April 29, 2025 • 34 mins
Donte discusses the importance of community on his leadership style and how social impact and business success can go hand in hand. He shares his strategies for overcoming self doubt, building great teams, overcoming challenges, and developing new skills. He also talks about why representation matters, his public speaking journey, and what drives his curiosity.
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Episode Transcript
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Rachel Humphrey (00:01):
I am Rachel Humphrey with its Personal
Stories, a hospitality podcast.
We are a nonprofit organizationdedicated to empowering personal
success in the hospitalityindustry, and I am very excited
to be joined today by DanteJohnson, the author of the
Impact Hospitality Handbook.
Dante, welcome to the show.
Donte Johnson (00:20):
Thank you for having me, Rachel.
I appreciate it.
Rachel Humphrey (00:22):
So for those listening, we are gonna do
things a little bit differentlytoday.
Dante has written an incrediblebook, co-authored an incredible
book, the Impact HospitalityHandbook.
And so we are going to talkabout his journey to leadership
and some of his life's lessons,but we're gonna tie it into the
really impactful chapters ofthat book today.
So I hope you all enjoy the newformat or today's format.
(00:44):
But before we get started, I didjust wanna give a definition of
impact hospitality.
It is a significant.
Positive influence on guests,visitors, and the community
created as the result of adeliberate set of activities
with the goal of addressing apressing social challenge.
This can be achieved through thecreation of space for
conversation, connections, andcultural exchanges.
(01:07):
So with that in mind Dante, oneof the most.
Impressive things.
I think about the hospitalityindustry is that no two
leadership journeys are thesame.
You can carve whatever uniquepath you want to and still
assume roles of leadershipwithin the industry.
So spend a couple minutestelling us about you, your
background, and your journey,and how you ended up where you
(01:28):
are today.
Donte Johnson (01:30):
Sure.
And I love this question becauseI think you're spot on.
Everyone I talk to has adifferent path but many of us
fell into the industry, fell inlove with it, and then and then
took it from there.
So I originally studiedjournalism in school.
I.
And was gonna be a sportswriter.
Moved home from Jersey City, NewJersey to Washington, DC had no
(01:52):
connections whatsoever in theworld of journalism.
And after a few months ofunsuccessfully trying to find a
job in that field, and aunt whoworked at a hotel said, why
don't you get a job at the frontdesk?
You're smart enough people likeyou, just get a job at the front
desk of a hotel and then youcan, figure out a way to find
your way into journalism.
(02:12):
After a few months working atthe front desk at the first
Kimpton Hotel east of Chicago Irealized, I wanted to be a gm
and I said this to any andeverybody who would listen.
I told everybody in the buildingthat it was their job to teach
me something every day until Iknew everything that they all
knew.
And I went person by person.
And.
(02:32):
Burned through the entire teamthat way, but I was a very
curious a very curious earlycareer hotelier.
After six months in that frontdesk role Kempton essentially
opened a hotel or two a year forthe next several years in
Washington dc So I had theopportunity to bounce around, to
try different things withouthaving to relocate.
(02:55):
Found my way into revenuemanagement for a while.
And then got back intooperations after about a year
and a half of that.
Spent a years in a GM and thenat 29 was a first time gm, so
you know, very much ahead ofschedule.
For most of my career, I'vespent a lot of time being I.
Sort of the youngest person inthe room, the outlier from a
career perspective, but moved upquickly.
(03:17):
And now I am in Atlanta at theThompson Atlanta Buckethead my
seventh GM job.
So I've now been a GM for longerthan I've been anything else in
the industry.
And.
I've loved every minute of it.
Rachel Humphrey (03:30):
That's really incredible.
And one of the pieces that Ipull away from that the most is
the asking people to teach yousomething new every day.
Such an important way to reallylearn the industry, learn the
different roles, learn how theyall interact with each other,
and I think that's such animportant and insightful way for
you to end up where you aretoday.
(03:50):
I.
Segue over to the topic ofcommunity.
The deep sense of community youhad growing up is really
something that, when I wasreading the book, really hit
home for me.
And community is something wetalk about so much nowadays.
I wanted to read this.
It says, these brave leaderscoalesced around the idea that
treating others with grace andcompassion is not only the noble
(04:13):
thing to do, but it's the onlyway to behave in a world that
needs and deserves community.
I would love for you to share alittle bit about why you think
community is so important andhow that really impacts your
leadership style today.
Donte Johnson (04:28):
Yeah.
I think, to go back to mypersonal origin story I come
from very humble beginnings.
Grew up, in Washington DC at avery crazy time, in a very crazy
part of the city.
And I think there were pointswhere community was all it felt
like we had.
And I'm only sitting here rightnow because of community that
was built around me as a youngkid navigating, some really
(04:50):
dangerous spaces.
And so I'm deeply grateful forall the people along the way who
took an interest and, even attimes may have, saw something in
me that I didn't see in myself.
So now, I feel like.
There's a reason for everything.
I don't believe in coincidenceand I think, being in this
industry for my entire adultlife.
One of the things that I'vealways said is, for us to
(05:13):
operate healthy businesses inunhealthy communities has to be
an outcome that we see asunacceptable.
And I think hospitality as anindustry is uniquely positioned
to be able to, offer inside thebuildings the best of what's
happening outside the buildings.
And I think that's where travelreally becomes a connector for
people.
I know people who spend, monthsof the year.
(05:34):
On the road who, who barely everleave the hotel.
And I think there's ways that wecan bring the local community
into the building where youwouldn't necessarily have to
have a uniquely local experiencein every city where you travel.
And I think the other thing thatdoes when we localize
experiences, when we localizeprogramming and initiatives, is,
it becomes a transformativeopportunity creator.
(05:57):
In the communities immediatelysurrounding the hotels.
Whenever I travelinternationally, I'm always
blown away at how muchhospitality creates upward
mobility in a lot of thecommunities that I travel to.
And, it's not unlike my ownstory for, in, in the us.
And so I think the more that wecan amplify that idea and that
responsibility I think thehealthier these communities
(06:18):
become.
Rachel Humphrey (06:20):
I love that you were able to lean so much into
something that's such a part ofyou, your childhood, your
upbringing, and figure out howto apply that in the leadership
roles that you have today, butalso then in instilling that
same sense of community in theneighborhoods around you.
I think that.
For me, I've shared a lot aboutthe self-doubt, some of the
(06:42):
negative voices that have beenin my head throughout my career,
and oftentimes I know that thoseare louder than my own support
systems voices in getting to me.
In the book you say, be afearless innovator.
Break the rules that no one hasdared to write.
Acknowledge the barriers, butdon't feel them.
Fear them, go straight into theheadwind and solve problems with
(07:02):
the loyal teammates around you.
They are there to lift you up inyour journey, both in your GM
journey, but also in writing thebook.
I imagine there were probablysome times that self-doubt crept
in.
How do you navigate that andwhat would you tell others who
might experience that same typeof negative talk in their own
mind?
Donte Johnson (07:22):
Yeah.
I saw a quote somewhere thatsaid, be afraid and do it
anyway.
And that's very much the way Iapproach self-doubt.
And I think it's a very naturalthing.
I mentioned earlier, oftentimesbeing the youngest person in a
space certainly, my backgroundis unique to a lot of the rooms
that I'm in from an industryperspective.
But I think, achievement's notoptional.
Like it's what I have to do.
(07:43):
And so I've never looked at anyof the challenges in front of me
as as things that, that I hadthe option of opting out of
solving.
So for me, it's really not,there's no choice.
I think overcoming theself-doubt piece can be
challenging for sure.
And I think, a lot of times theself-doubt is environmental.
(08:04):
There's nothing within me thatmakes imposter syndrome,
something that, that I bringinto the room.
I think, if you ask a fish toclimb a tree, then it's easy to
make that fish feel incompetent.
And so oftentimes theenvironments aren't curated to
receive the gifts that youuniquely are able to bring to
the situation.
