A Gathering Spot - Aliya Khan - Episode # 035

Aliya Khan, VP of design lifestyle brands at Marriott, promotes a positive lifestyle for brands and global design strategy. In 2019, she was an honoree for women in design from Hospitality Design magazine. Aliya joins host Dan Ryan to discuss her view on #hospitality and how important it is to be more open to change and face it with a positive attitude. 

Takeaways: 

 

• Hospitality is about bringing people together from all walks of life. Sometimes you know them, sometimes you don't. It’s about experiencing new things in life with others.
• The environment, the experience and the memory all add up to play important roles in delivering hospitality.
• Often it can be the small things that make an experience so much more meaningful. You want to make sure all your guests' needs are met, even the small ones. It shows thoughtfulness and caring
• You can learn so much from watching people. You’ll learn what they like and dislike and can use that to make a hospitality experience more relatable and enjoyable.
• When you embrace change, you always see everything as an opportunity. You need to find a positive outlook and build that culture in your work and life.
• Surround yourself with people who have the same view on change as you do. That way when you are going through change, they can help you get through it if you struggle.
• Everything in a restaurant is designed to work together to create a memorable experience.
• You want to celebrate the core foundational pieces of a hotel or restaurant when taking it over. You can update some things but it’s worth keeping some core things the same.

Quote of the Show:

 

2:54 “One of my grandmothers on one side of my family [I'm one of eight grandchildren] didn't have a big enough dining table for eight children and the parents that came with them. So she had this rug and we would literally, I'm not kidding, sit around that rug. We would go serve ourselves lunch and sit on the floor. Cross-legged on that rug. And I think to myself, when I think about that, I think about how it brought a group of people together, it always brought us back together.

 

So I sort of see it like a metaphor for hospitality. It brings people together. It brings you together from all over. Sometimes you know the people, sometimes you don't. But it literally is this gathering spot.”

Links:

 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliya-khan-8245461/
• Website: https://www.marriott.com/default.mi

Shout Outs:

 

10:28 “American Utopia” by David Byrne

14:59 Aaron Ritcher

22:05 Marriott

22:09 Arne Sorenson

28:22 Moxie

28:26 Westin

30:39 Aloft Hotels

31:51 Equinox Hotels

33:15 Heavenly Bed

36:27 Mitchell Gold

36:36 Robert Polin

36:41 Christine McGinnis

41:16 Kristina O’Neil 

44:11 Beverly Hills Hotel

44:14 St. Regis Hotel

45:24 Westin St. Francis

45:26 The Clift

45:53 Michael Mina

46:04 Larry Traxler

47:54 The Royalton

48:14 W Hotels

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/8bv5EGJPC2A