August 3, 2024 • 39 mins
In this episode, Britt and Desiree dive deep into the challenges faced by businesses and customers during the pandemic, focusing on the hospitality and customer service industries. From personal stories of harassment and discrimination to highlighting businesses that excelled, this conversation is both eye-opening and necessary.
Thank you for tuning in! Your support means the world to us. 🌟
Topics Covered:
- The emotional and psychological impact of mask mandates
- Personal experiences of harassment and discrimination
- The shift in customer service and hospitality standards
- Businesses that excelled in providing exceptional service during the pandemic
- The importance of communication and exceeding customer expectations
- The long-term effects of the pandemic on customer loyalty and business practices
Highlights:
- Britt shares her struggles with mask mandates and the harassment she faced.
- Desiree discusses the importance of kindness and understanding in customer service.
- Shoutouts to businesses like Nora's Italian and Lazy Dogs in Summerlin for their thoughtful service.
- A call to action for business owners to re-evaluate their practices and prepare for future challenges.
Resources Mentioned:
- Small Business Administration: https://nevadasbdc.org
- SCORE: https://www.score.org/lasvegas
Join the Conversation:
Have you had similar experiences during the pandemic? How did it affect your view of customer service? Share your thoughts in the comments!
LINKS:
- La Critique Concierge Service: LaCritiqueLV.com - Check out the concierge tab for subscription options tailored for Vegas locals.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
La Critique believes in living a life full of
experiences rather thanpossessions, which is why we
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We're all busy, and can any ofus really keep up with all the
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And yet, we still crave qualityexperiences when we go out and
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Now, imagine having a personalassistant whose credentials are
(00:23):
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Subscribe today atLaCritiqueLV.com or give the
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(00:46):
person.
Welcome to the Vegas StrongRevival Podcast.
Buckle up because we're takingVegas Strong culture to a whole
new level this season.
I'm Britt Whelan, your host,alongside co-host Desiree Wolfe,
event professional and host ofthe Slightly Unfiltered Podcast.
This season, the gloves are offand we're ditching the scripts
for raw, relatable, and evenshocking conversations, tackling
(01:08):
real issues locals face, andbringing in voices from various
industries like fitness,charity, aviation, and more.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial media and visit Loughran
for more about how we're helpingresidents and local business
owners reconnect to the realmeaning of hospitality.
Ready or not, here we go.
Hi, Desiree.
Hi, Britt.
(01:29):
Welcome back to the show.
Thank you.
Thanks for being here.
Yeah, this is so much fun.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, so today's topic is reallytough.
It's one that I hesitate, thisconversation I hesitate having
because it's a tough one it'sgot some emotion tied to it it's
(01:52):
something that everybody mighthave their own opinions on and I
actually might get a lot of fuckyou Brit that makes it all the
more intriguing but I also Ifeel so compelled that this
conversation needs to happen soare you ready yeah let's do it
(02:13):
oh my gosh okay we are talkingabout the pandemic and customer
service slash hospitality duringthe pandemic yeah yeah it's oh
gosh okay I'm nervous I'mactually nervous to talk about
this don't you think it needs tobe talked about I do but I just
(02:37):
also like to be liked and I'malso that person who needs to
say the hard things because Ican't keep it in yeah well we'll
Welcome to the club.
That's why we're here, sister.
All right, Vegas Strong, here wego.
I know that I am not the onlyperson who experienced some of
(02:57):
the things that I experienced.
I know that I'm not alone inthis, but also if we don't talk
about it, if we don't put it outthere, I still don't think that
it's going to do much good tokeep it in.
It needs to come out.
It needs to come out.
Oh, my gosh.
Just talk about it.
I'm stuttering.
Let's just do it.
No, you got to.
And I think usually when thingsare hard to talk about, those
(03:21):
are the things we need to betalking about.
And I think this topic impactedthe way that businesses are
approaching customer service andthe way people are treating
other people.
Okay.
Let's backtrack.
2020, the city shuts down.
The fucking city shuts down.
Yeah.
Chains on the MGM.
(03:42):
Everybody is mandated to stayhome.
Not everybody does, right?
Like kind of that outdoorsything happened where everybody's
like, oh, well, we don't have togo to work we're free we can go
hiking or where like do all theoutdoorsy shit right so a lot of
people did that a lot of peoplewere terrified that they were
going to get sick mask mandatewas implemented citywide right
(04:06):
like the entire city maskmandate yep what else what else
like it just I mean I feel likethat's the gist of it in the in
the beginning yes and we had ashutdown a full-blown shutdown
that was two weeks long yep didit I don't even remember.
Did it extend?
I feel like it was longer thanjust two weeks.
It did extend.
(04:27):
I want to say the full shutdownwas three weeks, maybe four.
In my mind, I'm like, how longago was that?
It feels like a lifetime ago.
And I just, I don't even want tothink about it.
Right.
Right?
Like that was not an excitingtime.
So I probably have taken piecesof information and just tucked
them so far away.
(04:48):
But if I'm honest, what I doremember is the The complete
shutdown was kind of great in alot of ways because everybody
felt like they got this forcedvacation.
Absolutely.
And although I didn't get to seeall my friends and family during
that time because they had theirown concerns and boundaries and
(05:08):
limitations on what they werewilling to do and interact and
whatever, most people duringthat time were concerned and
considerate.
Yes.
Wouldn't you say?
Yes, I agree.
Okay.
So mostly it was like, hey, wedon't know a lot of the details
of what the hell's going on, buthey, let's just be cautious and
(05:28):
safe.
And just in case you stay home,I'll stay home, right?
And people were kind.
What I experienced, at least,was a shift in that energy
citywide when things started toreopen.
I don't know if you felt that.
Yeah, I think it was that kindof weirdness of, are we...
(05:51):
supposed to be doing this?
Is this okay?
Should everybody open?
Is your business better thanmine because you're allowed to
open?
I'm not allowed to open.
There was, I totally agree.
There was this shift of now wewere starting to question
things.
And then the government hadcertain rules, mask rules, for
example.
Dining was fucking terrible,right?
(06:14):
Oh, it was a disaster.
It was a dumpster fire, thattoo.
Oh gosh.
And so the science, you know,was being debated hated every
single day, all day long onmasks.
So I have a personal story hereand probably the explanation of
why this time of my life wasextremely difficult was that I
(06:36):
was one of those people whoseverely struggled with wearing
a mask.
A covering over my face, my noseand my mouth felt like I was
suffocating.
Just this extreme level ofclaustrophobia and suffocation
some ideas of being forced to dosomething that I didn't agree
(06:57):
with.
And so like this almost like apower struggle in my brain, my
emotion, like I panic attacklevel of shit.
Okay.
Like I ended up eventuallyfinding a plastic mask that
attached here on my chin andthen was like a shield in front.
(07:18):
And because it was clear and itwas plastic and it was actually
away from my my nose and mymouth only by like an inch inch
and a half I didn't feel like Iwas suffocating right okay so
that was the mask I was able tolike go to the doctor's office
in but even then I have storiesotherwise I did not wear a mask
(07:42):
when I went to Starbucks or toWalmart or to other stores or
wherever I was going I Icouldn't wear a mask so I didn't
wear a mask I got a lot I meansignificant amounts of
harassment discriminationthreats yeah I was I was treated
(08:04):
so terribly Desiree that some ofthose moments still make me so
mad yeah or make me want to cryyeah because when I am standing
there as you know this five fiveand half female blonde girl and
(08:24):
I'm being approached by twosecurity guards who are over 6'2
and they're threatening me thatthey are going to physically
remove me out of the store.
That is terrifying.
Yeah.
Now at what point was this inthe mandates?
Was this the beginning?
Was this months in?
Was this when things wereopening back up?
(08:46):
So this was after the actualshutdown had ended.
SPEAKER_00 (08:49):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
Stores were reopened This was a sports warehouse that
that particular event happenedat.
