Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Deniz Dorbek on Neuroscience in Hotels, Pattern Recognition, and What 25 Years Across Seven Countries Taught Her

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Deniz Dorbek on Neuroscience in Hotels, Pattern Recognition, and What 25 Years Across Seven Countries Taught Her · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:07
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. As you listen today, let one
0:17
idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:21
today's guest is Denise Dorbek, founder and CEO of Regulus
0:25
Collective, a new hospitality platform based in New York City.
0:31
Regulus brings investment, brand strategy, technology and
0:35
Wellness together under one roof to build and guide lifestyle
0:40
hotel brands for the long term. Through its divisions, Regulus
0:44
Labs and Regulus Bio, the company offers smart revenue
0:48
tools and bio optimization programs designed to lift guest
0:53
experience and owner returns. Before starting Regulus, Denise
0:57
spent more than 25 years leading commercial teams for Hilton,
1:01
Accor, Kempinski, Hyatt and Wyndham across seven countries.
1:06
She later joined the Bright Group as CEO, leading the
1:09
platform, strategic and commercial evolution and shaping
1:13
the development of its brand and operating architecture.
1:16
She has been at the forefront of integrating data intelligence
1:19
into hospitality design and commercial strategy.
1:22
She has an impressive track record of unlocking brand value,
1:26
turning around underperforming assets and mentoring rising
1:30
leaders. Now, before we get into all that
1:32
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All right, back to our guest today, the founder and CEO of
2:33
Regulus Collective, Denise Dorbach.
2:35
Thanks for making the time to Share your story today.
2:38
Thank you so much for the invitation.
2:40
Glad to be here. So Denise, you were born in
2:43
Turkey, You've worked all over the globe for the biggest hotel
2:47
brands in the world. But how did you first get your
2:50
start in hospitality? Wow, it's been a long time
2:55
actually. And in my early years I was very
2:59
curious and intellectually driven person.
3:02
I was reading constantly and I was deeply drowned to ideas, to
3:07
cultures and understanding how the world works.
3:11
And alongside that curiosity I had very strong pool towards
3:16
travel. I thought hospitality education
3:20
will be able to start and and I thought it would allow me to
3:25
keep learning and give me access to the world.
3:28
So that's how the journey started for me.
3:32
And have you always worked in hospitality since then?
3:35
Yeah, I was freshly out of college and started at one of
3:41
the landmark hotels in Istanbul in the front desk, and in the
3:47
last 25 years it was the only industry I worked in.
3:51
OK, so given your experience across 7 different countries
3:56
always being in the hospitality industry, I'd be curious to get
4:00
your perspective on something because different cultures have
4:03
different expectations when it comes to hospitality.
4:07
What is something different you noticed about other cultures
4:12
that are mostly American audience would find interesting?
4:17
Wow, it's an amazing question. Well, from my perspective,
4:22
American culture is incredibly efficiency oriented.
4:27
Our guest profile appreciate clarity, speed and directness.
4:34
Time is currency and it's really important.
4:36
In parts of Europe and Middle East, hospitality is a little
4:41
slower and it's more cereromanual.
4:44
There is a rhythm to it and the relationship that unfolds
4:49
gradually. And in Asia it's really
4:52
different. Anticipation and, and sub
4:58
literally are really more powerful than any other
5:02
interaction. So it's, it's deeper, it's more
5:04
quiet. And what fascinates me is that
5:07
the guests rarely articulate all those differences, but they
5:11
somehow feel it immediately. So overall, I, I believe culture
5:15
really programs the guest expectation.
5:19
It's hard to say there are major differences, but you can see
5:23
that in preferences in different parts of the world.
5:28
Any constants that you see across many cultures?
5:34
Well, I think dignity is the keyword.
5:39
Across every country I've worked in, people want to feel
5:42
respected and understood. So luxury can vary, design can
5:47
vary the rituals and the belief, but the need to feel seen and
5:52
understood. That's what I believe.
5:54
It's the most important and universal.
5:56
And especially for the hotels, when you create that feeling and
6:01
create the environment, success and revenue follows very
6:04
naturally. Nice.
6:07
So as you look back over your 25 years of experience, we've
6:10
mentioned several major hotel groups in the intro, Hilton and
6:14
a core Kempinski. Could you pull out a challenging
6:17
event at one of these places that, even though difficult to
6:22
go through, really shaped how you approach life and business
6:25
going forward? Well, Anthony, funny enough, but
6:31
almost every location I worked in I experienced some kind of
6:35
social, economical or political disruption.
6:40
Well, for instance, early in in my career, I witnessed the first
6:43
hand how hospitality shifted after 911 happened in 2000 and
6:50
seven, 2008 financial crisis and its ripple effect across all the
6:55
markets. Then I was in Thailand during
7:00
the big demonstrations and the Bangkok shut down and so many
7:04
people still remember that. And after that, the Arab Spring
7:09
happened when I was in Middle East.
7:12
And shortly after there was a lot of terrorism and
7:16
demonstration in my city in Istanbul.
7:19
Then I was in UK and Brexit happened.
7:22
And of course the globic global pandemic happened.
7:26
COVID happened when I was in United States.
7:28
So it, it was, it was a very bumpy Rd.
7:33
I will say. And our industry, hospitality is
7:36
extremely sensitive to that external shocks and it's one of
7:41
the first industries that feels the impacts.
7:44
And when you go through many cycles, different impacts,
7:48
different kind of experiences, but overall just changing the
7:52
direction of the industry and you start to learn like stop
7:56
panicking, just play a little differently.
8:00
I think that was my exit plan and I learned always operate
8:04
with plan A plan B&C in parallel.
8:07
And I learned that the strategy must be flexible at all times.
8:12
And I became more probably more comfortable calculating the risk
8:18
and taking some, some risk, but more informed and structured way
8:23
and started to make a lot of scenario based kind of
8:27
decisions. And at this point, I mean
8:30
probably I can confidently say uncertainty doesn't really
8:34
surprise me and I assume things will shift and I will try to
8:38
plan accordingly. You know, as you went through
8:41
that list of, like, big world events, it struck me that you
8:47
seem like you're always at the epicenter of some giant news
8:51
story. Let's maybe pick one and one
8:54
that maybe isn't as familiar to Americans.
