It's Personal Stories, A Hospitality Podcast

Eric Jacobs, Global Growth Officer, Aimbridge Hospitality interviewed by Rachel Humphrey

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Eric shares how his love of cooking set in motion a lifelong career in the hotel industry. He talks about realizing leadership at any early age, how his leadership has evolved over time, and why character is the driving factor in building great teams. Eric discusses why his engagement with non-profits is so important for him, the important ways his employers have supported him in these endeavors, and his advice to his younger self.

Rachel Humphrey:

I am Rachel Humphrey with It's Personal Stories, a hospitality podcast, and we are a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering personal success within the hospitality industry. Super excited to be joined today by Eric Jacobs with Ambridge Hospitality. Eric, how are you doing?

Eric Jacobs:

I'm doing great. It's great to see you, Rachel. We've it's been over the years. Just a pleasure to work with you and partner with you throughout the different organizations that we've both been with. But pleasure to be here this morning.

Rachel Humphrey:

I am excited to jump right in. As our listeners know, one of the things I love and I know you love about the hospitality industry is you can really create any path, chart any path that you want to and still end up in positions of leadership in this industry. So tell us a little bit about you, your journey, and if you think there were any moments along the way that were really pivotal into shaping where you ended up today.

Eric Jacobs:

Yeah, I I got brought into the industry when I was eight years old in many ways. My, my mom went back to work and my dad who was very he grew up in a family where we all had to pitch in and I just remember my dad saying, okay, you got Monday night, my brother had Tuesday night, my other brother had Wednesday night, mom was going back to work and we had to start making dinner and it had to be on the table sometime between six and seven o'clock or, or else. And that's where I really found my entry into the hospitality industry in some ways. I've been an entrepreneur really sit at a young age. My dad was very much focused on teaching us business skills, sales skills, things like that. But at eight I started cooking and by the time I was 12 I was in a kitchen. Working washing dishes and chopping vegetables and doing anything I could to really lean in on the culinary side. And I really had a dream of becoming a chef. That was my goal originally really go off to have my own restaurant, things like that. But it was really early on from a business perspective that my dad instilled in all of us. I remember at eight getting my first job as a paper boy. walking in Sunday morning and saying, Hey, where's my allowance? He's a, you're a working man. Now it's on you. I've been working my whole life. The thing that he always stressed was make sure you do what you love and make sure you surround your people, yourself with people that share the same kinds of values and ideas about how you approach the business. And I'll talk a little bit more about that. But so I pursued culinary very hard. By the time I was 14, I was working on a line, 14, four nights a week. Still throwing newspapers. And by the time I was 16, I was still throwing newspapers, working on a line. And I started my first company with the help of my dad. So I had my first company which was a tent rental business for catering events and golf tournaments and things like that. So help me pay for college. But really pursued food and beverage background in restaurant management, beverage management Shoot. I was 18 running a wine bar with 700 wines and 400 different types of beer back In the early 80s before craft beer was really an accepted, business today and at 18 here I was running a restaurant and I couldn't even drink it. So I've been around, the food and beverage a lot. It took me to UNLV I was had interviewed or had applied at some of the other institutions and I ended up at UNLV. I also had a love for sports and football. And when I went for my interview at the time, I had an opportunity to meet the quarterback coach was from my hometown. And he said, Hey, let's go to lunch. You're here for interviews. And he took me and I met the equipment managers, the managers for the football team before the end of lunch, I had a full ride scholarship to UNLV's hotel program. So that's why I ended up at UNLV. But it was to pursue my passion around. Really hospitality, really a focus on culinary. My dad really wanted me to go to business school first before I went to a culinary institution. That way I could blend the business and the love of impassioned around food. Ultimately when I, my dad passed when I was a junior and in college, and that really forced me to make some decisions. I needed to get to work, help my mom, do some of those things and ended up really taking a management training program back then at the day, Stouffer Hotels and Resorts, which was a really quality operating company at the time, great management company. Along the way, I've continued to serve that passion around food and beverage. I've had restaurants along the way with a partner. As we all know, restaurant business is really hard for every 10, everyone that opens 10 closes. So we've experienced some of that, the challenges of that. And I think probably I stayed in the hotel business and stayed on the upside. I was really keen on food and beverage, ended up being food and beverage operations, outlet management, banquet convention services, sales and catering. I'm really a person that has truly grown up in the business and probably done almost every role at the hotel level. The exception of being really a GM. But it was I ended up in sales and national sales and that was all in a very short period of time. So let's say between 22 and 28, I had multiple different roles, food and beverage operations convention, and ultimately in sales. And it was somewhere in the mid nineties, which is when the brands were just starting to really franchise. Certainly send it was out there and days in, and they were franchising best Western certainly was out there and doing theirs. IHG had launched holiday and express in the early nineties. But think about this. Marriott hadn't really gone full blown franchising. They opened their first franchise in 1990 with Bruce White on a Fairfield in Hilton wasn't franchising at the time in the mid nineties. It wasn't until the late nineties and certainly the purchase of promise that really took franchising that way. And it was in the 9096 that I got a call from a previous sales leader who had taken over development at I H G and said, How would you like to do franchise development, franchise sales? And I said, give me a minute. We had computers that barely and I got online like, All right, hold on a second. And so here I am a student of the industry, gone to hotel school. And I'm being, I'm finally learning that the big brands don't own all their hotels. And that their growth plan in North America was really to accelerate franchising. And so in many ways, I feel like I, for the last 30 years, I've grown up around that franchising model and that franchising model. So you think about all the brands today. One, I didn't and then this is one of the things when I go back to business school or to the hotel schools is help these students to understand that the world is so much broader than just being an operator, which is what I thought when I was coming out of UNLV. If I you said if you would ask me at 22 what your goal would have been the GM of the Grand Hyatt while a right. That would have been my ultimate role. And by the time I'm in my mid to late thirties, I'm figuring out how do I own the Grand Hyatt. There was such a transformation and a lack of understanding of how our industry work. But I also feel like for the last 30 years, the word franchising and the partnerships between ownership groups. The movement to private equity coming into our space has been a huge education around real estate ownership. So I've really had a many ways, I think the benefit of growing up in or, accelerating my career around this franchise business model. Many of us have and it's been wonderful to me. I love the fact that people, talk to me a lot. What do you love about our business? And so we have people in the hotel business and you have people in the business of hotels and they're very two different folks and how we approach our business. But I love the understanding of the real estate, understanding that we drive value through these associates and GM's and that it's a very complex commercial real estate model that has lots of moving parts. And it's the people that, bring our hotels to life. Otherwise they're just buildings. And so I think my journey around this franchising model spending time in operations, helping owners really to achieve their goals, Has really been probably the joy. And just a path I'd never thought I'd still thought I would become a chef one day, have my own restaurant somewhere in wine country. We were talking about that earlier in the wine country. And but maybe that goal will still be there one day.

