← Called (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Called (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Called to Use Your Gifts for Good w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz and Chris Green
00:32:44
What does it look like to turn a paycheck into purpose? In this episode of Called, Fr. Mike Schmitz sits down with Chris Green, President of Humanitarian Hotels, to explore how the hospitality industry can become a mission field. With over 35 years of experience, Chris shares how true leadership is about seeing people, creating meaningful culture, and using every gift for something greater. Discover how entire hotels are giving 100% of their profits to charity, why authentic service transforms both staff and guests, and how you, too, can step fully into the person God made you to be. To receive updates on the podcast text CALLED to 33777. If you have a question or a story of someone living out their calling to serve others, email info@thecatholicinitiative.org.
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- [00:00]
A
Coming up in today's episode of Called.
- [00:03]
B
Our main focus is generating profits and returns at excellent hotels to give them all away. 100% of our profits, all of it goes to charity.
- [00:11]
A
I want to live out God's presence in this world. Have no idea where to start. How do I begin?
- [00:16]
B
You need to fully step into who God made you to be. He gave you certain gifts and talents, and you need to own them and you need to go out in the world and use them. You know, you quoted it in the verse from Romans, we use the gifts that we've been given. They can become ministry for me. Over 35 years, it has enriched my life. It's no longer a job. You get up every day on mission.
- [00:35]
A
How do you bridge that gap between what they say, oh, there's the boss. I'm doing all this work just so someone else can get richer. Is there ever any kind of, like, tension there?
- [00:44]
B
There is for sure. Now, I can tell you this. Those questions do come up, but they're generally only when there's weak leaders. You know, there's people in jobs and they think that's just as good as it gets. And I just am here to say it's not true. And that's our responsibility as leaders to call them up to something greater.
- [01:00]
A
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz. Welcome to the Called podcast brought to you by the Catholic Initiative and produced in partnership partnership with Ascension. In this podcast, we dive into the different ways that God has called us to be his presence in the world. Hearing the stories, real stories of mercy, of courage and compassion. We're getting started today. Today we're talking about using our gifts to serve others. In Romans, chapter 12, verse 6, St. Paul writes, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them if prophecy in proportion to the faith, if ministry, in ministering, if one is a teacher in teaching, we are clearly called to use our gifts. What does it actually look like? Our guest today knows a lot about using his gifts at the service of others, Having spent over 25 years leading some of the country's top. Hospitality. That's the word, right? Hospitality. Is that the word? I'm going to keep going. Chris Green is now using his gifts to serve as the president of Humanitarian Hotels, a group that dedicates 100% of their net profits to charitable causes around the globe. Chris, welcome.
- [02:04]
B
Thank you, Father. I'm so glad to be here.
- [02:05]
A
Thanks. That was my good intro. I don't know if you liked it or not.
- [02:07]
B
You did a Great job.
- [02:08]
A
Thanks. I have to read it off the script because there's so much import, so many important things to say about this. Now we're going to talk about your work with humanitarian hotels. I'm also going to work on saying the word hospitality correctly.
- [02:19]
B
That'll be good.
- [02:19]
A
But just kind of, as by way of introduction, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
- [02:25]
B
Sure. I'm so glad to be here. It's a blessing to be with you. And I look forward to sharing how I felt, called into leadership and hospitality and ultimately called into leading the humanitarian hotels platform. I grew up in a family, mom and dad, dad was in the military. We didn't have a lot, but my first visions of hospitality were that my mom never knew a stranger, that we welcomed people into our home and there was always food and sometimes it was just spaghetti. I mean, there was just not a lot, lot there. But there was always a welcome to our home and caring for others. And we made sure that we put our best forward for others. And so that resonated with me. And as I went out into the world, I just realized that my heart was about serving others, which eventually led me through a lot of different twists and turns, like a lot of other people, into the hotel business where I spent more than 35 years now.
- [03:12]
A
Wow. So. So when you got your first job at your first place that would be a hospitality location, was it because you had a heart for that originally or was it just like, oh, this is a job and it's available to me. How did you get started? What was that first step?
- [03:28]
B
No, that was.
- [03:29]
A
It just did.
