Keeping The Vibes High with Luca Monti

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You can show up to somebody's house party and the lights are
all fully on. There's people standing around a
dining room table or in a kitchen.
There's no music playing. There's a chip bowl, some
cookies on a platter, and I'm like, all the vibes are way off.
This is not what I signed up for.

(00:21):
A man after my own heart. You get it.
There should be a fucking spreadon that table lighting.
There should be music playing inthat space that makes everybody
like love it. Of course, naturally, a lot of
the best parties, people stick around in the kitchen and that's
fine. And then I was always like, why
is everybody in the kitchen? We have a whole other house to

(00:41):
like hang around in, like be on the backyard, whatever.
So I'm very much like cautious about that.
And now everyone like coming into this role asks like, oh,
the vibe director knows. He knows.
It's like I've become the expert.
People have asked me to like DJ parties for them.
I don't know what I mean, DJ like I got a headset on and I'm
spinning or anything like that. But just like, control the music

(01:03):
because a lot of people don't have their fingerprint on what's
going on with music and they're so big.
In my soul, right? Now they're playing like, I
don't know, big shiny tunes too on a CD, and it's like, that's
what's going on. Welcome to Graphic Content, the

(01:40):
podcast where we talk all thingswho, why, and the what the fuck
moments along the way. Today's guest is the human
embodiment of good vibes and getting shit done.
He's a community connector, a walking billboard for joy and
inclusivity, and a total powerhouse in the hospitality
world, from running bars and hotels to now being the literal
director of Vibe at the first Hard Rock Hotel in Canada.

(02:03):
Welcome to Graphic Content, Lucca Monti.
Hi, thanks for having. Me thank you for being here I
know you're such a busy person so I appreciate you taking the
time I'm. Happy to be here and you're
welcome. So we're like recording this on
July 18th. So it's like Midsummer.
How has your schedule been? I know you're kind of all over

(02:26):
the place. We've been open now for two
months now with the Hard Rock Hotel.
You know, obviously leading up to it, there was so much
onboarding and so much training and stuff like that to get where
I wanted to be. Once we were in the actual space
before we got to open up and, and get the spaces ready, get
the team trained, get those areas ready and the vibes,

(02:46):
right. I was getting into a lot of like
longer days and a schedule that I wasn't typically used to.
And, you know, I just said to myhusband that it's not always
going to be like this, don't worry, 'cause you know, I think
he probably thought first it's like, OK, I'm never going to see
you now that you work there. No, it's not always going to be

(03:09):
like this. I know a lot's been asked of me
right now as we're leading up tothat opening date.
And then once I got that openingdate, like, yeah, I started
getting into a rhythm that like my schedule is very, it's a
fluid schedule. It does obviously require me to
be on site. I can't really work from home
with this role. I'm, I'm just out and about all
the time. People always like you're never

(03:31):
home. And it's like, we just do a lot
of things. We do a lot of things like I
keep busy and that's what that'swhat I like to.
Do. But that's something that a lot
of creatives can relate to, people who are in industries
where you're building something,you're creating something from
the ground up. You're at the, you know, at the
foundation of that new chapter of whatever the project is.

(03:52):
And you really do have to give it a lot of energy.
And sometimes, like I've had conversations with Tyler to be
like, especially with this project, I'm like, it's taking
me so much more energy and time.And I'm like, I this isn't
forever, but I, I need to createthat foundation.
I need to put in the energy now so that later it can kind of run
itself. But how do you manage that now
knowing that, OK, this is, you know, I know the next couple

(04:13):
months are going to be die hard for what I have to do to get
this thing up and running and established.
Like how do you manage that in your own life?
Coming out of the pandemic, people just put their mental
health first more so than everything, anything.
And I'd love to see that. I'd love to see, you know,
places of employment take that seriously when somebody truly

(04:34):
needs to have a a mental health day or just, you know, being
sick, you're not always sick. You could just be like really
down on the dumps and that may not help you perform very well
at your job. So to take that day off just to
be like, I, I just need this dayoff or something.
Mind you, I, I don't have knock on wood, I don't have a lot of

(04:55):
those days at all. Yeah.
I, I feel like my life is very happy.
I, I have a very happy life And I, I think that kind of exudes
and like my work and people can just see that when I talk to
you, what I do that I'm just happy.
It just brings a smile to my face right away.
So I've put my my marriage first, like we do everything
together. I keep that as like a huge

(05:17):
priority. And with my social calendars,
like there always makes time forus.
It's never just like long days, long nights and then come home,
go to bed and do it all over again the next day without any
sort of conversation about how the day was or anything.
And I expect the same for my husband too.
So that's a good foundation thatwe've built and I'll never let

(05:38):
anything else kind of take over that.
Going back to the energy piece, you sing like exuding, you exude
that like positive energy. It's a perfect segue to the
title that you currently have. I don't know why I did this, but
the title close, you know, when you're like on your resume or
whatever. Yeah, but the so you are the
director of Vibe at the Hard Rock Hotel.

(05:59):
Can you explain a little bit what that means and how you got
that title? Like where did that come to be?
The title that I give that that I was given, it was not
something that was just made-up for me based on my personality,
based on like my past or anything.
Hard Rock creates this for. So all of their hotels have a
director of Vibe assigned to it because Vibe to Hard Rock stands

(06:22):
for a visionary individual behind energy.
And that's what the Akron vibe is.
And, and it really means that, you know, you are the, the true
person that creates that atmosphere for your hotel, for
the guests, for your employees. And so when I saw that that was
being posted, like I've, I've been working for 100 Kellogg for

(06:44):
the past five and a half years. So being on that side of the
property and always, like when we made that announcement in
April 2021 that we are getting the very first Hard Rock Hotel
in Canada, the press was going crazy.
And of course then the haters came out very quickly as they
always do. Yeah, why would they choose
London ON why in that part of town like that?

(07:05):
It's never going to last and allthat kind of stuff.
I was still so excited because the two families that I work for
that own 100 Kellogg and then invested so much of their money
privately into that project of creating Canada's largest indoor
entertainment complex franchise,the hotel and the vision on that
too. Like rather than being like a

(07:27):
from the ground up new build, working with the existing
historic property, incorporatingall those aspects of the
property like concrete pillars. The floor is still the same.
Like it's just like really cool charm of the building.
And so when I saw them posting about this, I came from the
hotel industry before I started working at 100 Kellogg.

(07:50):
Actually, I should go back to say that I was a director of
sales and marketing when the pandemic happened.
I was so fortunate that I was not working in a hotel and I
felt so bad for those who still work because it was like, no
one's travelling right now and hotels were really suffering.
So I thought like, I've landed like, this is This is why I'm so
happy to be part of this property.
And they kept me working still, all that stuff.

(08:12):
But hadn't people asked me like,oh, now that they're going to
open a hotel, would you go work in the hotel industry again?
And I was like, can I swear on this show?
I literally opened with what thefuck like.
Sorry, I'd be like, fuck no, I do not want to go back into the
hotel industry. Yeah, we obviously saw the
revenge coming out of the pandemic.

(08:33):
How so many people wanted to getback to travel and get back to
in person events again, you know, and just do it like
tenfold more than they did before.
When you take something away from somebody long enough, they
they want to do it like even more so.
So I was happy to see that a lotof people who are still in the
hospitality industry, which I still consider myself to be in,
but I mean of hotels thriving during that time and and

(08:57):
sustaining. Yeah, I would never have wanted
to go back and nor did I think Iwas going to work at Hard Rock
when it was going to open up. But when I saw this position
posted, I was like diving into alittle bit more of like what the
day-to-day looked like and what what was expected in this role.
And I, I really started gravitating toward it.
I went to go talk, talk to the general manager who got hired,

(09:20):
who is actually a friend of mineand was the one that actually
brought me into the hotel industry years ago.
But he was like the perfect person for the role of this
general manager. And he was like Luca, when I saw
I had to hire for this role, I thought of you right away, just
because of you and the way you are at 100 Kellogg.
Yeah. Martha, who is my boss at 100

(09:41):
Kellogg, one of the families that own 100 Kellogg, we're very
close. And he was like, she would kill
me if I stole you away from 100 Kellogg.
And I said, I'm really interested in this role.
I'm gravitating to it so much. I'm like, yeah, let me, let me
talk to Martha and I'll get backto you kind of thing.
And so I did have that conversation.

