What's with the Pineapple?

This episode hits different… as Justin and Emily assume the kids of today would say. Brad Keen, Chief Operating Officer of Boyne Resorts, joins the call today to talk about his career climb from line cook internship at Boyne Highlands to his role today overseeing five full-service, four-season resorts. The three reminisce on the pathway to merging lodging into the association and Brad’s leadership...

We’re back with a vengeance in today’s episode after our brief stint on Zoom. We kick off the show with an overview of the newly-formed  Michigan Hospitality & Tourism Alliance  assembling 11 of the state’s leading advocates for our industry to share a unified voice. The first all-call: $50 million for Pure Michigan funding. Your hosts also deep dive into the  Tax Relief for American Families...

To kick off the new year, Justin is carrying today’s episode just like the Detroit Lions are carrying Michigan (hopefully) to the Big Game as Emily calls in remotely from the ice storm. But nothing – not even awkward streaming lags – will stop them from getting a new episode to listeners! Main topics of discussion include restoring the roar at Ford Field and beyond as the hospitality industry bene...

That’s a wrap on What’s with the Pineapple… well, just for 2023. We could never abandon our listeners. The 2023 Wrapped edition episode is inspired by Spotify even though Justin has cut off his premium subscription and sparked some serious internal debate. Producer Joe is also in the house, er, studio for the first time since Justin and Emily built out their own space in the office and he’s adding...

As the holidays approach, What’s with the Pineapple welcomes Martha Zehnder Kaczynski straight out of a hallmark movie right here in Michigan. Martha, Vice President of Bavarian Inn Lodge, joins Justin and Emily to talk about the history of hospitality in Frankenmuth – a town with 5,000 residents that welcomed more than 3.5 million people last year (that’s more than the Statue of Liberty or Yellow...

How do you say hello in Detroit? Easy: “What up doe?” How do you say growing Michigan’s population? Also easy: “What up Doe?” Justin and Emily welcome Michigan’s first-ever Chief Growth Officer, Hilary Doe, to the podcast today to talk about the Growing Together Council, how to increase Michigan’s population and how Pure Michigan and the hospitality industry overall fits into that discussion. The...

This is your public notice disclaimer that the What’s with the Pineapple Podcast will now be charging a service fee to list to our episodes. Well, not really. But if you are an operator who has implemented or is considering implementing a service fee or surcharge, you do not want to skip over this episode. Helen “Lizzie” Mills, a partner at Fahey, Schultz, Burzych, Rhodes PLC, joins the podcast to...

Let’s start with a warning: this episode was recorded last week when the Detroit Lions were still undefeated. Beyond the loudness of the roar, Justin and Emily aren’t just loyal to their NFL team, they also discuss loyalty programs changing across the restaurant sector along with their favorites to use and rack up points. Looking at you, Dominos. The duo also walk listeners through the details of...

Justin and Emily spend a lot of time in the kitchen in today's episode…the one on the pickleball court, that is! They welcome guest George Aquino to talk about his journey in the industry from busser to Vice President and Managing Director of AHC Hospitality and Co-Founder of 20 x 44 Sports, a pickleball hospitality company focused on promoting the sport through camps, tournaments and travel. Spoi...

Listeners don’t have to keep their fingers crossed that this will be an interesting episode – it already is as Justin and Emily welcome David Kwiatkowski of Detroit Optimist Society. As a long time listener of the podcast, David joins to talk about his experience over the last nearly 15 years of operating in the hospitality industry after transition from trading equity options in Chicago to openin...

Hulu's The Bear. Have you seen it? If you haven't, listen to the first 18 minutes of today's podcast episode, go binge all 10 episodes, and then come back for a full analysis of season two. Every second counts as Producer Joe joins Justin and Emily to discuss favorite episodes, themes, what the show gets right about the hospitality industry, product placements and more. We would be lying if we sai...

The National is not just a great dad rock indie band (according to Justin) it also embodies our robust travel schedule in June and the scope of much to be discussed on this episode of What's with the Pineapple. In a new format, the hosts hit For Fork’s Sake news first to talk through updates on the adopt-and-amend case that came out this week, what to expect from the legislature as things (hopeful...