I won't name names because thosepeople probably don't even work
there anymore.
No, I won't.
I won't name the business names.
Yeah.
But it was a sports warehousewhere I was threatened and
intimidated by these men for nothaving a covering on my face.
And this was after I had alreadyspent eight full minutes in the
(09:14):
store unmasked.
So like logically in my brain,I'm thinking I've already been
in here for eight minutes.
Why?
Why?
Why are you approaching me now?
You've done breathed oneverything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like the logic of it didn't evenmake sense.
If you guys were that strictabout your mask protocols, you
should have had somebody at thefront door before I ever walked
(09:34):
in.
Right.
To kick me out now actuallydoesn't make any logical sense.
Right.
So I guess what I'm saying atthe gist of it all is I had a
really terrible experience herein Las Vegas.
I was treated in such a way byso many people Desiree so many
people I mean name calling I wasthreatened I was harassed I was
(09:58):
judged I was glared at just forliving my life because how dare
you how dare I yeah when in mybrain I'm I'm just like girl I
don't know you lady I don'tfucking know you you have no
idea what I am going throughright you don't know what I am
experiencing in my life rightnow and why I don't have have a
(10:21):
mask on?
You don't know.
It's crazy to me.
See, I was one of those people.
I wore the mask.
Not because I was vehement aboutit or it was a political stance
or anything.
I wore the mask because, sowhat?
It's just a slight inconvenienceto me.
To me, it wasn't that big of adeal.
But I also had the mindset of,I'm going to wear the mask.
My kids are going to wear themask because I'd rather be safe
(10:44):
than sorry.
However, if you don't want towear your fucking mask, don't
wear your fucking mask.
In my mind, if the masks worked,I have mine on.
Yeah.
Yep.
It should protect me from you aswell.
And even if it didn't, it wasmore of just kind of a, to me it
was just an extra safety thing.
I didn't think I was gonna dieif I took it off.
(11:05):
Okay, so imagine this.
Imagine you have athree-year-old.
Yeah.
During that time.
Three.
Not two.
Not two or younger.
Three.
Right.
Who has, I don't know, over ayear-long battle with
respiratory issues.
Yeah.
And the government is tellingyou that you have to mask your
three-year-old who hascompromised lungs.
I think that's asinine.
(11:27):
If you've ever put socks on athree-year-old, you would
understand how hard forcing themto wear a mask would be.
I have so much empathy for theparents who struggled with
masking their children duringthat time.
Yeah, I was lucky enough minewere older and understood.
But there were also so manypeople in the world who had
(11:50):
legitimate medical reasons theycould not and should not wear a
mask over their mouth and nose.
And it was like the entire cityalmost unitedly said, we don't
care what your excuse is.
It does not matter.
Your medical reasons areinvalid.
Fuck you.
Do not come into my business.
(12:10):
Is that accurate?
I think that's accurate.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I'm glad I got that out of mysystem and that you agreed.
I 100% agree.
You know, the funny thing is, isthat it did become like you
said, like, fuck, you don't comein.
You don't have a mask on.
You're not allowed here.
But you couldn't get them totell you why.
Well, that's just what they toldus to do.
(12:31):
Yeah.
The communication, I remember, Iwill name bomb this one,
Starbucks.
It was a specific Starbucks thatI went to one morning early they
did not have a drive-thru so Iwalked in They had all the
glass, right, around theiremployees.
So there's no direct breathingcontact between a guest ordering
(12:57):
and the employee behind theglass.
Then there were guests who wereseated at tables, eating and
drinking without masks.
And get this, I walk in withoutthe mask.
I go up to the glass unmasked.
I order, but then I'm approachedand said, you need to have your
mask on.
Oh, but if you're seated, Youdon't have to wear it.
(13:19):
Right.
Because COVID can only get youif you're standing up.
What?
Those two men right over thereare seated.
Speaking freely.
10 feet away from me.
Yeah.
But because they are seated,they do not have to wear a mask.
But because I am standing.
Yes.
(13:39):
I have to wear a mask.
Yes.
Just the lunacy.
The fucking lunacy of it.
Like as a consumer.
And as a human, I just could notget my head around it.
And so there I am trying toexplain my medical reasons for
not having a mask on and tryingto like understand and
comprehend the logic behind allof this.
(14:01):
And then as a person inhospitality industry, I'm not
getting any hospitality orconcern or love or consideration
or anything.
And all I want to do is buy afucking coffee.
Yeah.
It's like they completely forgotwhy you're there in their
business.
(14:21):
And businesses became so worriedand concerned about following
the rules or mask ordinance thatthey completely forgot how to
serve their customers.
I remember the guy behind thecounter made me cry that day.
And one of the guys who was inthe store seated at the table.
One of the seated unmasked.
(14:42):
One of the seated unmasked guysactually came up and he
comforted me because they calledsecurity on me they wanted me
out so they they called securityit was it was a starbucks that
is associated with a hotelproperty not on the strip okay
but yeah so hotel securityactually came over to the
starbucks and escalated thesituation and my anxiety went
(15:03):
through the fucking roof and alli wanted was my coffee all you
wanted was a coffee all i wantedwas a coffee and i looked at
this this young guy who wasgiving me shit and being really
mean and I just looked at himand I said do you even love
people like if you don't lovepeople why are you in this job
(15:26):
you know at the core ofhospitality is love yes and that
morning changed the way that Iperceive Starbucks oh yeah
that's a hard statement to sayout loud yeah because how many
businesses did people havenegative experiences at during
COVID during this time of chaoswe go out we have a terrible
(15:51):
experience during that time andthen we've boycotted that
particular business rightbecause of that one experience
yes i can only tell you i'vebeen to starbucks uh twice since
and it was i didn't pay for ityeah i didn't i'm i haven't
given a dime to starbucks sincethat happened and starbucks is
one of those businesses too thatprides themselves on their
(16:15):
hospitality and inclusivenessand...
Can you tell how nervous I am?
I'm like gripping the chair.
I am so like kind of justnervous about all this.
On the flip side, Walmart.
I don't know.
Did you ever go to a Walmartduring this time of COVID?
(16:36):
I did.
I'm not a big fan of Walmart tobegin with.
So I try and stay out of thereas much as possible.
What I experienced at Walmartwas not the employees.
It was the shoppers.
I had a negative experience.
Oh, I was harassed in theparking lot by shoppers.
Yeah.
In the Walmart parking lot byshoppers.
Yeah.
I, I wasn't, I didn't personallyget involved, but there, a fight
(17:00):
broke out in the producesection.
Oh my gosh.
Because a lady was picking outher watermelons or her apples.
I don't even remember.
And, and somebody, a gentleman,an older gentleman had walked up
next to her and kind of reachedacross her and he didn't have a
mask on.
Sir, you have to have a mask.
And they like screaming andyelling.
(17:22):
And then her son came over, heradult son came over and got in
the guy's face.
And I think I left the producesection so fast.
I was like, well, and then itbecame an argument in the middle
of the produce section betweenmaskers and non-maskers.
Sure.
I'm going to give kudos toWalmart Corporation.
(17:42):
I don't know if that's theirlegal name or not, but I'm going
to roll with it.
Walmart was the only largeretail grocer store of any kind
in vegas that during that timeallowed me through the doors
without harassment theirgreeters continued to greet
their checkout people i meanthey don't have many it's all
(18:05):
it's all self-checkout nowself-checkout but the staff they
didn't glare at me for not beingmasked yeah all i had to say was
i have a medical exemption andthey were like okay welcome in
welcome in it's amazing what thetwo words welcome in can do
right now this is reallyinteresting prior to all of that
(18:28):
i really hadn't been shopping atwalmart a whole ton i thought i
was like upgraded to at leasttarget right i really did um
from a social status i was likeoh i'm a target goer i shop at
target yeah guess what now youshop at walmart i shop at
walmart and i stopped shoppingat target because Target
harassed me as well.