(10:02):
I wanted to have the blessing from from her because she always
said, I see you growing up this property.
And I always did as well. Like I was like, this is where
I'm going to, you know, retire. This wasn't just like a job for
me. That was like 5 1/2 years can
seem like not like a long time compared to our parents who are
in career jobs that, you know, spend like my dad was at 3:00 AM

(10:24):
for 35 years and like, have I ever been at one place for so
long? Not as long as this like this,
this has beat the record now because and that says a lot
about what you do. You know, you sometimes people
float around finding themselves and even when they go to school
for career jobs and what they think could be a career that

(10:44):
could change. And I've seen such a shift.
I welcome that like that kind oflike midlife that you think like
I've done this for so long and now I want to do this.
Like who's to say you can't learn new things, new skills,
new trades and want to like justshift?
Because ultimately what it came down to is like where I work, I
need to be super passionate about or else it will feel like

(11:08):
work. You touched on a few things that
perfectly sum up something that I recently came across.
So you talked about passion, youtalked about naysayers, and you
talked about reinvention. And so a couple of days ago, I
was watching an episode of I think Crave just put it on.
It's like Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown series.
Oh yes. Yeah.

(11:29):
And so he did an episode on Detroit.
And so because I live on the border of Detroit, I was like,
interested to watch it. And so this series was that
particular season was filmed in 2013, so when it was like Dire
Straits for Detroit and completely different from what
it was now. And the narrative that was being
told about Detroit was, you know, even in his narration of

(11:50):
the scenes was like, you know, like there's a lot of hard
working, hard workers here, a lot of people with passion.
But, you know, what is it going to look like in 10 years?
Like, we don't know. Like, you know, there's no
basically saying like it was kind of hopeless, like based on
what was going on at the time. And now to see what it's become,
they flip the script. And so, you know, you have
people who come out and say, like, what is it doing in

(12:13):
London? What's the, what's the hotel
doing there, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Amidst all of that, even though there's a lot of noise out there
saying the opposite of what is going to happen or could
potentially happen, you and yourenergy and what you bring to the
table is the complete opposite of that.
And it's one of those things that, not to sound cheesy, but
it's like you never want to dim your light because of others,
you know what I mean? And so I find that you're, you

(12:36):
are like the perfect person based on what you're describing,
what was what they were looking for to do just that And to say,
you know what, fuck off, shut the fuck up.
And we're still going to do the thing and show you what is
possible. Period.
Period. So you've been working in
hospitality for how long now? So I got ABA in psychology and I

(13:03):
didn't want to pursue it any further.
It's not like I wanted to becomea psychiatrist or psychologist
or anything. I floated around a lot in my 20s
trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
I'm sure there's a lot of peoplein that position to maybe even
in the 30s or 40s, whatever. I went to university because I
was the first of my brothers to go.

(13:25):
And so there was a lot of pressure on me to follow through
with that, even though I was kind of like, oh, I think I want
to take a year off after I did afirst year.
And I was like, no, you're not going to want to go back.
So I did that. Good old Italian crazy, yeah.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, I'm. Italian.
Yeah, yeah, you get it. Yeah, I get it.
I was just like, I almost like did it for them, like get

(13:46):
through university. K great.
I graduate university, but now what?
So I went into retail, but in any position that I've gone
into, I've always wanted to be like to move further, so never
just be like that entry level, so to speak.
Complacent. Yeah, even with retail, like I,
I wanted to show how I was very quickly and in the sense that

(14:08):
like I feel like that leadershipskill was like instilled in me.
So key holder, assistant, manager, manager.
And so before I left the retail world, I was managing Aldo shoes
for a good year and a half, thought that that was pretty
comfortable and everything. And it was somebody that said,
like, you'd be really good as a server when I when I wanted to

(14:30):
get out of the retail industry. And I was like, I never thought
about that. They're like, yeah, you're so
like you got such a great personality.
I think people would like love that.
I've been probably about 20 years in hospitality between
like restaurant managing, bar managing hotels and and then of
course, when I came into the hotel industry, I wanted to

(14:51):
start at the entry level with all my experience in management.
I didn't want to just jump into a manager role right away 'cause
I wanted to understand how all aspects of a hotel work.
So I really appreciated that in like the restaurant industry,
like, you know, they say like these key jobs that you get as a
teenager, whether it be working at McDonald's or these kind of

(15:12):
things, you kind of understand steps of service and customer
service and like really, truly kind of honing in on like guests
needs and stuff like that or your customers needs.
And so guest is what we say in the hotel industry, customers,
everything else. But yeah, they are a guest of
us. And so really those things were

(15:34):
installed in me and they, they are traits that I kind of carry
on with me. It's it's like you never forget
to smile and say hi to somebody and ask how they're doing.
Listen, I always joke. I say you can always tell when
someone has not worked in the service industry, when somebody
has not been a server or a bartender or worked in a
restaurant or whatever. You can always tell, yeah, a

(15:56):
little bit, yeah. The way that that's like, it's
so I see it and I'm like, I wanna be like, girl, fucking
relax. It's not that deep.
Like they are a human chill and just that, you know, that
disconnect. So I, I understand and I feel
like your energy and what you bring to the table having worked
with so many people, you know, do you say you're saying 20
years of experience, you're dealing with so many different

(16:19):
types of people, so many dynamics, so many situations
that you're in. Have you had any like lessons or
unexpected situations that have come up that you've dealt with
with working with people all these years?
Oh there there are so many to torecount.
But I guess to sum it up, it would be that like humans are
unpredictable and diverse. Those are behavior.

(16:42):
You know, some people are reallygood listeners.
Some people are really good at giving advice.
It's like when you go get your hair cut or women who get their
nails done or whatever, like youconfide so much into that
person, your esthetician, you know, just things like.
That that it's like, Oh my God, yeah.
You're sharing like deep rooted secrets that you wouldn't even
tell maybe some of your best friends or your family.

(17:05):
If I have that ability that people feel like they can
confide in me like I use when I was bar managing as the example,
like so along the bar is called the wood.
And so all the guys that would come and sit out the wood and I
just had so many people just pour their hearts out and tell
me so much about that. It's like, and I just met them

(17:27):
and I'm like, here's a drink andit's like I just put put liquid
truth in front of them. And and for that I never really
took that to it wasn't like a joke to me.
It was like, you know, humans, they may come out to dinner, go
out for a drink, but ultimately they crave human connection.
You never know what they're dealing with in their day that

(17:50):
for them to come out and just have like a bite to eat
somewhere could be that escapismfor them.
You know, like one of the modelsof Hard Rock is take time to be
kind. And I was so glad to hear that
was one of the things because like this is like, I've always
just been a a kind person and for some of my friends to be
like, Oh my God, why did you even give them the time of day?
They're just going to talk your ear off.

(18:10):
And I was like, that's just how I am.
I can't I can't say to people like, Oh my God, I got no time
for you, Just that unpredictability of it because
no two days are ever the same. Just when you think like, Oh,
I'm working at the same place. So mundane.
It's the people that come into your business that make it
unique and different, if not thepeople that you work with.

(18:30):
And I'm definitely not using where I work now as an example
of that because it does feel different every single day and I
love that. I can vouch for what you're
saying because I remember I wentto a networking event in London
and I went alone and I was like,you know, I don't know anybody,
I'm not from London. And I showed up and I was like a
little apprehensive because onceagain, like I can make friends

(18:52):
anywhere, but you know, I'm you gotta like put yourself out
there, talk to people. And I bumped into you and it was
like an immediate like I felt safe like you, you connect,
you're like, Oh my God, Gio, howare you?
And it immediately put me at ease.
And so that I can vouch for all the things you're saying is very
is valid. Thank you.

(19:12):
Yeah, that's when we first met. That was a that was a great day.
And and even at those networkingevents that I attend too often
as one of the things that I do outside of work, when I say like
my social calendar is always so busy with things.
But putting yourself out there like can be hard for a lot of
people. I look at myself because I'm.
I'm the chair for the membershipcommittee for the London Chamber

(19:34):
of Commerce. And so at that event, it was the
business after five. I kind of worked the room as
like a leader and that like I can see the new quiet ones that
are kind of scared because you think, oh, I just want to be
around somebody I already know and I can just talk to them and
it's safe kind of thing. But like you really got to put
yourself out there and get out of your bubble, especially if
you want to go to a networking event for business.

