Advancing Women in Hospitality | with Rachel Humphrey

The Modern Hotelier #60: Advancing Women in Hospitality | with Rachel Humphrey === David Millili [00:00:13]: Welcome to the Modern Hotelier. Both hosts were honored as top 100 influential people in hospitality. We're bringing you interviews with industry experts, thought leaders, and innovators who are shaping the future of hospitality. Whether you're a seasoned hotel professional or just stepping into the industry, our goal is to provide you with insights, knowledge, and trends that will empower you, the modern hotelier. Welcome to The Modern Hotellier. I'm your host, David Mulholli. Steve Carran [00:00:43]: I'm your cohost, Steve Caron. Jon Bumhoffer [00:00:45]: I'm the producer, John Boomhofer. David Millili [00:00:47]: Steve, who do we have on the program today? Steve Carran [00:00:49]: Yeah, David. Today, we have on Rachel Humphrey. Rachel is the founder of the Women in hospitality leadership Alliance and is a board member, principal and interview host for dei advisors. Rachel served as the executive vice president and COO of Hoa and served as a member of its leadership team in 2019 and interim president and CEO as well. Rachel joined Hoha in 2015 after more than 20 years of a trial lawyer. Welcome to the show, Rachel. Rachel Humphrey [00:01:24]: Thank you guys so much for having me. I really appreciate it. I'm looking forward to talking for a little bit this afternoon. David Millili [00:01:29]: So, Rachel, we're gonna go through 3 sections. We're gonna go through a rapid fire round, a little bit about about your background, get into your career, and then get into industry topics. Sound good? Rachel Humphrey [00:01:38]: Sounds perfect. David Millili [00:01:39]: Okay. So what was your first job? Rachel Humphrey [00:01:42]: My first job was scooping ice cream at an ice creamery in the small town I grew up in in New Hampshire. David Millili [00:01:48]: What's your favorite city? Rachel Humphrey [00:01:49]: Oh my goodness. Anywhere new. I love exploring and traveling to new places, so it's the next place I haven't been yet. David Millili [00:01:57]: Good answer. What's the best piece of advice you've received? Rachel Humphrey [00:02:00]: Oh my gosh. I've received a lot of advice. I think overall, probably to not be so hard or critical of myself. David Millili [00:02:09]: Okay. If you could trade places with somebody for a day, who would you trade places with? Rachel Humphrey [00:02:14]: Oh my goodness. You didn't tell me these were gonna be so hard. I would trade places every day with someone who gets to sit on the beach and take in the sound of the ocean and the sun setting every day. David Millili [00:02:27]: So maybe this will lead into the next one. What's on your bucket list? What's something you you gotta get done? Rachel Humphrey [00:02:32]: Mostly travel. I actually have a written bucket list. And for the most part, they either involve travel or hoping to see my daughters do things, get married, have children, finish school, a lot of family things. I wanna celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary, a lot of things like that. David Millili [00:02:50]: Great. So what's a secret talent you have that most people don't know? Rachel Humphrey [00:02:57]: I have a bizarre knack for editing inconsistencies. So I think there's an apostrophe epidemic in the United States right now, and I have a bizarre eye for apostrophe errors. David Millili [00:03:13]: Alright. So this is the last one. So if you had a time machine Yeah. You can go well, either way, you can go into the past, you can go into the future. Which way are you going? And you have to pick a year you're going to. Rachel Humphrey [00:03:27]: Oh, wow. If I go back in time, I would pick 2,001 and have a conversation with my grandmother who passed away that year, and I didn't know that it would be the last time I spoke with her. So if I had any inclination of that, if I fast forward it into the future, I wanna know what's happening in the hospitality industry as far as our efforts to elevate women into leadership, and I'll pick 5 years from now. Steve Carran [00:03:56]: That's beautiful. Beautiful. Well, that was great. Thanks so much. So now we're gonna get to learn you a little bit more of what makes you tick. So you grew up in New Hampshire. You went to school in Manchester, New Hampshire. Is that where you grew up in New Hampshire? Rachel Humphrey [00:04:11]: I actually grew up in a small town called Henneker, which is about 40 minutes outside of Manchester, but the education system was starting to falter. And for my parents, education was critically important for us, so they sent us to a private school in Manchester that I ended up spending, middle school and high school at. Steve Carran [00:04:31]: So how did growing up in Henniker, New Hampshire shape you into who you are today? Rachel Humphrey [00:04:36]: I think a lot of things. I I think a lot about that time period as far as it relates to things that I have accomplished today. I don't think the little girl growing up in New Hampshire ever envisioned what was to come for me. And in some ways, that's very limiting. You know, if you think about the time, Steve I say this all the time and it embarrasses my girls, but as, you guys will know, we had no internet. We didn't have cable television. We got 3 TV channels. We got one radio station if it wasn't raining. Rachel Humphrey [00:05:07]: If it was raining, I got none. So my exposure to the world was really road trips with my family and encyclopedias. And so it is a very you know, I don't wanna make New Hampshire sound today. Guess what? They have all of those things. But when I was growing up, we did not, but I would go into Boston a lot. My family was there and we had an apartment there and it was the big city. It was where I wanted to be. It really shaped a lot of like I mentioned, my parents' focus on education was critically important, but it also, I think, taught a lot of small town values. Rachel Humphrey [00:05:40]: We didn't lock our house. We didn't lock our cars. One night someone stole our car and my dad said, well, they must have needed to get somewhere. I mean, that was just the environment that I grew up in. It was a very safe, very family oriented. You know, kids were running around the streets and you would hear it was time for dinner or something, just a very different time and place, but also an incredible, sense of community. So your neighbors, your teachers, your coaches, all of these things really became such a huge support system for you. Steve Carran [00:06:13]: I love that. Come home when the sun goes down. Right? That's how we grew up. Rachel Humphrey [00:06:16]: Yes. Exactly. David Millili [00:06:18]: That's true. No comments. Rachel Humphrey [00:06:20]: So you David Millili [00:06:20]: went to Connecticut College. You got a degree in international relations, sociology, and Spanish. So how do those 3 come together and and how did you come about picking those 3? Rachel Humphrey [00:06:32]: I, had loved Spanish in high school, and I knew that I wanted to go