Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Abigail Flynn on Becoming GM at 24 and Proving Success Without College Through 22 Years at Family-Owned Olympia Hospitality

Transcript

Abigail Flynn on Becoming GM at 24 and Proving Success Without College Through 22 Years at Family-Owned Olympia Hospitality · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:16
and today's guest is Abby Flynn. She is the senior human
0:20
resources manager at Olympia Hospitality.
0:24
They are a boutique focused hospitality management and
0:27
development firm based in Portland, ME and founded in
0:30
1969. They are known for combining the
0:34
art and science of hospitality across dozens of properties,
0:38
emphasizing trust, accountability, and continuous
0:41
improvement in every project. During Abby's career, she has
0:45
held multiple leadership positions in the hospitality
0:48
sector, overseeing hotel operations and championing
0:52
service excellence. Her dedication to teamwork and
0:56
guest satisfaction has led to notable industry recognition
1:00
such as Hilton's Barbara Bejan General Manager of the Year and
1:05
Highest H Honors Loyalty Award. She was also contributing to
1:11
several thought pieces on organizational purpose and
1:15
service, earning her a reputation as a forward thinking
1:18
leader who values both people and performance.
1:22
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2:06
All right, back to our guest today, the Senior HR Manager at
2:09
Olympia Hospitality, Abby Flynn. Thanks for making the time to
2:13
Share your story today. Absolutely, I'm happy to be
2:16
here. So, Abby, when did you get your
2:19
first work introduction to the hospitality industry?
2:22
How were you drawing it? I've been in hospitality my
2:26
whole life. Actually.
2:27
I started in housekeeping at the Inn by the Sea, which is a
2:31
pretty well known resort in Cape Elizabeth, ME and it was just a
2:36
summer job for me at which then transferred to when I did go to
2:41
college at University of New Hampshire for a little bit.
2:44
I found pretty quickly that I could go anywhere because I
2:48
worked in hotels and there were always hotels where I was going.
2:51
So I have been in hospitalities since I was able to start
2:56
working. And so part of the draw for you
2:58
was that you like to move around, like to travel and so.
3:02
I just felt it was advantageous that I had a skill set that
3:06
anywhere I wanted to go, I would have the ability to get a job.
3:11
And it also allowed for some flexibility for me to kind of
3:15
come and go as I needed to. So I just was a fun, active way
3:22
to fill my time and help earn some money to prepare for the
3:25
latter parts of my life. Was there a particular moment in
3:29
time where you realize this is the career I want to be in?
3:32
Like this is my path. It yes, it happened pretty early
3:38
in my 20s. I did not end up finishing
3:42
college. It just was not the right move
3:45
for me at the time that I determined.
3:47
And so I very quickly realized that although I wasn't going to
3:52
finish school, I needed to figure something out and prove
3:56
that that was not a critical mistake to life's successes.
4:01
And so I was able to from housekeeping, I followed a
4:06
little bit of a progression of housekeeping to room inspector
4:10
to a quality assurance manager. So I was seeing some early
4:15
movement which kind of triggered to me like, hey, I could grow in
4:19
this, It's not just a entry level job for me.
4:23
And I decided to take a step back from the I had gotten to a
4:27
management role And I decided to take a step back because I knew
4:31
if I wanted to keep going that I would have to get some customer
4:35
service training and time. And so I actually took a front
4:39
desk position with Olympia at a branded property and then again,
4:46
kind of quickly saw that employees related to me, guests
4:50
related to me, that I trained well.
4:54
I really embraced all of the opportunities that were being
4:59
given to me and again, was able to see some forward progress of
5:03
positional growth. And at that point, it was like,
5:07
I'm not going to stop until I get to the top and see where we
5:11
can take this. So it was interesting.
5:14
You were kind of on one path in the hotel space and you were
5:17
getting more responsibility, heading towards more leadership
5:20
roles. But there was an awareness, even
5:22
at a young age that if you really wanted to advance your
5:26
career, you kind of needed to do a sidestep and get that customer
5:29
service experience. Is that something you were
5:31
coached on, or were you just kind of observing that that's
5:34
how the folks around you were doing it?
5:37
I have been very fortunate in my life to have a pretty strong
5:41
sense of self-awareness to don't know where my strengths and
5:45
where my opportunities for growth are.
5:47
And at the time, I was incredibly shy, very
5:53
introverted, still am, but that's a, a developed skill.
5:58
And I recognize that although I could do great behind the scenes
6:05
work, what I wanted to be doing as leading people and, and
6:09
working with the guests and really understanding all aspects
6:13
of the industry. I, I was clearly seeing some sex
6:17
success on one path, but there were multiple paths that I was
6:21
aware of and I didn't want to settle in one place.
6:25
So I knew that forcing myself out in front of the guests was a
6:29
way to really help me improve that ability to communicate with
6:35
people, feel comfortable in a, in a front facing position.
6:40
And so I it wasn't necessarily something somebody told me to do
6:43
versus I knew that it was an important part of my own
6:47
development. This path that you were on in
6:51
the hotel space kind of, you know, entry level position,
6:54
working your way up, getting these different levels of
6:56
experience, is that unusual in the hotel industry for folks to
7:01
come in at sort of the ground floor and see that kind of
7:04
ascension? I don't think so by any means.
7:09
I I not to downplay the, you know, that there are obviously
7:14
hospitality programs, degree programs.
7:16
I think they're all important, but I have also found,
7:20
particularly when you are working with humans, that there
7:23
is only so much you can learn from a book.
7:26
And the more important lessons I believe come from the
7:29
experience. So the ability to learn and
7:34
grow. I, I do believe that at least in
7:37
our company, we have quite a track record of promoting from
7:40
within and seeing internal growth most as a prime example,
7:46
the majority of our Home Office team all have come up through
7:51
the hotels, particularly in the operational Bay.
