April 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Scott discusses the trajectory of his incredible career journey, from 30 years at PwC to his current chapter. He shares his personal connection to Howard University’s Center for Hospitality Leadership and Marriott’s Arne Sorenson. Scott also explains his approach to networking, why saying Yes is so important, and what it takes to be successful as a consultant.
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Episode Transcript
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Lan Elliott (00:00):
Hello and welcome to It's Personal Stories, a
hospitality podcast.
My name is Lan Elliott on behalfof It's Personal Stories.
And today's guest is someoneI've admired for many years,
Scott Berman, who is joining us.
If you're not familiar withScott's extensive
accomplishments, I hope you goto our website and check out his
(00:21):
profile.
Welcome Scott.
Scott Berman (00:23):
Good morning.
Thank you for the invitation.
So excited to talk to you thismorning.
Lan Elliott (00:27):
So excited to have you here.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
As I mentioned, your career isone that I've admired from a far
from a long time, because when Igraduated from school, it was
actually the career that Ienvisionally had aspired to.
And you've had an incrediblecareer, 30 years with.
(00:50):
P.
W.
C.
You led the hospitalityconsulting practice and you're
now in your next chapter.
And so I'm so interested to hearmore.
Could you share some inflectionpoints from your successful
career?
And if there were any factorsthat you think led to your
success.
Scott Berman (01:10):
I know we only have a few minutes.
So let me try to condense this.
Yes, certainly PwC was the focalpoint of my professional career.
There was a good seven or eightyears before PwC that really
grounded me and framed who I wasas a hospitality executive.
(01:30):
I think coming from a a degreein hospitality and starting my
career in consulting in Miamiwas a great first step.
But I had three or four jobsactually three jobs before I
made it to Coopers Libran in1992 that ultimately became
(01:50):
PWSC.
in 1998.
When I think about, I think itstarts at home.
I'm a Baltimore kid.
I have that Baltimore grit.
I went to Cornell.
I was a student athlete playingtennis studying hard and, trying
to do my best.
And so athletics had a lot to dowith my path and my discipline.
(02:13):
And I do think about those earlyyears as being so important and
framing who I was and who Ibecame.
I experienced both personal andprofessional adversity, which,
I.
Was able to facilitate andovercome.
And I think, yes the spotlightwas on 30 amazing years at PwC
(02:36):
but I really do owe a lot of mysuccess.
To those first couple of jobs,Laventhal and Horwath, Arthur D.
Little, and Hilton Internationalwhere I led development in the
Caribbean and Latin America.
Lan Elliott (02:51):
Amazing.
Do you think there was anythingthat you did or any
characteristic, you hadmentioned sports and the grit
that came from being a studentathlete.
Do you think there was anythingthat really flowed through your
career?
Scott Berman (03:11):
I use the word discipline.
And to be a student athlete inthe late seventies, early
eighties, I think still appliestoday.
You're practicing almost everyday, you're traveling on
weekends you're, you still havea full load of academics and, it
was.
An incredible experience, butone that required every bit of
(03:35):
my focus and my grit to grindthrough it and succeed and do
well.
I knew I wasn't going to be onthe professional tennis tour.
And so I needed to find mygroove.
Academically in my comfort leveland I know we're going to talk
about mentors and leaders atsome point in this interview,
(03:56):
but, certainly, I think aboutthose teachers and professors
and those coaches.
Who influenced me and kept megrounded, kept me focused.
We're always there on adifficult day, to prop me up.
And I stay connected with manyof those folks today that, that
influenced me and I.
(04:16):
I certainly never forget.
My wife's a third grade teacher.
She influences young people andher favorite day of the year is
graduation day when she gets togo see those seniors walk down
the aisle and she feels thatthat gratitude.
And affection, and so I thinkthose are very real components
(04:36):
that have influenced methroughout my journey.
Lan Elliott (04:41):
I love the the call out to discipline, but also
gratitude and sometimes you justneed to get, keep going.
But for you, you've decided topivot a bit in this chapter and.
Step back from P.
W.
C.
and you were instrumental increating Howard University
(05:05):
Center for hospitalityleadership.
And in addition to some companyboards, you're also on several
hospitality school boards.
I'm curious, could you share thestory of how your work with
Howard came about?
And if there are any.
Advantages or lessons you'velearned through these efforts.
What does giving back offer orteach you?
Scott Berman (05:28):
Let's watch the clock because I want to spend as
much time as we can on this thistopic because it is, it means so
much to me.
So in a 30 year consultingcareer at PwC, there were
hundreds, maybe thousands ofengagements.
And through some of my partnersat PwC who were Howard graduates
(05:51):
they made me aware that theMarriott foundation was going to
make a gift.
In the memory of Arnie Sorensonthe CEO at Marriott, who we all
affectionately loved and who asan outside of Marriott person
was a true mentor of mine.
But through by my contactsinside PwC who were Howard grads
(06:16):
they made me aware that, that.
The Marriott family was going tomake a gift to Howard to create
a center for hospitalityleadership in Arnie's name.
And so the foundation and Howardwent out to bid for a
consultant.
blueprint what that centershould look like.
(06:39):
And we didn't necessarily winthe bid because of our
credentials.
We won that bid because PwCrecognized that it was the right
thing to gift our services.
