June 11, 2025 • 41 mins
In a conversation filled with wisdom and experiences, Dorothy Dowling sits down with John Paul Nichols, CEO of Club Quarters, on the hospitality podcast "It's Personal Stories." Nichols takes us through his career, revealing how a strategic blend of opportunistic decisions, international exposure, and cultural diversity has paved the way for his enduring success in the industry.
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Dorothy Dowling (00:05):
Hello, I'm Dorothy Dowling and welcome to
its Personal Stories, ahospitality podcast focused on
the journeys, lessons, and livedexperiences of leaders across
our industry, or a nonprofitplatform committed to empowering
personal success throughstorytelling and shared wisdom.
Today I am honored to welcomeJohn Paul Nichols, CEO of Club
(00:27):
Quarters.
John Paul, thank you for joiningus.
It's truly a privilege to haveyou with us today.
I.
John Paul Nichols (00:33):
My pleasure.
So as you know, we workedtogether many years ago and it's
just great to do this as afollow up.
Dorothy Dowling (00:39):
Thank
John Paul Nichols (00:39):
you.
Dorothy Dowling (00:40):
Thank you, John.
Paul, I feel the same way.
So I'm wondering if we can talka little bit about your career
trajectory, because your careerhas touched brand development,
business growth, and real estatevalue creation.
I'm wondering if you can walk usthrough your professional
journey and share howintentional your career mapping
or purposeful decisions helpshape the path you've taken.
John Paul Nichols (01:01):
Sure, and I'll, and I'll try to keep it
short, as you know, career, I,I've been doing this for a while
now, so, uh, about 40 years.
So there's a little bit of astory there, but, you know,
it's, but it, I'll, I'll saysome of it was opportunistic and
some of it was planned.
Uh, and needless to say, as Iaged in my career, became more
and more planned.
But as many of us in the hotelbusiness, I started as a
(01:23):
bellman.
Literally was a Belmont one dayat a Hilton and Lobo key in
Florida.
Uh, and it just became thecareer that I enjoyed, very
people oriented.
Uh, so that was the first, youknow, uh, uh, you know what I'll
call exposure to it.
And that's after going tocollege for a traditional
liberal arts degree with thebusiness focus.
So it certainly wasn't ahospitality focus.
(01:45):
Uh, and, but what attracted meto the industry broadly was the
way I grew up.
I grew up internationally mostof my life, uh, from Wisconsin,
but I grew up in Brazil andChile and Spain.
Uh, and I wanted a, a careerthat would eventually allow me
that similar kind of exposure orbeing able to leverage some of
(02:07):
that background from a veryearly age as I got into an older
career.
Now, to get there, I took a lotof lefts and it took a lot of
rights.
So, uh.
Uh, I literally started withHoward Johnson's back when
Howard Johnson owned HowardJohnsons and ran Howard
Johnsons.
That may date me a little bit,but, uh, uh, uh, in Florida, so
to speak.
Uh, but then I left, uh,frankly, and this is where I
(02:29):
became opportunistic to, uh,effectively run an Indian
reservation in SouthernCalifornia and get into Indian
gambling.
We happen to be.
The case that won the SupremeCourt case, either the Seminoles
and we, the Seminoles ofFlorida, we in California, the
Capon.
For whatever reason, the SupremeCourt decided to hear the Capon
decision or the Cabon case, andthat's why Indian gaming is
(02:51):
established the way it's didthat for about 10 years.
Uh, uh, and as you mightimagine, the broadly speaking,
gaming and hospitality arefairly related.
Uh, a lot of similarities inscope.
But after 10 years, you eitherstay in Indian country or you
stay in that gaming vertical, oryou wanna expose yourself to
different things.
I wanted to expose myself and somore of a traditional business
(03:14):
environment.
After doing that for 10 years,even though my family maintained
another 15 year relationshipwith the tribe, and we have
actually relatives that aretribal members today, the, uh,
but I was hired away, uh, uh,frankly, by a developer called
Mark Harris.
Still a friend, one of my, mymentors, frankly, who was the
first developer of Ameri Suites.
So he conceptualized AmeriSuites, joined them as a VP of
(03:37):
operations.
He saw in me some guy with astrange resume, but creative, if
you will.
Uh, and uh, uh, and I did thatfor a few years based out of,
uh, Austin, Texas.
Uh, we sold the concept ofPrime.
Prime, then grew Ameri Suites.
Ameri Suites, then was then soldto Hyatt.
And that's Hyatt Place.
So both a long journey ifyou'll, that just got rebranded
(04:00):
over time.
But the basic concept reallystarted with this developer, uh,
called Mark Harris.
Uh, I was, uh, I was recruitedaway by, uh, uh, Monty Archie,
Archie and Monty Bennett atRemington.
To give you some perspective,and again, what interested them
was somebody that was veryentrepreneurial in nature, uh,
uh, and had really done a lot oflateral things in the industry
(04:24):
versus the traditional hotelvertical.
Uh, you know, it was hard to betheir SVP of sales and marketing
of all things, even though thatwas not necessarily a role that
I'd had in my career previouslythat defined, uh, we had, uh,
and back then they wereacquiring the RTC portfolios,
and some of that was with somecash being led by.
(04:44):
Uh, or provided by, uh, by HenrySilverman and what was then HFS
in those days.
And so out of the 70 or sohotels that Remington managed
and probably 50 of'em, or 45 orsomething, were HFS franchises.
Uh, so I had a lot ofinteraction, as you might
imagine, with the team at, uh,uh, uh, in, at, uh, inny on the
(05:07):
HFS side before the companybecame Sendent.
Uh, a little known fact, but theguy that ran the hotel division
back in those days.
Remember it was, uh, Eric Effer,uh, Eric.
I hired Eric Effer as a deskclerk many years earlier in
Miami.
We had just remained friends allthose years.
Uh, and so when an opportunitydeveloped, he actually
(05:27):
recommended me for a particularrole.
Uh, and I joined what was NHFSwith them became Sendent, uh,
that might, that over timedeveloped into, you know, the
president of the Wing Gate insbrand.
Uh, and that was kind of myreintroduction back into
traditional branding and, and tosome extent, hotel operations,
uh, uh, became the CMO of thehotel division at, at that
(05:48):
descendant back in those days.
Uh, and then eventually wentover to RCI.
Primarily'cause I wanted a lotmore international exposure.
I remember the domestic, our,our, our, our, the hotel
division back in those days wasprimarily domestic with a few
master licensees.
Not really a lot ofinternational exposure, maybe
Canada being the one bigexception.
Uh, and, and RCI, on the otherhand, provided me a lot of
(06:11):
platform.
Uh, I already spoke Spanish.
I already spoke Portuguese, so Ihad a lot of flexibility in
terms of how to grow.
Ken May, who is another mentorof mine, you know, thinking of
from that standpoint, uh, gaveme an opportunity, saw something
that kind of made sense, uh, uh,from an exchange standpoint, and
that's what I did for the next,frankly, seven or eight years.
(06:32):
Ascendant, maybe longer, uh, uh,which is really kind of growing
all the way up to, uh, uh,running the EMA portfolio.
Uh, uh, based out of London.
Uh, going back to 2008, 2008 wasa good thing and a bad thing,
which is, I like to put it younever wanted to be a middle
senior manager in 2008.
Right?
(06:52):
Uh, and so while I survived andmaybe originated some of the
restructures in, in ascendedenvironment, this what I did
not.
Uh, and, uh, and uh, uh, and uh,the reality is I was kind of
competing for.
Uh, the CEO's job at RCII didnot get it.
You'd never wanna be the numbertwo, maybe the three, number
four.
But, so anyway, it wasn't longthereafter that I had that
(07:15):
opportunity, uh, and I had tomake a decision that I wanna
stay international, frankly.
Uh, and I was, I had a lot ofexposure in China.
I used to live in Beijing,internationally as well.
I used to live in Mexico City,uh, and then and order, I wanna
come back to the States.
Frankly, it was a personaldecision ultimately.
My daughter, uh, who, uh, wasnot with me during much of this
international career, I feltthat I really needed to be a
(07:36):
little closer to home.
She was an adult at that stageof the game, but there was a
personal obligation.
Uh, and so I moved back to theStates and the opportunity
developed with P Quarters whereI'm still at.
So I've been here since 2000,really beginning of 2009, uh,
which was an interesting time tostart as a CEO of a hotel
company.
As you might imagine.
It was not exactly the best yearin the industry.
(07:58):
Uh, and I've been straightthrough.
So, uh, uh, at this stage, I'm,you know, this is kind of as I
like to put it, my, uh, my lasthurrah.
I'm not looking for a careerbeyond this one, other than
doing a, well, a good job of theone that I'm in now.
Uh, and that's kind of the, thecareer trajectory.
The, uh, uh, you know, the onlypoint that I'll make with what's
interesting is, is when I kindof think back at what prepared
(08:21):
me for the transitions that Imade.
Whether they be international,whether they be from hotel
divisions, RCI, whether they befrom Indian gaming back in the
hotel industry, much of that wasstrategic.
Uh, and I just looked at wheredo I had a, where did I have a
competitive advantage?
Maybe a little bit more lateralthinking than the typical
(08:41):
hotelier that's very vertical intheir thinking.
Right?
Uh uh, and whether it's on thedevelopment side, whether the
operations side of the brandingside.
And where did I have some skillsets that were language and both
cultural where I had a greatsense of the culture, but I
still really got public UScompanies, or I got private
companies and, and, and had Iworked for entrepreneurs that
(09:05):
were, that, that, that were.
And there's the good and the badabout entrepreneurs, right?
As I like to put it right, havea very clear vision.
But was I comfortable in workingin those environments and would
I have enough space to continueto create and motivate, grow
myself?
And so every step of the way, Iwould kind of leverage bits and
pieces of that broaderbackground.
And ultimately, that may be moresuccessful in this business, I
(09:28):
think, than it would've been ifI'd come up with traditional
hospitality.
Vertical gave me just adifferent set of eyes.
Uh, a different way of lookingat a same problem or
opportunity, uh, in what youbegin convinced of when you work
and live a lot internationallyis that there's plenty of ways
it's getting a cat, you know,not one system is the only
system, not one way, is the onlyway.
