Designing the Future of Hospitality: How Story, Systems, and AI Create Human-Centered Guest Experiences with Robert Polacek and Justin Colombik

0:01John Lee Dumas:Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by high level the all in one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down designing the future of hospitality how story systems and AI create human centered guest experiences to drop these vibe bombs I brought Robert Polacek and Justin Colombik and EO fire studios. Robert is the creative director at Rose Bernard studio internationally published for redefining hospitality through place culture and design. Justin is a design director and partner at Rose Bernard Studio, internationally published for Translating Concepts into Craft.

0:35John Lee Dumas:And today we talk about vision and execution, design that drives revenue, the role of place and culture, and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode go to Robert, Justin, and our sponsors. Feeling overwhelmed at the thought of getting your business up and running? Here's my advice. Keep things simple. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify, and start hearing... Sign up for your$1 per month trial today at shopify.com slash on fire. Go to shopify.com slash on fire. Stop duct taping your business together. High Level runs your website, your funnels, email, automation, scheduling, payments, and memberships all in one place.

1:16John Lee Dumas:And when you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you get a 30-day free trial plus my exclusive bonus stack that includes weekly office hours with me and much more. Visit highlevelfire.com. High level fire.com. All right, fire nation designing the future of hospitality. We have a lot to talk about around story systems and AI and Robert. I want to start by talking about the origin story. How exactly did a Rose Bernard studio come to bay? Justin and I worked really closely together in a past company. And when we had the opportunity to start Rose Bernard, we looked at each other and said, you know, there's a huge hole in the hospitality world that's not connecting with what hospitality really means.

2:03And so we decided to start Rose Bernard Studio as that company that starts to fill that hole, starts to become a leader in hospitality in terms of finding the stewardship in hospitality and finding the heart in hospitality.

2:16John Lee Dumas:And Justin, I want to move on because hospitality is more than just design for the two of you. I It's about storytelling. It's about responsibility. Tell us more about that. Sure. Yeah. I mean, it's more than decoration, right? Where you have to be, you know, have good taste, I guess, in a way, as a baseline with anything you do, any creative field. But it's also for us, it's looking at our clients' needs and the needs of the people that are interacting in the spaces, the hotels we design, the restaurants we design, and servicing and listening to those needs and marrying those together. so we're creating not only really great spaces but ones that function and um serve serve the you know the clients that are going to be interacting and the guests that are going to be interacting in their spaces well justin i want to stay with you as we talk about vision versus execution because you know robert he brings the creative vision well justin you bring the design rigor so how do you two collaborate to turn big ideas into environments that actually function and scale?

3:22Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question. You know, Rob and I both sort of share that together and we always work together on each project. So from taking a concept and a narrative that we come up with for each project, we have to also bring that into the built environment. And so I focus on making sure those ideas are durable, surviving in reality against budgets, against operations and longevity, and making sure it still looks like a beautiful space that maintains and is scaled and still performs five years down the road. A lot of hotels and restaurants have improvement plans that regenerate the space in seven to 10 years.

4:04So you always want to make sure that the longevity of the design of whatever you're doing at a restaurant hotel is always, it lasts, it's built to last.

4:13John Lee Dumas:Robert, what do you want to add to that? I think what Justin said is that vision is easy, but vision that survives reality is the work that we do. And so understanding that there is durability, there's also the idea of understanding how things operate and creating less friction in that operation is what usually durability is all about. And so making sure that the big ideas that come out of Rose Bernard's studio are developed so clearly that when we deliver the product, it is responsible towards the client and also towards the user. Can you maybe share just one example of a big idea that's actually worked in this regard?

4:53Yeah, we worked on a project in Macau. It was in a retail mall around a casino and it was the last storefront that wasn't rented because it was kind of an okay location. And the daughter of the owner of the casino came to us and said, hey, let's do a concept that corporates retail F &B and gives a little bit of a learning curve to people who want to learn how to make a cake and buy the cake and have tea and buy the tea set and buy this flower arrangement and make the flower arrangement. And so we worked with them really closely on that. And it was a great success because we understood who the user was.

5:34We understood who the operator was. And we, as design, connected the two together. and it's a beautiful concept. It's called Chabay.