And my personal story with Arnieis near and dear to me.
(07:00):
One of those personaladversities that I faced in my
twenties was losing my father topancreatic cancer at a very
young age.
And this is the disease thatArnie fought.
And we admired him through hishis cancer journey.
And I went to Arnie, I knew hewas sick.
(07:21):
A friend of mine had come to meand said, I've been diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer and I'mlost and I would, I, I know that
you've had a personal experiencewith it and your family, I'd
like to talk to somebody at 9 a.
m.
that day I emailed Arnie and bythree o'clock, in spite of all
that he was going through and,All of his commitments to
(07:45):
Marriott and the industry by 3p.
m.
He had talked to my friend.
And I feel a debt of gratitudeto Arnie to carry out his
vision, which was to make surethat diversity and inclusion was
front and center in ourindustry, not only at Marriott
(08:06):
through the entire industry.
This is one of his passions.
And I knew that frominterviewing him and then having
moderated dozens of panel withArnie and our peers on stage at
the various conferences.
And so I recognized through theconsulting assignment that this
was a way for not only PwC togive back.
(08:27):
But for me to give back, allright, and honor Arnie and do
the right thing.
And I must tell you, touchingand working and mentoring the
students at Howard has beenincredibly gratifying.
They are the secret sauce.
And, they have a passion for ourindustry.
(08:48):
They're it's not a hospitalitydegreed program.
It's a center there inWashington, DC.
And these black students haveaccess to the working laboratory
of Washington, DC, theoperators, the owners, the
destination services people.
All aspects of hospitality, thecenter of the hospitality
(09:10):
universe might even beWashington, D.
C.
Right?
And so having that access, tothose folks is what the center
is all about.
And so these are Marriott'sMarriott scholars that are going
through could be a business, alaw, an architecture curriculum
at Howard.
(09:30):
But have this access to thecenter and all of the partners
that are aligned with Howard.
within the hospitalityecosystem.
So that's a really shortversion.
There's a lot more to it, but I,at my retirement dinner at PwC,
(09:51):
I talked about, givers andtakers in life.
And if you don't mind, I'm justgoing to read a paragraph from
that, my remarks because theyare so meaningful.
Lon, I said the takers take fromyou to better themselves and
their interests.
Givers give for the benefit ofothers, wanting to do the right
(10:14):
thing, no matter thecircumstances.
And so chapter two of my career,I wanted to make sure I was a
giver and Howard and otherothers have given me that
platform.
Yes, I'm on a public board.
I'm on multiple private boards.
I'm on the academic boards, asyou mentioned, but Howard is a
(10:36):
real passion to give back.
That is incredibly meaningful tome personally.
Lan Elliott (10:43):
I think Arnie would be incredibly proud to see what
you've done and he wasdefinitely one that lived his
beliefs in his actions and wesaw a lot of that when he was at
the helm of Marriott andcreating opportunities for a lot
of people to move very farwithin the organization.
So I love that you're continuingto honor.
(11:06):
That was with your work withHoward.
So
Scott Berman (11:08):
Arnie would be proud of the industry.
The industry has really steppedup and, we did dozens of focus
groups at PwC and blueprintingthe center and, from all walks,
from the student body toperspective students to their
parents to obviously the leadersof the hospitality industry,
which expands across manydifferent subsectors.
(11:29):
And so that was incrediblyrewarding.
Lan Elliott (11:35):
Thank you for doing that for our industry, for the
future of our industry, too.
Scott Berman (11:39):
Thank you.
And there are many others thatare with me, behind me, in front
of me, doing this with me.
And they're special people aswell.
Lan Elliott (11:47):
Absolutely.
You had touched on your father'spassing and I'm curious if there
is adversity that you wanted toshare that has taught you a
lesson and if you could share astory around that.
Scott Berman (12:05):
Parents are often your mentors.
And my father was a true mentorto me.
He was a small time lawyer inBaltimore.
He had a street front office onBroadway.
I used to go down there as a kidand sweep the floors, and, he
would hold client meetings onSaturday.
He worked for the, a workingclass citizen group of the
(12:27):
community who had little money.
And so I saw him, give back and,losing him, was a tremendous
loss.
But it did motivate me, toemulate, many of his his
qualities and values.
And when facing adversity, Ialways think back to how he
(12:53):
would handle it and walking inhis shoes and a very gentle man.
and, never raised his voicealways looked for a solution.
And so in life, there are manyadversities professionally,
personally, and it's how youhandle them.
And, looking for that solutionand looking for ways to solve.
(13:19):
not complain or whine or, andthere are days of, we're humans
and, we all have our days, butI, he is always with me.
I look around my office.
There are artifacts that I tookfrom that office on Broadway
that today still motivate meeven in my sixties.
Lan Elliott (13:38):
I love that you have parts of his memory, maybe
even physical parts that are inyour office to continue to
motivate you and to use hismemory and his amazing qualities
to emulate.
So thank you for sharing that.
Scott Berman (13:52):
It's a pleasure to.
Lan Elliott (13:55):
Wanted to talk about taking risks because you
don't get to the levels that youreached in your career without
taking a number of them.
Could you?
Share some examples of successin this regard, and how do you
prepare yourself mentally whenyou're about to take a big risk?
Scott Berman (14:14):
So I mentioned that, that period before PwC
and, I grew up in, in Maryland.