(09:50):
Uh, and it's same in businessfrankly.
There's usually more ways togrow and more ways to adapt and
more ways to solve a problemthan just one way.
And, and it's been very helpfulfor me throughout my whole
career.
Dorothy Dowling (10:03):
Well, you know, John Paul, I've known you a long
time and I have to say.
Your career is even moreimpressive than what I knew, and
I do agree with you about justthe co cultural diversity of the
experiences that you were ableto bring into leadership roles.
And then just the breadth ofworking across the category and
the way that you did really doesgive you a perspective and.
(10:26):
A way of helping people solvenon-traditional problems.
So when congratulations on sucha remarkable career, I know that
you're placed often in verychallenging environments and had
to produce results.
And I saw when you took onWingate,'cause that was a new
brand, obviously that had to bebuilt from the ground up.
Um, but I, I, I certainly thankall of those kinds of
(10:47):
challenging roles that you hadthroughout your career.
Really powered it in, in veryexceptional ways.
I'm wondering if you can tell usa little bit about Club
Quarters,'cause I'm not sure ouraudience would be totally
familiar with them and, and whatyour role is like today as the
CEO of this business.
I.
John Paul Nichols (11:03):
Uh, club Quarters been around since 1993,
so it's a lot over company thanmost people perceive.
So it's, that's a, that's a longterm play in the hotel business,
but the same brand as you think.
It's been independent for all ofhis life.
Uh, it was developed by a HeightNetworth family.
It was still is the, the Bonnafamily.
The, the entrepreneur is a guycalled Ralph Bonna, who's since
(11:24):
passed.
He was also one of theco-founders of Priceline.
So.
Just think of'em as a serialentrepreneur, but at a very high
level.
Uh, the, uh, the basic conceptwas originally 1993.
It was hard to believe, buthardly any select service hotels
in New York City or any majorurban area.
Right?
And so the real premise was.
(11:44):
A select service hotel to solvethe problem of how could you get
a reasonably priced room in NewYork City.
That wasn't the, the big boxes,the Hilton, the she, whatever
that may be, uh, because mostcorporates could not find that.
Right.
Uh, and so that's how theoriginal hotel started in 1993.
I'll come back to the, thebusiness model in the second and
the, the, the what made itinteresting and still makes it
(12:07):
interesting though, today it's.
Much more of a traditional hotelmodel than it was back then is
the, all of the marketing wasB2B marketing.
There was no B2C marketingwhatsoever.
It was never intended to growthe brand as a B2C brand.
It was intended to, we calldirectly on JP Morgan.
We'd effectively get them tocommit to a block of rooms and
(12:27):
depending on the size of theblock of rooms, you had a
certain rate profile in the, andso, and that's all we did, no
OTA business effectively.
The weekends were empty almost.
Uh, but it was a very, veryprofitable environment.
Obviously things have changed inNew York City right now you've
probably got 500 select servicehotels in New York City.
Uh, and so that business modelhas a adapted and changed over
(12:49):
time, but it's verticallyintegrated company.
We build what we operate, whatwe manage, what we brand.
We've sold a few hotels over theyears.
Uh, the building company or theownership companies?
The of, that's the vehicle forthe Bonner family.
It's a company calledMasterworks.
Uh, but we manage all ofMasterworks assets, if you will.
(13:09):
Uh, and, uh, a few hotels weresold to Blackstone.
A few hotels were sold to a, toan insurance company and in, uh,
uh, in France.
And, but generally speaking,most are still owned by the, by
the parent, uh, work.
It's a, it's a company that'svery comfortable developing in a
real estate.
So we're kind of a developercentric brand.
Uh, uh, today we are looking andconsidering growing into the
(13:32):
third party management, which wehave not historically done.
Uh, and just as a way of kind ofamortizing centralized costs and
frankly, and not always havingto put up all the equity
ourselves.
To date, we've been the solesource of equity.
You're only gonna grow so atsuch a pace if you're gonna be
the sole source of equity versusputting up 20% of the equity
being a general partner andbeing able to grow on a more
(13:53):
accelerated basis.
So we're looking for ways togrow a little faster now.
Uh, but we're, but we'reconservative in our nature.
The other thing was very, veryparticular in terms of the
markets that we're at.
The reason we have not to date,you never say never.
We have not franchised withanybody else and, and don't plan
on doing so in the near futureis that we, our real estate is,
(14:17):
is excellent in every marketthat we're in.
Uh, and so think instead ofhaving to pay a franchise brand,
uh, we effectively pay a lot ofmoney for the real estate in the
first place or for the land inthe first place, in the quality
of that location of these urbanmarkets generally don't require
a franchise to support that.
The business model was able tosupport that.
(14:37):
Obviously things change.
You always look at things andwho knows what that model is
gonna look like 15 years fromnow.
And the big change, frankly, isdistribution, as we know in the
industry, is totally differentnow than it was 10 years ago
than it was 20 years ago than itwas 30 years ago.
It's gonna be totally different10 years from now.
And that more than anythingelse.
Causes change in businessmodels, much less so, real
(15:00):
estate changes and things ofthat nature.
So, uh, uh, so today we are, youknow, we're, we're high margin
profitable businesses, neverused any, any, any, uh, uh, uh,
any really third party branding.
Uh, never used any third partymanagers.
So truly kind of a one storyfits all.
We are in the process of kind oftiering some of our hotels and
(15:23):
tiering feature development,where we've got what I call a
quiet luxury kind of product.
That Brian Park right now hasbeen very successful.
We've got a couple projectsunder development very similar
to that.
Uh, that's obviously, you know.
Uh, not a Dorchester as a qualquality, but an end, a quality,
luxury product from thatstandpoint.
(15:44):
Uh, we have a series of hotelsthat we are looking to maybe
convert to Webster, which is ain-house, uh, uh, a lifestyle
brand.
They're just the bones of thosehotels and the particular
location would make sense.
Then obviously we havetraditional club quarters, which
continues to produce, and we'relooking at developing those as
well.
Different pieces of land,different pieces of dirt,
(16:04):
different locations lendthemselves better to any one of
those three.
So we don't just have one brandthat we're trying to grow going
forward.
Dorothy Dowling (16:13):
Well, um, thank you for that.
And I, I do think understandingsort of that developer led.
Mindset and the real estate partof the business, um, is
important for everyone tounderstand because I still think
regardless of what segmentpeople work in the industry,
understanding how those pieces,um, come together is really
important.
John Paul Nichols (16:32):
Well, it, it also drives how you think as a
company, uh, the, you know, uh,uh, I don't think I've asked
once, what's our fee income?
Mm-hmm.
It's just not relevant.
What matters to me is what's ourebitda.
That's true in every asset, andthat's true whether we manage it
for our own account, whethermeaning that it's owned by the,
by us, or whether it's for athird party because sold it the
(16:53):
same basic premise in the end.
We know that what makes an ownerhappy is that the fees they pay
me is the EBITDA that we deliverto the owner regardless of the
owner.
So the company's very focused onthat, and it's just the nature
of our DNA in the fact that westay and own the majority of the
hotels.
It's just our, it's built in,right?
So we don't cheat one versus theother.
(17:14):
Uh, in our lesson learned isthat this goes back to the whole
old company owned store, pro youknow, model, which is you always
wanna favor.
The hotel you don't own versusthe hotel you do own.
That's the only way I know tomake sure that third party
owners are happy versus if youhappen to own hotels in the same
city especially, right?
Mm-hmm.
And that's very much in our DNAas well, so,
Dorothy Dowling (17:35):
yeah.
Well, very, very good advice.
I know you've talked a lot aboutsort of the cultural evolution
in terms of your career, but I'mwondering if you can speak about
when you're approaching a newmarket, or you're faced with a
very difficult businesschallenge, how do you approach
problem solving and.
Has that approach changed overthe years as your experience has
(17:56):
grown?
John Paul Nichols (17:57):
I'll kind of answer from a market standpoint.
'cause problem solving a marketmay be related, but they can be
very different.
Certainly from a marketstandpoint.
We're strong believers in data.
We're strong believers inhistory and we're strong
believers in doing some goodresearch in terms of changes
that you anticipate in themarket, whether they be real
estate oriented industries,those can be positives and
(18:18):
negatives, right?
Because if you're a developerand you're, and you're heavily
invested in real estate, it's along term play.
It's not a one or two year play,so you need to have a a little
sense of continuity.
While we certainly analyze everybusiness on a five year basis.
We've only sold, you know, weonly sold some hotels in 2006.
We some hotels.
Hotels in 2016.
(18:39):
We don't sell very often.
It's kind of what I'm gettingat.
So we're long-term holders,generally speaking, but we wanna
make sure that financiallythere's a good enough return
prior to an investment,obviously.
So, one, data, two, return,three.
How do you differentiateyourself?
With a customer base.
'cause a commodity product todayis gonna average like everybody
(19:01):
else in the market.
So if you wanna outperform, youeither have to niche yourself,
which is, we've always tried todo with a business customer
approach historically, or ifyou're gonna be a lifestyle
hotel, you gotta approachyourself with a particular
consumer, a little moreexperiential and, and so,
because if you don't have apoint of difference in this
business, you're gonna averagelike everybody else does.
(19:21):
And there's no real.
Premium return versus you versussomebody else.
Uh, nor can you really, I think,drive results or expect to drive
results that are different, uh,uh, than everybody else.
In other words, doing a hundredpercent market share is not a
win.
110% market share is a win, soto speak, is what I'm getting.
The extra 10% is usually adifferentiated product, a better
(19:44):
location, and at times bettermanagement, right?
So, uh, the, the other thing Ithink that certainly.
I think the quality of theteams, whether you're on the
development side or you'rewhether on the problem solving
side, and I come back to that,is critical talent solves
issues.
Brains, your team solves issues.
Uh, and so the quality of thepeople you surround yourself
(20:06):
with, and especiallycomplimentary people, not people
just like you, but in fact thatend up making the whole, you
know, better than the sum of theparts, so to speak, I think is
the difference between the greatcompanies.