(18:50):
Target made it really difficult,really difficult to shop there
during the mask mandates.
Yeah, I'm a Walmart shopperagain because I trust their
culture as a company.
I trust that they have trainedtheir employees to not
discriminate.
(19:10):
I trust that Walmart has theattorneys of a lifetime who
understands the law of and anddiscrimination laws very
thoroughly and it all tricklesdown from the top i believe that
walmart's company cultureexcelled during this really
terrible time in the world atleast here in vegas i can speak
(19:33):
on it in vegas i cannot speak onit for anywhere else right but i
became a walmart shopper duringthat time because i knew i
wasn't going to have a panicattack shopping at walmart i
have a panic attack shopping atwalmart that has nothing to with
masks or the pandemic.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
So why are, why are we eventalking about this?
(19:54):
So it did, it influenced how youshop and where you go.
It did.
Yeah.
Because the hospitality wasdifferent everywhere.
It seemed.
And then nobody reallyunderstood.
Okay.
Let's talk dining for a second.
Yeah.
In dining, it was this insanelevel of confusion where it's
like, oh, well as a restaurantowner, I don't know if I'm
(20:15):
allowed to do this I don't knowif I'm allowed to do that I
don't know I don't know I don'tknow but we're gonna just wing
it and make it work right yeahso so everybody everybody they
created all these outdoorseating areas dining patios
became the trend and in Vegasit's 115 degrees outside venues
(20:36):
that couldn't figure out anoutdoor dining space didn't get
to really open no then you hadto be masked until you went and
sat at the table yep and therewas even even one point that you
had to be masked while sittingat the table unless you were
actively eating.
Yes, that was my favorite.
You could be at the table withthe same four people that just
(20:57):
came from your house, but thefour of you have to be seated
and masked unless you're eatingor drinking.
Unless you're putting food ordrink in your mouth.
Oh God, that gives me a headachejust thinking about it.
Yeah.
Even as a mask wearer, I thoughtthat was really dumb.
Okay, let's talk some of thestandards that changed in
(21:19):
dining.
I think the culture of diningchanged during this time of the
world.
You and I, we dine out.
You and I are trained inhospitality.
We understand the standards.
We get it.
We understand what things weshould be getting.
And we understand that we werenot getting very much during
this time as far as servicegoes.
(21:41):
What were some of the things inyour mind or things that stood
out to you that were reallylacking during during that time.
I think there got to a pointwhere people just stopped being
kind.
Yeah.
To others.
It was more so about making surethat you're following protocol
as a guest and less aboutproviding a positive experience
(22:02):
for people.
I remember it being so focusedon, like every employee was
hyper-focused on the masks.
Yes.
That they forgot abouteverything else.
Everything else.
Yeah.
One restaurant in particularnailed it and crushed it, in my
opinion.
And, oh, I'm so excited tomention this on this episode
(22:26):
right now because they earnedour concierge corner last
season.
Ooh.
Nora's Italian.
Nora's Italian fucking crushedit.
What did they do?
As far as addressing how to havesuperior service, meaningful
service, actually havinghospitality, during this crazy
(22:46):
time.
And what I mean by that is theygot those clear masks for their
servers so that the guests, oncethey were seated, could still
see the smiles of theiremployees, right?
Because being able to see asmile is way different than
imagining somebody has it behinda cloth, right?
Being greeted, a huge, hugecomponent of being greeted is
(23:09):
that smile.
Yes.
So Nora's crushed it when theygave their employees the clear
masks to wear during foodservice.
Additionally the way that theydesigned the dining room they
put up these like temporarywalls but the walls had like a
(23:30):
vinyl on them that they designedspecifically to blend in with
the rest of the restaurant.
SPEAKER_00 (23:37):
Interesting.
And
SPEAKER_01 (23:37):
so it actually didn't feel like you were in
E.T.''s bubble when they weretrying to transport him because
that's how I felt most of thetime at a restaurant yeah no you
just felt like you were still inthe restaurant because the
little walls around you werestill restaurant vibe like it
was still all there and and andyou were still getting the
(23:59):
atmosphere yeah that you wouldexpect when you're there just
the thoughtfulness of those twothings alone were superior in my
opinion as far as dining goeskudos to Nora's again I love you
guys I have no affiliation withyou guys but I fuck I fucking
love you.
I can't think of other venuesright off the top of my head
(24:20):
that crushed it like that.
Can you?
You know what?
I do have to, I am, and I'mgoing to name drop.
I do have to give a shout outLazy Dogs in Summerlin.
Okay.
I went to, I met up with afriend and we were just going to
have drinks.
They maintained that you walkedin and it was still, hi,
welcome.
You know, do you prefer sittingoutside?
(24:41):
We do have a couple of tablesavailable.
They walked you through what wasit?
Instead of saying, and you haveto do this.
It was very much still thatwelcoming feeling.
Servers, they came to the table,they apologized that they had to
wipe things down again.
They were paying attention tothe people who walked in.
I remember walking in and theyoung gal at the hostess stand
(25:03):
was just still super friendly.
And you can tell that she wascomfortable being there.
And just doing her job and shewas just friendly about it.
And like I said, she talked methrough there's a couple of you,
do you wanna sit outside?
And she said, where are you morecomfortable sitting?
And I thought, wow, that's agreat question of somebody who
(25:26):
gives a crap about where I am orwhere I wanna sit.
Yeah, that's thoughtful.
I think that speaks to the pointof inhospitality, communicating
expectations.
Over-communicating is betterthan no communication.
Yes.
And so when you communicateexpectations in a crazy time
(25:51):
like that, it's like, oh, wow,now I'm exceeding the guest's
expectations because theyweren't expecting me to
communicate these things.
And now I'm crushing it.
Yes.
Right?
Yes.
So from a business standpoint,if you're a business owner
listening to this, remember,exceeding your guests'
expectations at all times shouldbe a high priority.
Yes.
(26:11):
If you want to get repeatcustomers, you exceed their
expectations.
You wow them.
Yes.
You make them feel important andvalued and welcome and
appreciated for being there,right?
Like I think citywide, I don'tremember going to a single place
where I felt appreciated forbeing there.
No, very many, very much,whatever I'm trying.
(26:32):
I speak, I speak a de-English.
I think there was very much thissense of we were almost a
bother.
Yes.
Yes.
That was something that was verydisappointing.
And unfortunately, I thinkthat's a habit that Carrie Yes.
Oh, here we go.
Here we go.
I got her started.
Okay.
(26:54):
Okay.
Yeah.
The nuisance.
Yeah.
I'm not a fucking nuisance.
Okay.
I'm here to spend my time, myvaluable time and my money.
And my money.
At your business.
Yes.
And you're treating me like I'ma nuisance.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.
I will not come back.
Right.
And I think a lot of peoplehave.
(27:15):
have felt that and I think toomany people have felt that and
come on Vegas we can do betteryes we can we are the city of
hospitality we can do better weneed to do better if you are not
having these conversations withyour employees you need to be or
you need to be making themlisten to this freaking podcast
(27:35):
yeah because this shit mattersif you want to survive in this
city and not go under like Ican't tell you how many
restaurants failed and didn'tsurvive COVID at all.
Tons.
Loyalty matters in Vegas.
Yes.
If you don't have a loyalfollowing, you will not survive,
(27:55):
period.
If you can't get repeatcustomers, you will not survive
in the city.
So if you're not training youremployees to care about your
customers, you're failing beforeyou can even get started.
SPEAKER_00 (28:08):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (28:09):
I cannot emphasize that enough.
There's a faux Kim Long down onSpring Mountain that absolutely
crushed it during COVID.
I think they did more businessduring COVID than any other
time.
Really?
I think.
Good for them.
Don't quote me on that.
I'm still working on gettingthem on the show.
But they have such a loyalfollowing and they crushed the
(28:32):
to-go service.
Their to-go service killed itduring COVID because they have
quality food and a very loyalrepeat customer base.