I went to college in New YorkState.
I played some competitive tennisin Florida.
But in the early 80s, I took myfirst job in Miami at 22 years
old.
(14:34):
And while I had visited, I knewnothing about the community.
And that was taking a great riskbecause all of my friends and
fellow classmates were takingjobs in the, in Boston and New
York and San Francisco and DC,and I it felt weird saying, Hey,
I'm going to Miami when I'm,from somewhere else, but.
(15:00):
It was one of the most risky andanxious decisions of my life and
never regretted it for a minute.
I have been here for over 40years.
I feel like I've been on a 40year spring break, but I was
able to brand myself.
(15:21):
Because it was at a time whenmarkets like the Caribbean and
Central America, Mexico, SouthAmerica were all starting to
find themselves on thehospitality and tourism radar.
And I always said yes to anassignment.
(15:44):
When someone asked me, do youwant to go to Jamaica?
I'm 20 in my twenties.
Sure.
I want to go to Jamaica.
That would be great.
I didn't have a family at thatpoint.
And, and I, I.
I turned that early period intoa personal passion and without
any roadmap, I became truly asubject matter expert.
(16:07):
Hilton International hired me torun their development in my
twenties, in a region that was,growing, by leaps and bounds.
I took many of the brands.
To Costa Rica, a market todaythat is mature and successful.
But when I went there, it wasvirgin, it was green fields.
(16:30):
And it took risk for me torecommend to my clients that
this is the next, resortopportunity.
I worked on all inclusiveresorts when it wasn't cool,
when they were losing money.
Okay.
And we used to call them AIresorts.
Different type of AI than we'retalking about today.
It's not artificial intelligencefolks.
(16:51):
It's all inclusive, right?
I took some risks and I steppedup to the challenge.
of working with clients at arelatively young age and really
finding, that comfort zone andin markets that very few people
knew anything about.
(17:13):
So the risk was taking that leapto come to Miami.
Who would have thought 40 plusyears later?
I actually live in FortLauderdale technically, but
South Florida and I've watched amarket in and of itself.
grow.
I sit on the board of theGreater Miami and Beaches Hotel
Association.
I've been on that board for over30 years.
And I continue to stay engagedwith the local market and the
(17:37):
local GMs and listening andhearing what the issues of the
day are and it's, it keeps yourelevant.
It keeps you current, keeps youengaged.
And it's truly a journey, butyou have to take some risks
early on.
And I'm glad I did, obviously.
Lan Elliott (17:54):
Yeah, you've done very well in Miami, obviously,
and it was also my first roleoutside of school was to move to
Miami to get into real estateconsulting.
So we share that, but it wasdefinitely a bright spot in the
early nineties in real estate inhospitality, where you can work
on new things like theCaribbean, because the rest of
(18:16):
the U.
S.
wasn't doing that well, and itwas a bit the land of
opportunity because.
Latin America and the Caribbeanwere somewhat known, but it was
really a Miami phenomenon.
So you were really poised in theright place.
And I do see sometimes peoplefollowing the pack when they
graduate from school, going toNew York City with everybody
(18:37):
else, their friends, or goingback home and working there.
But I think striking out andtaking the risk, it's
incredible.
And you've built an amazingcareer there and really
established yourself in SouthFlorida.
Scott Berman (18:52):
Thank you, Lon.
It's very kind of you.
Lan Elliott (18:57):
One of the things I wanted to ask you about is
developing a network because Ilike to think hospitality is
unique and that people tend tostay in this industry for a
really long time.
And the relationships that youbuild might start as business
relationships, but we tend tosee people again and again, and
(19:17):
they can become friendships overthe years.
And.
Yet networking still is thatthing is that's intimidating for
a lot of people.
And I'm curious how you've builtyour network over time in a way
that's felt authentic to you.
Scott Berman (19:37):
It's it's like building a house.
You lay the foundation, you laythe floors, you paint the walls,
you tile the roof, right?
It's one brick, one panel at atime.
The blessing I've had is beinglargely an advisor.
A consultant is that I've hadthis opportunity to work with so
(20:00):
many different people from allwalks, all sectors tell the
story like this when I wasmoving from Hilton international
to Cooper's library and PwC Igot a call on my first day of
work from someone who said, Hey,I am about to take over as the
leader of development.
(20:21):
For my company in the Caribbeanand Latin America, which we
effectively call Cala.
And I know that you've spent thelast couple of years, focus on
that.
Would you mind, spending sometime with me?
Can I buy you lunch?
That's what he said.
I remember the lunch like it wasyesterday because took the
lunch.
I recognize what he would, whathe was trying to do.
(20:43):
And the short story is that infive years he became my best
client.
And we did over 25 deals in theregion.
And I ultimately became apartner at PwC largely because
of this recurring revenue fromthis one first day on the job
(21:06):
call.
And I had a relationship, right?
But we built that relationshipinto, being, a dear friend.
And the advisory business,you're really only as good as
your last gig.
And those clients becomereferrals, they become advocates
for you and your team and yourfirm.
(21:28):
And so that generally leads, tomore opportunities.
And I spoke about, saying yes.
And as a consultant, you learnedto say yes.
It's hard to say no.