(19:55):
It's like, well talk about your business then if you're
passionate about where you work,like surely that could be
something that would be easy to talk about so.
It's kind of just welcoming themand into that fold especially.
But in like in life in general, I've always been that person
that's like, my husband's like an introvert and I'm very much
an extrovert. And he's like, oh, my God, I

(20:17):
could never do it. Like what you do.
And you could just like, go to any party and not be scared and
like, not just hanging out by the wall or I'm like, yeah, I
didn't come here to hold up the wall at all.
I'm just, yeah, I'm out there and I'm a social butterfly and
like, and sometimes I have to admit how it opens up for me is
like somebody will just come up and I get the looks right away

(20:40):
when I walk into a room predominantly because of what
I'm wearing and like to say whatI'm wearing.
It's not like I'm like in the flashiest clothes by any means,
but how I choose my personal styles.
Like, I gravitate toward colors.I gravitate toward a lot of
things that most heterosexual men would probably feel like

(21:00):
threatened by and be like, I can, I can never wear that.
Like it's black, grey, Navy blue, and that's their only
color wheel that they have. And so when I walk into a
business setting and I'm wearinga suit that's like lilac or
something like it's just like, Iwant to stand out in business
because I know I stand out with my personality.

(21:20):
And so at first I get those looks and then it'll always open
up. Someone's like, man, I love that
suit you wearing. I was like, thank you so much.
And like, I I love seeing that too.
If it happens, if it doesn't happen, but for the most time,
somebody just needs to see that like, OK, he's not AD bag and
he's not just trying to like getattention and he's not here to
Mack on girls. So he is he's a safe space.

(21:43):
And I could just tell him very honestly that like, I love his
style. And a lot of men were like, I
wish I could pull that off kind of thing.
It was like, why don't you thinkyou can't?
Yeah. Why do you think you can't pull
that off? Because society tells you that's
not a color that men wear or what?
Like, I don't know, like. Have you always LED with that
level of boldness, like with your style or like was there a

(22:05):
time in your life where you felta little pressure to like, tone
it down, not be so out there? For sure, coming into your own
is a very unique thing too. And they say when you realize
what your purpose is on this earth is like the moment that
you're like moment high school. Not a very good time for me.
We are own worst critics. And so I went through a lot of

(22:27):
body dysmorphia myself and not not even like the confidence
that I have know where it came from.
I honestly think my confidence level stemmed more from once I
came out, I didn't have to hide anymore.
I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't before I came
out was very much like like try and repress, repress and pull

(22:51):
back, pull back from shining toomuch.
And then obviously certain aspects of the hospitality
industry, like late 2000s, a lotof restaurants were not
embracing tattoos, facial hair, cool hairstyles, color in your
hair, things like that, that were very much like corporate

(23:12):
telling you, oh, no, you have tolook normal.
You have to cover up your piercings, You have to you have
to wear sleeves if you have tattoos on your arms.
And now I just love seeing the whole flip on that.
It's like the more tattoos you have, the hotter you look, the
more facial hair you have. I love seeing so many guys with
beards like everything. And like, like there was a time

(23:34):
I, I couldn't have even any stubble and like you'd have to
go home and shave before you could come to work.
I was just like, I hate this like of that.
I would say that was more like repression for me.
But once I got into the hotel industry, this was kind of like
my first time wearing suits often.
Then I was like, started playingaround with color palettes and
stuff like that. And people were like, who styles

(23:57):
you like, oh, my, I love your style.
Like, you got a pocket score that matches your shirt or your
shoes. It's like, yeah, these are the
fun things that guys get to do to accessorize because women get
to do it already. And that was always the norm.
But like if I came across Metro before, that's great.
I think I I did before I came out.
Metro, I haven't heard that in so long, yeah.

(24:20):
Such an early 2000s vibe. I was a metrosexual male, which
was a male that, a straight malethat cared about his appearance
and looks. And if I conform to that, that,
then that's what I was. But really, I was a homosexual
man pretending to be something that he isn't.
When I was younger, like in the as a teen, like I was like

(24:42):
deeply closeted and growing up as a kid, like before, you know,
I got went through school and was like in bully daily.
It was awful. I was like a very like over the
top like kid like very, you know, if if you look at videos,
you're like that kids gay like for sure.
Like, you know. Flouncing around the living
room. Like very.
But my parents never, never put anything on me to make me feel

(25:04):
like I shouldn't be that way. And then going through school, I
was like very quiet there 'causeI, you know, 'cause I was like
targeted for being myself. So the parts of me that were me,
I would kind of tuck away and I kind of went mute for a good
decade. And when I was, when I came back
from Toronto, I moved back to Windsor and I was going through

(25:25):
some shit and my, my mom was like, you know, there's a part
of you from when you were younger that you would like, you
had such a bright light about you.
And you, that light was very dimfor a good chunk of time.
And I was kind of worried that that Gio, who you were at the
beginning, would never come backAnd was, was kind of like lost.

(25:47):
And and then, you know, I found my way back and then I, you
know, once I came out, I was like.
I'm fucking gay. Like I was like so over the top
and kind of made-up for lost time.
And now I've, there's a now it's, it's balanced out, but I'm
at the point, you know, where I see that like this.
I mean, it's completely changed now.
Like it's, it's very different. Obviously there's, you know, the
societal wars that are happeningthat are affecting a lot of

(26:10):
people. But to me, when I see people who
are just like, I don't fucking care.
I'm going to live myself, like my truth, whatever that is and
be me 110%. I'm like, go for a bitch.
Because what we have one life. You know, what are we doing?
Why are we allowing going back to the original comment about,
you know, the naysayers, why arewe going to shut down parts of
ourselves for others when it's and those are the people that

(26:31):
are like the most miserable. Yes, for sure, I got I got a
little emotional there as you were telling that for for you
because like knowing that feeling so got a little misty
eyed. I'm OK now.
Alright, carry on. It's true.
Like it's, it's, you know, something we try to forget.
I try to forget it. I'm like, yo, I, I, you know,
pass up the like, I'm fine. I'm fine.

(26:52):
Like, things are fine. It's like, but when you really
sit in that feeling, you're like, yeah, it was not fine.
Like you kind of just like pass,pass over and try to move on.
Yeah. You know.
Gays of the thickest skin. Oh, 100 and that's why we're.
Kind of. Maybe Italians too.
That's the double. Whammy, right?
Like, I'm glad we can relate. I'm like, you know what it's
like, It's like constant. For sure.

(27:15):
I like to believe that, you knowthe if you put out a certain
frequency, you know you have a certain radio signal, like who
you are, the energy you put out,that's what you bring back.
It's like, like attracts like and like you've basically built
a career off of that. So for you, like, what is
creating a vibe actually look like from day-to-day at Hard
Rock? Like what does that look like
for you? The fact that I've been putting

(27:37):
that out my whole life, but at least my gay life, that just
came naturally to me. And so I've always said people
who want to hop onto my wagon are there on the ride with me.
And obviously those people your own.
I'm only attracting positive people.
It took me a while, probably in my 30s until I realized I was
like this person's a negative person.

(27:59):
Why do I surround myself with them every time around?
All they do is like talk shit about other people, gossip.
Like it was just like suckers like Leech sucking of your life
so. Energy Vampire.
Yeah, very, very good. I only surround myself with
positive people. And it took me a while to get
there. And like, now I can see red
flags like crazy where, you know, you meet a lot of people

(28:20):
in life and it's like some people are very much like, I
have my friends and I don't needany more friends.
But I love bringing on new friends because like, I, I click
with people quickly. And as soon as I click with
somebody that like gets me and Iget them, it's just like, yeah,
this is a new friend now. Introduce them into the fold of

(28:42):
like my past friends and other past friends because I have many
circles of friends from different jobs that I've worked
at and like people who've like Imet serving 20 years ago and now
we're like lifelong friends forever kind of thing.
You know, just things like that,that we've all moved on.
They've got families and like been part of their chapters in
their life with their weddings and stuff like that.
These are the people that show up for you all the time.