And as much as I hate to admitit, oftentimes reconciling that.
(08:26):
Falls in, in the lap of theindividual.
The advice that I would give topeople is to, going back to the,
to previous point, findcommunity find people who've
navigated the waters that you'retrying to you're trying to sort
through seek out the advice ofsmart people in the space.
I think mentorship andsponsorship are incredibly
important.
But I think it also does you nogood to surround yourself with
(08:47):
smart people and not actuallylisten to them.
And so while their journeysmight not be yours there's so
much value in the environmentaround you.
I talked about asking people toteach me the things that they
knew that I didn't.
And I wish I could say that Iwas polite about that, but I was
incredibly demanding because inmy mind, if you're my
supervisor, then your job is toenrich me.
(09:07):
And so I approached curiosityalmost with a degree of
entitlement that I'm sure wasannoying to people around me.
But I think people.
People forgave the annoyancebecause they appreciated the
ambition.
And I think that's somethingthat's served me well over the
years.
And so there's not a day that Iwalk through the industry where
(09:28):
at some point I don't secondguess a decision.
I'm my own.
Toughest critic, and I thinkthat's also served me well over
the years.
I think a healthy amount ofintrospection and reflection is
critical to be a good leaderbecause otherwise how do you
grow and how do you coursecorrect when maybe you didn't
handle a situation in the bestpossible way?
(09:48):
But I think all of that is thevulnerability of leadership.
And if you're not at the, inthese moments, willing to be
vulnerable, then I would arguethat you're not tapping into
your highest potential as aleader.
Rachel Humphrey (09:59):
Congratulations to you both for advocating for
yourself, again, by askingpeople and as you say, maybe
urging people strongly to helpyou along the way, but such an
interesting perspective on someof that self-doubt actually
coming from outside or externalsources as opposed to our end,
because I think.
Sometimes our biggest obstaclesare ourselves and we don't need
(10:21):
anybody else creating additionalobstacles for us.
Which actually segues intotalking about obstacles
specifically.
I actually don't love the wordfailures.
I think it implies that we allhave to be perfect at all times
and tremendous amount ofpressure.
But one of the things you say inthe book, it says, celebrate the
successes and quickly pivot offof failed.
(10:41):
Experiments taken careful notto, no.
To laugh, cry, and learn aboutwhat did not work out.
Can you think of differentobstacles or setbacks that
you've had and the lessons thatyou've learned?
Keeping that idea aboutlaughing, crying and learning
about what did not work out inmind.
Donte Johnson (11:00):
I can, I think one of the biggest things when I
think whenever you're doingsomething that's unique or
innovative is is the culturethat you curate around that
uniqueness.
So for us, I.
There everyone's adoption curveis a little different.
So if you're rolling out aunique philosophy where you feel
like, hey, we can reallyleverage hospitality as a power
(11:20):
for good in the community.
My assumption on the front endof that was that everybody would
be all about this'cause becausewho's not all about making
communities healthier?
And then what I came to realizeis that there's people who just
wanna do their eight and skateand.
Reasonably, they should beallowed to just show up every
day, be great at their job, andnot have to wanna save the
world.
And so it was an interestingsort of aha moment when we
(11:44):
realized that there were somepeople in the building who said,
Hey, who cares about which smallvendor we're supporting with our
purchases?
Who cares about what toiletpaper's in the room?
Who cares about what coffee's inthe room?
And over time.
When it started to, when thatstarted to be a rising tide,
when that culture that wascreated in the building started
to make their jobs easier ormake it easier to convert a
(12:06):
piece of business if you're asalesperson, or make it easier
to recruit a colleague if you'rein hr.
Then you started to see peopledevelop an emotional connection
to the philosophy.
Because the what's in it for mewas an easy sort of direct line
correlation.
And so it was, I wouldn't saythat it was a failure
necessarily, or even an obstaclein the beginning, but it was
(12:27):
certainly a discovery andsomething that, I took for
granted.
And part of it was that you hadpeople in the building who right
away, day one said, this is whyI'm here.
Because this means so much to meand I love what you, what we're
doing.
I love the fact that, me as ahousekeeping supervisor in this
building makes it possible forthis business to support this
community in this way.
(12:49):
And it became really difficultnot to assume that for the
broader group.
And you really had to start tounpack how to.
How to lead people asindividuals and respect
everybody's journey and respecteverybody's process.
And so that's the one that, thatsticks out the most because, now
I'm in Atlanta, so second hotelsince, since deploying this
(13:09):
philosophy.
And the immediate thought that Ihad was, okay, it's year five
for me, but it's day one forsomebody in this building and I
gotta make sure that, we don'tgo.
Too far, too fast, but at thesame time, we don't fail to
challenge ourselves to reallylean in and it's threading a
needle for sure.
(13:30):
Because, you don't wanna, youdon't wanna underreact to what's
happening in the environment.
And I think the reality is ifeverybody's got a different
opinion, if everybody's on adifferent page, then you don't
really have a culture and youdon't have a direction and it
becomes impossible to accomplishanything.
So there, there's a lot of thealignment work.
Is how I would describe that.
(13:51):
And I think if you're looking toadvance any culture or
initiative in the industrythat's meant to have an impact,
then you cannot underestimatethe value of the alignment work.
I.
Rachel Humphrey (14:02):
That's so interesting that you say that
because the book talks a lotabout building consensus, but
you're also saying that whileyou build consensus, you also
have to understand theindividual and the individual's
perspective as part of that, andthat's such, it seems so
opposite sides, but yet at thesame time, you've made it work
building together.
When you think about buildinggreat teams as you've done at
(14:24):
the various properties thatyou've managed and then
developing that talent fromwithin.
Have you found either aconsistent theme or that it
factor, or what is that thingthat you see in people where
you're like, I recognize thatwhether you had it or whether
you've seen it in other greathires that you have.
What is that secret for you tobuilding those great teams and
(14:45):
then developing the talent onceyou bring them on board?
Yeah
Donte Johnson (14:48):
it's a great question.
I think especially for thismoment in the industry that's
uniquely challenging from a,from a team building and talent
acquisition perspective becausethe labor pool is as difficult
as I've ever seen it.
And, I do talk a lot aboutbuilding consensus.
I think consensus isaspirational.
I think at the very least,alignment gets you to where you
can start to, to get some workdone.
(15:10):
When I'm talking aboutindividuals or when I'm looking
to bring people onto the team, Ithink the number one thing that
I see as a cultural fit for whatwe are doing and the way that we
do it is adaptability.
And I think that's also neverbeen not true for my entire time
in the industry.
Has adaptability not been a keyasset for someone to have in
(15:30):
their character in order forthem to have success?
I think.
The industry is changing and theworld is changing more rapidly
than it ever has.
And so the solutions that bestserve us today are not the
solutions that best served us ayear or even six months ago.
So being able to go to someoneand say, yes, I know that
originally, this was theobjective, or this is, this was
(15:51):
the to-do list.
And now our priorities haveshifted as the environment has
changed.
Only works if you've got peopleon the team.
Who have that sort ofintellectual and udal elasticity
to be able to modify whatthey're doing in a given day to
accommodate that.
And then as far as teams go, Ithink, I look to, to build teams
(16:12):
in our industry, the way thatcoaches build teams in
competitive sports.
'cause at the end of the day,none of this matters if we don't
win.
And I'm very honest with theteam about that.
It's just a bunch of cute ideas.
If this building isn't havingdemonstrable success, that
separates our performance fromthe performance of the people
around us.
And so that means that there'sgonna be people who on the team
(16:32):
who may over index increativity, but who may struggle
with some other things.
And as long as their performancein the things that aren't their
strong suit is adequate, thenthey get to stay.
And we'll find someone on theteam who.
Who over indexes in theanalytical side.
And I think if we can build astrong culture, then those
(16:54):
people will have the, both theconfidence and the humility to
connect with one another andsay, Hey, I can help you with
your presentation deck and youhelp me with my spreadsheet and
then everybody wins.