And I aspire to be a greatcompany.
I'm not gonna take credit forthat yet, but my point that, but
that is, I think the differencebetween those and the ones that
are average, right?
And uh, which, strike me all theway back to problem solving.
(20:30):
Now, first of all, you gottalook at problem solving as an
opportunity, right?
Some people I.
It's like a problem solving,solving the great, that great
stress.
I don't, I love challenges.
That's what motivates me aboutthis business.
I like the fact that ourcustomers are all different.
I like the fact that our marketsare all different, uh, and
that's what makes it stimulatingfor me.
I like the cultures that aredifferent, and that's a, a
motivator.
(20:50):
And if you're motivated, that'snumber one in terms of problem
solving.
Number two, surround yourselfwith the same comment.
I made.
Smart people find opportunities.
Smart people solve problems.
Don't assume your answer is theright answer.
That's usually the wrong answer.
More often than not, right?
Uh, uh, uh, delegate well tohave talent, but don't abdicate.
You know, there is a differencebetween, uh, you know, the trust
(21:13):
is earned, so to speak.
Uh, uh, uh, but you have to bewilling to let people earn it,
right?
You can't control over control,otherwise you lose the very
talent that, that I'm talkingabout.
Uh, and last but not least, uh,I go back to the comment about
make sure that whatever yoursolution is.
Is is the most cost effectiveone?
And I say that because in theend, cost matters, right?
(21:37):
And I don't mean cheap, but wehave a process that we call that
we say Club quarter rising.
Some people might say that meansfinding cheap.
No, it's the opposite.
We just try to find the mostefficient and effective way of
delivering, whether it's arevenue management issue,
whether it's a.
Development issue, whether it'san employee issue, you know, how
do you staff appropriately?
(21:57):
Kios is a good example.
Uh, you know, KIOS and Wingatein club quarter, just
coincidentally introduced kioskin the same year.
I'm talking about 20 some oddyears ago, right?
Tell they're everywhere, right?
And, but the premise was abouthow do we provide better
service, but cut costs, it wasengineered.
So it's so really being able tokind of break a problem or a
(22:20):
solution.
In its parts and then look atits parts and then cobble it
back together in a way, theconsumer or the employee.
And if it's a double and if it'sboth of those and it's a home
run, really see some value outof it, uh, uh, is, is the key to
club quarters.
And frankly, it's the key to, Ithink, uh, to a good business
methodology.
And really it's foundationalalmost within everything we do
(22:42):
here.
Dorothy Dowling (22:44):
Well, I think you've offered a lot of very
impactful wisdom.
Uh, you know, I wrote down a lotof things that you had said,
John Paul, but I do think thatelement of talent, I think we're
all on a quest today to findgood talent.
I think it's, it's a challengein terms of surrounding
ourselves and, and reallydriving the growth of those
individuals.
I do love your, um, statementabout don't advocate but
(23:08):
delegate, because I do thinkthat's really important from a
leader's point of view to makesure you drive the
accountability.
But what I really loved was thatwhole element of the efficiency
mindset and trying to find, I.
The most effective way to drivethe right kind of commercial
outcome.
And I'm certain that is what haspowered your career in the way
it has in terms of the kind ofvalue creation you could deliver
(23:31):
to shareholders and real estateinvestors and the kind of, uh,
stakeholders that you're workingwith today.
Because I do think that's reallyimportant for us.
'cause there are an awful lot ofoptions out there.
But us really thinking about howto get the best results at the
most cost effective way, I thinkis critically important.
(23:51):
I'm wondering if we could talk alittle bit about mentorship and
people that might haveinfluenced your journey, and if
you could offer any thoughts interms of how they shaped your
leadership.
John Paul Nichols (24:02):
You know.
Think, uh, you, you're kindenough to provide me with that
question.
I had to think about thatbecause especially as you think
through over 40 years is naturalsometimes to gravitate to the
last five years.
Right.
But I wanted to start with mydad and you know, and what my
dad gave me, and obviously mymom was equally instructive, so
I don't.
But, uh, but my dad taught me torisk.
(24:24):
I'm not saying that Dad alwaystook the right risk, that's a
different story, but he taughtme that risk was okay.
And that really has really iswhat drove a lot of my decisions
to travel internationally or trysomething different, because if
you don't try, you neverexperience, I can't say it any
other way, uh, in, in a way thatwas reasonably thoughtful.
(24:44):
I mean, it's not willy nilly,but that.
That, that one element hasserved me my whole life, to be
honest with you.
And, and it's, uh, uh, there wasanother guy early on who was,
uh, an investor back in theearly Indian days.
Remember before the, the bill,before the law, the, the law was
passed.
This was the wild west ofbusiness I used to call it,
right?
But the guy called Al Perman,who was a drugstore owner in DC
(25:08):
and was just an investor.
So he taught me the, he taughtme the elements of how to be an
entrepreneur.
And that was very, veryimportant early on, because
prior to that, my workexperience had been with Howard
Johnson's parent company.
I don't say that's necessarily,I was gonna learn how to be an
entrepreneur, right?
So because it was thatentrepreneurialship or that
ability to bring that into everyother career move thereafter,
(25:30):
when I went back into the hotelor the hosp, the broader
hospitality industry, veryuseful.
I mentioned, uh uh, Mark Harris,who was the guy that
conceptualized and Ameri.
Because he taught me to take a,not look at a resume based on,
look, they have experience inhotels, but a resume can tell a
lot of story about talent.
(25:51):
And he saw in me somebody thatwas creative, a little bit of a
risk taker.
Somebody was successful in avariety of different
environments.
So I said, you know what?
I'm sure he'll be successfulwith me.
And it was a lesson that I'vetaken as I've considered others
and other people that I've hiredover the many, many years.
Uh uh, and it gave me a chanceand I assuming that was
(26:11):
something you.
Uh, you know, I I, I'm gonnamention Eric Effer when we both
know, uh, because Eric, well,you know, it just says two
things.
First of all, it's a smallindustry.
Two, the relations reformed 30years earlier are gonna be that
they're still gonna be there 30years later, right?
Uh, and, and so somebody thatworked for me, even much, much
younger, eventually gave meanother opportunity many, many
(26:33):
years later within ascendantitself, right?
So, so, uh, uh, uh, I, I'm gonnamention a guy called Kirk
Postman.
Who, who was very relationship,but he taught me not all the
elements.
I'm certainly not perfect atthis, but he taught me a lot
about the polish necessary in apublic company environment and
(26:54):
how to deal with that level ofskillset and that level of
communication, which is notsomething I'd really had prior.
So that's again, something I'vebeen able to mature and use many
times over since then.
And Recommunicate, uh, and, uh,uh, unless, but not least, uh,
I, I.
I wanna mention the two guysthat, that in the company I'm in
now, Ralph Bonna, who's pastor,as I mentioned, the entrepreneur
(27:16):
that hired me here.
Uh, he's certainly, you know,the, the, the, the, the, the,
the aspect of, kind of reallythink about engineering a brand
and really looking at a brandfrom scratch and, and
differentiating was very muchhis mantra.
Uh, uh, and, uh, and the personthat, that frankly replaced
Ralph, uh, uh, a guy called BillLovejoy, who runs master worship
(27:38):
development company, who he andI really partner together, but
he has really taught me asignificant amount about
financial acumen, uh, what I'llcall the development process
over the years as we've builthotels here, especially in a
club quarters environment.
The funding and financing ofsuch the lending process, all of
which were maybe not what theskill sets that I was learning
(28:00):
in ascended environment, whichis much more branding oriented
or in a prior operationsenvironment, or certainly in the
Indian gaming environment.
That wasn't in the early stages.
That wasn't it at all.
Right?
Uh uh So it's really differentmentors.
Help me grow at different stagesof, of, of, of my, of, of my
career.
Uh, and you just learn differentthings from different folks.
If you, you know, listen, thething I love about this business
(28:22):
and why I'm still working, to behonest with you, uh, because my
sense is neither you or Iprobably still need to work, uh,
is I'm having fun and I have funbecause I'm still learning every
day.
The day I'm doing the same old,same old, it's the same job, and
I've been doing this forwhatever number of years is the
day I should retire.
But today.
I'm still motivated and I reallydo learn everything every day
(28:44):
because the industry changes.
It morphs, the markets aredifferent.
I mean, Germany's different thanEngland and England's different,
the London's different thanManchester, you name it.
Right?
So in a, in, in developing, inall those environments, but how
to be successful in all thoseenvironments, I'm using those as
just proxies.
All of that are, are learningexperiences.
Right.
And, uh, and, and that's reallythe, the, the, the best part of
(29:07):
the industry from my point.
Dorothy Dowling (29:10):
Well, again, a lot in terms of what you offer
to the audience, and I do thinkthis thread of being a lifelong
learner is what we see with alot of highly successful people,
John Paul.
'cause it's you embrace everyopportunity.
But I do think as you talk aboutyour career development and I.
How your dad, um, really gaveyou permission to take measured
risks and really opened up thosekinds of things.
(29:32):
The thread of relationships andreally understanding how they
power careers throughout our,our life journey.
Um, the skill versus experience,which is a big conversation
today as we start to look attalent recognized.
Not everybody has a livedexperience, but perhaps the
skills that they've acquiredalong the way can allow them to
be successful in environments.
(29:53):
That whole concept of.
Entrepreneurship and, andreally, uh, what that means.
And then the polish, because Icertainly agree with you in the
public market environment, thereis an expectation about how you
represent yourself and how yourepresent your company.
And then I do think about this,this last stage of your career
where you've learned so muchabout the real estate business,
(30:16):
the lending, the underwriting,and all of those kinds of
pragmatic elements associatedwith the business.
I mean, you've had a remarkablecareer.
You have so much to share withso many of us, and I thank you
for unpacking all of thatlearning journey and how some of
these folks really helped you interms of really driving some of
(30:36):
your success.
I.
I'm wondering if we Yeah, sorry,go ahead.
John Paul Nichols (30:40):
I just wanted to make one comment, and this
may be not the right place, butjust kind of thinking through,
it's always important I think,sometimes to look back and say,
what would I have donedifferently, right?
Mm-hmm.