7:54
So it's just an industry that lends itself to that level of
7:59
experience. And even if you come to us with
8:02
a degree, it's, you're not necessarily starting in a
8:05
management space anyways. There is time, you do need time
8:08
to understand the operation, understand the way we do things
8:14
are are whatever style guests you have at your property and
8:18
those things come from being in the building doing the work.
8:22
So how long have you been with Olympia Hospitality?
8:26
Well, my whole life actually. Specifically Olympia, just a
8:31
little over 22 years when I worked at the inn, but by the
8:35
Sea. So Olympia is owned by the
8:37
Mahaney family at the time and By the Sea was privately owned
8:41
by Larry Mahaney. So it was not part of the
8:44
Olympia portfolio yet. So although I don't those
8:49
weren't years with Olympia, since I was I believe 16 years
8:53
old, I've worked for the Mahaney family and I joined officially
8:58
adjoined Olympia Hospitality in 2003 and have worked for them
9:03
ever since. You say officially, but before
9:06
that you were working for some of their other properties or
9:09
correct the properties that were within the family.
9:12
Got it. OK.
9:13
And I see that you've held a number of general manager
9:17
positions and it's interesting now sort of from general manager
9:21
to HR manager of kind of the whole portfolio.
9:25
How did that transition take place?
9:29
I really think I got the best of both worlds when I was a general
9:34
manager. One of my, probably the thing I
9:36
was most passionate about was creating a culture where
9:40
employees felt seen and heard, kind of appreciated and really
9:45
have the ability to thrive. And on top of that, one of my
9:49
other big skill sets is problem solving.
9:52
I love to solve problems, I love to solve other people's
9:55
problems. And it was something that I
9:58
really enjoyed doing. So particularly an area of large
10:02
focus for me when I was in the GM chair was the employer
10:06
relations side of the job. And I stuck with the GM role
10:12
through COVID. I took the hotel I was at
10:15
through COVID and post COVID there was a very acute need for
10:20
recruitment support at our Home Office level and we created a
10:24
position talent acquisition specialist.
10:27
So I actually, at the time chose to take another kind of step
10:33
back in, I think positional hierarchy to pursue just a
10:40
different opportunity, which was to recruit and help support the
10:47
hotels in their efforts to regain staff post COVID.
10:51
I thought it was a great use of my skills.
10:54
For one thing too, I love Olympia to no end and the idea
11:00
of being able to bring talent and and express to that talent
11:04
what a wonderful company they're getting the opportunity to join
11:08
really fit with where I'm at. And with that, I knew that like
11:12
most things in my career, it would eventually progress and
11:16
grow. And so as the years I joined
11:19
Home Office staff in 2022 in that position.
11:22
And over the last couple of years, it's morphed more into a
11:27
position where not only do I still work with talent
11:30
acquisition and support the recruiting services for the
11:33
company, but I also work with more talent management.
11:37
So learning and development, which is a huge passion of mine
11:41
as well. And then also I help support
11:45
employee relations and our internal communications that go
11:49
out to our team members. So hospitality hotel industry is
11:54
one of many industries that I've talked with that it's still hard
11:58
to find labor and it's hard to hold on to good folks.
12:02
What are some things you guys have tried and found success
12:05
with? Really it comes down to our
12:10
values, I believe. I think it's really creating an
12:14
environment where those values of fun, continuous improvement,
12:19
concern for others, trust are all things that we live every
12:24
single day. So it's communicating that from
12:28
the start. It's creating an environment
12:31
where employees, I think work for a lot of people is about
12:36
surviving and we want it to be about thriving.
12:39
And you help people thrive by focusing on them as a whole
12:44
person versus just who they are when they're punched in.
12:48
And, and that has been a huge, one particular area where I've
12:53
been very fortunate to have Olympia help me and encourage me
12:57
to pursue is really in our Wellness initiatives and helping
13:01
create an environment where people feel seen.
13:05
And that helps people stay, you know, when they are not just
13:09
another number or not just a who you know, that's the person
13:14
behind the name tag. And and that's really what we
13:17
want to see. So let's get into a little bit
13:20
more specifically about what Olympia Hospitality is.
13:23
Tell us about the properties, what makes them up, how many
13:27
locations, what what locations, Geographies in the country?
13:31
Yeah. So we have a pretty diverse
13:33
portfolio of both independent and branded hotels.
13:38
Through our earlier stages of growth, we primarily had a lot
13:43
of branded properties. Now the makeup is much more in
13:46
the independent boutique world. So we have you know full service
13:50
operations from resorts like the Inn by the Sea and Alfond in at
13:56
Rollins College in Winter Park. We do we partner have several
14:00
branded opportunities with Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton being
14:04
our top. And then we are as far West as
14:09
Colorado. We have two properties in
14:11
Colorado currently some in the Midwest Chicago area and then
14:16
we're spread out down the the East Coast.
14:19
So we have full service options, focus service options,
14:24
independent boutique hotels. We have multiple restaurants
14:29
that accompany those independent boutique properties as well.
14:33
And really, you know, kind of what we're about, you know, we
14:37
offer people and culture support, revenue, strategy and
14:40
really quality guest focus experiences.
14:45
So we talked a lot. You know, what sets us apart is
14:49
we have our branding really suggests that we blend the art
14:53
and science of hospitality, which really is about pairing
14:57
operational excellence with a deep commitment to people.
15:02
I mentioned values earlier, but fun, continuous improvement,
15:05
concern for others, accountability and trust shape
15:08
those decisions that we make of both how we run our hotels and
15:12
how we develop our teams. And it's been a really fun for
15:16
me 22 years into the company to see how we have developed and
15:20
expanded to over 40 properties now from being I think close to
15:25
10 when I initially started. But what I appreciate most about
15:29
Olympia is our growth is really measured in quality versus
15:33
quantity. It's what's going to what's in
15:36
line with who we are as a company.