I think today I'd like to learnhow to say no more than yes, but
saying yes and, attendingfunctions, dinners events,
(21:53):
conferences, volunteering inyour community, going the extra
mile and building thatcommunity.
Whether it's through your ownkids sports.
I can tell stories how, people Imet on the soccer field or at
the tennis court or wherever,who I didn't know and were not
(22:13):
involved in my early life becameclients, personal friends.
And friends for life.
Lan Elliott (22:22):
That's incredible.
I love the first part of thestory where you shared about
this person who reached out toyou for the lunch, but there is
that piece that goes into who doyou reach out to?
Because you don't thinkeveryone's going to let you buy
them lunch and let you picktheir brain.
(22:42):
And so there is a piece of that,which is being open enough that
people would actually reach outto you as a resource.
And I think that's going back tothe giver piece that you had
talked about earlier, that traitof being someone that would
share your knowledge withothers.
And I think that's maybe I'mstarting to pick up
Scott Berman (23:05):
Very much.
Listen in our business, you getup in the morning to serve
clients.
And if that isn't yourmotivation and delivering and
executing on the scope of theday, you need to find something
else.
And in fact, many.
Successful leaders in ourindustry came and went, I'm very
(23:28):
proud of the Hall of Fame thathas come out of PWC and are now
leaders in the industry, butit's not for everybody.
And really, you have to dedicateyourself and not get distracted,
which is quite easy to do, butdedicate yourself to the mission
and the mission is thatengagement.
Okay.
And what's unique aboutconsulting and advisory is it
(23:51):
tends to be different from oneassignment to another.
And that keeps you energized andconstantly in a learning mode,
even today.
I'm fascinated by what we canlearn about the changes and
evolutions.
I'm in fact working with a majorparking vendor.
(24:12):
Okay, I didn't know diddly aboutparking.
Through the bulk of my careerand their technology and their
focus on delivery has taught mereally a lot of new foundational
lessons, which I am now sharingwith my community and they want
(24:32):
introductions to the company.
So again, connecting dots.
Building relationships is I thisthe keys to my personal brand
and success.
Lan Elliott (24:48):
I wanted to ask you about leadership myths, because
there's a lot of.
Discussion and there are lots ofbooks about leadership that are
out there.
Is there a common leadershipmyth that you think we need to
let go of?
Scott Berman (25:06):
Let me begin by saying I'm not a big proponent
of, leadership books orphilosophies.
I think it's innate.
I think my leadership skillscame from watching others.
Some that were good, some thatwere not so good, and some that
were awful.
And the, frankly, the awful onestaught me a lot, right?
(25:29):
That, be kind to others is agood place to start.
But the myth is is one where Irelated to my kids on the soccer
field and they're now in theirlate 20s, approaching 30.
But at the end of the soccerseason Everybody won a trophy,
even if you finished in lastplace.
(25:51):
And the reality of life, ingeneral, is that, Yes, celebrate
your wins, earn your trophiesand I certainly, was blessed to
earn my share on the tenniscourt, not everybody won a
trophy and those losses on thetennis court were hard and it
motivated you to do more.
(26:11):
And so the myth is everybody canwin the trophy.
Not everybody can be ratedexemplary.
There are always areas forimprovement and development and
you need to be able to acceptthose messages, and try to
better yourself.
(26:34):
And the fact that everybody,believes they should be promoted
and they should be put on apedestal is not reality.
So it's a little bit of toughlove.
But tough love is good.
Lan Elliott (26:49):
They've said that if you fail a lot, you have the
opportunity to learn the most.
If you're able to take that anduse it as fuel, but also as an
opportunity for self reflectionand a way to improve Scott, I'm
curious.
(27:09):
What advice would you give toyour younger self?
Maybe the Scott that wasgraduating from school, moving
to Miami.
What advice would you give?
Scott Berman (27:21):
I it's hard to pick one, but you don't know
success until you've failed.
Taking that personal adversityand turning it into a positive.
And if you're able to do that,you're going to find lots of
success.
And so I say that and my teamswould always hear B's also give
them the following advice, whichis look at your professional
(27:44):
journey into your increments,yes, it's great to have goals
and to aspire to be this, that,or the other, but what's the
path to get there?
And what is, the culture thatyou are working in living in, it
doesn't necessarily alwaysespouse to success.
(28:08):
It's what you control versuswhat you can't control.
And I always took those adversemoments and really turn them
into lessons learned.
And I think I owe my successand, the development and what we
grew at PwC to all of thosefoundational lessons.
Lan Elliott (28:31):
Scott, we're coming to the end of our time, and you
have shared a lot of reallygreat advice and also about
adversity and grit andpersistence and taking risks.
I'm curious if you have onefinal nugget of advice for our
(28:52):
audience, for people who aretrying to advance their careers.
Scott Berman (28:57):
Be flexible, be agile, say yes more than you
say, no, that's terrific.
Lan Elliott (29:08):
Thank you so much, Scott.
I really appreciate you beingon.
And as I mentioned at thebeginning, you're someone that
I've admired being in the Miamimarket very early in my career,
and I admired your career fromafar.
And I'm so grateful to.
Be able to know you through allthese years and have you share
your wisdom with our audience.
So thank you for being on.
Scott Berman (29:30):
Thank you for the invitation.
And it's been a privilege, Lon.
Thank you.