Rachel Humphrey:

You never know. Yeah.

Eric Jacobs:

And I've worked for wonderful companies too, whether it was IHG back then, Holiday Inn Worldwide. And then have the opportunity to work at Hilton and and experience their particularly as they were just getting into the franchising business in the late nineties, early twos when they bought promise and then have a 20 year run at Marriott in the development side and launching new brands and things like that. It's just been an absolute joy. I've looked back on every moment and said I'm so blessed about the opportunities that folks entrusted me in the teams that I've had been able to lead and learn from them. It's just been an absolute I don't know what else I would have done other than, stayed in the sports management side and ultimately become a football coach. That would have been my only other train. So

Rachel Humphrey:

well, so many incredible lessons. First of all, I will tell you, you are not the first guest advisor to say that your first job was throwing newspapers. That's actually something we hear pretty regularly. But I also love that you learned at an early lesson, both when you were going to UNLV, when you made it over to IHG, the importance of relationships and networking and relying on relationships that you had built genuinely for other reasons and propelling things forward. And we'll talk about that in a little bit. I wanted to talk about. The idea of leadership generally. Sometimes when I interview people, they'll say, I knew I was born to lead like from the day when others will say, you know what? I still am surprised that people call me a leader today. Where do you fall on that spectrum? When you're thinking about your own journey, as far as being a leader goes,