15:39
And so we grow for opportunities to add quality to our operation.
15:46
You talked about your values a couple of different times
15:49
already. I can tell that they're
15:50
important to you. I'm curious to better understand
15:53
how 1 takes values from being something that's written down on
15:58
paper and actually puts them into living action in a
16:03
workplace. I don't know if you've got any
16:05
guidance for us there, or if maybe there's a specific story
16:09
that helps to exemplify how those values show up in the
16:14
everyday. I think for starters, it's you
16:20
have to bring them off the wall. They have to be part of your
16:24
conversations. And when we, it shows up in our,
16:32
you know, for me, let's talk about continuous improvement.
16:34
Just as a quick example. I mean, I've, I started as a
16:37
housekeeper and I'm now the senior HR manager for the
16:41
company. I, I'm not sure if there's
16:43
probably a better or quicker story I could come to that might
16:47
exemplify continuous improvement or the company's commitment to
16:52
that. And I am one of many stories in
16:56
the company of internal growth and people at GM at my Our
17:03
Hilton Garden Inn in Portland. I say mine 'cause that was one
17:07
of the properties that I did 2 tours at in my GM years.
17:11
But he is a young man who started off as a part time
17:15
server with me in Durham, NC at Our Hilton Garden Inn and
17:20
eventually with no background in hospitality, but did it as a a
17:25
part time job. And now he's running one of our
17:28
top, you know, top branded hotels in the portfolio.
17:32
And so that's just, and that's something that the company
17:35
places a lot of emphasis on is providing opportunities for
17:39
people to grow. And then as we have had to
17:42
develop, you know, I think the hospitality industry has changed
17:47
over time. And so it is about finding new
17:51
better ways to do things which really exemplify continuous
17:54
improvement. Accountability is really for us,
17:58
it's about, it's about changing what that word means.
18:03
And it's about encouraging people to say, who's going to be
18:06
accountable for getting these results, you know, for making
18:08
these things happen. It's not a discussion of, oh,
18:11
who's responsible for this mistake.
18:14
I think accountability sometimes has a negative connotation to
18:17
it, but it's it's challenging people to say, who wants to make
18:20
this happen? Who wants to make this
18:22
experience happen? Who wants to make this memory
18:24
happen? Who wants to be part of
18:27
creating, you know, this great culture fun?
18:31
I think what one of the things that I noted that I really like
18:34
that we do is anytime there's, you know, fun employee
18:38
gatherings, holidays, different things, our marketing team will
18:43
gather pictures that, you know, reach out to the GMs or
18:46
department heads and say, hey, send us some photos of things
18:49
you've been doing lately. And then they put together a
18:52
whole little video for us that goes out in a bulletin so we can
18:56
all kind of take part and see the really fun things that our
18:59
team members are doing or that we're doing to celebrate our
19:02
team members. Whoopie pies are huge in the
19:05
state of Maine. I think there's some.
19:07
Debate. Whoopie pies.
19:09
Yeah, I think there's some debate on whether they're the
19:11
state dessert or not. It may still be blueberry pie,
19:16
but whoopie pies are a big thing in Maine.
19:19
And every summer we do send boxes of whoopie pies to all of
19:23
our hotels to enjoy as just little things.
19:29
Another favorite quick memory of mine, it was a particularly very
19:33
hot summer and one of my last summers that I was working in
19:37
Portland, which at the Hilton Garden Inn, it happened to be
19:41
right next to our Home Office. And our president, the president
19:45
of the company, brought over popsicles and ice cream and
19:48
brought them around to the team members.
19:51
And when you have somebody at the top level doing that stuff,
19:54
living those values, people feel that and they want to replicate
20:00
that in their own their own buildings.
20:04
I had to look up whoopie pies. I'm Columbus, OH, a Midwest guy.
20:08
I wasn't familiar with the term. I recognize the treat.
20:11
I I think it it's it's some kind of a cookie the the topic, but
20:16
go ahead. You describe.
20:18
Like a it's more like a cake. It's a a cake cookie that has
20:22
frosting in the middle and they come in all kinds of different
20:26
flavors and. So sort of like an Oreo, but
20:29
instead of it being like a hard like cracker type exterior, it's
20:33
more like a cake exterior. OK.
20:35
Exactly, yes. Glad we covered that.
20:38
That was the important thing that I wanted to knock out
20:40
today. I wonder if there's an example
20:44
of, could you talk about, you know, looking for new, different
20:47
innovative ways to do things? Can you think of something in
20:50
your time there that something that you were a part of, whether
20:54
it was your idea or you just kind of got on board and helping
20:57
to implement? Yeah.
20:59
One of the first things actually that I tackled that the VP of HR
21:04
really knew there was an opportunity for improvement in,
21:08
was how we handle our internal communications within the
21:11
company. As we, you know, it's when
21:15
you're a company of 10, it might be easier to have just some
21:19
e-mail communications to people. But as we've scaled and have,
21:23
you know, over 2000 employees, one of the, the challenges that
21:27
we face sometimes is helping our team members stay connected to
21:33
Olympia. So they may work for in by the
21:36
sea, but they also work for Olympia and, and we are the
21:41
management company. And so it's important for us for
21:44
them to feel the culture, be part of the culture, be part of
21:48
the company. But that is a hard task to take
21:52
on when you're trying to reach over 2000 people that across the
21:56
country. And so we recognize that our old
22:00
methods of maybe sending, you know, an e-mail to the GMs and
22:04
saying, Hey, GMs, you know, make sure you tell your staff this,
22:08
that that really wasn't working, particularly cause the GMs
22:12
already had such a significant workload as is.