Lan Elliott (29:36):
And for our audience, if you've enjoyed this
conversation with Scott, I hopeyou'll go to our website.
It's personal stories.
com where you can find many moreinterviews with industry
leaders.
Thank you.
Hello and welcome to It's Personal Stories, a
hospitality podcast.
My name is Lan Elliott on behalfof It's Personal Stories.
And today's guest is someoneI've admired for many years,
Scott Berman, who is joining us.
If you're not familiar withScott's extensive
accomplishments, I hope you goto our website and check out his
(00:21):
profile.
Welcome Scott.
Scott Berman (00:23):
Good morning.
Thank you for the invitation.
So excited to talk to you thismorning.
Lan Elliott (00:27):
So excited to have you here.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
As I mentioned, your career isone that I've admired from a far
from a long time, because when Igraduated from school, it was
actually the career that Ienvisionally had aspired to.
And you've had an incrediblecareer, 30 years with.
(00:50):
P.
W.
C.
You led the hospitalityconsulting practice and you're
now in your next chapter.
And so I'm so interested to hearmore.
Could you share some inflectionpoints from your successful
career?
And if there were any factorsthat you think led to your
success.
Scott Berman (01:10):
I know we only have a few minutes.
So let me try to condense this.
Yes, certainly PwC was the focalpoint of my professional career.
There was a good seven or eightyears before PwC that really
grounded me and framed who I wasas a hospitality executive.
(01:30):
I think coming from a a degreein hospitality and starting my
career in consulting in Miamiwas a great first step.
But I had three or four jobsactually three jobs before I
made it to Coopers Libran in1992 that ultimately became
(01:50):
PWSC.
in 1998.
When I think about, I think itstarts at home.
I'm a Baltimore kid.
I have that Baltimore grit.
I went to Cornell.
I was a student athlete playingtennis studying hard and, trying
to do my best.
And so athletics had a lot to dowith my path and my discipline.
(02:13):
And I do think about those earlyyears as being so important and
framing who I was and who Ibecame.
I experienced both personal andprofessional adversity, which,
I.
Was able to facilitate andovercome.
And I think, yes the spotlightwas on 30 amazing years at PwC
(02:36):
but I really do owe a lot of mysuccess.
To those first couple of jobs,Laventhal and Horwath, Arthur D.
Little, and Hilton Internationalwhere I led development in the
Caribbean and Latin America.
Lan Elliott (02:51):
Amazing.
Do you think there was anythingthat you did or any
characteristic, you hadmentioned sports and the grit
that came from being a studentathlete.
Do you think there was anythingthat really flowed through your
career?
Scott Berman (03:11):
I use the word discipline.
And to be a student athlete inthe late seventies, early
eighties, I think still appliestoday.
You're practicing almost everyday, you're traveling on
weekends you're, you still havea full load of academics and, it
was.
An incredible experience, butone that required every bit of
(03:35):
my focus and my grit to grindthrough it and succeed and do
well.
I knew I wasn't going to be onthe professional tennis tour.
And so I needed to find mygroove.
Academically in my comfort leveland I know we're going to talk
about mentors and leaders atsome point in this interview,
(03:56):
but, certainly, I think aboutthose teachers and professors
and those coaches.
Who influenced me and kept megrounded, kept me focused.
We're always there on adifficult day, to prop me up.
And I stay connected with manyof those folks today that, that
influenced me and I.
(04:16):
I certainly never forget.
My wife's a third grade teacher.
She influences young people andher favorite day of the year is
graduation day when she gets togo see those seniors walk down
the aisle and she feels thatthat gratitude.
And affection, and so I thinkthose are very real components
(04:36):
that have influenced methroughout my journey.
Lan Elliott (04:41):
I love the the call out to discipline, but also
gratitude and sometimes you justneed to get, keep going.
But for you, you've decided topivot a bit in this chapter and.
Step back from P.
W.
C.
and you were instrumental increating Howard University
(05:05):
Center for hospitalityleadership.
And in addition to some companyboards, you're also on several
hospitality school boards.
I'm curious, could you share thestory of how your work with
Howard came about?
And if there are any.
Advantages or lessons you'velearned through these efforts.
What does giving back offer orteach you?
Scott Berman (05:28):
Let's watch the clock because I want to spend as
much time as we can on this thistopic because it is, it means so
much to me.
So in a 30 year consultingcareer at PwC, there were
hundreds, maybe thousands ofengagements.
And through some of my partnersat PwC who were Howard graduates
(05:51):
they made me aware that theMarriott foundation was going to
make a gift.
In the memory of Arnie Sorensonthe CEO at Marriott, who we all
affectionately loved and who asan outside of Marriott person
was a true mentor of mine.
But through by my contactsinside PwC who were Howard grads
(06:16):
they made me aware that, that.
The Marriott family was going tomake a gift to Howard to create
a center for hospitalityleadership in Arnie's name.
And so the foundation and Howardwent out to bid for a
consultant.
blueprint what that centershould look like.
(06:39):
And we didn't necessarily winthe bid because of our
credentials.
We won that bid because PwCrecognized that it was the right
thing to gift our services.
And my personal story with Arnieis near and dear to me.
(07:00):
One of those personaladversities that I faced in my
twenties was losing my father topancreatic cancer at a very
young age.
And this is the disease thatArnie fought.