5:43John Lee Dumas:Robert, let's stay with you to talk about design that drives revenue. I mean, you've shown that guest experience, that operational clarity, that emotional connection, like that can directly impact the return on investment. So how can entrepreneurs and other industries apply this thinking beyond hotels? I think the biggest thing is clarity increases to all time spend and loyalty, no matter what business you're in. and confusion kills profit, right? And so understanding that, I think, is a huge driver in behavior and in terms of experience as well with your guest behavior, whether you're designing something with Rose Bernard as a hotel or you're purchasing a car from another brand, whatever that may be.

6:29It's, I think, clarity increases to all time, period. Justin, what do you want to add to that? You know, Rob's absolutely right. And what I would add to that is, you know, people stay longer when they feel like understood. So, you know, if you're in a great space or something or a hotel space or a restaurant space, having that person come back over and over again, either through the design, seeing a great detail is great. but also like the service you provide, the interaction you have, it all adds up to a sum of parts that it leaves an impression and a memory with that guest and they want to come back and over and over because they liked the full experience.

7:12John Lee Dumas:And just like Robert gave an example, can you give an example of that, how you've actually accomplished that in one of your projects? We're actually, our client, the Grand Hyatt, an SFO, it's a Grand Hyatt that was built that's connected to the airport in San Francisco, San Francisco airport. And we actually are back five years later to expand the restaurant because it's so successful, the restaurant on the third floor and the bar on the fourth floor. And it's because like all those, that example of everything working well together, the guests' expectations, the success of the design and the touch points throughout either of those spaces.

7:51It's so successful, there's a 45 minute wait to get into the spaces. And so they want to expand it. And they are in the middle of doing that for them and giving them that reward. So that was really exciting to come back and enhance a design that already works as it's so successful.

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11:27John Lee Dumas:Let's talk about how designing from location, from history, and from community, how does that create authenticity that guests can feel immediately? Yeah, absolutely. I think with any space, wherever you're designing it, you want to give a person a sense of place. So if they're, you know, in Chicago, you know, in a restaurant, that's a much different experience than in Florida or in the tropics or overseas. So we definitely don't want to be trendy and you want to pay attention to the star level of where they're going, the type of food that's being offered and that story that wants to be told. So they feel like they're going somewhere.

12:06It's a destination and they're looking forward to it. We want to honor that history, the culture and the community so it lasts and the business outperforms anything that's trending next door, so to speak. And so that's the way we sort of look at going into different markets, either if it's in the U.S. or overseas, is making it feel like it's local and part of something bigger and greater. And also looking at the client's goals and needs and marrying those together.

12:34John Lee Dumas:So I'm a big history guy. Like I love going to a place and just absorbing its history. Can you give an example of that and of like how you once designed from history and like what that was, what it looked like, what it meant to people? So we were challenged to take the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, Canada. Beautiful. There's old hotels. We call them the old ladies. And what we like to do is come in there and like hem the dress, right? And then give her a new look. but still keep the character and the soul and the personality of what that hotel is all about. And so we came in and we did an underperforming lounge that turned into a high tea lounge and an underperforming restaurant space.

13:16It was gorgeous in terms of the historic Aboriginal architecture and put a really vibrant bar in the middle of it and completely turned around that space in terms of how people look and see how historic places can be current at the same time and be relevant and make money for our guests. Yeah, you keep the bones there. Yeah. Right, right. Right, yeah, you hem the dress, basically. Yeah, exactly.

13:40John Lee Dumas:So, Robert, is there anything else you want to add to what Justin was sharing about the role of place in culture? You know, designing from location, from history, from community. Like, what else do you want to expound upon? I think the biggest thing for us is to make sure that it's not thematic and we're taking advantage of location. It's being authentically real. It's understanding how people dine, not just how people decorate, but mostly how people dine, how they come together as community, how the food is displayed and served, and so how the operation and service is provided. I think that's a big connection of authenticity when we travel around the world.

14:19Food is food is food, but how it's presented, how it's delivered, how the service is given to you is, I think, the true authentic understanding of where you are.

14:29John Lee Dumas:And Robert, I want to stay with you because we're moving on to a pretty important topic that I want both of your opinions on because it's huge. I mean, AI, the future of hospitality. Emerging tech like AI, I mean, it's shifting the industry from reactive service to intuitive experiences. How do you integrate technology without losing the human touch? First and foremost, AI should not replace people. It should remove the work that prevents people from doing their best thinking. And what that does is allow more human connection from people to people. And so allowing AI to do and move faster inside broken systems is what I think we need to focus on.