22:16
So I took the opportunity to look for some kind of internal
22:22
communication, you know, options for us and we ended up signing
22:27
on with a company called Change Engine that are I look at it as
22:33
like our own personal marketing team for the HR squad.
22:36
And so they have helped me over the last several years really
22:43
develop a, an automated onboarding sequence.
22:47
So we have over 20, probably close to 25 communications that
22:52
go out within the 1st 90 days of hire that so that people are
22:57
getting the the same messages support, they're getting an
23:02
introduction into our values. They're getting reminders about,
23:07
you know, consistent check INS to ensure that expectations are
23:10
clear that they don't have questions.
23:13
We send out remind like a prime example, on day seven, I send
23:17
out, we have a message that goes out that basically calls out
23:21
like, wow, 7 days. And you've probably had a ton of
23:24
information thrown at you and we don't expect you to remember
23:28
much of it because they don't, you know, but here's a resource
23:33
for you that has all of these this stuff that you're being
23:36
told. So, you know, it's kind of about
23:40
change Engine has helped me transform the employee journey I
23:44
believe from start to throughout their continued employment.
23:51
It's really, our president said last year it was the unsung hero
23:54
of our organization. But it is a piece of, you know,
23:58
technology and and service that we have implemented that I think
24:04
has reduced a significant workload on the HR part and
24:09
allowed us to just have a lot better connection with our
24:12
employee base. Is there a mechanism in there to
24:15
track if people are reading or engaging with the message is
24:19
yeah. That's the best part about it is
24:21
that it also has a lot of analytics.
24:24
You know, I, I certainly understand people need to
24:27
understand their return on investment and there are a lot
24:30
of analytics that allows us to see who's reading them.
24:34
And in particular, what we use at 4 is to really understand
24:38
what messages are resonating with people and what messages
24:41
are not. It's not meant to be a tracking
24:44
system to say, oh, well, who's, you know, who's engaging, It's
24:47
saying what things are working for our employees, what are they
24:51
liking? What are they reading?
24:52
And so a lot of our Wellness campaign and, and messages that
24:58
we send out have some of the highest open and read ratings,
25:02
which also tells us that that's an area where we should continue
25:06
to focus. So not only has it helped us
25:08
just really streamline our communications, it also helps
25:13
give us information on, you know, where our efforts need to
25:16
be focused. I'd like to talk about maybe one
25:20
or two of your LinkedIn articles.
25:24
There's one here where a service is not an obligation, but rather
25:29
an opportunity. Can you talk more about what
25:33
that means to you? Yeah, I, I guess I can give it
25:37
to the best is to give it to you in an example.
25:39
So for a few of my years in my career, I had the opportunity to
25:44
open the Hilton Garden Inn Durham University Medical
25:48
Center, which is in Durham, NC, sandwiched between a Duke's East
25:53
and West campus. And the majority of our guests,
25:59
definitely at least at the time, 50% of our guests were staying
26:03
there because they were visiting the Medical Center.
26:06
There's a pretty major Medical Center there, and a couple of
26:11
areas of specialty that the Medical Center covered was
26:14
cancer treatment and transplant services.
26:17
So we were seeing guests that were really in all stages of
26:24
their lives. We saw great miracles happen.
26:28
We lost people in their time there.
26:32
And I found it a really interesting service position to
26:38
be in where the guests that you're taking care of don't
26:42
actually want to be staying with you.
26:45
So these are guests that are coming here because either they
26:50
have a major medical illness, a family member has a, a major
26:54
medical challenge and they're spending their money on that.
26:58
And now they're spending their money on hotel and food.
27:01
And that's, it's not a, it's not a leisure based hotel.
27:07
It's not guests that are coming to make memories.
27:11
They're going through some of the hardest times in their
27:13
lives. And that led me to the
27:18
realization that we had the opportunity to treat these
27:23
guests in a way that when they left, the way they left was
27:28
saying, I wish I didn't have to go, But if I since I did, I'm
27:33
really grateful I had the opportunity to stay at this
27:36
property. You know, that it was something
27:39
meaningful that they were taking away from a very challenging
27:43
time in their lives. And that's really where I
27:48
realized kind of the opportunity that we have to make a
27:52
difference for people in the service industry and to not shy
27:57
away from the that I think it's a profound gift to be able to
28:04
help create memories for people. And so that became kind of the
28:09
service philosophy that we took on at that hotel.
28:13
That said, we are going to have, we are going to make these
28:17
connections with our guests, have them be seen, felt valued,
28:22
really learn to anticipate human needs behind a stay design
28:28
experiences where they felt respected, cared for, and really
28:33
ultimately glad that they, there was a lot of awkward places to
28:36
stay, but glad that they got to stay with us, even if it wasn't
28:40
always the cheapest option or the closest option.
28:44
Although we were pretty close fortunately and we saw that time
28:48
and time again and just in the connections that we made with
28:52
our guests. And so there was no obligation
28:55
in that. It was an opportunity to make
29:00
the world a better place for the time that these people were
29:04
there. And that was something that like
29:07
you, you could see the staff light up about that.
29:11
It resonated it. You know, I, it was the property
29:15
that I was fortunate enough to receive the General Manager of
29:18
the year award. It was also a two time hotel of
29:21
the year, which is the number one ranked Hilton Garden Inn in
29:24
North America and the reason for that was because of that service
29:29
mentality. That said, this is an
29:31
opportunity and make a difference for people.
29:34
So that was actually going to be my question.
29:35
I, you know, trying to put myself into the shoes of a staff
29:39
member there. I could see that being almost
29:42
too weighty, right? Like, OK, I've worked in a hotel
29:46
before. This is, you know, business
29:47
travelers, leisure travelers, people coming and going.