I think if we create.
These sort of top structures inthe industry, which I've seen a
lot where everything goesthrough a like one leader,
(17:15):
nothing can happen.
A decision can't get made in thebuilding without my approval.
Then it's an inefficient way todo business.
It also doesn't empower anddevelop leaders.
And I think the, the number onebuilding block for culture in my
experience is that people feellike they're being enriched
every day.
They feel like I'm better offthan I was six months ago,
because some of these days aregonna be tough no matter what.
I have to feel like when I lookback and reflect on it that,
(17:38):
that I'm stronger for havingbeen here.
Rachel Humphrey (17:41):
It's so interesting because we think
about the industry as beingadaptable.
We think about businessesneeding to be adaptable, but
really applying that to eachindividual on our team as a
character trait that you'relooking for is a great way to
look at it.
And I love the idea where.
Everybody doesn't have to be a10 outta 10 in every skillset.
You can really lean into theirstronger skills and then
(18:03):
supplement through others whohave the stronger skills that
maybe compliment that.
So that is great.
As we keep talking a little bit,I love to share with our
audience why I am especiallyinterested in sharing somebody's
story or in inviting you on theshow.
And while we have been.
In many of the same rooms andsame conferences over a long
(18:25):
period of time.
We actually have only justrecently met for the first time
on a panel about publicspeaking, and I was really
fascinated by a couple things.
One by the very vulnerable sharethat you don't like it.
So welcome and thank you forbeing here.
But also that you and I bothfeel very strongly that
representation matters and thatthere is an opportunity for each
(18:48):
one of us to.
Uniquely make sure that we arecontinuing to advocate for
something that we believestrongly about, which is
representation on stages andother public platforms
visibility.
So talk to me for a second, ifyou would, about why it's so
important, this aspect ofrepresentation generally, or.
Specifically to you, and thenknowing that you don't love
(19:11):
public speaking.
Talk a little bit for a minuteor two about your public
speaking journey.
Maybe how you prepare yourthoughts about it, anything
that, that our audience mightfind interesting.
Donte Johnson (19:22):
Yeah.
And I have no I have no issuewith admitting that I don't
enjoy public speaking because Ithink that's something that
people need to hear.
Because I think there's lots ofpeople whose voices we would
benefit from that we neverotherwise be are exposed to.
And so for me, this goes back tothe conversation we were having
about the environment and howthat can impose imposter
(19:43):
syndrome onto people.
In, in ways that's unfair andunproductive.
But if we look atrepresentation.
Through the lens of what doesthe absence of that look like?
And if we are all only hearingone set of ideas one set of
values one set of principles,then I think we miss out.
I think we, we fail to optimizethe environment and I think the
(20:08):
industry and many industries fora long time have have been slow
to to evolve out of that.
And I think they've suffered asa result.
And so for me, if you are not onthat stage, if I am not on that
stage then we're doing theenvironment, the industry, the
audience, a disservice.
And that's not because I think,I'm God's gift to an audience.
(20:30):
It's just that I recognize thatthere aren't many people who are
making that contribution to thedialogue.
And you know what I hope.
I'm modeling by saying I reallydon't enjoy this, but I'm doing
it anyway.
Is the fact that, and this iswhy I draw distinction between
public speaking and publictalking.
It's like I just get up and talkall day long.
Speaking to me feels like aprofessionalized version of a
(20:52):
thing that involves skill, thatinvolves practice and and so I
think.
For me, what I encourage peopleto do is get over the need to be
perfect and bias to the actionof actually contributing to the
conversation.
But the other thing that I wouldadd to this is for years, like
my public speaking journeystarts as a kid.
(21:13):
I was always, one of the topkids in the class.
I, I was always, on stage forBlack History Month doing an MLK
speech.
I was the kid who you sent downto the city council to talk
about how transformative theprograms were to make sure that
the purse strings were alignedwith the needs in underserved
communities.
(21:33):
I was just speaking for a longtime.
It wasn't until I startedspeaking in professional
environments that I becameuncomfortable with it.
So even, as a college student, Iwas an orientation leader, I was
a resident assistant.
I was constantly in front ofgroups of my peers speaking.
And I felt very comfortable andvery confident.
It was not until I got intocorporate spaces that I felt any
(21:57):
sense of inadequacy around beingin front of people, which, goes
back to and reinforces the pointof, this is an environmental
thing.
There was nothing thatfundamentally changed about me
as a human or what I'm capableof doing.
It was.
And the feeling and theenvironment, and I don't think
it's intentional.
I don't think it's malicious.
I don't think anybody wants meto fail.
(22:18):
I just believe that that there'sa curation gap that, that we
need to solve.
I.
Rachel Humphrey (22:24):
It's so interesting too.
You bring up so many greatpoints.
And first, I do appreciate yourvulnerability sharing how you
feel about it, because I think alot of people feel that way.
But stepping outside of yourcomfort zone knowing that you
have value to add in any ofthose rooms that you take the
stage in or on this podcast,similar thanks to it, but I also
love the concept.
People think about publicspeaking just as stepping on
(22:46):
that.
5,000 person room stage at aconference.
But you've just given so manyincredible examples of public
speaking to your team, to a citycouncil person in front of a
class.
As a captain of a sports team,there are so many ways that we
can do that.
At nonprofit boards standing upand giving a toast, I say all
the time in a room full offriends.
(23:07):
That really work that muscle alittle bit and knowing.
That you have value in what youhave to add?
I think that a lot of times wehear that people don't accept
speaking opportunities'causethey don't think they're quote
unquote ready.
I'm just not sure what thatmeans.
We're never gonna be ready.
We just need to do it.
And then with each time we'renot only going to get better or
more confident, but realizeafter the first one that we
(23:29):
absolutely knew what we weredoing and what we had to add the
value on.
So I appreciate your sharingthat.
As we get ready to wrap up alittle bit, I do wanna talk
about the book, the ImpactHospitality Handbook, because we
hear this thing all the timethat you have to choose between
social impact and corporatesuccess for a business.
(23:49):
You and I both know that's nottrue.
Talk a little bit about how youget people to truly understand
instead of shying away from theconcept of impact leadership.
Yeah
Donte Johnson (24:00):
I think thing number one is we we very much
wanted to take a, an open sourceapproach to this long before
there was a, was an Impacthospitality handbook.
We were.
Publishing the playbook as wewent and we were publishing it
through media.
We were publishing it on socialmedia, we were blogging about
it.
We were talking about it everystep of the way.
(24:20):
Not just what we were doing buthow we were doing it in the
hopes that it would bereplicated.
And so we went into this ideawith the thought that if one
hotel just.
Leveraged a series of veryintentional decisions to, to
better the community around it.
That'd be great If a thousandhotels did it, or 10,000 hotels
(24:41):
did it, then you know, nowyou're cooking and that's when
you start to change the world.
So the impetus behind the bookwas that, this is just one other
way that we can amplify theidea, amplify the philosophy and
tell philosophy, excuse me, andtell the story of how we did a
thing with measurable.
Results that, that speak to bothpositive outcomes in the
(25:03):
community, but also positiveoutcomes in the business.
And there is no way that successis measured in our business that
wasn't noticeably anddramatically improved in a way
that.
Draws a direct correlation tosomething that we did from an
impact perspective during thetime that's written about in the
book.
And so I think that's thingnumber one.
(25:25):
Thing number two, there's a lotof people who are guided by
data.
And I'm one of those people.
And so we approach this workthrough a lens of let's.
Let's do all of this for theright reasons, but let's
understand that it's onlyscalable if it passes the smell
test of pure capitalists.
So knowing that this issomething that's gonna have to
cross somebody's desk, who onlycares about the bottom line,
(25:48):
because there's a lot of peoplein every industry who only care
about the bottom line and whoare answerable to investors and
so on.
We wanted to make it easy forpeople to say yes.
And so in that way, we were verymeticulous in how we tracked
things.