And, and the one thing Idefinitely would've done
differently knowing what I valuetoday, maybe what I didn't value
enough.
That is my work life balancetoday is much better than it
(31:01):
used to be.
And, and so ambition's a verygood thing.
But too much ambition has adownside.
Right?
And so as I work with peopletoday, uh, including very
ambitious executives, my messageto them is, is.
That's, there's a lot of good tolearn by being a, but, but it's
also much more important to makesure your family's equally
(31:25):
important.
Your spouse, your, yourwhatever, your partner, whatever
the is equally important, right?
And because in the end, you'renot gonna take your job at the
end, you're gonna take the restof it with you, your family, et
cetera.
So, uh, if I were to dosomething a little differently
and I wouldn't necessarily havebeen any less successful if I
did this differently, what Iwould've.
I would've taken better time tobetter balance some of the
(31:48):
constituencies that I had.
It was really more the personalconstituencies that I should
have better balanced.
And yeah, I say that, um, anyyoung, ambitious man or woman
today, frankly, because it's a,it's a long career, uh uh, and,
but you got one family, right?
And so that family in the end isprobably the most important one.
Either the one you came from orthe one you're gonna create.
One important.
(32:09):
So.
Uh, I do think about thatperiodically and, uh, and, uh,
uh, uh, and certainly looking atyour daughter who's now 40 years
old, right?
If you will, uh, uh, once in awhile.
She's very good at reminding meof that, which is great.
That's what, that's what, that'swhat somebody that's sometimes
successful or ambitious needs.
Right?
Because we, uh, it's importantthat we don't believe our own
(32:30):
stories, but we, becausethere's, in the end, everybody.
It's part of your story.
So
Dorothy Dowling (32:35):
yeah, no, I think that's really well said,
and I think that's a veryimportant message today because
I think as an employer, employeebalance is continuing to shift.
I think people protecting, I.
Their mental wellbeing and theirhealth, uh, is, is an important
consideration.
That's all part of how I thinkwe bring great leadership to the
workplace too.
John Paul, I, I'm justwondering, you are such a
(32:57):
polished speaker.
Um, I just love listening to you'cause you're so eloquent.
I'm just wondering if you canshare with our audience how you
prepare, uh, to deliver yourmessages so powerfully.
John Paul Nichols (33:09):
You know, first of all, experience helps.
I've got a little gray hair,believe I'm actually.
Uh, and, and so I realized earlyon that I had to develop certain
skill sets, you know, so one, II actually practiced.
I know it's hard to believe, butyou have to practice public
speaking.
You have to expose yourself.
You have to sit up and speak infront of 2000 people, and even
(33:32):
as scared as you may be, andthat first time's gonna be not
as good as the last time, right?
But, but practice does makeperfect.
So there is an element of that.
Two, I might, if you, the morepreparation you do on a subject
matter.
And obviously I'm prettyprepared when it comes to
talking about myself.
That's one thing, but whateverthe subject matter is, right?
It could be markets, it could beopportunities, it could be where
(33:53):
to develop.
It could be how to grow as ahuman being, whatever your
culture is.
So preparation, uh, and the moreyou prep, prepare, and practice,
the better you're gonna be ableto deliver that message.
Last but not least, I think it'svery, very important to whatever
you're saying, that you actuallybelieve in it.
Because if you believe in it,you're gonna be authentic and
(34:15):
delivery.
Everybody's gonna have adifferent style, right?
But, but the authenticity comesfrom your, in your core, you
believe the messes that you'redelivering, right?
Uh, and, and I tend to very muchdo that as opposed to deliver
messages that I don't believe itbecause there's, there's a time
and a place to do that, but I'drather have somebody else
deliver that message.
They're gonna be more authenticthan I'm, if that makes a
(34:36):
difference.
So I think that's part of it.
Now, it's interesting, I wassend it, uh, you know, gave me
an opportunity once to go, uh,to a, you know, kind of a senior
executive training environment.
Uh, and one of the things theydid was film.
You know, something like this,and they showed you how you
reacted and the whole idea wasto see how you presented and how
(34:58):
believable were you.
And the lesson that I learnedand, and I was very polished and
I had my nice suit on.
I looked very corporate, but Iwas too polished.
And what came across to me whenI looked at it as a, as a kind
of an observer now, but moreimportantly to the, to the, to
the audience, which were thepeers that were participating in
this, the same conference ortraining conference.
(35:19):
Is that the, it goes back tothat word authenticity, which I
know is overused a little bit,but too much of a polish causes
you also to lose credibility.
It's kind, it was a funnycomment and I, and I, and so to
me, I, I, that preparation needsto be, um, how can I say this?
It needs to be to a point thatyou're not, I mean, I'll never
(35:41):
read from slides.
I just don't, I'll have a fewslides up there, but it's always
to be able to speak to thesubject matter that the slide's
outlining.
Because it's not the slide, it'syou that people are buying into.
It's whatever you are sayingthat people are buying into.
Right?
Uh, if it was just a slide, Icould just email the slide to
everybody else.
And so the lesson learned,learned was don't over practice
(36:04):
and just be knowledgeable and ifyou're knowledge will be
comfortable in your own set andyou're, you know, you're gonna
be able to answer whateverquestions come your way.
Uh, uh, or last but not least.
The other thing I learned is ifyou don't know the answer, just
say you don't know the answerand you'll get back to them.
It's as simple as that.
Dorothy Dowling (36:21):
Well, again, I think that is very sage.
Um.
And thoughtful, uh, elementssilly with our audience.
'cause I've always believed,like you, John Paul, the
practice and, uh, putting thetime in to, you know, really
cultivate your thoughts inadvance.
But I do think that element ofbeing true to yourself and
making sure that the messagethat you're delivering is a very
(36:43):
credible one because it'ssomething you believe in, is an
important thing for us all tokeep in mind.
You know, we're coming up nearthe end of the interview, John
Paul, and you've offered so muchto the audience, and I know you
spoke about if you were to goback and give yourself some
younger advice, but I'm justwondering, based on the kind of
career that you've had, I.
(37:04):
If we were thinking about someof the emerging leaders that,
um, listen to this podcast orwebcast, if there's anything
else that you would offer tothem personally or
professionally that mightresonate with them as they're
starting their career early intheir career.
John Paul Nichols (37:19):
Uh, I'll make two comments.
Uh, uh, one is it's a longcareer, uh, so don't assume that
you know what you know.
And that you're gonna becomfortable with that.
So expose, if you may, like theindustry, which is fine.
You don't necessarily getbrought up, but expose yourself
to different aspects of theindustry.
First of all, you're gonna learnsomething along the way.
You're gonna find out that maybeyou like doing left instead of
(37:41):
doing right.
Uh, but more importantly, you'regonna learn to respect everybody
else in the industry.
'cause every part of theindustry is, is critical for us
to see successful as a whole.
I don't care if it's a floorattendant all the way to the
banker that's lending you themoney.
All one without the otherdoesn't work.
It's as simple as that.
So that's, that's one.
I think international exposurein today's environment, maybe
(38:04):
not as much as I was, is prettycritical.
Most large hotel companies andhotel companies are getting
larger, distribution companiesare getting larger, not smaller,
all have significant globalcomponents.
The industry is a much smallerindustry than you think from a
global standpoint.
So allowing yourself, especiallyearly on.
(38:24):
Which is where the time youwanna get international exposure
is, will help your career.
A lot of people get nervousabout that thinking, I'm gonna
be out of the, the limelight.
But realistically, you're likenot likely to become a very
senior executive unless intoday's environment you've also
had some international exposureas well as domestic exposure.
Uh, that's two.
(38:44):
Number three, uh, and I wasnever promoted because I did my
day job, not once.
It was always because I raisedmy hand and said, I want
participate in that project.
So raising your hand and beingwilling to do something
different, first of all, it's alearning experience, but number
two, that's when you're gonnaget noticed.
(39:04):
You're gonna get noticed becauseyou did something outside the
norm, not the norm.
And so, uh, it is being willingto do that again.
Take a risk.
Go back to that comment, right?
That served me my whole lifebecause that's how I got
noticed.
'cause if you're not noticed,it's, it's a real risk.
Listen, that's a.
Potential challenge with kind ofthe Zoom culture we have now,
especially if you're younger,you haven't gotten noticed yet.
(39:26):
It's harder to get noticed inthat environment than if you're
working in a team environment.
You're, you know, you, you justkind of stand out that a senior
executive that you're presentingto as part of a team, whatever
that may be, right?
But those really are the, the,the, what I would say to any
young manager, young, uh, orsomebody kind of joining the
industry as they kind of, uh,uh, go for it.
(39:46):
This last, but not least, I knowthis, most everybody says this,
but.
You know, not everybody is gonnabe wanna, not everybody wants to
be the CEO, even if they couldbe the CEO.
There's every component part ofour business is valuable.
If you want to be a floorattendant, just be the best
floor attendant.
If you wanna be a bellman, bethe best beman you wanna be, a
CEO, be the best CEO.
It's about taking pride in theparticular thing you're doing in
(40:09):
us, frankly, taking pride in thepeople that are doing it.
Dorothy Dowling (40:12):
Yeah.
Well, again, I think just thehuman quality of your leadership
there, John Paul, andrecognizing, you know, the, the
breadth of talent that is partof our industry, and then giving
people that advice in terms ofmaking some of those.
Uh, risks.
Taking those risks and makingthose investments early in their
career will pay dividends, uh,later in their career.
I think it's extraordinarilywell said.
(40:35):
And I, I just would like tothank you for offering so much,
uh, to our audience today.
I think you've given everybodysome very thoughtful
considerations as they workthrough their career.
And if I may, um, I would liketo just remind everyone that and
thank them that if you'veenjoyed this episode, listening
to John Paul and all of hiswisdom.
(40:56):
I hope you come and visitus@itspersonalstories.com for
more wisdom from hospitalityleaders across the globe.
So I hope to see you there.
John Paul, thank you again forbeing such an important part of
our show today,
John Paul Nichols (41:09):
Dorothy.
Thank you.
I enjoyed it and I'm happy to dothis again.