Yeah.
So look, we've picked up somereally bad habits from COVID
from a business owner standpointthe excuses we've heard is oh
(28:52):
it's just so hard to get goodemployees oh it's so hard to
hire oh it's so hard to findgood people or whatever it is
like all these excuses that'snot true there's a lot of great
people in this city yeah and weneed to be better about
communicating and connecting thegood people to the good places
we need to be more considerateof it's truly a gift when a
(29:16):
guest walks through the frontdoor.
Yes.
It's not just a given.
It's not just something to betaken for granted.
Right.
We need to get back to smilingand handshaking and
communicating.
If we come from a place of fear,we're not going to greet the
guest because we're too afraid.
We're too afraid.
Yeah.
If we're too afraid and we'rejust full of fear, we're not
(29:37):
going to smile.
If we're too afraid and full offear, we're not going to be
welcoming and helpful.
And appreciative.
Nope.
So I say, fuck the fear.
Move on.
We are the, you know, we'rehere.
We're still here.
And we're still humans.
And there's so much kindness tobe had in the city.
(29:58):
But we need to re-tap back intothat.
I agree.
On a mass level.
Yes.
And not to say that somebusinesses aren't already doing
that, right?
Or businesses didn't do thatduring COVID.
There were the few, okay?
Good for them.
Yeah.
So proud of you guys.
You guys are amazing.
Congratulations.
You survived COVID and youcontinue to kill it.
(30:18):
But the mass majority ofbusinesses here in Vegas locally
need to hear this.
Yes.
They need the reality check.
And I'm sorry I have to be theperson to do it.
I really, really am.
I'm not sorry.
I think you're the best personto do it.
I hate this.
I hate feeling like I have to bethe person to throw up all the
red flags, you know?
(30:39):
But nobody else is doing it.
No.
I can't say I've heard anybodyelse have this conversation.
No.
No.
All I hear is other customerscomplaining.
Nobody's actually saying, hey,guys, somebody from the
hospitality industry with theexperience that you have, this
is what's happening.
And if we don't change it, we'reall fucked.
(30:59):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's truly my intention to behelpful.
And you and I recorded yourepisode not long ago about
inspiring change and why it'simportant to share your story.
And I guess to some degree, thisis part of my story now.
Yeah.
Me personally, as a human, as awoman who lives in Vegas, who
(31:22):
was born and raised here, and Iexperienced the city before
COVID, during COVID, and nowafter COVID.
And I guess, yeah, to your pointon your podcast, like my story
matters too.
It does matter.
And my experiences during thattime matter.
My experiences now matter.
Yes.
That's hard for me to say, bythe way.
(31:43):
I'm so proud of you.
I don't like you know puttingthings all about me I I don't I
don't like feeling conceited butI hope that what this can do is
inspire other people who mayhave experienced some of the
things I did to also feel alittle bit more comfortable and
okay with talking about it ifthey haven't and I also hope
(32:04):
that it helps business owners inVegas to maybe really take a
good hard long look in themirror and say you know what
maybe we didn't go about thatquite the right way and let's
Let's think about this.
Let's make an action plan on howwe could do better if ever there
were a time that something likethis in the world happens again.
(32:25):
Yeah.
Because.
Or even if it doesn't.
History repeats itself, Desiree.
Yes, that is true.
Okay.
That is true.
So how soon it's going torepeat, we don't know.
But if it does, when it does,are those businesses really
going to be ready?
Probably not.
Come on.
We have to do better.
This is Vegas.
We are the golden standard yes Ibelieve that to my core I think
(32:49):
that the people here areincredible we are such a unique
city because of the people hereso if our people have lost their
way they need to be remindedthey need to be reminded that we
are the unicorn we can do betterif we choose and we will do
better if we put in the time andeffort yes that's why you have
(33:11):
to look at conversations likethis this is not a selfish
conversation this isn't yousharing oh what was me This is,
hey, community, city, look it.
These are the stories that notonly you're sharing, you're not
the only person that had theseexperiences.
So we need to be sharing theseto spark the conversation so
(33:31):
business owners can hear this iswhat people went through.
Don't make the same mistake.
Yeah, I mean, and look at thecost of it.
I haven't spent a dime withStarbucks.
Right.
And how many other businesseshave felt Yeah, four years, no
Starbucks.
Wow.
I haven't got 24 hours withoutStarbucks, but that's not.
(33:52):
Now, granted, I've drankStarbucks, but somebody else
paid for it.
I've not given a single dime toStarbucks since, in four years,
Desiree.
Good for you.
Good.
That is commitment, okay?
And I have to admit, it wasn'tthat hard because I was so
emotionally turned off.
Yeah.
How many other people wereemotionally turned off from an
(34:14):
experience they had during that?
time.
And how many people are theytelling about it?
Yeah.
You're right.
Oh my stomach is growling.
It's lunchtime.
It's lunchtime.
So I think with all of thatbeing said there was there's one
restaurant in particular thatdidn't survive COVID and I'm not
entirely sure why but it was IlMolino New York at Caesars
(34:36):
Palace Form Shops.
Yep.
I have a personal tie to thatrestaurant.
A long long time ago duringcollege I was a hostess there.
Okay.
So I just naturally when youwork somewhere and you realize
how incredible the food thepeople the culture the all of it
you fall in love with theproduct as a whole yeah and they
(34:58):
didn't survive covet and i wasreally really really sad about
that and i was wondering if youhad any place that that you
loved that didn't make it therewas gosh and you know what i
don't even remember the name ofit there was a it was um a
little grocer actuallysurprisingly right down the
street from my house and it wasowned we went in there for years
(35:20):
and talked to the owner and heowned it ran it just a super
nice guy um and when covid shutdown he he he actually didn't
survive more than two monthsafter the initial shutdown um
and he just said he just wasn'tgetting enough people coming in
(35:44):
even being just a little youknow, convenience store, he
didn't have a gas stationattached to him.
So he was relying on walkingbusiness and he said, people
just aren't visiting businesses.
And he was gone by the end ofsummer.
That was a bummer because itwas, talk about a true local,
small business owner providingservice.
Hundreds of businesses didn'tsurvive.
(36:05):
the first, let's call it fivemonths.
We are such an amazing communitythat I just know somewhere out
there, somewhere, someone outthere, oh my gosh, if I could
talk, maybe can help.
I have to imagine the financialplanning of any mom and pop
(36:26):
business here in Vegas issomething that isn't heavily
focused on.
How do we help businesses to behealthy, to survive another
worldly event because we've hadas I think I mentioned last
season so many worldly eventsI'm tired of all these
historical events happening inmy lifetime oh my gosh what it's
(36:47):
not a matter of if it's a matterof when yeah there will be
another worldly event at somepoint in time is your business
prepared right are you savingmoney is your business saving
money to be ready for that yeahbusiness owners out there I hope
this episode really hits homefor you I hope it in Have
conversation.
Talk to your employees, yourteam members, your business
(37:10):
partners, your friends, yourfamily.
Don't be afraid to ask, what canwe do better?
And Nevada has excellentresources as well.
The Small BusinessAdministration, SCORE.
There's so many resources outthere for small businesses in
Nevada specifically.
Use those people.
Get a mentor.
Get a business mentor if youwant.
(37:31):
There are people out there whocan help and guide and yeah do
it just do it just do it yes wedon't want to see our small
businesses not surviving thenext worldly event we want to
see local businesses thrivingand surviving right yes mostly
thriving mostly thriving oh mygosh surviving when they have to
(37:52):
thriving because they can that'sright that's right Desiree thank
you so much for having thistough conversation with me yeah
I love tough conversations Ilove that you got to tell a
story or two in there too thatmakes me happy oh god God, I
have a pit in my stomach still,but it's too late now.
We're publishing this.
That's right.
And that's a wrap on thisepisode of the Vegas Strong
(38:13):
Revival Podcast.
I hope you found our discussionengaging and even
thought-provoking.