We were very strategic in how weimplemented and rolled out
strategies.
We worked with, very limitedresources and only took risks
(26:09):
that were calculated.
And that's why the track recordis so meaningful and so
successful.
So I think from that standpoint,we wanted to create a model and
an example.
That people who wanted to buildconsensus and alignment around
the idea of impact leadershipcould point to and say there's
at least one example of wherethis works.
(26:30):
And anyone who's skeptical,anyone who has doubts about it.
Can can read the book and it's aquick read.
We also very intentionallyrespecting the attention span of
today's audience.
Made this a book that you canget through easily in a weekend.
There's a lot of incrediblephotography in the book by Ryan
Rose.
The book is, contributed toco-authored, designed by, Jason
Bass.
These are guys who were on theteam and who were present for
(26:53):
every day of this while we weredoing the work.
And so I think we've.
In our opinion, made it veryeasy to consume process and
understand what we did and rollout a version of that's relevant
to you if that's something thatthat you're interested in.
Rachel Humphrey (27:10):
As I said, as I was reading it, I kept finding
all of these pieces that were sorelatable, not just to our
content here, but to leadershipin general.
And I do love the idea of doingwhat's right for the right
thing.
Certainly is a great driver, butwhen you are able to combine
that with the data, with thebusiness and profit successes,
you're gonna have a home run forsure.
(27:31):
As we are winding down, I wannado this in a little bit of a
quick fire.
People to hear from you, but Iknow we're gonna run out of
time.
As you continued your journey,you mentioned reaching out and
telling everybody, teach youeverything.
So this one may be too big a toobig an ask.
But tell me one new skill thatyou realized when you got your
first GM role.
You know what?
This is something I haven'tflexed yet, but I'm really gonna
(27:51):
need to learn how to do it to besuccessful in this role.
Donte Johnson (27:55):
Like intentional networking.
And I think, I've just alwaysknown a lot of people, so I
never had to go into a room andbuild a reputation.
I never had to build a personalbrand.
And the idea really wasn't.
Something that crystallized forme as a first time gm.
I was in the city that I grew upin, working with the team at the
(28:16):
first hotel I'd ever worked at.
So everything around me feltlike home.
Everything around me felt likefamily.
When I got to a point where Irealized I need to relocate,
work in a different market andprove to me and anyone who would
ask.
That I can do this building fromscratch.
Then I realized the power ofnetworking and and how you build
(28:36):
community in that way.
And so to me, just generatingthe energy to walk into a room
and, and meet 10 or 15 newpeople follow up on those
relationships and, chase down acoffee appointment or a lunch or
what have you, was somethingthat, you know.
Maybe it's not the, the mostsophisticated answer to the
(28:57):
question, but it's somethingthat I strongly recommend, not
just for GMs, but for allleaders.
And I think there's some peoplethat it comes very natural to.
I think there's some people whohave to actually be intentional
about it, and I would encourage'em to do that.
Rachel Humphrey (29:09):
I love the difference between just having a
network and then doingintentional networking.
I think that's great advice.
One of the things we hear fromso many of our guests is this
overwhelming sense of curiositythey feel and how that really
drives their journey.
Again, you mentioned askingeverybody to teach you
everything that they knew, buttell me one thing you're curious
(29:30):
about today.
Donte Johnson (29:33):
I would say the near term future, and I think,
I've made this joke on the teama couple of times.
I feel like Pivot was theprobably dictionary.com word of
the year for 2022.
I think uncertainty is probablythe word of the year for 2025,
which I think gives us anopportunity to, if we're
studious enough and curiousenough about the environment.
(29:53):
To be dynamic and potentiallyout maneuver the people that we
compete with for business, fortalent for brand cachet.
And so to me, right now, I am,and I'm generally constantly
consuming data.
But usually it's probably.
30% industry data, 70%everything else that I'm
interested in.
Like I went on a, I went down amarketing rabbit hole of a
(30:15):
couple of years, just constantlyreading marketing books.
Which the marketing team at thehotel here probably hates, but
but right now it's probably, Iprobably.
Swung the pendulum back to 50%industry things and 50% outside
industry things.
And I will always have a deepsense of curiosity for how the
entire rest of the universe doesbusiness.
(30:36):
And I think if we allow whateverindustry we work in to become an
echo chamber, then I think we dothe industry a disservice.
And so if.
If the people who market iPhonesare better at marketing than the
people who market hotels, then Ishould learn how they're
marketing iPhones.
And that's not an opinion, it'sjust an example.
But I think this is why we haveto constantly pull whatever is
(30:58):
new and advanced and innovativeinto the space versus waiting
for it to organically find itsway here.
Because historically ourindustry has been slow to adapt.
And there's a number of reasonsthat we don't have time to
unpack about that.
But I think it gives you anopportunity to to compete
differently when when you'rethat way.
So I love the curiosityquestion.
Rachel Humphrey (31:20):
I love it too, of looking outside our own
industry.
I think sometimes we tend to bevery tunnel visioned on what
hospitality is doing, butthere's so much we can learn
from others.
You and I have both talked aboutthis.
Reflection on our journeys andlearning from a lot of that
evolution of ourselves.
What would you tell 21-year-oldDante today, the journalism
(31:42):
degree in hand, going back toWashington, DC Either something
about how things turn out foryou or something you wish you
knew then that might have shapedwho you are today.
Donte Johnson (31:52):
Ironic response.
I would say talk less and listenmore.
But also trust your instincts.
And, I would say this to olderDante, because there's still
times today where.
Where intuitively, I know what'sright.
I know the decision, I know thedirection.
And and for whatever reason,some of which we've discussed
today it takes me longer to getto the decisive moment than it
(32:15):
probably should.
And I think that creates a lotof opportunity for people to
surprise you in a positive waywhen maybe the conclusion that
you're drawing is one.
That's of under performance.
But I think.
Oftentimes it the opportunityfor a pleasant surprise of an
outcome is drasticallyoutweighed by the number of
times where something in yourgut's telling you a thing and
(32:37):
it's telling you that for areason.
And I think you've gotta trustthat.
And over time, the track recordsuggests that we must trust
that.
Rachel Humphrey (32:45):
I love that so much coming from a data-driven
person who is very interested inthe data and in the numbers.
Dante, as we wrap up today,thinking about the motto of its
personal stories, empoweringpersonal success do you have any
final words of advice orinsights for our audience?
Donte Johnson (33:05):
Yeah, I think we've covered a lot of it today
with respect to and I feel likethe audience for this pod is
very much aligned with thephilosophy of impact leadership
and I think we talked a bitabout the voices either in the
room or even in your own head,who might I.
Who might offer skepticism, whomight be doubtful of those
outcomes?
I would say what we've tried tobuild here is at least one model
(33:26):
where we can point to drawinspiration from and do whatever
version of this might work inyour environment, in your
industry in the moment thatyou're in.
And that could be, maybe you'rein an environment where you've
got significantly more runwayand an infinite capital, in
which case I would say let'schallenge ourselves to.
To push all the way up to theguardrail.
(33:46):
And maybe you're in anenvironment where it's, we've
talked about 10 different thingsand you can roll out one, be
proud of that too and tell thosestories because I believe that
the more voices that we havethat are rowing in a direction
of creating positive outcomesthe better off the world is.
And isn't that what hospitalityis supposed to be about anyway?
Rachel Humphrey (34:06):
I love that.
Such a great way to wrap up.
Dante, I'm so happy that we areno longer just two people in the
same room that actually part ofeach other's intentional
networks.
On behalf of both what I amcontinuing to learn from you,
but also the opportunities theindustry has, thank you so much
for your industry leadership andfor sharing your story today.
And for our audience who has achoice about how to spend their
(34:27):
time, we appreciate you sharingit with us.
Hopefully you've enjoyedeverything that Dante has had to
share.
You can also hear from otherincredible industry
leaders@itspersonalstories.com.
But Dante, thank you so much forjoining us on the show and
sharing.
