October 22, 2025 • 31 mins
Brad shares how his leadership style has evolved over time, including what has gotten better and worse, and how he views team sports playing a role in developing leaders. He discusses what he's learned from board service, how he stays physically and mentally healthy, and why surrounding yourself with the best people, personally and professionally, is critical. Brad also shares some sayings that serve as his guiding stars and what he'd tell 18-year old Brad today.
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Episode Transcript
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Rachel Humphrey (00:02):
I'm Rachel Humphrey with its Personal
Stories, a hospitality podcast.
We are committed to empoweringpersonal success in the
hospitality industry, and I'mexcited to be joined today by
Brad Hinky, the Chairman ofHotel Equities.
Brad, welcome to the show.
Brad Rahinsky (00:17):
Thanks, Rachel, and good morning to you as well
to the listeners, and as Imentioned to you previously,
just an absolute honor to be onthis podcast with you.
So thanks for having me.
Rachel Humphrey (00:26):
We are gonna jump right in.
I know you have heard me talkabout this before, but one of
the things I really love aboutthe hospitality industry is that
no two journeys to leadershipare the same.
We can all have a unique path,yet still accomplish what we
wanted to or what we didn't evenknow was possible.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour background, how you got to
where you are today, and if youthink there were really any
(00:47):
pivotal moments along the waythat shaped your journey.
Brad Rahinsky (00:50):
Sure.
And by the way, I completelyagree with you.
I think that's one of thewonderful things about this
business, the hospitality space.
And I may be the poster childfor this industry in terms of
you don't have to beparticularly bright.
You don't have to have a bunchof degrees to do.
Okay.
To dive into it, Rachel, I, Iwas up.
North in Pennsylvania and gotoutta high school.
(01:12):
Just started college and myparents had just moved down to
South Florida.
This is back in the eighties,mid to late eighties, and got in
trouble.
The school very kindly asked meto leave, and so next thing I
know, I'm in a car.
I'm driving down about 17, 18hours to South Florida.
I call my father on a payphoneand say, Hey, I got kicked outta
school.
I'm coming down.
He says, fine.
(01:34):
I think I got there at two orthree o'clock in the morning at
five o'clock in the morning.
Kicks open the door and says,you start work today.
Go ask for Mr.
Manzi at the Sheraton FortLauderdale airport.
Never worked at a hotel.
We barely ever stayed in ahotel.
My whole family's cops, and sohere I go, I, I get a shower.
Two hours later, I'm down atthe Sheraton Fort Lauderdale
airport.
(01:54):
I ask for Mr.
Manzi, who ends up being thegeneral manager and ultimately
one of my mentors who I stilltalk to today.
And a hold in really highregard.
I started as a bellman thatday.
He handed me a a Bellman'sjacket and I started bringing up
bags back in 1988 at theSheraton Fort Lauderdale
Airport.
One of the best jobs I everhad, and I've never left the
(02:16):
business.
It has been incredibly good tome and my family.
And as I mentioned a momentago, I, I think it's one of the
amazing parts of our businessthat.
If you're willing to work hard,do the right things, learn from
your mistakes, bolt on thepeople that have respected,
admire, and trust.
This is a business that I thinkcould take you anywhere in the
world to any position that youmay like to do, and, and the
(02:37):
sky's the limit.
And so that's been my journeyover the past 30, I guess 35, 36
years at this point, andcontinues to be.
One of my favorite things aboutthis business is I see.
18, 19, 20 year olds, 25 yearolds in similar roles and
positions, and I see thepotential.
Rachel Humphrey (02:55):
Brad, that's really incredible.
One of the thing, I'm a bigbeliever in sliding doors, and
so I think about your situation.
Had that not been the case inPennsylvania, would Brad still
be the chairman of hotelequities today and how those
pivots play out.
Incredible of your dad to say,okay, welcome home, but here's
what you're gonna do.
And it isn't gonna be sittingon the couch all day.
(03:16):
So I love that.
That's right.
I dunno, based on that, I mightknow the answer to this one,
but one of the interestingthings I've heard over the last
couple years is there are somepeople who are like, I was born
to lead.
I knew it from an early age, orI knew it.
As captain of sports teams ordebate or other things and
others who say, you know what?
As I sit here today, I don'teven know if I see myself as a
leader.
(03:36):
Do you know where you fall onthat end of the spectrum in
terms of the concept ofleadership and how it was gonna
fit in for you?
Brad Rahinsky (03:44):
Yeah, that's a great question, Rachel.
I think it's a bit of natureand nurture, and again, I think
maybe I'm a good example forthat in terms of, I may have had
that somewhere in my DNA.
My father was a leader, youheard me mention he was a police
officer, so were my brothersand my sister all in law
enforcement.
So there was some leadershipqualities that my mother was a
teacher and taught special needsfor 30 years and so.
(04:08):
I saw a bunch of things growingup in that house, and I think
some of that was just inherentin the DNA as well in terms of
working hard and listening tofolks and, and doing the right
thing and trying to make everyday a bit better, if you will.
And, but I certainly alsobelieve a bunch of it is.
Nurtured as well.
I've had the good fortunethrough a ton of failings to be
(04:29):
taught with some reallywonderful mentors and teachers
and leaders and coaches, and Icontinue to do so today with
some mentors that I have that Ilean on heavily and often when I
started to take leadershiproles in the industry.
20, maybe 22, 23 years ago,Rachel.
I can tell you I was a bit of abull and maybe a had a bit of a
(04:51):
superman ego that I could do itall myself.
And I think maybe the biggestthing that I've learned over the
past 13, 14, 15 years inparticular is I've been a part
of hotel equities and I've hadthe privilege to be led by Fred
Seroni, our founder.
Is that you can't do it allyourself, particularly if you
are looking to grow, not justthe business, but personally.
(05:13):
And one of the things he'soften said to me is, it's not
how many times you crossed thefinish line, Brad.
It's how many people you bringwith you.
I
Rachel Humphrey (05:20):
love that.
Brad Rahinsky (05:22):
And I think it's spot on, particularly again in
our space.
It is a team sport and thequicker you can learn that, if
you can surround yourself withreally quality folks and give
them the tools and resourcesthey need to be wildly
successful and then get the heckout of their way, it will
benefit you greatly.
Rachel Humphrey (05:39):
I love the themes in there too, of we're
all going to have a lot ofobstacles, a lot of things that
don't go how we want them to andhow much we can learn and be
impacted by those, but alsosurrounding ourselves with
mentors, champions, people whocan help us achieve our best
potential.
When you think about yourleadership evolution, you
mentioned hotel equities for 13years.
(06:01):
You've had a lot of differentroles there.
Are there ways that you thinkthat your leadership evolved?
Either based on what hat youwere wearing or the longer you
were on the same team.
What are some of the thingsthat have changed in your
leadership style during yourtime there?
Brad Rahinsky (06:16):
Yeah, I'd like to think the evolution has been
significant and consistent.
There's a story I was asked asimilar question by a colleague,
and there's a story that Ithink really pegs well to, to
the question.
I, uh, this is going backprobably 10 years ago, 2015.
I met hotel equities.
At the time I was just giventhe president's role, so Coach
(06:39):
Fred Cerone was still thechairman, CEO.
And we were in the process ofan acquisition of a, uh, hotel
management company that wassimilar size to us at the time.
And we were running through theprocess and going through the
due diligence and workingclosely with this other group's
team.
And the CEO principal, and aswe were getting close to putting
(07:02):
ink on paper, I sent an emailto coach, and in that email I
made some comments that weren'tparticularly flattering about
this other group's leadership,including the CEO, to my shock
and surprise, I also copied thatCEO on the email.