Eric Jacobs:

there was a very pivotal point. I was 13 years old. In my life, and I had made a bad choice, and I remember the conversation with my dad, and he put me at the fork, and he basically said, you have two paths one, you can lead, or you can follow, and I want you to be the leader and. There was a that moment in time where my dad really challenged me to say, look, you're a bright young man. You've got but you're making some bad choices. And so you have a choice whether to lean in to be the leader or to be the follower. And that day that I had made that bad choice, I was being the follower instead of the leader. And that was really the point he was trying to make. You have a choice. And I think it's at that point where the word leadership and the expectation that my mom and dad had for me really propelled me. From that point on, I was in student body leadership. I was class president from 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th. So very involved in school activities. I was captain in the football team. I was willing to step away and do things that I wanted to do. I had a Many people don't know this about me, but I love to sew and I've been sewing since the seventh grade, mostly because most of the stuff in woodshop and metal shop was boring to me because I'd always been working with my hands. My dad said, why don't you take, why don't you take sewing? There's a good chance of meeting young ladies that way. But I ended up, so I still sew when I can, I'm actually teaching my six year old granddaughter how to sew. She got her sewing machine over the holidays, so we're still leaning in on that. But it's really, that was that pivotal point. I had a choice to make as a young man, and my dad really impressed upon you. You didn't go this direction or this direction. If you go this direction, it's about leadership. I think I'm sure we all have heard this. You're, if you hang out with turkeys, you're a turkey. If you hang out with eagles, you're an eagle. 90 percent of your reputation and how you're going to act and behave are the people that put around you. And so that, that was that moment in my time. And then I had people throughout my junior high and high school career education leaders, football coach, things like that, that really influential in saying, look, you have the, people follow you, you have an energy and a focus around caring about people, caring about the purpose that you're focused on and people want to be a part of that. And so I really, I feel was very blessed that I had people along the early, junior high and high school. I can name names today, still in touch with many of them, those who are still alive. And I still thank them today for pouring into me as a young leader even in my teens. And I think it's it, that's when I realized that, I was going to be a leader of men and women. And that, but that was a true it's a commitment. And it's choices. And I think throughout my career as I've built teams and I've taken on new roles, I've really realized that, it's the holding yourself accountable to a high standard and everybody else around you. Ultimately, that's what people are attracted to. My kids hear it all the time. Adults are like Children. We all need discipline and accountability, but none of us want going to ask for it. But when we set up those kinds of things, people feel and gravitate towards that. And so if it was probably, it's probably a long answer, but I can see different points throughout my career, and it doesn't mean that I haven't stumbled along the way and I've been graciously picked up by leaders and say, Hey, here's a moment, just like my dad did when I was 13. You might, this is how you're showing up. And is that really what you want? And you can drive more success by thinking about it differently or approaching it differently. So I've had some people along the way that have been really helpful. and shaping my leadership throughout my career and never being willing to just accept. I've made it and now I'm good.

Rachel Humphrey:

Actually, again, some great things. One of the threads that I'm noticing, though, is how impactful your dad's words have been with you. Throughout the course of both your career and your life, and how that has really formed a lot of decisions for you. You just talked about this kind of evolution of leadership, and I believe very strongly in reflecting and evolving and trying to figure out what we can do differently and better. Sometimes, as we evolve, there are things we get better at, and sometimes there are things that we get worse at. Do you find in your leadership that there are things that you've been very intentional about developing or improving? And then what has gotten worse over time for you?

Eric Jacobs:

So I probably one of the, for those who know me, I'm a charger, I'm a driver. And and I'm passionate. I'm passionate, no reason to do anything unless we do it with full on complete passion around it. And sometimes that passion and that eagerness to win, not personally, but to have the team win comes off as aggressive and maybe stifling to some folks. And so I have certain leaders I'll choose Liam Brown for one of them. Who would would try, I would, I he mentioned to this, me, he says, Eric, I just, I want to make sure you're so smart. You're so passionate, but you just need to slow down some time and allow people to speak first, two ears and one mouth. And I'm really, I believe I'm really good on the sales side. But when I got into the organization, I had to be reminded to allow people to express their ideas. And that's something that he held me accountable. Really, for most of my career at Marriott, we'd be in meetings and I'd make sure, after an hour or two after I pick up the phone and say, Hey, how did I show up today? So it was something he really challenged me on, and I'm very cognizant of it. And I think, as I've taken on this new role at Ambridge, even more senior role than I had at Marriott, making sure you stop and listen and ask questions of the associates around you. It is a skill that I've watched time and time again. That's led Arnie Sorenson was very good at this. I used to work for an individual Tushar Patel at Tarsadia Investments. He was very good at making sure he took advantage of the people around the table, their knowledge, their perspective, to make sure that we were making the best decision that we are. So again, I think that's one area that I continue to make sure I'm keeping myself accountable on and even asked my new boss, Craig Smith, that I came to work for him. hold me accountable there because I have this tendency. And it's not about a personal win for me. I want us to be the best that we can be. So it's that passion of, and I want everybody to have that same kind of passion, but I got to bring people along sometimes on that passion. I think so it's something I'm very aware of and it's but it's still a bit of a challenge for me. So in some ways I feel like I'm doing better. But I still think, I'm not answering it with the same, question with both. But it was something that's called out to me.

Rachel Humphrey:

How interesting, though, Eric, to have also a leader invested enough in you and your growth to not only mention it. But to continue to hold you accountable and for you to hold yourself accountable on that advice back. So it wasn't just a one time, hey, here's something you can do to improve, but really making sure that became an important part of continually developing your leadership style.

Eric Jacobs:

Yeah, and it's something I've also been able to now coach on to because it's a real, just had this situation last week where somebody got promoted and I just got to remind them as they go higher in the ranks. What you say has bigger impact and people are listening and sometimes, even harder and they're watching you. And so your position as you rise up in the ranks, you have to be cognizant of what you say and how you behave. Everybody in the organization is watching. And that is something I've been really cognizant of. And in just in my most recent, I had just had my six month review with Craig and I asked him about that. I said, how, and he, we all have our days but it's a good reminder that when the closer you move to the top of the organization, walking the talk, showing up every day, taking time to listen, lean in on your associates, give them the opportunity to express ideas and things like that, not shut them down is probably one of the best leadership skills we can develop and will ultimately propel our company to, to better performance and accountability and all the good things that people expect of us at Enbridge.

Rachel Humphrey:

We've been talking about how others have helped develop you as a leader, and you mentioned wanting to be there and do the same for your team. You have been known throughout the industry as building some really incredible teams and developing that talent within. How do you identify when you are not just in that initial hiring, but maybe identifying those rising leaders? Is there an it factor? What are you looking for? Do you notice common Things in those that you've really poured the most into. You know what I noticed? This is something that I'm really gravitating towards in developing leaders. This is welcome to the two thousands where the door is going

Eric Jacobs:

to

Rachel Humphrey:

ring. Yeah,

Eric Jacobs:

There's a couple of quotes that we've used and one that I really gravitated. I don't exactly quote it for verbatim, but it's a Warren Buffett quote that we've used. I've used in hiring my teams over the last probably 15, 18 years. And it's a quote that basically says we hire for acumen, hustle and character, integrity. And if they don't have Integrity or character than you hope they're dumb and lazy and it's essentially that we feel like if we could bring male men and women Into our group that were people of high character that believed in the mission believed in themselves Gave each other the benefit of the doubt When we're trying to you know grapple with tough situations Being having the forum to be able to speak their mind Have a great, healthy debate. So we can get different perspectives. That's really what has been.'cause we felt if we, by the time we're bringing somebody on, their character is probably in place. Mom and dad probably instilled it in'em or their experiences, so by the time we're trying to bring somebody on, we can teach people finance, we can teach people real estate and franchising negotiations. We can teach people. But having that character and bringing that to the table is really important. And I, whether it was, the last big team that we built we all, the Ty and Tom Onken and Ty Turman, we built the development team at Marriott and Select Service. We said this, we're going to hire men and women of high character and then we'll teach them everything else with it if they have a gap and that's really what we've lived by. And I think it's served us well. I've also, though, just, looking at giving people, I think that's the other thing. People want autonomy. They want to know that they have the ability to make decisions. And again, I'm in an industry, I'm not operating on somebody. So I'm not going to die if I make a mistake, but, giving people the opportunity. And this is something that was given to me as well within the Marriott organization, giving me the autonomy to go make my run my business. And own the mistakes, but also own the success and the mistakes or the failures are not. These are just learning opportunities. So instilling with people without risk, you don't learn. And so Many ways we want you to. to go and push the envelope and make decisions. And we need to empower you and give you all the tools and resources and put you in a place of success. But we want you to be empowered. And so that would be the other leadership trait we want. I want people on my team to know that they are fully empowered to go make decisions. And in fact, between hiring character and building autonomy within our team, those probably the two biggest things that propelled our success at Marriott, particularly in the last 10 years when I was running that development group. I think those are the two that I would highlight.

