Host: Phil Street (FIH) Guests: James McComas (FIH)Isabel Hargreaves (MIH)Harsh Sodhani (AIH) Artwork and Branding: Sonia Cresswell (MIH) Music by: Leon Williams (FIH) Episode Summary: In this deeply insightful episode of "I'm In", Phil and his expert guests — James McComas, Isabel Hargreaves, and Harsh Sodhani — explore the critical yet often overlooked topic of self-care. This episode dives into understanding and implementing self-care strategies amidst the busy and often demanding lives of...

In this engaging episode of I’m In, host Phil Street is joined by three more influential figures in the from within the Institute of Hospitality Membership: Chris Eigelaar FIH, Raul De Souza FIH (MIH at time of booking), and tuning in from Nigeria, Marvellous Dada AIH. Together, they explore the nuanced and compelling topic of "Invisible Reputation." Key Discussion Points: What even is an invisible reputation?Can we control what goes into your invisible reputation?How do you build an...

In this insightful episode of I'm In, Phil delves into the crucial topic of absence management in the hospitality industry. Joined by industry experts Daniel Barnes FIH, Basel Jabri MIH, and Marlyn Brunke AIH, the discussion sheds light on the multi-faceted challenges and strategies involved in managing employee absenteeism effectively. **Key Discussion Points:** The most significant impacts of absenteeismHow these can be mitigatedHow to get on top of absenteeismPre-OpeningsWell-BeingThe role...

Welcome to another episode of “I’m in” where we discuss some of the most pressing issues in the hospitality industry.  For this month’s episode we thought it would be interesting to explore innovative solutions from other sectors. So, we enlisted the help of one of our business partners, Planday, who kindly put together an excellent panel for us to explore bringing the best of other industries to hospitality. Our host, Phil, is joined by Steffi Thomas from Planday and Ruth Thomas from...

On another day in May, Phil packed up his podcasting gear and headed to York to explore a truly transformative initiative that was introduced to our CEO Robert Richardson at the “Thrive in the North” hospitality conference. The initiative aims to integrate ex-offenders and current offenders into the hospitality industry. Robert joined Phil for this roundtable discussion featuring insights from esteemed guests, including Simon Mahon, General Manager of the Grand Hotel York (who also kindly...

If you’ve been following the show to this point, you’ll know we like to delve into subjects that don’t get much airtime.  This month we get stuck into another such subject as we explore Retirement and Beyond. To help Phil with this one we enlisted the help of legendary Hotelier Sue Williams FIH who herself has entered into a semi-retired phase, Steve Lowy MIH and brand-new member Alesandra Beqiraj AIH. It’s a tricky subject to cover as a lot of people don’t contemplate it until later in their...

On a sunny day in May 2024 at the IOHs very own Golf Day, Phil took his show on the road to the Belfry to reopen an unsolved mystery around the world of AI and its impact on hospitality. This chat served as a follow on from an Above and Beyond event earlier in the year where our audience asked a lot of questions, most of which we couldn’t get through owing to time constraints.  We attempt to answer all of these and more in this discussion. At the event, Phil caught up with H&C News...

Back in the middle of May 2024, we welcomed in Mental health awareness week and so we thought it’d be a great idea to explore this topic on one of our monthly chats. For this one, Phil hosted Sally Beck FIH, General Manager at the Royal Lancaster London along with her guest Leo Marques, a mental health ambassador within Sally’s team as well as Jakob Gowin MIH, General Manager at the Melia Whitehouse in London, and Jonathan Walton AIH, Regional Head of People & Culture at Dakota...

All the way back when this podcast was conceptualised by Phil and IOH Central, Phil had long wanted to look at what it might be like to run government with a hospitality mindset and so nearly 3 years on, Phil finally gets his wish to make that episode a reality. He was once again joined by three brilliant humans from the IOH membership including Martin Traynor OBE FIH.  Martin had served in government for many years before his recent retirement and was therefore able to offer us some valuable...

Hot on the heals of our International women’s day 2024 in March of this year, and listening to the amazing feedback we had, we realised that last time out, we may have centred more on the progress that’s been made without covering the work that still needs to be done for women in the workplace.  Phil, therefore, re-enlisted the assistance of Lizzie Grundy AIH and Tracey Fairclough FIH (Regrettably Kat Price was not available) to chat through this side of the coin. As our guests had been on...

Hot on the heals of our building a stable business podcast last month, we thought it was a great idea to rekindle our importance of series and focus on the Financial Controller. To help Phil look into this, we welcomed Harsh Sodhani AIH, a Sales Manager at the Hampton by Hilton London City, F&B Specialist Alper Zan MIH and the IOHs very own Finance Director, Leon William FOH. Coupled with Phil’s own experience as a small business owner, it was fascinating to get the different opinions and...