8:58
But the the political uprising in Thailand a few years back, my
9:04
memory's a little fuzzy on this, but you know, I recall the
9:07
military took over for a while. There were lots of
9:10
demonstrations. People took over the airport.
9:13
Like talk about a lot of uncertainty.
9:15
How what were you in, you were in Bangkok that you were in the
9:20
the capital and what were you seeing?
9:22
How was this affecting you? When everything was really
9:26
started to the rise, I was in Phuket Island and we were
9:32
operating an amazing resort out there and it was a high season.
9:37
The property was packed. So many people needed to travel
9:41
back to their countries. They couldn't.
9:43
They needed to extend the travel.
9:45
It was a big uncertainty, very stressful period and there is
9:49
only thing you can really do. You can just go back to the
9:53
basics and really talk to your guests, be with them and try to
10:00
understand their anxiety, try to help them as much as you can and
10:04
more importantly, just keep them entertained, Make them feel
10:08
good. Because at the end of the day,
10:10
hospitality is all about how you make your guests feel.
10:13
So we were just trying to be more empathetic and overall, it
10:18
impacted the future business as well.
10:20
We had tons of cancellations. It wasn't an easy periods.
10:24
We couldn't really come closer to our forecast.
10:28
Then we started to focus on the local markets because I mean in,
10:32
in any location, some of the resource, some of the big, big
10:36
brands are more exclusive and more dependent on certain market
10:42
segments and certain clientele. When it's not exists, you need
10:47
to redefine the strategy. You need to find alternative
10:51
methods to keep the flow and generate revenue.
10:56
So that was the goal and it was great.
10:59
The same thing happened in Middle East as well.
11:03
During Arab Spring. We lost big amount of revenue
11:08
because of the wholesale business.
11:10
It was big. Two series in 3-4 different
11:14
locations linked each other and when you had one cancellation,
11:17
that means the whole road map is is gone.
11:21
So and to me reconnecting with the with the local clientele is
11:27
always being very special and you know feeling the reaction
11:32
and understanding their needs and crafting your service
11:37
offerings based on that needs. But that needs to be done very
11:40
fast. And if if this happened and if
11:42
you just wait for a while and figure out try to figure out
11:47
what you're going to do, I think you are really losing a lot of
11:53
essence because time is essence. You need to react fast.
11:56
And I think that's that's the whole thing at the end is a
11:59
teamwork. But we need to understand one
12:02
thing in a hospitality, it's a human business.
12:06
And we need to really rebuild the definition of empathy when
12:10
when any kind of crisis happened around us.
12:15
So, Denise, help me with the chronology because I forget the
12:19
timeline. Which came first.
12:20
Was it the disturbance in Thailand or was it Arab Spring?
12:26
Thailand was first and Arab Spring happened later.
12:30
If I'm not mistaken it was around 2010 or 11 and the the
12:35
Thailand events occurred around 2018 line.
12:41
OK. So given what you went through
12:44
in Thailand and you made this, you know, pivot to try to tap
12:48
into the local market because, you know, people weren't able to
12:52
travel into the country. What specifically did you learn
12:58
there that made maybe the Arab Spring situation a little easier
13:04
for you? Like what did, what lesson did
13:06
you pull from from Thailand that you were able to to implement
13:10
into the Arab Spring predicament?
13:15
It's it's forward thinking. You need to plan tomorrow day,
13:20
after next month, next year. When something that major
13:26
happens, all you need to do is very efficient planning and you
13:32
need to do that very calmly. And you need to consider all the
13:36
resources you have, all the, you know, technical skill set you
13:42
have. Because in in both situations,
13:44
even some of our team members affected, they couldn't travel,
13:47
they couldn't come to work. So it was almost impossible to
13:53
come together as whole team and you know, creative strategies.
13:57
So it was tons of tons of planning, tons of conversation.
14:01
And more importantly, we reach out all the local authorities
14:06
and we reach out to our community again.
14:10
And, and we also showed our vulnerability.
14:14
We said, hey guys, we need help, let's do this together.
14:17
And I think it's all about that's the beauty about having
14:20
this community, right? And all the hotels really need
14:23
to create their brands and create this storytelling based
14:29
on that very important fact. And I will say we really helped
14:34
each other, all those institutions as organizations,
14:38
local businesses in, in the locations we were in, we worked
14:43
together and we, we did a lot of partnerships together.
14:47
And again, we, we plan for the future.
14:51
There was a lot of future projection.
14:53
I couldn't really focus to solve today's problem and say today I
14:58
really focus. OK, that's, that's the fact.
15:00
And this where we are. But what we're going to do 2
15:03
months from now, what we're going to do next year, it's like
15:06
almost like a domino impact. You have to plan accordingly.
15:10
So that was the biggest learning curve for me.
15:13
And it's really helped me even after Thailand during the Arab
15:16
Spring and all the other events we in different locations.
15:22
OK, so let's talk about Regulus now, because you were, you know,
15:25
had a lot of great corporate jobs, you know, good salary,
15:29
good benefits, good job security.
15:32
Why leave the safety and comfort of all that to start Regulus
15:36
Collective? What was the problem you were
15:38
aiming to solve? Well, I think my corporate
15:44
journey, Anthony was very conscious choice.
15:48
I wanted to understand as many markets as possible in different
15:52
hotel scales, different brand structures, different ownership
15:57
models and I wanted to see how global systems function from the
16:03
inside. It's, it's not really possible
16:05
to digest that if you only watch it from the news, right?
16:09
And overall, I will say corporate gave me extraordinary
16:13
training, taught me discipline, structure, governance.
16:17
And as a woman leader, it kind of prepared me for this new
16:23
phase with resilience. But corporate environments, this
16:28
is my very personal perspective by nature, very heavy
16:32
structures, even if you have the most brilliant idea and even if
16:36
you convince every decision maker in the room and you're so
16:41
fear of impact is still very limited.
16:45
The machine moves slowly and that's reality.