29:51
I kind of got my arms wrapped around that.
29:52
But this is a much different environment that you're
29:55
describing, and I could see some people saying I'm just not up to
29:59
this, but your experience was different.
30:04
Yeah, I, I, you know, I would attribute to a couple of
30:07
different things. I think there's something to be
30:09
said about Southern hospitality. I think it's real.
30:12
I I believe in it. I saw it come to life there.
30:17
I think we should not underestimate what people can do
30:23
when you give them a sense of purpose.
30:25
And that is one thing that I learned working at that
30:28
property. I often joked like if you were
30:32
to line up the team members that I that that property employed
30:38
and won a significant amount of national awards over, you'd
30:42
probably look at the hodgepodge group that we were and be like,
30:46
how did you do that? And we did it because we gave
30:50
them a sense of purpose. You know, we gave them I, I
30:53
could almost argue that at the same time, like I might find
30:57
sometimes providing service to people that are on, you know, a
31:02
leisure vacation that sometimes can maybe not be as nice or, you
31:08
know, have different expectations.
31:11
We really communicated the, the meaning behind the work that
31:15
these employees were doing and they, they rose to the challenge
31:19
and really embraced it. I think it was started with,
31:24
here's the vision that I have for this property as a
31:28
leadership team, let's look at what we can do.
31:32
Here's who our guests are, what who do we want to be?
31:36
And that's kind of another example of bringing that culture
31:39
down. You don't have a value of
31:41
concern for others and not have that reach both your guests and
31:45
your team members. And so it was, you know, let's
31:50
design this vision. We rolled it out to the team.
31:52
We made them a part of it. Here's what we're hoping to
31:55
accomplish. Here's why we want to accomplish
31:57
it. And we believe that you guys are
32:00
the ones that can help us do that.
32:02
And I think every single team member in that property rose to
32:05
that challenge because it helped them understand that there was
32:10
meaning and purpose behind the work they were doing.
32:12
I, I love how I was so wrong as we in my head as we were
32:16
starting that conversation. I'm like, man, that just seems
32:18
like a situation that people would bail on, but you really
32:23
crystallized it with like, we gave them purpose.
32:25
We gave them like a greater sense of purpose than that they
32:28
would have at, you know, most any other job.
32:32
I'm curious if you can show us how you kind of get from like
32:37
the, and I don't mean this in a negative way, but you get from
32:40
sort of the the rah rah vision speech of here's who we are and
32:43
here's what we're going to deliver to actually putting that
32:47
into action. Are you sort of just setting
32:50
that big vision and like it's up to, you know, each of the
32:53
frontline members of the staff to, to go and figure out how to
32:57
do this, or are you giving them practical examples of how to do
33:01
it? Where my role, I stayed behind
33:08
the scenes. I can't take credit for the kind
33:12
of amazing service that I think went into that place.
33:16
I very seldomly was out front kind of leading the charge.
33:22
I was more behind the scenes cheering everybody on.
33:25
That's who, that's who I am. I'm the I spent my time.
33:31
Where I feel my time was most impactful was treating the
33:35
employees and giving the employees the care and concern
33:39
they deserved. That would then exemplify how I
33:43
would like them to treat our guests.
33:44
So I believe the better we treat our team members, the better
33:49
they're going to, you know, the happier they are, the more
33:52
willing they are to kind of exemplify that behavior out
33:55
front. Where I put the work in was I
33:59
met with, I, I would meet with every single team member once a
34:03
month. We would do training once a
34:04
month, all team members from the part time dishwasher, you know,
34:09
part time laundry worker to the, you know, front desk agents, the
34:14
one providing the service. There was no obsolete job in
34:17
that building. And I made sure that every team
34:20
member knew that And we would train on not like here's how to
34:25
be a good front desk agent. It would be like, here's how to
34:30
communicate with, you know, here's communication skills,
34:33
here's team building skills, here's, you know, article, you
34:38
know, how how do we create a great team environment?
34:41
How do we control our attitudes? You know, how I tried to train
34:46
on things that were just generally good life skills,
34:49
things that were transferable. And I believe when you do that,
34:53
you get a different level of buy in that says, OK, this is
34:57
something that, you know, we would talk about the art of the
35:01
apology. You know, how do we how do we
35:03
own our mistakes, for example? But that's something that's
35:08
sometimes more beneficial to us in our personal lives than it is
35:11
our professional lives. And I'd use a lot of personal,
35:16
personal examples. My life was a pretty open book
35:20
for people, so that I kind of humanized myself as much as I
35:25
could as well. But once I did that, you know,
35:30
you give people the tools and then you give them that, the
35:33
cheer behind the scenes, and they did it all themselves.
35:36
Wow, that's really cool. Take us through the art of an
35:40
apology. Oh boy, OK, I can't remember.
35:46
It's I didn't make it up. I would have to go back and
35:49
reference. But basically it's keeping it,
35:52
it's acknowledging you know what you've done.
35:57
So I'm really sorry that I interrupted you when you were
36:00
helping that guest. I see that that created an
36:05
issue. So you're acknowledging what it
36:07
did. You're extending that.
36:10
I'm not going to do that again. And you're also thanking them
36:15
for the, you know, the thank you for sharing this with me.
36:18
Like thank you for bringing this to my attention because I think
36:21
one thing that's especially with the guests, I think we believe
36:26
that people just innately love to complain.
36:28
And for some people that might be it.
36:31
But I was a a big proponent that if somebody is going to have the
36:35
courtesy, whether they say it nicely to tell you to your face
36:39
that they've you've upset them, that is an opportunity.
36:42
It, it is about seeing the opportunity in it because so
36:46
much, especially with social media now and all these online
36:50
platforms, it's very easy to just leave, have a problem and
36:53
then blast it all over, you know, for everybody else as
36:56
opposed to giving somebody the opportunity to resolve it.