(29:04):
And I don't even have to force it.
It's just those that that see mefor who I am and want to be part
of it. Boom, you're on the you're on
the ride now with me. So getting back to your question
about what my day-to-day at HardRock looks like with creating
the vibe. So what I do at the hotel, so a
vibe director, it's all environment.
So when you think about being invited to a party at somebody's

(29:28):
house and somebody's like, hey, you got to come.
It's like, OK, I always had questions first before I was
invited to. Someone was already presently
there. So we've heard the term vibe
often, at least in the last, youknow, five years.
It's like, what's the vibe? What's the vibe?
Like, you can show up to somebody's house party and the

(29:49):
lights are all fully on. There's people standing around a
dining room table or in a kitchen.
There's no music playing. There's a chip bowl, some
cookies on a platter. And I'm like, oh, the vibes are
way off. This is not what I signed up
for. A man after my own heart.
You get it. There should be a fucking spread

(30:12):
on that table lighting. There should be music playing in
that space that makes everybody like love it.
Of course, naturally, a lot of the best parties, people stick
around in the kitchen and that'sfine.
And I was always like, why is everybody in the kitchen?
We have a whole other house to like hang around in, like be on
the backyard, whatever. So I'm very much like cautious

(30:33):
about that. And now everyone like coming
into this role asks like, oh, the vibe director knows, he
knows. It's like I've become the
expert. People have asked me to like DJ
parties for them. I don't know, I mean, DJ like I
got a headset on and I'm spinning or anything like that.
But just like control the music because a lot of people don't
have their fingerprint on what'sgoing on with music.

(30:54):
And so they get. In my soul right now.
They're playing like, I don't know, big shiny tunes too on
ACD. And it's like, that's, that's
what's going on. It's like, so anyway, those kind
of things. I take pride that like people
trusted me with creating that vibe.
Our Christmas parade last year when I was with 100 Kellogg,
like I got to make all the musicfor the float when we were

(31:18):
playing and we had it blasting and it was just like all that
feel good Christmas stuff. No Silent Night can be in there.
You know. My friends babies baptism party,
when we all got together and like it was all adults, you play
to your crowd. It's like, hey, we're playing
all early 90s stuff 'cause people love that 90s hip hop R&V
stuff. You know, you just know who your

(31:39):
crowd is. And so when I introduced myself
out in the public of what my role is and they're like, or
people already knew and been following my journey from 100
Kellogg to Hard Rock and they'relike, man, they picked the right
person for the job. And it just feels so good to
hear that from other people who don't even really know me well,
but just see what I put out there in the world to say like,

(32:02):
you are a vibe. You yourself are a walking vibe.
So at Hard Rock, I, you know, what happens in the morning
versus the evening, Like, you know, after 5:00 now lights are
going to come down in certain areas or lounge or lobby lounge,
the restaurants, the rock shop, I help curate the playlists that

(32:22):
play in the different zones of the hotel.
So that to me was like probably one of the biggest things that
spoke to me because during my interview, I was like, if I were
to open up my phone right now, I've got playlists for every
mood, you know, like patio chillnight, late night drive, early
morning, getting ready in the shower.
Like I just have like brunch, like all these different things

(32:44):
like playlists. And so depending on how you're
feeling and your mood now I havea playlist for that.
So helping shape those zones of the hotel, Like what's playing
in the restaurant right now at breakfast is different than
what's playing in the lobby lounge is different than what's
playing in the pool area. It's different than what's
playing in the gym. The vibe can't be the same in

(33:05):
the entire hotel. Like it changes in the different
spaces you're in and that's for everything in life.
So another big thing that reallyresonated with me was booking
all the live entertainment for the hotel because that truly is
creating a vibe amongst the guests and live music people
just that like they're attractedto it like catnip.

(33:27):
Like it's just like hearing somebody like playing live
music. You're like, where's that coming
from kind of thing. And so we've got three unique
areas within the hotel. Also the kind of music like I
really appreciate unique and notjust the normal, like somebody
with a guitar kind of thing, singing different instruments
that really speak to me. Saxophone I'm really loving.

(33:47):
And so we have the Speakeasy in our basement of our hotel.
Yeah. Sexy.
I've been very nice. I love it down there.
Yeah. So to have a vibe like that play
down there and and this guy, it's not your tradition.
It's not like Kenny G, he's playing like the weekend.
He's playing Drake on saxophone songs that you're like, I know
this song that's Hotline Bling, but it's through saxophone.

(34:08):
Like it just it's such a sexy sound down there wanting ADJ
that spins vinyl because it's such a lost art.
You don't see that anymore. It's not no offense to any DJs
with the laptop that it's pressing buttons and stuff like
that. I just feel like being able to
not have a set playlist when youcome into space and play to who
you have. And maybe that night we're doing

(34:30):
a Motown night or soul funk night and I got a perfect record
I'm going to put on for that nowI'm going to, we've got this
other one and you go right into the next one.
Like people love seeing that stuff.
I really want to foster that relationship with live music and
I love seeing a lot of musiciansthat have gone fully in since
coming out of the pandemic because I've worked for some
awful bars in the past that, youknow, was like, I can give you

(34:52):
guys 100 bucks and a beer to play and they would do that.
Or for a lot of people played free for exposure.
It's like it's not about exposure anymore.
What you're asked for is what you're worth and no one should
talk you down from that. We have a huge memorabilia
collection within the hotel. All hard rocks, whether you're a
Cafe, a casino hotel have memorabilia because they are the

(35:12):
largest memorabilia collector ofmusic in the world, more than
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They have over 100,000 pieces.
So because we're the first Canadian property, it's heavier
on the Canadian influence for artists.
And so curating the tours for that with guests that want to
come see that you don't have to be a guest of the hotel.

(35:34):
We do those two two times a day.And then just the collection
itself and just coming up with that whole tour, the talking
points about it, because it's more than just looking at
something and reading the plaque.
There's stories behind it, why it was chosen for our property.
There's ties to London ON. There's like really cool
correlations of why we have two different artists together when

(35:55):
one's American and one's K, and why do they put those two in a
case kind of thing. So I do oversee the Rock Shop,
which is our retail store there that has all of the merch, which
you know, no other hotel that you've gone to.
I can't say anyone like oh, and I got AT shirt that I stayed at
the DoubleTree or at a Marriott.Like it's just not like that.
But the Harvard brand is so coolthat people love representing

(36:19):
the the brand and it's it's on so many cool pieces.
It's not just like cheesy thingslike lanyards and that kind of
stuff. It's not like you're going to a
trade show by any means, but like really cool fashion pieces
that you're like, I love representing that this.
We have the very first Hard RockHotel in Canada right here in
London ON. So we see it from a local point

(36:42):
where people love representing the brand that this this iconic
brand is now in their home city.Or we see it from guests of the
hotel before they check out thatthey want something to remember
their stay by that they were there, whether it be AT sheep,
whether it be a glassware, whether it be a key chain
magnet, anything of that kind ofthing.
So the creativity that's been given to me for like cool events

(37:06):
to put on within the hotel. My passion can only go so far if
there's no creativity for me. And I'm a very creative person
because I'm a Pisces. That creativity is like one of
those staple traits of a Pisces.And I feel like it should be
like the rule for anybody if if you can't be challenged
creatively in your job, like I could never work.

(37:28):
No offense to all those hard working blue collars that worked
in factories. My dad was one of them.
The mundane day-to-day that's very repetitive.
Yeah. I need creativity or else I'm
going to die. I got to go somewhere else.
So I love coming up with like really cool unique experiences
for our guests. So and I love that Hard Rock was

(37:49):
just like, So what, what ideas you have like this month And I'm
like, wow, you're asking me whatideas I'm doing rather than
telling me this is what you haveto do.
Like a very corporate kind of feel to it.
So it's not like that at all. Out of all the directors on our
leadership team, you know, you got your director of food and
beverage, director of housekeeping, director of guest
services, director of sales and marketing.

(38:13):
And it's very much like they're,they all look at me like you
have the fun job, you have the most fun position.
But there is that invisible pressure on me more so than
anyone. Because if the vibe isn't right
in there, making sure everybody's having fun is
actually more harder than you. It sounds like, you know, like
you could play, you keep a musicplaying that's like, I hate

(38:35):
this, I hate this song or I hatethis.
Can't you just play country or something like that?
You know, You know you're not gonna appeal to everybody.
You know you. Can't.
At the end of the day, work is work.
We have to. There's effort that goes into
it. It's not just fun and play, even
in creative fields. I can vouch for that.
But is it not refreshing to lookback at like, you know, within

(38:56):
the last 20 years when you and Iwere entering the workforce?
Yeah. To now the attitudes around
creativity in the workplace and what it actually means in order
to connect with their audience, whatever that looks like.
If there's a bit more of a, an importance on it now we see, you
know, there's budgets being cut,are being cut and things are

(39:17):
changing a little bit now due toeverything outside of our
control, but within our, the microcosm of our, our jobs, we
get to be creative on a daily basis.
And that's very like, we can't take it for granted.
And I know that you don't, but you're able to come to work and
play like that's something that is important.

