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If you think you know all there is to know about being hospitable listen to our guest, Quentin McElveen and then decide. Quentin grew up in South Carolina and has studied the idea of Southern Hospitality for most of his life. He was serious enough about it that he went to college to study and earn a degree in Hospitality Management.
Quentin then worked in the hotel industry securing a variety of jobs in both the front of the house where he interacted with the public and the back of the house where he spent more time dealing with staff, processes and working with the behind-the-scenes system. He feels his time in the hotel and hospitality industry has made him a better person and a much better leader. He discuss with me at length various issues and concepts of what it means to be a leader. I am sure some of you will value much what Quentin has to say on this score.
During Covid Quentin transitioned out of the hotel industry and now works in the healthcare field as a “customer experience manager”. His ultimate goal is to get back into the hotel world and eventually own and operate his own hotel.
About the Guest:
Quentin, a native of South Carolina, has been immersed in the values of southern hospitality since childhood. This philosophy has been reflected in his personal and professional life, driving his interests as a business professional and shaping his character. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from the University of South Carolina, where he chartered the National Society of Minorities in Society USC chapter and held leadership roles in other organizations. With over a decade of experience in the hospitality industry, Quentin has served in different capacities, including Assistant General Manager, Director of Operations, and Front Office Manager for diverse hotel brands. He has a proven track record of improving guest satisfaction scores, turning around underperforming hotel operations, and exceeding quality and performance management objectives. As he advances in his career, Quentin is passionate about professional development, coaching others, and leading successful teams. He is committed to leveraging his leadership and training skills to make a significant impact in the hospitality industry. Through his diverse professional background, he has gained valuable insights and knowledge from various industries, which he has effectively utilized to strengthen and improve his leadership abilities. This multifaceted approach has allowed him to develop a unique perspective and skillset, ultimately making him a more well-rounded and effective leader. Despite the challenges that come with pursuing dreams, Quentin always encourages others to think big and embrace their aspirations. His ultimate goal is to become an owner of hotels, a dream that motivates him to learn more about hotel operations continually. If you would like to connect with Quentin, he would be delighted to receive an invitation on LinkedIn.
Ways to connect with Quintin:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quentinmcelveen/
About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/
accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/
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Transcription Notes
Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Hi, there I am your host, Mike Hingson. Or Michael Hingson, if you prefer and I'd like to welcome you to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. And I bet our guest today Quenton McElveen can talk all about the unexpected. He talks a lot about hospitality, southern hospitality. And of course, the South is supposed to be known for southern hospitality. So we want to get into that, needless to say and learn about it. But that will come as we go forward. But for now, Quentin, I'd like to thank you for being here. And welcome to unstoppable mindset was Quenton McElveen ** 01:56 a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate this opportunity. Well, Michael Hingson ** 02:00 this will be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Tell me a little bit about kind of the younger Quentin growing up and what what life was like as a kid and all that sort of stuff. It's always great to start at the beginning. Quenton McElveen ** 02:14 So I grew up in South Carolina in a two parent household. I was at a strong Christian background. I was one of the kids that couldn't listen to anything but but gospel music I got in trouble if I tried to listen to something else. I grew up around a lot of a lot of family oriented activities and outings and a lot of my childhood we did a lot of traveling. So I believe that's why I became so interested in hotels. We stayed at hotels, I live on the east coast. I spent a lot of time with Florida. The beaches of South Carolina like Myrtle Beach, had a good childhood, very good childhood. Michael Hingson ** 02:57 So you went to school in high school and so on. Did you go on to college? Quenton McElveen ** 03:01 Yes. I went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia, and had a wonderful college tenure while I was there at a very good time. They're majoring in Hospitality Management course. I'm telling you, man, Michael Hingson ** 03:21 of course. So with all the traveling that you've done, what's your favorite hotel? Quenton McElveen ** 03:28 When I was younger? My favorite hotel was Embassy Suites. I love to go there. Yeah, I love there. How large the rooms were being looted kid. I like to jump across the bed from one to the other. And the breakfast buffet. I always loved that like the um, so as an adult, I like the Hilton brand building brand hotels. Yeah. I have a credit card. Michael Hingson ** 03:59 I don't have a Hilton credit card. But I love when I can to stay at Hilton Hotels. And I still love Embassy Suites. I've always been welcomed pretty well there. And it's good to still follow the Hilton. Yeah. Well, it's all part of Hilton. And but so I enjoyed it and I still enjoy the breakfast. They they do a good job with that. And I've even I've even spent time at the manager's reception not being a big drinker. But the snacks are good and occasionally but a drink but I love just the hospitality Embassy Suites. I agree with you. It's it's a great hotel and a great brand. Alright. So you worked at the well at the university and you you charted an organization there, didn't you if I recall? Yeah, Quenton McElveen ** 04:52 the organization that I reached out there is called the National Society of Minorities. in hospitality. And so that organization was something that we really needed on campus at the time. And it it started a lot of engagement with different students on campus. And it allowed us to travel to Atlanta, to the National Conference twice. While I was there, we traveled to Indianapolis to a national conference got us a lot of exposure with different professionals and students across the parts of the US that had the same issues we had. Well, and I went on further than it. I'm sorry, go ahead. I went on further than that, and joined the National Board of the entire organization. So I went from chapter president to the national program. So right there there. I have got a lot of exposure, do a lot of networking, with industry professionals. Michael Hingson ** 05:54 So are you still in the hospitality industry today? Quenton McElveen ** 05:58 Well, I'm not not officially in the hotel industry. But right now, I am a guest services Coach and Trainer, which sounds like hospitality. But it truly is hospitality. But it's not an end to hotel. Industry. Is it your own company? Is not my own company. I work for healthcare company. Okay. Michael Hingson ** 06:19 Well, we will, we will get to that. Yeah, I know that. That's a little bit of a switch, though, although you can certainly justify it under hospitality, I suppose. And that brings up the question, what is hospitality? Hospitality Quenton McElveen ** 06:33 is really a feeling that you give to someone else is really a feeling that someone's feels warm and comfortable. And they feel welcomed. Hospitality is a feeling so I'm satisfied. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 06:50 Well, if you don't have it, you, you should I think it's a fair thing to say being hospitable and, and making people feel welcome is something that I, I enjoy. And I've had the opportunity to do it for lots of podcast episodes now. But I've always enjoyed it. And it's, it seems to me that, collectively in this country, we're losing some of the art of hospitality because we can't talk to people. We can't have discussions. We're so fractured. Do you? Do you find that to be the case? Quenton McElveen ** 07:26 Yeah, I agree. As great as social media and technology we have today is it really it took away the personal interaction that we have we once had before, the advancement that we have with cell phones and the internet. Because we don't have to talk to one another in person anymore. We can do it on the screen. Michael Hingson ** 07:48 I have heard people say many times that they've been on trips with their kids and their kids are in the back of the car. And they're texting back and forth. And I've never understood why. And I asked somebody once, and they said, because they want to talk about things that they don't want their parents to know. And I'm sitting there going, that is so scary. You know, Quenton McElveen ** 08:10 it seems like it shouldn't be the other way around. It seemed like texting would have came first. And then eventually when it came out later, oh, you can actually talk to someone now. But it was backwards. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Michael Hingson ** 08:22 Yeah. And, but and you lose some of the art and some of the nuances of personal context that it would be really important, it seems to me to have That's right. So how, in your way, you went to college, you got a degree? Did you get a bachelor's? Did you go on and get a masters or just a bachelor's? Quenton McElveen ** 08:45 I got a bachelor's degree, and okay, great to work after that Michael Hingson ** 08:48 trying to work? How do you teach people hospitality? I'm assuming that when you hire people in a hotel environment, you want to try to get people who are going to be able to be welcoming and so on. But at the same time, isn't it something that sometimes you have to teach the art or help people improve in their hospitality efforts? Quenton McElveen ** 09:10 When any hiring role that I've had as a full time manager in whatever capacity I was in at the time, I hired for personality, so they had to be already hospitable and coachable in the interview, and what what they were taught was the skills to complete the job, because you can have you can teach someone skill, but it's very difficult to teach hospitality. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 09:37 It is a it's a real challenge to do that. Because as you said, it's a feeling. It's an attitude. It's a mindset, and it's something that people have to develop. I love going to airports. Speaking of hospitality, and whenever I get to a TSA agent, you know when we get to the kiosk or to the counter or not well, though The desk and all that. The first thing they say is, can I have your boarding pass and your ID and I give them my boarding pass? And well, can I have your ID? And of course, what I say is, what's wrong? Did you lose yours? And they mostly do laugh. Or I say, Why do you need my ID? Don't I look like me? You know, I just, it is it is a thankless job. And even at hotels and so on, I love to try to get people to laugh. I think it's one of the things that I've learned to do over the years from probably doing radio, in college and other things. But I think it's so important that we try to make people feel at ease. And of course, there are a lot of people who are uncomfortable around a blind person. And there are people who are uncomfortable about people of other races. And so anything we can do to deal with, that is always worth doing, it seems to me, Quenton McElveen ** 10:54 that's good to hear how you, you find a way to connect with someone by using humor. I do that quite often, almost every day on the job. And with strangers that I meet. I think there's humor and everything. And it bridges the gap between, like you said different different races. And it's an easy way for me to input hospitality, but humor by using humor, because oftentimes we go to businesses and restaurants, retail stores are just places where you feel like a transaction, like you walk in, they just want to give you what you want and get you out of there. You don't feel like they really care. You know, that number was like a robotic transaction. And I don't like that. So anytime I interact with someone or my current job or anywhere, I want to make sure they feel valued. How do you do Michael Hingson ** 11:48 that? Can you tell me a story of where you had to do that once or where you decided to do it once? Quenton McElveen ** 11:55 Sure, I do it quite easily. The easy target for me being in the south is football. I live in. I live in South Carolina. So the two top teams of discussion are University of South Carolina and Clemson. So usually when you talk to someone, you ask them, okay, Which team do you like? And if it's the Carolina person, I just sparked up friendship. If it's a Clemson person, it's a friendly rivalry that we can joke with back and forth. Yes, that's what I do very often. And being here to south. Well, yeah, go ahead. If they're not a college fan, we can quickly move to the NFL, you know, a sports fan. like to talk about their, you know, what they have on or their name. I find different clever ways to, to interact with people. Michael Hingson ** 12:43 Let's get real serious here, though. So that works great for South Carolina. But what do you do when you get somebody from UNC North Carolina State or Duke? Who comes to visit? Quenton McElveen ** 12:55 Just checking. We just, we just shift the basketball? Yeah, that's something I've done. Yeah, if you shoot the basketball, and if you're a UNC fan, and you may be casual, you don't really know what's going on. We could talk about the older the older days with Michael Jordan, or move forward. Vince Carter, and we can talk about those days. So Michael Hingson ** 13:15 yeah, no, I understand. I remember going to a speaking event. Quenton McElveen ** 13:22 At Oh, well, Michael Hingson ** 13:25 I, it was somewhere right around Raleigh Durham. And I landed, got to the hotel, and I was gonna just order room service and eat in my room and watch a little bit of TV, which seems innocent enough. It was March, which gives you a clue. I hadn't even thought about it. And I was going to actually watch a TV show that used to be on CBS called without a trace. And I turned the TV on was his getting ready to order. And suddenly the announcer comes out and says the television shows normally broadcast at this time without a trace and whatever, are not going to be shown today because we're going to bring you the UNC North Carolina