37:00
But it's not like, oh, I'm really sorry if I upset you.
37:04
It's like, well, you already know you.
37:05
It's like it that diminishes the response or, you know, making
37:09
excuse. I, I'm, I'm really sorry that I,
37:12
if I upset you because I missed your PTO request.
37:15
I've been like super busy this week.
37:17
It's like, OK, that's you're making the apology all about
37:21
yourself. And the long and short of it is
37:25
when you apologize, you're investing in the relationship
37:28
and you're putting the relationship over your need to
37:32
be right. And often times I believe in our
37:37
leadership roles or even as Co workers, we, we don't, we don't
37:45
feel that we're wrong and we might not be wrong, but that
37:49
prevents us from apologizing because we think that that's an
37:53
admission of guilt. And really what it is, is saying
37:56
that my relationship you with you matters more than my need to
38:00
be right. And so I am going to take some
38:04
ownership here to make sure that you understand that you are
38:09
important to me. You matter, your work matters.
38:13
And we're going to learn from this and and move forward.
38:18
Abby, you appeared on a podcast about building sober support in
38:22
the workplace. What motivated you to get behind
38:27
that cause, specifically within a hospitality environment?
38:32
Well, it's a little bit twofold. One, just as a kind of point of
38:37
mention, the hospitality industry as a whole has double
38:41
the national average for substance abuse disorder
38:44
problems within the industry. I think there are some
38:48
contributing factors to that. It's long hours at times access
38:52
to substances. It's can be very stressful work,
38:56
can be very beautiful work, but it can be stressful work.
39:00
And so there is a think in itself an acute need to address
39:04
substance use within our industry.
39:08
However, I can't take full credit.
39:11
I'm more of like the the person driving the train.
39:15
We did have a sober team member come to us in HR to introduce us
39:21
to somebody that she knew that offered a sober support from an
39:27
employment perspective. And she is a person in sobriety
39:30
and felt like our industry does, you know, you go to conferences,
39:36
you go to networking events. There's there's a lot that's
39:38
centered around alcohol, not just necessarily, but alcohol
39:43
use. And there was opportunity, I
39:47
think, to continue to make people feel seen and heard where
39:51
they are in life. And so she presented us with
39:55
kind of the need to explore this.
39:58
We partnered with another company called Sobrinth, which
40:02
provides 24/7 complementary, well, complementary to the
40:08
employee peer support and resources.
40:12
And it really at the time resonated with me because taking
40:18
a hotel through COVID, one of the things that I saw was a
40:22
large increase in substance and alcohol use and abuse.
40:26
And really an acute need to help address that, particularly
40:30
having a team member towards the end of my time as GM come and
40:36
tell me that they needed support getting to a treatment facility.
40:43
It was hard to navigate. They didn't have the means to
40:46
get there, the transportation. So I actually helped her get to
40:51
the detox facility stayed with her through admission, picked
40:55
her up and brought her to a a rehab facility.
40:59
And about six months later I did get a message from her mother
41:04
saying, you know, had I not stepped in, she truly did not
41:07
believe her daughter would be alive today.
41:11
And although that paints me in a really positive light, and I
41:16
recognize that the reason why I addressed that story is because
41:20
it took a lot of time, it took a lot of energy.
41:24
It was very stressful trying to help her navigate finding help.
41:29
And that is not what somebody needs when they have reached the
41:34
point in their journey where they say, I'm waving the white
41:38
flag, I need help. And it is not time and energy
41:42
that all of our general managers and managers have in the current
41:46
capacity that they're in. And so I recognize the one thing
41:51
that Sobrant helps us do is provide.
41:54
They will do the research, they will find the rehab centers,
41:57
they will find outpatient or inpatient care.
42:01
They help provide us education and material for the employees.
42:05
And so it really presented itself to say, yes, I know this
42:09
is happening in our hotels. I know our team members.
42:12
It's a, it's a still a very stigmatized scary subject to
42:18
address. And I am so grateful for Olympia
42:23
for allowing me the opportunity to help really drive this
42:29
resource for people. That's really cool.
42:32
Are there any other recent projects or things that are
42:35
coming up that you're particularly excited about?
42:41
Not necessarily. I mean we're still continuing
42:43
where we have, you know, we're moving into our third year.
42:47
So you know this process has been evolving for us.
42:50
We're still very much I think new in the recovery friendly
42:53
space, but last year we did, we became one of 15 inaugural
42:59
companies to receive the national certification for a
43:02
recovery friendly workplace. And we were the only hospitality
43:05
company in that mix. And then we also have the
43:09
designation in Maine as well. So I think there's still a lot
43:12
of work that needs to be done into kind of creating safe
43:17
spaces for people, education for our department heads about how
43:22
to talk, you know, about substance and alcohol use.
43:26
So we're kind of continuing to explore that, but also just
43:29
continuing in a sense of, you know, overall employee Wellness,
43:33
mental health resources, sharing information about our EAP and
43:38
just really ensuring that our employees know the resources
43:43
they have. So it's not a new exciting
43:46
projects, but it is really reinforcing the foundational
43:51
resources that we have that support the employee as a whole
43:54
person. That's great.
43:58
So we've talked about some ups and downs.
44:00
We've talked about some struggles of your employees.
44:02
How about a big, serious challenge, Abby, that you've had
44:06
to overcome in your life? You got through that and what
44:09
you learned. So I think one of the biggest
44:14
challenges that I've had to overcome and, and this is a
44:17
across the board, personal and professional issue for me is
44:20
really accepting that I can't save everyone.
44:25
You know, I, I gave that example of the employee that I helped
44:28
get into a rehab facility. I've also had employees that
44:32
I've tried to help that have not taken my help.
