What if the secret to scaling a company without losing its soul is deciding who you are before you decide how big to get? Nicole Schmidt joins Dan Ryan to talk about building Source from a frustration with how messy construction purchasing can be. She explains why technology should take over the data entry so people can spend their time on the details that matter. Along the way, she shares her playbook for culture, from writing values that actually mean something to blending teams after an acquisition. She also looks ahead at what AI could unlock for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Nicole Schmidt is the CEO of Source and a rare leader who has seen the built environment from every angle, with a career that spans interior architecture, hospitality and housing design, and sales. She is a DJC Women of Vision Industry Member Award recipient and a finalist for Oregon Entrepreneur of the Year. She has also grown her company through acquisitions, including the recent addition of Project Dynamics. Nicole is a newly minted American citizen, and she runs a remote team with the kind of intention most companies only put on a poster.

Chapters:

00:00 Core Values Hook

00:23 Show Intro and Sponsor

00:58 Meet Nicole Schmidt

02:31 First Meeting and Networking

04:51 Defining Hospitality

06:49 Entrepreneurship and Origin Story

08:54 Source Spark and Industry Pain

14:34 Transparency and Smoother Projects

18:05 Building Culture and Values System

29:11 Beating Procrastination

29:55 Marinating Not Avoiding

30:50 Culture Filter Acquisitions

33:31 Knowing Bad Fits

36:09 Sponsor Sustainability Note

36:34 Why Choose Growth

40:41 Acquisition Strategy Matrix

41:55 Legacy And Women Leaders

49:11 AI Future North Star

Quote of the Show: “I have not in my life found a brick wall I could not run through.” - Nicole Schmidt

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

🔗 CONNECT:

• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-schmidt-7420516/
• Guests Website: https://tothesource.com/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

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🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

🎧 LISTEN ON YOUR FAVORITE PLATFORM:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

What if the most unreasonable thing you can do for your business is make people feel something? This reair brings back a conversation that is well worth a second listen. Dan Ryan and Will Guidara dig into why the smallest gestures leave the biggest marks, how a daily 30 minute huddle can reshape a culture, and why connection beats being right every single time. A six hour dinner that felt like six minutes and a handwritten card of travel tips prove the point, and along the way they make the case that every industry is already in the hospitality business, whether it knows it or not.

Will Guidara is the author of Unreasonable Hospitality and the restaurateur behind Eleven Madison Park and NoMad. He cut his teeth at Tribeca Grill, Spago, and Tabla before opening restaurants at the Museum of Modern Art. He also created the Welcome Conference, a gathering that has left a lasting mark on the people who attend it.

Chapters:
00:00 Restaurant or Hospitality

00:52 Meet Will Guidara

01:25 Six Hour Magic Meal

02:23 Nomad Library Surprise

03:42 Games and Card Trick

04:29 Culture Takes Root

06:36 Finding Your Why

07:38 Will Origin Story

08:50 Hosting and Family

11:19 Hospitality Economy

14:09 Scaling Culture Daily

16:56 Values Beyond Posters

19:58 Impact of the Book

23:24 Unreasonable Intentionality

26:30 Offense in Adversity

31:10 Defining Hospitality

35:39 Beginner Mindset Dad

37:51 Advice and Farewell

Quote of the Show:

“Service is black and white. Hospitality is color.” - Will Guidara

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

🔗 CONNECT:

• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willguidara/
• Guests Website: https://www.unreasonablehospitality.com/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER:

https://www.defininghospitality.live

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

🎧 LISTEN ON YOUR FAVORITE PLATFORM:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

What if a hotel could change the way you see the world? Dan sits down with Paolo Ferrari, founder of Studio Paolo Ferrari, to talk about design that goes beyond beautiful and into transformational. They get into why luxury lives in the stitch and not the chair, how film shapes the way he designs urban hotels, and why constraints and friction make for better work. Paolo also explains why shared values matter more than any pitch, how to protect a big vision when the budget gets real, and why physical spaces will matter more than ever as life moves online.

Paolo Ferrari is the founder and principal designer of Studio Paolo Ferrari and was named Boutique Design's 2025 Designer of the Year. For over 20 years he has been shaping some of the most ambitious hospitality projects in the world, including the cave-carved Desert Rock resort in Saudi Arabia. He is known for blending timelessness with courageous invention, and for chasing that moment when someone walks into a space and feels something they never expected.