International Women’s Day 2024 Special We’re always up for a special bonus conversation and so  we thought it would make sense to have a chat to coincide with International women’s day 2024.  Phil enlisted the help of Lizzie Grundy AIH, Kat Price MIH and Tracey Fairclough FIH to chat through some of the challenges and opportunities that exist in the work place for women in 2024. As always, they kicked off by giving their reasons for saying I’m in to the IOH including: - The coming together of...

It’s tough for businesses out there at the moment.  We can probably all agree on that, so we thought it would be interesting to learn some key things in building a stable business. As always, Phil enlisted the help of three more brilliant humans from the IOH membership which this month included Jacob Gallant AIH, a sales manager at the Hilton Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, Mark Grant MIH, Sales Director at EP&T and Peter Russell FIH, COO & CTO at Russell Partnership Technology. There...

I’m In Special – How do the technological trends of today, impact the hospitality industry of tomorrow? In October 2023 at the Hotel & resort Tech Expo at London’s Excel, The IOH played a central role in leading some key discussions within the world of hospitality Tech.  So much so, we thought it would be great to conduct 2 live podcast recordings on the subject of how today’s trends impact the industry of tomorrow. In today’s episode, we air the 2nd of the two panel discussions we...

Something a little different for you this month as we mixed things up and didn’t even have Phil hosting this discussion.  We brought in Robert Richardson as a guest host as we thought it would be interesting to hear just how important Fellowship of the Institute is from none other than the three recipients (So far) of the Fellowship award, Stephen Carter OBE FIH, Harry Murray MBE MI FIH and Phil Street FIH. In a wonderfully upbeat conversation, our panel get through:- Why they wanted to...

How do the technological trends of today, impact the hospitality industry of tomorrow? In October 2023 at the Hotel & resort Tech Expo at London’s Excel, The IOH played a central role in leading some key discussions within the world of hospitality Tech.  So much so, we thought it would be great to conduct a live podcast on the subject of how today’s trends impact the industry of tomorrow.  We also thought it’d be a bit different to ask the same questions across two panels and look out for...

Another heavy weight topic for you this month as Phil invited three more wonderful humans from within the IOH membership to get stuck into the subject of Net Zero and whether it is even achievable. Phils guests this month were Bradley Dorrington AIH, Alex Henskens MIH and industry Titan Danny Pecorelli FIH, all having the subject very close to their hearts. This was a chat high on education with each guest delivering some wonderful points including: - What is Net Zero?Can we achieve...

Where would we all be if we did not have even the slightest bit of confidence?  But where does it come from?  How can we build it and how do we ensure that our confidence well is nicely filled up, without being overflowing? Well, to find out, Phil once again invited three more of the IOHs finest in the form of Rizwan Khan AIH, Jill Van Rest MIH and ex IOH CEO Philippe Rossiter FIH. And it doesn’t disappoint as they explore: - Why having confidence is importantHow to build confidenceBeing...

What a cracker we have for you this month as Phil welcomed three more wonderful humans from the IOH membership to chat through a topic that, as Phil puts it, should be on everyone’s mind, Wellbeing in the kitchen. Phils guests this month were Alex Preston AIH, Amy Stoyel MIH and returning guest Ben Purton FIH who have all had their own experiences from within the kitchen This was a lively chat from the outset with no punches being pulled and our guests covered: - The pastOld School badges of...

The importance of the Front Office Manager Following the success of episode 19 where we looked into the importance of the Front of house Manager, we thought it only right and fair to delve into the importance of that role’s close relative, the Front Office Manager. Joining Phil to do this was three more wonderful IOH members in the form of Jamine Zaman AIH, Johanna Dlugosch MIH and Samantha Rieu FIH, all of whom have had exposure to the role in one form or another. In their chat they looked...

“Your life doesn’t get better by chance; it gets better by change” – Jim Rohn Another fabulous quote and very relevant to today’s discussion as we investigate the differences between Apprenticeships and Universities, the part they play in hospitality and the difference they can make to an individual in improving their prospects. Joining Phil on his quest for more knowledge in this space was Paul Evans FIH, Julie Crampton MIH (Tuning in from Luxemburg) and Amy Jones AIH.  It’s clear that we...

“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” - Henri J.M. Nouwen We love this summarising of what hospitality is and I think we can all agree, it fits well in the way that we should approach our teams experience...

“An acquaintance merely enjoys your company, a fair-weather companion flatters when all is well, a true friend has your best interests at heart and the pluck to tell you what you need to hear.” - E.A. Bucchianeri, taken from Brushstrokes of a Gadfly The concept of tough love comes in many forms.  You might have heard it mentioned as being “firm but fair” or being “cruel to be kind” but the question is, with changing mentalities and approaches to work, does it still have its place in...

Everyone of us takes sole responsibility for building our own career.  But what are some great strategies to do so and is it always in our hands? To find out, Phil invited Tej Walia FIH, Nathaniel Morales MIH and Jake Armston AIH to talk through their own experiences and ideas in how you can help move your own career forward. They covered: - The Grand Plan (Or not)The essential steps to building your careerThe importance of mentoringThe importance of networkingPersonal...