(39:37):
I think especially in an age where, you know, like I said, we
see the pendulum swinging as much as I want to say, like I'm,
I'm busy and I have so many, Like I have so much to do.
And I, I, I've, it's, I'm tappeda little bit creatively.
I get to be creative in my day-to-day.
So I tried not to complain aboutit because, yeah, I'm not going
doing a nine to five. I'm not having to wake up and

(39:57):
punch in and do some mundane work, which there's validity in
all work. I'm not taking it away from
anybody, but for me. I speak for me.
I am just not, that's just not who I am.
You know, going back to that visual of the, the little kid
dancing in the living room, right?
Like, that's, that's who I am. And so I, I think it's so
wonderful to hear that even though, yeah, you're working

(40:19):
hard, you still find joy in whatyou do.
Like you talking about the music, the lighting, the setting
of the tone. Like first of all, on a side
note, you and I, we have to talkmore because you, you, the way
you speak about it. I'm exactly the same as you.
I host a party and I'm like the,I mean, this is also the Italian

(40:40):
like, right? It's very much in us.
The spread is insane. I'm like the, the lighting is,
is every room has mood lighting.I'm in a condo and I'm like
every room has a vibe in it. Yeah, the music.
I'm making playlists. If I go through my Spotify, I
could show you what you'd said. I'm the exact same.
I have like 15 playlists workingfor like so many different

(41:04):
energies. I even created the cover art for
all of them. So just so that they're on, so
that they're on brand, right like.
For sure that I envy. That I envy.
Hey, if you ever need to let me know, but like seriously, like
I'm I so hearing you talk about I'm like this man.
Gets it? Look.
He gets it. It's so important.

(41:24):
Once I got into this role now, like some of my close friends,
like, excuse me, Mr. Vibe Director, can you please curate
a playlist for our weekend girlsgetaway?
And I I don't even look at this as daunting tasks to me.
It's just like, I'm excited to do it.
Obviously, like, I can only do so much at one time.
Yeah, but I'm, I'm always, like,around music, so I'm always
hearing things. So like, Oh my gosh, this would

(41:46):
sound so good in this and this and this.
And I have questions that I asked them when I carry in the
playlist, Like OK, what do you want to hear?
Are you looking for more Top 40 stuff?
Like do you want to actually feel like you're at the beach?
Do you want it to feel tropical?When people compliment me on my
music choices for events, like I've had friends like going to
hang out with the some of the friends in London and they're

(42:07):
like, hey Geo, like it's they'rehosting and they're like, can
you put your music on? I'm like, yeah, I'm like,
please. I would love that because then I
could listen to good shit like. For sure.
And I think they think like, like, I have to love all kinds
of music. Of course, yes, you kind of have
to. And you kind of have to play
even if there's a genre you don't like.
Like I didn't grow up with country music, so that was a

(42:30):
genre I don't really know so, so, so much about.
And I've only regarded to it lately because of like where I
worked and stuff like that. I didn't know like the popular
stuff to put on that people gravitate to.
But like, will I ever go to a country concert?
Like I only did once and that was because it was Orville Pack,
but he's gay and he's hot and I got to wear a mask and that was

(42:51):
my only country concert I've been to.
But also I love a lot of music that is not even radio or
mainstream because there's so much amazing music that does not
go to radio that it's like, you need to hear this.
And and even if you think, oh, Idon't like EDM music, it's like,
OK, but not all EDM music is just like jumping around and
everything and sort of play a certain artists for them and

(43:14):
stuff and like, and you seem like, OK, this is OK, this is
EDM. And I'm like.
Yeah. It's just like it doesn't all
have to be about like that kind of stuff, right?
So sound of your stay is the tracks wax and picks program
tracks means when they, you know, make a reservation online

(43:34):
for it, they get their reservation code sent to them
and there's AQR code. So there's a playlist that's
curated about all music that in and around about London.
So music that is popular to people within London.
And that sounds weird, but it was like of the artists that we
have, because we are the only UNESCO City of Music in Canada,
which a lot of people don't know.

(43:55):
And that UNESCO like title meansthat we had, we foster a lot of
music relationships with musicians in getting them where
they need to be. But there's so much talent here
in the city, live music festivals and stuff that draw a
lot of worldwide attention, likewith Sun Fest, Home County

(44:15):
Festival, that kind of stuff. So that playlist is on there and
they kind of get like a little taste of we've got so many like
local artists. I love that we get to carry
their music in the rock shop forpeople to to borrow.
And I'll get to that in a second.
When you are in your room and you check in, there is AQR code
on the mirror there. You scan that and that is your

(44:35):
getting ready playlist that has been curated for you.
So you want to shower, you want to get ready, boom, there it is.
The nice thing is people scan that QR code.
They love it so much and they get to take it with them now.
Now they have that playlist on their phone all the time.
It's an experience. It is in 1913 when we don't have
live music on like the Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays.

(44:57):
Like the vibe down there is completely different from what's
upstairs and it has to be it's that very like sexier think like
music of like the weekend and stuff like that.
That's just like the the like bass heavy R&B kind of feel to
it down there. They'll get a postcard when they
leave with their photo because they take their Polaroid photo

(45:17):
when you come down to some nice little keepsake memento and then
that QR code is there. So boom, they I love the music
that's playing in here. Now I want this playlist to take
with me. So it's kind of like sharing
playlists for strangers. And if they love it and I get to
see the metrics at the end of the month of like how many times
that playlist was downloaded that down that this one was
downloaded. Wax is if you are I guess to the

(45:39):
Hard Rock at no extra cost, we can bring up a record player up
to your room. And you can choose up to 10
vinyls and bring that up to yourroom in a nice case.
Wow. Yeah.
Other hotels have like, kind of like a digital catalog that you
kind of look through on your phone and then just say, OK, you
called down to front desk. Can I get this, this, this and
this And they'll bring it up. But I love that they let me kind

(46:01):
of like flip the switch and I wanted that tangible feeling of
going to a record store, flipping through the records.
So I wanted that to be in the rock shop and I wanted it to
feel very much like, no, I want you to come down and choose your
records 1st and then we'll bringthat all up to your room for
you. We've got such a great variety
there. And I, I love that I got to help
curate the vinyl selection that we have in that that hotel and I

(46:24):
keep getting to add more to. And then the PICS program is
again at no extra cost. If you are a guest of the hotel,
we have a catalog of different guitars that we can bring up to
your room. That's awesome.
If you ever wanted to play guitar, have a jam session
there. We bring your headphones, we
bring you the mini amp so you'renot disturbing all the other
guests. Really great guitars from

(46:46):
Fenders all the way to the Cremeof the Creme Heritage guitars.
Wow. For car owners, it's like
driving a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
So we want to make sure that who's asking for those are like
true legitimate guitar players because to hold one of those and
play them, most people say I'll never be able to because these
are custom pieces, right? Custom made and very expensive.

(47:09):
Mixed media is so forgotten. Working at Hard Rock has
definitely like made me feel nostalgic about that kind of
stuff again and appreciating that more.
Especially for the Hard Rock, I mean, their whole ethos is
around music, to connect people to music in so many different
ways, whether it's tactile or digital or, you know, on your

(47:30):
phone through AQR code. Like it's like they're
continuing their brand in the new millennia.
And then also never forgetting the the roots of where this
whole thing came from, right? That's important.
And I love to hear you talk about it.
Like hearing you just discussingbecause I have no idea.
Like I've never, I haven't been there.
It's it's new. So I haven't stayed there yet.
And to hear about the the 360 experience that you are

(47:53):
curating, there's passion behindit.
And you, you, I can tell that you like, love what you do and
that is so important. That's also why I wanted to have
you on the podcast because I love talking to people who are
passionate about what the thingsthey're doing in the world.
If we don't have that, what the fuck are we doing, you know?
That's right. That's right.
The tagline of the podcast is, you know, we talked to who, why
and what the fuck moments along the way.

(48:15):
Have you ever had a moment in, you know, on the job or at work
managing an event or anything dealing with gas that made you
think like, what the fuck is going on right now?
There was an experience, I guessas of lately, because I there
was a lot of WTF moments when I worked in the bar industry for

(48:36):
sure. But we have a Speakeasy at 100
Kellogg called Pappy's Steakhouse.
Phenomenal. The food there is so incredible.
Like go now, don't wait, go. It's so good.
So yeah, we've 2 unique space Speakeasy spaces on property,
one at the Hard Rock and then one on 100 Kellogg's side.