State basketball game that decides who goes to the championship. And you can watch without a trace at 1:02pm on Sunday morning. Yeah, who's gonna be up there watching that? But, you know, they, they really did take it seriously. It was it was fun. And so I I've watched enough to learn to get into the discussions, but I've been in several situations where sports is ruled what you do. I've had a couple of speaking engagements where I was told you have to end by a certain time so that we can end this event by a certain time, like once in Kentucky, because it was the final two for March Madness and the Wildcats were one of the two teams and they said this all ends at 630 Because by 630 One, this gym, it was in a gymnasium totally full, this gym will be totally empty by 631. And you know what it was? It was I'd never seen people get out so fast. Wow. But you know what? We know what their priority. That's right. We know what their priorities are. It was kind of fun. But I agree, I think humor is, is is an important thing. And it doesn't need to be humor that puts anyone down or anything, right? There's so many ways to make people feel more welcome. And I wish we could really all learn more of that. And even with serious discussions, like nowadays, you can't really talk to anybody about politics. And you can't because everyone takes it so seriously, we become so fractured, you know. But as I put, as I love to tell people, we don't do that on top of mindset, we don't talk about politics. But if we were to I would point out that I'm an equal opportunity abuser. So it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter. I'm an equal opportunity abuser. I'm with Mark Twain Congress was that Grandal benevolent asylum for the helpless? Quenton McElveen ** 16:13 So okay. Michael Hingson ** 16:17 So everybody fits in the same mold. What do you want, but you know, politics is, it's just something that is, is so serious, and we're so steeped in some of that stuff today that we just can't converse about it. And we talk about humor, but the whole art of conversation. And so I'm sure that you were to spend a lot of time just having conversations with people, which helps make them feel more welcome. Quenton McElveen ** 16:44 Right, and I was trying to meet people where they are, you can kind of have a dessert for people, I fill them out. So you know what they're comfortable with talking about. And that's just it. So I have different conversations with different people depending on the when you're going through at a time when they're already talking about. And so it's never a disrespectful conversation and never insulting. It's always uplifting. And something that builds you up. Have you ever had a Michael Hingson ** 17:15 situation that where you just could not break through and talk to someone or they were just really obnoxious? Quenton McElveen ** 17:20 Yeah, I've had quite a few of those. That's what I know just to if they wanted to be transactional. Okay, I'll do that for you. I'm not going to ask you how your day was or anything like that. I'm just going to complete this transaction. I'm going to provide the service that you want me to provide. And I got to be out your way. I'm not going to hold you up at all. Yeah, few and far between. But they happen though. Yeah, that's Michael Hingson ** 17:48 unfortunate. And you know, you don't know what caused them to be that way. And maybe they're not always that way. But whatever. There's nothing that you can really do about that other than your best guess Quenton McElveen ** 17:59 right? There. In the hotel industry, there's a difference between hotel leisure and hotel business. So these guests come in with two different needs. against us, they're on vacation, or they're there, they have all the time in the world to spend. So they're going to ask you a lot of questions like what's the best place to eat? And what should I visit while I'm here, they're gonna ask you engage in questions. But the business guests their their own business, they just want to run with a nice, big enough outlet to plug in their laptop and their cell phone and tablet. They don't need to know what a pool is. So why am I spending my time telling them about a pool? They don't need that. They don't want to know, the newest exciting thing in town. They're not here for that. So you got to know what's compensation the half? Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 18:52 I must admit that even if I'm somewhere for leisure, I do want to know where those outlets are. Yeah. To be able to plug things in and especially where the USB ports are these days, which is, which is getting to be more and more important, and probably rightly so. Quenton McElveen ** 19:12 Yeah, and I believe hotel so far, some of them have done a great job of adapting to the, the new that new target market, because 20 years ago, we didn't need extra outlets, and of course, but now it's almost mandatory. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 19:29 And you got to have enough outlets to make it worthwhile this because people are bringing things that require them and they want them and it's all about convenience. That's right. Quenton McElveen ** 19:41 Every note is that um, um, we talked about cell phones earlier. Now there are there are apps that you can connect with the desk before you even arrive. There are right before you had to pick up the phone or call now. They don't want you to call it as much now because sometimes you have to talk to a call center versus talking to the front desk. Yeah, well, that wasn't as big as it is now. So things are changing. And there Michael Hingson ** 20:12 is a huge difference between talking to someone in a call center and talking to someone at the front desk. And I still prefer to call personally and speak to someone. And usually, I can figure out how to get around calling the call center, like if they want if you want to talk about reservations, and they can say, if you want to speak to somebody about reservations, push one, I pretty much am certain that's gonna go to a call center. And not interested in that. So secret, everybody, I just dial zero and go from there. But mostly, I have my act together before I go and have enough information is sent to me via email, or I can look at like the Hilton honors app, and get a lot of information right off the bat. So I get a lot of the data that I need, which is which is important. Quenton McElveen ** 21:09 I want to I want to answer that. I'm glad you mentioned about that out. I think it's important for those who don't travel often or you're really not that into travel, you may or may not have out it whether you go to Hilton Marriott high Wyndham doesn't matter which brand you go to, I highly encourage you to download the app and do check in on the app, I would not wait to check in when you get there. But download the app and you can use it as a room key in some hotels, you don't have to have physical key. And if you check in on the hell, you don't have to stop by the front desk, unless you absolutely just want to, you can walk right past the front desk, you don't have to check in there and go straight to your room. That's so convenient. And there are times when hotels sell out. If you check it out, you put in much I guarantee your room, no matter what time you arrive, whether you get that midnight or after, if you've already checked in, they're not going to remove you from that room, right? Michael Hingson ** 22:14 My challenge with some of that though, is in checking in and picking a room. Especially if there are different styles rooms that all fall into the category that I can choose. Not being able to see them and and then giving you the information through pictures. That's a problem for me. Okay, so I have a challenge with that. But I don't mind checking in, but I also still go to the front desk. And the reason I do is it being different enough. very frankly, I want people to know who I am. So they're they'll understand later if I ask questions or call and have a question or just come down or or whatever. So I don't mind speaking to the desk, but that's a personal thing. And it doesn't matter to me if it's business or personal or pleasure. It is still to me. Probably extremely helpful to speak to somebody at the desk. Quenton McElveen ** 23:14 Right? I agree. It was good to get that personal interaction as well. Just connected with people. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 23:22 Where I see challenges for me a lot is going to a hotel. And they have a lot of hotels have these breakfasts in the morning, the free breakfast or whatever, and you go into this room and they can you can make a waffle or they've got pre made omelets and all that stuff. Sometimes they're not necessarily very good, but they're there. The problem is getting help to find out what's where and actually getting assistance to get things because, you know, unless I just go around with a fork and taste everything in each each container, you know, that's not gonna work very well. Quenton McElveen ** 24:05 Well, normally, there are representatives that Michael Hingson ** 24:08 well, there are tenants, but sometimes they're in the kitchen in the back washing dishes or whatever, or they step away. So it's just, they're not always there. And more often than not, it takes a while. But the other problem is, here's what usually happens when I find a breakfast attendant. i I'll go in and I'll stand for a second and usually I can find an attendant fairly quickly. So most of the time, they don't wander off, but then they say, Well, what do you want for breakfast? I don't know. I just got here. What do you have? You know, they always want to know and a lot of times that's why I hate it when people want to read me menus in restaurants and so on. If I go in and they don't have a Braille menu. I say to them, you know, I'd like to know what's on the menu. And then the question is what do you want? Well, you know, the the temptation, when that happens is to say something like, I want to roast duck dinner with stuffing, and other things like that, that I'm sure they're not going to have. Why are you asking me what I want? When I want to know, first of all, what's on the menu? How am I going to figure that out? It's kind of an interesting world we live in. Quenton McElveen ** 25:22 Yeah. And that's a common question that I get to when I go to restaurants that I have not been to before. Let me see the menu first. And I'll be able to answer that question. Right. But I'll tell you what your hell first, you know, Michael Hingson ** 25:33 yeah, because seeing the menu doesn't do good for me. Right. And it is a challenge to get people to recognize, well, I got to know what there is. First. There are some interesting apps, and they don't do as much as I would like. But there's a an app, for example, called menus for all. And it has some almost 800,000 different restaurant menus. And what you can do is you can just activate it when you're where you want to be. And it will tell you, starting from the closest going out what the menus are that they have. Unfortunately, I've been doing really well lately in the menus that I've wanted, or for the restaurants that I'm I know I'm at, they don't have. And so I still only get them the menu. There are other ways to get it. And there are a number of ways there's a program called Blind square that I can access. And when I do that, Quenton McElveen ** 26:29 then Michael Hingson ** 26:32 it'll see where I am. And blind square also is great at pulling up local menus, it actually goes into the website on its own, and finds it and discovers the menu and then it can read it out loud or whatever. But yeah, menus can be a challenge and restaurants. On the other hand, go to Embassy Suites, the chicken case, ideas are always good. Yes, so I can I can be in a rut pretty easily. In case the Diaz, Quenton McElveen ** 27:05 if all else fails, go to Embassy Suites. That's a good place to eat. Michael Hingson ** 27:10 And stay Yeah, it is. pricey. But but you know, there are there are always challenges. And mostly, I do find that people want to do the right thing. But of course, they want to do the right thing a lot more, when you make it joyful for them to want to do the right thing. So I think that's really important to address to Quenton McElveen ** 27:34 you talking about just employees in general. I'm talking Michael Hingson ** 27:37 about employees in general, and interacting with with the public employees are going to be more prone to interact with me, if I make it pretty clear that I value them and want to talk with them. And you know that we can have a good conversation as opposed to just being a jerk. That's right. That's right. I agree. So what do you love about the hospitality industry since you were in it for such a long time, and you're still sort of in it, if you will, Quenton McElveen ** 28:09 it's come natural, to me, is something I've been doing my entire life. And just just being a part of having a job where you hospitality is something that you have to do. It's not hard at all, it comes natural. Even if I wasn't working, I will be doing something with hospitality. Even when I'm not working right now. Like if I go to a mall or something, something as simple as holding the door for the next person. Or something as simple down south, we say Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. I know that's not accepted everywhere. But it shows respect. Just making sure if if there was an accident that happened with someone, someone slips and falls, making sure they Okay, versus pulling your phone out for YouTube and Facebook, you know, just the old school stuff that it's not as valued as much today. So working in the hospitality, industry or working in hospitality, it gives you the opportunity to do that, to get paid for doing something that you love doing. Michael Hingson ** 29:17 And that's really the issue, isn't it? It's all about making it a fun job and paying for what you love doing and getting paid for what you love doing. Quenton McElveen ** 29:25 If there's my personality, we have a front of the house, or there is in front of the house and the back of the house for a reason. Not everyone wants to be up front talking to guests, and that's fine. This was the back of the house for and so and then in front of the house person, they don't necessarily want to be in the back. So it's a room for you. You don't have to be customer or guest facing to be in the hospitality industry. But Michael Hingson ** 29:52 even so, there are going to be times when people in the back of the house are going to have to interact with customers and so they should I understand enough the value of doing it even though it may not be what they do regularly. Quenton McElveen ** 30:03 That's true. Michael Hingson ** 30:07 That's right. So it's kind of important. What's your most memorable moment? What's the thing that stands out to you the most about being in the hospitality industry or that happened to you? Quenton McElveen ** 30:18 When I graduated in 2011, and I