16:48
And over time, I began to feel that the biggest gap in our
16:53
industry is not capital, it's not talent, it's creativity and
17:01
intellectual depth. And we don't really spend enough
17:04
time looking outside our industry in hospitality.
17:08
So we don't read widely enough. We don't engage deeply enough
17:13
with other disciplines around us.
17:16
And I mean simple example like neuroscience, behavioral
17:22
economics, the technology, the philosophy, the cultural shifts,
17:27
all the events that happened in the past, as I mentioned, I
17:31
don't think we studied them enough.
17:33
And because of that, we often miss trends until they're
17:39
already very obvious. So that's why I wanted to build
17:44
Regulus and I just wanted to make it really more boutique,
17:48
more agile. And that's the goal.
17:50
And the structure made-up with like minded tinkers from various
17:56
different backgrounds, not only from the hospitality, from
17:59
finance, from tech design, longevity, plenary strategy, but
18:06
those people are really deeply about value creation and making
18:11
partners to feel truly understood.
18:14
I think that, that piece is missing as well.
18:16
And trends are especially in the last couple of years, trends are
18:19
moving so fast and we tend to operate in silos.
18:24
And, and if you, if you focus only one layer, whether
18:28
operations or brand or technology alone, then you are
18:33
missing the larger system. And it's very critical in
18:35
hospitality. We, that's why we one of the
18:38
build regulars as a platform and we are here to solve 1 big
18:45
problem which is alignment and we want to solve that across all
18:50
the hospitality life cycles from concept creation up to
18:54
performance. That's the that's the end goal.
18:58
Say more about alignment being the problem that you want to
19:01
solve. Alignment between who?
19:06
Well, alignment between the investor, when they first wanted
19:10
to invest in hospitality, even without having the concept, they
19:15
have an idea in mind and then design teams or the big brands
19:20
started to collaborate and try to define what will be the best
19:24
product, best kind of brand offering in that particular
19:28
market. And in some cases we are working
19:31
the third party operators. There was a brand, there was a
19:34
third party operator, there was an investor and there is a
19:38
builder as well. All those parties, they have
19:42
different priorities, different perspectives in mind and they
19:45
rarely talk. They sit down, they come up with
19:48
an idea, hey, OK, let's do that. Let's do an amazing five star
19:52
hotel. But it really requires more than
19:57
what we see in the surface. Idea wise, you can be aligned,
20:00
that's fine. But throughout the life cycle.
20:05
Pre opening up to post opening phase, there are so many things
20:08
going on and all those parts needs to be aligned as well
20:12
starting from the design. But sometimes I mean you can you
20:15
can really bring the sexiest design ever, right?
20:18
The amazing colors, the perfect sleek furniture concepts,
20:25
etcetera. But if it's not really
20:29
operationally efficient for housekeeping team, for instance,
20:33
for the maids to clean up the room or if the material is
20:36
wrong, then you cannot really use that product for long years.
20:42
So you need to renew it every 2-3 years.
20:45
That that's simple. But those are the little things
20:48
that we often forget to talk about.
20:52
And sometimes we open hotels without strategy, without even a
20:56
general manager. I did so many openings without
20:59
been a director of sales on board.
21:02
Those things happen, maybe not every day, but overall alignment
21:07
is crucial in our industry. So a customer would typically
21:11
bring you in when they've got an idea for a new hotel and they
21:16
want to make sure that there's that strategy, there's that
21:19
alignment that, you know, when they hit the ground, they're
21:23
going to hit the ground running because you know, all of the
21:26
traditional gaps. And you're kind of like a a
21:30
master coordinator, a project manager that's ensuring that
21:33
everybody's talking together and everything gets done in the
21:36
correct order. Am I roughly correct here?
21:41
100% So of course everything starts with the capital
21:44
structure and the return expectations needs to be
21:49
defined. The brand positioning defines
21:52
the differentiations and the technologies and tools will be
21:57
used define scalability and efficiency.
22:00
And if creative expression is designed without financial
22:03
context, for instance, or tech is layered in too late, then you
22:09
create a big friction. This is what I'm trying to
22:11
explain. So alignment means those
22:13
conversation happen simultaneously and everybody
22:18
agrees on that and simply we aim to desire and future proof
22:24
systems. There are so many trends, so
22:26
many fancy amazing trends going on, but we need to really think
22:31
what's going to last in 20 years from now.
22:36
We shouldn't really build those concepts for for two years,
22:39
three years time. We need to build them for 20
22:42
years, 30 years from now. And when you consider the
22:46
technology, all the trends that we have right now, it's scary.
22:50
Even thinking about it is scary. It's going to be completely new
22:53
world. That's why we need to change our
22:57
perspective a little bit and think out-of-the-box and
23:00
introduce something can be more durable over time.
23:05
So I've got some follow up questions about the trends that
23:07
you're talking about is a couple of minutes ago, Denise, you were
23:10
talking about how the hospitality industry tends to be
23:14
behind on a lot of the trends. They're missing out on trends
23:18
that were popular in other industries.
23:20
Can you think back to a trend that, you know, was kind of
23:23
making its way through other industries and the hotel space
23:27
just wasn't catching on to it? Well, I think the number one
23:33
thing I can say is neuroscience. Why neuroscience?
23:38
Because people are using hotels to rest, to feel better and
23:43
there is a big tagline called longevity.
23:47
We are all into it. We are trying to, you know, uses
23:50
supplements and expose the daylight and sleep more hours.
23:56
All those things are great, but it's really applicable in
23:59
hospitality in a super smart way.
24:01
I'm always giving the same example.
24:03
For instance, you're flying from Western Europe to US for very
24:09
important business meeting and you're going to present
24:12
something and it's like the, the, the, the meeting of your
24:15
year and you feel exhausted. You're jet lag.
24:19
What you need, you need a great, great, great sleep and you need
24:25
a better cognitive performance. You need to feel fresh, right?
24:29
And I think it's really possible to provide efficient recovery
24:37
with the right lighting systems, for example, and you can control
24:41
the level of the oxygen in the room.
24:43
So we discussed internally with a lot of neuroscientists,
24:47
especially to create our new brands based on that principles.
