108 – TMG Hospitality Trailblazers: Linda Saron

Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast

Tune in to this insightful episode and join host Ryan Embree as he and Linda give you the 411 on everything OCI Hospitality. This podcast episode includes amazing information and expertise for hoteliers looking to connect with their travelers, increase bookings, and increase revenue. Suite Spot Podcast · 108 - Hospitality Trailblazers: Linda Saron Episode Transcript Our podcast is produced as an audio resource. Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and human editing and may contain errors. Before republishing quotes, we ask that you reference the audio. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check-in and we check out what's trending in hotel marketing. I'm your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. This is your host, as always, Ryan Embree. I mentioned it before in past episodes, but we are getting rolling right along with our TMG Hospitality Trailblazers series. This is the first time you're hearing this. This is something we started right at the end of 2022, where we're interviewing and bringing on the Suite Spot some of those individuals and groups that are pushing our industry forward as we go into 2023. Beyond such an exciting chapter for our industry, I've got an amazing guest, another first-timer here with me, Linda Saron, President and COO of OCI Hospitality. Linda, welcome to the Suite Spot. Linda Saron: Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate it. Ryan Embree: And I hear you are right up the road from our, Travel Media Group headquarters in Tampa. You have some exciting things in the works over there in Tampa? Linda Saron: Yeah, we're so excited. Yesterday we officially closed on a new OCI Hospitality property, the Double Tree, Rocky Point Waterfront. It is a beautiful location and an awesome team, and we're so excited to welcome them into our portfolio. Ryan Embree: Well, that is absolutely exciting news and we're certainly gonna talk about all the things that you've got rollin' here with OCI Hospitality in 2023, but off to a very, very, hot start. And next time we'll have to have you in our podcast studio over here. You just right up the road in Tampa. So. Awesome. Well, before we get talking about OCI Hospitality, I wanna talk about your journey. You know, every single guest that I have here on the Suite Spot, we always like to say, you know, what led you to hospitality? Sometimes it's starting in the industry, sometimes it's just by fate. So, tell us a little bit about your background. What led you to OCI Hospitality? Linda Saron: Absolutely. You know, Ryan, I think for me it was fate. It was meant to be. I started out not to age myself, but I started working in the hospitality industry about 24 years ago. I popped into a hotel thinking, gosh, maybe I could work the front desk and help in housekeeping and do my homework while I was in college. I started working for a small owner operator, a gentleman named John Willie, who still remains close to my heart. He was an engineer by trade and decided to use his money, because he was tired of some of the bureaucracy in General Electric. So he took his money and he bought a hotel and he was truly an engineer. So I joined him and he was the owner and operator. So, I was in college and had a very interesting experience with him. He didn't necessarily interact with guests the best. After working with him for a little bit, he really gave me the opportunity to take on some of the guest challenges we were experiencing and housekeeping challenges. And before I knew it, he was asking me to pay the real estate taxes and come up with a sales and marketing plan. So I worked with him all through college and had a great experience with John. He actually spoke to me and convinced me that I needed to stay in hospitality. I had intended to go on and pursue law school, and he had created a chart. I'll never forget, I went into the back office of the hotel and he had created a ...