- [03:29]
B
I need a job. I need a job. And I think a lot of people start there, right? Because we just don't know. I think we're, we're inclined to lean towards certain things. I was never going to be a banker. I was never going to be an insurance salesman. Those are just not things that I was called to do. I just didn't even feel it. And I loved being with people and I love the energy and excitement of hospitality. But when I. My first job as a kitchen manager back in 1987 or 8 was not. I needed a paycheck and somewhere I could show up and I knew people were always eating right. So I went to work at a restaurant and it started there. However, when you use the gifts you're given, you know, you quoted it in the verse from Romans, when we use the gifts that we've been given, they can become ministry, they can become a faith driven outcome. And what I want People to know is, for me, over 35 years, it has enriched my life. For. To change it from a paycheck to a opportunity. Yeah, it just changes the way you work. And also it changes the way you see your role. It's no longer a job. You get up every day on mission.
- [04:29]
A
Well, it seems like I. I just. I like the image, like, from paycheck to purpose. I love that, that. That sense of, okay, so, yeah, working at this restaurant because I. People eat, they need to eat. They're going to keep. I'm gonna have a job if I do this. Well, to then realizing probably, I'm guessing, I don't wanna speak for you, but I'm guessing that at some point you realize not only are we feeding people, but we're also creating a culture and in the kitchen. And how do you do that? What's one of the first steps you do to create a culture here of people who like, no, I might not care. I'm here for a paycheck. And yet here's my boss, my manager, who's saying, no, no, you guys, this is a place where we're serving food to people. How do you help people who are like, no, I'm literally here because I need food for myself. I'm here because I need a paycheck to know what we're doing is bigger. So there's that interior conversion you have of, like, I realize that we're caring for people. How do you help other people realize that this isn't just a paycheck? This is. This is purpose.
- [05:27]
B
It really is about people being seen. So this is just the hard facts about hospitality or the hotel business, whatever, is that for a long, long time, the hotel business was about monetizing real estate. That's what it's about, right? You buy a hotel, you use as little labor as possible, you spend as little possible renovating the hotel, and you extract as much value as you can, and then you sell it. It's a real estate investment. And they're good investments. Right. They've attracted private equity. They've done a lot of things that have made the hotel business a numbers game instead of a people game, which is bizarre to me, which is ultimately what led to me retiring. But to go back to your question, people have to be seen. And the reason I said that we became a focus on the monetization of hotels is when you do that, you turn your vision towards the computer screen or where the numbers are printed, the P and L report, and away from what really matters, whether it's your guests or your associates. People need to know the story they're involved in. We're all part of a massive story and they need to know their role in that story. And a lot of times we would say you just clean rooms or you just cook the eggs. No, no, no, no, no. That's not what it is. You are literally providing sustenance for a person today. They might have just been here for a funeral, they might have been here for getting married or their daughter, who knows what's going on. But you are giving them a small respite from what in their life and showing them the truth and love of hospitality and connecting them to the outcome, how their good work leads to more out, more top line revenue for the hotel, more performance for the hotel, more good guest reviews. Which leads to what? The ability to bring more people to work in our environment and let them experience what we're experiencing. It's just a powerful way. And believe me, people get on board. Some don't. They don't want to be any part of it because they're just not ready to hear it. But for me, I've always said there's got to be something more. I don't want to clock in and clock out. I'm just not interested.
- [07:18]
A
Yeah, there's, I, I have a, two nephews who work at a pizza place in my hometown. And I was so struck because at one point it was over Christmas break, they had, they had, I have to come back. One is in high school, one's in college. And they're like, I have to come back because we have our staff party for the pizza place. I was thinking, like, what a, your pizza place where you have your summer job or your weekend job has a staff party for you, like for you high school workers or college age workers. And secondly, you want to go like you're actually sacrificing other things you could do to be here and to hear them talk about their experience working. At one point I asked my, my nephew, his name is Max, he'd been there for years and he recruits his friends to work at this place. He's, do you have, you have to work at this place? It's so good. I was like, max, what kind of culture? How do you, how did they create this culture where he says, simultaneously, we want to do the best we possibly can and we want to minimize, you know, errors and all these kind of things at the same time. Our boss says, listen, at the end of the day, you guys, it's just pizza. And like, but yeah, that's great. But how do you have. It's just pizza, which is like, oh, whatever versus excellence. And how do you have that balance? It sounds like something that you would do with your staff. And one of the things you say is that if people are seen here, you have high schooler. This isn't just a job. You're one of our employees. You're one of your part of the team that, that you're bringing them in to. You're the ones who make this place what it is. I mean, how do you get people to that place?