24:52
I think it's pretty possible to improve cognitive performance up
24:57
to 2030% in a hotel room and forget about the hotel room, but
25:02
all the other social spaces, even the gyms, even the fitness
25:05
centers that we use, we can really introduce more efficient
25:10
and recovery focused tools and technologies there.
25:14
And I think the end goal is to make your guests feel renewed
25:19
and refreshed after this short or long accommodation at your
25:24
property. So and that's, that's possible.
25:27
We need to focus more on that I guess.
25:30
Well, this part's really interesting to me because I've
25:32
never really thought about a hotel in that way before.
25:36
I'd like to hear, I don't know if those were kind of all the
25:39
examples, but like even just like putting more oxygen into
25:44
the room so you get better sleep.
25:46
Are there other hotels that are doing this?
25:49
It's just as an example. I mean, those are the things
25:51
that we are constantly brainstorming these days.
25:54
And what are the other gadgets, other other tools that we can
25:58
use in rooms? There are so many amazing
26:01
longevity retreats in different parts of the world.
26:05
There are good ones in Europe, for instance, in Central Europe.
26:10
There are also very interesting concepts in Southeast Asia.
26:15
In Mexico, for instance, there are more longevity focused
26:19
places, but I don't think we have really interesting best
26:23
practices when it comes to urban hotels and city hotels,
26:27
especially for business travel segments.
26:31
So that's the area we are focusing these days and I think
26:34
it will be instrumental in the future.
26:38
OK. I think maybe what I hear you
26:39
saying, Denise, is there are some retreat centers around the
26:44
world where you go and they focus on these kinds of, I'm
26:49
going to use the term biohacking.
26:50
I don't know if that's the right term, but these like Wellness,
26:53
these longevity features, and what you want to do is borrow
26:57
from some of those ideas and bring them into a New York or
27:00
Chicago, you know, a major metropolitan area where me as a
27:04
busy business traveler would get to experience the benefits of
27:08
this without realizing maybe that I signed up for a hotel
27:12
that is going to help me, you know, improve my sleep by 20%.
27:16
Am I understanding all of that? 100% that's the goal.
27:20
And of course, creating some inspiration.
27:22
Anthony That's my very personal point of view because when I go
27:28
and stay in a hotel, I, I travel a lot as well.
27:31
I spend more than half of my life staying in the hotels and
27:36
in air travel. What I really care is to feel
27:41
very well taken care of. When I stay in a hotel, I want
27:45
to eat, eat well, I want to sleep well and I want to
27:48
interact with good people, you know, very empathetic city
27:53
members. And sometimes you end up in a,
27:54
in a city as you've never been before, just for a couple of
27:57
days. I just want to utilize the time
28:00
well and I just want to feel inspired.
28:03
I just want to have a take away with me in any location.
28:07
I, I, I, I visit. I just want to learn something
28:10
new. I just want to kind of see some
28:15
sort of tool and technology that I can perhaps take it with me
28:20
and try it at home. I think creating that kind of a
28:24
life changing inspiration is important as well in
28:27
hospitality. Why?
28:28
Because again, we are in human business, so people are coming,
28:32
staying with us. And of course the the reason is
28:35
different. Sometimes leisure, sometimes
28:37
business. But I think being this is
28:41
inspiration is important and it needs to be a part of the brand
28:45
promise as well. Now you said something else
28:48
about trends that I found interesting, Denise.
28:51
You know, the idea isn't to just latch onto any trend, you know,
28:55
something that's going to be a fad sort of in and out in a few
28:58
months or a couple years. But trying to think long term
29:01
like what is something that, you know, we can put our energy and
29:05
our investment into that's going to be, you know, here for the
29:08
next couple of decades. And you said there is some
29:11
trends we're seeing now that are scary.
29:14
What are the trends you're seeing now that maybe are a
29:17
little bit frightening? Maybe scary is not the right
29:21
word, but I, I personally don't like exposing a lot of
29:26
technology because throughout the day we are always using our
29:32
technology. We're really, you know,
29:34
dedicated to our phones and laptops and we are surrounded
29:38
with, with gadgets and devices and Bluetooth and wire and
29:42
Wi-Fi. And I think again, it's, it's,
29:45
it's very in industrial perspective.
29:48
But for technology, I mean, in hospitalities is quite critical.
29:55
I think the goal should be how we can slow down the pace.
30:00
It's, it's very fast out outside anyway.
30:02
It's just, it's, it's really a lot going on.
30:07
But when you're in a, in a hotel, you need to feel, oh, OK,
30:12
now everything is getting a little more slower.
30:15
I'm fine tuning myself. And it's just, it's a good way.
30:20
I think that needs to be the goal.
30:22
And if you, if you really implement tons of technology in
30:27
your hotel and make them very visible and loud, I don't
30:31
believe it will serve the purpose.
30:33
So technology needs to be invisible.
30:35
Technology needs to make the all experience more personalized.
30:42
We need to use the technology in hospitality for this purpose and
30:47
of course it needs to impact the profit margins as well.
30:50
Most probably five years from now, so many hotel level roles
30:55
will disappear and be will able to use AI agent to do many
30:59
things. But still, we have to have our
31:02
teams and the fields, they need to be there.
31:05
And somebody needs to be on top of technology because I mean,
31:12
then it, it, it makes things a little more scary, right?
31:15
We have to, we have to monitor, we have to control what's going
31:18
on, especially in, again, hospitality space.
31:22
So here's what I've heard from some of my other guests in the
31:25
hospitality space in terms of how they think about AI.
31:28
And I'd be curious to get your reaction to this, Denise, to see
31:31
if you agree or disagree with this.
31:33
Their approach, at least in kind of the near term towards AI is
31:37
how can I use that to free up my folks to have more time with the
31:43
guests? So they spend less time sort of,
31:46
you know, on the screen kind of interacting with mundane data
31:50
entry or whatever it is so that I can, you know, greet somebody
31:55
or, you know, spend more time helping them.
31:57
Or if there's somebody that don't that they don't get that
32:00
regular guest interaction. It's something that can allow
32:04
them to interact with their staff more, say like an HR
32:08
finance function that's more behind the scenes.
32:11
They can use AI tools that take away a lot of that mundane work.
