these things, right? Go into it. And then I do a lot of business travel. So that makes a difference too, because I'm not necessarily booking my travel every time. But I do agree with JP where it comes like Vegas was the place where I would travel often. I would do site visits in Vegas, and Vegas was one of those places where like people were just stuck at the gate or playing a slot machine at that one spot.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Yeah, that was me.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

That was like so. I definitely agree to some extent as it relates to exploring the terminal. And I'm a foodie. I love going to airport. Sometimes it's just a layover in that airport, and I might not be able to go out to like the actual streets in the local the local community. And so being able to taste the food from the local community within that airport is huge. So to me, it's it's definitely more the pet peeve of like being the gate hugger and not experiencing the amenities that the terminal has to offer. I like that.

SPEAKER_05 40:53

Is or has started developing.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:56

So good what's been happening in the last years in terms of food quality. Other types of food. In terms of food types of food and quality of food at airports. Oh, much better, yeah. Especially where the proprietors of the brands are involved in making sure that what they have on the street is also reflected in the terminal. Yeah. So it is becoming good. It's becoming excellent. All right.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

I would agree. What about for you, Ravi?

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Wrap it up with wrap it up with Ravi. What is your pep pee? I cannot stand in the gate area. Actually, anywhere. It goes everywhere we go, metro, airports, whatever. If the seat's empty next to you, don't put your bags on there. Like, what are you doing, dude? Like, come on, man.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

In a whole room?

SPEAKER_01 41:37

In the whole room, yeah. Man spreading or not. Or it doesn't matter who it's actually, it's all genders.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Putting your bags in front of it. There's a handicap sticker right on it. You see it. You see it. What are you doing? And like, like, I'm looking around, like, oh, that's great. Is there your bags? Like, uh, sorry. I'm like, I go, okay, great, wonderful. And nobody, human nature, you don't want to sit next to somebody. I'm like, well, you do have to do that sometimes. Ride a bus. You know? Yeah. You have to sit next to somebody.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Public transportation.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

It's insane. I'm like, you don't own that seat, you know. So, and I see like LAX and others that are trying to change the layouts of the whole room area and like the seating, and that's that's critical. But it still comes down to like, oh, well, you know what? There's an empty seat. They're gonna put some bags over here, put my drink over here. I'm like, I'm gonna bogard this whole thing. I'm gonna take this whole thing, I'm gonna take your bag and throw it over here. And then then you see people get up and they leave their bag, and then they go to the bathroom. I'm like, and then the announcements like intended to use the announcement. And then nobody gets called out until I do it. Anyway, sorry. That's for another podcast.

SPEAKER_03 42:38

I digress.

SPEAKER_01 42:39

Chrysalie, JP, Jombia. Thank you for being here. Uh this is awesome. Episode five? Episode four. Four. See you probably lost count. Feels like five. Well, I need a drink. You guys are great. Thank you. I need a drink.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

Me too, Ditto.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

Well, awesome AMAC LA, AMAC National Conference. We got Lawa in the house, Los Angeles World Airports, not Wawa for these coasters. It's not a convenience store. So let's wrap it up and let's go. All right. Let's go. Peace out. Thank you both.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

Thank you so much. Have a good night. Bye LAX. Bye LAX.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

All right, guys. Thanks for tuning in to Access Granted, Runways and Roadways, the official podcast of the AMAC LA chapter. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time.