- [08:43]
B
You got to build trust. You really do have to build trust. They have to know that even though. That I wear a suit and tie and I'm the managing director of the resort or the executive director of food and beverage, that we're all just associates, all of us with different roles and different things we have to get done on day. None better, none worse. And frankly, I don't know when the last time, if you've ever tried to clean a hotel room in less than 30 minutes. That is not an easy job and it deserves incredible, incredible respect. And often from the outside world, they're seen as the lowest associates, which always really bothered me. So getting people on mission with you and getting them to understand the outcome and then celebrating with them, you would be very surprised. I've had so many people say to me, chris, you can't pay top of the market wages, give top of the market benefits, give all these extra classes, financial counseling, and then all these other things and then still have great financial outcomes. And I beg to differ because I've seen it happen over and over and over again when you're trying to attract talent. Right now there are like 1.7 million open jobs in hospitality around our country. And people used to say that they would say these nationwide numbers to me, and I say, that doesn't matter to me. I work on Five Mile Road in Plymouth, Michigan, and we have the best place to work in all of Detroit. And I think people will come to us because of our environment. And it's just what happens. They're drawn to. To something that they can't quite put their finger on. But it's something different. It's where people are really part of a team. And I hate to use the word team, but part of it. And you can't use family, right, because you don't fire your family because sometimes you have to do that. But they're part of something bigger than themselves. And we see that at St. John's we see servers we let them participate. When we give away a $50,000 check to a homeless shelter here in town, we let the team present the check, not the executives. Right. They know that the breakfast they serve this morning is directly correlated to 3 of that $50,000 that we gave away. And it just. It just makes it bigger for them.
- [10:39]
A
Well, there's. There's an aspect where I think for myself, or maybe for someone who's inexperienced, I would think, well, the way you attract the best talent is you pay the most. And you're saying that's not nothing like, Right. You're gonna. You're gonna re. Reimburse your. Your people who are working with your associates as best you possibly can. But you can't also, like, buy loyalty. There's something else going on. It's not just simply transactional. Has to also be relational. You mentioned it's. Can't be family, some kind of team. What is that thing that's like, okay, we do pay top of the line. You mentioned wages. And so that, That's. That's not a. That's not nothing. But then there's something else that people aren't just, you know, showing up because, oh, St. John's pays the best. It's something connected to what for us.
- [11:27]
B
At the humanitarian hotels, I think it's deeply connected to our innate sense of generosity as humans that we want to give to others. We want to see other people win. There's a, you know, it's been a foot for a long time, I've got to get mine mentality in this world. And I've always existed, thanks to the leadership of my mom, as a great human being and my dad, I've always existed. And I want everybody to get theirs mentality. And I mean that in a positive way. I want outcomes for everyone to be good. And the real surprising thing, no surprise, is when everyone gets to their outcome, guess what happens in the business or the. It thrives because people are thriving. And so it is that thing, and it's an individualized thing. A lot of times we say the housekeeping department or we say the engineering department. And yes, they are departments, and we have to operate them efficiently and with excellence. However, there's Bob and Tom and Jeff and Susie, and they are all individual human beings with different outcomes. At my original company, Chesapeake Hospitality, we talked about possibility. And our tagline as a company was experience what's possible. And I loved it because it demanded that our teams and leaders thought over the horizon instead of just seeing a wall in front of them or the market dynamics in front of them or a culture that they couldn't turn around. They had to peer over the horizon and think about what is possible if there was no objects, what's possible. And that creates a whole new world for people thinking, you know, there's people in jobs, Father Mike, that they're in housekeeping. They think that's just as good as it gets. And I just am here to say it's not true. It's not true. And that's our responsibility as leaders to call them up to something greater, say more about that.
- [13:03]
A
As good as it's get as it gets kind of thing does what the idea is. Here's someone who's working and saying, that's it, that's as far as I can go. Or what's the dynamic happening when you say some people say this is as good as it gets, but it's not true.
- [13:17]
B
No one has leaned into them. The world says that. The world tells all of us that a lot of times that this is just as good as it's going to get. This is the outcome you have in life. This is where you're going to be, this is how your life's going to look. And I just tell you it's not true. There's just more to have. And so when you can call people up to that and talk into those things in their life and really make it true. I used to say at one time I had 137 hotels I was watching over in the US and Caribbean. And I would say things like, we live in integrity. It's important that what we say is true. And what I meant by that was we say we're professional hoteliers, so we that demands a clean room, a safe stay, all those things. And if anything, those are not true, then we're out of integrity. And I don't want to be out of integrity. However, I can say that from a podcast or an interview with CNN or wherever I was at at the time. But if it's not true right in the hotel, it's not true.