to law school. International relations, I think my father was a history professor. I loved government. I loved I loved the concept of the international aspect. So I started college as an international relations and Spanish major with the knowledge that I would go to law school right after college. Sociology, I ended up taking some courses and just fell in love with it. I loved, like, maybe again, the community side of things, thinking about how as a country our our citizens interact, things like that. And I just, when the electives opportunity came up, I took it and I happened to have enough credits at the end who have actually studied a full course load in it. Rachel Humphrey [00:07:14]: But that one was strictly out of just interest, professors that were very engaging and made you wanna learn. Steve Carran [00:07:20]: And while you were at Connecticut College, you were a field hockey player. How'd you get into field hockey and what position did you play? Rachel Humphrey [00:07:27]: I played in a wing and Okay. I played field hockey in high school. I had done gymnastics for a long time and that sport, which is very grueling, does not want you to participate in any other sports because of injuries. So when I stopped playing, I looked around school and a lot of the kids were playing field hockey. It looked like fun to me. And so I tried out for the field hockey team, ended up playing, and then again played in college for the 1st couple of years until I decided to study abroad. It is an exciting team sport. I learned a lot, especially once I got to college about different aspects of it and how important I think it has been in my own leadership development in playing youth sports and then college sports as well. Rachel Humphrey [00:08:10]: I also downhill ski I was a ski racer through all of high school, which was a completely opposite dynamic of being part of a team sport. So I really loved the aspect of being a part of a team and not being a sole contributor in a in an event like skiing. David Millili [00:08:27]: So you got your law degree from Syracuse. Steve Carran [00:08:30]: Mhmm. David Millili [00:08:30]: What decided to do to take that next step? Rachel Humphrey [00:08:33]: I have told this a lot. I don't really know. I'll I'll tell you the tid, but I could've told you on the quick answers. In 2nd grade, I wanted to be a long haul trucker or a Dallas cowboy cheerleader. They were both equally glamorous to me. The Cowboys were America's team. It was the only channel we got on the weekends. Long haul trucking seemed to me a cool way to see the country, and I wanted to do that. Rachel Humphrey [00:08:54]: The next thing I knew, I wanted to be a lawyer. And I don't the only thing I can say is I don't know if it was LA Law, Hill Street Blues, some other TV. I didn't know any lawyers. I didn't ever use one. But I I went to college knowing that that was what I wanted to do, and then it never pivoted. What I wanted to do as a lawyer pivoted, but for some reason, I thought that that was the career path for Steve Carran [00:09:16]: me. That's awesome. Quite quite a difference from trucker law until it's trucker lawyer. David Millili [00:09:21]: And you got he goes in a packers fan, so the you the style of the Rachel Humphrey [00:09:24]: actor I'm a Patriots fan. So David Millili [00:09:26]: Okay. Well, alright. We can we can all we can all close. Steve Carran [00:09:32]: So one thing now, you're an advisory board member for, Kennesaw State. Correct? Rachel Humphrey [00:09:37]: Yeah. Yes. How Steve Carran [00:09:38]: what made you wanna I know you said education has been a big part of your life, but what made you wanna get involved with Kennesaw State? Rachel Humphrey [00:09:44]: Yeah. Kennesaw State University is here in Kennesaw, Georgia. It's just north of Atlanta, and they have an incredible, the Coles College of Business is there. It is heavily populated by 1st generation students, which I think is incredibly exciting. It's one of the fastest growing colleges in the country. I had had an opportunity to meet the dean of the business school while I was the CEO of AHAWA. We had founded a scholarship there in honor of Mike Levin and Lee Duchoff, who was the founders of AHAWA. And I just really loved what they were doing. Steve Carran [00:10:20]: They also had Rachel Humphrey [00:10:20]: the Levin Hospitality School. And so when the opportunity when I was invited to hospitality school. And so when the opportunity when I was invited to join their advisory board for the business school, it fit perfectly with both my strong desire to support the future leaders of our industry, but also to have an opportunity to help shape those that would otherwise not be going to college. I went to college on financial aid and scholarship money and the friends and family plan. I had a lot of loans coming out of both college and law school. And so I know that not everybody has an easy path through college, and I just really love what KSU is doing as a university. Their business school is incredible, and it's been a really exciting opportunity to be part of that advisory board. Steve Carran [00:11:03]: That's awesome. That's awesome. I hear you on the student loans. Still got them. So so now we're gonna get more involved or talk about your career a little bit more, how you got to where you are today. So when you graduated Syracuse, you became an attorney, and you were an attorney for 20 years. What type of law did you focus on and did you have any, I guess, memorable cases or any memorable experiences in the 20 years of being a lawyer? Rachel Humphrey [00:11:29]: Oh my gosh. So many. So the first three years that I was in practice, first almost 4 years actually, I did all criminal defense work for a boutique firm in Northern Virginia. The best way to describe it is we represented a lot of high net worth individuals charged with street crime. So murder, rape, robbery, capital murder. We also did a lot of work for the courts, so not everybody had resources, but we were a private firm. And it taught me a lot of things quite quite honestly. You know, of most important probably is that your credibility and your reputation matter more than anything else in whatever industry you're in. Rachel Humphrey [00:12:06]: I had an opportunity to be hired by, at the time I wanted a job. I didn't know that the job I got was a highly coveted role at with an incredible firm, but, I had a hiring partner there who saw me things I never would have seen in myself. So I really learned the importance of allies and champions of all genders in really helping you see potential in yourself. I know that I've learned a tremendous amount from public speaking and from the opportunities, you know, I've had to be in court. When I moved to Atlanta, I pivoted and I started representing small to midsize companies, a lot of entrepreneurs, And that's where I had my first foray into the hotel industry. I actually represented a lot of hotel owners. So negotiating franchise agreements, impact issues, terminations and disputes, a lot of their ancillary contracts, linens, and and