#292 Renée Elliot Founder at Planet Organic - Navigating Purpose-Driven Leadership

In this episode, Gina discusses her nearly two-decade hospitality journey from starting in hotels at 15 to leading people and culture at Flat Iron, explaining how operational experience translated into learning, recruitment, HR, and culture leadership. She defines culture as what a business tolerates, walks past, celebrates, and rewards, emphasizing a strong feedback culture and the importance of nipping issues early through coaching and one-to-ones. Gina shares Flat Iron’s Sunday team breakfast ritual, created by the founder, as a non-negotiable example of togetherness, and describes how “movements” are built from repeated moments, highlighting Flat Iron’s listening cycle (engagement surveys, roundtables, forums, action plans, and follow-up surveys) and the Flat Iron Forum of non-manager reps. She also covers the value of coaching, mentoring, networking, reflection time, and supporting early careers through work experience. Connect with Gina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginamarieknight/ https://flatironsteak.co.uk/ Connect with the podcast Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here More episodes for you to check out here A big thank you to our episode sponsors, Monotree and Sideways. Both are helping the industry unleash its potential via its people Head to their websites here: Monotree.com and Sideways.ai

Michael interviews Klaus Thomsen of The Coffee Collective about building a Denmark-based coffee company rooted in direct trade, transparency, and barista craftsmanship. After Thomsen won the 2006 World Barista Championship, he and co-founders Casper and Peter started the company in 2007 to address unfair farmer compensation by cutting middlemen, contracting directly with producers, and sharing costs openly, including listing origin payments on labels. They began with a small roaster and long-term relationships with farms in Brazil and Guatemala, and continue origin visits with a team to maintain trust and feedback. The company expanded organically to eight coffee shops and a bakery (mostly Copenhagen, one in Aarhus), ~160–170 employees, and about one million cups annually, selling to wholesale, shops, and a global webshop in 45 countries. They discuss scaling quality through written standards, a staff app for onboarding and communication, hiring an external CEO for leadership expertise, balancing ambition with work-life balance, learning from mistakes, and sustaining motivation through continual learning and working with young staff. Connect with Klaus: https://www.instagram.com/klausthomsen/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/klausthomsencoffee/ https://coffeecollective.dk/ A big thank you to our epsiode sponsor Sideways. Head to their website hospitality.sideways.ai or email them directly at [email protected] Connect with the podcast Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here More episodes for you to check out here

Michael hosts Christian to discuss how voice AI can solve a persistent restaurant operations problem: missed phone calls that cost revenue and damage guest experience. Christian shares his early experience working front-of-house in a busy Southern California restaurant where calls were often ignored, then explains how a 2024 voice AI demo led him and his cofounder to build Loman, now used by 1,500+ restaurants. They cover key stats (30% of restaurant revenue comes via phone; 40% of calls are missed), how Loman answers 100% of calls, takes orders and payments, books reservations, answers questions, supports multiple languages, handles up to 50 concurrent calls, and integrates with major POS and reservation systems to pull menus/pricing and push orders into the kitchen. They also discuss customization, continuous learning from call data, adoption best practices, AI’s future impact, and practical AI tips for operators. Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show. Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI. For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20. Learn more at https://lodgify.com/ Connect with Christian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianwiens?skipRedirect=true&miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAABQkpesB4RRaowtsUCQDK-LpDtxIsyEdwfk Website: loman.ai Instagram: instagram.com/loman.ai Connect with the podcast Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here More episodes for you to check out here

Michael interviews Australian dentist Michael Filosi about applying counterintuitive, hospitality-centered ideas to dentistry to break industry norms. Filosi bought a rundown dental practice and, after realizing he couldn’t be the best clinician, pivoted—drawing on Good to Great’s hedgehog concept—toward building the best dental practice by focusing on business ownership, high standards, and patient experience. He gradually stepped off clinical work over 2–3 years (from four days a week to zero), scaling from generating 40% of revenue to 0.6%, later selling the business unexpectedly at 41 with no earn-out. Key initiatives included an annual free Patient Appreciation Day and a “Sparks” program (50 personalized gifts in 50 weeks at $50 each) inspired by Unreasonable Hospitality, alongside friction-reducing service, explicit cultural expectations (“the FPD way”), and hiring for customer care, helping drive retention, word-of-mouth, staff attraction, and 400+ 5.0-star reviews. Filosi’s takeaways are uncompromising standards and putting the customer (or constituent) at the center; he recommends The Checklist Manifesto and is exploring writing, dentistry, and politics next. Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show. Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI. For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20. Learn more at https://lodgify.com/ Connect with Dr Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelfilosi/ Connect with the podcast Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here More episodes for you to check out here

Michael and Brandon discuss the intersection of AI and culture in hospitality, arguing AI can strengthen culture by removing routine work so teams can focus on human guest experiences. Brandon shares his career path from line-level resort roles to leading Fathom’s hotel management arm within a Maine-based real estate development firm focused on adaptive reuse and “sense of place” upscale soft-brand projects across Marriott, Hilton, and independents. Fathom operates or develops seven hotels, typically 150–200 keys with multiple F&B outlets. Brandon highlights the Sugar House Hotel in Winooski, Vermont—a Marriott Tribute Collection property that will be all-electric, net-zero carbon, and LEED Platinum—embedding sustainability into every initiative. He outlines Fathom’s associate-centric, value-driven culture, emphasizing authenticity, celebration, open dialogue, autonomy in recognition rituals, and cross-department cohesion, and explains using AI for SOPs, accounting, HR messaging, onboarding tools, and development analysis to reduce stress and improve retention. Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show. Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI. For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20. Learn more at https://lodgify.com/ Connect with Brandon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-hussey-5bb21830/ https://www.fathomcompanies.com/ Connect with the podcast Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here More episodes for you to check out here