Rachel Humphrey:

Wow. And that's such an important lesson too, as we are talking with and bringing up the next generation that, skills and smarts are definitely there, but looking at character is such an important part of that hiring process and character and integrity is an interesting thing to segue into. I always love to share with our. audience. One of the reasons that I have asked someone to join the program as a guest advisor. And when you and I first met, obviously I was at a Hoa, you were at Marriott, may have met you when I was lawyering before that, as you were doing some deals. But we really were drawn to one another through the program. through your involvement with boards and nonprofits and association work. And as part of that was really your unwavering commitment to the fight against human trafficking at a time that really, the industry was not specifically focused there. There was not as many programs as much attention throughout the industry. I have a couple of questions. One is why it was so important. It is and remains for you such an important part of your leadership to not just look at the industry from a business side, but from a social and human side. But then also sticking with the idea of leadership is what types of leadership lessons do you learn from your involvement with these organizations that are maybe different than you've learned through your corporate relationships and corporate roles?

Eric Jacobs:

Yeah. I will really highlight that, that core values of the Marriott family and the company really help, for an executive, giving me space to actually lean in on some of these passions, right? And they were Tony knew and Arnie knew that I had a real passion around helping people around the world that I, and that I had a passion for Children and protection of Children. And so when Marriott launched the human trafficking training and then decided to partner with ECPAT USA I got the call and said, Hey, how would you like to be on their board? Now I was already serving on some other boards one with extreme response international, which is working in different parts of the world in really extreme poverty situations. So social human trafficking education really a challenge. These are the hardest places in the world. And so blending that passion around people yeah. and the protection of Children. Marriott really pushed me and gave me the opportunity to sit on a pass board. And so just continuing to learn. Now, when I go back to Marriott, Marriott has has always instilled it. Listen, a hotel is an impactful business and we're all over the world. They were 130 plus countries and a hotel can be a central point, not just for guests who are staying with us, but for the associates who work there. And it's always been their philosophy that the business in the, in that local market can have an impact. And so it's some of those things that Marriott really opened my eyes to. So how do I blend my business acumen and passion for people to making the world a better place? I will say that, my kids were 12 or 13 and so dad, we want to go on a on a service trip to Ecuador and mom signed you up as a as a as a, I'm sorry, I just lost the word, but to go down there with, I'm sorry. Was like, yeah I can't do this. I don't have time, business and things like that and say, Basically, Sally said, No, you need to do this. Your kids are passionate about it. And it opened the doors of how do I serve in the world? And that was, almost, 20 years ago. And it's really that door that opened me up and opened my eyes to where I can make a difference. Am I going to change the whole world tomorrow? No. But if I can change one family, one child's life, protect one child's life I'll make a difference in this world. And leaning in with that pat leaning in with the company around human trafficking, doing the right thing, not just, and by the way, human trafficking really says something to the associates too. When we're saying, Hey, we need you to be trained. We need you to, we're all empowered to do something for people who are who can't don't have a voice who are vulnerable in this world. And. Think about the thousands, the millions of rooms we have around the world. We know that the hotel industry can make an impact on this and still passionate about it. Still thinking about ways just at a bridge on how we might, instill this in our own company. I'm still pushing for the brands to make this a brand standard that they that every hotel should go through this training. Every hotel should have a plan. Every hotel should make a statement. I'll highlight the, the work that New York state has done. If you go into a hotel room today on the back of the door, it's generally say, Hey, if you see something, say something. And it's empowering people and giving them a voice that we're all in this to protect children and protect people who are vulnerable. And I think we need to stay focused on it. And the hotel industry absolutely has a way and a strength to move that needle. I really do.

