About this podcast
Top Floor is a weekly podcast with tangible tips and excellent stories from the experts and characters who elevate hospitality. Host and elevator operator Susan Barry explores the idea that everything is marketing in the hotel business.
Our interviews with creators, thought leaders and hospitality groundbreakers are designed to provide practical tactics that hoteliers, restaurateurs and travel mavens can use to promote their businesses. Along the way, we answer burning marketing questions submitted on the Emergency Call Button and share the funniest, craziest, just-plain-weirdest stories down at the Loading Dock.
Need to press the Emergency Call Button? Or have a story to share at the Loading Dock? Reach us at 850.404.9630 to be featured in a future episode.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 100 episodes
- 268 | Frozen in Miami · 33 min · Episode 268Kyle Suri is the co-founder of Acrylic, a Montreal-based company that collaborates with artists to create robot-painted artwork for hotels and other spaces. After working in…
- 267 | Couch Cutting Catastrophe · 34 min · Episode 267James Kuester is a hotel designer with a background in industrial engineering and a love of hotels that goes back to childhood. He works with independent and boutique hotel…
- 266 | Seagull Seat Back · 39 min · Episode 266Jacki Brown has marketed everything from household appliances to hospitality technology, including a stint leading product marketing at Amadeus Hospitality. Today, she runs a…
- 265 | Break Room Surprise · 40 min · Episode 265Damon Lawrence caught the hotel bug at the front desk while he was a student at Howard University, and he co-founded Homage Hospitality to celebrate Black culture through…
- 264 | Toddler Fight Club · 41 min · Episode 264Adam Robinson planned to teach high school history until a friend pulled him into recruiting during the Y2K frenzy, and a later stint installing software in hotels showed him…
- 263 | 3AM Coffee Thief · 45 min · Episode 263Adam Arnold is a small business technology consultant who, with his wife Kara, owns and operates the Little Canyon Inn, a four-unit roadside motel near Colorado's Royal Gorge…
- 262 | Island-Hopping Gone Wrong · 35 min · Episode 262Genna Panagopoulos grew up in her family's restaurant, studied hospitality at Michigan State, and cut her teeth on feasibility work at Davidson Hotels before moving into…
- 261 | Stiletto Puncture Test · 32 min · Episode 259Jessica Gidari's career started in interior design before widening into branding and eventually hospitality. She made stops at Rockwell Group and LDV Hospitality before landing…
- 260 | Kimchi Bathtub Party · 36 min · Episode 260Annie Holcombe has spent her career refusing to pick a side in the hotel versus vacation rental debate, working her way through property management, Expedia during the HomeAway…
- 259 | The Longevity Economy · 41 min · Episode 259This special episode of Top Floor comes from a webinar hosted by the Hospitality Creator Summit. Scott Frisch, COO and EVP at AARP, was scheduled to join the Summit in person…
- 258 | Ticker Tape Tickets · 41 min · Episode 258Dan Jacobs is a chef and restaurant owner in Milwaukee, where he co-owns Dan Dan and EsterEv, and a familiar face on shows like Top Chef and Beat Bobby Flay. He's spent decades…
- 257 | Pilot Pile-Up · 38 min · Episode 257Natalie Kelley spent years as a stay-at-home mom before trading carpool duty for a cockpit, earning her private pilot's license in her 40s and eventually flying corporate jets…
- 256 | Saturday Night Fever · 37 min · Episode 256Sam-Erik Ruttmann has spent decades in hospitality, working his way from a 24-hour shift hotel receptionist in a small Finnish town to regional leadership roles with Hyatt, Dusit…
- 255 | Napkin Full of Jello · 40 min · Episode 255Nina Kleaveland spent years in marketing, loyalty, and strategy roles at major hospitality and travel companies like Starwood, American Express, and Wyndham before striking out…
- 254 | Cat in the Frat · 34 min · Episode 254Mike Medsker is the founder of Siv, a hospitality technology company focused on helping hotels respond to group sales inquiries faster without sacrificing the human touch. After…
- 253 | Twisting the Night Away · 38 min · Episode 253Josh Ellis is the co-founder of Abra, a hospitality technology platform that helps hotels create more personalized guest experiences by connecting fragmented guest data across…
- 252 | Parking Lot Brawl · 41 min · Episode 252Nick Falcone is an entrepreneur, developer, and hospitality innovator who has built businesses across restaurants, real estate, technology, and branded hospitality. As co-founder…
- 251 | HITEC San Antonio Part 2 · 41 min · Episode 251Just like last week, this special episode of Top Floor comes to you from the Loading Dock at HITEC in San Antonio. A huge thank you to HFTP for hosting us at the hospitality…
- 250 | HITEC San Antonio Part 1 · 53 min · Episode 250This special episode of Top Floor comes to you from the Loading Dock at HITEC in San Antonio. A huge thank you to HFTP for hosting us at the hospitality industry's premier…
- 249 | Frozen Food Fiesta · 35 min · Episode 249Orlie Benjamin is the founder and CEO of Lasoh, a hospitality technology platform helping vacation rental and boutique lodging operators strengthen guest relationships through…