And listen, if we, I, I lookforward to seeing NYU, so I'll
send you a separate email.
I hope it'll fight some time.
Dorothy Dowling (41:16):
Thank you.
John Paul Nichols (41:17):
Thank you.
Hello, I'm Dorothy Dowling and welcome to
its Personal Stories, ahospitality podcast focused on
the journeys, lessons, and livedexperiences of leaders across
our industry, or a nonprofitplatform committed to empowering
personal success throughstorytelling and shared wisdom.
Today I am honored to welcomeJohn Paul Nichols, CEO of Club
(00:27):
Quarters.
John Paul, thank you for joiningus.
It's truly a privilege to haveyou with us today.
I.
John Paul Nichols (00:33):
My pleasure.
So as you know, we workedtogether many years ago and it's
just great to do this as afollow up.
Dorothy Dowling (00:39):
Thank
John Paul Nichols (00:39):
you.
Dorothy Dowling (00:40):
Thank you, John.
Paul, I feel the same way.
So I'm wondering if we can talka little bit about your career
trajectory, because your careerhas touched brand development,
business growth, and real estatevalue creation.
I'm wondering if you can walk usthrough your professional
journey and share howintentional your career mapping
or purposeful decisions helpshape the path you've taken.
John Paul Nichols (01:01):
Sure, and I'll, and I'll try to keep it
short, as you know, career, I,I've been doing this for a while
now, so, uh, about 40 years.
So there's a little bit of astory there, but, you know,
it's, but it, I'll, I'll saysome of it was opportunistic and
some of it was planned.
Uh, and needless to say, as Iaged in my career, became more
and more planned.
But as many of us in the hotelbusiness, I started as a
(01:23):
bellman.
Literally was a Belmont one dayat a Hilton and Lobo key in
Florida.
Uh, and it just became thecareer that I enjoyed, very
people oriented.
Uh, so that was the first, youknow, uh, uh, you know what I'll
call exposure to it.
And that's after going tocollege for a traditional
liberal arts degree with thebusiness focus.
So it certainly wasn't ahospitality focus.
(01:45):
Uh, and, but what attracted meto the industry broadly was the
way I grew up.
I grew up internationally mostof my life, uh, from Wisconsin,
but I grew up in Brazil andChile and Spain.
Uh, and I wanted a, a careerthat would eventually allow me
that similar kind of exposure orbeing able to leverage some of
(02:07):
that background from a veryearly age as I got into an older
career.
Now, to get there, I took a lotof lefts and it took a lot of
rights.
So, uh.
Uh, I literally started withHoward Johnson's back when
Howard Johnson owned HowardJohnsons and ran Howard
Johnsons.
That may date me a little bit,but, uh, uh, uh, in Florida, so
to speak.
Uh, but then I left, uh,frankly, and this is where I
(02:29):
became opportunistic to, uh,effectively run an Indian
reservation in SouthernCalifornia and get into Indian
gambling.
We happen to be.
The case that won the SupremeCourt case, either the Seminoles
and we, the Seminoles ofFlorida, we in California, the
Capon.
For whatever reason, the SupremeCourt decided to hear the Capon
decision or the Cabon case, andthat's why Indian gaming is
(02:51):
established the way it's didthat for about 10 years.
Uh, uh, and as you mightimagine, the broadly speaking,
gaming and hospitality arefairly related.
Uh, a lot of similarities inscope.
But after 10 years, you eitherstay in Indian country or you
stay in that gaming vertical, oryou wanna expose yourself to
different things.
I wanted to expose myself and somore of a traditional business
(03:14):
environment.
After doing that for 10 years,even though my family maintained
another 15 year relationshipwith the tribe, and we have
actually relatives that aretribal members today, the, uh,
but I was hired away, uh, uh,frankly, by a developer called
Mark Harris.
Still a friend, one of my, mymentors, frankly, who was the
first developer of Ameri Suites.
So he conceptualized AmeriSuites, joined them as a VP of
(03:37):
operations.
He saw in me some guy with astrange resume, but creative, if
you will.
Uh, and uh, uh, and I did thatfor a few years based out of,
uh, Austin, Texas.
Uh, we sold the concept ofPrime.
Prime, then grew Ameri Suites.
Ameri Suites, then was then soldto Hyatt.
And that's Hyatt Place.
So both a long journey ifyou'll, that just got rebranded
(04:00):
over time.
But the basic concept reallystarted with this developer, uh,
called Mark Harris.
Uh, I was, uh, I was recruitedaway by, uh, uh, Monty Archie,
Archie and Monty Bennett atRemington.
To give you some perspective,and again, what interested them
was somebody that was veryentrepreneurial in nature, uh,
uh, and had really done a lot oflateral things in the industry
(04:24):
versus the traditional hotelvertical.
Uh, you know, it was hard to betheir SVP of sales and marketing
of all things, even though thatwas not necessarily a role that
I'd had in my career previouslythat defined, uh, we had, uh,
and back then they wereacquiring the RTC portfolios,
and some of that was with somecash being led by.
(04:44):
Uh, or provided by, uh, by HenrySilverman and what was then HFS
in those days.
And so out of the 70 or sohotels that Remington managed
and probably 50 of'em, or 45 orsomething, were HFS franchises.
Uh, so I had a lot ofinteraction, as you might
imagine, with the team at, uh,uh, uh, in, at, uh, inny on the
(05:07):
HFS side before the companybecame Sendent.
Uh, a little known fact, but theguy that ran the hotel division
back in those days.
Remember it was, uh, Eric Effer,uh, Eric.
I hired Eric Effer as a deskclerk many years earlier in
Miami.
We had just remained friends allthose years.
Uh, and so when an opportunitydeveloped, he actually
(05:27):
recommended me for a particularrole.
Uh, and I joined what was NHFSwith them became Sendent, uh,
that might, that over timedeveloped into, you know, the
president of the Wing Gate insbrand.
Uh, and that was kind of myreintroduction back into
traditional branding and, and tosome extent, hotel operations,
uh, uh, became the CMO of thehotel division at, at that
(05:48):
descendant back in those days.
Uh, and then eventually wentover to RCI.
Primarily'cause I wanted a lotmore international exposure.
I remember the domestic, our,our, our, our, the hotel
division back in those days wasprimarily domestic with a few
master licensees.
Not really a lot ofinternational exposure, maybe
Canada being the one bigexception.
Uh, and, and RCI, on the otherhand, provided me a lot of
(06:11):
platform.
Uh, I already spoke Spanish.
I already spoke Portuguese, so Ihad a lot of flexibility in
terms of how to grow.
Ken May, who is another mentorof mine, you know, thinking of
from that standpoint, uh, gaveme an opportunity, saw something
that kind of made sense, uh, uh,from an exchange standpoint, and
that's what I did for the next,frankly, seven or eight years.
(06:32):
Ascendant, maybe longer, uh, uh,which is really kind of growing
all the way up to, uh, uh,running the EMA portfolio.
Uh, uh, based out of London.
Uh, going back to 2008, 2008 wasa good thing and a bad thing,
which is, I like to put it younever wanted to be a middle
senior manager in 2008.
Right?
(06:52):
Uh, and so while I survived andmaybe originated some of the
restructures in, in ascendedenvironment, this what I did
not.
Uh, and, uh, and uh, uh, and uh,the reality is I was kind of
competing for.
Uh, the CEO's job at RCII didnot get it.
You'd never wanna be the numbertwo, maybe the three, number
four.
But, so anyway, it wasn't longthereafter that I had that
(07:15):
opportunity, uh, and I had tomake a decision that I wanna
stay international, frankly.
Uh, and I was, I had a lot ofexposure in China.
I used to live in Beijing,internationally as well.
I used to live in Mexico City,uh, and then and order, I wanna
come back to the States.
Frankly, it was a personaldecision ultimately.
My daughter, uh, who, uh, wasnot with me during much of this
international career, I feltthat I really needed to be a
(07:36):
little closer to home.
She was an adult at that stageof the game, but there was a
personal obligation.
Uh, and so I moved back to theStates and the opportunity
developed with P Quarters whereI'm still at.
So I've been here since 2000,really beginning of 2009, uh,
which was an interesting time tostart as a CEO of a hotel
company.
As you might imagine.
It was not exactly the best yearin the industry.
(07:58):
Uh, and I've been straightthrough.
So, uh, uh, at this stage, I'm,you know, this is kind of as I
like to put it, my, uh, my lasthurrah.
I'm not looking for a careerbeyond this one, other than
doing a, well, a good job of theone that I'm in now.
Uh, and that's kind of the, thecareer trajectory.
The, uh, uh, you know, the onlypoint that I'll make with what's
interesting is, is when I kindof think back at what prepared
(08:21):
me for the transitions that Imade.
Whether they be international,whether they be from hotel
divisions, RCI, whether they befrom Indian gaming back in the
hotel industry, much of that wasstrategic.
Uh, and I just looked at wheredo I had a, where did I have a
competitive advantage?
Maybe a little bit more lateralthinking than the typical
(08:41):
hotelier that's very vertical intheir thinking.
Right?
Uh uh, and whether it's on thedevelopment side, whether the
operations side of the brandingside.
And where did I have some skillsets that were language and both
cultural where I had a greatsense of the culture, but I
still really got public UScompanies, or I got private
companies and, and, and had Iworked for entrepreneurs that
(09:05):
were, that, that, that were.
And there's the good and the badabout entrepreneurs, right?
As I like to put it right, havea very clear vision.
But was I comfortable in workingin those environments and would
I have enough space to continueto create and motivate, grow
myself?
And so every step of the way, Iwould kind of leverage bits and
pieces of that broaderbackground.
And ultimately, that may be moresuccessful in this business, I
(09:28):
think, than it would've been ifI'd come up with traditional
hospitality.
Vertical gave me just adifferent set of eyes.
Uh, a different way of lookingat a same problem or
opportunity, uh, in what youbegin convinced of when you work
and live a lot internationallyis that there's plenty of ways
it's getting a cat, you know,not one system is the only
system, not one way, is the onlyway.
(09:50):
Uh, and it's same in businessfrankly.
There's usually more ways togrow and more ways to adapt and
more ways to solve a problemthan just one way.