Rachel Humphrey:

I love hearing how much the compassionate side is a critical part of your leadership as well. Showcasing that it's just more than just the business acumen or the skill set. Eric, I could catch up with you all day. We are going to run out of time as I expected that we would. I'm going to end with two kind of quick fires. We've talked a little bit about evolution and reflection of our journeys. And one of the questions I love the most is our advice to our. 21 year old selves, and I think that it really is important for us to think back if we knew what we know today. What would we do differently? What would we tell ourselves? So when you think back to Eric at UNLV, getting ready to graduate, what would you tell yourself about how things turn out for you or maybe something you wish you'd known then?

Eric Jacobs:

Yeah. And I do go back to the universities. I'm at Penn state, Cal Poly, UNLV. Anytime a business school or a hotel school wants me to come and speak because I absolutely love this industry And a lot of the advice that I give to the students and I think about our industry a lot of people view the hotel industry as just operations and so The advice to one is to keep your eyes open for unique opportunities to lean in on your passions, but around the industry I spoke at penn state pretty regularly over the last six or seven years not in the hotel school You Although I speak there but in the business school and I always open up with our industry is open to all of you and we need accountants and we need lawyers and we need people with different passions And that's I wish I would have known that when I was coming out of school that because I really Went to a school that was very focused on operations. Cornell tends to be focused on finance and consulting and deal structuring and so but You I don't think students clearly understand the opportunity that our industry has. And so I think of the other piece of advice. So keep your eyes open for things that really are your passion. And when you're 22, you think you might know what it is. But you're still finding yourself. And so be open to trying different things. Be willing to be pushed and put in uncomfortable situations. I just experienced that three years ago. Got voluntold into a role, at the age of 50, 50. three to go do something completely different than anything I could ever done. And I truly say I got voluntold. But out of that so taking that risk and trusting the leaders that asked me to do it and they saw that they believed in me that I could go do it. But it was a big lift for me and a big challenge. So being willing to take those risks. The other advice I'd say to myself, younger self, knowing what I know today is if I, and maybe I'm doing that with my kids today invest in hotels, find ways to, be an investor and an owner in hotels. I wish I would have known what I know today around our ability, not just to work in a hotel, but to own a hotel and be an owner. I've, grown up around the Asian American families and watch the first and second generations really accelerate their businesses. I've learned a lot from them. I've also learned a lot from these entrepreneurs. And so many ways my kids are, my oldest son who just bought his first hotel. He has said, I'm standing on your shoulders. I could go do what you do, or I could start, with the commentary that you're giving me, which is you can go work at a hotel, but wouldn't it be more fun to own the hotel? And so not that hotel ownership is always fun. Don't get me wrong, but I think that'd be one piece of advice. Keep your eyes open for the investment side. And it doesn't have to be a big full service. Start small and grow from there because that's one of the greatest lessons I've learned from the asian american community. Watching the progression of the hoa organization families coming over by small businesses and now they own big businesses. And be an entrepreneur today. I think I'd be willing to take those risks. And when you fail, it's not a failure. It's just learning. It's a learned. What might I do differently? And and that's the other thing. Embrace failure. I think that's the other thing. But you embrace risk. The risk comes with failure. And be okay with failure. And as long as you don't keep making the same mistake, then it's not failure. Then it's a learned lesson. So let's think about it that way,

Rachel Humphrey:

I wish I had

Eric Jacobs:

to take it more risks are

Rachel Humphrey:

relatable to me. I absolutely believe in the sliding doors and be open to new opportunities. I think if we are very tunnel visioned on things, then we're going to miss out on great chances and take risks. Like you said, and Absolutely. This idea of our industry, you can be anything you want to be in the hospitality industry. And that's one of the things that makes it so special. As do the relationships that we build and Eric, I am really delighted to have you and to have our friendship and our business relationship. And I really appreciate your joining us today.

Eric Jacobs:

Thank you, Rachel, very much.

Rachel Humphrey:

And for those who enjoyed my time with Eric today, we hope you'll head over to itspersonalstories. com and hear from over 200 other hospitality industry leaders who have likewise shared their incredible personal journeys and the insights they've learned along the way. Have a good afternoon.