And we admired him through hishis cancer journey.
And I went to Arnie, I knew hewas sick.
(07:21):
A friend of mine had come to meand said, I've been diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer and I'mlost and I would, I, I know that
you've had a personal experiencewith it and your family, I'd
like to talk to somebody at 9 a.
m.
that day I emailed Arnie and bythree o'clock, in spite of all
that he was going through and,All of his commitments to
(07:45):
Marriott and the industry by 3p.
m.
He had talked to my friend.
And I feel a debt of gratitudeto Arnie to carry out his
vision, which was to make surethat diversity and inclusion was
front and center in ourindustry, not only at Marriott
(08:06):
through the entire industry.
This is one of his passions.
And I knew that frominterviewing him and then having
moderated dozens of panel withArnie and our peers on stage at
the various conferences.
And so I recognized through theconsulting assignment that this
was a way for not only PwC togive back.
(08:27):
But for me to give back, allright, and honor Arnie and do
the right thing.
And I must tell you, touchingand working and mentoring the
students at Howard has beenincredibly gratifying.
They are the secret sauce.
And, they have a passion for ourindustry.
(08:48):
They're it's not a hospitalitydegreed program.
It's a center there inWashington, DC.
And these black students haveaccess to the working laboratory
of Washington, DC, theoperators, the owners, the
destination services people.
All aspects of hospitality, thecenter of the hospitality
(09:10):
universe might even beWashington, D.
C.
Right?
And so having that access, tothose folks is what the center
is all about.
And so these are Marriott'sMarriott scholars that are going
through could be a business, alaw, an architecture curriculum
at Howard.
(09:30):
But have this access to thecenter and all of the partners
that are aligned with Howard.
within the hospitalityecosystem.
So that's a really shortversion.
There's a lot more to it, but I,at my retirement dinner at PwC,
(09:51):
I talked about, givers andtakers in life.
And if you don't mind, I'm justgoing to read a paragraph from
that, my remarks because theyare so meaningful.
Lon, I said the takers take fromyou to better themselves and
their interests.
Givers give for the benefit ofothers, wanting to do the right
(10:14):
thing, no matter thecircumstances.
And so chapter two of my career,I wanted to make sure I was a
giver and Howard and otherothers have given me that
platform.
Yes, I'm on a public board.
I'm on multiple private boards.
I'm on the academic boards, asyou mentioned, but Howard is a
(10:36):
real passion to give back.
That is incredibly meaningful tome personally.
Lan Elliott (10:43):
I think Arnie would be incredibly proud to see what
you've done and he wasdefinitely one that lived his
beliefs in his actions and wesaw a lot of that when he was at
the helm of Marriott andcreating opportunities for a lot
of people to move very farwithin the organization.
So I love that you're continuingto honor.
(11:06):
That was with your work withHoward.
So
Scott Berman (11:08):
Arnie would be proud of the industry.
The industry has really steppedup and, we did dozens of focus
groups at PwC and blueprintingthe center and, from all walks,
from the student body toperspective students to their
parents to obviously the leadersof the hospitality industry,
which expands across manydifferent subsectors.
(11:29):
And so that was incrediblyrewarding.
Lan Elliott (11:35):
Thank you for doing that for our industry, for the
future of our industry, too.
Scott Berman (11:39):
Thank you.
And there are many others thatare with me, behind me, in front
of me, doing this with me.
And they're special people aswell.
Lan Elliott (11:47):
Absolutely.
You had touched on your father'spassing and I'm curious if there
is adversity that you wanted toshare that has taught you a
lesson and if you could share astory around that.
Scott Berman (12:05):
Parents are often your mentors.
And my father was a true mentorto me.
He was a small time lawyer inBaltimore.
He had a street front office onBroadway.
I used to go down there as a kidand sweep the floors, and, he
would hold client meetings onSaturday.
He worked for the, a workingclass citizen group of the
(12:27):
community who had little money.
And so I saw him, give back and,losing him, was a tremendous
loss.
But it did motivate me, toemulate, many of his his
qualities and values.
And when facing adversity, Ialways think back to how he
(12:53):
would handle it and walking inhis shoes and a very gentle man.
and, never raised his voicealways looked for a solution.
And so in life, there are manyadversities professionally,
personally, and it's how youhandle them.
And, looking for that solutionand looking for ways to solve.
(13:19):
not complain or whine or, andthere are days of, we're humans
and, we all have our days, butI, he is always with me.
I look around my office.
There are artifacts that I tookfrom that office on Broadway
that today still motivate meeven in my sixties.
Lan Elliott (13:38):
I love that you have parts of his memory, maybe
even physical parts that are inyour office to continue to
motivate you and to use hismemory and his amazing qualities
to emulate.
So thank you for sharing that.
Scott Berman (13:52):
It's a pleasure to.
Lan Elliott (13:55):
Wanted to talk about taking risks because you
don't get to the levels that youreached in your career without
taking a number of them.
Could you?
Share some examples of successin this regard, and how do you
prepare yourself mentally whenyou're about to take a big risk?
Scott Berman (14:14):
So I mentioned that, that period before PwC
and, I grew up in, in Maryland.
I went to college in New YorkState.
I played some competitive tennisin Florida.
But in the early 80s, I took myfirst job in Miami at 22 years
old.