32:15
So then they've got more time to exchange ideas with their Co
32:18
workers. Is this I, I see you nodding
32:20
your head? Is this kind of how you think
32:21
about it too? I put my signature underneath.
32:26
Yeah. OK, that's the goal.
32:28
That's the goal. Because I mean, in the early
32:31
days of my career, so many things were pretty much manual.
32:35
We spend hours, days to put the reports together, put the
32:40
forecast and budget together. And right now we can just do
32:45
that overnight. In few hours you can just create
32:48
10 years projection very accurately.
32:50
So that's how we need to use technology and then we can
32:54
really spend meaningful time for the brainstorming, for more
32:59
intellectual discussions. And of course more with the
33:04
guests, we can listen them more. So this is not what we are doing
33:08
very efficiently today. Denise, how do you find
33:12
customers at Regulus Collective? Well, actually we are very
33:19
selective about who we will work with.
33:24
And the good thing is I spend a long enough time in industry and
33:31
I do have a great global network and we usually receive a lot of
33:38
great leads from there. But we are also very active in
33:41
social media and we will continue to be active in that
33:46
space. And throughout this year we will
33:48
attend so many important industry events and interact
33:53
with all the investors, all the decision makers there.
33:57
And very soon in two weeks time, we will also put our new website
34:01
together. It will give more idea about the
34:05
the structure and the planning. That's what we are planning to
34:09
do. Reguluscollective.com is the
34:12
website correct? That's the one.
34:15
Right now it's more about me and more about the summary of who we
34:21
are. It's been done together very
34:24
quickly, but they the collective's real website will
34:29
be up in probably 2 weeks time from now.
34:33
Oh great. And if folks are listening and
34:34
they're curious, Regulus just spelled R e.g.
34:37
ULUSR e.g. ULUS reguluscollective.com and
34:42
we'll mention it again as we get a little bit later into the
34:44
interview. So, you know, in my experience,
34:49
every successful business has a great team behind it.
34:53
What's been your approach to both attracting and retaining
34:57
good talent? Well, I do believe in one thing.
35:02
You can always teach someone a skill.
35:07
That's easy and but finding the right people and the right fit,
35:14
right cultural understanding is more important.
35:19
And our approach is really finding curious individuals who
35:24
personally want to be a part of the change, create something
35:30
unique and new because our perspective is slightly
35:33
different. And curiosity is a key for me.
35:36
So and I always were looking to find my tribe, especially when I
35:44
was younger in this industry. Now I'm building the stripe and
35:48
I want people to feel that way. So we will do this together.
35:52
It's not going to be my thing, what my creation.
35:56
I just want to give people a space to do what they want to do
36:01
in the best possible way, and I just want to encourage them to
36:04
really contribute to our industry and create the value
36:08
together. That's the goal.
36:11
Do you think that same philosophy should apply for
36:15
hotels looking to hire and retain great staff, or they
36:18
should they be looking for other qualities?
36:22
I mean, I think curiosity is, is, is really crucial and the
36:28
passion is important as well. If you're in hospitality, you
36:32
really need by my core, you, you need to be a human person,
36:37
right? That's the core.
36:38
I mean, you can be an amazing analyst, you can be the best
36:42
finance person. But at the end of the day, we
36:46
are serving people. And I always prefer to work with
36:51
empathetic team members who can understand the the essence, the
36:57
nuance of the business. That part is important.
37:00
And I think we need to be more open to different backgrounds,
37:04
different industrial backgrounds as well.
37:06
So what's the what's the point? Just looking for someone with 15
37:10
years general manager experience in a hotel space only.
37:16
And in my last few assignments, I, I personally wanted to work
37:24
with different backgrounds from the different industries.
37:27
And those people really bring an amazing perspective to the
37:31
table. And sometimes if you spend long
37:34
enough years in one industry, you are losing your, you know,
37:39
perspective and hearing something new and different
37:42
direction fresh pair of eye. It's really makes the change
37:47
more impactful. So I think we need to be more
37:50
open to that. I hear what you're saying.
37:53
You know, pulling in experience from different industries is
37:57
going to expose you to some of those other trends that you say
38:00
the hospitality industry is typically missing out on.
38:04
Now, you know, and it's become clear talking with you, Denise,
38:07
that you care very deeply. Like you really want to make a
38:11
difference. You want to create value.
38:13
Can you say more about Regulus Collective's mission of creating
38:18
enduring meaning? Well, that's really important
38:25
because I mean and drink to me to create really something
38:31
timeless and timeless design timeless concept in hospitality
38:37
is pretty rare because we find ourselves really focusing on the
38:44
famous trends, the hype. But creating timeless is more
38:48
about creating structure. That's why I think our goal to
38:54
make this as long lasting as possible.
38:57
And in the context of hospitality, enduring meaning
39:03
means something simple when guest leaves better than they
39:08
arrived. Just as I said, I mean just
39:10
create this inspirational environment and make them feel
39:17
better, make them feel calmer, make them feel clearer, more
39:22
refreshed. And for that to happen, design
39:26
must be served, psychology marketing must reflect the truth
39:30
and more importantly, I believe service must be intuitive.
39:35
And most of the time when I go stay in the hotels, I feel the
39:39
services are scripted. Of course, all the new team
39:43
members, they get those trainings and probably they have
39:46
this elevator pitch and how how they check in and check out the
39:50
guests. But it doesn't sound that way.
39:53
It needs to be more authentic and and again, emotionally
39:57
intelligent hotels. They know when to lean in and
40:00
when to step back and it understands proximity.
40:05
It respects the space when I say respecting the space.
40:10
You need to observe your guess. And sometimes they don't want to
40:13
interact. They don't want to really hear
40:16
any advice about their restroom choices.
40:21
So just seeing this is really important.
40:24
But none of that happens without proper age of work.
40:30
And I think in hospitality, the agility is, is a little fragile.
40:34
It requires real culture and cultural requires leadership and
40:42
on the investment side, enduring meaning takes a little different
40:47
form. It means the asset itself become
40:51
timeless. As I mentioned, not really 100%
40:55
trend driven, not reactive. I think that's the, that's the
40:58
best word, not designed to peak in year two or three and played
41:05
by Year 5 and 10. So it means creating a
41:08
hospitality product that will still hold relevance, still hold
41:13
dignity and commercial strength in years.