Donte Johnson (34:41):
Oh, thank you so much, Rachel.
I appreciate it.
Rachel Humphrey (34:43):
Bye-bye.
Bye.
I am Rachel Humphrey with its Personal
Stories, a hospitality podcast.
We are a nonprofit organizationdedicated to empowering personal
success in the hospitalityindustry, and I am very excited
to be joined today by DanteJohnson, the author of the
Impact Hospitality Handbook.
Dante, welcome to the show.
Donte Johnson (00:20):
Thank you for having me, Rachel.
I appreciate it.
Rachel Humphrey (00:22):
So for those listening, we are gonna do
things a little bit differentlytoday.
Dante has written an incrediblebook, co-authored an incredible
book, the Impact HospitalityHandbook.
And so we are going to talkabout his journey to leadership
and some of his life's lessons,but we're gonna tie it into the
really impactful chapters ofthat book today.
So I hope you all enjoy the newformat or today's format.
(00:44):
But before we get started, I didjust wanna give a definition of
impact hospitality.
It is a significant.
Positive influence on guests,visitors, and the community
created as the result of adeliberate set of activities
with the goal of addressing apressing social challenge.
This can be achieved through thecreation of space for
conversation, connections, andcultural exchanges.
(01:07):
So with that in mind Dante, oneof the most.
Impressive things.
I think about the hospitalityindustry is that no two
leadership journeys are thesame.
You can carve whatever uniquepath you want to and still
assume roles of leadershipwithin the industry.
So spend a couple minutestelling us about you, your
background, and your journey,and how you ended up where you
(01:28):
are today.
Donte Johnson (01:30):
Sure.
And I love this question becauseI think you're spot on.
Everyone I talk to has adifferent path but many of us
fell into the industry, fell inlove with it, and then and then
took it from there.
So I originally studiedjournalism in school.
I.
And was gonna be a sportswriter.
Moved home from Jersey City, NewJersey to Washington, DC had no
(01:52):
connections whatsoever in theworld of journalism.
And after a few months ofunsuccessfully trying to find a
job in that field, and aunt whoworked at a hotel said, why
don't you get a job at the frontdesk?
You're smart enough people likeyou, just get a job at the front
desk of a hotel and then youcan, figure out a way to find
your way into journalism.
(02:12):
After a few months working atthe front desk at the first
Kimpton Hotel east of Chicago Irealized, I wanted to be a gm
and I said this to any andeverybody who would listen.
I told everybody in the buildingthat it was their job to teach
me something every day until Iknew everything that they all
knew.
And I went person by person.
And.
(02:32):
Burned through the entire teamthat way, but I was a very
curious a very curious earlycareer hotelier.
After six months in that frontdesk role Kempton essentially
opened a hotel or two a year forthe next several years in
Washington dc So I had theopportunity to bounce around, to
try different things withouthaving to relocate.
(02:55):
Found my way into revenuemanagement for a while.
And then got back intooperations after about a year
and a half of that.
Spent a years in a GM and thenat 29 was a first time gm, so
you know, very much ahead ofschedule.
For most of my career, I'vespent a lot of time being I.
Sort of the youngest person inthe room, the outlier from a
career perspective, but moved upquickly.
(03:17):
And now I am in Atlanta at theThompson Atlanta Buckethead my
seventh GM job.
So I've now been a GM for longerthan I've been anything else in
the industry.
And.
I've loved every minute of it.
Rachel Humphrey (03:30):
That's really incredible.
And one of the pieces that Ipull away from that the most is
the asking people to teach yousomething new every day.
Such an important way to reallylearn the industry, learn the
different roles, learn how theyall interact with each other,
and I think that's such animportant and insightful way for
you to end up where you aretoday.
(03:50):
I.
Segue over to the topic ofcommunity.
The deep sense of community youhad growing up is really
something that, when I wasreading the book, really hit
home for me.
And community is something wetalk about so much nowadays.
I wanted to read this.
It says, these brave leaderscoalesced around the idea that
treating others with grace andcompassion is not only the noble
(04:13):
thing to do, but it's the onlyway to behave in a world that
needs and deserves community.
I would love for you to share alittle bit about why you think
community is so important andhow that really impacts your
leadership style today.
Donte Johnson (04:28):
Yeah.
I think, to go back to mypersonal origin story I come
from very humble beginnings.
Grew up, in Washington DC at avery crazy time, in a very crazy
part of the city.
And I think there were pointswhere community was all it felt
like we had.
And I'm only sitting here rightnow because of community that
was built around me as a youngkid navigating, some really
(04:50):
dangerous spaces.
And so I'm deeply grateful forall the people along the way who
took an interest and, even attimes may have, saw something in
me that I didn't see in myself.
So now, I feel like.
There's a reason for everything.
I don't believe in coincidenceand I think, being in this
industry for my entire adultlife.
One of the things that I'vealways said is, for us to
(05:13):
operate healthy businesses inunhealthy communities has to be
an outcome that we see asunacceptable.
And I think hospitality as anindustry is uniquely positioned
to be able to, offer inside thebuildings the best of what's
happening outside the buildings.
And I think that's where travelreally becomes a connector for
people.
I know people who spend, monthsof the year.
(05:34):
On the road who, who barely everleave the hotel.
And I think there's ways that wecan bring the local community
into the building where youwouldn't necessarily have to
have a uniquely local experiencein every city where you travel.
And I think the other thing thatdoes when we localize
experiences, when we localizeprogramming and initiatives, is,
it becomes a transformativeopportunity creator.
(05:57):
In the communities immediatelysurrounding the hotels.
Whenever I travelinternationally, I'm always
blown away at how muchhospitality creates upward
mobility in a lot of thecommunities that I travel to.
And, it's not unlike my ownstory for, in, in the us.
And so I think the more that wecan amplify that idea and that
responsibility I think thehealthier these communities
(06:18):
become.
Rachel Humphrey (06:20):
I love that you were able to lean so much into
something that's such a part ofyou, your childhood, your
upbringing, and figure out howto apply that in the leadership
roles that you have today, butalso then in instilling that
same sense of community in theneighborhoods around you.
I think that.
For me, I've shared a lot aboutthe self-doubt, some of the
(06:42):
negative voices that have beenin my head throughout my career,
and oftentimes I know that thoseare louder than my own support
systems voices in getting to me.
In the book you say, be afearless innovator.
Break the rules that no one hasdared to write.
Acknowledge the barriers, butdon't feel them.
Fear them, go straight into theheadwind and solve problems with
(07:02):
the loyal teammates around you.
They are there to lift you up inyour journey, both in your GM
journey, but also in writing thebook.
I imagine there were probablysome times that self-doubt crept
in.
How do you navigate that andwhat would you tell others who
might experience that same typeof negative talk in their own
mind?
Donte Johnson (07:22):
Yeah.
I saw a quote somewhere thatsaid, be afraid and do it
anyway.
And that's very much the way Iapproach self-doubt.
And I think it's a very naturalthing.
I mentioned earlier, oftentimesbeing the youngest person in a
space certainly, my backgroundis unique to a lot of the rooms
that I'm in from an industryperspective.
But I think, achievement's notoptional.
Like it's what I have to do.
(07:43):
And so I've never looked at anyof the challenges in front of me
as as things that, that I hadthe option of opting out of
solving.
So for me, it's really not,there's no choice.
I think overcoming theself-doubt piece can be
challenging for sure.
And I think, a lot of times theself-doubt is environmental.
(08:04):
There's nothing within me thatmakes imposter syndrome,
something that, that I bringinto the room.
I think, if you ask a fish toclimb a tree, then it's easy to
make that fish feel incompetent.
And so oftentimes theenvironments aren't curated to
receive the gifts that youuniquely are able to bring to
the situation.
And as much as I hate to admitit, oftentimes reconciling that.
(08:26):
Falls in, in the lap of theindividual.