(14:34):
And while I had visited, I knewnothing about the community.
And that was taking a great riskbecause all of my friends and
fellow classmates were takingjobs in the, in Boston and New
York and San Francisco and DC,and I it felt weird saying, Hey,
I'm going to Miami when I'm,from somewhere else, but.
(15:00):
It was one of the most risky andanxious decisions of my life and
never regretted it for a minute.
I have been here for over 40years.
I feel like I've been on a 40year spring break, but I was
able to brand myself.
(15:21):
Because it was at a time whenmarkets like the Caribbean and
Central America, Mexico, SouthAmerica were all starting to
find themselves on thehospitality and tourism radar.
And I always said yes to anassignment.
(15:44):
When someone asked me, do youwant to go to Jamaica?
I'm 20 in my twenties.
Sure.
I want to go to Jamaica.
That would be great.
I didn't have a family at thatpoint.
And, and I, I.
I turned that early period intoa personal passion and without
any roadmap, I became truly asubject matter expert.
(16:07):
Hilton International hired me torun their development in my
twenties, in a region that was,growing, by leaps and bounds.
I took many of the brands.
To Costa Rica, a market todaythat is mature and successful.
But when I went there, it wasvirgin, it was green fields.
(16:30):
And it took risk for me torecommend to my clients that
this is the next, resortopportunity.
I worked on all inclusiveresorts when it wasn't cool,
when they were losing money.
Okay.
And we used to call them AIresorts.
Different type of AI than we'retalking about today.
It's not artificial intelligencefolks.
(16:51):
It's all inclusive, right?
I took some risks and I steppedup to the challenge.
of working with clients at arelatively young age and really
finding, that comfort zone andin markets that very few people
knew anything about.
(17:13):
So the risk was taking that leapto come to Miami.
Who would have thought 40 plusyears later?
I actually live in FortLauderdale technically, but
South Florida and I've watched amarket in and of itself.
grow.
I sit on the board of theGreater Miami and Beaches Hotel
Association.
I've been on that board for over30 years.
And I continue to stay engagedwith the local market and the
(17:37):
local GMs and listening andhearing what the issues of the
day are and it's, it keeps yourelevant.
It keeps you current, keeps youengaged.
And it's truly a journey, butyou have to take some risks
early on.
And I'm glad I did, obviously.
Lan Elliott (17:54):
Yeah, you've done very well in Miami, obviously,
and it was also my first roleoutside of school was to move to
Miami to get into real estateconsulting.
So we share that, but it wasdefinitely a bright spot in the
early nineties in real estate inhospitality, where you can work
on new things like theCaribbean, because the rest of
(18:16):
the U.
S.
wasn't doing that well, and itwas a bit the land of
opportunity because.
Latin America and the Caribbeanwere somewhat known, but it was
really a Miami phenomenon.
So you were really poised in theright place.
And I do see sometimes peoplefollowing the pack when they
graduate from school, going toNew York City with everybody
(18:37):
else, their friends, or goingback home and working there.
But I think striking out andtaking the risk, it's
incredible.
And you've built an amazingcareer there and really
established yourself in SouthFlorida.
Scott Berman (18:52):
Thank you, Lon.
It's very kind of you.
Lan Elliott (18:57):
One of the things I wanted to ask you about is
developing a network because Ilike to think hospitality is
unique and that people tend tostay in this industry for a
really long time.
And the relationships that youbuild might start as business
relationships, but we tend tosee people again and again, and
(19:17):
they can become friendships overthe years.
And.
Yet networking still is thatthing is that's intimidating for
a lot of people.
And I'm curious how you've builtyour network over time in a way
that's felt authentic to you.
Scott Berman (19:37):
It's it's like building a house.
You lay the foundation, you laythe floors, you paint the walls,
you tile the roof, right?
It's one brick, one panel at atime.
The blessing I've had is beinglargely an advisor.
A consultant is that I've hadthis opportunity to work with so
(20:00):
many different people from allwalks, all sectors tell the
story like this when I wasmoving from Hilton international
to Cooper's library and PwC Igot a call on my first day of
work from someone who said, Hey,I am about to take over as the
leader of development.
(20:21):
For my company in the Caribbeanand Latin America, which we
effectively call Cala.
And I know that you've spent thelast couple of years, focus on
that.
Would you mind, spending sometime with me?
Can I buy you lunch?
That's what he said.
I remember the lunch like it wasyesterday because took the
lunch.
I recognize what he would, whathe was trying to do.
(20:43):
And the short story is that infive years he became my best
client.
And we did over 25 deals in theregion.
And I ultimately became apartner at PwC largely because
of this recurring revenue fromthis one first day on the job
(21:06):
call.
And I had a relationship, right?
But we built that relationshipinto, being, a dear friend.
And the advisory business,you're really only as good as
your last gig.
And those clients becomereferrals, they become advocates
for you and your team and yourfirm.
(21:28):
And so that generally leads, tomore opportunities.
And I spoke about, saying yes.
And as a consultant, you learnedto say yes.
It's hard to say no.
I think today I'd like to learnhow to say no more than yes, but
saying yes and, attendingfunctions, dinners events,
(21:53):
conferences, volunteering inyour community, going the extra
mile and building thatcommunity.
Whether it's through your ownkids sports.