other things, but really got to understand the franchise model, which is very unique, really not to the hospitality industry, but as as far as a business model goes, such an incredible pathway for business ownership in the US. And of interest to me, nobody wants to represent franchisees because all the money is representing franchisors and you get conflicted out very quickly. Rachel Humphrey [00:13:19]: So there really is a small niche of franchisee attorneys in the country, and you really develop again a network of colleagues who specialize in what you do. It help you know, you get on a speaker circuit for a lot of the conferences because of that as well. So, yeah, spent 20 years doing 2 very different opposite ends of the spectrum, but really had an incredible career as a trial lawyer, which is exactly what I had set out to Steve Carran [00:13:44]: do. Sure. What was the most memorable trial you had? Rachel Humphrey [00:13:47]: Oh my goodness. Alright. So, I always say I'm never gonna use names because people have moved on. Things are a long time ago. We represented a lot of high profile cases when I was doing criminal defense. And in addition to just the nuances that go along with that, I realized through that practice that what you see on TV is never what's happening in the background. So we would be in trial all day, and then we would work. And then I would go home, and I'd eat dinner at midnight, and I'd start watching the news play out the the trials. Rachel Humphrey [00:14:16]: And I was like, wait. That that's not why that happened or that's not what happened there or things like that. So I really got to see heavy media impact on our our country. We think now how much media shapes what we think about different things or how we judge people or events. So I had a lot of that. As far as results go or memorable cases, I think, you know, it's, I've had some victories in civil practice that I'm incredibly proud of for a variety of different reasons, the same thing in the criminal defense practice as well. But I think at at the end of the day, it's when you know that you have upheld what you set out to do, which is provide the best representation for the client that you can and that those results wise are always gonna be different across the board depending on what you're setting out to achieve. David Millili [00:15:02]: Absolutely. So in 2015, you became VP and managing attorney for franchise development. You worked your way up to EVP and then COO in about 4 years. How did you end up but a hoa? And what was that time like for you? Rachel Humphrey [00:15:17]: In 2014, I had been practicing law for about 20 years at that point, and I'm not sure what had changed. But at some point, I had fallen out of love with it. It was really surprising. I thought I would die in a courtroom at a 150 and you'd have to wheel me out, but I I really was becoming aware that I had lost what had really been a love for it. You know, my children were getting older at you're at the discretion of a court schedule and other things all over the country and decided to take an opportunity to reset. I'd actually never looked for a job with a job. I'm the only person I know that that applies to probably in the world. And it really just didn't feel right to me to try to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life there. Rachel Humphrey [00:16:00]: So I I stopped working for a short period of time and just really started talking to everybody I could about how do you use your law degree. I had paid a lot for it. I thought that I was obligated to continue to use it for the rest of my life. But asking about corporate counsel rules, other law firms, a lot of people talk to me about opening our own firm and just didn't hear what felt exactly right. And I was having coffee with a woman who runs a nonprofit organization here in Atlanta. And she said, I don't know if you know this, but I used to be a trial lawyer, which I did not know. And there's a lot of transferable skills between being a trial attorney and being an association executive. And I didn't know the word transferable skills, and I didn't know the phrase association executive, but the idea of going into the nonprofit space, really doing something completely different was very appealing. Rachel Humphrey [00:16:51]: And at the time there was a website here in Atlanta that advertised nothing but nonprofit jobs across the board. And I saw that a whole I was looking for at the time an entry level franchise relations specialist. And I knew that I had this incredible knowledge of franchise relations from lawyering. I was very familiar with how I had spoken at conference many times. I had done some legal work with them. And I reached out and I said, I know that I'm I have way more years of experience than what you're looking for, but I really think I have a very unique vantage point, not only on the franchise relations side where I had very deep relationships with the brands, but also understanding a lot of the legal and contractual challenges of the hotel owners. And I met with Chip Rogers, who, of course, now is the CEO of HLA and our HR team there. And to Chip's credit, he created an incredible role for me as the VP of franchise relations. Rachel Humphrey [00:17:52]: A second experience where you I had an ally who or champion who said, here's something that I think you can do. I'd never worked for a company before. I'd only been at law firms. We're our own animal. It's a very different type of business, but I joined OHA in 2015. We were in the process actually of hiring a CLO at the time. And Chip came to me some, I think in 2016 and said, I think you'd be perfect for this. Much like what had happened to me years earlier. Rachel Humphrey [00:18:21]: I said, I don't know what a COO is, and I have to find that out. But we started talking over a very, very long period of time. I was speaking with the leadership at AHO at the time. I think in hindsight, I have some idea now of some of the things that led to that conclusion for him, but we worked very, very well together. And I saw a real opportunity to help lead an organization that is an incredibly influential and important part of the industry and alongside Chip that I knew that we would be very successful in leading together. So I took that role in 2017. And then in late 2018, when Chip accepted the role at HLA, I became the interim president and CEO of IHOA for almost all of 2019. And then when we hired a president and CEO, I went back to the role that I have had before that. David Millili [00:19:10]: So this is obviously, March is an important month. Steve and I have dedicated this month to all women in hospitality that are on the podcast. You founded Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance. Can you tell us how that came about? What gave you the idea to do that and and and a little bit more about what it really entails? Rachel Humphrey [00:19:26]: Yeah. I could talk about that all day now that we can stop talking about me and talk about the stuff that I'm like. When I retired from Hoe in 2021, I really assumed it