A big shout out to all of ouramazing listeners for tuning in
and supporting the show becauseit truly means the world to us.
So thank you.
Let's keep the Vegas Strongspirit alive.
Share this podcast with yourfriends, family, colleagues, and
just anyone who loves Vegas.
If you have ideas, suggestions,or want to be a guest on the
(38:34):
show, simply reach out online orfeel free to text us on our
super cool podcast hotline,702-723-2343.
And of course, don't forget tosubscribe to the show on your
favorite podcast platform so younever miss an episode.
Let's keep pushing theboundaries and reviving our
city's passion for authenticservice together.
(38:55):
Stay strong, Vegas.
La Critique believes in living a life full of
experiences rather thanpossessions, which is why we
designed a concierge servicejust for Vegas locals.
We're all busy, and can any ofus really keep up with all the
changes around town?
And yet, we still crave qualityexperiences when we go out and
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Now, imagine having a personalassistant whose credentials are
(00:23):
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Subscribe today atLaCritiqueLV.com or give the
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(00:46):
person.
Welcome to the Vegas StrongRevival Podcast.
Buckle up because we're takingVegas Strong culture to a whole
new level this season.
I'm Britt Whelan, your host,alongside co-host Desiree Wolfe,
event professional and host ofthe Slightly Unfiltered Podcast.
This season, the gloves are offand we're ditching the scripts
for raw, relatable, and evenshocking conversations, tackling
(01:08):
real issues locals face, andbringing in voices from various
industries like fitness,charity, aviation, and more.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial media and visit Loughran
for more about how we're helpingresidents and local business
owners reconnect to the realmeaning of hospitality.
Ready or not, here we go.
Hi, Desiree.
Hi, Britt.
(01:29):
Welcome back to the show.
Thank you.
Thanks for being here.
Yeah, this is so much fun.
Oh my gosh.
Okay, so today's topic is reallytough.
It's one that I hesitate, thisconversation I hesitate having
because it's a tough one it'sgot some emotion tied to it it's
(01:52):
something that everybody mighthave their own opinions on and I
actually might get a lot of fuckyou Brit that makes it all the
more intriguing but I also Ifeel so compelled that this
conversation needs to happen soare you ready yeah let's do it
(02:13):
oh my gosh okay we are talkingabout the pandemic and customer
service slash hospitality duringthe pandemic yeah yeah it's oh
gosh okay I'm nervous I'mactually nervous to talk about
this don't you think it needs tobe talked about I do but I just
(02:37):
also like to be liked and I'malso that person who needs to
say the hard things because Ican't keep it in yeah well we'll
Welcome to the club.
That's why we're here, sister.
All right, Vegas Strong, here wego.
I know that I am not the onlyperson who experienced some of
(02:57):
the things that I experienced.
I know that I'm not alone inthis, but also if we don't talk
about it, if we don't put it outthere, I still don't think that
it's going to do much good tokeep it in.
It needs to come out.
It needs to come out.
Oh, my gosh.
Just talk about it.
I'm stuttering.
Let's just do it.
No, you got to.
And I think usually when thingsare hard to talk about, those
(03:21):
are the things we need to betalking about.
And I think this topic impactedthe way that businesses are
approaching customer service andthe way people are treating
other people.
Okay.
Let's backtrack.
2020, the city shuts down.
The fucking city shuts down.
Yeah.
Chains on the MGM.
(03:42):
Everybody is mandated to stayhome.
Not everybody does, right?
Like kind of that outdoorsything happened where everybody's
like, oh, well, we don't have togo to work we're free we can go
hiking or where like do all theoutdoorsy shit right so a lot of
people did that a lot of peoplewere terrified that they were
going to get sick mask mandatewas implemented citywide right
(04:06):
like the entire city maskmandate yep what else what else
like it just I mean I feel likethat's the gist of it in the in
the beginning yes and we had ashutdown a full-blown shutdown
that was two weeks long yep didit I don't even remember.
Did it extend?
I feel like it was longer thanjust two weeks.
It did extend.
(04:27):
I want to say the full shutdownwas three weeks, maybe four.
In my mind, I'm like, how longago was that?
It feels like a lifetime ago.
And I just, I don't even want tothink about it.
Right.
Right?
Like that was not an excitingtime.
So I probably have taken piecesof information and just tucked
them so far away.
(04:48):
But if I'm honest, what I doremember is the The complete
shutdown was kind of great in alot of ways because everybody
felt like they got this forcedvacation.
Absolutely.
And although I didn't get to seeall my friends and family during
that time because they had theirown concerns and boundaries and
(05:08):
limitations on what they werewilling to do and interact and
whatever, most people duringthat time were concerned and
considerate.
Yes.
Wouldn't you say?
Yes, I agree.
Okay.
So mostly it was like, hey, wedon't know a lot of the details
of what the hell's going on, buthey, let's just be cautious and
(05:28):
safe.
And just in case you stay home,I'll stay home, right?
And people were kind.
What I experienced, at least,was a shift in that energy
citywide when things started toreopen.
I don't know if you felt that.
Yeah, I think it was that kindof weirdness of, are we...
(05:51):
supposed to be doing this?
Is this okay?
Should everybody open?
Is your business better thanmine because you're allowed to
open?
I'm not allowed to open.
There was, I totally agree.
There was this shift of now wewere starting to question
things.
And then the government hadcertain rules, mask rules, for
example.
Dining was fucking terrible,right?
(06:14):
Oh, it was a disaster.
It was a dumpster fire, thattoo.
Oh gosh.
And so the science, you know,was being debated hated every
single day, all day long onmasks.
So I have a personal story hereand probably the explanation of
why this time of my life wasextremely difficult was that I
(06:36):
was one of those people whoseverely struggled with wearing
a mask.
A covering over my face, my noseand my mouth felt like I was
suffocating.
Just this extreme level ofclaustrophobia and suffocation
some ideas of being forced to dosomething that I didn't agree
(06:57):
with.
And so like this almost like apower struggle in my brain, my
emotion, like I panic attacklevel of shit.
Okay.
Like I ended up eventuallyfinding a plastic mask that
attached here on my chin andthen was like a shield in front.
(07:18):
And because it was clear and itwas plastic and it was actually
away from my my nose and mymouth only by like an inch inch
and a half I didn't feel like Iwas suffocating right okay so
that was the mask I was able tolike go to the doctor's office
in but even then I have storiesotherwise I did not wear a mask
(07:42):
when I went to Starbucks or toWalmart or to other stores or
wherever I was going I Icouldn't wear a mask so I didn't
wear a mask I got a lot I meansignificant amounts of
harassment discriminationthreats yeah I was I was treated
(08:04):
so terribly Desiree that some ofthose moments still make me so
mad yeah or make me want to cryyeah because when I am standing
there as you know this five fiveand half female blonde girl and
(08:24):
I'm being approached by twosecurity guards who are over 6'2
and they're threatening me thatthey are going to physically
remove me out of the store.
That is terrifying.
Yeah.
Now at what point was this inthe mandates?
Was this the beginning?
Was this months in?
Was this when things wereopening back up?
(08:46):
So this was after the actualshutdown had ended.
SPEAKER_00 (08:49):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
Stores were reopened This was a sports warehouse that
that particular event happenedat.
I won't name names because thosepeople probably don't even work
there anymore.
No, I won't.
I won't name the business names.
Yeah.
But it was a sports warehousewhere I was threatened and
intimidated by these men for nothaving a covering on my face.
And this was after I had alreadyspent eight full minutes in the
(09:14):
store unmasked.
So like logically in my brain,I'm thinking I've already been
in here for eight minutes.
Why?
Why?
Why are you approaching me now?
You've done breathed oneverything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like the logic of it didn't evenmake sense.
If you guys were that strictabout your mask protocols, you
should have had somebody at thefront door before I ever walked
(09:34):
in.
Right.
To kick me out now actuallydoesn't make any logical sense.