And, and it's been very helpfulfor me throughout my whole
career.
Dorothy Dowling (10:03):
Well, you know, John Paul, I've known you a long
time and I have to say.
Your career is even moreimpressive than what I knew, and
I do agree with you about justthe co cultural diversity of the
experiences that you were ableto bring into leadership roles.
And then just the breadth ofworking across the category and
the way that you did really doesgive you a perspective and.
(10:26):
A way of helping people solvenon-traditional problems.
So when congratulations on sucha remarkable career, I know that
you're placed often in verychallenging environments and had
to produce results.
And I saw when you took onWingate,'cause that was a new
brand, obviously that had to bebuilt from the ground up.
Um, but I, I, I certainly thankall of those kinds of
(10:47):
challenging roles that you hadthroughout your career.
Really powered it in, in veryexceptional ways.
I'm wondering if you can tell usa little bit about Club
Quarters,'cause I'm not sure ouraudience would be totally
familiar with them and, and whatyour role is like today as the
CEO of this business.
I.
John Paul Nichols (11:03):
Uh, club Quarters been around since 1993,
so it's a lot over company thanmost people perceive.
So it's, that's a, that's a longterm play in the hotel business,
but the same brand as you think.
It's been independent for all ofhis life.
Uh, it was developed by a HeightNetworth family.
It was still is the, the Bonnafamily.
The, the entrepreneur is a guycalled Ralph Bonna, who's since
(11:24):
passed.
He was also one of theco-founders of Priceline.
So.
Just think of'em as a serialentrepreneur, but at a very high
level.
Uh, the, uh, the basic conceptwas originally 1993.
It was hard to believe, buthardly any select service hotels
in New York City or any majorurban area.
Right?
And so the real premise was.
(11:44):
A select service hotel to solvethe problem of how could you get
a reasonably priced room in NewYork City.
That wasn't the, the big boxes,the Hilton, the she, whatever
that may be, uh, because mostcorporates could not find that.
Right.
Uh, and so that's how theoriginal hotel started in 1993.
I'll come back to the, thebusiness model in the second and
the, the, the what made itinteresting and still makes it
(12:07):
interesting though, today it's.
Much more of a traditional hotelmodel than it was back then is
the, all of the marketing wasB2B marketing.
There was no B2C marketingwhatsoever.
It was never intended to growthe brand as a B2C brand.
It was intended to, we calldirectly on JP Morgan.
We'd effectively get them tocommit to a block of rooms and
(12:27):
depending on the size of theblock of rooms, you had a
certain rate profile in the, andso, and that's all we did, no
OTA business effectively.
The weekends were empty almost.
Uh, but it was a very, veryprofitable environment.
Obviously things have changed inNew York City right now you've
probably got 500 select servicehotels in New York City.
Uh, and so that business modelhas a adapted and changed over
(12:49):
time, but it's verticallyintegrated company.
We build what we operate, whatwe manage, what we brand.
We've sold a few hotels over theyears.
Uh, the building company or theownership companies?
The of, that's the vehicle forthe Bonner family.
It's a company calledMasterworks.
Uh, but we manage all ofMasterworks assets, if you will.
(13:09):
Uh, and, uh, a few hotels weresold to Blackstone.
A few hotels were sold to a, toan insurance company and in, uh,
uh, in France.
And, but generally speaking,most are still owned by the, by
the parent, uh, work.
It's a, it's a company that'svery comfortable developing in a
real estate.
So we're kind of a developercentric brand.
Uh, uh, today we are looking andconsidering growing into the
(13:32):
third party management, which wehave not historically done.
Uh, and just as a way of kind ofamortizing centralized costs and
frankly, and not always havingto put up all the equity
ourselves.
To date, we've been the solesource of equity.
You're only gonna grow so atsuch a pace if you're gonna be
the sole source of equity versusputting up 20% of the equity
being a general partner andbeing able to grow on a more
(13:53):
accelerated basis.
So we're looking for ways togrow a little faster now.
Uh, but we're, but we'reconservative in our nature.
The other thing was very, veryparticular in terms of the
markets that we're at.
The reason we have not to date,you never say never.
We have not franchised withanybody else and, and don't plan
on doing so in the near futureis that we, our real estate is,
(14:17):
is excellent in every marketthat we're in.
Uh, and so think instead ofhaving to pay a franchise brand,
uh, we effectively pay a lot ofmoney for the real estate in the
first place or for the land inthe first place, in the quality
of that location of these urbanmarkets generally don't require
a franchise to support that.
The business model was able tosupport that.
(14:37):
Obviously things change.
You always look at things andwho knows what that model is
gonna look like 15 years fromnow.
And the big change, frankly, isdistribution, as we know in the
industry, is totally differentnow than it was 10 years ago
than it was 20 years ago than itwas 30 years ago.
It's gonna be totally different10 years from now.
And that more than anythingelse.
Causes change in businessmodels, much less so, real
(15:00):
estate changes and things ofthat nature.
So, uh, uh, so today we are, youknow, we're, we're high margin
profitable businesses, neverused any, any, any, uh, uh, uh,
any really third party branding.
Uh, never used any third partymanagers.
So truly kind of a one storyfits all.
We are in the process of kind oftiering some of our hotels and
(15:23):
tiering feature development,where we've got what I call a
quiet luxury kind of product.
That Brian Park right now hasbeen very successful.
We've got a couple projectsunder development very similar
to that.
Uh, that's obviously, you know.
Uh, not a Dorchester as a qualquality, but an end, a quality,
luxury product from thatstandpoint.
(15:44):
Uh, we have a series of hotelsthat we are looking to maybe
convert to Webster, which is ain-house, uh, uh, a lifestyle
brand.
They're just the bones of thosehotels and the particular
location would make sense.
Then obviously we havetraditional club quarters, which
continues to produce, and we'relooking at developing those as
well.
Different pieces of land,different pieces of dirt,
(16:04):
different locations lendthemselves better to any one of
those three.
So we don't just have one brandthat we're trying to grow going
forward.
Dorothy Dowling (16:13):
Well, um, thank you for that.
And I, I do think understandingsort of that developer led.
Mindset and the real estate partof the business, um, is
important for everyone tounderstand because I still think
regardless of what segmentpeople work in the industry,
understanding how those pieces,um, come together is really
important.
John Paul Nichols (16:32):
Well, it, it also drives how you think as a
company, uh, the, you know, uh,uh, I don't think I've asked
once, what's our fee income?
Mm-hmm.
It's just not relevant.
What matters to me is what's ourebitda.
That's true in every asset, andthat's true whether we manage it
for our own account, whethermeaning that it's owned by the,
by us, or whether it's for athird party because sold it the
(16:53):
same basic premise in the end.
We know that what makes an ownerhappy is that the fees they pay
me is the EBITDA that we deliverto the owner regardless of the
owner.
So the company's very focused onthat, and it's just the nature
of our DNA in the fact that westay and own the majority of the
hotels.
It's just our, it's built in,right?
So we don't cheat one versus theother.
(17:14):
Uh, in our lesson learned isthat this goes back to the whole
old company owned store, pro youknow, model, which is you always
wanna favor.
The hotel you don't own versusthe hotel you do own.
That's the only way I know tomake sure that third party
owners are happy versus if youhappen to own hotels in the same
city especially, right?
Mm-hmm.
And that's very much in our DNAas well, so,
Dorothy Dowling (17:35):
yeah.
Well, very, very good advice.
I know you've talked a lot aboutsort of the cultural evolution
in terms of your career, but I'mwondering if you can speak about
when you're approaching a newmarket, or you're faced with a
very difficult businesschallenge, how do you approach
problem solving and.
Has that approach changed overthe years as your experience has
(17:56):
grown?
John Paul Nichols (17:57):
I'll kind of answer from a market standpoint.
'cause problem solving a marketmay be related, but they can be
very different.
Certainly from a marketstandpoint.
We're strong believers in data.
We're strong believers inhistory and we're strong
believers in doing some goodresearch in terms of changes
that you anticipate in themarket, whether they be real
estate oriented industries,those can be positives and
(18:18):
negatives, right?
Because if you're a developerand you're, and you're heavily
invested in real estate, it's along term play.
It's not a one or two year play,so you need to have a a little
sense of continuity.
While we certainly analyze everybusiness on a five year basis.
We've only sold, you know, weonly sold some hotels in 2006.
We some hotels.
Hotels in 2016.
(18:39):
We don't sell very often.
It's kind of what I'm gettingat.
So we're long-term holders,generally speaking, but we wanna
make sure that financiallythere's a good enough return
prior to an investment,obviously.
So, one, data, two, return,three.
How do you differentiateyourself?
With a customer base.
'cause a commodity product todayis gonna average like everybody
(19:01):
else in the market.
So if you wanna outperform, youeither have to niche yourself,
which is, we've always tried todo with a business customer
approach historically, or ifyou're gonna be a lifestyle
hotel, you gotta approachyourself with a particular
consumer, a little moreexperiential and, and so,
because if you don't have apoint of difference in this
business, you're gonna averagelike everybody else does.
(19:21):
And there's no real.
Premium return versus you versussomebody else.
Uh, nor can you really, I think,drive results or expect to drive
results that are different, uh,uh, than everybody else.
In other words, doing a hundredpercent market share is not a
win.
110% market share is a win, soto speak, is what I'm getting.
The extra 10% is usually adifferentiated product, a better
(19:44):
location, and at times bettermanagement, right?
So, uh, the, the other thing Ithink that certainly.
I think the quality of theteams, whether you're on the
development side or you'rewhether on the problem solving
side, and I come back to that,is critical talent solves
issues.
Brains, your team solves issues.
Uh, and so the quality of thepeople you surround yourself
(20:06):
with, and especiallycomplimentary people, not people
just like you, but in fact thatend up making the whole, you
know, better than the sum of theparts, so to speak, I think is
the difference between the greatcompanies.
And I aspire to be a greatcompany.
I'm not gonna take credit forthat yet, but my point that, but
that is, I think the differencebetween those and the ones that
are average, right?
And uh, which, strike me all theway back to problem solving.