would be the last that I would do in the industry, although I felt very passionately about the relationships in the industry itself. And shortly after that, there were some very prominent announcements for CEO roles in the industry brands, management companies, associations, really across the board. And none of the individuals who were named to those openings were female. And I knew there were lots of really talented women that were in the final consideration for a lot of those roles. I knew all of the men who had been named to those roles, and they're all exceptional leaders. But it really felt like in that moment, there had been so much conversation about more women in leadership roles at a whole lot. Rachel Humphrey [00:20:19]: I had just come off of being the CEO there. I knew there were very few women who held a CEO title in the industry itself. And so I started just reaching out to some of the organizations to see if I could volunteer some time. There were some that I knew very well from my years in the industry. And as I was having conversations with each one of them, I realized that, you know, we're coming, I'll say coming out of the pandemic, but in some ways we're in the midst of the pandemic and human resources and capital resources are stretched very thin. A lot of the leaders running these organizations, this is a side role for them. They have other leadership roles within the industry. And I thought, you know, we kept hearing stronger together during the pandemic. Rachel Humphrey [00:21:00]: Is there a way that I could help facilitate these organizations that I think through unintentionally had not been communicating and collaborating with one another. And so I went back to each of them and to their credit, I said, can I have 5 minutes that we have a quick phone call together? They all said yes. We started with 6 organizations, and within minutes, we knew we were on to something. We are now 31 organizations strong. There are really exceptional organizations all around the world that are doing incredible work specifically to elevate women in hospitality, whether it is at the ownership level, the corporate level, the property level for different leadership skills, career advancement, and all of these things. And now we have this collaboration happening where they are all able to amplify one another's messaging, eliminate areas that maybe we were duplicating efforts, fill lanes that were wide open that nobody saw that there was a need for, and move that needle a little bit further and a little bit faster as a collaborative industry. It's not just a a women's issue. It's an industry issue. Rachel Humphrey [00:22:07]: But if you take all of these great organizations and you help elevate every one of them, then the industry is gonna be the beneficiary of all of that. Steve Carran [00:22:16]: Absolutely. I love that. That's awesome. Congrats on the growth as well. And you're also a board member, principal, and podcast interviewer for DEI Advisors. I mean, that's a stacked group. You have Dorothy Dowling over there, David King. I mean, it's a it's a great group. Steve Carran [00:22:35]: Tell us more about how you got involved with them and and really what DEI Advisors is focused on. Rachel Humphrey [00:22:41]: Yeah. I like the podcasting on your side of the table much better. I like doing all of the interviewing and asking. David Kong had retired as the, CEO of Best Western right around the time that I had retired from a home. We had known each other and had a incredible respect for one another for a long time. He actually came to the 1st in person meeting of the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance and said, I have a thought, and I'm very interested in knowing what other organizations are doing right now, because if this already exists, I don't wanna step onto it. And he said, I think that companies, from what I can tell, are going to start making a lot of progress in elevating women and other underrepresented groups in leadership paths, but there aren't as many resources for the empowerment of the individuals themselves. And so we want to help individuals be ready for those next steps, whatever that next step they want it to be. Rachel Humphrey [00:23:38]: And so David created the concept of let's interview industry leaders like you all are doing, share their personal journeys, which incredibly show that there's not one path to leadership within the hospitality industry. There are so many different ways that you can get there. And also a lot of the lessons they've learned along the way, and they are vulnerable stories. They are things that anyone can relate to from, you know, whether you share commonality of a segment of the industry, of a gender, of an ethnicity, it doesn't matter. It's all common stories on overcoming obstacles or public speaking strategies or managing the demands of business travel and other work life balance or advocating for yourself in different roles. Like, we we just cover a wide variety of topics, but it's been an incredible opportunity, as you mentioned, with David and then Dorothy Dowling and Lynn Elliott, to really share incredible stories. I've been very fortunate in my career to have access to incredible leaders. You all do as well. Rachel Humphrey [00:24:42]: I get to go on the industry conference circuit. I get to hear and meet and see and speak with so many great leaders, but not everybody has that access at all stages of their career. And so to really be able to share what is an incredible industry with so many people is a really impactful opportunity for me right now. Steve Carran [00:25:01]: Absolutely. I think it's so fun getting you're understanding where people came from and their backgrounds and how they got today, just learning about people in our industry. It's it's one of the most fun things. So well, perfect. Now we get to talk about your industry thoughts. Right? So the first thing I wanna talk about is, we've had this discussion now with a few folks, is getting women more involved in leadership positions, in hospitality, specifically C suite positions. What steps do you think we can take to have more women in those positions? Rachel Humphrey [00:25:34]: Well, I think there's a lot of things. For starters, we need more diversity on boards in suites in c suites to perpetuate more diversity in those roles because we want people with unique perspectives, different paths, different thought leadership, really looking at succession planning, looking at our hiring and retention, looking at how we not only hire diverse leaders, but also make sure that they are included and that they feel that they belong and that there are opportunities for growth. So part of it is making looking truthfully at our at our own companies and saying, are we as representative in our leadership as we should be? Are we representative on our board? A second really important one, Steve, is public speaking. Part of our personal brand is to be seen as subject matter experts in whatever it is that is our subject matter. And that then lends itself to recruiters being more