love this question. I moved to New Orleans never been there before. Don't have any family there. I moved there, because I have a great opportunity. And it's a culture shock. Coming from South Carolina to New Orleans, they don't even speak the same type of English. So I had to learn English again. When I first touched down in the in the airport, the lady said, she asked me how I was doing but she said, how you doing baby? And I thought she liked me something because she called me baby. But no, that's and then as I continue to go along, that's just how they greet one another there by saying, baby. That's it. Oh, okay. So it's a whole lot different. So my most memorable moment in the hotel industry was opening or reopening the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Hotel was destroyed by a bit of real bad by Hurricane Katrina. Katrina, right. And I was part of that team that reopened it. So I when it comes to mattresses and pillows, sofas, I was part of that team just restocking the rooms, getting them prepared, ready to open. I even had a hand and the 10 replacement in the bathrooms. So that was a big part of my idea. If you're still like that today, how wasn't that when I was there? Notice something I could have credit for. Many years later, Michael Hingson ** 32:04 I stayed at that hotel. I remember it. It's been a while, but I've been there. And we're attended a couple of conventions in New Orleans as well. Quenton McElveen ** 32:12 Around what year? It Michael Hingson ** 32:15 was, it was pre Katrina. Okay. I'm trying to think if I'd been if I've been there since I may have been there once since. But I know I did pre Katrina, and I think I was in New Orleans once and did stay there. And it was after Katrina, but it was several years after I Katrina hit. And then I was also Hurricane Rita, in Texas. And I was in Texas, when all of that happened. And so I got to see a lot of what was going on like in Beaumont, Texas, and around and around there and how people were having to deal with it. It was definitely a sad situation. Yeah. And people were homeless because of what happened. And sometimes I remember it was very difficult to break through to people and get people to smile. And, and I worked at it pretty hard. Course, in one sense, it's easier for me having a guide dog because most everyone loves to pet a Labrador golden retriever. And right, especially when the dog comes up and pushes his or her nose right under your hand and says I'm here. Time to talk to me. And people love that. Yeah. Quenton McElveen ** 33:34 Now I'm actually working at a property of my Michael Hingson ** 33:37 current dog would say let me jump in your lap. But that's another story. You're gonna say. Quenton McElveen ** 33:43 I once worked at a property where we had a adopted dog program. Uh huh. So there was a dog in the hotel lobby by the front desk 24/7 until someone came to adopt that pet and then when that pet got adopted, they brought a new dog in and that was that was interesting and people love to come in and like you said pet pet the dog that we had in at the time. Michael Hingson ** 34:12 Yeah. Quite she had to have a dog that would tolerate being loved by lots of people but that's fine. Yes. Quenton McElveen ** 34:20 The only we have many problems so one dog that we had to we had to send back because didn't like the pit Michael Hingson ** 34:32 only dogs oh no cats, huh? No kiss. Yeah, there's there are differences there and cats would be a different situation all the way around anyway. But still, that's neat that they did that. Where was that? What was what hotel was that? Where was that? Quenton McElveen ** 34:50 This is actually in Greenville, Greenville, South Carolina. Michael Hingson ** 34:56 Do they still have that program? Do you think Quenton McElveen ** 34:59 I'm gonna Sure, I would imagine that they do. But I'm not 100% Sure. That's cool. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 35:07 Now I have been to the Peabody Hotel in Tennessee, where, you know, they have the ducks that go over the bridge every day. And we watched the ducks and my dog was very interested in those ducks. The thing is with with her, she liked ducks. We actually had ducks. That came up on our patio, in Northern California, in Novato, California, we were lived on a lagoon and the ducks would come up because we fed them bread. And if my dog just laid down, they would surround her need to quack at her and so on. And as long as she didn't make any sudden moves, they were they were fine course what she loved to do was suckered them all to getting close by and then she would jump up, and they would all fly away. She loved to watch them. flyweight did not do. But but she she was absolutely very, very sociable and loved them. That was her visit version of hospitality, right? Because she really did she loved the ducks. And, and, and actually, they all got along really well. So it was kind of cool. Nice. Nice. Yeah, it is. Quenton McElveen ** 36:25 Well, so Michael Hingson ** 36:29 what? So what is the the hospitality industry taught you what have you learned from being in it for such a long time. Quenton McElveen ** 36:37 So working in the industry, you meet people from all walks of life, it teaches you diversity. So coming from a small city in South Carolina, where you run the same atmosphere all the time, and that's all you see, once you move out, like for example, when I moved to New Orleans, or, or moved back to South Carolina, and worked in a few different cities in South Carolina, you meet people that fly in from all over the world, really. So it expands a broaden your horizons, you get to interact with a lot of different ethnicities. So it definitely teaches you diversity, teaches you patience, because not everyone has an enjoy, they have time. Let me say it another way. Some people run into some issues, like maybe some accident happened at room was a cleaner web, whatever the case, was it tissue patients because you want to sit down and listen to them completely, and then solve their problem, you don't want to just cut them off. And then to solve the problem, you want to listen to them first. Because that's one way that they're going to feel value. They think that it matter if you listen to them first. So it teaches you that patience, and it teaches you really be a better person. It really does. So because if you didn't have the opportunity to know that, just because you think something is a good idea your co worker is from another country or from another city, another background, they have a completely different idea. And there isn't wrong, yours isn't wrong either. Is is different, you got to figure out a way to come together for the greater good of the assignment that you're on or the greater good of the property and work it out. And it's good to see some from another lens. You've only you only can speak on your life experiences. If you've never experienced something different How can you give a valid input on your coworker has and vice versa. And so that's another way of just broadening horizons. And having a problem solving skills is transferable to any industry that you transfer to your personal life, being able to problem solve, because it's not gonna be perfect every day. There's no two days of like something something's always going to need attention done to it. And if you've done so many times, just being just being a human being, you're gonna have to put those things into practice at some point outside of your job. Yeah. And one thing that I'm not sure if people