And I'm an idiot.
I have zero tech skills.
(07:23):
She just asked anybody,including my 8-year-old son, and
I'm trying to figure out how torecapture that and delete it.
And so I'm panicking and I amabout 50 feet away from coach's
office down the hall.
And so I now run to his office.
This is probably three minutesinto me sweating and I say, Hey
coach, I screwed up.
I sent you an email, but I alsocopied this individual.
(07:44):
And he, he says, I know I sawit.
And I, this was a big deal.
This was gonna double our size.
This was going to take us froma relatively small, very local
hotel management company to amore regionalized and double the
size overnight.
And he just looked at me and hesaid, Hey, I want you to learn
from this.
I want you to shake it off.
(08:04):
We'll be okay.
And now you know what Grace is.
And it stuck with me 10 years,obviously.
I, I think about it oftenbecause I can recall as recently
as a week before that Rachel,or a month before that, and
certainly the years before that,I did not have a lot of that.
I, I was, my leadership stylewas a bit punitive and
(08:26):
embarrassed to say that, butit's reality.
And so I learned from that daythat struck me between the eyes
like a thunderbolt.
And so try to apply that asoften as I can.
Rachel Humphrey (08:36):
Well, the really incredible thing about
that story, Brad, though, is alot of times in that moment
where we're gonna learn fromthis, whether it has the lasting
power, is really another thing.
Whether do we still remember 10years, five years, 20 years
later, how impactful that was?
And it sounds like you have,which is important, leaning into
that same idea of theleadership evolution.
Talk a little bit about what inyour leadership style has
(08:59):
gotten better other than maybeshowing some grace over time and
what is getting worse overtime.
Brad Rahinsky (09:06):
I'll start with the worst.
Rachel Humphrey (09:08):
I like the right away where you're going on
that.
Brad Rahinsky (09:12):
Yeah.
Look, I am 57 years old.
I feel like I still got goodgas in the tank.
I try to stay physically andmentally sharp or as best I can,
but there's no question thatsome of the things that, that
are evolving on a daily basis.
With a rapid trajectory in ourspace.
I've just not kept up with,particularly as it relates to
(09:33):
the AI side.
And I just got done reading acouple articles this morning
about AI and its impact on theback of the house of our space
and all those things.
And I, I try never to be, I trynever to delay things that I
feel are important andessential, but I've delayed my
jumping into that.
Part of our business, and I'mnot exactly sure why other than
(09:56):
to say that I just don't have agood handle on it right now and
I'm not sure I have the skillsetto, to know what I need to know
in terms of getting better.
I'd go back Rachel A.
Little bit to, I'd like tothink that the evolution of my
leadership has mainly, if I hadto peg it to one thing, is
centered it around being abetter listener and
collaborator.
A guy gave us two ears and onemouth, and that's a good ratio
(10:20):
from a talk listen standpoint, Itry to teach that to my team.
I try to teach that with myfamily and friends, and I'll say
that I've never learned onething while I was talking.
But I can learn a lot if Ilisten, particularly if it's
different perspectives andopinions, and I try to be a good
listener and I'm pragmatic inmy way of thinking about those
things.
I take that and I apply it toour boardroom and to our war
(10:42):
rooms, and to our meetings andto our, our, everything that we
do.
And I try to make sure that ourteam understands that
ultimately we can solve 95, 97,90 9% of the problems that we're
faced with if we take acollaborative approach or good
listeners.
And really have a solutionoriented mindset.
And so I, I just think that isso mission critical to our
(11:04):
space, which is really all aboutpeople.
Thousand moving pieces,thousand moving parts every day.
We can solve almost everythingif we do those things.
Rachel Humphrey (11:13):
Well, Brad, I think what you said about AI
technology is really interestingand I think you would be joined
by a lot of leaders in thatspace, me included, to say it
may be something.
It seems so overwhelming and itchanges so fast that there's
something very intimidating byreally diving.
Into it.
And then I love the conceptcertainly of the listening and
(11:33):
the talking and bringing peoplealong.
I love to share with ouraudience either why I've asked
somebody to join or an impactthat someone has had very often
that they don't even know about.
And I'm gonna mention it sinceyou're mentioning listening and
hearing.
A couple years ago, I had anopportunity to step in last
minute to moderate a panel at aconference.
I had not been on the prepcall.
I knew several of the panelistsfor a long time.
(11:56):
Right before the panel, Iwalked in the room and I
introduced myself to you and yousaid, Rachel, of course I know
who you are.
And in that moment for someonelike me who struggles with a lot
of insecurities, impostersyndrome, whatever you wanna
call it, I thought.
Why do I make myself smallerthan I need to be?
Why do I assume that?
Just because Brad and I haven'tbeen all over the place
(12:17):
together, that he doesn't knoweither who I am in the industry,
and in fact, you were right.
We had met several times beforethat, but it was a really
important part to me of yourleadership to be honest enough
to give me that moment whetheryou knew you were doing it or
not.
In building confidence inbuilding relationships and other
things.
So it has had a very lastingimpact.
(12:37):
And I try to do it to others.
'cause I think there's anatural tendency when you meet
someone you've already met to belike, God, of course I've met
them.
And then you walk away andyou're like, how do they not
remember that?
I've met them 30 times.
But you did it in such a waythat really was very elevating
for me.
And I have, I am veryappreciative.
I think about it a lotactually.
Like I said, and I've tried toimplement that if I ever have
that same opportunity.
(12:58):
So there's that.
Brad Rahinsky (13:00):
Thanks for sharing that, that that means a
lot.
You just made my day and Iwould just say to that, Rachel,
everybody wants to feel likethey have purpose and
significance and it's a reallyeasy thing that doesn't cost a
dime to make somebody feel good.
And, but I appreciate yousharing that.
Rachel Humphrey (13:15):
Yeah, thank you.
I know we are quote unquote outof the pandemic, it's in the
rear view mirror, whatever youwanna say, but for a lot of us.
There were many challenges andmany experiences in our
leadership that we had never hadbefore.
We had no mentors to get usthere in terms of mentors who
had also been through it before.
If you think back to thatcouple of year window, how do
(13:37):
you think your leadershipevolved during the pandemic?
Were there traits, eithercharacter or personality of
yours that you're like, you knowwhat?
This actually really impactedmy leadership for the better.
Maybe in a way you had not beenleading before that.
Brad Rahinsky (13:51):
Yeah, great question again, and I often say
that time.
It was obviouslytransformative.
It was potentially existentialfor us as an industry.
We went from 75% occupancy to10% overnight, and all of the
groups are now in theirboardroom saying, how do we
survive this?
How do we punch our way out ofthis?
And.
It was incredibly humbling for,for my first time in my career.
(14:16):
While there's been obviouslymoments where unfortunately you
have to make changes oradjustments to your team, and
while that never feels good,ever, e, even when it's
necessary, will be created ascenario where that.
It was significant for a timeand it was damaging physically,
(14:36):
mentally.
If you are a leader who has aheart and I, our business is
filled with those folks, you didnot come out of that without
scar tissue.
And so seeing how thosedecisions were impacting people
that you cared about was justsomething that you can't unpack
and hopefully you learn from it.
One of the things we did whenthat occurred, we were getting
(14:58):
phone calls, uh, from somegroups that were essentially
saying, Hey, we know you're introuble.
We're gonna throw you alifeline, but you gotta identify
50% of your team and there'sgonna be bloodshed.