knowledgeable of strong women in the industry. It leads other companies to say, oh, I heard so and so speak. Maybe she would be great for this role here. My own company to hear me speak and think, ah, that here's a hidden talent here. Rachel Humphrey [00:26:46]: You know, when you think about industry conferences, when you think about podcast guests, and I I really appreciate what you all are doing in showcasing such diverse talent, not just during March, but all year through. You see that by providing a forum for women to share their expertise, to share their thoughts, you're really helping their personal brands to be seen as future leaders. So that's another one for sure. Really looking at and understanding what are some of the obstacles maybe that might be a little bit different. You know, there's a lot of societal pressures, a lot of different societal expectations on women, that the industry no industry really, but that the industry really is not caught up with. And so when we think about that, you know, I had someone tell me a story the other day that there was an opening in her company. She was very interested in it. She went and said, I'd like to be considered for this. Rachel Humphrey [00:27:40]: And they said, Oh, we didn't think you would relocate because you have children. And she was like, well, I will. And he ended up getting it and I I won't tell you who it is, but she's incredibly well known, incredibly successful. So even that, you know, it wasn't done out of any malice. It was just somebody thinking, here's a mom who's not gonna uproot her family for a career. My husband really recently heard me speak on a panel and he came up to me afterwards and he said, I have to tell you that in 25 years of my doing panels, not one person has ever asked me how do I maintain such a demanding travel schedule with 2 children, but they asked you twice in a 30 minute panel the exact same thing. And he said, and we have the same demanding schedule. We have the same 2 children, but people don't. Rachel Humphrey [00:28:24]: So I think a lot of it is just having conversations that are exactly like this, the opportunity to help women advocate for themselves, but also the importance of allies and champions. That's why I said earlier, it isn't a women's issue. It's an industry challenge. But together, we can absolutely overcome it. I think it's just being more aware, continuing the conversations, continuing to provide opportunities, and to really showcase all of the great women leaders in the industry. I I have said this many times, but as a lawyer, I never wanted to be seen as a great female attorney. I wanted to be a great attorney. I felt like somehow I was handicapped if you said, well, Rachel is a female trial lawyer. Rachel Humphrey [00:29:07]: That that to me didn't define me. But those conversations, whether it be in the courtroom or whether it be in the c suite, are what enables us to continue making progress in those areas. When I was the CEO of a Hoa, there were only a few of us, as I mentioned, that had that title in the industry. It didn't mean I was any more qualified, any wiser, any better at any aspect of the industry than anyone else. I had an opportunity. I accepted that opportunity, and it gave me a lot of exposure. It resulted in a lot of exposure. But that was really a wake up call for me that it takes people with the title, with the ability to influence and to use that voice for something like this to help implement change. David Millili [00:29:51]: Yeah. It's great. So you've got a big voice in the industry. We were very excited to have you on the podcast. What advice would you give to other women that are trying to, I don't wanna use the word stand out, but really trying to help create awareness? I mean, one of the things I always talked about is that, you know, there's, like, a younger generation that doesn't embrace LinkedIn as much as they should where they can kinda do their own branding and be a little more active. I actually just checked in on somebody who I was advising. She hasn't posted in 6 months, and I kept saying post, but you gotta be, like, be active, do stuff. So what did what advice would you give to women who want their their voice to be Steve Carran [00:30:28]: to be heard? Rachel Humphrey [00:30:28]: I think it's a couple of things. You know, we have to learn to advocate for ourselves. We have to learn to quiet sometimes the narrative in our own minds that is louder than the narrative of our champions or people who support us. And that's not true for everybody. Obviously that's a generalization, but I think that we have to invest in ourselves. So whether that is if you're not comfortable public speaking, commit to saying, I'm gonna take some courses. I'm gonna find a mentor. I'm gonna start just by speaking at a staff meeting, or I'm gonna join a local board or organization and do some speaking there. Rachel Humphrey [00:31:04]: There's a lot of different ways you can get into public speaking. I think raising your hand and and saying, I'd be interested in sitting in on this meeting if I can. I'd be interested in an opportunity that comes up. Feedback is a gift. If you are not the right candidate for that role, what do I need to be doing to be the right candidate next time? We have a lot of opportunity to put ourselves in a position to be instrumental in getting those. You know, I mentioned the COO role at AHO. I think one of the reasons that I became a candidate for that when I started there, I'd never worked for a company. As I mentioned, I'd only been at law firms. Rachel Humphrey [00:31:46]: And so I think out of my own insecurity, I became really focused on learning everything I could about the business. I wanted to know what does business development do? What does events do? What does membership do? What does PRM marketing do? And it wasn't, I don't think, intentional. It was that I was scared. I was scared of being in an environment that I didn't know and not being as successful as I could be. But what it led to was suddenly I was this person who had a deep knowledge of the way the entire company worked. And so be curious outside of your own role. I have a 22 year old who has just entered the workforce and we talk a lot about there's never been a time that I can remember where women support women as much as right now. Reach out to female leaders. Rachel Humphrey [00:32:35]: It doesn't have to be a formal mentorship. I'm actually not as big a proponent of formal mentor programs as I am in having lots of mentors. I have somebody that I can call to, hey. I got invited on this podcast. Can you help me? I'm feeling a little nervous about it, or I've got this other meeting coming up. Can you tell me about this person? I don't know them. To really have a a group of people that you're comfortable reaching out to. And, David, I will tell you LinkedIn is very, very interesting. Rachel Humphrey [00:33:01]: I remember the first post I ever made. I had a LinkedIn profile, and I was very intentional about who I connected with. I still, to this day, almost only connect with people I know