44:37
And so I've always been someone who sees potential in people
44:42
long before themselves as a leader.
44:45
With that, you know, I meant like I make myself very
44:49
emotionally available. I have spent years pouring my
44:53
heart, my energy, my time into helping people grow.
44:58
But the truth is then I've seen a time and time again that not
45:02
everybody wants to be that version of themselves that you
45:05
see, and not everyone is willing or able to take that hand.
45:12
And so for me, that was crushing to me.
45:17
Like just I, if I lost an employee that I felt like I
45:23
couldn't say. And when I say lot, I'm not
45:25
talking about like, you know, someone died, but like having to
45:28
let somebody go because, you know, they continued to make
45:34
mistakes that we couldn't hold on to them.
45:37
You know, it didn't matter how much I liked them.
45:40
We have to, there's a standard that we have to uphold.
45:43
And that I, I would walk around with another notch of personal
45:49
failure on my name tag when I couldn't save somebody, when I
45:54
couldn't help them get out of their way.
45:59
And sometimes that left me better.
46:02
It just definitely made me take things more personally than it
46:05
should, you know, And those there were opportunities as a
46:08
leader to be like, you know, you're a little too personally
46:12
invested here. But I at the time, I really
46:16
didn't know how to be the leader I was in the leader I wanted to
46:21
be without being fully personally invested in
46:24
everything that I did. And I think I've just had to
46:29
really learn over time that people's choices, no matter how
46:36
much I care, are not a reflection of my effort or my
46:39
worth. And that my role as a leader is
46:43
to show up fully, to guide, support, offer resources.
46:49
And I've had to learn that the employee's role or the person in
46:54
my life's role is to decide what to do with that support.
46:57
And sometimes they don't decide what I would want them to
47:01
decide. I think what helps me move
47:05
through that challenge was really grounding myself and our
47:10
values, still providing that environment for people,
47:15
definitely setting healthier emotional boundaries for myself.
47:20
And even, in fact, it's one of the reasons why I stepped away
47:24
from the GM role of that was honestly, I, I kind of needed a
47:28
little bit of a break of that level of personal investment
47:35
that I brought to my work. I still get to solve people's
47:40
problems, but there are other people's problems now and I can
47:43
walk away from them at 5:00. But I think I've had to remind
47:51
myself that growth requires readiness, and I can still
47:56
celebrate the impact that I've had without absorbing outcomes
48:01
that I can't control. Did this realization, Abby, that
48:06
you couldn't save everybody come sort of gradually, like building
48:11
up some calluses over time? Or was it more of like a sudden
48:17
realization, like a light switch went off?
48:20
No, I definitely think it's something that I've, I built
48:23
overtime. I, I think I had some good
48:25
people in my life. My as AGM kind of structurally,
48:31
we all have a director of operations at the Home Office
48:36
that we report to. And that the person that I had
48:39
at the time, Greg McLean, you know, he was a he was a good
48:42
advocate for kind of, as you said, like developing that
48:46
callus and reminding myself that it's, you know, I had some good
48:51
people in my life cheering me on, you know, that it wasn't a
48:55
failure. And also like calling me out
48:57
when I was taking things personally.
49:00
I think he was a big, he was a big part of that accountability
49:05
piece for me of, you know, reminding myself, reminding me
49:11
of that behavior. And with that, I kind of always
49:15
knew that piece of self-awareness was there.
49:17
I knew when I needed to pick up the phone and call him and be
49:20
like, this is what's going on and when I needed that reminder.
49:25
And so yes, it's definitely experience based, but it's also
49:29
when you know that, you know, you have these, I think areas of
49:35
opportunity for growth. It a good thing that I've done
49:40
is find people in my life that can help be that catalyst for
49:46
growth for me. Are those people that are within
49:49
the industry like do you have peers that you can go to like
49:53
other HR managers at different hotel groups or are these more
49:57
just like friends and family who know you?
50:00
I use the resources within my company.
50:03
My VP of HR is I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn
50:08
from her. She has quite a wealth of
50:11
knowledge of the, the law side of so really to help me kind of
50:15
take out the personal and examine the, the law side of
50:18
things. But she doesn't, you know, she
50:22
does a really wonderful job of helping me pull out my own
50:26
answers, you know, well, what do you think here or what do you
50:29
want to do about this? It's a tremendous example of
50:32
coaching and mentorship. And then like I said, I still,
50:37
even though he's not my direct report anymore, I'll still call
50:41
Greg if I need. And he is an industry, you know,
50:43
he's been AGM, he's an industry colleague.
50:48
And so I, I do tend to use, we have some pretty great people
50:51
within the company that I can call when I need just a, a
50:54
different opinion are really a challenge, a challenge to my own
50:58
way of thinking. You know, sometimes our mistakes
51:02
end up becoming our greatest teachers.
51:05
Is there an early life moment for you Abby?
51:08
That seemed like a set back at the time, but now you look back
51:12
on it and feel differently. I mentioned it initially earlier
51:17
on about not finishing college. And so they, I've, I mean, I've
51:26
stumbled a lot in my career, but I think foundationally speaking,
51:32
like for me, that moment really felt like a set back, but it,
51:38
it, it or felt like a, you know, that failure moment or this is
51:42
going to be a moment that defines me.
51:44
So sometimes I think the mistakes really are that's all
51:49
about perspective, right? Like we can look at ourselves as
51:51
a failure or we can look at ourselves like we really screwed
51:54
something up. But to me, it's finding the
51:56
opportunity in it. It's not really a mistake
51:59
anymore. If, if you can shift the
52:00
perspective. And so when I left school and
52:06
for no other reason that really just, I wasn't invested in it, I
52:09
didn't think it was right for me.