That was not appealing, but wefigured that there were other
groups similar to us who were ina very I identical situation
that were getting those samephone calls.
So we started to reach out andwe created a different model, a
(15:21):
true partnership alliance modelthat allowed us to bolt onto one
another without bloodshed and,but create that scale that was
gonna allow us to createimmediate efficiencies and
savings and on, on all things upand down the p and l.
And that's how we punched ourway out of it.
And it's.
One of my proudest moments, youtalk about silver linings, that
(15:42):
the team was able to come upwith this model that was, I
think, transformative.
And I think it never been doneprior in the industry
specifically to the way that wewere applying it.
And I still don't think it,it's ever been recreated or
replicated.
And you know, it, it allowed usto become the organization that
we are today.
We, during COVID, Rachel, we.
(16:03):
Essentially went from 80 hotelsto 350 hotels, the opposite of
what was happening to othergroups Through this model, this
really healthy partnershipmodel, and again, I'd say it's
one of the amazing things aboutour industry that you got a
bunch of people with big heartswho've worked hard and are
trustworthy and honest and havesimilar alignment around
(16:24):
cultures and the things that youdeem mission critical and
essential.
And you just gotta make surethat you do life with those
people in this business.
If you do that, you land.
Okay.
Even during a pandemic.
Rachel Humphrey (16:34):
It's great to hear too, because what really
happened in a lot of instanceswas having to think outside the
box and your team was able toreally think about and create
something that didn't just havesurvival during that period of
time, but has really allowed youall to thrive as you move
forward and came forward.
You've talked a lot about thepeople and so let's turn there
for a second.
(16:55):
You've had a lot ofresponsibility for hiring,
elevating people, choosing teamsaround you.
Is there a, an it factor,something you're looking for
outside of the technical skillswhen you are meeting with
people, talking with people,proposing people to bring to
join your team that you'rereally looking for or you've
identified here is somethingthat's consistent with the
(17:17):
people I've been around that Ithink have been most successful
in their roles?
Brad Rahinsky (17:22):
Yeah.
Again, great question and I'llpreface it with once.
I was given the privilege bycoach to go ahead and build my
team, and this was 12, 13 yearsago.
I did that pretty quickly withpeople who I knew, trusted,
admired, respected, and weresharper than I.
(17:43):
That now that last piece that Iwas easy to find.
And so I tried to do that upand down.
The disciplines that were gonnamake us different, better, if
you will.
What my team would tell youwas.
That it was essential to, onceI did that, to get out of the
way as quickly as possible.
'cause I was about to screwthings up if I stayed embedded
(18:03):
in that.
What I will tell you is if youwere to ask me what is one of
the consistencies or commonthreads with the folks that you
brought in and put together, andhopefully what continues to be
a common thread is team orientedindividuals.
Solution oriented.
I can look at a resume and sitwith an individual and within 60
(18:25):
seconds I can tell you whetheror not they played a team sport,
an individual sport, or nosport without asking the
question specifically.
And while I make it in troublehere, I imagine my HR person
would pop me in the back of thehead for saying this.
I'm a team sport guy.
I played it all my life.
That's who I look for in thisparticular game that we play and
(18:46):
love called hospitality, and Ijust think it's a trait, a
characteristic that reallytransfers and translates well
into what we do.
I'd also say that, and again,I'll get popped in the back of
the head here, but I, I have anincredible amount of respect for
folks who come out.
Of college.
The Alpha Colleges with ahospitality degree or a business
(19:08):
degree, the ones that are, thatwe all know are top tier for
hospitality schools.
I won't name the names.
We know them.
I don't disregard that it'simportant, but I would also say
to you and to the listeners thatsimilarly, I put a similar
weight on folks that have comethrough the school of hard
knocks and have had the abilityto.
(19:29):
Pull themselves up with theirown, through their bootstraps
and get to wherever they aretoday and where they want to go
through grit, determination,resilience.
I think that is incrediblyrewarded in our space.
If you were to say to me, doyou want somebody with a name
that you know, top tieruniversity or somebody who's had
(19:50):
to scrap and scrape their wayup and they're at a similar
position at that moment, give mecandidate be all day long.
Rachel Humphrey (19:59):
It's interesting what you say about
sports because I think thatboth, a lot of my own life and
leadership lessons came fromsports and I watched it with my
children who are both grown nowas well in their interaction in
the life lessons they learned inthe leadership lessons they've
learned, and we've heard thatactually from a lot of guests.
Talking about the real impactof sport.
There's some reallyfascinating, I won't bore you
(20:20):
with them right now, but there'ssome fascinating statistics
about women in the C-suite and acorrelation to having played
competitive sports as part of ateam.
And it's really a consistenttheme that I love a lot.
Your topic of school isinteresting too.
The first job I ever got out oflaw school, I was not a great
student.
I didn't go to a great lawschool, no offense to it, but my
(20:41):
boss said.
I didn't go to a good lawschool and I wasn't a good
student.
And I don't think that theranking of your law school and
your GPA is gonna determinewhether you're gonna be a great
trial lawyer or not.
And that has always beeningrained in me.
And one of the things in myhiring, I love people who also
work while they were in school.
'cause I had to work full-timewhile I was in college, while I
(21:02):
was in law school to pay for it.
And I think there's atremendous amount that we can
learn that goes to work.
Ethic, like you said, goes togrit.
What is the determination?
To get the end result that weare looking for.
So I can definitely relate tothose two.
I wanna talk about one of thethings you and I serve on
several boards in the industrytogether, and there's a lot of
(21:22):
things we can learn inleadership skills from
involvement with boards.
Associations, nonprofits.
That's very different than theleadership skills that we learn
in our everyday corporate roles.
Talk about why it's importantto you to spend time with those
boards, and is there anythingthat you've learned from service
on those that might bedifferent than your day job?
Brad Rahinsky (21:46):
And you're right Rachel.
I have the honor and privilegeto sit on a number of boards
both directly related to ourindustry, and in some cases,
boards that are not, they'reeither affiliated or loosely
touched.
And one of the things that Ilike about.
Sitting on those is just theopportunity to learn you.
You have a lot of diversethinkers, typically, and I just
(22:08):
love getting other people'sperspective because I think what
happens naturally, organically,if you will, is you, I'm a
perfect example at or within anorganization for a decade and a.
You start to get a bit stale inyour way of thinking.
You, you occasionally, or evensubconsciously or
unintentionally surroundyourself with folks who think
(22:30):
similarly to some degree, andsitting on those boards allows
for different ideas and abreaking of groupthink, if you
will.
So I love it when the boardshave vigorous dialogue,
particularly if it's a topicthat is relevant to what we're
trying to do or accomplish.
And so I think there's a ton ofvalue in that for any
(22:50):
individual that's looking tofurther diversify the way that
he or she thinks and bringthose.
Thoughts back to theirorganizations and apply them
appropriately and relevantly towhat they're trying to
accomplish.
I, when I was first asked to beon a board, I remember, this
goes back maybe a few minutesago to what you talked about
because I similarly, insecurityaround my ability to speak in
(23:14):
front of groups and a group canbe.
Three people, or it can be 3000people for me.
And I feel like I'm comfortableone-on-one like this,
relatively comfortable.
But once I get much larger thanthat, um, I get messy.
The boards have taught me toput myself out there a bit and
similar to what you saidearlier, to not shrink myself
and say that your voice has somevalue.
(23:35):
Some relevancy in thediscussion and topic and don't
be afraid to share it.