personally or through whatever I happen to be doing. But when I became the CEO of a Hoa, it was very important for me to message that the transition was smooth, that we were doing very well, and that we were thriving. And so I reached out to someone in the industry who I thought used LinkedIn really well, and I said, I am terrified. I have no social media. I have no Instagram. I never had a Facebook, Myspace, TikToks, any of the I have none of it. Rachel Humphrey [00:33:39]: And I said, I think that this could be a channel, and he really advised me. I'll never forget it. I sat my finger, which, like, I was petrified of that first post. I do not do well with myself with self promotion, but LinkedIn gives me the ability to have a voice in things that matter a lot to me. And so if I wanna see more women on panels, and I can recognize women that are speaking on panels or ask why would I'm not seeing women on panels or today, you know, the alliance has been around since 2021, but today we launched a LinkedIn page. The ability to now share what's going on with the alliance in that form, it really is a critical part of your personal brand. And I've learned I ask a lot of questions. I've learned a lot about how to use it. Rachel Humphrey [00:34:28]: I have a long way to go. I'm not very technologically savvy, but I also don't know the best strategies. I try to have a point of view so that you'd most of what I use my LinkedIn for is messaging what really matters to me most right now. The other thing is I'm told I'm an incredible connector of people. And so if people want to meet someone and they know that I generally only connect with people I know and they can reach out and say, I would really like to meet Steve and David. I'll say, absolutely. Let me take a second and introduce you. And so it's an incredible way of knowing who is in whose network. Rachel Humphrey [00:35:03]: I don't know who's in your network, everybody. And so if I can look and say, David, I would actually love to speak with this person. Would you mind? It's just an incredible, incredible opportunity that is, look, first of all, it's no cost, but it's low effort with a huge, huge return. David Millili [00:35:22]: Yeah. No. I I I I'm the grumpy old man who I and when I advise companies, a lot of times I tend to lean towards sales and marketing. And I said, do you realize how happy I would have been in 2,000 if I had linked LinkedIn? This has come this is I think it's come up on every podcast now, but because it's right there, it's free, the struggles. And even now for creating your brand, great example, you know, Steve has like, he uses LinkedIn wisely, smartly. And if people it almost should be like people I tell people LinkedIn should almost be like exercise where you allot a certain period of time that you know you're gonna go on and do certain things and learn and, like, you I do the same thing. Like, hey. How did you do that post or how did you get that video or what? You know? Or, wow. David Millili [00:36:00]: That really read cool, or I like the picture the way they did it. So yeah. So it's it's good advice. Rachel Humphrey [00:36:05]: Well, Steve and I met through LinkedIn, if I remember correctly. So That's right. Thank you. Now the other thing I'll say to you, David, to your point, I was speaking to a a class of students last week, and I I put my LinkedIn in the chat. And I said, I hope that every single one of you will connect with me on LinkedIn because if I can ever do anything for you in the industry, you're gonna remember me and know how to reach me. I think 3 of them in the class did when it was over. I say the same thing. If I go to an event at KSU, I always say connect with me on LinkedIn. Rachel Humphrey [00:36:36]: I'm I have a lot of hospitality industry connections. I'm surprised always how few of them 18, it is time to get LinkedIn. But it is I mean, I think that you're right. You're coming about, you know, some of the earlier careerists aren't understanding what an incredible gift they have that we did not that will really help them along in their career in in so many different ways. David Millili [00:37:05]: Just a quick story that just you'll you'll get a kick out of it. We can if we wanna take it out later, we can. But so I went to a Hotelier data conference 2 years ago. The guy checking me in was fantastic, young guy. And I basically went upstairs and said, you know, I travel so much, like and I'm still thinking about how that was such a great check-in. So I went back down and said, hey. Can I take your picture and post it and say what a great job you're you're doing? It was the best check-in blah blah blah. So I posted it and, like, real quick, it went up to, like, 3,000 impressions. David Millili [00:37:34]: So I thought, you know, LinkedIn, that's pretty good. So when I showed the kid, I didn't think he's a TikTok generation. We're, like, 3,000. It's like nothing. It's like if you it's not 3 I didn't get 3,000,000 hits or whatever. So, anyway, so it's just funny how people look at things differently. So my son does the same thing. He's like, you only got you only got 10,000? He's like, my video playing in my game got 80,000. David Millili [00:37:54]: I'm like anyway. Alright. I'll shut up. Steve Carran [00:37:57]: One day, David. One day, we'll get 80,000. Well, Rachel, this has been great. With all that you're doing with DEI and it when in with women in the hospitality industry, where would you like to see, you know, the growth in the industry in 5 to 10 years with, you know, women in the hospitality industry? Rachel Humphrey [00:38:20]: Yeah. I mean, I think that common sense says that women make up 50% of the US population, 50% of the US workforce. Women actually control 1,000,000,000,000 of dollars in consumer spending and in decision making, and the industry will be better for all of those reasons when we have more women in leadership. I think it is a natural progression. I think we're starting to see a lot of important succession planning, a lot of important roles being filled by women now. It doesn't impact talent in any way. You're not saying you're lessening your talent pool by selecting women for the roles, but really being very intentional. You know, it takes everybody thinking that this is a an improvement for the industry, that the industry, you know, that we all love. Rachel Humphrey [00:39:05]: We've all spent a lot of time in it. We have deep affection for it. We have deep relationships in it. And to be able to pass that on to, you know, generations and generations. I think raising daughters gives me a really unique not unique, but advantage point that I don't ever want them to think that they can't have any role that they wanna have simply because they're female. And I think that we really need to be showcasing that a lot more for future generations. The other thing about the hospitality industry, and this is slightly off track, but the hospitality industry is actually not a career. It's an industry. Rachel Humphrey [00:39:42]: And so you can be anything. I can be a lawyer and be in the hospitality