I can tell stories how, people Imet on the soccer field or at
the tennis court or wherever,who I didn't know and were not
(22:13):
involved in my early life becameclients, personal friends.
And friends for life.
Lan Elliott (22:22):
That's incredible.
I love the first part of thestory where you shared about
this person who reached out toyou for the lunch, but there is
that piece that goes into who doyou reach out to?
Because you don't thinkeveryone's going to let you buy
them lunch and let you picktheir brain.
(22:42):
And so there is a piece of that,which is being open enough that
people would actually reach outto you as a resource.
And I think that's going back tothe giver piece that you had
talked about earlier, that traitof being someone that would
share your knowledge withothers.
And I think that's maybe I'mstarting to pick up
Scott Berman (23:05):
Very much.
Listen in our business, you getup in the morning to serve
clients.
And if that isn't yourmotivation and delivering and
executing on the scope of theday, you need to find something
else.
And in fact, many.
Successful leaders in ourindustry came and went, I'm very
(23:28):
proud of the Hall of Fame thathas come out of PWC and are now
leaders in the industry, butit's not for everybody.
And really, you have to dedicateyourself and not get distracted,
which is quite easy to do, butdedicate yourself to the mission
and the mission is thatengagement.
Okay.
And what's unique aboutconsulting and advisory is it
(23:51):
tends to be different from oneassignment to another.
And that keeps you energized andconstantly in a learning mode,
even today.
I'm fascinated by what we canlearn about the changes and
evolutions.
I'm in fact working with a majorparking vendor.
(24:12):
Okay, I didn't know diddly aboutparking.
Through the bulk of my careerand their technology and their
focus on delivery has taught mereally a lot of new foundational
lessons, which I am now sharingwith my community and they want
(24:32):
introductions to the company.
So again, connecting dots.
Building relationships is I thisthe keys to my personal brand
and success.
Lan Elliott (24:48):
I wanted to ask you about leadership myths, because
there's a lot of.
Discussion and there are lots ofbooks about leadership that are
out there.
Is there a common leadershipmyth that you think we need to
let go of?
Scott Berman (25:06):
Let me begin by saying I'm not a big proponent
of, leadership books orphilosophies.
I think it's innate.
I think my leadership skillscame from watching others.
Some that were good, some thatwere not so good, and some that
were awful.
And the, frankly, the awful onestaught me a lot, right?
(25:29):
That, be kind to others is agood place to start.
But the myth is is one where Irelated to my kids on the soccer
field and they're now in theirlate 20s, approaching 30.
But at the end of the soccerseason Everybody won a trophy,
even if you finished in lastplace.
(25:51):
And the reality of life, ingeneral, is that, Yes, celebrate
your wins, earn your trophiesand I certainly, was blessed to
earn my share on the tenniscourt, not everybody won a
trophy and those losses on thetennis court were hard and it
motivated you to do more.
(26:11):
And so the myth is everybody canwin the trophy.
Not everybody can be ratedexemplary.
There are always areas forimprovement and development and
you need to be able to acceptthose messages, and try to
better yourself.
(26:34):
And the fact that everybody,believes they should be promoted
and they should be put on apedestal is not reality.
So it's a little bit of toughlove.
But tough love is good.
Lan Elliott (26:49):
They've said that if you fail a lot, you have the
opportunity to learn the most.
If you're able to take that anduse it as fuel, but also as an
opportunity for self reflectionand a way to improve Scott, I'm
curious.
(27:09):
What advice would you give toyour younger self?
Maybe the Scott that wasgraduating from school, moving
to Miami.
What advice would you give?
Scott Berman (27:21):
I it's hard to pick one, but you don't know
success until you've failed.
Taking that personal adversityand turning it into a positive.
And if you're able to do that,you're going to find lots of
success.
And so I say that and my teamswould always hear B's also give
them the following advice, whichis look at your professional
(27:44):
journey into your increments,yes, it's great to have goals
and to aspire to be this, that,or the other, but what's the
path to get there?
And what is, the culture thatyou are working in living in, it
doesn't necessarily alwaysespouse to success.
(28:08):
It's what you control versuswhat you can't control.
And I always took those adversemoments and really turn them
into lessons learned.
And I think I owe my successand, the development and what we
grew at PwC to all of thosefoundational lessons.
Lan Elliott (28:31):
Scott, we're coming to the end of our time, and you
have shared a lot of reallygreat advice and also about
adversity and grit andpersistence and taking risks.
I'm curious if you have onefinal nugget of advice for our
(28:52):
audience, for people who aretrying to advance their careers.
Scott Berman (28:57):
Be flexible, be agile, say yes more than you
say, no, that's terrific.
Lan Elliott (29:08):
Thank you so much, Scott.
I really appreciate you beingon.
And as I mentioned at thebeginning, you're someone that
I've admired being in the Miamimarket very early in my career,
and I admired your career fromafar.
And I'm so grateful to.
Be able to know you through allthese years and have you share
your wisdom with our audience.
So thank you for being on.
Scott Berman (29:30):
Thank you for the invitation.
And it's been a privilege, Lon.
Thank you.
Lan Elliott (29:36):
And for our audience, if you've enjoyed this
conversation with Scott, I hopeyou'll go to our website.
It's personal stories.
com where you can find many moreinterviews with industry
leaders.
Thank you.
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