Why Do Stories Matter In Hospitality?

Timothy R Andrews (00:00.074)
Welcome back everyone. It's another exciting day on our podcast and we couldn't be more thrilled about our guests today. But first I'm your host, Timothy R. Andrews. And I'm your co-host, Tracy Rashid.

Timothy R Andrews (00:21.235)
Insolent shit

Timothy R Andrews (00:26.754)
You know, Tracy, we often talk about hospitality is more than just a service. It's a story. Each experience we share and every guest we meet has a unique tale to tell. That's absolutely right, Timothy. Stories, they really are the heart of hospitality. Stories are how we connect with each other, share experiences and learn new perspectives.

It's through these narratives that we were able to humanise and enrich our understanding of the world of hospitality. And who better to talk about the integral role of storytelling in hospitality than someone who has made it his life's work to amplify these narratives. Our guest today has been capturing and sharing some of the most captivating stories from the hospitality world. Welcome to another episode of Talking Hospitality. Please give a warm welcome to Phil Street.

Phil, thank you so much for joining us. Your podcast has been an inspiration to many and we're so thrilled to have you here. Well, bless you guys. That's very, very kind. What a wonderful, wonderful welcome. My life's work. I will take that and I will definitely, I'm gonna put that in my marketing now for sure.

Timothy R Andrews (01:49.614)
So for those listeners who aren't in the UK, who are or who aren't in hospitality or have lived under a rock, Phil is a host for the really informative and popular Hospitality Meets podcast and is also a director for Hospitality Recruiters, Momentum Recruitment. I'm always really pleased to meet other podcasters and I'm really interested in what makes other people pick up that mic.

What sparked the idea for you to kickstart your hospitality podcast, Hospitality Meets? If I cast my mind back, this was not something that was actually driven by lockdowns, despite the fact that that's when it was launched. I'd had the idea before. I got to the wrong side of 40. And I think like everybody who gets to that age, wakes up one day and goes, am I doing enough? Could I be doing more? Is what I'm doing what I should be doing? What can I...

give my energy to, I was really kind of just frustrated with all the negative press that was getting out about hospitality as a career. And my own experience of that is not the same. And when you speak to people as a recruiter, I was talking to so many people and their experience is not the same. So all of a sudden I was in my head, I was thinking to myself, if the vast majority of people are having a good experience, then we need to turn the narrative on its head a little bit and start talking about the good stuff.

Really, it was just about taking what I was already doing, which was interviewing people, but relaxing that down a little bit. I am a big believer that stories carry so much power. And actually, if you're trying to get across to somebody that this is a great industry to come in, what better way to do that than through the stories of the people who already work here? Absolutely.

Timothy R Andrews (03:31.646)
I think the thing is the biggest narrative for me is the fact that everybody's story is different. From a dream perspective, interviewing Raymond Blanc was just a dream come true. And to do that face to face at Le Manoir was just wonderful. His story is just incredibly epic from start to finish and somebody like him is doing so much for the industry. Cyrus Toddywaller also springs to mind. He told a story about this time that he was doing a function for a hotel in India. Canadian...

Prime Minister got lost between airport and hotel. And I just thought to myself, this is exactly what hospitality is. It's these moments where you can do all the best planning and give the greatest experience that you can, but stuff comes up and stuff allows you the opportunity to learn how to react quickly when things don't go well. I interviewed David Cowdery and he came out with a story where the punchline of the story was basically that he ended up sitting on a vibrating Parmesan machine.

Timothy R Andrews (04:31.527)
And I'd never even heard of a vibrating parmesan machine. But then for him to come out with that, I was like, yes, now these are, that's the stories that people need to hear. We want to hear people's career stories for sure, but actually it's the human stuff that happens to us all at various points in our career. That's the stuff for me that has the true power. And what I love with the example that you gave about the prime minister is that although hospitality is an industry in its own right,

it sits in so many other industries. Whatever your interests are, you can marry the two together, which is always so fascinating to hear the stories behind that. Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more.

Timothy R Andrews (05:10.934)
Phil, of course, you're not only a podcaster, but you're a recruiter as well. What made you get into recruitment in the first place? And what is it like right now? This is a question I've been asked so many times over, over my career. And I think it probably.

change, the answer changes depending on what time of life you get me in. And I hadn't really thought about it in as much depth because I think I was a little bit starstruck by getting asked the question by Harry Murray. I'm passionate about talking to people. That's one of my superpowers that you can put me into any room with anyone and I'm in my element. And hospitality has always felt like a very natural career path for me as a result of that. Being able to speak to people and make them feel good about themselves is something that I take pride in. I...