(48:57):
So the facade of the Speakeasy and for those that don't know
what a Speakeasy is, it's a hidden bar restaurant behind a
facade of something else. And that comes from the
prohibition times when alcohol was illegal and they had to
secretly get together in areas and drink and stuff like that.
So what looked like maybe a bodega in the front of variety

(49:19):
store in the back had a secret door and that's where everyone
would be. So the owners of 100 Killer,
they wanted something like that because Speakeasy is so cool and
there's so far a few between andthe ones when you know you know
about it, it kind of makes you feel like it's like exclusive
and like it's special, Like you know about this and you're going
there because you don't have to take out a billboard or anything

(49:40):
about a place like that. While working at 100 Kellogg and
with when I was on that side, I was in marketing and
partnerships. It had been many years since I
had been serving in a restaurant.
But when this place was opening up Pappy Steakhouse, I asked
again, Martha, the owner, and itwas named after her father.
What would you think if I workedthere like once or twice a week

(50:02):
on top of what I do? And I wouldn't obviously let my
work suffer for it. She was like, Oh my God, Luke, I
love that idea. And it's not like I missed
serving tables or anything like that.
I just knew it was going to be avery special place.
And like to see like the decor, like the vibe was there for
sure. That old world style that you
just don't see anymore in restaurants.

(50:23):
Like, you know, when you go to Montreal and you feel like, Oh
my God, I feel like I'm in Europe when I'm here, It's like
kind of like things like that, that it transports you somewhere
else as soon as you walk in. And so you feel like you're kind
of like in like the Rat Pack era.
It's like the chandeliers from the ceiling, like the carpet.
Like it's just like everything that was chosen for that space
was beautiful. I was, I started working there

(50:45):
like once a week on top of everything else I was doing.
And I did that for a whole year until I started working with
Hard Rock and then I stopped. So at the very beginning of it,
and I think we weren't quite open to the public yet, we are
about to launch the public. They let a friend of of theirs

(51:07):
rent it out for his 40th birthday.
OK, so there was six of us on that night and you know
everyone's going to be getting the same amount of food
essentially. It's not like you had to take
orders or anything like that. So we had the table split up in
like 3 big groups and everythingand there's like family style.
So we're going to put several things in front of everybody at

(51:29):
the same tables and everyone's just going to share like a
family would pass the next dish over and pass that and put some
on your plate kind of thing. So what could go wrong, right?
Everyone got so blitzed and theyjust took advantage and took

(51:50):
ownership of the restaurant in asense that like, yeah, it was
just. It's felt very entitled.
It's like this isn't even your place and you're taking over.
They got guys standing up on tables dancing, and we're like,
you can't do that. And they're like, we're friends
with the owners. We can do what we want.

(52:13):
And they brought in a drummer. He's like, this is the same guy
that performed for Drake's birthday.
And it it just got very much like dancing around the table.
Everybody's clapping. There was like throwing drinks
and stuff like that. I was like, and like, I'm not
even the manager that was working that night.
So it's just like, what? Watching that and being

(52:37):
literally being like, what the fuck?
This is a brand new restaurant. It's not even open yet.
I feel bad that I'm talking about it.
But anyway, the restaurant recovered.
Once we told the owners about it, obviously they were very
embarrassed about it and they talked to that person.
Nothing was damaged. Yeah, that night.
But it was just the lack of, I felt respect.

(52:59):
Yeah. So it's your 40th birthday, that
means you get to act like an asshole?
I don't know. So.
That's always crazy to see and especially when you're think I
would put myself in that perspective and say, OK, one of
my good friends is opening up a restaurant.
I'm not about AI don't drink. So I would never get to that
point anyway. But like I'm not gonna jump on

(53:21):
tables. That's create a grown man That's
wild. So how did you deal with it?
Like what we in the moment or you weren't there actually you
said. I was there.
I was there, but I wasn't the, Iwasn't the manager.
I was like one of the servers for it and it was just like, Oh
my gosh. We, we'd all look at each other
and it was just like, I can't believe this is happening.
We, how do we, we got to stop this?

(53:41):
Like, how do we stop this kind of thing?
I think it was like almost like watching like a train wreck that
you just couldn't get in the wayof it.
I remember talking to the wife of of the birthday boy and she
was like, oh, I'm so thanks so much.
Guys like these guys haven't seen each other for so long.
Like some of them they couldn't get to their weddings because of
the COVID and stuff like that. So this is kind of like them all

(54:03):
getting together and having fun.And I was just like, they're on
the tables. Like I was like, this is what
grown men do. Like, I don't know.
It's just like, like that was her rationale.
Like, oh, thanks babe. Thanks for like being so cool
about it. And I'm like, I wasn't inside.
I was internally screaming. Like I was like screaming, this
is even my place. And I'm like taking pride of
like, why is this happening? So I remember the manager had to

(54:27):
interject and then they got veryupset.
And then they they shut it down themself.
They felt that they were not welcomed anymore after they ate.
And they end up like, all right,everybody just start paying for
bills. We're leaving, We're going to go
downtown and party. And it was just like, wow,
crazy. Is that what you thought this
place was going to be? Because it's not a nightclub, so
I don't know. There's a time and place for

(54:47):
everything. But it was that entitlement that
just really bothered me. And I was just like, wow, why?
That would have been like my most, I guess recent thing of
like what the fuck but. If I was the wife and my husband
was acting like that, I'm sorry,it wouldn't be like this.
Like like, you know, boys or boys or let boys be boys or
whatever. I'd be like, if this is grounds
for like, I'm leaving your ass, like I can't trust you to be

(55:09):
good in public. Like that's crazy.
That's literally crazy. But then, like, I don't know,
people are enablers all the time.
Yeah, you know it. In the hotel industry, we dealt
with a lot of, like, parents from sports teams, and they are
very entitled. They can be sometimes, too,
coming to a hotel. This is their time to get away

(55:30):
and their kids are playing hockey or whatever.
And it's like, no, don't tell uswe can't be drinking in the
hallway where we spent a lot of money to be here.
And it's just like, yeah, really, guys?
Like, it's just sorry, if you'relistening to this and you're a
hockey parent, don't be shitty. That's my only advice to you.
There's so many of them. Shitty too.
Yeah, you're showing. You're like showing behavior.

(55:52):
I have a quick story and then wecan move on.
But I, I went to my cousin's soccer game a few years ago.
And so these are like at the time, they were high school kids
and my sister and I were sittingin the stands watching and just
like summer or whatever. And it was some other school or
some other division, whatever. I don't, I don't have no idea.
We're on this side. And like all the parents from

(56:13):
this team and they're like, you know, commenting and all like
whatever, they're like upset about a call or whatever.
And then the like the calling onthe other side of the parents be
like. Shut the fuck up or I'm gonna
fucking. Kick your ass and I'm like this.
These kids are like 16 years oldlike it is they're not
international people like let's fucking chill and to see that

(56:35):
behavior from grown adults. I'm like, what is wrong with
people like it is not that deep like they're playing and then
the kids are like looking up like embarrassed.
I'm like, this is I I would justlike I I sat there and I go.
Why are we here? Like what are we doing?
This is crazy. I think of like how my parents
would act in public. You know, like always like prim

(56:58):
and proper. Yeah.
And like, even that is a little bit of a fake persona too,
because like, then behind doors they were like, screaming an
Italian at you or you like, hit you with a slipper kind of
thing. It's like, oh, why don't you do
that in public? But yeah, what you show your
your children because they literally are sponges.
It's just like how a father actstoward his wife.

(57:19):
You know, it's like a way that aman might see how to treat women
kind of thing. And so everything really
correlates to their upbringing. Not that I thought we'd get into
this conversation because that'sa whole other podcast, so I'll
stop there. So it's we're full blown summer,
like it's pride season. Pride season has ended as far as
like June is concerned. But I still am seeing prides in

(57:42):
smaller towns. I know London's is coming up or.
It's we're in the thick of it. I, I love that pride was
celebrated so much with Hard Rock.
So not really knowing that aboutthe brand Hard Rock, they are
very LGBTQ +2 forward and like international Pride month is
huge for them. They want make sure a lot of the

(58:04):
hotels are doing so many things for it.
And I that I use that as the example that I said before that,
you know, I was asked, So what kind of pride events do you have
lined up for your hotel? And I was like, Oh my God,
you're asking me what I have lined up rather than saying this
is what all hard rocks have to do and make sure this happens
and this happens kind of thing, right?
Because a lot of a lot of corporate companies for optics

(58:28):
fly a flag in June and July 1st.That thing is down.
Pull it down, Yeah. Yeah, and now Pride isn't
celebrating anymore and I I'm definitely not like a in your
face. It has to be in your face all
the time. I'm not like that.
I'm like, but I do think Pride is an all year thing.