I would highly recommendwhether it's an advisory board
or a board of directors or somecommittee, that folks that are
listening to this, particularlyif they're, if they are on the
come up, uh, they put themselvesout there and try to get on
those as quickly as they can.
There's just a ton of value inlearning that they can apply to
(23:57):
their careers.
Rachel Humphrey (23:58):
I love that it ties back into your concept of
leading by listening.
'cause certainly on the boardsyou're having to do that, but
also the value of publicspeaking, and I appreciate you
sharing that.
That is not your mostcomfortable place.
I think you and I have talkedabout the fact that people read
a book by its cover.
They see you on a generalsession stage, they see you
doing something like this, andthey automatically assume it is.
(24:20):
Second nature or that it iscomfortable for you or easy for
you or for me when it, that isnot necessarily the case.
We are gonna run short on time.
I'm gonna ask you a couplethings in a little bit of a
rapid fire, but, okay.
Some people say that they arereally guided by a personal
mantra, a personal brand, aNorth star, a phrase, a saying,
a concept that helps them.
(24:41):
In decision making across theboard, do you think that applies
to you?
Brad Rahinsky (24:46):
No.
No question.
And I'll rapid fire, two orthree of 'em that I try to apply
and remind myself everymorning.
One is the greatest leaders arethe greatest servants.
I fail at that every day, but Itry to remind myself every day
when I have the opportunity toapply.
Two is the golden Rule.
Hey.
Would that feel good if thatwas done to you?
Mm-hmm.
And how do you do that better?
(25:06):
Once again, how do you liftsomebody up?
Doesn't cost anything, and youwon't know this side of heaven.
The impact that your voice,your comments has on somebody.
So that's two, three, is thatall people matter to God and
whoever that is for you?
I just think it's importantthat we know that there's
somebody out there keeping aneye on us and we should try to
do the right thing.
Rachel Humphrey (25:27):
I love that and I love that it's a couple of
them, so you can draw fromdifferent places in different
scenarios.
You mentioned a few minutes agothat you try to take care of
yourself physically, mentally,spiritually.
There's definitely a renewedfocus, especially coming out of
COVID on self-care and wellness.
Give us a couple of nuggets.
What does Brad havenon-negotiables that you make
sure that you are doing to takecare of yourself?
Brad Rahinsky (25:50):
Yeah, I.
I don't have a ton of hobbies,but I do like to go to the gym
now.
I do old man weights thesedays, and most of my workout has
become stretching, which I canremember not too long ago
watching the guys and gals atthe gym that were stretching and
thinking, that will never beme.
That's me.
And I wish I started it.
By the way, the stretching 20years ago not only helps me
physically, I think as I, I havefive kids from 27 years old to
(26:13):
eight, so if I'm not stayingsomewhat in physical shape, my
eight year old's gonna whoop me.
He already is.
Mentally what that allows forme to do, whether it's a bad
moment or just a need to breatheor some something to blow the
steam off of that gym for 30plus years has been my escape,
even if it's for 45 minutes.
Two, I'm just really blessed.
(26:35):
My best friend is my wife.
I would hope she would say thesame.
I'm not sure that's true, andwhile I try not to bring work
home,
Rachel Humphrey (26:41):
depends on the day that you ask.
Brad Rahinsky (26:44):
I, she's just a tremendous, she teaches me every
day.
I love her.
She changed my life and I, sheis my mental health.
She is my sounding board.
She is my shoulder and I cannever repair her for what she's
done for me.
And, but I'll give it a shotevery day.
But when we talk about mentalhealth, which I know is
fortunately become somethingthat has gotten more attention
(27:05):
recently, more of a spotlight, Ithink.
Find your person again, a bitof a team sport, and if you can
find somebody that just makesyou feel better and is a great
listener and is gonna help youget through that muck that we
all get into, that's a win.
Rachel Humphrey (27:22):
It's interesting the ties between
your career leadership and athome, because you're saying in
both of them, finding yourpeople, finding your support
system, having good peoplearound you that lift you up.
Anyone who's your HMI age'cause we're the same age, that
stretching thing will definitelyget an audible chuckle out of.
I have a couple of greatstories I'll share you later on.
The concept of stretching As wewrap up, one of my favorite
(27:45):
questions to ask and to be askedis our advice to our younger
selves, because I do think we'reall works in progress.
We've talked a lot aboutevolutions of our leadership
journeys or maybe our personaljourneys, but I really love to
think back on.
What would've made my pathdifferent or what do I wish I
knew then that I know today thatmight've changed things up for
me.
When you think back to, youdidn't share how old you were
(28:07):
when you got involuntarilyexited out of school, but if you
look back on Brad driving downto South Florida and that
moment, what's something youwould tell yourself today to
that young man?
Brad Rahinsky (28:20):
Funniest answer I ever heard to that type of
question was, rich girls needlove too.
But the real answer there ishr.
Rachel Humphrey (28:28):
Yeah.
The
Brad Rahinsky (28:28):
real answer is don't be afraid to fail.
Early on young, you have someego and pride, and you're afraid
to raise your hand or saysomething silly or dumb, or.
Fail and it be in a spotlightor visible.
Boy, I'm here to tell you,nobody cares and it will be
forgotten, but you'll learn fromit.
And if you apply thatappropriately, it will just
(28:49):
elevate and escalate yourtrajectory in a way that if
you're too careful, you're gonnaget stuck.
So go out there and keepswinging, because those failures
aren't failures.
They're just stepping stones.
Rachel Humphrey (29:02):
Yeah, I actually don't like the word
failure 'cause I think itimplies that we have to be
perfect all the time.
And in fact, we're all gonnamake millions of mistakes every
day.
And I think back, what you justsaid is so important because in
that moment, that feels likethe end of the world.
And the number of moments thatI've had that I thought were the
end of the world that I can'teven remember what they were
today is really telling.
Your point of to keep doing itand moving forward.
(29:25):
As you think about the motto ofits personal stories, which is
empowering personal success,you've shared a lot about your
journey, some of your leadershipinsights today.
Is there any final thoughtyou'd wanna leave our audience
with?
Brad Rahinsky (29:40):
I, I would just harken back what I said a moment
ago, that whether it's thehospitality space or name the
industry, ultimately, my fatheralways said, who you do life
with will determine ultimatelywhere you land.
If you run with knuckleheads,you're gonna get in trouble.
And you're gonna look back andsay, why did I do that?
Or what just happened there?
You surround yourself with goodpeople.
(30:02):
More often than not, you'regonna land pretty good and good
things will happen.
I so I, I know it's stated allthe time, but it cannot be
overstated that surroundyourself with a good ecosystem
of human beings that you careabout, that are compassionate
and passionate and empathetic,and just.
Professional and care about youand your family.
You do that.
(30:23):
I promise you.
Good things will happen for youand your family and your life
Rachel Humphrey (30:27):
and steer clear of the knuckleheads, your
Brad Rahinsky (30:29):
knuckleheads.
I'm getting that tea on at-shirt.
Rachel Humphrey (30:32):
I love it.
That's the my, that's my newpersonal mantra.
Brad, I have had a great time.
It's so nice to spend some timewith you.
Thank you very much for yourleadership in the hospitality
industry.
Thank you.
For continuing to be a part ofmy journey as well in the
industry, and thanks for sharingtoday.
Brad Rahinsky (30:50):
Thanks for having me.
It's been an absolute privilegeand honor and hope to see you
soon, Rachel.
Rachel Humphrey (30:54):
And to those listening, we know you have a
lot of ways to spend your time,so we appreciate you spending it
with us.