industry. You can be a social media marketer to your son's comment and be in the hospitality industry. You can be a CFO and be in the so you can pick any career that suits you, anything that you wanna be doing in the world, and then tie it to an industry of incredible people, of incredible experiences that impacts lives every day, whether it's vacation lives, corporate lives, dealing with sick family, all of these things. The hospitality industry has such a critical role, not just economically in the country, but for the amount of people that we can impact every day. So pick any career that you want and then find your way somehow into the hospitality industry. And that for women, especially, you know, at the entry levels, there are lots of women at the entry levels of the of the industry. It's just as climbing a ladder goes, it tends to be less so. Rachel Humphrey [00:40:37]: And as we change some of those societal expectations, when we have discussions with important decision makers in hiring and promotion and retention and all of these things, I think we're gonna see great progress. Steve Carran [00:40:49]: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, that was great. Now we're gonna turn the tables a little bit and you get to ask us a question. Rachel Humphrey [00:40:56]: Oh my goodness. I love this. This is what I do for a living now. And by a living, I use that term loosely since I'm retired. Alright. I will ask you, the guys the same question that you just asked me. Then I'm gonna ask you 2 questions. But one of them I'm gonna ask is, what do you think needs to happen over, say, the next 5 years to see more women elevated into leadership positions in all segments of the industry? Steve Carran [00:41:26]: David, do you want me to go first or should you? David Millili [00:41:28]: I'll let you go first. Steve Carran [00:41:30]: Thank you. I think this is, one of the great things that we're starting to do more is have just an open dialogue and have conversations about it. You know, having people like yourself who are also advocating for women and kind of bringing awareness to people that might not understand that, you know, most c level positions are by men. I also think showing the benefits of these companies that not only hire women and promote them, but also are just more diverse companies tend to do better in multiple different areas. So I think, you know, having those conversations and showing statistics, showing numbers on how these companies are doing when their board is maybe 50% women, and it's not sorry, but a bunch of old white guys. Right? So just showing diversity in in these companies and the statistics. But I love, you know, having these conversations and, you know, just talking about it. Rachel Humphrey [00:42:24]: Well, Steve, I think that's an important thing because it isn't it's it's one thing to do it because it's the right thing. That would make sense and should be enough motivation. But if you can show the business sense of it, whether it's on the hiring and retention because the next generation is looking to see a lot of the ESG companies and other things, but also the financial results. You know, there's lots of people who will talk about the success of companies that have more diverse representations on boards in C suite. So it isn't just a do the right thing, it's do the right thing and be incredibly along the way. So I love that comment. David, how about you? David Millili [00:42:59]: Well, I would tell you, one of the things I think we have a problem with in the country in general is that we don't travel enough. So we're inward looking and we don't know enough about diversity, other cultures, whether it be, you know, a race or whether it be sexual preference or what have you. So for me, I'd like to see more people travel, and then I'd like to see more people who are in my position to start asking the right questions to employees and specifically women. What do you, you know, what do you wanna be when you grow up? What do you wanna do this job right now? Because my mindset was always, I wanna hire somebody who's smarter than me that's gonna do the job the best that the job can be done. I don't care who they are. I I don't care who any of that. And so for me, I've tried to make it practice where I ask people in the interview process, hey. You're coming in as sales. David Millili [00:43:47]: What do you what would you like to be doing in a couple years? And then if they say, oh, I'd really like to lead a sales team, I say, okay. Great. We've got a great opportunity. I think you're awesome. Let me mentor you. I'm gonna involve you in meetings, gonna share emails, which I normally wouldn't share with you. But my path for you is to is to to move up and to help. And that can be just younger people, can be can be women, but I think there's not enough of that. David Millili [00:44:09]: You know, I think there's too many CEOs that don't even know what their company does, don't even know their business, and don't even know what their employees think of them. And so I think the the connection between management and that that up and coming group to get them up to the management level, they have to in some cases, they can do it themselves, but I think it's easier when you have somebody kinda guiding you and helping you along the way. Rachel Humphrey [00:44:28]: I love that. Alright. And then my second one I'm gonna ask because my favorite DEI advisor's question, I think that we are all works in progress, and it's really important part of our growth to take time to reflect. And so in every interview, I ask a lot of different questions, but I always end with what would you tell your younger self? Because I like to hear in reflection, whether it's how life turns out for you or something that maybe would have impacted your path the day you finished school or whatever time period it is. But what's the one thing you would tell your younger self about where things are today? Steve Carran [00:45:04]: Keep a positive attitude, and no matter what, work hard. That's it. My and that's my mom. She always told me to work hard, but having a positive attitude with that, not getting down. Like, sometimes people aren't the nicest or things don't go the way you want, but it's not necessarily your fault. I think we're all on our own journey, and we'll get to where we're supposed to be at the right time. But just no matter what, I I Kobe Bryant, I always enjoyed watching him play basketball, and I'm a firm believer in the mamba mentality when you don't know what to do or you're not sure what's gonna happen in your life, put your head down and work hard. And then things will fall into place or new opportunities might even arise up. Steve Carran [00:45:46]: But, you know, work hard and keep a positive attitude. David Millili [00:45:50]: Yeah. I would say for me, it's it's a tough question because I'm I'm the oldest of of 4 boys, and I just kinda my father was a mechanic. I knew I needed to get out. I didn't wanna be working in jeans. I didn't wanna be I didn't wanna own a gas station. I didn't wanna do any I wanted