I suppose as I got into my mid twenties, I fell out of love a little bit with the hours of hospitality that I was keeping. I think probably accentuated by the fact that I met my now wife and we were kind of like ships that were passing in the night, barely spending any time together. And I think that really made me analyze the direction I was going. And it was then just because of a chance conversation with a recruiter that happened to be dealing with my application at the time, where they suggested to me, have you ever considered?

a career in recruitment. I didn't even know that recruitment was a sector that you could get into. And so here was an opportunity basically to carry on that passion as I now know of speaking to people, reflecting back on my life and career. I take great pleasure in elevating people and just making people feel better about stuff. So recruitment feeds into that really, really well, because really all we're trying to do is elevate our clients.

experience when it comes to recruitment, how do they move forward in their career? So when you put the two together like that, that's why I'm now here, even though I kind of ended up there by pure accident. I think a lot of us do sometimes, don't we? 150 conversations on the podcast. And I think I can count on one hand, the people who had a plan at age 15, 18, 20, and are now seeing out that plan.

Timothy R Andrews (07:05.578)
The rest of us mere mortals just go where the opportunity presents itself. Yeah, I got into hospitality by quitting law school, much to my parents' dismay, I think is the word I would use. My mum is listening to this, so. If your show is anything like mine, then your mum's probably accounting for 50% of the downloads. In my 20s, lots of hours, customer of mine ran a recruitment company. Oh!

Oh, it's a hospitality recruitment company. I know about hospitality and I can do Monday to Friday, nine to five. As anyone knows, if they've ever done hospitality recruitment, it ain't no such thing as a Monday to Friday, nine to five, so it's kind of opportunity. And it is about talking to people. I think actually the hospitality bit makes the recruitment bit easier. I totally get your point around actually it's the hospitality element. It's the passion as well, because yes, you get to a point in your life, like you say.

that you think, okay, money isn't everything. It actually isn't. I want to be happy and passionate and content and see other people grow and develop. So that kind of becomes your driver. I think there's some psychology around that, isn't there, around the age? So I get you've kind of got to chase the money a little bit, but actually, again, things that come up under conversation with so many people, people who chase the money, who've ultimately gotten to the end of that and then found themselves in a place where they have no passion. That's a greater problem. Lockdown has reset quite a lot of people.

Like you can see it's cross-generational. It's not just the 20-somethings or the 50-somethings. It's everybody in between as well is like, well, actually, I don't know if I want to do that anymore. I think we were all forced to look at what we were doing. Unfortunately, my world crashed around me, but I now have options that I don't think I thought I had in 2019.

Timothy R Andrews (08:53.134)
I often describe myself as coming out of the hospitality sector as opposed to recruitment. Yep. How do you describe this? Recruitment just happens to be the thing that I do within the hospitality sector. We're here to kind of add value to somebody's recruitment process. I'm realistic enough to know that I can't help everyone 100% of the time. I'm very honest about that when I speak to people. I just come from a school of business whereby if there's two people slash two businesses at a table, then both party walks away happy.

more complicated than that. I'm not in recruitment anymore. It's great talking to people that are at the moment because there are some people that really do want to make a difference. I think that we actually haven't given the external recruiters a voice really, but having been one myself, I know that there are good people out there that do want to make a difference. Saying is one thing, right? And action is where it's at. So I will always live and die by the action that I take. The greatest challenge for me is actually staying positive.

And actually we need now more than ever the people who give a monkeys about this industry, the people who really know how to run their businesses to the best of their abilities to help and elevate those who need that lift. You can get caught up in all of the noise that's going on outside and actually forget to just really look at the detail and you're...

just in front of your own nose. Like don't worry about the noise that's out there. Don't worry about what people are telling you about their problems. Focus on your own problems and look after your own house. In the moment, it'll be the toughest thing you'll ever have to do, but it will. You'll look back on it in years to come and go, it was the making of me. I think you have to find the ways to stay positive. And this is something again, it came to me post 40.

very philosophical time of my life. You've got to find the moments that give you joy. And that doesn't have to be your job. It doesn't have to be the thing that pays the bills. If you're consumed by all of that, you're not giving your brain the chance to respond in the way that it can to the problem that you have. So you need to be able to give yourself lifts and give yourself moments of joy. And when you can't get that yourself, then it's time to seek the help of others. I think that's such a

Timothy R Andrews (11:04.506)
sound piece of advice. I actually wrote a post on this a couple of weeks ago, it was at the Katie's. And I think the week before that was at the IOH awards. And it's wonderful to take a moment and stop to celebrate people who are doing really, really wonderful things on an industry wide basis. Do you as a business slash individual ever take a moment to celebrate your day? What you achieved? You might have swum against the tide for 75% of your day, but in that 25% you've achieved something.