Chapters:
00:00 Ambition And Uncertainty

00:31 Podcast Mission And Sponsor

01:06 Meet Paolo Ferrari

03:03 Optimism And Joyful Energy

03:57 Defining Hospitality As Generosity

04:41 Luxury Lives In Details

09:34 From Experience To Transformation

16:04 Programming And Urban Wonder

22:04 Designing For The Future

33:53 Friction Fuels Excellence

34:58 Sponsor Sustainability Update

35:23 Why Budgets Must Be Shared

36:55 Start With Vision

39:06 Value Engineering Creativity

43:01 Paradigm Shifting Projects

46:16 Design As Optimism

49:26 Choosing Aligned Clients

54:17 Analog Spaces Matter

Quote of the Show:
"Those physical spaces are gonna carry so much more weight. They're not just indulgent. They're how we connect." - Paolo Ferrari

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:

• Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@defininghospitality?sub_confirmation=1
• Substack: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studio-paolo-ferrari/?originalSubdomain=ca
• Guests Website: https://www.paoloferrari.com/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

What if the best sign of great hospitality is that nothing ever gets in your way? Dan Ryan sits down for a live recording of Defining Hospitality, set in a podcast studio tucked inside a former 1930s sandwich shop at Rockefeller Center. The conversation moves from frictionless guest experiences to the habit of saying “we” instead of “I,” with stops along the way for world building, big stakeholder rooms, and the fears that grow as a business does. It’s candid, funny, and built on a friendship that came before any business did.

Drew Stewart is an architect, interior designer, and occasional developer, and a founding partner and director of construction and development at INC Architecture & Design. He has spent 20 years growing the New York studio into a powerhouse, earning a spot in the Interior Design Hall of Fame along the way. His work includes the TWA Hotel, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, and the Atlas Hotel at Harvard, and he is celebrating the milestone with a monograph, Us Is More, hitting shelves TODAY October 14th.

Chapters:

00:00 Why Hospitality Matters

00:35 Meet Drew Stewart

01:22 Recording at Rock Center

03:00 A Designer’s Eye for Detail

04:09 Defining Frictionless Hospitality

05:44 Managing Mega Projects

11:19 Tech That Aligns Stakeholders

14:52 Hall of Fame Moment

19:07 Us Is More and The Book

34:38 Spending Your Own Money

35:10 Fine Tuning Design Value

35:54 New Empathy For Developers

37:06 Entrepreneurship And Risk

38:04 Fear Grows With Success

39:08 TWA And World Building

41:06 Rockefeller Concourse Redesign

47:29 Building 1 Hotel With Barry

50:51 Book Future And Farewell

Quote of the Show:

“Having creative, thoughtful people across the table turns out to be the single most important thing about any project.” - Drew Stuart

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:

• Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@defininghospitality?sub_confirmation=1
• Substack: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-stuart-22bb286/
• Guests Website: https://inc.nyc/
• Us is More Book: https://a.co/d/01ctnv2F
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

What if the biggest advantage in hospitality design isn't having more options, but fewer, better ones?

On this episode of Defining Hospitality, Ashley Squires walks through how The Stylist Group is rethinking the front end of design sourcing. She breaks down how her team narrows a project down to a tailored "starter kit" pulled from dozens of premier manufacturers, why a fast turnaround can save a firm real time and money, and how she's working to bring a sense of joy back into a process that too often feels like a grind.

Ashley Squires is an interior designer, hospitality design expert, and creative strategist with more than 25 years of experience across hospitality, multifamily, and private aviation spaces. She's led design work for major hotel brands, multifamily developments, and cruise lines, giving her firsthand insight into where the sourcing process breaks down for design teams. Alongside her partner Andrea, she co-founded The Stylist Group to turn that experience into a free resource other designers could lean on.

Chapters:
00:00 Stylist Group Promise

00:24 Show Mission Intro

00:48 Sponsor Message

00:57 Meet Ashley Squires

01:23 Time Is Money Setup

02:57 Defining Hospitality

03:25 What Stylus Group Does

04:50 Library Space Problem

06:24 Curating From 27 Makers

09:26 Designer Testimonials

11:26 Fast Turnarounds

15:33 How Palettes Get Picked

18:25 Christmas Day Unboxing

19:54 Sustainability Break

20:19 Measurable Time Savings

22:06 How To Get Started

25:12 Recent Project Wins

33:27 Wrap Up And Contact

Quote of the Show: "No matter what the needs are, whether you're a big firm or you're just starting out, consider us your design resource library." - Ashley Squires

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:

• Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@defininghospitality?sub_confirmation=1
• Substack: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyksquires/
• Guests Website: https://www.stylist-group.com/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

Matthew Boone joins Dan Ryan to break down what it actually takes to turn a hospitality project from blueprint to guest ready. They dig into the tension between design vision and hard budget numbers, why cost estimating works so differently around the world, and the on the job lessons that shaped how he leads projects today.

Matthew Boone is head of hospitality at Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), bringing 20+ years of architecture, construction and project management experience to some of the industry's most complex hotel developments. Trained as an architect, his work includes San Francisco's Huntington Hotel, a project that landed in Architectural Digest. He now leads RLB's hospitality growth across North America, pairing design instinct with financial discipline.