to get as far as away from where my father was at because I saw how hard he was working. So for me, I felt like I always did a good job of trying to, like, think about the future, but I would say there's some sometimes where I probably my biggest regret and a lot of people says, oh, I'm just too nice. I'm too I believe in karma, and sometimes I I should've probably been more of a, you know, an a hole. David Millili [00:46:26]: And and but it just wasn't my who I was, and I didn't. And I look back, and I kinda regret saying, yeah, there were some things that maybe, you know, twenties, early thirties where I really should have been more of a a jerk. And so that that's what I would say. But, you know, like I said, I might I'm looking at it. The one of the best things I I did a post on it is my grandfather were at breakfast. I was, like, 8 years old, and they wrote down I over e equals s, and that's always keep your intelligence over your emotions and you'll be successful. And that stuck with me from, like, 8, 9 years old. So I've been I've been fortunate. David Millili [00:46:57]: So somebody's always got it better than you, and somebody's always got it worse than you. Steve Carran [00:47:00]: So So David's goal is to be a bigger jerk. I let myself. Well, this was this was so much fun, Rachel. I'm gonna Rachel Humphrey [00:47:10]: love you on that. Steve Carran [00:47:11]: Yeah. That's great. So, John has been listening the whole episode. He is gonna ask you the final question here before you head out. Rachel Humphrey [00:47:22]: You got it. Jon Bumhoffer [00:47:23]: So you you mentioned the panel that you were on where they asked you about how you manage your schedule with the 2 kids, and then you also told that story about the person who was passed over because they just didn't think that they'd wanna move with their family. I'm curious, are there any other assumptions or biases that are built into our culture that are maybe holding back the the, inclusion and equity of women in the industry? Rachel Humphrey [00:47:47]: Sean, that's such a good question. I mean, I think a lot of them are related. I think, you know, I'll give you examples when we we have a dual career household, and if one of the kids is sick, there is always an assumption that, in my experience, that the female will stay home or will tend to whatever that is. And I I experienced it both as someone who has employed a lot of people and as the employee. I think you also have a lot of women through society who have a lot of responsibilities with elder care and with multi generational care, not just of our own parents, but also of our spouse's parents. And so a lot of that responsibility when you're the primary caregiver for your children, even though I'm I'm using this as a a dual spouse family, but or a spouse family with 2, careers. You also look at who's in charge of making sure your house is clean or your groceries are shopped or your Christmas presents are bought or all of these things. And again, I know these are gross generalizations, but what we find is that the more people we talk to, the more those societal expectations weigh everything. Rachel Humphrey [00:49:05]: She had to save the world, but she didn't have a spouse and she didn't have parents and she didn't have children and she didn't have pets and she didn't have all of these other things. And I thought it was such an interesting commentary about this this view of women as superwomen and how do you juggle all the balls in the air and how do you make sure that everything is done right? My daughters call me the glue. Mom is the glue because mom makes sure that everything is always taken care of. But that's in addition to being the glue at work, being the glue at home, being the glue for my parents and other things. So I think there's a lot of examples of, you know, in society where we see a lot more of that. And I think a lot of that is true when you look at, you know, there's a lot of women who choose not to be parents, but yet there's a an interesting conversation happening about how women who have careers but have chosen not to be parents are seen or women who enter menopause. And I'll say that word out loud. I don't know if I've ever said that on a Steve Carran [00:50:03]: podcast before, but You're the David Millili [00:50:04]: first for our podcast. Rachel Humphrey [00:50:05]: Yeah. I'm trying to be honest with you. It's a reality that has to be talked about a lot more because when you hit the age where those c suite opportunities are coming open, well, guess what? There's a whole universe of things also happening, a lot of them out of our control. And so I think as we kind of explore all of these different areas, it's what makes us super moms and unique and everything else, but it also is what impacts a lot of the options and the other things. I hear a lot of women say I can't take that speaking opportunity at that conference because there's no way I can be gone for 2 or 3 days for something, or I get asked at the last minute and I'm planning my calendar 6 weeks ahead of time. I can't shuffle childcare and all of these things. So I think there's a lot of realities of how, the societal influences and that's changing. I mean, to be fair, my husband is an incredible father and has spent he does dishes and laundry and grocery shopping and all these things. Rachel Humphrey [00:51:02]: I'm not saying that anybody's do not, but I think that David Millili [00:51:14]: Hotelier. Rachel, this is where you get to let people know where they can find you, any websites you wanna plug. So the floor is yours right now. Rachel Humphrey [00:51:23]: I appreciate that. Where to find me, I always hope, is on the beach. But if you mean where can you find me on the Internet, Rachel Humphrey on LinkedIn. I don't know what the handle is, but I think I'm pretty easy to find that way to connect with me. As far as the Women in whlalliance.org. We also have a LinkedIn page as of this morning. And then, deiadvisors is w ww.deiadvisors.org. We also have a LinkedIn page, so encourage everyone to follow both of those pages for really a lot of great content, incredible free resources, a lot of information out there, but just to see what the incredible organizations and leaders are doing in the industry right now towards such an important initiative. David Millili [00:52:07]: That's great. So that does it for another episode of the Modern Hotelier. So whether you're listening or watching, we hope to be with you again soon. Thank you. Rachel Humphrey [00:52:15]: Thank you guys so much for having me. Steve Carran [00:52:19]: You made it to the end of the Modern Hotelier. Thanks for listening. The Modern Hotelier is produced by Make More Media. Make sure to like and subscribe if you're listening on YouTube or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. If you know a guest or sponsor that would be a good fit, feel free to email us at hello at the modern Hotelier. If you'd like to get some Modern Hotelier merch, click the merch button on modernhotelier.com or click the link below. Thanks, and have a great day.