Right.
So I guess what I'm saying atthe gist of it all is I had a
really terrible experience herein Las Vegas.
I was treated in such a way byso many people Desiree so many
people I mean name calling I wasthreatened I was harassed I was
(09:58):
judged I was glared at just forliving my life because how dare
you how dare I yeah when in mybrain I'm I'm just like girl I
don't know you lady I don'tfucking know you you have no
idea what I am going throughright you don't know what I am
experiencing in my life rightnow and why I don't have have a
(10:21):
mask on?
You don't know.
It's crazy to me.
See, I was one of those people.
I wore the mask.
Not because I was vehement aboutit or it was a political stance
or anything.
I wore the mask because, sowhat?
It's just a slight inconvenienceto me.
To me, it wasn't that big of adeal.
But I also had the mindset of,I'm going to wear the mask.
My kids are going to wear themask because I'd rather be safe
(10:44):
than sorry.
However, if you don't want towear your fucking mask, don't
wear your fucking mask.
In my mind, if the masks worked,I have mine on.
Yeah.
Yep.
It should protect me from you aswell.
And even if it didn't, it wasmore of just kind of a, to me it
was just an extra safety thing.
I didn't think I was gonna dieif I took it off.
(11:05):
Okay, so imagine this.
Imagine you have athree-year-old.
Yeah.
During that time.
Three.
Not two.
Not two or younger.
Three.
Right.
Who has, I don't know, over ayear-long battle with
respiratory issues.
Yeah.
And the government is tellingyou that you have to mask your
three-year-old who hascompromised lungs.
I think that's asinine.
(11:27):
If you've ever put socks on athree-year-old, you would
understand how hard forcing themto wear a mask would be.
I have so much empathy for theparents who struggled with
masking their children duringthat time.
Yeah, I was lucky enough minewere older and understood.
But there were also so manypeople in the world who had
(11:50):
legitimate medical reasons theycould not and should not wear a
mask over their mouth and nose.
And it was like the entire cityalmost unitedly said, we don't
care what your excuse is.
It does not matter.
Your medical reasons areinvalid.
Fuck you.
Do not come into my business.
(12:10):
Is that accurate?
I think that's accurate.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I'm glad I got that out of mysystem and that you agreed.
I 100% agree.
You know, the funny thing is, isthat it did become like you
said, like, fuck, you don't comein.
You don't have a mask on.
You're not allowed here.
But you couldn't get them totell you why.
Well, that's just what they toldus to do.
(12:31):
Yeah.
The communication, I remember, Iwill name bomb this one,
Starbucks.
It was a specific Starbucks thatI went to one morning early they
did not have a drive-thru so Iwalked in They had all the
glass, right, around theiremployees.
So there's no direct breathingcontact between a guest ordering
(12:57):
and the employee behind theglass.
Then there were guests who wereseated at tables, eating and
drinking without masks.
And get this, I walk in withoutthe mask.
I go up to the glass unmasked.
I order, but then I'm approachedand said, you need to have your
mask on.
Oh, but if you're seated, Youdon't have to wear it.
(13:19):
Right.
Because COVID can only get youif you're standing up.
What?
Those two men right over thereare seated.
Speaking freely.
10 feet away from me.
Yeah.
But because they are seated,they do not have to wear a mask.
But because I am standing.
Yes.
(13:39):
I have to wear a mask.
Yes.
Just the lunacy.
The fucking lunacy of it.
Like as a consumer.
And as a human, I just could notget my head around it.
And so there I am trying toexplain my medical reasons for
not having a mask on and tryingto like understand and
comprehend the logic behind allof this.
(14:01):
And then as a person inhospitality industry, I'm not
getting any hospitality orconcern or love or consideration
or anything.
And all I want to do is buy afucking coffee.
Yeah.
It's like they completely forgotwhy you're there in their
business.
(14:21):
And businesses became so worriedand concerned about following
the rules or mask ordinance thatthey completely forgot how to
serve their customers.
I remember the guy behind thecounter made me cry that day.
And one of the guys who was inthe store seated at the table.
One of the seated unmasked.
(14:42):
One of the seated unmasked guysactually came up and he
comforted me because they calledsecurity on me they wanted me
out so they they called securityit was it was a starbucks that
is associated with a hotelproperty not on the strip okay
but yeah so hotel securityactually came over to the
starbucks and escalated thesituation and my anxiety went
(15:03):
through the fucking roof and alli wanted was my coffee all you
wanted was a coffee all i wantedwas a coffee and i looked at
this this young guy who wasgiving me shit and being really
mean and I just looked at himand I said do you even love
people like if you don't lovepeople why are you in this job
(15:26):
you know at the core ofhospitality is love yes and that
morning changed the way that Iperceive Starbucks oh yeah
that's a hard statement to sayout loud yeah because how many
businesses did people havenegative experiences at during
COVID during this time of chaoswe go out we have a terrible
(15:51):
experience during that time andthen we've boycotted that
particular business rightbecause of that one experience
yes i can only tell you i'vebeen to starbucks uh twice since
and it was i didn't pay for ityeah i didn't i'm i haven't
given a dime to starbucks sincethat happened and starbucks is
one of those businesses too thatprides themselves on their
(16:15):
hospitality and inclusivenessand...
Can you tell how nervous I am?
I'm like gripping the chair.
I am so like kind of justnervous about all this.
On the flip side, Walmart.
I don't know.
Did you ever go to a Walmartduring this time of COVID?
(16:36):
I did.
I'm not a big fan of Walmart tobegin with.
So I try and stay out of thereas much as possible.
What I experienced at Walmartwas not the employees.
It was the shoppers.
I had a negative experience.
Oh, I was harassed in theparking lot by shoppers.
Yeah.
In the Walmart parking lot byshoppers.
Yeah.
I, I wasn't, I didn't personallyget involved, but there, a fight
(17:00):
broke out in the producesection.
Oh my gosh.
Because a lady was picking outher watermelons or her apples.
I don't even remember.
And, and somebody, a gentleman,an older gentleman had walked up
next to her and kind of reachedacross her and he didn't have a
mask on.
Sir, you have to have a mask.
And they like screaming andyelling.
(17:22):
And then her son came over, heradult son came over and got in
the guy's face.
And I think I left the producesection so fast.
I was like, well, and then itbecame an argument in the middle
of the produce section betweenmaskers and non-maskers.
Sure.
I'm going to give kudos toWalmart Corporation.
(17:42):
I don't know if that's theirlegal name or not, but I'm going
to roll with it.
Walmart was the only largeretail grocer store of any kind
in vegas that during that timeallowed me through the doors
without harassment theirgreeters continued to greet
their checkout people i meanthey don't have many it's all
(18:05):
it's all self-checkout nowself-checkout but the staff they
didn't glare at me for not beingmasked yeah all i had to say was
i have a medical exemption andthey were like okay welcome in
welcome in it's amazing what thetwo words welcome in can do
right now this is reallyinteresting prior to all of that
(18:28):
i really hadn't been shopping atwalmart a whole ton i thought i
was like upgraded to at leasttarget right i really did um
from a social status i was likeoh i'm a target goer i shop at
target yeah guess what now youshop at walmart i shop at
walmart and i stopped shoppingat target because Target
harassed me as well.
(18:50):
Target made it really difficult,really difficult to shop there
during the mask mandates.
Yeah, I'm a Walmart shopperagain because I trust their
culture as a company.
I trust that they have trainedtheir employees to not
discriminate.
(19:10):
I trust that Walmart has theattorneys of a lifetime who
understands the law of and anddiscrimination laws very
thoroughly and it all tricklesdown from the top i believe that
walmart's company cultureexcelled during this really
terrible time in the world atleast here in vegas i can speak
(19:33):
on it in vegas i cannot speak onit for anywhere else right but i
became a walmart shopper duringthat time because i knew i
wasn't going to have a panicattack shopping at walmart i
have a panic attack shopping atwalmart that has nothing to with
masks or the pandemic.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
So why are, why are we eventalking about this?