(20:30):
Now, first of all, you gottalook at problem solving as an
opportunity, right?
Some people I.
It's like a problem solving,solving the great, that great
stress.
I don't, I love challenges.
That's what motivates me aboutthis business.
I like the fact that ourcustomers are all different.
I like the fact that our marketsare all different, uh, and
that's what makes it stimulatingfor me.
I like the cultures that aredifferent, and that's a, a
motivator.
(20:50):
And if you're motivated, that'snumber one in terms of problem
solving.
Number two, surround yourselfwith the same comment.
I made.
Smart people find opportunities.
Smart people solve problems.
Don't assume your answer is theright answer.
That's usually the wrong answer.
More often than not, right?
Uh, uh, uh, delegate well tohave talent, but don't abdicate.
You know, there is a differencebetween, uh, you know, the trust
(21:13):
is earned, so to speak.
Uh, uh, uh, but you have to bewilling to let people earn it,
right?
You can't control over control,otherwise you lose the very
talent that, that I'm talkingabout.
Uh, and last but not least, uh,I go back to the comment about
make sure that whatever yoursolution is.
Is is the most cost effectiveone?
And I say that because in theend, cost matters, right?
(21:37):
And I don't mean cheap, but wehave a process that we call that
we say Club quarter rising.
Some people might say that meansfinding cheap.
No, it's the opposite.
We just try to find the mostefficient and effective way of
delivering, whether it's arevenue management issue,
whether it's a.
Development issue, whether it'san employee issue, you know, how
do you staff appropriately?
(21:57):
Kios is a good example.
Uh, you know, KIOS and Wingatein club quarter, just
coincidentally introduced kioskin the same year.
I'm talking about 20 some oddyears ago, right?
Tell they're everywhere, right?
And, but the premise was abouthow do we provide better
service, but cut costs, it wasengineered.
So it's so really being able tokind of break a problem or a
(22:20):
solution.
In its parts and then look atits parts and then cobble it
back together in a way, theconsumer or the employee.
And if it's a double and if it'sboth of those and it's a home
run, really see some value outof it, uh, uh, is, is the key to
club quarters.
And frankly, it's the key to, Ithink, uh, to a good business
methodology.
And really it's foundationalalmost within everything we do
(22:42):
here.
Dorothy Dowling (22:44):
Well, I think you've offered a lot of very
impactful wisdom.
Uh, you know, I wrote down a lotof things that you had said,
John Paul, but I do think thatelement of talent, I think we're
all on a quest today to findgood talent.
I think it's, it's a challengein terms of surrounding
ourselves and, and reallydriving the growth of those
individuals.
I do love your, um, statementabout don't advocate but
(23:08):
delegate, because I do thinkthat's really important from a
leader's point of view to makesure you drive the
accountability.
But what I really loved was thatwhole element of the efficiency
mindset and trying to find, I.
The most effective way to drivethe right kind of commercial
outcome.
And I'm certain that is what haspowered your career in the way
it has in terms of the kind ofvalue creation you could deliver
(23:31):
to shareholders and real estateinvestors and the kind of, uh,
stakeholders that you're workingwith today.
Because I do think that's reallyimportant for us.
'cause there are an awful lot ofoptions out there.
But us really thinking about howto get the best results at the
most cost effective way, I thinkis critically important.
(23:51):
I'm wondering if we could talk alittle bit about mentorship and
people that might haveinfluenced your journey, and if
you could offer any thoughts interms of how they shaped your
leadership.
John Paul Nichols (24:02):
You know.
Think, uh, you, you're kindenough to provide me with that
question.
I had to think about thatbecause especially as you think
through over 40 years is naturalsometimes to gravitate to the
last five years.
Right.
But I wanted to start with mydad and you know, and what my
dad gave me, and obviously mymom was equally instructive, so
I don't.
But, uh, but my dad taught me torisk.
(24:24):
I'm not saying that Dad alwaystook the right risk, that's a
different story, but he taughtme that risk was okay.
And that really has really iswhat drove a lot of my decisions
to travel internationally or trysomething different, because if
you don't try, you neverexperience, I can't say it any
other way, uh, in, in a way thatwas reasonably thoughtful.
(24:44):
I mean, it's not willy nilly,but that.
That, that one element hasserved me my whole life, to be
honest with you.
And, and it's, uh, uh, there wasanother guy early on who was,
uh, an investor back in theearly Indian days.
Remember before the, the bill,before the law, the, the law was
passed.
This was the wild west ofbusiness I used to call it,
right?
But the guy called Al Perman,who was a drugstore owner in DC
(25:08):
and was just an investor.
So he taught me the, he taughtme the elements of how to be an
entrepreneur.
And that was very, veryimportant early on, because
prior to that, my workexperience had been with Howard
Johnson's parent company.
I don't say that's necessarily,I was gonna learn how to be an
entrepreneur, right?
So because it was thatentrepreneurialship or that
ability to bring that into everyother career move thereafter,
(25:30):
when I went back into the hotelor the hosp, the broader
hospitality industry, veryuseful.
I mentioned, uh uh, Mark Harris,who was the guy that
conceptualized and Ameri.
Because he taught me to take a,not look at a resume based on,
look, they have experience inhotels, but a resume can tell a
lot of story about talent.
(25:51):
And he saw in me somebody thatwas creative, a little bit of a
risk taker.
Somebody was successful in avariety of different
environments.
So I said, you know what?
I'm sure he'll be successfulwith me.
And it was a lesson that I'vetaken as I've considered others
and other people that I've hiredover the many, many years.
Uh uh, and it gave me a chanceand I assuming that was
(26:11):
something you.
Uh, you know, I I, I'm gonnamention Eric Effer when we both
know, uh, because Eric, well,you know, it just says two
things.
First of all, it's a smallindustry.
Two, the relations reformed 30years earlier are gonna be that
they're still gonna be there 30years later, right?
Uh, and, and so somebody thatworked for me, even much, much
younger, eventually gave meanother opportunity many, many
(26:33):
years later within ascendantitself, right?
So, so, uh, uh, uh, I, I'm gonnamention a guy called Kirk
Postman.
Who, who was very relationship,but he taught me not all the
elements.
I'm certainly not perfect atthis, but he taught me a lot
about the polish necessary in apublic company environment and
(26:54):
how to deal with that level ofskillset and that level of
communication, which is notsomething I'd really had prior.
So that's again, something I'vebeen able to mature and use many
times over since then.
And Recommunicate, uh, and, uh,uh, unless, but not least, uh,
I, I.
I wanna mention the two guysthat, that in the company I'm in
now, Ralph Bonna, who's pastor,as I mentioned, the entrepreneur
(27:16):
that hired me here.
Uh, he's certainly, you know,the, the, the, the, the, the,
the aspect of, kind of reallythink about engineering a brand
and really looking at a brandfrom scratch and, and
differentiating was very muchhis mantra.
Uh, uh, and, uh, and the personthat, that frankly replaced
Ralph, uh, uh, a guy called BillLovejoy, who runs master worship
(27:38):
development company, who he andI really partner together, but
he has really taught me asignificant amount about
financial acumen, uh, what I'llcall the development process
over the years as we've builthotels here, especially in a
club quarters environment.
The funding and financing ofsuch the lending process, all of
which were maybe not what theskill sets that I was learning
(28:00):
in ascended environment, whichis much more branding oriented
or in a prior operationsenvironment, or certainly in the
Indian gaming environment.
That wasn't in the early stages.
That wasn't it at all.
Right?
Uh uh So it's really differentmentors.
Help me grow at different stagesof, of, of, of my, of, of my
career.
Uh, and you just learn differentthings from different folks.
If you, you know, listen, thething I love about this business
(28:22):
and why I'm still working, to behonest with you, uh, because my
sense is neither you or Iprobably still need to work, uh,
is I'm having fun and I have funbecause I'm still learning every
day.
The day I'm doing the same old,same old, it's the same job, and
I've been doing this forwhatever number of years is the
day I should retire.
But today.
I'm still motivated and I reallydo learn everything every day
(28:44):
because the industry changes.
It morphs, the markets aredifferent.
I mean, Germany's different thanEngland and England's different,
the London's different thanManchester, you name it.
Right?
So in a, in, in developing, inall those environments, but how
to be successful in all thoseenvironments, I'm using those as
just proxies.
All of that are, are learningexperiences.
Right.
And, uh, and, and that's reallythe, the, the, the best part of
(29:07):
the industry from my point.
Dorothy Dowling (29:10):
Well, again, a lot in terms of what you offer
to the audience, and I do thinkthis thread of being a lifelong
learner is what we see with alot of highly successful people,
John Paul.
'cause it's you embrace everyopportunity.
But I do think as you talk aboutyour career development and I.
How your dad, um, really gaveyou permission to take measured
risks and really opened up thosekinds of things.
(29:32):
The thread of relationships andreally understanding how they
power careers throughout our,our life journey.
Um, the skill versus experience,which is a big conversation
today as we start to look attalent recognized.
Not everybody has a livedexperience, but perhaps the
skills that they've acquiredalong the way can allow them to
be successful in environments.
(29:53):
That whole concept of.
Entrepreneurship and, andreally, uh, what that means.
And then the polish, because Icertainly agree with you in the
public market environment, thereis an expectation about how you
represent yourself and how yourepresent your company.
And then I do think about this,this last stage of your career
where you've learned so muchabout the real estate business,
(30:16):
the lending, the underwriting,and all of those kinds of
pragmatic elements associatedwith the business.
I mean, you've had a remarkablecareer.
You have so much to share withso many of us, and I thank you
for unpacking all of thatlearning journey and how some of
these folks really helped you interms of really driving some of
(30:36):
your success.
I.
I'm wondering if we Yeah, sorry,go ahead.
John Paul Nichols (30:40):
I just wanted to make one comment, and this
may be not the right place, butjust kind of thinking through,
it's always important I think,sometimes to look back and say,
what would I have donedifferently, right?
Mm-hmm.
And, and the one thing Idefinitely would've done
differently knowing what I valuetoday, maybe what I didn't value
enough.
That is my work life balancetoday is much better than it
(31:01):
used to be.
