1014: Wahlburgers CEO on What They Fixed to Grow
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Release Date: 02/17/2026
1026: How Women Advance in Hospitality: The Data and the Playbook
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Women enter hospitality at the same rate as men. Then the numbers thin out hard at the top. That gap isn’t about “pipeline.” It’s about progression. Suzanne co-hosts #NoVacancyNews with me, and we talk with Emily Goldfischer of Her Tenure about the leadership study she and her team did with Forbes Travel Guide and what it reveals about what helps women advance—and what still gets in the way. 📊 Emily shares the benchmark: women lead 19% of Forbes Travel Guide partner hotels, and Her Tenure heard from 99 women leaders to dig into what drives advancement 🧭 She frames the core...
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World Cup Demand Reality: The 60–90 Day Booking Window
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
During the , I talked with , CEO of , about what he sees right now: demand pockets, the real booking window, and why operators need to get serious about data before AI forces the issue. 📈 Ben says South Florida Q1 is “crushing it” after a flat year ⚽ He expects World Cup momentum, but he keeps the booking window realistic—60–90 days 🌍 He watches international indicators, but he says it’s still early 🤝 He says conferences work when you get outside your echo chamber and build strategic partnerships 🤖 He says growth and tech create the opportunity—get arms around data...
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Remembering Kirk Kinsell: Leadership Lessons That Still Hit
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
We lost industry icon Kirk Kinsell this past week, and I wanted to re-share this 2024 conversation because it captures who he was and what he meant to many of us: a generous leader, a calm force in the room, and one of the people who helped shape the way this industry thinks about leadership and relationships. In this episode of Icons and Experts with my co-host from the . Kirk doesn’t do chest-thumping. He does substance. 🤝 Kirk talks about relationships the way the best leaders do: build them, invest in them, keep them for decades 🏨 He calls hospitality a team sport—from the...
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Hunter Hallway Talk: How Trust Turns Into Repeat Hotel Deals
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
I ran into of during the and asked what owners actually want from management right now—and what separates operators who keep getting repeat deals. 🤝 Wayne says trust and alignment with owners drives repeat business, because the first deal teaches both sides how to work together 🏢 Newport runs 37 hotels and keeps key disciplines in-house: accounting, HR, construction services, corporate engineering, commercial strategy, and ops ✈️ Wayne says in-house resources let them move fast—he can put the right person on a plane tomorrow instead of waiting on a third party 👥 He says...
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FNA 206: He's Been Here Arlotta
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Friend of the show CJ Arlotta returns to do some clever PR tricks to make people think Glenn, Craig and Doctor Producer Suzanne are actually funny over here celebrating Happy Hour to get the weekend started. Plus, Bruce Ford joins for added fun.
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Hotel Profitability in 2026: Work Every Line Item
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
While I was at the , I asked of a simple question: where do you actually find profit when there’s no silver bullet—just pressure everywhere? 💰 John starts with payroll, then works every other line item 💳 He calls out the hidden killers: credit card fees, insurance, deductibles, exclusions, coverage limits 💡 He talks energy the unsexy way: walk the building, manage lights, invest in tech only when it pays back 🤖 He sees and automation shifting work that used to require people—and he expects org charts to shrink as tools improve 👥 He talks seasonal reality: managers work...
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1025: Aftershock to Farm-to-Fork: Sacramento’s Tourism Growth Playbook
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Sacramento doesn’t have a Golden Gate Bridge. So they built demand with experiences—and then proved it with room nights. For #NoVacancyNews, I talked with Mike Testa (President & CEO, Visit Sacramento) about how Sacramento positioned itself around farm-to-fork and then stacked events that drive real overnight stays from different customer groups. 🍽️ Mike explains why “farm-to-fork” fits Sacramento: food on your plate often gets harvested that morning 📅 He points people to Sacramento 365 as the event hub that supports the brand with a steady calendar 🎸 He breaks down...
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Customer Journey 5: Turning Strategy Into Guest-Facing Moments
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Chapter 5 of this 6-part CoralTree Customer Journey series gets into the guest-facing side: how the strategy shows up in communication and touchpoints across the stay. A strong customer journey does not come from slogans. It comes from leadership decisions, team training, and operational discipline - and now you can see it in the guest-facing moments. I talk with Angela Berkey, VP of Customer Engagement at CoralTree Hospitality, about using guest preferences, local context, and property-level ideas to shape pre-arrival messages, arrivals, in-stay surprises, and post-stay rebooking moments....
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1024: Hilton + Graduate: How the Brand Scales Without Losing Personality
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
Graduate has lived inside Hilton for a year and a half now, and the brand is growing without losing the personality that made it work in the first place. For #NoVacancyNews, I talked with Parker Henderson, the brand head for Graduate, at the Hunter Conference about what Hilton distribution changes, what owners should know, and how Graduate makes development easier with plug-and-play F&B concepts. 🏨 Parker says the 35 Graduate hotels thrive inside Hilton while keeping the brand’s “unapologetically unique” DNA 🎓 He calls out Hilton Honors demand, especially on redemption stays...
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Picking the Right Hotel Operator in a Chaotic Market
No Vacancy Live and No Vacancy News
While I was at the , I talked with , Chief Development Officer, about what makes a real owner–operator match—and what operators have to prove in this market. 🤝 Greg frames his job as matchmaking: align the right owners with the right operator, and only take deals that add real value 🌪️ He calls out the new normal: you can’t pull a manual off the shelf and solve today’s problems 🧠 He says every hotel rises or falls on property leadership—especially a GM with an entrepreneurial mindset 🛎️ We get into the real definition of empowerment: employees making decisions...
info_outlineWahlburgers cleans up the messy parts of growth so quality stays non-negotiable.
I’m in Las Vegas with Randy Sharpe, CEO, President, and board member of Wahlburgers. He breaks down what he changed, what he cut, and how he plans growth without letting the brand drift.
🍔 Randy talks about meeting Mark Wahlberg through a luncheon tied to a tequila investment—and how that turned into the CEO role
🧑🍳 He ties the brand back to Chef Paul Wahlberg, Alma Nove, and the burger-first obsession behind the concept (15-year anniversary later this year)
✅ He explains the reset: new ops leadership, tighter standards, and cutting franchise operators who didn’t meet the bar
📋 He describes the cleanup that mattered: 17 different menus down to a clearer core
🏪 He connects restaurants to retail (I first tried the burgers at Stop & Shop) and why he refuses frozen
🧭 He lays out the four models: full-service bar & grill, counter service, captive markets (casinos), and airports
🛫 He talks airports specifically: Logan, Detroit Metro, Sarasota-Bradenton next, and more in the pipeline
📦 He explains pricing by market—but keeps quality consistent everywhere, including a single standardized burger patty supply nationwide
🧰 He shares how retail follows expansion (including a Florida partnership with Home Depot locations driving grocery interest)
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