If you enjoyed your time withBrad today, head on over to it's
personal stories.com to hearfrom other equally impactful
hospitality industry leaders.
But thanks for joining us.
Brad Rahinsky (31:09):
Thank
Rachel Humphrey (31:10):
you.
I'm Rachel Humphrey with its Personal
Stories, a hospitality podcast.
We are committed to empoweringpersonal success in the
hospitality industry, and I'mexcited to be joined today by
Brad Hinky, the Chairman ofHotel Equities.
Brad, welcome to the show.
Brad Rahinsky (00:17):
Thanks, Rachel, and good morning to you as well
to the listeners, and as Imentioned to you previously,
just an absolute honor to be onthis podcast with you.
So thanks for having me.
Rachel Humphrey (00:26):
We are gonna jump right in.
I know you have heard me talkabout this before, but one of
the things I really love aboutthe hospitality industry is that
no two journeys to leadershipare the same.
We can all have a unique path,yet still accomplish what we
wanted to or what we didn't evenknow was possible.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour background, how you got to
where you are today, and if youthink there were really any
(00:47):
pivotal moments along the waythat shaped your journey.
Brad Rahinsky (00:50):
Sure.
And by the way, I completelyagree with you.
I think that's one of thewonderful things about this
business, the hospitality space.
And I may be the poster childfor this industry in terms of
you don't have to beparticularly bright.
You don't have to have a bunchof degrees to do.
Okay.
To dive into it, Rachel, I, Iwas up.
North in Pennsylvania and gotoutta high school.
(01:12):
Just started college and myparents had just moved down to
South Florida.
This is back in the eighties,mid to late eighties, and got in
trouble.
The school very kindly asked meto leave, and so next thing I
know, I'm in a car.
I'm driving down about 17, 18hours to South Florida.
I call my father on a payphoneand say, Hey, I got kicked outta
school.
I'm coming down.
He says, fine.
(01:34):
I think I got there at two orthree o'clock in the morning at
five o'clock in the morning.
Kicks open the door and says,you start work today.
Go ask for Mr.
Manzi at the Sheraton FortLauderdale airport.
Never worked at a hotel.
We barely ever stayed in ahotel.
My whole family's cops, and sohere I go, I, I get a shower.
Two hours later, I'm down atthe Sheraton Fort Lauderdale
airport.
(01:54):
I ask for Mr.
Manzi, who ends up being thegeneral manager and ultimately
one of my mentors who I stilltalk to today.
And a hold in really highregard.
I started as a bellman thatday.
He handed me a a Bellman'sjacket and I started bringing up
bags back in 1988 at theSheraton Fort Lauderdale
Airport.
One of the best jobs I everhad, and I've never left the
(02:16):
business.
It has been incredibly good tome and my family.
And as I mentioned a momentago, I, I think it's one of the
amazing parts of our businessthat.
If you're willing to work hard,do the right things, learn from
your mistakes, bolt on thepeople that have respected,
admire, and trust.
This is a business that I thinkcould take you anywhere in the
world to any position that youmay like to do, and, and the
(02:37):
sky's the limit.
And so that's been my journeyover the past 30, I guess 35, 36
years at this point, andcontinues to be.
One of my favorite things aboutthis business is I see.
18, 19, 20 year olds, 25 yearolds in similar roles and
positions, and I see thepotential.
Rachel Humphrey (02:55):
Brad, that's really incredible.
One of the thing, I'm a bigbeliever in sliding doors, and
so I think about your situation.
Had that not been the case inPennsylvania, would Brad still
be the chairman of hotelequities today and how those
pivots play out.
Incredible of your dad to say,okay, welcome home, but here's
what you're gonna do.
And it isn't gonna be sittingon the couch all day.
(03:16):
So I love that.
That's right.
I dunno, based on that, I mightknow the answer to this one,
but one of the interestingthings I've heard over the last
couple years is there are somepeople who are like, I was born
to lead.
I knew it from an early age, orI knew it.
As captain of sports teams ordebate or other things and
others who say, you know what?
As I sit here today, I don'teven know if I see myself as a
leader.
(03:36):
Do you know where you fall onthat end of the spectrum in
terms of the concept ofleadership and how it was gonna
fit in for you?
Brad Rahinsky (03:44):
Yeah, that's a great question, Rachel.
I think it's a bit of natureand nurture, and again, I think
maybe I'm a good example forthat in terms of, I may have had
that somewhere in my DNA.
My father was a leader, youheard me mention he was a police
officer, so were my brothersand my sister all in law
enforcement.
So there was some leadershipqualities that my mother was a
teacher and taught special needsfor 30 years and so.
(04:08):
I saw a bunch of things growingup in that house, and I think
some of that was just inherentin the DNA as well in terms of
working hard and listening tofolks and, and doing the right
thing and trying to make everyday a bit better, if you will.
And, but I certainly alsobelieve a bunch of it is.
Nurtured as well.
I've had the good fortunethrough a ton of failings to be
(04:29):
taught with some reallywonderful mentors and teachers
and leaders and coaches, and Icontinue to do so today with
some mentors that I have that Ilean on heavily and often when I
started to take leadershiproles in the industry.
20, maybe 22, 23 years ago,Rachel.
I can tell you I was a bit of abull and maybe a had a bit of a
(04:51):
superman ego that I could do itall myself.
And I think maybe the biggestthing that I've learned over the
past 13, 14, 15 years inparticular is I've been a part
of hotel equities and I've hadthe privilege to be led by Fred
Seroni, our founder.
Is that you can't do it allyourself, particularly if you
are looking to grow, not justthe business, but personally.
(05:13):
And one of the things he'soften said to me is, it's not
how many times you crossed thefinish line, Brad.
It's how many people you bringwith you.
I
Rachel Humphrey (05:20):
love that.
Brad Rahinsky (05:22):
And I think it's spot on, particularly again in
our space.
It is a team sport and thequicker you can learn that, if
you can surround yourself withreally quality folks and give
them the tools and resourcesthey need to be wildly
successful and then get the heckout of their way, it will
benefit you greatly.
Rachel Humphrey (05:39):
I love the themes in there too, of we're
all going to have a lot ofobstacles, a lot of things that
don't go how we want them to andhow much we can learn and be
impacted by those, but alsosurrounding ourselves with
mentors, champions, people whocan help us achieve our best
potential.
When you think about yourleadership evolution, you
mentioned hotel equities for 13years.
(06:01):
You've had a lot of differentroles there.
Are there ways that you thinkthat your leadership evolved?
Either based on what hat youwere wearing or the longer you
were on the same team.
What are some of the thingsthat have changed in your
leadership style during yourtime there?
Brad Rahinsky (06:16):
Yeah, I'd like to think the evolution has been
significant and consistent.
There's a story I was asked asimilar question by a colleague,
and there's a story that Ithink really pegs well to, to
the question.
I, uh, this is going backprobably 10 years ago, 2015.
I met hotel equities.
At the time I was just giventhe president's role, so Coach
(06:39):
Fred Cerone was still thechairman, CEO.
And we were in the process ofan acquisition of a, uh, hotel
management company that wassimilar size to us at the time.
And we were running through theprocess and going through the
due diligence and workingclosely with this other group's
team.
And the CEO principal, and aswe were getting close to putting
(07:02):
ink on paper, I sent an emailto coach, and in that email I
made some comments that weren'tparticularly flattering about
this other group's leadership,including the CEO, to my shock
and surprise, I also copied thatCEO on the email.
And I'm an idiot.
I have zero tech skills.
