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Why I Love the Hospitality Business


“Hospitality is the foundation of my business philosophy. Virtually nothing else is as important as how one is made to feel in a business transaction. Hospitality exists when you believe the other person is on your side. The converse is just as true. Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple propositions - for and to - express it all.” - Famed Restaurateur Danny Meyer

Hospitality is one of the world’s noblest professions as it allows us to become fully acquainted with both our own and our guests’ humanity . When we are a host, we create a free space where a stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not meant to change people, but to offer them space where a transformation can take place. How the world might be different if we all thought of ourselves as hosts.

I’ve spent my life in the service of creating joy. It’s why I called my boutique hotel company Joie de Vivre based upon Rabindranath Tagore’s exquisite quote, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Over the course of my career, I believed that most hotel companies were in the business of ‘selling sleep’ to their customers. The hosts in the businesses I’ve led are in the business of ‘creating dreams’ for our guests. I believed that as a hotelier, as the Airbnb exec in charge of all our hosts in the world, and as the founder of MEA.

So, it was quite an honor to recently see my name on this list of the 10 Most Influential People in Hospitality alongside Anthony Bourdain, Danny Meyer, Barry Sternlicht, Ian Schrager, and the CEO’s of three of the largest hotel companies in the world. While no teenagers say they want to be “a host” when they grow up, I believe it’s one of the most rewarding and important professions one can aspire to. And, in truth, you can be a host in any profession. 

-Chip

P.S. One of MEA’s most hospitable guest faculty members is one of our youngest thought leaders, Justin Michael Williams. His annual “Transitions: Crafting Your Next Chapter” is so popular and is happening in Baja early next month. His work has been endorsed by Martin Luther King Jr.’s family, as well as Arianna Huffington, Marianne Williamson, and Jon Kabat Zinn. He specializes in helping people do the shadow work to deeply unlock what’s holding them back.

P.P.S. Texas Monthly did a feature story on MEA that just came out, written by a journalist who came as a cynic and was partially won over by his MEA experience. Glad that our cowboy sage Lee got the recognition he deserves.

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