These are all little victories. And I don't think we give ourselves enough credit sometimes for the day-to-day stuff that we wade through to get to the other side. Without sounding really deep, I'm quite thankful for waking up every day and just starting a new day and seeing my friends and family and recording a podcast. If you want to go deep, I am your man. Yeah. Can I say that? That was... That was all I could say. Can I say that?

Timothy R Andrews (12:03.522)
So what expert tips or strategies do you have for those struggling to fill roles at the moment? I think the industry knows it and the industry is trying to do something about it. All we can do as far as I can see, if the problem seems too big to face, I always come back to the basics. So if you are inviting people to come and work in your business, know at the moment that they will have a massive choice of where to go work. So you've got to give them enough reasons as to why they should do that. And for me, that's about giving them a platform where they feel

like they belong, where they feel that they have growth opportunities, their voice is heard, where they feel that they're not being hung out to dry and rinsed for hours. None of this is ground-breaking stuff, but I think a lot of the time we all get stuck in the moment of busyness and when everybody's busy to a point of stretch, their propensity is then to shortcut. Kicking the can down the road by cutting a corner now.

is not actually going to solve the problem. It's just solving the moment. You know, if we're really, really honest about all of this, I think we've only got ourselves to blame for this. The industry exploded on the back of the last crash and we, investment came into the industry at a never seen before rate. The investment element then wants to grow as quickly as possible. You then are asking people to grow at the same rate and that's not always possible. You're asking people to be promoted into a role that they're perhaps not ready for and then critically,

not backing them up when they inevitably get to a point where they've reached the ceiling. So that to me is where we have to start again, really, because that sounds like it's quite a negative thing. But we've got more than enough people in hospitality that give a monkeys about this stuff. So it's all about the strength of character of leaders. It needs everybody to pull in the same direction. And I think when we do that, we win. I heard it here first, guys. Yes, that's going to be on a t-shirt. Can I tell you a bugbear of mine?

that we're all fighting for the same people. And that, if you look at it, is potentially what we are looking at. But actually, wars don't really solve anything, right? And I think that the thing that I've learned around COVID was that we had this wonderful, wonderful moment in time where people talked about collaborating more, about learning from each other more, and all of that. And that's actually the approach that we need. We need a collaborative approach. Yes.

Timothy R Andrews (14:25.914)
I don't know if you saw her on my LinkedIn or not, Phil. I saw the head of talent for a restaurant chain that's opening up in Brighton shortly. And what she's done just delights me to think of this every time. And what she did, she said, we're opening up in Brighton, we are aware it's a local economy, we know there's small businesses there, small restaurants, small cafes. So what I've done is everybody that's applied, I've got a list and I'll put it on an Excel spreadsheet of where they're from, which restaurants they're from.

So when I come to decision-making, I'm only going to take a small amount. I'm not going to strip restaurants of their people. Oh, nice. That is hospitality and the true sense of community and looking out for each other. And that there was living proof and evidence right there in front of me. And they've got a good reputation for reason. And when you see that you see why. You see why people stay. A friend of mine has had an expression, the fish rots from the head. The head is like caring.

and it's going throughout the whole organization, then these are the kind of people we want. Fish rocks from the head. I'm gonna have that one. You can have that one. Yeah, but I completely agree with you. It doesn't matter how shiny your business is. If you don't have people to operate it, you have no business, especially in hospitality. Oh, what's that noise? Yeah, that noise means it's time to put the cuppa down question time. Our time for talking is over.

We've heard about recruitment. We've heard about hospitality meets, but now we want to find out about you. The real you. Now, regular listeners will know how this works. The aim of the game is to answer the question, giving only one word answers. But as we know, trying to get hospitality people and in particular podcasters, Phil, to say one word when they can use 50 is virtually impossible. Yeah, I'm saying nothing. So this season.