know it or not, but I won't point they didn't work in in the hotel industry has a lot of transferable skills. Like as we stated before, I currently work in the healthcare industry, but a lot of stuff that I use, I learned from working in hotel talking to a guest with a patient but I call them guests that maybe were frustrated with them. Well, let me tell you the story. Listen, this happened last week. Last week, I got a call that we had a guest that was actually blind guests. And he struggled with getting around in our facility, he, he was able to get dropped off there by the transportation company. And he was able to get picked up. But why he was there. He didn't. He didn't receive the help that he needed. So he told, he told him, the person, his caregiver. And he told me because I worked with guests, the guests experience department. And we met at work. So the next time you come, give us a call, we ensure that you get around to your destination while you're in the building. And when you leave, make sure you get back to the front door. And I got a I got feedback on this week that he saw the difference that he really enjoyed us taking the time to make sure that he was taking care of it. So that looked that's come from the hotel industry. And that was something I love to do. I love to take care of someone. Michael Hingson ** 41:02 So you think you probably wouldn't have necessarily learned that if it hadn't been for being in the hotel and hospitality industry for so long. Quenton McElveen ** 41:09 I wouldn't have been exposed to it the way that I have been so would have reacted, maybe not the same. But just my upbringing, I'd love to help people in a way, but going about it in such a way to get it done as quick as seamless as possible. The hotel industry has taught me how to do that. Michael Hingson ** 41:29 How would you describe your leadership style? Because clearly, you've progressed in the hospitality industry, and you must have been in managerial and leadership positions. And obviously, in college, you did some things that that would mark you as a leader. So what's your style? Quenton McElveen ** 41:47 Yeah, so yes, I have had some, several manager positions in front of the house, and back of the house with rooms and food and beverage, and my leadership style is charismatic. And hands on down in the trenches with them. We're going to get our work done, but we want to have fun doing it as well. If you're going to laugh joke, you're going to go to see some humor, I want you to feel comfortable, I want you to feel like you matter. It's not a dictatorship, it's not a strong on ruler, ship. Your opinion is needed and is necessary. And as leader, I'm going to frontline not going to ask you to do something that I would not do. So charismatic would be the answer to that. Michael Hingson ** 42:35 Have you had Oh, go ahead. Quenton McElveen ** 42:38 Let me give you a housekeeping story. Many times in a hotel industry you have to you're gonna have to pitch in and help housekeeping which is understood, very common. So it doesn't matter that you got a brand new suit on that you bought rolled sleeves up and get in there, make them beds and help clean, that's what managers do. You don't just tell somebody else to do it. And so there have been times where I'm helping house he was in a room to know when to quit, we got it, you go back up to the front, we'll take care of it for you. So that respect level they have they know that I'm willing to help. But in that particular case, they wanted me to they didn't want me to do it that they want me to help it in other ways. Michael Hingson ** 43:27 But you said a message by what you did that you're willing to help and assist them. Because they they also have a lot they're dealing with so you kind of have their back. Quenton McElveen ** 43:39 Right? At a town of a family this is is actually international housekeeping. We I'm not in the industry anymore. But this week is special. It's a it's a time where you use your resources and use the time to celebrate housekeepers. And I absolutely love this week. And just scrolling through my feed. There's a lot of different things that are being done this week. There's one hotel, they're getting all the housekeepers a pedicure, but a spa day a lot of celebrations, a lot of food, a lot of acknowledgments. And just think of the hotel industry without housekeeping. You know, hotel would last because they are the heart of the hotel. You Michael Hingson ** 44:33 in dealing with a lot of different people and all that. Have you had any employee situations that you've inherited, for example, where, again, somebody just didn't respond and you had to take some action because they were not being hospitable? Quenton McElveen ** 44:52 Yes, yes. There's two I can think of right now. One case it was Is that like, you come in, and you're working, you're working with the public. Like I say, you want to be hospitable, if you just want to come in and just be transactional. I don't want to tell about the exact the exact things that happened. But if you just slipped, somehow slipped through the cracks through the interview, like you played the safe in the interview, and you act it well, but you get the job, and you're totally different person. That's not going to last, well, this isn't going to last long, I should say. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 45:32 And cuz you can't hide it forever. Right? After Quenton McElveen ** 45:37 about three months is usually a time. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 45:44 It is something that people are going to pick up on. Again, it's so much easier to have fun and enjoy life and encourage others to do the same thing anyway. Quenton McElveen ** 45:57 Well, one thing that I really enjoy about another thing about working in hotel industry, as I got older, Quenton McElveen ** 46:05 my focus really wasn't so much. Me, of course, I know I'm going to do a good job. But I want to see how can I develop a team, I kind of lead others to be successful, I kind of build up others to match their dreams and goals, because not everyone wants to be a manager and hold change. Not everyone wants your job. Some people are they're working through school, some people have a spouse that's working, and they just want a second job. Find out what motivates everyone. And that'll help you be a better manager to them. And if you align with your people's needs, they're definitely going to align with yours as well. And, for example, let's say you have your short staffed one day, if you're not a good manager, if you don't treat your team with respect, you can make the phone calls or call people in your phone, you might not get the answer. But then they see, okay, this manager respects me. Let me answer the phones, if they want it, yeah, come in, even even to come in. That makes a big difference in how you treat people. And being a leader, not just a manager, a boss, you get a chance to really change people's lives for the better. And that brings more joy than just by anything. Because I always treat my employees as they were just about treatment, I guess, then I don't, there's no doubt in my mind, they're going to treat the guests. Well, because they see that manager do. Michael Hingson ** 47:33 You just said something really interesting, you talked about a leader or a manager, or just the boss, what's the difference between a boss and say, a manager or a leader? Quenton McElveen ** 47:45 Well put boss, a manager in the same category. So a manager, they have a certain task and incomplete goal that they need to reach, they're gonna just reach that goal, and they're going to tell you to go do it. They're part of that airplane is delegation. That's the main part of what they do. Leader, yes, they're gonna delegate as well. But they're going to do it with you, they're going to make sure that you have all the tools that you need to complete the task, the delegation, they're gonna do some of that some of them with you on the front lines. So they while they're on the front lines, now we get to know each other, we've moved on from small talk. Now, I might know something about your family. Now I know about your interest was your favorite ice cream. So when your birthday your birthday gets here, I can give you that? A manager, they don't really care about all those details that much. Just come in, do your job, and and keep it moving. So there's a there's a big difference between a manager and a leader. And I always want to be the leader that I want my layout that I want to have. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 49:03 I think it's important to be a leader in the really good managers learn to assess who has what leadership qualities and know when to give up leadership to somebody else on the team to deal with something that they need to deal with. Quenton McElveen ** 49:20 Yes, I 100% agree with that. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 49:24 we experienced a lot of that in the World Trade Center, going down in escaping on September 11. There were different people that had different skills that that worked at different times. And and even working with my guide dog, there were times that the dog was able to guide because we could walk side by side and there were times that the dog couldn't be next to me and had to walk behind me just at heel on leash. But, you know, the bottom line is that for the team of me and a guide dog, we both respected each other and I think that's The biggest issue with teams and team building overall, is to develop a true respect among all the team members and that the leader of the team knows, and learns to understand the qualities and abilities of everybody on the team to know exactly that when to allow someone else to take the lead to accomplish something. Quenton McElveen ** 50:23 Yes, there are several times in department meetings, that was something that we had to accomplish or go over. There are times I would open up the floor until tell the team okay, this is what we need to accomplish. Does anybody have any ideas, I mean, it might be an acid that I have. But reverence is given all the answers, empower somebody else to join in, and give them a chance to lead. And you start to see what you have a lot of stress on your team, if you just allow them to contribute, that have made them that have made them better employees and make them better leaders. I've seen where I've seen housekeepers turn into housekeeping managers. I've had a Front Desk Agent turn into a general manager made throughout progression of the Maya leadership. Yeah. So empowering employee empowerment shoes, for me is a big part of my own. What I do as a leader, Michael Hingson ** 51:26 well, and as you, let's go back to your discussion, you're having a discussion with people and you say, what, what are your ideas, please contribute? And somebody said something, and you assess, and then maybe make the decision to say, Okay, would you be willing to coordinate starting and working this project, which is, of course, part of what you're saying, it's very important to be able to do that. And I think that that's extremely important. And it shows that people value the people that they work with. And I also believe that good leaders are also servants and Rita understand that, Oh, Quenton McElveen ** 52:08 yeah. That that goes into employee engagement as well. Once you get your employee engaged, then you don't necessarily have to worry as much about what they're doing whenever you're not around. Because they have an assignment, like you just mentioned, and the deadline, they're going to be working on getting that assignment done. And if somebody is engaged, they're more likely to stay because you want to be somewhere where you feel like you have some type of value. I'm thinking everyone just wants to come in to a place where they know no one wants him to be there. So that employee engagement is another thing as well, that's a big part of my leadership style. Michael Hingson ** 52:50 I work when I'm dealing with my teams, whenever it is, to get people to understand that I don't want you to just feel that this is a job, I want you to have fun, I want you to come because you want to. And I think that I have to have fun, and I have to set that example. But I want people not to think that a job is just a job, but it is what we're doing. And we're working together. And we're making a difference. And part of my job is to show people when they make a difference and how they make a difference and why that's so important. Quenton McElveen ** 53:29 In today's world, you know the the generations change from Baby Boomers to Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z, the 10 years of the length of time someone stays at a company, it changes. You used to see those that stay at a job for 20 plus years. You don't see that as often now, usually the generation now or Millennials or generation after us because I'm a millennial, my standard job for three years or so? No, maybe less than that. Maybe more now, but I would say three years is probably a good average. And the some of the reasons why they would take a position at another job because they don't feel as value. Another job might offer them something that they can't get at their current position. That's one of the reasons. And as I think that we need to kind of as, as leaders of businesses and companies just kind of evaluate how can we get our employees to stay longer? What can we do? Will it help our bottom line and we figure out a way to keep the longer or I think that's a discussion that needs to be had. Michael Hingson ** 54:52 You think companies are doing that at all and are catching on to the fact that that probably is a sensible thing or do you think that People just still are viewing workers as commodities without really looking at the person. Because my impression is that there's a lot of that that goes on today, Quenton McElveen ** 55:12 I think is a topic of discussion. Um, I honestly don't know, what's, what's being done. The the gig economy has played a big part in that. Because so the generation now they can just go quit. And okay, I'll drive Uber for a few months until I can find something else, or am I stupid, permanently, that this was not an option 2030 years ago, that you couldn't take a job like that. Or somebody might say, I'm going to be a content creator. So I'm gonna make my money online. So there are more options now than ever before. And because of those options, it should be some action taken within corporate America. Something that we got to learn? Michael Hingson ** 56:08 Well, you talked about the lessons that you learn in the hospitality industry that you take to life. How about the other way? What have you learned outside of the hospitality industry that you brought into your work in the hotel industry, Quenton McElveen ** 56:20 there's something that feels right now it's called Emotional Intelligence. I've never heard of that before. Maybe I'm late to the late to it. Or maybe I think I'm just rattling time. But I've never heard of