Chapters:
00:00 Architectural Digest Moment

00:56 Meet Matthew Boone

02:31 Architecture Roots

04:17 Defining Hospitality

07:12 Front vs Back of House

07:57 ROI and Budget Tradeoffs

10:07 QS vs US Project Model

16:13 Transparency and True Costs

23:50 CapEx and Aging Systems

31:07 Shower Controls Code

32:10 Sponsor Sustainability Update

32:35 RLB Roots In Hawaii

35:10 Hilton Hawaiian Village Lessons

37:59 Clift Hotel Crunch Renovation

41:59 Erin And RLB Culture

43:38 Mainland Growth Markets

47:51 LA Olympics Hotel Conundrum

54:19 Wrap Up And How To Connect

Quote of the Show:

"Hospitality is thinking about what people need, what people want, before they even know they need it." - Matthew Boone

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:

• Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@defininghospitality?sub_confirmation=1
• Substack: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mboonebayarea/
• Guests Website: https://www.rlb.com/americas/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

Hospitality has ancient roots, and this week's guest traces her own path in the industry back to something surprising: a master's degree in philosophy. What started as bartending to pay for grad school became a full blown philosophy of service, one built on presence, reciprocity, and treating every guest interaction as its own small act of care. From building a team that turned an old motel into a two Michelin Key destination to launching a groundbreaking childcare pilot for hospitality workers, this conversation covers what it really takes to scale a business without losing the soul that made it special in the first place.

Colleen Rafferty is the President of Tourists, an award winning hotel in North Adams, Massachusetts that has earned two Michelin Keys and national recognition from outlets like Vanity Fair. She rose through the ranks from guest experience manager to the top leadership seat, helping build a culture so strong that her own team members have collectively logged 40 years of tenure at a hotel that has only been open eight. Beyond the hotel, Colleen is leading a new pilot childcare program funded by the state of Massachusetts in partnership with the Governor's Office, built specifically for hospitality workers whose schedules don't run Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.

Chapters:
00:00 Housekeeping Meltdown

00:36 Podcast Mission Intro

01:09 Meet Colleen Rafferty

01:50 Berkshires Festival Vibes

03:32 Defining Hospitality Xenia

06:35 Philosophy to Hospitality

13:57 Tourists Growth Michelin Keys

19:28 Scaling Culture and Structure

26:58 Childcare Pilot for Workers

33:02 Funding and Coalition

33:47 Red Tape Worries

35:23 Pilot Program Unknowns

36:10 Universal Pre-K Lessons

37:14 Michelin Inspector Details

38:10 Sing for Your Slumber

41:01 Tourists Expansion Plans

44:11 Scaling Without Losing Magic

48:28 Mentors and Gratitude

Quote of the Show:
"This isn't really about you. This is about this moment and what the space can provide and what the guest is looking for." - Colleen Rafferty

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:

• Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@defininghospitality?sub_confirmation=1
• Substack: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-rafferty-88603072/
• Guests Website: https://www.touristswelcome.com/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/

What if the best conversations aren't about being interesting, but about being present? In this episode, Dan sits down with his close friend and mentor to explore why so many of us struggle to truly connect, even with people we've known for years. The conversation covers vulnerability, the difference between listening to respond and listening to understand, and why removing performance from a room changes everything.

David Rich is the founder of Palabra, a story driven event format he has hosted hundreds of times across nearly every continent, from intimate dinners to gatherings of over 100 people. What started as a personal search for deeper friendships after moving back from Spain has grown into a platform used by corporations, families, and entrepreneurs to build genuine relationships. His approach to storytelling and presence has made him one of the most sought after voices on modern connection.

Chapters:

00:00 Stories Over Opinions

00:53 Meet David Rich

02:00 What Hospitality Means

03:42 Palabra Born in Spain

07:27 Designing the Container

09:53 Conversation First Format

13:03 Vulnerability and Story Prep

15:58 Listening With Heart

23:32 Opinion Free Safe Space

31:16 Sales Through Trust

32:34 Sponsor Sustainability Note

32:59 Forum Style Story Learning

34:34 Introverts Love Structure

35:57 Long Tail Impact Stories

38:13 Scaling Palabra Formats

39:58 Everest Circle Experiment

43:36 Analog Connection In AI Age

48:42 Guardrails And Closing Reflections

Quote of the Show:

"A good event isn't that someone cried, so it was a good event. It's that people become a little bit more of themselves." - David RIch

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:

• Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@defininghospitality?sub_confirmation=1
• Substack: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Guest’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjrich/
• Guests Website: https://www.palabra.co/
• Dan Ryan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedailydanryan/

🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/

Ways to Tune In:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Transistor: https://www.defininghospitality.live/