(58:49):
We're lucky in London because our pride falls in July.
So for everybody that gets to goto Toronto and stuff for the
Toronto Pride at the end of June, we don't compete with
that. Nobody should ever compete with
Toronto Pride. I love that all cities around
the world like to hear like, youknow, Munich does theirs in
November. And it doesn't necessarily have
to just be around like hot temperatures or anything.

(59:10):
Yeah, Pride can be whatever you want it to be and people will
show up for it. So ours is in July and we kind
of have like a, a week long event of events starting from
like Monday to this Sunday and it culminates on like the day of
like the parade is like the whatcloses it off.
So ultimately I'm glad that the representation is there.
Like this weekend we are in Victoria Park at pride Fest with

(59:32):
the Hard Rock tent and we're setting up like our pop up rock
shop in there and we're walking proudly in the parade.
And there's so many people that want to be part of that.
And I'm just so happy to work for a company that is very
inclusive and really believes inall that kind of stuff, and not
just for optics sake. No, it's important.

(59:54):
And you know, you mentioned a lot of the corporate
sponsorships are being pulled back and a lot of we see a lot
less of that celebration from what I hear, like from what
you're saying, like Hard Rock isstill like standing strong with
that. Talk to me a little bit about
like that experience and living in that world where you have
that backing of. Celebrating Pride and like, why

(01:00:14):
is it so important in today's workplace culture?
For so many years, I think I waslike the token gay guy working
wherever I was working, whether I was out or whether I was in
the closet. I seem to be like the only one.
And it's not like, you know, if another gay person came and
worked there. A lot of people have this

(01:00:35):
misconception that's like you're, I don't know if you're
going to get along great becauseyou're both gay.
It's like, no, it's just like you're both women and did two
women always get together and ortwo men always like connect?
No, it's not always the case at all.
So it is very much like what people bring to the table and
what makes you gravitate toward them that you would actually be
friends with them. But I'm just so happy to see in

(01:00:55):
our organization, like when I was with 100 Kellogg and when
now that at Hard Rock that we have so much representation of
people of all sorts of things, whether they be gay, whether
they be lesbians, whether they're bi, whether the trans.
Like it's just like an embraced and and not hidden.
It's like they've now taken the focus and having people like

(01:01:17):
this on your team, they are the most creative that are the most
friendly. They're not hiding anymore.
So they can literally be their true selves.
Those are the people that are like really excelling within our
organization. You can just see the ones that
are like moving up. I just, you know, a guy from
food and beverage that such a unique personality from the

(01:01:38):
beginning and just makes you laugh every time you're around
him and is very out and proud and is now become one of the
managers. It's just like to see.
I think they know that a lot of people that work for them now,
it's not such a minority thing. Many minorities come together
and become the majority. So these people are not
threatening in any way. They're not coming into like

(01:02:02):
screw up your organization or anything.
You're human. We're all human.
Yeah, it it felt empowering to be given specifically in my
role, the the creativity to curate really cool experiences
for the LGBTQ plus community in London to come out to maybe even
be used as an example to like other people's.

(01:02:24):
Like, you know, this isn't just something you do in June and
then you just sweep it under thecarpet and now you don't do
anything again. When I saw that events were
attended, well, it was like, I want to continue this.
I would love to do a drug brunchonce a month.
I would love to do spilling the tea, high tea once a month kind
of thing. And I think we have a market for

(01:02:46):
it that people want that 'cause,you know, after talking to some
of the Queens that we booked forit, I, I guess I was a little
bit naive because I'm not so much into the scene.
Like I I haven't gone to a gay bar in 10 years.
Wow. Yeah, and even when I I hadn't
met my husband yet because it's been 10 years that we have been

(01:03:06):
together since I met him, I never felt like that was my only
option was just to go to a gay bar to meet a man.
I'm actually happy that that's not where we met.
So for that reason that I'm not in the scene, I guess I was a
little bit naive about I just thought all Queens were friends
with each other, but that's not the case.
Everybody else in life sometimes, like you don't click
with all of them and they actually don't have a lot of
safe spaces that you think. And you know, the one are that

(01:03:30):
they do have in London is kind of been cancelled by a lot of
people because of bad behavior toward the LGBTQ plus
communities, specifically with their performers.
People feel like they don't havea lot of options now.
And so any, any new spot that you can make a safe space and
let them know, like it's not like you try to create a new

(01:03:51):
hangout, but like just to let people know like this is a safe
space. How it started with Hard Rock
Cafe, they created, you know, inLondon, England in the 70s.
They didn't want a restaurant that served different classes,
you know, cuz the upper class only went to upper class
restaurants and lower class wentto like lower class restaurants.

(01:04:11):
They wanted restaurant that didn't care where you came from,
who you were, you were all welcome kind of thing.
So I want to say that's still part of like their skin and
bones and to everything that they do.
I love it. You're honestly a beacon of that
energy. I truly having met you, having
been around you, talking to you,now I see that very much and all

(01:04:33):
of that you do. There's very much like a mythos
a friend of mine coined on a term of that, where it's like
all the things that you believe for yourself, you emanate into
the work that you do. And it's really inspiring to see
it. Like I love, you know, even in
our, like, London's a small city, you know, Windsor's an
even smaller city. And to see people who are
standing true to be themselves are doing the damn thing and are

(01:04:55):
creating spaces for others to say like, yeah, you can like,
we're all in this together. Like, I love to see it.
So I, you know, kudos to you. Thank you.
So we are nearing the end and I know, I know, this one was so.
Fast. I know it's, I'm like we're
almost at an hour and a half. It's crazy.

(01:05:16):
It's like gonna catch up with a friend on FaceTime like that I
haven't talked to in a while. I love it.
See, that's exactly what I love to hear.
That's the vibe I see. I told you at the beginning, I'm
like, it's like shooting this shit with your friend.
This episode is gonna come out probably end of August, early
September. If you have any insights into
like what events are coming up, if there's anything that any

(01:05:38):
projects that you're working in that that people can't who are
listening can and potentially attend or be a part of during
the fall months like or later inthe year, talk a little bit
about that. I'd like to plan things kind of
like 2 months ahead and like to go any further than that.
It's almost impossible. Yeah, for me too, because we
need to see like what's coming in with our forecasting and

(01:06:00):
seeing like, OK, how many rooms are, I can't see that far until
like November to see like what'son the books kind of thing.
And like that number is obviously going to change.
It's just like the weather. You looking ahead 7 days, If
it's going to rain or shine, there's going to change.
It's going to change. So who I book in those spaces
for live music, sometimes I almost shoot myself in the foot.

(01:06:21):
If something was going on withinthe city, maybe I wanted to
reflect and piggyback off of that and have that same kind of
musical genre playing that week to celebrate that kind of thing.
So I don't like to get too far ahead of that stuff.
But we have this unique indoor outdoor pool in London.
We say that because all the sidedoors all completely open up,
like you're sheltered, but then it all opens up and the deck is

(01:06:43):
all there. And you know, people aren't
staying at the hotel for the view by any means.
But when you're there, you feel like you are at a resort and you
feel like either that or you're on a cruise ship.
It's just like the vibe that is within the spaces makes you feel
like you are somewhere else for sure.
And I love hearing that from people.
It's like, I don't even feel like I'm in London anymore.
I'm like, that's awesome. So we get some great pool

(01:07:06):
concerts, one being the Civic Holiday weekend.
We have a Latin band. Well, now that this is at the
end of August and they've already played and it was so
good. Sorry you guys missed it, but
that is something that is something we want to continue
into the colder months because it's cool that we can fake it
and make you feel like you're ata resort because it's all

(01:07:28):
enclosed now. And you know, to have like
tropical music playing and all that kind of stuff.
And you get to be part of it with the pool.
And what a cool way to see a concert than just sitting at an
auditorium watching a concert orstanding watching something.
Now you can be around a pool andthere's like drinks and great
people and great vibes. We want to continue with our

(01:07:49):
high teas and I know we're starting that mid August where
it'll always be a different series.
The high. The high tea is also something
that was like new to me. I never really heard the term
until I really became gay. I was like, what is this high
tea? People just sit around and drink
tea. This seems boring to me, but

(01:08:11):
like it's bougie AF. I've gone to our friend's baby
shower. It was a high tea at the oh,
what was that hotel in Toronto now?
Anyway, walk into that. I was like, OK, this place means
business. And so for us to do high tea, I
feel like there's only one otherplace in London that does it.