(07:23):
She just asked anybody,including my 8-year-old son, and
I'm trying to figure out how torecapture that and delete it.
And so I'm panicking and I amabout 50 feet away from coach's
office down the hall.
And so I now run to his office.
This is probably three minutesinto me sweating and I say, Hey
coach, I screwed up.
I sent you an email, but I alsocopied this individual.
(07:44):
And he, he says, I know I sawit.
And I, this was a big deal.
This was gonna double our size.
This was going to take us froma relatively small, very local
hotel management company to amore regionalized and double the
size overnight.
And he just looked at me and hesaid, Hey, I want you to learn
from this.
I want you to shake it off.
(08:04):
We'll be okay.
And now you know what Grace is.
And it stuck with me 10 years,obviously.
I, I think about it oftenbecause I can recall as recently
as a week before that Rachel,or a month before that, and
certainly the years before that,I did not have a lot of that.
I, I was, my leadership stylewas a bit punitive and
(08:26):
embarrassed to say that, butit's reality.
And so I learned from that daythat struck me between the eyes
like a thunderbolt.
And so try to apply that asoften as I can.
Rachel Humphrey (08:36):
Well, the really incredible thing about
that story, Brad, though, is alot of times in that moment
where we're gonna learn fromthis, whether it has the lasting
power, is really another thing.
Whether do we still remember 10years, five years, 20 years
later, how impactful that was?
And it sounds like you have,which is important, leaning into
that same idea of theleadership evolution.
Talk a little bit about what inyour leadership style has
(08:59):
gotten better other than maybeshowing some grace over time and
what is getting worse overtime.
Brad Rahinsky (09:06):
I'll start with the worst.
Rachel Humphrey (09:08):
I like the right away where you're going on
that.
Brad Rahinsky (09:12):
Yeah.
Look, I am 57 years old.
I feel like I still got goodgas in the tank.
I try to stay physically andmentally sharp or as best I can,
but there's no question thatsome of the things that, that
are evolving on a daily basis.
With a rapid trajectory in ourspace.
I've just not kept up with,particularly as it relates to
(09:33):
the AI side.
And I just got done reading acouple articles this morning
about AI and its impact on theback of the house of our space
and all those things.
And I, I try never to be, I trynever to delay things that I
feel are important andessential, but I've delayed my
jumping into that.
Part of our business, and I'mnot exactly sure why other than
(09:56):
to say that I just don't have agood handle on it right now and
I'm not sure I have the skillsetto, to know what I need to know
in terms of getting better.
I'd go back Rachel A.
Little bit to, I'd like tothink that the evolution of my
leadership has mainly, if I hadto peg it to one thing, is
centered it around being abetter listener and
collaborator.
A guy gave us two ears and onemouth, and that's a good ratio
(10:20):
from a talk listen standpoint, Itry to teach that to my team.
I try to teach that with myfamily and friends, and I'll say
that I've never learned onething while I was talking.
But I can learn a lot if Ilisten, particularly if it's
different perspectives andopinions, and I try to be a good
listener and I'm pragmatic inmy way of thinking about those
things.
I take that and I apply it toour boardroom and to our war
(10:42):
rooms, and to our meetings andto our, our, everything that we
do.
And I try to make sure that ourteam understands that
ultimately we can solve 95, 97,90 9% of the problems that we're
faced with if we take acollaborative approach or good
listeners.
And really have a solutionoriented mindset.
And so I, I just think that isso mission critical to our
(11:04):
space, which is really all aboutpeople.
Thousand moving pieces,thousand moving parts every day.
We can solve almost everythingif we do those things.
Rachel Humphrey (11:13):
Well, Brad, I think what you said about AI
technology is really interestingand I think you would be joined
by a lot of leaders in thatspace, me included, to say it
may be something.
It seems so overwhelming and itchanges so fast that there's
something very intimidating byreally diving.
Into it.
And then I love the conceptcertainly of the listening and
(11:33):
the talking and bringing peoplealong.
I love to share with ouraudience either why I've asked
somebody to join or an impactthat someone has had very often
that they don't even know about.
And I'm gonna mention it sinceyou're mentioning listening and
hearing.
A couple years ago, I had anopportunity to step in last
minute to moderate a panel at aconference.
I had not been on the prepcall.
I knew several of the panelistsfor a long time.
(11:56):
Right before the panel, Iwalked in the room and I
introduced myself to you and yousaid, Rachel, of course I know
who you are.
And in that moment for someonelike me who struggles with a lot
of insecurities, impostersyndrome, whatever you wanna
call it, I thought.
Why do I make myself smallerthan I need to be?
Why do I assume that?
Just because Brad and I haven'tbeen all over the place
(12:17):
together, that he doesn't knoweither who I am in the industry,
and in fact, you were right.
We had met several times beforethat, but it was a really
important part to me of yourleadership to be honest enough
to give me that moment whetheryou knew you were doing it or
not.
In building confidence inbuilding relationships and other
things.
So it has had a very lastingimpact.
(12:37):
And I try to do it to others.
'cause I think there's anatural tendency when you meet
someone you've already met to belike, God, of course I've met
them.
And then you walk away andyou're like, how do they not
remember that?
I've met them 30 times.
But you did it in such a waythat really was very elevating
for me.
And I have, I am veryappreciative.
I think about it a lotactually.
Like I said, and I've tried toimplement that if I ever have
that same opportunity.
(12:58):
So there's that.
Brad Rahinsky (13:00):
Thanks for sharing that, that that means a
lot.
You just made my day and Iwould just say to that, Rachel,
everybody wants to feel likethey have purpose and
significance and it's a reallyeasy thing that doesn't cost a
dime to make somebody feel good.
And, but I appreciate yousharing that.
Rachel Humphrey (13:15):
Yeah, thank you.
I know we are quote unquote outof the pandemic, it's in the
rear view mirror, whatever youwanna say, but for a lot of us.
There were many challenges andmany experiences in our
leadership that we had never hadbefore.
We had no mentors to get usthere in terms of mentors who
had also been through it before.
If you think back to thatcouple of year window, how do
(13:37):
you think your leadershipevolved during the pandemic?
Were there traits, eithercharacter or personality of
yours that you're like, you knowwhat?
This actually really impactedmy leadership for the better.
Maybe in a way you had not beenleading before that.
Brad Rahinsky (13:51):
Yeah, great question again, and I often say
that time.
It was obviouslytransformative.
It was potentially existentialfor us as an industry.
We went from 75% occupancy to10% overnight, and all of the
groups are now in theirboardroom saying, how do we
survive this?
How do we punch our way out ofthis?
And.
It was incredibly humbling for,for my first time in my career.
(14:16):
While there's been obviouslymoments where unfortunately you
have to make changes oradjustments to your team, and
while that never feels good,ever, e, even when it's
necessary, will be created ascenario where that.
It was significant for a timeand it was damaging physically,
(14:36):
mentally.
If you are a leader who has aheart and I, our business is
filled with those folks, you didnot come out of that without
scar tissue.
And so seeing how thosedecisions were impacting people
that you cared about was justsomething that you can't unpack
and hopefully you learn from it.
One of the things we did whenthat occurred, we were getting
(14:58):
phone calls, uh, from somegroups that were essentially
saying, Hey, we know you're introuble.
We're gonna throw you alifeline, but you gotta identify
50% of your team and there'sgonna be bloodshed.
That was not appealing, but wefigured that there were other
groups similar to us who were ina very I identical situation
that were getting those samephone calls.