And, and so ambition's a verygood thing.
But too much ambition has adownside.
Right?
And so as I work with peopletoday, uh, including very
ambitious executives, my messageto them is, is.
That's, there's a lot of good tolearn by being a, but, but it's
also much more important to makesure your family's equally
(31:25):
important.
Your spouse, your, yourwhatever, your partner, whatever
the is equally important, right?
And because in the end, you'renot gonna take your job at the
end, you're gonna take the restof it with you, your family, et
cetera.
So, uh, if I were to dosomething a little differently
and I wouldn't necessarily havebeen any less successful if I
did this differently, what Iwould've.
I would've taken better time tobetter balance some of the
(31:48):
constituencies that I had.
It was really more the personalconstituencies that I should
have better balanced.
And yeah, I say that, um, anyyoung, ambitious man or woman
today, frankly, because it's a,it's a long career, uh uh, and,
but you got one family, right?
And so that family in the end isprobably the most important one.
Either the one you came from orthe one you're gonna create.
One important.
(32:09):
So.
Uh, I do think about thatperiodically and, uh, and, uh,
uh, uh, and certainly looking atyour daughter who's now 40 years
old, right?
If you will, uh, uh, once in awhile.
She's very good at reminding meof that, which is great.
That's what, that's what, that'swhat somebody that's sometimes
successful or ambitious needs.
Right?
Because we, uh, it's importantthat we don't believe our own
(32:30):
stories, but we, becausethere's, in the end, everybody.
It's part of your story.
So
Dorothy Dowling (32:35):
yeah, no, I think that's really well said,
and I think that's a veryimportant message today because
I think as an employer, employeebalance is continuing to shift.
I think people protecting, I.
Their mental wellbeing and theirhealth, uh, is, is an important
consideration.
That's all part of how I thinkwe bring great leadership to the
workplace too.
John Paul, I, I'm justwondering, you are such a
(32:57):
polished speaker.
Um, I just love listening to you'cause you're so eloquent.
I'm just wondering if you canshare with our audience how you
prepare, uh, to deliver yourmessages so powerfully.
John Paul Nichols (33:09):
You know, first of all, experience helps.
I've got a little gray hair,believe I'm actually.
Uh, and, and so I realized earlyon that I had to develop certain
skill sets, you know, so one, II actually practiced.
I know it's hard to believe, butyou have to practice public
speaking.
You have to expose yourself.
You have to sit up and speak infront of 2000 people, and even
(33:32):
as scared as you may be, andthat first time's gonna be not
as good as the last time, right?
But, but practice does makeperfect.
So there is an element of that.
Two, I might, if you, the morepreparation you do on a subject
matter.
And obviously I'm prettyprepared when it comes to
talking about myself.
That's one thing, but whateverthe subject matter is, right?
It could be markets, it could beopportunities, it could be where
(33:53):
to develop.
It could be how to grow as ahuman being, whatever your
culture is.
So preparation, uh, and the moreyou prep, prepare, and practice,
the better you're gonna be ableto deliver that message.
Last but not least, I think it'svery, very important to whatever
you're saying, that you actuallybelieve in it.
Because if you believe in it,you're gonna be authentic and
(34:15):
delivery.
Everybody's gonna have adifferent style, right?
But, but the authenticity comesfrom your, in your core, you
believe the messes that you'redelivering, right?
Uh, and, and I tend to very muchdo that as opposed to deliver
messages that I don't believe itbecause there's, there's a time
and a place to do that, but I'drather have somebody else
deliver that message.
They're gonna be more authenticthan I'm, if that makes a
(34:36):
difference.
So I think that's part of it.
Now, it's interesting, I wassend it, uh, you know, gave me
an opportunity once to go, uh,to a, you know, kind of a senior
executive training environment.
Uh, and one of the things theydid was film.
You know, something like this,and they showed you how you
reacted and the whole idea wasto see how you presented and how
(34:58):
believable were you.
And the lesson that I learnedand, and I was very polished and
I had my nice suit on.
I looked very corporate, but Iwas too polished.
And what came across to me whenI looked at it as a, as a kind
of an observer now, but moreimportantly to the, to the, to
the audience, which were thepeers that were participating in
this, the same conference ortraining conference.
(35:19):
Is that the, it goes back tothat word authenticity, which I
know is overused a little bit,but too much of a polish causes
you also to lose credibility.
It's kind, it was a funnycomment and I, and I, and so to
me, I, I, that preparation needsto be, um, how can I say this?
It needs to be to a point thatyou're not, I mean, I'll never
(35:41):
read from slides.
I just don't, I'll have a fewslides up there, but it's always
to be able to speak to thesubject matter that the slide's
outlining.
Because it's not the slide, it'syou that people are buying into.
It's whatever you are sayingthat people are buying into.
Right?
Uh, if it was just a slide, Icould just email the slide to
everybody else.
And so the lesson learned,learned was don't over practice
(36:04):
and just be knowledgeable and ifyou're knowledge will be
comfortable in your own set andyou're, you know, you're gonna
be able to answer whateverquestions come your way.
Uh, uh, or last but not least.
The other thing I learned is ifyou don't know the answer, just
say you don't know the answerand you'll get back to them.
It's as simple as that.
Dorothy Dowling (36:21):
Well, again, I think that is very sage.
Um.
And thoughtful, uh, elementssilly with our audience.
'cause I've always believed,like you, John Paul, the
practice and, uh, putting thetime in to, you know, really
cultivate your thoughts inadvance.
But I do think that element ofbeing true to yourself and
making sure that the messagethat you're delivering is a very
(36:43):
credible one because it'ssomething you believe in, is an
important thing for us all tokeep in mind.
You know, we're coming up nearthe end of the interview, John
Paul, and you've offered so muchto the audience, and I know you
spoke about if you were to goback and give yourself some
younger advice, but I'm justwondering, based on the kind of
career that you've had, I.
(37:04):
If we were thinking about someof the emerging leaders that,
um, listen to this podcast orwebcast, if there's anything
else that you would offer tothem personally or
professionally that mightresonate with them as they're
starting their career early intheir career.
John Paul Nichols (37:19):
Uh, I'll make two comments.
Uh, uh, one is it's a longcareer, uh, so don't assume that
you know what you know.
And that you're gonna becomfortable with that.
So expose, if you may, like theindustry, which is fine.
You don't necessarily getbrought up, but expose yourself
to different aspects of theindustry.
First of all, you're gonna learnsomething along the way.
You're gonna find out that maybeyou like doing left instead of
(37:41):
doing right.
Uh, but more importantly, you'regonna learn to respect everybody
else in the industry.
'cause every part of theindustry is, is critical for us
to see successful as a whole.
I don't care if it's a floorattendant all the way to the
banker that's lending you themoney.
All one without the otherdoesn't work.
It's as simple as that.
So that's, that's one.
I think international exposurein today's environment, maybe
(38:04):
not as much as I was, is prettycritical.
Most large hotel companies andhotel companies are getting
larger, distribution companiesare getting larger, not smaller,
all have significant globalcomponents.
The industry is a much smallerindustry than you think from a
global standpoint.
So allowing yourself, especiallyearly on.
(38:24):
Which is where the time youwanna get international exposure
is, will help your career.
A lot of people get nervousabout that thinking, I'm gonna
be out of the, the limelight.
But realistically, you're likenot likely to become a very
senior executive unless intoday's environment you've also
had some international exposureas well as domestic exposure.
Uh, that's two.
(38:44):
Number three, uh, and I wasnever promoted because I did my
day job, not once.
It was always because I raisedmy hand and said, I want
participate in that project.
So raising your hand and beingwilling to do something
different, first of all, it's alearning experience, but number
two, that's when you're gonnaget noticed.
(39:04):
You're gonna get noticed becauseyou did something outside the
norm, not the norm.
And so, uh, it is being willingto do that again.
Take a risk.
Go back to that comment, right?
That served me my whole lifebecause that's how I got
noticed.
'cause if you're not noticed,it's, it's a real risk.
Listen, that's a.
Potential challenge with kind ofthe Zoom culture we have now,
especially if you're younger,you haven't gotten noticed yet.
(39:26):
It's harder to get noticed inthat environment than if you're
working in a team environment.
You're, you know, you, you justkind of stand out that a senior
executive that you're presentingto as part of a team, whatever
that may be, right?
But those really are the, the,the, what I would say to any
young manager, young, uh, orsomebody kind of joining the
industry as they kind of, uh,uh, go for it.
(39:46):
This last, but not least, I knowthis, most everybody says this,
but.
You know, not everybody is gonnabe wanna, not everybody wants to
be the CEO, even if they couldbe the CEO.
There's every component part ofour business is valuable.
If you want to be a floorattendant, just be the best
floor attendant.
If you wanna be a bellman, bethe best beman you wanna be, a
CEO, be the best CEO.
It's about taking pride in theparticular thing you're doing in
(40:09):
us, frankly, taking pride in thepeople that are doing it.
Dorothy Dowling (40:12):
Yeah.
Well, again, I think just thehuman quality of your leadership
there, John Paul, andrecognizing, you know, the, the
breadth of talent that is partof our industry, and then giving
people that advice in terms ofmaking some of those.
Uh, risks.
Taking those risks and makingthose investments early in their
career will pay dividends, uh,later in their career.
I think it's extraordinarilywell said.
(40:35):
And I, I just would like tothank you for offering so much,
uh, to our audience today.
I think you've given everybodysome very thoughtful
considerations as they workthrough their career.
And if I may, um, I would liketo just remind everyone that and
thank them that if you'veenjoyed this episode, listening
to John Paul and all of hiswisdom.
(40:56):
I hope you come and visitus@itspersonalstories.com for
more wisdom from hospitalityleaders across the globe.
So I hope to see you there.
John Paul, thank you again forbeing such an important part of
our show today,
John Paul Nichols (41:09):
Dorothy.
Thank you.
I enjoyed it and I'm happy to dothis again.
And listen, if we, I, I lookforward to seeing NYU, so I'll
send you a separate email.
I hope it'll fight some time.
Dorothy Dowling (41:16):
Thank you.
John Paul Nichols (41:17):
Thank you.
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