The advice that I would give topeople is to, going back to the,
to previous point, findcommunity find people who've
navigated the waters that you'retrying to you're trying to sort
through seek out the advice ofsmart people in the space.
I think mentorship andsponsorship are incredibly
important.
But I think it also does you nogood to surround yourself with
(08:47):
smart people and not actuallylisten to them.
And so while their journeysmight not be yours there's so
much value in the environmentaround you.
I talked about asking people toteach me the things that they
knew that I didn't.
And I wish I could say that Iwas polite about that, but I was
incredibly demanding because inmy mind, if you're my
supervisor, then your job is toenrich me.
(09:07):
And so I approached curiosityalmost with a degree of
entitlement that I'm sure wasannoying to people around me.
But I think people.
People forgave the annoyancebecause they appreciated the
ambition.
And I think that's somethingthat's served me well over the
years.
And so there's not a day that Iwalk through the industry where
(09:28):
at some point I don't secondguess a decision.
I'm my own.
Toughest critic, and I thinkthat's also served me well over
the years.
I think a healthy amount ofintrospection and reflection is
critical to be a good leaderbecause otherwise how do you
grow and how do you coursecorrect when maybe you didn't
handle a situation in the bestpossible way?
(09:48):
But I think all of that is thevulnerability of leadership.
And if you're not at the, inthese moments, willing to be
vulnerable, then I would arguethat you're not tapping into
your highest potential as aleader.
Rachel Humphrey (09:59):
Congratulations to you both for advocating for
yourself, again, by askingpeople and as you say, maybe
urging people strongly to helpyou along the way, but such an
interesting perspective on someof that self-doubt actually
coming from outside or externalsources as opposed to our end,
because I think.
Sometimes our biggest obstaclesare ourselves and we don't need
(10:21):
anybody else creating additionalobstacles for us.
Which actually segues intotalking about obstacles
specifically.
I actually don't love the wordfailures.
I think it implies that we allhave to be perfect at all times
and tremendous amount ofpressure.
But one of the things you say inthe book, it says, celebrate the
successes and quickly pivot offof failed.
(10:41):
Experiments taken careful notto, no.
To laugh, cry, and learn aboutwhat did not work out.
Can you think of differentobstacles or setbacks that
you've had and the lessons thatyou've learned?
Keeping that idea aboutlaughing, crying and learning
about what did not work out inmind.
Donte Johnson (11:00):
I can, I think one of the biggest things when I
think whenever you're doingsomething that's unique or
innovative is is the culturethat you curate around that
uniqueness.
So for us, I.
There everyone's adoption curveis a little different.
So if you're rolling out aunique philosophy where you feel
like, hey, we can reallyleverage hospitality as a power
(11:20):
for good in the community.
My assumption on the front endof that was that everybody would
be all about this'cause becausewho's not all about making
communities healthier?
And then what I came to realizeis that there's people who just
wanna do their eight and skateand.
Reasonably, they should beallowed to just show up every
day, be great at their job, andnot have to wanna save the
world.
And so it was an interestingsort of aha moment when we
(11:44):
realized that there were somepeople in the building who said,
Hey, who cares about which smallvendor we're supporting with our
purchases?
Who cares about what toiletpaper's in the room?
Who cares about what coffee's inthe room?
And over time.
When it started to, when thatstarted to be a rising tide,
when that culture that wascreated in the building started
to make their jobs easier ormake it easier to convert a
(12:06):
piece of business if you're asalesperson, or make it easier
to recruit a colleague if you'rein hr.
Then you started to see peopledevelop an emotional connection
to the philosophy.
Because the what's in it for mewas an easy sort of direct line
correlation.
And so it was, I wouldn't saythat it was a failure
necessarily, or even an obstaclein the beginning, but it was
(12:27):
certainly a discovery andsomething that, I took for
granted.
And part of it was that you hadpeople in the building who right
away, day one said, this is whyI'm here.
Because this means so much to meand I love what you, what we're
doing.
I love the fact that, me as ahousekeeping supervisor in this
building makes it possible forthis business to support this
community in this way.
(12:49):
And it became really difficultnot to assume that for the
broader group.
And you really had to start tounpack how to.
How to lead people asindividuals and respect
everybody's journey and respecteverybody's process.
And so that's the one that, thatsticks out the most because, now
I'm in Atlanta, so second hotelsince, since deploying this
(13:09):
philosophy.
And the immediate thought that Ihad was, okay, it's year five
for me, but it's day one forsomebody in this building and I
gotta make sure that, we don'tgo.
Too far, too fast, but at thesame time, we don't fail to
challenge ourselves to reallylean in and it's threading a
needle for sure.
(13:30):
Because, you don't wanna, youdon't wanna underreact to what's
happening in the environment.
And I think the reality is ifeverybody's got a different
opinion, if everybody's on adifferent page, then you don't
really have a culture and youdon't have a direction and it
becomes impossible to accomplishanything.
So there, there's a lot of thealignment work.
Is how I would describe that.
(13:51):
And I think if you're looking toadvance any culture or
initiative in the industrythat's meant to have an impact,
then you cannot underestimatethe value of the alignment work.
I.
Rachel Humphrey (14:02):
That's so interesting that you say that
because the book talks a lotabout building consensus, but
you're also saying that whileyou build consensus, you also
have to understand theindividual and the individual's
perspective as part of that, andthat's such, it seems so
opposite sides, but yet at thesame time, you've made it work
building together.
When you think about buildinggreat teams as you've done at
(14:24):
the various properties thatyou've managed and then
developing that talent fromwithin.
Have you found either aconsistent theme or that it
factor, or what is that thingthat you see in people where
you're like, I recognize thatwhether you had it or whether
you've seen it in other greathires that you have.
What is that secret for you tobuilding those great teams and
(14:45):
then developing the talent onceyou bring them on board?
Yeah
Donte Johnson (14:48):
it's a great question.
I think especially for thismoment in the industry that's
uniquely challenging from a,from a team building and talent
acquisition perspective becausethe labor pool is as difficult
as I've ever seen it.
And, I do talk a lot aboutbuilding consensus.
I think consensus isaspirational.
I think at the very least,alignment gets you to where you
can start to, to get some workdone.
(15:10):
When I'm talking aboutindividuals or when I'm looking
to bring people onto the team, Ithink the number one thing that
I see as a cultural fit for whatwe are doing and the way that we
do it is adaptability.
And I think that's also neverbeen not true for my entire time
in the industry.
Has adaptability not been a keyasset for someone to have in
(15:30):
their character in order forthem to have success?
I think.
The industry is changing and theworld is changing more rapidly
than it ever has.
And so the solutions that bestserve us today are not the
solutions that best served us ayear or even six months ago.
So being able to go to someoneand say, yes, I know that
originally, this was theobjective, or this is, this was
(15:51):
the to-do list.
And now our priorities haveshifted as the environment has
changed.
Only works if you've got peopleon the team.
Who have that sort ofintellectual and udal elasticity
to be able to modify whatthey're doing in a given day to
accommodate that.
And then as far as teams go, Ithink, I look to, to build teams
(16:12):
in our industry, the way thatcoaches build teams in
competitive sports.
'cause at the end of the day,none of this matters if we don't
win.
And I'm very honest with theteam about that.
It's just a bunch of cute ideas.
If this building isn't havingdemonstrable success, that
separates our performance fromthe performance of the people
around us.
And so that means that there'sgonna be people who on the team
(16:32):
who may over index increativity, but who may struggle
with some other things.
And as long as their performancein the things that aren't their
strong suit is adequate, thenthey get to stay.
And we'll find someone on theteam who.
Who over indexes in theanalytical side.
And I think if we can build astrong culture, then those
(16:54):
people will have the, both theconfidence and the humility to
connect with one another andsay, Hey, I can help you with
your presentation deck and youhelp me with my spreadsheet and
then everybody wins.
I think if we create.
These sort of top structures inthe industry, which I've seen a
lot where everything goesthrough a like one leader,
(17:15):
nothing can happen.