(19:54):
So it did, it influenced how youshop and where you go.
It did.
Yeah.
Because the hospitality wasdifferent everywhere.
It seemed.
And then nobody reallyunderstood.
Okay.
Let's talk dining for a second.
Yeah.
In dining, it was this insanelevel of confusion where it's
like, oh, well as a restaurantowner, I don't know if I'm
(20:15):
allowed to do this I don't knowif I'm allowed to do that I
don't know I don't know I don'tknow but we're gonna just wing
it and make it work right yeahso so everybody everybody they
created all these outdoorseating areas dining patios
became the trend and in Vegasit's 115 degrees outside venues
(20:36):
that couldn't figure out anoutdoor dining space didn't get
to really open no then you hadto be masked until you went and
sat at the table yep and therewas even even one point that you
had to be masked while sittingat the table unless you were
actively eating.
Yes, that was my favorite.
You could be at the table withthe same four people that just
(20:57):
came from your house, but thefour of you have to be seated
and masked unless you're eatingor drinking.
Unless you're putting food ordrink in your mouth.
Oh God, that gives me a headachejust thinking about it.
Yeah.
Even as a mask wearer, I thoughtthat was really dumb.
Okay, let's talk some of thestandards that changed in
(21:19):
dining.
I think the culture of diningchanged during this time of the
world.
You and I, we dine out.
You and I are trained inhospitality.
We understand the standards.
We get it.
We understand what things weshould be getting.
And we understand that we werenot getting very much during
this time as far as servicegoes.
(21:41):
What were some of the things inyour mind or things that stood
out to you that were reallylacking during during that time.
I think there got to a pointwhere people just stopped being
kind.
Yeah.
To others.
It was more so about making surethat you're following protocol
as a guest and less aboutproviding a positive experience
(22:02):
for people.
I remember it being so focusedon, like every employee was
hyper-focused on the masks.
Yes.
That they forgot abouteverything else.
Everything else.
Yeah.
One restaurant in particularnailed it and crushed it, in my
opinion.
And, oh, I'm so excited tomention this on this episode
(22:26):
right now because they earnedour concierge corner last
season.
Ooh.
Nora's Italian.
Nora's Italian fucking crushedit.
What did they do?
As far as addressing how to havesuperior service, meaningful
service, actually havinghospitality, during this crazy
(22:46):
time.
And what I mean by that is theygot those clear masks for their
servers so that the guests, oncethey were seated, could still
see the smiles of theiremployees, right?
Because being able to see asmile is way different than
imagining somebody has it behinda cloth, right?
Being greeted, a huge, hugecomponent of being greeted is
(23:09):
that smile.
Yes.
So Nora's crushed it when theygave their employees the clear
masks to wear during foodservice.
Additionally the way that theydesigned the dining room they
put up these like temporarywalls but the walls had like a
(23:30):
vinyl on them that they designedspecifically to blend in with
the rest of the restaurant.
SPEAKER_00 (23:37):
Interesting.
And
SPEAKER_01 (23:37):
so it actually didn't feel like you were in
E.T.''s bubble when they weretrying to transport him because
that's how I felt most of thetime at a restaurant yeah no you
just felt like you were still inthe restaurant because the
little walls around you werestill restaurant vibe like it
was still all there and and andyou were still getting the
(23:59):
atmosphere yeah that you wouldexpect when you're there just
the thoughtfulness of those twothings alone were superior in my
opinion as far as dining goeskudos to Nora's again I love you
guys I have no affiliation withyou guys but I fuck I fucking
love you.
I can't think of other venuesright off the top of my head
(24:20):
that crushed it like that.
Can you?
You know what?
I do have to, I am, and I'mgoing to name drop.
I do have to give a shout outLazy Dogs in Summerlin.
Okay.
I went to, I met up with afriend and we were just going to
have drinks.
They maintained that you walkedin and it was still, hi,
welcome.
You know, do you prefer sittingoutside?
(24:41):
We do have a couple of tablesavailable.
They walked you through what wasit?
Instead of saying, and you haveto do this.
It was very much still thatwelcoming feeling.
Servers, they came to the table,they apologized that they had to
wipe things down again.
They were paying attention tothe people who walked in.
I remember walking in and theyoung gal at the hostess stand
(25:03):
was just still super friendly.
And you can tell that she wascomfortable being there.
And just doing her job and shewas just friendly about it.
And like I said, she talked methrough there's a couple of you,
do you wanna sit outside?
And she said, where are you morecomfortable sitting?
And I thought, wow, that's agreat question of somebody who
(25:26):
gives a crap about where I am orwhere I wanna sit.
Yeah, that's thoughtful.
I think that speaks to the pointof inhospitality, communicating
expectations.
Over-communicating is betterthan no communication.
Yes.
And so when you communicateexpectations in a crazy time
(25:51):
like that, it's like, oh, wow,now I'm exceeding the guest's
expectations because theyweren't expecting me to
communicate these things.
And now I'm crushing it.
Yes.
Right?
Yes.
So from a business standpoint,if you're a business owner
listening to this, remember,exceeding your guests'
expectations at all times shouldbe a high priority.
Yes.
(26:11):
If you want to get repeatcustomers, you exceed their
expectations.
You wow them.
Yes.
You make them feel important andvalued and welcome and
appreciated for being there,right?
Like I think citywide, I don'tremember going to a single place
where I felt appreciated forbeing there.
No, very many, very much,whatever I'm trying.
(26:32):
I speak, I speak a de-English.
I think there was very much thissense of we were almost a
bother.
Yes.
Yes.
That was something that was verydisappointing.
And unfortunately, I thinkthat's a habit that Carrie Yes.
Oh, here we go.
Here we go.
I got her started.
Okay.
(26:54):
Okay.
Yeah.
The nuisance.
Yeah.
I'm not a fucking nuisance.
Okay.
I'm here to spend my time, myvaluable time and my money.
And my money.
At your business.
Yes.
And you're treating me like I'ma nuisance.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.
I will not come back.
Right.
And I think a lot of peoplehave.
(27:15):
have felt that and I think toomany people have felt that and
come on Vegas we can do betteryes we can we are the city of
hospitality we can do better weneed to do better if you are not
having these conversations withyour employees you need to be or
you need to be making themlisten to this freaking podcast
(27:35):
yeah because this shit mattersif you want to survive in this
city and not go under like Ican't tell you how many
restaurants failed and didn'tsurvive COVID at all.
Tons.
Loyalty matters in Vegas.
Yes.
If you don't have a loyalfollowing, you will not survive,
(27:55):
period.
If you can't get repeatcustomers, you will not survive
in the city.
So if you're not training youremployees to care about your
customers, you're failing beforeyou can even get started.
SPEAKER_00 (28:08):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (28:09):
I cannot emphasize that enough.
There's a faux Kim Long down onSpring Mountain that absolutely
crushed it during COVID.
I think they did more businessduring COVID than any other
time.
Really?
I think.
Good for them.
Don't quote me on that.
I'm still working on gettingthem on the show.
But they have such a loyalfollowing and they crushed the
(28:32):
to-go service.
Their to-go service killed itduring COVID because they have
quality food and a very loyalrepeat customer base.
Yeah.
So look, we've picked up somereally bad habits from COVID
from a business owner standpointthe excuses we've heard is oh
(28:52):
it's just so hard to get goodemployees oh it's so hard to
hire oh it's so hard to findgood people or whatever it is
like all these excuses that'snot true there's a lot of great
people in this city yeah and weneed to be better about
communicating and connecting thegood people to the good places
we need to be more considerateof it's truly a gift when a
(29:16):
guest walks through the frontdoor.
Yes.
It's not just a given.
It's not just something to betaken for granted.
Right.
We need to get back to smilingand handshaking and
communicating.
If we come from a place of fear,we're not going to greet the
guest because we're too afraid.