41:18
So that's the goal. I know it's, it sounds really
41:22
hard to achieve, but with all the resources we have, with the
41:26
technology, with the with the like minded teams, I think
41:30
that's that's really possible and we want to challenge
41:33
ourselves on that mission. Denise, what's an example of a
41:37
property that you've seen in the past that was super trendy for
41:41
just a handful of years and made the wrong choices and quickly
41:46
became what's the opposite of timeless?
41:49
I, I don't know, but they they aged out of the the trend pretty
41:53
fast. I I don't want to say.
41:58
That don't name any names, don't name any names, but maybe tell
42:01
us what they did that wasn't kind of a a good long term
42:05
vision. Trust me, I've seen many and in
42:09
some locations, maybe even in your own cities, in your own
42:14
states, you see a lot of flag change.
42:18
There is one property and different flags every two year,
42:21
every three-year because it's that that means they couldn't
42:25
really digest the brand identity.
42:30
I think that's the most important point.
42:32
You just need to make sure what's the goal when you are
42:35
creating the brands and what kind of problem you are solving,
42:39
who you are, who you will talk to.
42:41
So it sounds very simple, but in a hospitality space, in the
42:46
hotels world, it's very difficult because creating those
42:50
brands doesn't mean telling everyone who you are and what
42:56
you do. It's all about creating this
43:01
imagination about who they going to be when they come and stay
43:06
with you. You know, it's, it's a
43:08
storytelling, it's, it's like, it's almost like watching a
43:14
movie and after a good movie, it stays with you and, and just
43:19
gives you a lot of feeling good or bad.
43:23
I think that's what we need to do when we are creating a hotel
43:27
brand. So and I think again, it just
43:30
goes back to the inspiration topic and Long story short, I've
43:37
seen a lot not couldn't make this journey long term, but also
43:44
there are amazing examples. They are there since 40 years,
43:49
50 years and they're going to be there probably 20 years later
43:54
and and people really appreciate a lot.
43:59
So we have the beautiful examples globally.
44:04
Denise, growth often comes through overcoming challenges.
44:10
Can you share a particularly significant challenge that
44:14
you've overcome in your life, how you got through that, and
44:18
what you learned? Well, that's a hard question
44:26
because I had many and I think living corporate identity was
44:32
very challenging. Anthony, when you leave a global
44:36
brand and you leave safety and rebuilding identity outside that
44:43
ecosystem is really emotionally demanding.
44:48
And especially as a mother because throughout my career I
44:53
needed to travel a lot. I have my 4 year old and I
44:58
always felt like I couldn't spend enough time with my child
45:02
and I wasn't there when she need me a lot.
45:06
And even now, because I am also creating something from scratch
45:10
and it's it's very difficult when you have all those
45:14
different responsibilities in life.
45:16
And the hardest part isn't the the risk itself, it's taking the
45:21
structure you are used to with. When you are in corporate, you
45:26
have systems, the standards and integrating them into an
45:31
entirely new world on your own terms is hard.
45:36
And it's also hard to convincing others of your big vision
45:42
sometimes even before it has with this early visible proofs
45:47
and signs. Because again, in my case, I do
45:51
have very big visions and sometimes it's resonates with
45:56
people, sometimes it's not. And I'm not someone who pursues
46:02
things I don't believe in. And if I don't feel conviction,
46:09
I don't really move at all. And, and what carried me through
46:14
that phase was more discipline and deep passion in, in the
46:21
industry and of course, probably the inner mission that I have
46:27
because I, I, I really believe that's possible.
46:30
But all, all those chapters and especially this last one, not an
46:35
easy one, I will say. And I think we we also need to
46:38
learn one thing, all the leaders, all the future leaders
46:43
in in different industries. I think we need to learn to be
46:47
more vulnerable and ask for help when we need help.
46:52
I think that that's crucial. You said a lot of really good
46:57
things there. I kind of want to unpack a bit.
46:59
You know, you talked about the challenge, Denise, being a
47:02
mother, you know, having a young child and feeling this, this
47:06
guilt of being, you know, pulled away because of, you know, the
47:10
time commitments of your work. And this is something I've had
47:14
the opportunity to explore with a number of my female guests who
47:17
are, you know, very driven, very bright, you know, want the
47:22
career and they want the family at the same time.
47:25
And, you know, for some reason, it seems to be a lot easier for
47:29
men to kind of, you know, be on both sides of that fence.
47:33
But it's, it's more difficult for a woman because, well, I
47:37
don't want to put words into your mouth.
47:39
Why? Yeah, well, motherhood is
47:47
requires a lot of sacrifice. I think that's the thing because
47:56
it's it's, it comes by nature. And and to me, it's it's very
48:00
general term. All the moms that I know,
48:03
including my mom and her mom, that was the case.
48:08
And you really want to do your best, you want to give your
48:13
100%. And sometimes it's emotionally
48:16
draining, sometimes it's physically draining.
48:19
I mean in, in my case, for instance, I'm working 10 hours,
48:23
15 hours a day. So and in very young age we are
48:30
sending them the daycares and PK, you know, the pre educations
48:38
and PK trees, PK fours and kindergartens.
48:41
And in my culture, for example, back in the days, it wasn't the
48:46
norm. And right now I don't have my
48:50
immediate family, my, my parents here.
48:54
They're, they are back in Europe.
48:56
So there are very limited community support in this case.
49:02
We do have amazing friends. They are our families, of
49:04
course. And that's also quite training
49:06
as well. And being an expat in this
49:10
country and the United States is an is an immigrant country.
49:13
And so many people leave their parents, their of family members
49:19
in their countries to be here. And in my case, and even though
49:23
I spent almost 20 years of my career abroad, doing this alone
49:28
is one thing. Doing this as a married couple
49:32
is another thing. And doing this with your 4 year
49:36
old though is completely different thing.
49:38
So it's, it's hard, it's not easy, but I think what really
49:46
helps me to think that she will respect this effort.
