Top Floor

Stacy Garcia is a designer, entrepreneur, and trend forecaster known for bold patterns and a sharper-than-average crystal ball. She built a multimillion-dollar textile studio serving hospitality and residential design worldwide. Susan and Stacy talk about palette, pattern, and personalization. • The secret life of hotel lobby books • Why surface pattern design trains you to think bigger than walls...

Kipp Lassetter is a former ER physician turned health-tech founder, hotel owner, and gas-station-barbecue legend who now runs RBN, a luxury real estate referral and rewards platform. He's on the show to unpack how he thinks about building and selling businesses, turning "boring" transactions into unforgettable experiences, and why the right real estate agent matters more than any points haul. Susa...

Steven Rubin is the CEO of Collared Martin Hospitality, the management company behind Faraway Hotels, with a career that's zigzagged from overnight manager at a 600-room Marriott in 1999 New York City to revenue strategy trailblazer and culture-first leader. He's helped open and grow iconic lifestyle hotels at Kimpton, led across operations, asset management, and hospitality tech, and now steers a...

Franck Desplechin is a French-born chef turned luxury hotel food and beverage executive, with roots in Michelin-starred kitchens and brands like St. Regis and Auberge Resorts. After running iconic properties (including a wild Sedona chapter with his wife as co-leaders), he launched a nationwide task force and consulting practice and distilled his "chef mindset" leadership style into a book. Susan...

Christin Marvin is a hospitality lifer who's opened 13 restaurants, run high-performing teams from the Broadmoor to booming Denver concepts, and survived both burnout and a failed ownership venture. Today she's an author and host of the Restaurant Leadership Podcast, helping operators master openings, ownership, and operator optimization. Christin and Susan talk about leadership, systems, and sust...

Brady Lowe is a connector, educator, and experience-maker who founded Taste Network and the nonprofit Piggy Bank, spending more than two decades building unforgettable collaborations between chefs, farmers, hotels, and brands. Through his Next 10 coaching and accelerator hub, Brady helps hospitality founders design smarter events, deeper guest relationships, and sustainable revenue with a focus on...

Michael Broadhurst is the Chief Operating Officer at StepStone Hospitality, a lifelong hotelier who sprinted from dish pit to nightclub manager to senior posts with Marriott, Starwood, Crestline, and Crescent. He opened the Westin Reston, later led the Westin Arlington Gateway, and built a reputation for turnarounds driven by culture, coaching, and cross-discipline training. Susan and Michael talk...

In this special episode of Top Floor, Susan talks with three founders whose products made this year's Hospitality Holiday Gift Guide. Michael Albert from Hotel Humor, Megan Grant Pederson from Cherish Tours, and Jim Higley from Puffer Hug each share the story behind their companies and why their creations make meaningful gifts for hoteliers, travelers, and hospitality pros. Tune in for cozy ideas,...

Taylor Scott is a hospitality lifer turned leadership coach who cut his teeth at Walt Disney World, led sales at Disney Vacation Club, and earned his MBA from Cornell's Hotel School. He's the author of Lead with Hospitality and the leadership fable Give Hospitality, translating world-class service principles into practical playbooks for teams. Susan and Taylor talk about connection, culture, and c...

Lisa Holladay is the first Chief Experience Officer at TIGER 21, where she crafts learning, access, and connection for a global community of ultra-high-net-worth, largely first-generation entrepreneurs. Formerly the global brand leader for The Ritz-Carlton and a luxury portfolio lead at Marriott, Lisa brings a rare guest-centric lens to designing unforgettable moments online and off. Susan and Lis...

Jake Zwaagstra is the CEO of TriCelta Development and a veteran builder of complex hospitality projects from the Las Vegas Strip to tribal mega-developments. He's worked both GC-side and owner-side, translating vision into budgets, drawings into buildings, and chaos into opening days. Susan and Jake talk about function over flair and momentum over mayhem. What You'll Learn About: • The owner's-eye...

Ashley Ching is the founder and CEO of InHaven, a company standardizing vacation rentals with hotel-grade essentials and service. After 13 years at Tiffany & Co., she saw how consistent standards create unforgettable experiences and brought that rigor to short-term rentals. Susan and Ashley talk about standards, scale, and service. What You'll Learn About: • How a free research study can turbochar...

Al Lagunas is the co-founder of Levee, an AI-driven vision-and-voice platform that converts room inspections into verified data and automated workflows. A first-generation Mexican American from Chicago, Al's people-first lens was shaped by his mom's hotel housekeeping career. Susan and Al talk about pitching, personalization, and productivity. What You'll Learn About: • How physical and digital pr...