15:14Because it's the opportunity of anticipation, not automation, right? So it gives us more time to be human with each other because AI is doing the work that is in the background. So it should never be seen, but it's seen as a human connection.

15:30John Lee Dumas:Justin, what do you want to add to what Robert shared around AI and the future of hospitality? Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, you know, like within line with what Rob was speaking, which I agree with, it's, you know, I think it allows people at different levels of demographics to not just feel like AI is just for an ultra luxury space. It makes it more scalable. So, like, I always like to use examples like the room temperature in a room or light settings or music or scent and the like. It should be in the background, but it helps more hospitableness in spaces come alive without knowing it.

16:13I think that's what the future in hospitality, using AI in hospitality versus like maybe how you use it at home, like on your computer, changing like a photo or something. So we look at it more as the integration of the guest experience into the space in those sort of settings. And even a menu in a restaurant, for example, could be more based on past behavior and the like. So it helps sort of bring more authenticity, but without you knowing that it's maybe being generated or being helped along by AI. Right, exactly. And then also even the development of that menu, like training chefs and team and staff to understand cultural differences.

16:59we using AI in that, in that regard is allowing us to be broader in terms of a sense of care and hospitality. And, and it, it, it, it allows us to be again, more hospitable and more direct. And imagine if when you walk into a hotel and you have your earbuds in and that, that favorite song that you've heard last time you were there starts playing again, that's anticipation. Right. We're not being creepy. It's memorable and it's memorable and it's, it's exactly what guests experience. Like memories of the experiences, I think the, the, the bottom line, um, whether it's good or bad or great, sometimes it's hard to differentiate between the three.

17:44Um, but I think memory of an experience is the one that people take away with them and then makes them want to come back.

17:51John Lee Dumas:Okay. My takeaway is be memorable, not creepy. I'm taking notes here for sure. So this is the closing value bomb I'd like both of you to take. And let's start with Robert here. If entrepreneurs that are listening right now, if they could apply just, let's just say one principle from the approach that we talked about today, what would it be for creating experiences that respect people, that respect systems and respect the future all at once? Most people believe success comes from being louder, faster and more certain. I believe the opposite. I think real success comes from restraint, knowing when not to push, not to pitch, not to perform.

18:31The most successful people I know listen longer, move slower, and let trust compound before they ever ask anything. Most people think success is about pushing harder. I think it's about knowing when not to push at all. Justin? Yeah, I know. I totally agree. And I actually was thinking that it's always about listening. And I feel a lot of business owners who are, I think, the most successful are the ones that are talented, of course, but actually listen, filter, and make it work in the real world with their clients. And that collaboration is success. So it's, again, that recipe that's worked for Rob and I.

19:06And I feel strongly about that because we see results. And so it's that collaboration, that listening collaboration with your client that's so important. Because if you don't do that, you have confusion. And then people get angry. And, you know, they don't feel good. And it sort of goes down a good idea, a great idea can be flushed on the toilet, so to speak, or disappear because of that cadence.

19:32John Lee Dumas:Robert, if Fire Nation's digging this content, they want to learn more about you, about your business. What is your call to action for Fire Nation today? Call to action. Well, we love to share openly at rosepinostudio.com and our LinkedIn. I mean, our goal is always to help founders think more clearly and not selling them something. You know, we believe in the beauty of hospitality and the heart of hospitality. And I think that could apply to most businesses. When you care for the outreach and when you care for the final user, you become successful. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

20:11John Lee Dumas:You've been hanging out with RP, JC, and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Just type Robert or Justin in the search bar and their show notes page will pop right up. Robert, Justin, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Awesome. Thanks so much. Have a good day. Thanks so much. Take care. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Robert and Justin for sponsoring today's episode. And question, are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world?

20:46John Lee Dumas:If yes, we are now accepting guest applications for EO Fire. To learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest. And I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Feeling overwhelmed at the thought of getting your business up and running? Here's my advice. Keep things simple. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify. And start hearing, sign up for your$1 per month trial today at shopify.com slash on fire. Go to shopify.com slash on fire. Stop duct taping your business together. High Level runs your website, your funnels, email, automation, scheduling, payments, and memberships all in one place.

21:26John Lee Dumas:And when you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you get a 30-day free trial plus my exclusive bonus stack that includes weekly office hours with me and much more. Visit highlevelfire.com. Highlevelfire.com.

21:44Thank you.