In this week's episode, ⁠David⁠ has the pleasure of speaking to his friend ⁠Larry Spelts⁠.

In this heartfelt conversation, Larry gets vulnerable and shares his life experience, including a traumatic childhood, an out-of-ordinary opportunity to learn from the maestro, ⁠Gian Carlo Menotti⁠, and his rise in leadership within hospitality.

Larry’s journey began in South Carolina, where he managed several boutique properties before moving to New York to lead operations at ⁠The Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel⁠, and ⁠The Core Club⁠. He then ventured into consulting, lending his expertise to unique projects, including David Barton Gyms. In 2009, Larry joined ⁠Charlestowne Hotels⁠ as VP of Business Development, which is where I had the privilege of meeting him. His career continued to soar as he took on leadership roles with ⁠Expotel Hospitality⁠, ⁠Lincoln Property Company⁠, and ⁠The Indigo Road Hospitality Group⁠. Today, Larry runs his own company, ⁠The Hotel Alchemist⁠.

This episode has so much great insight, including:

- The importance of gratitude for life and not taking it for granted.

- The influence of transformative mentorship.

- The two sides of the coin of childhood trauma.

- Overcoming low self esteem.

- The power of vulnerability in effective leadership.

- The concept of "terrifying fearlessness".

- The illusion of control.

- The jump from individual contributor to manager.

And much more.

Larry gets raw and real with us, and he embodies the vulnerability he speaks about. We hope you will find this episode as insightful as we did.

Thank you for following Conscious Hospitality and for subscribing to the podcast. See you next week!