49:52
She she will know who I am and she will understand my passion
49:56
and hopefully she will also be very passionate person about how
50:01
she would like to change the world in the future.
50:04
So that's kind of gives me a hope and motivation.
50:09
But so many amazing women out there, they're juggling, they
50:13
are multitasking, and they are just going through this bottle
50:19
all alone very quietly without even asking any support.
50:25
And that's why in regulars, we would just want to keep our
50:32
foundation as diverse as possible.
50:35
And because I personally experienced that glass ceiling
50:39
many times and it many chapters in my career and I just want to
50:43
do the right opposites. And again, so we are talking
50:49
about the woman. I don't think it's as also easy
50:52
for for men in their career path as well.
50:54
But probably the motherhood makes things a little more
51:00
difficult. It's more harder.
51:03
I think so certainly from what I've observed, even just in my
51:07
own relationship, you know, my wife took time off of work to
51:11
have our kids early on. And she felt drawn to come back
51:15
into her career that she had spent a long time, you know,
51:18
going to school to be prepared for and then getting good at
51:22
through practice. And and she felt this guilt of,
51:25
you know, am IA bad mom for wanting to go back to work when
51:29
I had the opportunity to stay home.
51:30
And so like I've seen that like upfront sort of that that, you
51:34
know, that tug of war that takes place.
51:37
But it sounds to me like, you know, you're being a great
51:39
living example to your daughter of, you know, the kind of person
51:43
that you are and that you hope, you know, that she'll grow into
51:46
to find her own areas to be, you know, really passionate about
51:50
and to want to make the place a better world.
51:52
And I appreciate what you're saying also about, you know,
51:54
being vulnerable and learning to ask for help.
51:59
Can you give an example of you know how this has worked for you
52:02
in your own life? Having a good mentors in the
52:09
early part of your career is crucial.
52:12
And I was so lucky because I, I had the opportunity to work with
52:16
amazing leader. And I will say the generation
52:19
before me, they were very special, very dedicated, and
52:25
they were the ones to really change the overall industry
52:30
norms. And I feel very fortunate
52:34
because I build this relationship over time.
52:38
They became my family, they became my very close friends.
52:42
And sometimes I feel really struggled and I, I feel all the
52:49
comfort to reach out to them in US camp.
52:52
And even though if you feel like, oh, I have the best idea
52:54
of the world, you still need verification sometimes.
53:00
And also the, the, the goals change as well.
53:06
And one day you, you wake up and say, Hey, that's the goal.
53:11
And two months later and events occur and you need to kind of
53:16
update a strategy and adjust from here and there.
53:19
And I think my biggest I and maybe my biggest recommendation
53:26
would be to have that mentor in life, not necessarily in the, in
53:31
the business and the career field, but someone to go to.
53:36
And we all have this inspirational people in our
53:40
lives. And sometimes we feel a little
53:43
hesitant to go out and ask and even just, you know, demanding
53:49
this is a good start and going someone and saying, hey, you
53:52
know what, I really adore you and you are an amazing person
53:56
and you are extremely successful in what you are doing.
54:00
Can we spend some time together? Can we grab a coffee?
54:02
And do you mind if I just come to you when I have some
54:06
questions about work or life? So I think we should be more
54:10
proactive on that. I love that.
54:15
Denise, what is your superpower? Oh wow, it's a hard question.
54:25
I think my biggest superpower is my pattern recognition.
54:30
I tend to see structural misalignment before it shows up
54:36
in numbers. And the other one should be
54:41
creativity and I genuinely enjoy looking at problems from
54:46
different Angel and I'm not trying to, you know, reinvent
54:50
the wheel or bring completely different contexts in certain
54:56
certain problems. But I don't like default
54:58
answers. I like challenging the always
55:02
pet and finding solutions that aren't really super visible.
55:07
And and for that, I actively push my own think IT system and
55:13
I expose myself to different ideas out of hospitality.
55:18
And I try not to stay intellectually comfortable, I
55:24
think. How do?
55:26
You do that, how do you challenge yourself 'cause it,
55:29
you know, being in one industry for so long as you have you,
55:33
right? You've seen those patterns, you
55:34
recognize what the solutions are 'cause you've been through it 50
55:38
times before. How do you push yourself to say,
55:41
well that was the solution that worked the last 50 times, but
55:44
maybe there's something different I should consider this
55:47
time? Well, I think the only one thing
55:53
I do for this is reading a lot and learning a lot.
55:58
So that was my habit and I think it was a very good habit.
56:04
I think it was during COVID I started to dedicate an hour and
56:08
a half every day to start reading articles, watching
56:13
YouTube videos, and listening podcasts.
56:16
It's like dedicated learning hour for me.
56:19
And that gave me tons of amazing ideas about various different
56:25
areas, not specific the hospitality.
56:27
And each time I hear something interesting, I read something
56:30
interesting. The first thing was can we adapt
56:33
this idea to our industry? Is there a way that we can use
56:38
this best practice in hospitality?
56:40
And there are certain challenges.
56:43
They're like very, very repetitive.
56:46
You always come across with with those things and then you know
56:51
what they are. And each time we we sit with a
56:54
team for any kind of strategy meeting.
56:58
This is my very first question. Just bring me a problem, but
57:02
bring me four different solution to that particular problem.
57:07
And maybe those solutions will not be solid concrete.
57:11
Maybe we need to work on those. Maybe it's like in an idea
57:16
phase, doesn't matter, just shoot it up.
57:20
Then we can work on that. We can just, you know, improve
57:24
those solutions and see if it's going to work or not.
57:27
We need to be open to change and try something new and especially
57:34
when it comes to problem solving and I highly recommend everybody
57:37
to. Dedicated time can be 30
57:40
minutes, not necessarily hour and half, but just try to read,
57:45
to listen and learn something new every day.
57:50
Well, you just taught me something.
57:51
I picked up an idea from you that I'm going to implement with
57:54
my own team because, you know, it's one thing I've been
57:57
coaching my team on is, hey, if you come to me with a problem,
58:01
great, come to me also with a proposed solution.