(01:08:31):
And so people do gravitate. There is a clientele, but I kind
of want to change it up and makeit not so old lady centric that
like that younger generation loves to come out for this.
But like what? What are you selling with this
other than your, your 3 tiered trays of like sandwiches and

(01:08:52):
pastries and all that kind of stuff and your tea, what, what
else are you adding to the experience?
So spilling the tea was a cool concept that came out because
our lobby lounge is called the GMT, which is the Greenwich
Meridian time. It's actually GMT -5 So I'm like
the time zone, like where Londonis, It's just cool.
So spilling the tea in the GMT and everybody writes down like

(01:09:17):
you're prompted about like, OK, tell me a secret that you know
you're holding up one of your friends, but you don't have to
sign your name to it. Just like crazy secrets and it
goes in the teapot and she readsthem out and everyone's just
like looking around. Like who said that?
Like that's so fun. It's such a cool concept and
it's pure comedy for sure. So like it's entertaining to be

(01:09:37):
part of that. So if we're not doing it with
the drag queen hosting it, you know, I'd love to do we've got
some musical artists in London like Spotlight series with, with
local, local musicians that havetheir music on iTunes and
Spotify, you know, have a vinyl that are doing the work and
going out there and putting themselves out there all the

(01:09:59):
time. Men can come to a high tea, you
know, And one of the one of the guys coming up is a photographer
that threw at the Sixties, 70s and 80s and 90s whenever big
bands came to London ON, he was always the photographer behind
the scenes, published a book with so many of the photos that
he had taken. So I think it'd be really cool

(01:10:19):
to hear about his experiences meeting these people and maybe
some cool fun stories like that.So, you know, you kind of want
to be entertained with your tea.So looking at a series like that
that we'll be doing often in ourlounge getting into the fall
stuff to do with like Halloween is obviously a big, big one for
me because it's my favorite holiday and so on.

(01:10:39):
Our Speakeasy becomes the spookyeasy and we got some.
I love it. I've been talking to an artistic
company that wants to possibly do a cabaret show in our
Speakeasy cuz it love it. Vibe of the Kit Kat club from
Cabaret. And love that.
If that's something that can happen to you, there's
definitely a market for it. Yeah, Stay tuned.

(01:11:02):
Honestly, it's so nice, especially because we aren't
like Toronto, like the places that we live, to see people
bringing so much culture to these cities where we don't have
to go and travel far away to experience something that is
outside of the realm of what normally happens in, you know,
like a Windsor or a London. Thank you.
My final segment, let's say. So I asked this to every one of

(01:11:23):
my guests. Oh God, I was young.
I needed the money. Don't we?
All right, I'm not young and I still need the money, so I asked
each one of my guests this question and this can be like
life, work, personal, whatever. But if you were to look at your

(01:11:47):
up until now, like what would you say is the most on brand
thing about you? My relationships with people is
probably the most on brand thingabout me because like I have
friends that spend 30 years, I have friends that have spanned
20 years. I have friends that span 25
years, 10 years. The one thing is the same is

(01:12:07):
like doesn't matter if I've known you for 20 years or even 2
years, when I have your attention, you have mine and I
get I put into it just as much as I always have.
I kind of always wanted to instill that in with with my
husband too, because he's a bit younger than me.
So it was like your relationships with your friends.

(01:12:28):
I never wanted it to be like, oh, I'm in a relationship now.
So I'm going to put friends on the back burner and not hang out
with them as much. So like, you know, at least once
a week, if you can reach out to like 1 friend to see if they
want to get together to hang outand make it always like
different than like you haven't seen that person in a while,
that person like just keep establishing that connection.
And when you get to a certain age, you know people, you don't

(01:12:49):
have to rely so much on text messaging them, calling them all
the time. And when you see them again, you
pick up right where you left offlike like no time has passed.
And those are the friends that understand that life is busy.
They don't take anything personally.
If they don't hear from you in like 3 weeks, they're not like,
oh, are you mad at me? I haven't heard from you.
What's going on? Always.

(01:13:10):
Down there. Stuff, yeah.
So I don't have friends like that.
So it's nice that all these friends get it.
And then the moment we reach outto each other to do something,
it makes that time so much more special.
A lot of circles of friends thathave come along with me for the
journey that wanted to be part of it.
These are the people that saw methrough very much lows and all
the highs and are still there kind of thing.

(01:13:32):
And so you drop the people that weren't the true ones anyway.
That just kind of naturally filters itself out.
You and I have so much in commonit's crazy.
Why don't we get more? Well, because we don't live in
the same city. But listen, if people want to
reach out to you, get in contactwith you, connect with the Hard

(01:13:53):
Rock Hotel in London or 100 Kellogg.
Like where can they find you? Is this where I get my digits?
What do I do? Here, yeah, like your like
socials, like your Instagram, like wherever, however you want
people to connect. It's funny, like I'm private on
Instagram. You don't have to give that
then. I know, but like I'm only
private because I, I would let somebody follow me.

(01:14:15):
I'm not one of those people. Like I want to have like
thousands and thousands and thousands of followers because
like to me it almost seems cold and like I'm letting you into my
personal life because like what I post on there and what I
choose to show is just like it'spersonal to me.
It's like happy moments that maybe even sad moments that I'm
going through in life. So I don't want just anybody to
see that. And I do believe that you should

(01:14:37):
at least introduce yourself to me, meet me first, and then you
can go and add me. I'd be like, why does this
person want to be my friend? They've never even met me ever.
Yeah, Like, that baffles me. And like, if it's somebody that
you admire or something that you're like, I want to follow
them. I don't give them that option.
And I actually think it's a bit,like, creepy to like, not even

(01:14:59):
introduce yourself to me before you try and add me.
Like. So yeah, I'm on Facebook.
What about like the hotel like lead?
People to all of the hotel, yeah.
It doesn't have to be you all. Right, well, you should
definitely follow on Instagram because it's public.
Hard Rock Hotel London ON, it's at HRH London ON and it'll come

(01:15:25):
up. And so I'm on Instagram as at
Luca and Luca. And if I see somebody that I
don't recognize, maybe just sendme Adm that you heard about me
from the podcast and only that one, that you are not a creeper.
Yeah, that's. That's my promise to you and
then I'll add you and then you can follow me.
All 50 of my listeners. Yeah, but who knows, maybe by

(01:15:48):
then it could be like 60. Yeah, you never know, honestly.
Crazy story. And then I'll let you go.
I was at an event in June here in Windsor, and I was leaving
the event at the end of the night and I was with Tyler, my
sister and another friend of ours, Shout out Adina.
And we were leaving and a complete stranger came up to me

(01:16:11):
and, like, tapped me on the shoulder and was like, hey, I
listened to your podcast. And I was like, like, I have, I
have witnesses. So this is real and tap me on
the shoulders like I I, I like, I listen to your podcast.
I you ask really meaningful questions like keep doing what
you're doing. I was like gobsmacked.
I'm like, awesome. It was crazy.
I was like does. That make you feel good though.

(01:16:32):
It was my sign saying like it's this thing is like do keep doing
it, you know, so it. Was and sometimes you only need
that sign to happen once. Some people need that sign to
happen all the time. But yeah, just to hear that once
can really change you, you know,it's like if I can only change
the life of one person, I've done my job kind of thing.
It's just like 100%. Well, Luca, I want to thank you

(01:16:53):
so much for being part of the podcast.
It really means a lot to me for you to like take time out of
your schedule to be part of the show and to just tell me all
things about your life. Like I, I would genuinely love
when I have people who are like give like an emphatic yes to
when I ask them. So I very much appreciate it and
thank you. I was honoured that you asked,
so you're welcome. Thank you and to anyone who's

(01:17:17):
looking to reach out to me aboutdesignyoucancontactmethroughmywebsite@geographic.com.
Please follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast,
iHeartRadio. I'm on TikTok, Instagram,
Facebook, etcetera. Yeah, leave a comment, write a
review. I would love to hear your
feedback. Rate me on Spotify, help me with
the algorithm, my 60 followers. I would appreciate it.

(01:17:39):
And once again, Luke, I just want to thank you for being part
of the show, and we'll talk soon.
Thank you the vibes high.

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