Bill Fanning is an Austin-based software leader turned hospitality-tech exec who's led revenue and sales across VC-backed, public, and PE-owned companies. After falling for the community-building power of restaurants and hotels, he brought his scale-with-discipline mindset to Stayntouch, a PMS for independent hotels and multi-property portfolios. Susan and Bill talk about tech rollouts without hea...

Debbie Feldman literally grew up in hotels—her father founded Embassy Suites—and she's since worn almost every hat: GM, asset manager of a 45-hotel portfolio, and co-founder of TCOR Hotel Partners. She's led high-profile repositionings (hello, Fairmont Copley Plaza) and recently teamed with Hotel B School to build a pragmatic course on hotel investment. Susan and Debbie talk about buying basics, b...

Mike Messeroff spent three decades in hospitality and was JetBlue's first intern before swapping corporate partnerships for a life of travel and a career behind the bar. A low point in paradise led him to mindfulness, daily meditation, and ultimately leadership coaching for hospitality executives. Today, he's launching the Self Hospitality Collective, offering bite-sized audio guidance and practic...

Josh Kremer is the co-founder of Paradero Hotels, a Baja-born luxury brand blending boutique resorts with destination management to create immersive, off-grid experiences. A classically trained chef who pivoted into real estate private equity, Josh brings both palate and P&L to building small-scale, high-touch hospitality. Susan and Josh talk about remote resorts, resourceful resourcing, and refin...

Happy anniversary, Top Floor!  Calvin Tilokee is the founder and creative director of RevPAR Media, blending 20+ years of revenue management and marketing with a sharp creative streak. Known for illuminating hospitality brands and roasting industry quirks with his beloved hotel-meme persona, @revparblems, Calvin bridges data, strategy, and humor. On this anniversary episode, he flips the script as...

Laura Hawkins is the founder of Gamemasters Escape Solutions, a creator and operator of high-performing escape rooms for hotels and resorts. After a successful career making viral television advertising, she discovered escape rooms on a European trip. She turned a passion project into a 14-room operation and a turnkey hotel amenity business (including installs at Atlantis, The Bahamas). She joins...

Agnelo Fernandes is the CEO of Cote Hospitality, a company blending resorts and heritage summer camps into unforgettable indoor-outdoor experiences. His career spans the Caribbean, Canyon Ranch, CoralTree, and beyond, where he's built brands, launched properties, and reshaped cultures. Susan and Agnelo talk about culture, camps, and compassionate leadership. - Why culture is less about ping pong t...

Steven Moore is the CEO of Actabl, a hospitality operations platform uniting four hotel operations tools into one streamlined solution. From his early days as a catering busboy to leading Transcendent through the pandemic, Steven's career has exposed him to more than one challenging situation. Susan and Steven talk about crisis leadership, labor challenges, and competition. What You'll Hear About:...

Wil Slickers is a hospitality pro turned podcasting powerhouse. He launched Slick Talk in 2018 to scratch an industry itch, then turned it into a multi-show media empire with Hospitality FM, recently acquired by Skift. Susan and Wil talk about podcast pivots, media mergers, and the messy magic of microphone mastery. What You'll Hear About: 🎙️ Why wearing headphones matters, even with a fancy mic 🎙...

Sundip Patel is the founder and CEO of AVANA Companies, a financial services firm managing over $1 billion in assets. Born in Zambia and raised in the U.S., Sundip's journey from CPA to impact-focused entrepreneur is rooted in resilience and purpose. Susan and Sundip talk about lessons in financing, failure, and forging a better future through hotel lending, job creation, and financial education f...

Shanté Micah is a seasoned storyteller and strategic PR pro who launched her career covering the Olympics before earning her master's from Syracuse and pivoting into brand strategy. With global experience and clients like Disney and ESPN under her belt, she's now the founder of Good News, a consultancy redefining media outreach. Susan and Shanté talk about personalized pitching, press release pitf...

Liz Dahlager is the Chief Operating Officer and a partner at Mereté Hotel Management, a hotel management company based in Oregon. With roots in boutique hospitality at Kimpton Hotels, Liz has climbed the career ladder from area director of sales to Chief Operating Officer. Susan and Liz talk about culture, career pivots, and crafting local guest experiences. Episode Highlights 🎯 Why a solid visio...