We're too afraid.
Yeah.
If we're too afraid and we'rejust full of fear, we're not
(29:37):
going to smile.
If we're too afraid and full offear, we're not going to be
welcoming and helpful.
And appreciative.
Nope.
So I say, fuck the fear.
Move on.
We are the, you know, we'rehere.
We're still here.
And we're still humans.
And there's so much kindness tobe had in the city.
(29:58):
But we need to re-tap back intothat.
I agree.
On a mass level.
Yes.
And not to say that somebusinesses aren't already doing
that, right?
Or businesses didn't do thatduring COVID.
There were the few, okay?
Good for them.
Yeah.
So proud of you guys.
You guys are amazing.
Congratulations.
You survived COVID and youcontinue to kill it.
(30:18):
But the mass majority ofbusinesses here in Vegas locally
need to hear this.
Yes.
They need the reality check.
And I'm sorry I have to be theperson to do it.
I really, really am.
I'm not sorry.
I think you're the best personto do it.
I hate this.
I hate feeling like I have to bethe person to throw up all the
red flags, you know?
(30:39):
But nobody else is doing it.
No.
I can't say I've heard anybodyelse have this conversation.
No.
No.
All I hear is other customerscomplaining.
Nobody's actually saying, hey,guys, somebody from the
hospitality industry with theexperience that you have, this
is what's happening.
And if we don't change it, we'reall fucked.
(30:59):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's truly my intention to behelpful.
And you and I recorded yourepisode not long ago about
inspiring change and why it'simportant to share your story.
And I guess to some degree, thisis part of my story now.
Yeah.
Me personally, as a human, as awoman who lives in Vegas, who
(31:22):
was born and raised here, and Iexperienced the city before
COVID, during COVID, and nowafter COVID.
And I guess, yeah, to your pointon your podcast, like my story
matters too.
It does matter.
And my experiences during thattime matter.
My experiences now matter.
Yes.
That's hard for me to say, bythe way.
(31:43):
I'm so proud of you.
I don't like you know puttingthings all about me I I don't I
don't like feeling conceited butI hope that what this can do is
inspire other people who mayhave experienced some of the
things I did to also feel alittle bit more comfortable and
okay with talking about it ifthey haven't and I also hope
(32:04):
that it helps business owners inVegas to maybe really take a
good hard long look in themirror and say you know what
maybe we didn't go about thatquite the right way and let's
Let's think about this.
Let's make an action plan on howwe could do better if ever there
were a time that something likethis in the world happens again.
(32:25):
Yeah.
Because.
Or even if it doesn't.
History repeats itself, Desiree.
Yes, that is true.
Okay.
That is true.
So how soon it's going torepeat, we don't know.
But if it does, when it does,are those businesses really
going to be ready?
Probably not.
Come on.
We have to do better.
This is Vegas.
We are the golden standard yes Ibelieve that to my core I think
(32:49):
that the people here areincredible we are such a unique
city because of the people hereso if our people have lost their
way they need to be remindedthey need to be reminded that we
are the unicorn we can do betterif we choose and we will do
better if we put in the time andeffort yes that's why you have
(33:11):
to look at conversations likethis this is not a selfish
conversation this isn't yousharing oh what was me This is,
hey, community, city, look it.
These are the stories that notonly you're sharing, you're not
the only person that had theseexperiences.
So we need to be sharing theseto spark the conversation so
(33:31):
business owners can hear this iswhat people went through.
Don't make the same mistake.
Yeah, I mean, and look at thecost of it.
I haven't spent a dime withStarbucks.
Right.
And how many other businesseshave felt Yeah, four years, no
Starbucks.
Wow.
I haven't got 24 hours withoutStarbucks, but that's not.
(33:52):
Now, granted, I've drankStarbucks, but somebody else
paid for it.
I've not given a single dime toStarbucks since, in four years,
Desiree.
Good for you.
Good.
That is commitment, okay?
And I have to admit, it wasn'tthat hard because I was so
emotionally turned off.
Yeah.
How many other people wereemotionally turned off from an
(34:14):
experience they had during that?
time.
And how many people are theytelling about it?
Yeah.
You're right.
Oh my stomach is growling.
It's lunchtime.
It's lunchtime.
So I think with all of thatbeing said there was there's one
restaurant in particular thatdidn't survive COVID and I'm not
entirely sure why but it was IlMolino New York at Caesars
(34:36):
Palace Form Shops.
Yep.
I have a personal tie to thatrestaurant.
A long long time ago duringcollege I was a hostess there.
Okay.
So I just naturally when youwork somewhere and you realize
how incredible the food thepeople the culture the all of it
you fall in love with theproduct as a whole yeah and they
(34:58):
didn't survive covet and i wasreally really really sad about
that and i was wondering if youhad any place that that you
loved that didn't make it therewas gosh and you know what i
don't even remember the name ofit there was a it was um a
little grocer actuallysurprisingly right down the
street from my house and it wasowned we went in there for years
(35:20):
and talked to the owner and heowned it ran it just a super
nice guy um and when covid shutdown he he he actually didn't
survive more than two monthsafter the initial shutdown um
and he just said he just wasn'tgetting enough people coming in
(35:44):
even being just a little youknow, convenience store, he
didn't have a gas stationattached to him.
So he was relying on walkingbusiness and he said, people
just aren't visiting businesses.
And he was gone by the end ofsummer.
That was a bummer because itwas, talk about a true local,
small business owner providingservice.
Hundreds of businesses didn'tsurvive.
(36:05):
the first, let's call it fivemonths.
We are such an amazing communitythat I just know somewhere out
there, somewhere, someone outthere, oh my gosh, if I could
talk, maybe can help.
I have to imagine the financialplanning of any mom and pop
(36:26):
business here in Vegas issomething that isn't heavily
focused on.
How do we help businesses to behealthy, to survive another
worldly event because we've hadas I think I mentioned last
season so many worldly eventsI'm tired of all these
historical events happening inmy lifetime oh my gosh what it's
(36:47):
not a matter of if it's a matterof when yeah there will be
another worldly event at somepoint in time is your business
prepared right are you savingmoney is your business saving
money to be ready for that yeahbusiness owners out there I hope
this episode really hits homefor you I hope it in Have
conversation.
Talk to your employees, yourteam members, your business
(37:10):
partners, your friends, yourfamily.
Don't be afraid to ask, what canwe do better?
And Nevada has excellentresources as well.
The Small BusinessAdministration, SCORE.
There's so many resources outthere for small businesses in
Nevada specifically.
Use those people.
Get a mentor.
Get a business mentor if youwant.
(37:31):
There are people out there whocan help and guide and yeah do
it just do it just do it yes wedon't want to see our small
businesses not surviving thenext worldly event we want to
see local businesses thrivingand surviving right yes mostly
thriving mostly thriving oh mygosh surviving when they have to
(37:52):
thriving because they can that'sright that's right Desiree thank
you so much for having thistough conversation with me yeah
I love tough conversations Ilove that you got to tell a
story or two in there too thatmakes me happy oh god God, I
have a pit in my stomach still,but it's too late now.
We're publishing this.
That's right.
And that's a wrap on thisepisode of the Vegas Strong
(38:13):
Revival Podcast.
I hope you found our discussionengaging and even
thought-provoking.
A big shout out to all of ouramazing listeners for tuning in
and supporting the show becauseit truly means the world to us.
So thank you.
Let's keep the Vegas Strongspirit alive.
Share this podcast with yourfriends, family, colleagues, and
just anyone who loves Vegas.
If you have ideas, suggestions,or want to be a guest on the
(38:34):
show, simply reach out online orfeel free to text us on our
super cool podcast hotline,702-723-2343.
And of course, don't forget tosubscribe to the show on your
favorite podcast platform so younever miss an episode.
Let's keep pushing theboundaries and reviving our
city's passion for authenticservice together.
(38:55):
Stay strong, Vegas.
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