A decision can't get made in thebuilding without my approval.
Then it's an inefficient way todo business.
It also doesn't empower anddevelop leaders.
And I think the, the number onebuilding block for culture in my
experience is that people feellike they're being enriched
every day.
They feel like I'm better offthan I was six months ago,
because some of these days aregonna be tough no matter what.
I have to feel like when I lookback and reflect on it that,
(17:38):
that I'm stronger for havingbeen here.
Rachel Humphrey (17:41):
It's so interesting because we think
about the industry as beingadaptable.
We think about businessesneeding to be adaptable, but
really applying that to eachindividual on our team as a
character trait that you'relooking for is a great way to
look at it.
And I love the idea where.
Everybody doesn't have to be a10 outta 10 in every skillset.
You can really lean into theirstronger skills and then
(18:03):
supplement through others whohave the stronger skills that
maybe compliment that.
So that is great.
As we keep talking a little bit,I love to share with our
audience why I am especiallyinterested in sharing somebody's
story or in inviting you on theshow.
And while we have been.
In many of the same rooms andsame conferences over a long
(18:25):
period of time.
We actually have only justrecently met for the first time
on a panel about publicspeaking, and I was really
fascinated by a couple things.
One by the very vulnerable sharethat you don't like it.
So welcome and thank you forbeing here.
But also that you and I bothfeel very strongly that
representation matters and thatthere is an opportunity for each
(18:48):
one of us to.
Uniquely make sure that we arecontinuing to advocate for
something that we believestrongly about, which is
representation on stages andother public platforms
visibility.
So talk to me for a second, ifyou would, about why it's so
important, this aspect ofrepresentation generally, or.
Specifically to you, and thenknowing that you don't love
(19:11):
public speaking.
Talk a little bit for a minuteor two about your public
speaking journey.
Maybe how you prepare yourthoughts about it, anything
that, that our audience mightfind interesting.
Donte Johnson (19:22):
Yeah.
And I have no I have no issuewith admitting that I don't
enjoy public speaking because Ithink that's something that
people need to hear.
Because I think there's lots ofpeople whose voices we would
benefit from that we neverotherwise be are exposed to.
And so for me, this goes back tothe conversation we were having
about the environment and howthat can impose imposter
(19:43):
syndrome onto people.
In, in ways that's unfair andunproductive.
But if we look atrepresentation.
Through the lens of what doesthe absence of that look like?
And if we are all only hearingone set of ideas one set of
values one set of principles,then I think we miss out.
I think we, we fail to optimizethe environment and I think the
(20:08):
industry and many industries fora long time have have been slow
to to evolve out of that.
And I think they've suffered asa result.
And so for me, if you are not onthat stage, if I am not on that
stage then we're doing theenvironment, the industry, the
audience, a disservice.
And that's not because I think,I'm God's gift to an audience.
(20:30):
It's just that I recognize thatthere aren't many people who are
making that contribution to thedialogue.
And you know what I hope.
I'm modeling by saying I reallydon't enjoy this, but I'm doing
it anyway.
Is the fact that, and this iswhy I draw distinction between
public speaking and publictalking.
It's like I just get up and talkall day long.
Speaking to me feels like aprofessionalized version of a
(20:52):
thing that involves skill, thatinvolves practice and and so I
think.
For me, what I encourage peopleto do is get over the need to be
perfect and bias to the actionof actually contributing to the
conversation.
But the other thing that I wouldadd to this is for years, like
my public speaking journeystarts as a kid.
(21:13):
I was always, one of the topkids in the class.
I, I was always, on stage forBlack History Month doing an MLK
speech.
I was the kid who you sent downto the city council to talk
about how transformative theprograms were to make sure that
the purse strings were alignedwith the needs in underserved
communities.
(21:33):
I was just speaking for a longtime.
It wasn't until I startedspeaking in professional
environments that I becameuncomfortable with it.
So even, as a college student, Iwas an orientation leader, I was
a resident assistant.
I was constantly in front ofgroups of my peers speaking.
And I felt very comfortable andvery confident.
It was not until I got intocorporate spaces that I felt any
(21:57):
sense of inadequacy around beingin front of people, which, goes
back to and reinforces the pointof, this is an environmental
thing.
There was nothing thatfundamentally changed about me
as a human or what I'm capableof doing.
It was.
And the feeling and theenvironment, and I don't think
it's intentional.
I don't think it's malicious.
I don't think anybody wants meto fail.
(22:18):
I just believe that that there'sa curation gap that, that we
need to solve.
I.
Rachel Humphrey (22:24):
It's so interesting too.
You bring up so many greatpoints.
And first, I do appreciate yourvulnerability sharing how you
feel about it, because I think alot of people feel that way.
But stepping outside of yourcomfort zone knowing that you
have value to add in any ofthose rooms that you take the
stage in or on this podcast,similar thanks to it, but I also
love the concept.
People think about publicspeaking just as stepping on
(22:46):
that.
5,000 person room stage at aconference.
But you've just given so manyincredible examples of public
speaking to your team, to a citycouncil person in front of a
class.
As a captain of a sports team,there are so many ways that we
can do that.
At nonprofit boards standing upand giving a toast, I say all
the time in a room full offriends.
(23:07):
That really work that muscle alittle bit and knowing.
That you have value in what youhave to add?
I think that a lot of times wehear that people don't accept
speaking opportunities'causethey don't think they're quote
unquote ready.
I'm just not sure what thatmeans.
We're never gonna be ready.
We just need to do it.
And then with each time we'renot only going to get better or
more confident, but realizeafter the first one that we
(23:29):
absolutely knew what we weredoing and what we had to add the
value on.
So I appreciate your sharingthat.
As we get ready to wrap up alittle bit, I do wanna talk
about the book, the ImpactHospitality Handbook, because we
hear this thing all the timethat you have to choose between
social impact and corporatesuccess for a business.
(23:49):
You and I both know that's nottrue.
Talk a little bit about how youget people to truly understand
instead of shying away from theconcept of impact leadership.
Yeah
Donte Johnson (24:00):
I think thing number one is we we very much
wanted to take a, an open sourceapproach to this long before
there was a, was an Impacthospitality handbook.
We were.
Publishing the playbook as wewent and we were publishing it
through media.
We were publishing it on socialmedia, we were blogging about
it.
We were talking about it everystep of the way.
(24:20):
Not just what we were doing buthow we were doing it in the
hopes that it would bereplicated.
And so we went into this ideawith the thought that if one
hotel just.
Leveraged a series of veryintentional decisions to, to
better the community around it.
That'd be great If a thousandhotels did it, or 10,000 hotels
(24:41):
did it, then you know, nowyou're cooking and that's when
you start to change the world.
So the impetus behind the bookwas that, this is just one other
way that we can amplify theidea, amplify the philosophy and
tell philosophy, excuse me, andtell the story of how we did a
thing with measurable.
Results that, that speak to bothpositive outcomes in the
(25:03):
community, but also positiveoutcomes in the business.
And there is no way that successis measured in our business that
wasn't noticeably anddramatically improved in a way
that.
Draws a direct correlation tosomething that we did from an
impact perspective during thetime that's written about in the
book.
And so I think that's thingnumber one.
(25:25):
Thing number two, there's a lotof people who are guided by
data.
And I'm one of those people.
And so we approach this workthrough a lens of let's.
Let's do all of this for theright reasons, but let's
understand that it's onlyscalable if it passes the smell
test of pure capitalists.
So knowing that this issomething that's gonna have to
cross somebody's desk, who onlycares about the bottom line,
(25:48):
because there's a lot of peoplein every industry who only care
about the bottom line and whoare answerable to investors and
so on.
We wanted to make it easy forpeople to say yes.
And so in that way, we were verymeticulous in how we tracked
things.
We were very strategic in how weimplemented and rolled out
strategies.
We worked with, very limitedresources and only took risks
(26:09):
that were calculated.
And that's why the track recordis so meaningful and so
successful.