So we started to reach out andwe created a different model, a
(15:21):
true partnership alliance modelthat allowed us to bolt onto one
another without bloodshed and,but create that scale that was
gonna allow us to createimmediate efficiencies and
savings and on, on all things upand down the p and l.
And that's how we punched ourway out of it.
And it's.
One of my proudest moments, youtalk about silver linings, that
(15:42):
the team was able to come upwith this model that was, I
think, transformative.
And I think it never been doneprior in the industry
specifically to the way that wewere applying it.
And I still don't think it,it's ever been recreated or
replicated.
And you know, it, it allowed usto become the organization that
we are today.
We, during COVID, Rachel, we.
(16:03):
Essentially went from 80 hotelsto 350 hotels, the opposite of
what was happening to othergroups Through this model, this
really healthy partnershipmodel, and again, I'd say it's
one of the amazing things aboutour industry that you got a
bunch of people with big heartswho've worked hard and are
trustworthy and honest and havesimilar alignment around
(16:24):
cultures and the things that youdeem mission critical and
essential.
And you just gotta make surethat you do life with those
people in this business.
If you do that, you land.
Okay.
Even during a pandemic.
Rachel Humphrey (16:34):
It's great to hear too, because what really
happened in a lot of instanceswas having to think outside the
box and your team was able toreally think about and create
something that didn't just havesurvival during that period of
time, but has really allowed youall to thrive as you move
forward and came forward.
You've talked a lot about thepeople and so let's turn there
for a second.
(16:55):
You've had a lot ofresponsibility for hiring,
elevating people, choosing teamsaround you.
Is there a, an it factor,something you're looking for
outside of the technical skillswhen you are meeting with
people, talking with people,proposing people to bring to
join your team that you'rereally looking for or you've
identified here is somethingthat's consistent with the
(17:17):
people I've been around that Ithink have been most successful
in their roles?
Brad Rahinsky (17:22):
Yeah.
Again, great question and I'llpreface it with once.
I was given the privilege bycoach to go ahead and build my
team, and this was 12, 13 yearsago.
I did that pretty quickly withpeople who I knew, trusted,
admired, respected, and weresharper than I.
(17:43):
That now that last piece that Iwas easy to find.
And so I tried to do that upand down.
The disciplines that were gonnamake us different, better, if
you will.
What my team would tell youwas.
That it was essential to, onceI did that, to get out of the
way as quickly as possible.
'cause I was about to screwthings up if I stayed embedded
(18:03):
in that.
What I will tell you is if youwere to ask me what is one of
the consistencies or commonthreads with the folks that you
brought in and put together, andhopefully what continues to be
a common thread is team orientedindividuals.
Solution oriented.
I can look at a resume and sitwith an individual and within 60
(18:25):
seconds I can tell you whetheror not they played a team sport,
an individual sport, or nosport without asking the
question specifically.
And while I make it in troublehere, I imagine my HR person
would pop me in the back of thehead for saying this.
I'm a team sport guy.
I played it all my life.
That's who I look for in thisparticular game that we play and
(18:46):
love called hospitality, and Ijust think it's a trait, a
characteristic that reallytransfers and translates well
into what we do.
I'd also say that, and again,I'll get popped in the back of
the head here, but I, I have anincredible amount of respect for
folks who come out.
Of college.
The Alpha Colleges with ahospitality degree or a business
(19:08):
degree, the ones that are, thatwe all know are top tier for
hospitality schools.
I won't name the names.
We know them.
I don't disregard that it'simportant, but I would also say
to you and to the listeners thatsimilarly, I put a similar
weight on folks that have comethrough the school of hard
knocks and have had the abilityto.
(19:29):
Pull themselves up with theirown, through their bootstraps
and get to wherever they aretoday and where they want to go
through grit, determination,resilience.
I think that is incrediblyrewarded in our space.
If you were to say to me, doyou want somebody with a name
that you know, top tieruniversity or somebody who's had
(19:50):
to scrap and scrape their wayup and they're at a similar
position at that moment, give mecandidate be all day long.
Rachel Humphrey (19:59):
It's interesting what you say about
sports because I think thatboth, a lot of my own life and
leadership lessons came fromsports and I watched it with my
children who are both grown nowas well in their interaction in
the life lessons they learned inthe leadership lessons they've
learned, and we've heard thatactually from a lot of guests.
Talking about the real impactof sport.
There's some reallyfascinating, I won't bore you
(20:20):
with them right now, but there'ssome fascinating statistics
about women in the C-suite and acorrelation to having played
competitive sports as part of ateam.
And it's really a consistenttheme that I love a lot.
Your topic of school isinteresting too.
The first job I ever got out oflaw school, I was not a great
student.
I didn't go to a great lawschool, no offense to it, but my
(20:41):
boss said.
I didn't go to a good lawschool and I wasn't a good
student.
And I don't think that theranking of your law school and
your GPA is gonna determinewhether you're gonna be a great
trial lawyer or not.
And that has always beeningrained in me.
And one of the things in myhiring, I love people who also
work while they were in school.
'cause I had to work full-timewhile I was in college, while I
(21:02):
was in law school to pay for it.
And I think there's atremendous amount that we can
learn that goes to work.
Ethic, like you said, goes togrit.
What is the determination?
To get the end result that weare looking for.
So I can definitely relate tothose two.
I wanna talk about one of thethings you and I serve on
several boards in the industrytogether, and there's a lot of
(21:22):
things we can learn inleadership skills from
involvement with boards.
Associations, nonprofits.
That's very different than theleadership skills that we learn
in our everyday corporate roles.
Talk about why it's importantto you to spend time with those
boards, and is there anythingthat you've learned from service
on those that might bedifferent than your day job?
Brad Rahinsky (21:46):
And you're right Rachel.
I have the honor and privilegeto sit on a number of boards
both directly related to ourindustry, and in some cases,
boards that are not, they'reeither affiliated or loosely
touched.
And one of the things that Ilike about.
Sitting on those is just theopportunity to learn you.
You have a lot of diversethinkers, typically, and I just
(22:08):
love getting other people'sperspective because I think what
happens naturally, organically,if you will, is you, I'm a
perfect example at or within anorganization for a decade and a.
You start to get a bit stale inyour way of thinking.
You, you occasionally, or evensubconsciously or
unintentionally surroundyourself with folks who think
(22:30):
similarly to some degree, andsitting on those boards allows
for different ideas and abreaking of groupthink, if you
will.
So I love it when the boardshave vigorous dialogue,
particularly if it's a topicthat is relevant to what we're
trying to do or accomplish.
And so I think there's a ton ofvalue in that for any
(22:50):
individual that's looking tofurther diversify the way that
he or she thinks and bringthose.
Thoughts back to theirorganizations and apply them
appropriately and relevantly towhat they're trying to
accomplish.
I, when I was first asked to beon a board, I remember, this
goes back maybe a few minutesago to what you talked about
because I similarly, insecurityaround my ability to speak in
(23:14):
front of groups and a group canbe.
Three people, or it can be 3000people for me.
And I feel like I'm comfortableone-on-one like this,
relatively comfortable.
But once I get much larger thanthat, um, I get messy.
The boards have taught me toput myself out there a bit and
similar to what you saidearlier, to not shrink myself
and say that your voice has somevalue.
(23:35):
Some relevancy in thediscussion and topic and don't
be afraid to share it.
I would highly recommendwhether it's an advisory board
or a board of directors or somecommittee, that folks that are
listening to this, particularlyif they're, if they are on the
come up, uh, they put themselvesout there and try to get on
those as quickly as they can.
There's just a ton of value inlearning that they can apply to
(23:57):
their careers.