52:10
And but I, I was met with the, the feedback that this was going
52:17
to be a big mistake. This was a this you're not going
52:20
to be successful because of that.
52:23
And there is still moments when it crosses my mind, but I really
52:27
think it, it was a mistake that became one of my greatest
52:30
teachers. You know, it forced me to work
52:32
harder to show up with something to prove.
52:35
That's that has been, you know, if somebody were to ask me how I
52:40
got to where I am today, it's because I've approached every
52:44
step of my career with something to prove.
52:47
And that came from, honestly, that mistake of deciding not to
52:51
finish college. And so on the flip side, though,
52:56
it allowed me to build my career through effort, you know,
52:59
through curiosity, through grit rather than credentials.
53:03
You know what, what isn't written about me on a piece of
53:06
paper. I, I bring every day in my
53:09
actions. And so leaving college, I think
53:13
pushed me to take ownership of my path, grow quickly.
53:18
And I got my first GM job when I was 24.
53:22
So I think ultimately it, it works out pretty well for me.
53:25
I but it is still something that I think about to this day of how
53:29
would things. Be interesting even today you
53:32
carry this with you because it it also strikes me that the
53:35
benefit of you having gone this path of having dropped out of
53:38
college and having sort of to show more grit, more resiliency
53:42
and put in more effort. I think gives you the
53:45
perspective of wanting to develop the folks that are
53:51
working with you now because you forged your own path in this way
53:57
without a college education and understanding that the
54:00
hospitality industry is a space where others can do that too.
54:04
Yeah, I think it's a land of opportunity really.
54:08
And when I see people that come in that might not have direction
54:12
or might not be sure of what they want to do, or more
54:16
importantly, might not have had somebody in their life that have
54:20
told them that they can do great things, that they can be
54:25
something great, that they are something great and that their
54:28
possibilities are endless. That's probably been the best
54:32
part about my job is being a person that can help other
54:37
people see the great potential that they have.
54:41
It's something that I learned pretty early on from a high
54:46
school track coach that made me realize that when we set goals
54:51
and and we we dream big, that if we put the work behind it, we
54:54
can make it happen. And I love being that for other
54:58
people. What's your superpower, Abby?
55:03
My superpower, I can handle it in an intense, a lot of amount
55:09
of work, but no, I, I thought a lot about this.
55:14
I turn people into possibility. You know, I have the ability to
55:18
see potential in individuals, teams, entire organizations, and
55:23
most of the time before they see it in themselves and the
55:28
superpower comes in. Because not only do I believe
55:31
and see that potential, I've been able to help build systems,
55:36
communication structure, support that allows people to reach
55:40
that. And more importantly, I think
55:43
the thing that I love most is that I do see people as a whole
55:46
person, not just who they are when they're working with us.
55:49
The the, the good sides, the bad sides, all of that makes us who
55:54
we are and we wouldn't be exceptional without all of it.
55:58
And trying to help people embrace that is so important to
56:04
me. What's your favorite thing to do
56:07
outside of work? I am a an avid triathlete.
56:14
I'm actually a three time national Triathlon championship
56:18
qualifier. I have yet to actually race
56:21
because race in that race, but I have enjoyed qualifying for it
56:26
year over year. I've completed three Half Iron
56:29
Man's and am currently training for my first full one which I
56:34
will race in Jacksonville in May of next year.
56:39
So when I am not transporting my children to all of their
56:43
activities, I am either swimming, biking or running.
56:50
And it's by I love to test the limits of what I'm capable of,
56:56
and that is just another way that I do that.
57:00
That's spectacular. I've just got one more question
57:04
for you today, Abby. But before I ask it, I want to
57:06
do a few things. First of all, anybody looking to
57:08
get in touch with Olympia Hospitality, you can find them
57:11
online, Olympia hospitality.com. Abby, any way that you want
57:16
folks to be able to connect with you?
57:20
I am on LinkedIn so people can certainly find me on LinkedIn.
57:27
I don't know as if there's a capacity to e-mail through our
57:31
website, but if anybody is looking for information, my
57:36
e-mail address is a Flynn at olympiahospitality.com.
57:41
But certainly reaching out to me through LinkedIn is a perfect
57:45
way to. And we'll clear links to all
57:47
that in the show notes for folks who are listening.
57:50
Flynn is Flynn so AFLYNN at olympiahospitality.com.
57:58
Also for our listeners today, as a reminder, if you want to get
58:00
more hotel employees access to benefits that won't hurt them
58:03
financially and carries a financial upside for the
58:06
company, reach out to us at AD back benefits.com.
58:10
And finally, if you'll take just a moment to leave us a comment
58:13
or review on your favorite podcast app, you'll hold a
58:16
special place in my heart forever.
58:17
Thank you. So last question for you, Abby,
58:20
a year from now, you and I reconnect and you're celebrating
58:24
something big. What's that one big thing you
58:27
hope to be celebrating one year from today?
58:32
Well, gosh, on a personal note, I hope it's that I actually
58:34
completed the full Iron Man because it's a lot of trading to
58:39
go into it. Honestly, for me, just still
58:47
being here with Olympia, I I think to to be with a company
58:51
that I'm so proud to represent to help lift up a year from now.
58:57
If I'm still able to provide value and add to the great
59:02
culture that exists at Olympia, then that's a celebration in my
59:05
book every single time. I hope that we are still
59:10
continuing on our journey to cultivate Wellness and resources
59:15
for our employees and just the opportunity to continue to work
59:21
in this amazing industry. Abby Flynn from Olympia
59:26
Hospitality, I wouldn't be the first to thank you for sharing
59:28
both your time and your story with us today.
59:31
I really appreciate it. Thank you, It's been a pleasure
59:34
to be here. Folks, that's a wrap on another
59:36
episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
59:38
Thanks for learning with us today.