58:04
You're taking it step farther and saying come to me with four
58:07
solutions. And maybe the you know, maybe
58:10
it's three, maybe it's 5, whatever, but give them a number
58:13
because it pushes them to think about more than one way to
58:16
approach this right. And maybe out of that four, one
58:20
or two of those you can pretty easily peel off is unrealistic,
58:25
but at least your putting them in a mental position to go and
58:29
think more creatively to find out other ideas that could
58:33
address this. Yeah, and it's worked so well.
58:37
And it just also gives them a lot of motivation and excitement
58:40
as well. Each time some someone from my
58:42
team come to me, they know they need to be prepared, but that
58:46
preparation phase is fun. And that's where you put your
58:51
limit and it's it's priceless. I love that.
58:55
You know, and the other thing I enjoyed was, you know, setting
58:58
aside time to to learn, read a podcast.
59:01
And I wonder if there's a podcast or a book or a course,
59:05
something like that that's been particularly helpful for you
59:07
that you might recommend to our listeners.
59:11
Well, actually I have quite a lot these days and just trying
59:23
to remember the right name. So first of all, I think I'm I'm
59:33
more like a books person. I really enjoy reading more than
59:39
any other things we'll do. And quite recently, Will Godera,
59:45
he was one of the owners of Medicine 11, the three Michelin
59:50
star restaurant in New York. And his newest book is amazing.
59:58
It's very refreshing perspective for the overall hospitality
1:00:02
industry. I highly suggest everybody to
1:00:06
read that because it's really show how empathetic approach
1:00:12
really upgrades the operational efficiency as well.
1:00:17
So that's one of the book. Stayed with me in the last year
1:00:23
and and. What's the name of that book?
1:00:30
Hold on a minute. My mind's really freeze right
1:00:32
now. I'm sure I'm going to remember.
1:00:35
OK, give me the name of the author again.
1:00:37
I'll look it up. What's the name of the author,
1:00:42
Denise? Unreasonable hospitality.
1:00:45
I get it. That's the one I thought you
1:00:47
were talking about. It gets mentioned so often on
1:00:49
this show. Even for people outside the
1:00:51
industry, it's a great one. And Will Will Gutierrez is is is
1:00:55
the is the writer and it's, it's really amazing one.
1:00:59
And the second one, actually, the Creative Act by Rick Rubin,
1:01:07
and it's not really a business manual, I will say, but it's
1:01:12
about entering a creative states, it's about listening,
1:01:16
It's about allowing ideas to surface.
1:01:20
So for me, it's a masterpiece, especially when you're building
1:01:24
something from scratch and want to stay inspired without losing
1:01:30
structure. I read widely.
1:01:33
But those two, I will say I I read both of them in the last
1:01:39
part of the year last year, so it really stayed with me and I,
1:01:43
I remember having a marker in my hand underlining as I went.
1:01:49
So especially Will's book if we are talking about hospitality, I
1:01:54
highly suggest and so sorry I couldn't remember the name right
1:01:58
away. I thought that's the one you
1:01:59
were talking about, but I want to make sure.
1:02:01
Yeah. And I've read it myself.
1:02:03
One of my guests sent it to me who's not even in the
1:02:05
hospitality space, so people listening in other industries, I
1:02:09
I think it's a good one to pick up.
1:02:11
What's your favorite thing to do outside of work, Denise?
1:02:15
Well, oh, many things actually. I mean reading is one of them
1:02:22
for sure. But I will say slow travel and
1:02:27
long dinners with family and friends, conversations that
1:02:31
challenge my perspective. I'm a certified kundalini yoga
1:02:35
teacher. So yoga is not only a hobby for
1:02:39
me, but it's a, it's almost like a foundation.
1:02:42
And I'm also a amateur sailor. Being at sea or just, you know,
1:02:48
being near the sea is a, it's really a big need for me.
1:02:53
And I will say the ocean resets my scale.
1:02:57
So those spaces keep me grounded when I built this ambitious
1:03:03
things. Like it?
1:03:05
Denise, I just have one more question for you today.
1:03:07
But before I ask it, I want to do 3 quick things for the
1:03:10
audience. First of all, if you want to get
1:03:12
in touch with Denise, we're going to have her LinkedIn
1:03:15
profile and the show notes, but her name is spelled DENIZ
1:03:19
Denise. And then Dorbek is DORBEK.
1:03:23
Denise Dorbek regulars collective.
1:03:25
You'll find her also their new website, which is going to be
1:03:28
out by the time that this episode drops,
1:03:30
reguluscollective.com. We'll have a link to that and
1:03:33
show notes too. And if you're enjoying the show
1:03:36
today, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you're
1:03:39
listening. It sends a signal that helps
1:03:42
others discover our show. So thank you for taking a quick
1:03:45
moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, you could be
1:03:49
the hero advisor that helps clients give their employees
1:03:52
access to therapists, doctors and prescription meds while
1:03:56
paradoxically increasing their net profits, real gains that can
1:04:00
change how a business is valued. Learn more today at AD back
1:04:04
benefits.com. So last question for you,
1:04:06
Denise. A year from now, what is 1 very
1:04:08
specific thing that you hope to be celebrating?
1:04:13
Wow, even thinking about it's, it's very exciting year from
1:04:17
now, I hope to celebrate the successful announcement of
1:04:22
collectives first flagship proxy.
1:04:26
And that project will be very a tangible expression of our
1:04:31
team's vision and my vision and our shared ambition to create
1:04:36
something that contributes and even in his own way to a better
1:04:42
world in hospitality. And on the advisory side, I hope
1:04:47
we'll also be celebrating the kind of partnership where the
1:04:52
people we work with feel genuinely proud of what we build
1:04:57
together. I really want to put a big smile
1:05:00
on their face and hopefully it's going to happen in a year time.
1:05:05
I love it. Denise Dorbeck from Regulus
1:05:08
Collective, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing
1:05:10
both your time and your story with us today.
1:05:13
I really appreciate you being here.
1:05:15
Thank you. It was wonderful.
1:05:17
Thank you for the total questions and being a great
1:05:21
host. Folks, that's a wrap on another
1:05:24
episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
1:05:26
Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put
1:05:29
that into action today.