Rachel Humphrey (23:58):
I love that it ties back into your concept of
leading by listening.
'cause certainly on the boardsyou're having to do that, but
also the value of publicspeaking, and I appreciate you
sharing that.
That is not your mostcomfortable place.
I think you and I have talkedabout the fact that people read
a book by its cover.
They see you on a generalsession stage, they see you
doing something like this, andthey automatically assume it is.
(24:20):
Second nature or that it iscomfortable for you or easy for
you or for me when it, that isnot necessarily the case.
We are gonna run short on time.
I'm gonna ask you a couplethings in a little bit of a
rapid fire, but, okay.
Some people say that they arereally guided by a personal
mantra, a personal brand, aNorth star, a phrase, a saying,
a concept that helps them.
(24:41):
In decision making across theboard, do you think that applies
to you?
Brad Rahinsky (24:46):
No.
No question.
And I'll rapid fire, two orthree of 'em that I try to apply
and remind myself everymorning.
One is the greatest leaders arethe greatest servants.
I fail at that every day, but Itry to remind myself every day
when I have the opportunity toapply.
Two is the golden Rule.
Hey.
Would that feel good if thatwas done to you?
Mm-hmm.
And how do you do that better?
(25:06):
Once again, how do you liftsomebody up?
Doesn't cost anything, and youwon't know this side of heaven.
The impact that your voice,your comments has on somebody.
So that's two, three, is thatall people matter to God and
whoever that is for you?
I just think it's importantthat we know that there's
somebody out there keeping aneye on us and we should try to
do the right thing.
Rachel Humphrey (25:27):
I love that and I love that it's a couple of
them, so you can draw fromdifferent places in different
scenarios.
You mentioned a few minutes agothat you try to take care of
yourself physically, mentally,spiritually.
There's definitely a renewedfocus, especially coming out of
COVID on self-care and wellness.
Give us a couple of nuggets.
What does Brad havenon-negotiables that you make
sure that you are doing to takecare of yourself?
Brad Rahinsky (25:50):
Yeah, I.
I don't have a ton of hobbies,but I do like to go to the gym
now.
I do old man weights thesedays, and most of my workout has
become stretching, which I canremember not too long ago
watching the guys and gals atthe gym that were stretching and
thinking, that will never beme.
That's me.
And I wish I started it.
By the way, the stretching 20years ago not only helps me
physically, I think as I, I havefive kids from 27 years old to
(26:13):
eight, so if I'm not stayingsomewhat in physical shape, my
eight year old's gonna whoop me.
He already is.
Mentally what that allows forme to do, whether it's a bad
moment or just a need to breatheor some something to blow the
steam off of that gym for 30plus years has been my escape,
even if it's for 45 minutes.
Two, I'm just really blessed.
(26:35):
My best friend is my wife.
I would hope she would say thesame.
I'm not sure that's true, andwhile I try not to bring work
home,
Rachel Humphrey (26:41):
depends on the day that you ask.
Brad Rahinsky (26:44):
I, she's just a tremendous, she teaches me every
day.
I love her.
She changed my life and I, sheis my mental health.
She is my sounding board.
She is my shoulder and I cannever repair her for what she's
done for me.
And, but I'll give it a shotevery day.
But when we talk about mentalhealth, which I know is
fortunately become somethingthat has gotten more attention
(27:05):
recently, more of a spotlight, Ithink.
Find your person again, a bitof a team sport, and if you can
find somebody that just makesyou feel better and is a great
listener and is gonna help youget through that muck that we
all get into, that's a win.
Rachel Humphrey (27:22):
It's interesting the ties between
your career leadership and athome, because you're saying in
both of them, finding yourpeople, finding your support
system, having good peoplearound you that lift you up.
Anyone who's your HMI age'cause we're the same age, that
stretching thing will definitelyget an audible chuckle out of.
I have a couple of greatstories I'll share you later on.
The concept of stretching As wewrap up, one of my favorite
(27:45):
questions to ask and to be askedis our advice to our younger
selves, because I do think we'reall works in progress.
We've talked a lot aboutevolutions of our leadership
journeys or maybe our personaljourneys, but I really love to
think back on.
What would've made my pathdifferent or what do I wish I
knew then that I know today thatmight've changed things up for
me.
When you think back to, youdidn't share how old you were
(28:07):
when you got involuntarilyexited out of school, but if you
look back on Brad driving downto South Florida and that
moment, what's something youwould tell yourself today to
that young man?
Brad Rahinsky (28:20):
Funniest answer I ever heard to that type of
question was, rich girls needlove too.
But the real answer there ishr.
Rachel Humphrey (28:28):
Yeah.
The
Brad Rahinsky (28:28):
real answer is don't be afraid to fail.
Early on young, you have someego and pride, and you're afraid
to raise your hand or saysomething silly or dumb, or.
Fail and it be in a spotlightor visible.
Boy, I'm here to tell you,nobody cares and it will be
forgotten, but you'll learn fromit.
And if you apply thatappropriately, it will just
(28:49):
elevate and escalate yourtrajectory in a way that if
you're too careful, you're gonnaget stuck.
So go out there and keepswinging, because those failures
aren't failures.
They're just stepping stones.
Rachel Humphrey (29:02):
Yeah, I actually don't like the word
failure 'cause I think itimplies that we have to be
perfect all the time.
And in fact, we're all gonnamake millions of mistakes every
day.
And I think back, what you justsaid is so important because in
that moment, that feels likethe end of the world.
And the number of moments thatI've had that I thought were the
end of the world that I can'teven remember what they were
today is really telling.
Your point of to keep doing itand moving forward.
(29:25):
As you think about the motto ofits personal stories, which is
empowering personal success,you've shared a lot about your
journey, some of your leadershipinsights today.
Is there any final thoughtyou'd wanna leave our audience
with?
Brad Rahinsky (29:40):
I, I would just harken back what I said a moment
ago, that whether it's thehospitality space or name the
industry, ultimately, my fatheralways said, who you do life
with will determine ultimatelywhere you land.
If you run with knuckleheads,you're gonna get in trouble.
And you're gonna look back andsay, why did I do that?
Or what just happened there?
You surround yourself with goodpeople.
(30:02):
More often than not, you'regonna land pretty good and good
things will happen.
I so I, I know it's stated allthe time, but it cannot be
overstated that surroundyourself with a good ecosystem
of human beings that you careabout, that are compassionate
and passionate and empathetic,and just.
Professional and care about youand your family.
You do that.
(30:23):
I promise you.
Good things will happen for youand your family and your life
Rachel Humphrey (30:27):
and steer clear of the knuckleheads, your
Brad Rahinsky (30:29):
knuckleheads.
I'm getting that tea on at-shirt.
Rachel Humphrey (30:32):
I love it.
That's the my, that's my newpersonal mantra.
Brad, I have had a great time.
It's so nice to spend some timewith you.
Thank you very much for yourleadership in the hospitality
industry.
Thank you.
For continuing to be a part ofmy journey as well in the
industry, and thanks for sharingtoday.
Brad Rahinsky (30:50):
Thanks for having me.
It's been an absolute privilegeand honor and hope to see you
soon, Rachel.
Rachel Humphrey (30:54):
And to those listening, we know you have a
lot of ways to spend your time,so we appreciate you spending it
with us.
If you enjoyed your time withBrad today, head on over to it's
personal stories.com to hearfrom other equally impactful
hospitality industry leaders.
But thanks for joining us.
Brad Rahinsky (31:09):
Thank
Rachel Humphrey (31:10):
you.
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