So I think from that standpoint,we wanted to create a model and
an example.
That people who wanted to buildconsensus and alignment around
the idea of impact leadershipcould point to and say there's
at least one example of wherethis works.
(26:30):
And anyone who's skeptical,anyone who has doubts about it.
Can can read the book and it's aquick read.
We also very intentionallyrespecting the attention span of
today's audience.
Made this a book that you canget through easily in a weekend.
There's a lot of incrediblephotography in the book by Ryan
Rose.
The book is, contributed toco-authored, designed by, Jason
Bass.
These are guys who were on theteam and who were present for
(26:53):
every day of this while we weredoing the work.
And so I think we've.
In our opinion, made it veryeasy to consume process and
understand what we did and rollout a version of that's relevant
to you if that's something thatthat you're interested in.
Rachel Humphrey (27:10):
As I said, as I was reading it, I kept finding
all of these pieces that were sorelatable, not just to our
content here, but to leadershipin general.
And I do love the idea of doingwhat's right for the right
thing.
Certainly is a great driver, butwhen you are able to combine
that with the data, with thebusiness and profit successes,
you're gonna have a home run forsure.
(27:31):
As we are winding down, I wannado this in a little bit of a
quick fire.
People to hear from you, but Iknow we're gonna run out of
time.
As you continued your journey,you mentioned reaching out and
telling everybody, teach youeverything.
So this one may be too big a toobig an ask.
But tell me one new skill thatyou realized when you got your
first GM role.
You know what?
This is something I haven'tflexed yet, but I'm really gonna
(27:51):
need to learn how to do it to besuccessful in this role.
Donte Johnson (27:55):
Like intentional networking.
And I think, I've just alwaysknown a lot of people, so I
never had to go into a room andbuild a reputation.
I never had to build a personalbrand.
And the idea really wasn't.
Something that crystallized forme as a first time gm.
I was in the city that I grew upin, working with the team at the
(28:16):
first hotel I'd ever worked at.
So everything around me feltlike home.
Everything around me felt likefamily.
When I got to a point where Irealized I need to relocate,
work in a different market andprove to me and anyone who would
ask.
That I can do this building fromscratch.
Then I realized the power ofnetworking and and how you build
(28:36):
community in that way.
And so to me, just generatingthe energy to walk into a room
and, and meet 10 or 15 newpeople follow up on those
relationships and, chase down acoffee appointment or a lunch or
what have you, was somethingthat, you know.
Maybe it's not the, the mostsophisticated answer to the
(28:57):
question, but it's somethingthat I strongly recommend, not
just for GMs, but for allleaders.
And I think there's some peoplethat it comes very natural to.
I think there's some people whohave to actually be intentional
about it, and I would encourage'em to do that.
Rachel Humphrey (29:09):
I love the difference between just having a
network and then doingintentional networking.
I think that's great advice.
One of the things we hear fromso many of our guests is this
overwhelming sense of curiositythey feel and how that really
drives their journey.
Again, you mentioned askingeverybody to teach you
everything that they knew, buttell me one thing you're curious
(29:30):
about today.
Donte Johnson (29:33):
I would say the near term future, and I think,
I've made this joke on the teama couple of times.
I feel like Pivot was theprobably dictionary.com word of
the year for 2022.
I think uncertainty is probablythe word of the year for 2025,
which I think gives us anopportunity to, if we're
studious enough and curiousenough about the environment.
(29:53):
To be dynamic and potentiallyout maneuver the people that we
compete with for business, fortalent for brand cachet.
And so to me, right now, I am,and I'm generally constantly
consuming data.
But usually it's probably.
30% industry data, 70%everything else that I'm
interested in.
Like I went on a, I went down amarketing rabbit hole of a
(30:15):
couple of years, just constantlyreading marketing books.
Which the marketing team at thehotel here probably hates, but
but right now it's probably, Iprobably.
Swung the pendulum back to 50%industry things and 50% outside
industry things.
And I will always have a deepsense of curiosity for how the
entire rest of the universe doesbusiness.
(30:36):
And I think if we allow whateverindustry we work in to become an
echo chamber, then I think we dothe industry a disservice.
And so if.
If the people who market iPhonesare better at marketing than the
people who market hotels, then Ishould learn how they're
marketing iPhones.
And that's not an opinion, it'sjust an example.
But I think this is why we haveto constantly pull whatever is
(30:58):
new and advanced and innovativeinto the space versus waiting
for it to organically find itsway here.
Because historically ourindustry has been slow to adapt.
And there's a number of reasonsthat we don't have time to
unpack about that.
But I think it gives you anopportunity to to compete
differently when when you'rethat way.
So I love the curiosityquestion.
Rachel Humphrey (31:20):
I love it too, of looking outside our own
industry.
I think sometimes we tend to bevery tunnel visioned on what
hospitality is doing, butthere's so much we can learn
from others.
You and I have both talked aboutthis.
Reflection on our journeys andlearning from a lot of that
evolution of ourselves.
What would you tell 21-year-oldDante today, the journalism
(31:42):
degree in hand, going back toWashington, DC Either something
about how things turn out foryou or something you wish you
knew then that might have shapedwho you are today.
Donte Johnson (31:52):
Ironic response.
I would say talk less and listenmore.
But also trust your instincts.
And, I would say this to olderDante, because there's still
times today where.
Where intuitively, I know what'sright.
I know the decision, I know thedirection.
And and for whatever reason,some of which we've discussed
today it takes me longer to getto the decisive moment than it
(32:15):
probably should.
And I think that creates a lotof opportunity for people to
surprise you in a positive waywhen maybe the conclusion that
you're drawing is one.
That's of under performance.
But I think.
Oftentimes it the opportunityfor a pleasant surprise of an
outcome is drasticallyoutweighed by the number of
times where something in yourgut's telling you a thing and
(32:37):
it's telling you that for areason.
And I think you've gotta trustthat.
And over time, the track recordsuggests that we must trust
that.
Rachel Humphrey (32:45):
I love that so much coming from a data-driven
person who is very interested inthe data and in the numbers.
Dante, as we wrap up today,thinking about the motto of its
personal stories, empoweringpersonal success do you have any
final words of advice orinsights for our audience?
Donte Johnson (33:05):
Yeah, I think we've covered a lot of it today
with respect to and I feel likethe audience for this pod is
very much aligned with thephilosophy of impact leadership
and I think we talked a bitabout the voices either in the
room or even in your own head,who might I.
Who might offer skepticism, whomight be doubtful of those
outcomes?
I would say what we've tried tobuild here is at least one model
(33:26):
where we can point to drawinspiration from and do whatever
version of this might work inyour environment, in your
industry in the moment thatyou're in.
And that could be, maybe you'rein an environment where you've
got significantly more runwayand an infinite capital, in
which case I would say let'schallenge ourselves to.
To push all the way up to theguardrail.
(33:46):
And maybe you're in anenvironment where it's, we've
talked about 10 different thingsand you can roll out one, be
proud of that too and tell thosestories because I believe that
the more voices that we havethat are rowing in a direction
of creating positive outcomesthe better off the world is.
And isn't that what hospitalityis supposed to be about anyway?
Rachel Humphrey (34:06):
I love that.
Such a great way to wrap up.
Dante, I'm so happy that we areno longer just two people in the
same room that actually part ofeach other's intentional
networks.
On behalf of both what I amcontinuing to learn from you,
but also the opportunities theindustry has, thank you so much
for your industry leadership andfor sharing your story today.
And for our audience who has achoice about how to spend their
(34:27):
time, we appreciate you sharingit with us.
Hopefully you've enjoyedeverything that Dante has had to
share.
You can also hear from otherincredible industry
leaders@itspersonalstories.com.
But Dante, thank you so much forjoining us on the show and
sharing.
Donte Johnson (34:41):
Oh, thank you so much, Rachel.
I appreciate it.
Rachel Humphrey (34:43):
Bye-bye.
Bye.
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