We're going to have a competition. We will be marking the questions out of a hundred. Scores will be based on speed, wittiness and on one word answers. Blame it. We will also be marking it on anything arbitrary we feel like. And the winner will receive at the end of the season. Are you sitting down for this Phil? I am. Are you ready? I'm ready. A £10 Amazon voucher to spend the one hundredth. Oh my God. Honestly, we're that good. We're that good.

Timothy R Andrews (16:45.726)
Wow. I mean that is generous, Phil. That is generous. Are you ready? Are you ready? As I'll ever be. Then we'll begin.

Timothy R Andrews (17:00.206)
What are the colour of your eyes? Blue What's your favourite day? Wednesday Where's your favourite holiday destination? The Maldives What time do you normally go to bed? Eleven-ish What's your favourite smell? My dog's head If you were in a witness protection programme, what would your new name be? Josh Templeton Do you think there should be more or less laws? Less How do you prefer to pay? Card What TV show do you watch the most?

Live at the Apollo. Name a famous person alive today who will be known a hundred years from now. Hans Zimmer. He's cultured. Do you agree that good grammar is not important as long as people can understand you? Yes. What's your nickname? Pigeon. What's are you interested in that most people haven't heard of? Ooh, wow. That's a belter. Most people haven't heard of. Hans Zimmer. Say a word in French. Bonjour.

What bends your mind every time you think about it? Christopher Nolan's tenet. I feel like he's trying to tell us something. What talent would you show off in a talent show? I'd just love to say stand-up comedy. If you lost all of your possessions but one, what would you want it to be? My wedding photo album, which I'll say on one take and the other take would be my dog.

If my wife listens to this, I have to say the wedding album. And if the dog listens, you have to say the dog. Exactly. Why is it necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin? I don't really know. What? You can't answer that really in one word though, if I'm being honest. I have a word. Worms. Do fish get thirsty? No. Remember this, Phil.

Decision making is key. That said, if you decide that you're indecisive, which one are you? Indecisive. And that's it, Phil. Thank you for sharing the tea. You're literally sweating. Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna have to have a lie down after that. But Tracy, more than important that Phil's lie down, how many points did Phil get? Okay, so.

Timothy R Andrews (19:16.974)
Let me calculate. So five minus. Don't forget to take away that. Yeah. Minus, yeah. Don't forget that too. And add that. Don't forget that. Million. Yep. Take away 26. Oh, his age 21. So that's 79. I have 79. Not bad. Where can I brush up for next time? Oh, there's a next time. We're running up to six. Yes. Will it be enough to win? You'll have to follow us until the end of the season to find out.

So we'll have to find out. I mean, I will be tuning in every week just because, I mean, £10. And you better be. You better be tuning in. All the things you can buy with that. Just wait for an Amazon day, you'll be fine. So thank you Phil for being such a great guest. My pleasure. Do you want to know why I'm called Pigeon? Yeah, go on. Why are you called Pigeon?

This is a legacy nickname from my university mates because you might remember back in the 80s there was a children's program called Pigeon Street. Yes. And therefore, my second name being Street, the obvious choice was Pigeon. I'm just too young to remember that, I'm sorry. Oh, thank you, pardon. Well, you should go and watch some reruns on YouTube then because it'll blow your mind. Oh, I can't wait. I might use it as a soundtrack.

Tracy for our podcast every day. So every time you hear it, you'll know what you're missing out on. Exactly. Cause I'll tell you how to get, how to get to pigeon street. Right. Phil, you had literally, you've been brilliant. Thank you so much for being a great guest. Really informative. Great to have you on. Keep banging out the podcast. Really great. Keep doing what you're doing and let's keep fighting the fight for our industry.

Yeah, and thank you so much for inviting me on and I reciprocate the goodwill. Keep doing what you're doing as well. We need to podcasters unite. Yes. Together we can save the world. There's a Marvel movie in there for sure. I think, yeah, I can see like outfits and everything. Oh my gosh, my mind is, yeah, anyway.

Timothy R Andrews (21:29.358)
Thank you to all our listeners who have made this podcast possible. Sadly, that's all of this episode of Talking Hospitality with me, Tracy Vashied and Timothy R. Andrews. But tune in next week where we'll have another fabulous guest who will be talking hospitality. Don't forget to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening and stay safe and well.

Timothy R Andrews (21:58.702)
Thanks for watching!