It’s us, hi, we’re the problem it’s us. Taylor Swift is coming to town, selling out Detroit, and Justin and Emily are not missing this opportunity to talk about their Swiftie status. While the entire episode could be about “T. Swizzle” the two hosts move past it to recap the Detroit Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference, Michigan’s success at the James Beard Awards earlier this week, and unfortunatel...

Listener’s ears will be thankful to hear that What’s with the Pineapple is back in a professional studio this week to welcome its first-ever elected official to the mic. Representative Graham Filler joins us (26:13) to discuss what it’s really like day-to-day to be a Michigan Legislator right now, how government can help (and back off) our hospitality industry, what his new bill allowing alcohol i...

Today’s What’s with the Pineapple podcast episode is a special edition as we record in-house for the first time during the MRLA’s annual Capitol Day (que the airhorn) and serve up four different interviews. Unfortunately, or more likely fortunately for most, Justin and Emily skip over the standard segments to instead talk with guests throughout the day about their meetings with legislators, their...

Everyone’s finally back in the same room for this week’s episode with a lot of content to cover. Records are broken as Justin and Emily go national with the most topics discussed in the Pineapple Express (1:49) segment from California’s overturn of the gas-fueled kitchen equipment ban, Frankfort’s (Michigan, not Germany) approach to affordable housing, industry trends from the Restaurant Leadershi...

For the first time in the history of What’s with the Pineapple, Justin and Emily are not in the same room to record an episode of the pod. That doesn’t stop them from tackling what’s been happening in the industry over the last couple of weeks including the Starbucks Senate hearing (still waiting to secure Mr. Schultz as a guest), Guy Fieri’s presence in our Great Lakes State, and the onslaught of...

It's St. Patrick's Day and March Madness and a new What's with the Pineapple podcast episode... and still somehow not yet Spring! Justin and Emily charge straight ahead into the depths of content covering the topics of EV chargers at restaurants or hotels, Starbucks hot topics including CEO Howard Schultz testifying to a US Senate Committee on unions, if Lake Michigan should be drained completely...

Your What’s with the Pineapple hosts are on the verge of a breakdown fueled by an upcoming office renovation, but despite all odds, bring you a new episode of the pod. What are you doing for The Big Game this weekend? Do you now what the term The Big Game means? Well, Justin doesn’t. Listen in as Justin and Emily have their high-quality audio back up and running to debate the hospitality industry’...

Justin and Emily have a little bit of a rough start to the first podcast episode of the new year with some audio issues in the first half, but the interview with MRLA Chairman Paul Hess of Epoch (pronounced Epic) Hospitality is unaffected. If you turn up your volume to the max for the first 26 minutes of the episode, you’ll hear your What’s with the Pineapple hosts discuss the Court of Appeals 3-0...

Justin and Emily couldn’t let the year end without one final episode to celebrate the one year anniversary of the podcast! It truly is the Return of Mac(k) as we welcome back MRLA’s Vice President of Government Affairs, John McNamara, to break down what happened – or more accurately, what did not happen – during Lame Duck at the Capitol this year as well as what to expect legislatively in 2023. Jo...

Hopefully your BeReal alert catches you while you’re listening to the newest podcast episode today. Speaking of, what is BeReal? Emily breaks it down for Justin, how it could be used by industry, and furthers the generational divide between the two hosts. They also discuss the jobs data released for October and get into a deep debate on Daylight Savings Time. The curtain drops a bit as well as the...

In our latest episode, we travel all the way to the Upper Peninsula, somehow a place Emily has never....seriously, never.....been to in her entire life to learn about Marquette and the historic Landmark Inn with special guest Stefanie Congdon. Emily spends too much time talking about pickleball (again) before turning to a "saucy" new promotion from KFC and a more substantive discussion on consumer...

Did you know that the fastest growing segment of pickleball players is ages 8-18 and 19-28 year olds? Did you know that Justin is too good for the game? Listen in as Justin and Emily cover all things pickleball, fall activities, and what’s happening in Lansing this week as the House and Senate floor lights finally get turned back on. They also have their first Q&A segment that Emily has been t...

Hospitality professionals might think Smith Travel Research or possibly Short-Term Rental when they see the acronym STR. But to MSU and U of M grads and all others who seek to be forever young, STR can only mean one thing... Straight to Rick's! Thomas “Dewey” Bramson, President & Owner of Equity-Vest, which owns college town staples such as Rick’s, Harrison Roadhouse (and yes, the Roadhouse Pu...