emotional intelligence before. And the industry that I'm in now, as you teach it as a coach, is understanding how your emotions affects others around you, and how it affects your actions as well. And the fact I've been studying this and teaching it to others, like I've improved my performance as far as having conversations with others, because I understand now, how my actions, even though I might not be trying to do something negative, or I might not be trying to act a certain way, it might come off as a certain way. Emotional Intelligence has taught me that. So that's something I've implemented. And I'm going to use this forever. So pretty cool. So Michael Hingson ** 57:24 in the world, you we all tend to be inspired by people who's the person who's most inspired you. Quenton McElveen ** 57:31 Person that as far as me right now is my wife. But she's she's given gives me the motivation that I need to go to go in and move our family forward every day. So my wife is my biggest motivation right now. Michael Hingson ** 57:51 I had a conversation actually with someone earlier today, and we were talking about that very thing. And he asked who inspired me and I mentioned, my geometry teacher from high school did herbal Shimer, but certainly another person and the person who, if I also were to really talk about inspiration would be my wife, Karen, who was married to me for 40 years until she passed, but 40 years, a lot of memories. But in so many ways, and I even in the book I wrote about the World Trade Center in my life, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man has guide dog on the triumph of trust, to talk about that, and talk about some of the things that she did that. I think only she would think of that I certainly didn't, until she brought it up. It just really helped me make some very wise choices. I always thought she was brighter than I anyway. So you switch from directly being in the hospitality industry, the health care industry? What what caused that? And what do you do now? I think you've told us some of that, but that's a pretty big change going from one to the other in a sense that would seem Quenton McElveen ** 59:05 Yeah. Really well cause is it 2020 During the the height of the pandemic, the situation that I was in in the hotel at the time, it became a hazardous situation because the room rates went down, a lot of the staffing went down. And the environment wasn't a good environment at time. So just so I can be safer and be closer to my family. I accepted a position outside of the hotel industry, hard decision to make because it's an issue that I love that I'm passionate about. But then I found something called a guest experience coach. So wait a minute, is this a hotel job or something? What's the guest experience coaches doing in healthcare? A job so I looked it up. And it was really, if teaching people and instilling in them what I've learned so many years as a manager in the hotel industry, but teaching it to healthcare workers. And so as a guest experience Coach, what I do is I travel around different campuses of my of my company that train on different subjects like the emotional intelligence, training on telephone etiquette, and how to handle difficult guests, and many other topics as well. So that's what I do now, very similar to what I've done in the past. Do Michael Hingson ** 1:00:39 you think that you would go back into the hotel industry directly in the future? Are you really happy where you are now? Quenton McElveen ** 1:00:47 Yeah, so I'd love the opportunity to re enter in a role similar to what I'm doing now where you can use your experience and coaching build others up, like a learning and development manager, or even in a role supporting operations. Like, like, I told you, my biggest, my biggest memory or not remember, you asked him what was my biggest something? I did? And I told you that was New Orleans. My most memorable, memorable moment. Yeah, yes. Opening up a property? I absolutely. That was a great experience. There are there are positions that are that you do just that you go around and you open property. So I would love to re enter the industry will give you an opportunity. Well, hopefully that will happen. Yeah, I believe it will. Well, I Michael Hingson ** 1:01:45 want to thank you for being with us. We've had a lot of fun over this last hour. And I think you've said a lot of very interesting and important things that we can all take to heart I love your view of leadership and, and a lot of the things that you've said, and I've spent enough time around the hospitality industry, I think to understand it, like I said, I I enjoy dealing with people to and helping to have people feel welcome. And and I know that for me being different because of being blind. It's very helpful to do that. So I I love getting the validation of your philosophy and I appreciate that. Quenton McElveen ** 1:02:25 Listen Michael, Michael, thank you again, it's a great opportunity to be here with you. And I'm honored that you will allow me to be on your platform. So I appreciate what you do here. And I thank you. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:35 Do you do any coaching privately? Or do you just do it for the healthcare industry? You don't have your own sort of side hustle business? Quenton McElveen ** 1:02:42 I currently I don't have that, but that's something I've been looking into thinking about. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:47 Well, yeah, if you do, let us know, because we'll let people know. But if people want to reach out to you, is there a way they can do that? Or do you have any contact information that you want to tell people? Quenton McElveen ** 1:02:58 Sure. You can find me on LinkedIn, you can just type in Quentin McElveen. Can you spell the active on there? Sure. Q u e n t i n says Quentin and McElveen is M c E l v as a Victor e e n. So Quentin McElveen. easiest to find on there and I'm on there pretty often. So that's that's the best place to end to interact with me. That's how we found you. Yes, that's right. Michael Hingson ** 1:03:35 I'm very glad that we did. Well. Thanks for being here. Thanks for listening. We really appreciate it. I hope that you enjoyed what Quentin had to say today and that some of it resonates. Reach out to Quentin, establish a connection and make a new friend all the way around. For my part, I'd love to hear from you hear what you think about today. Give us up an email at Michaelhi at accessibe.com That's m i c h a e l h i at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or visit our podcast page WW dot Michael Hingson H i n g s o n.com/podcast. And wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We really value those ratings and would very much appreciate you saying that you liked us. And if you've had some things that you want to say about it, let us know. Email me I would love to hear from you. Get your thoughts again. It's Michaelhi at accessibe.com. I know Quentin would like to hear from you as well. And when we all get the chance maybe we'll have to do this again, Quentin, when you go back into the hotel industry, we'll have to just hear what new adventures come up. But I want to one more time. Tell you thank you very much for being here and giving us the opportunity to chat with you. Quenton McElveen ** 1:04:53 Well, I'm looking forward to that I want that to happen as well. I look forward to **Michael Hingson ** 1:05:03 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. 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