- [14:12]
A
Yeah.
- [14:12]
B
And so my goal was for everybody to understand why it was true and how that would benefit them so that this wasn't just as good as it gets, that we could do more for them in career growth, that we could do more in benefits and pay and training and uniforms and all the things that make hospitality so great. Those are things that we require excellence and we have to do it well.
- [14:31]
A
You know, that makes so much sense when it comes to if someone's becomes passionate about this, you know, whatever it is that they're doing. Someone is like, I want to be a master chef and then become a master chef. Or I. I want to, you know, someone who's sitting at the front desk and says, no, my work here has purpose and has mission. What about. What would you say to those people? Because they're all over the place. A lot of us are these people that we don't think that the work I do to get a paycheck actually matches with my gifts or the work I do to, you know, pay the rent isn't actually what I feel called to do. What do you say to someone who's stuck in that place where it's, yep, I'm cleaning the rooms. And yeah, maybe it is noble work, which I would say, yes, it's noble work, but that's not what I want. I want to be an actor or, yeah, here I am waiting tables. What I really want to do is I want to be a. Whatever. The thing is, what would you say to someone like that?
- [15:27]
B
I would encourage them. And, you know, it's interesting because we're a transitory business, hospitality. A lot of people come in when they're going to college, and then they're off to be a lawyer or a banker or whatever that is that they believe is going to fill their passion. I could come back in a minute and tell you how many come back to hospitality after they've gone to be a lawyer or a cpa, really, because they just find that that's where their heart was. They didn't really realize it at the time, but we get to see that a lot. And I encourage people to go after and we support them. You know, a lot of industries bring you in, and they want the 10. What do you plan to be in 10 years here? I just want you to be what you're going to be your best today and help them to be their best today. Give them the tools and let them know that. I love when housekeepers go and they say, you know what? I really want to be a schoolteacher. All right, how are we going to do that? How are we going to help you to do that? And people say to me, that's crazy. You have to worry about the guests. You got a big tournament coming in this week. Yeah, but Maria at the front desk also wants to be a teacher. That's important to me.
- [16:19]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [16:20]
B
It's not. It's not either or. It's both. And I say that a lot to my teams, and they don't love it because I just won't let them off the hook. Right. It can't be. Well, if we do this, we have to exclude that. I don't agree.
- [16:32]
A
So even in this service where your customers are the. They're the ones who are bringing in the revenue, they're the ones who are keeping the hotel or the restaurant going, your investment is. I mean, this probably isn't rocket science, but your investment is. Yes, of course we want to have our guests have the best experience, but we're here also to take care of our associates, like people who we're paying and investing deeply in them. It's not just we're gonna have the best rooms here, but we're. Have the best service possible. But also we wanna be the best place to work. Is that accurate?
- [17:03]
B
Yeah, because you can deliver hollow, great service where it's just hollow. It's not real. It's forced. And I don't want it to be forced. Authentic, genuine care and concern is something that you can tell differently. I can't tell you in my career how many hotels not like St. John's which is incredibly beautiful and incredibly well maintained. I've managed some that, you know, they're iffy at best and dirty. But we still had incredible guest reviews. Why do you think that was? Our teams believed that they could do more and they could care for people. Even in a hotel that needed some capital investment, that needed new carpet, that needed new wall vinyl. I had a hotel a long time ago that was ranked 535th or so in the. In the system of the brand I was working for. And we got. We had no capital infusion, no repairs, no paint, no wallpaper, no paint, nothing. But team. We sort of talked about what we could do and what we could be and got them believing. And we made it to the top 50 hotels in the brand without no capital investment. None. It also led to the ownership selling the hotel because we did so well that year that I was out of a job. But that's a story for a different.
- [18:06]
A
Time than the thing that's. But that's just people.
- [18:09]
B
It is people. Hotels are people.
- [18:11]
A
Yeah.
- [18:11]
B
Hospitality is people. It doesn't matter to me. You can have Joe's Pizza and Bob's Pizza, and Joe's Pizza could have the same ingredients and it can just run the wheels off of Bob's Pizza because of the people, of the service, of the commitment.
- [18:26]
A
You mentioned that you became somewhat disenfranchised because, like, oh, I'm doing all this work and forming all these teams and serving this way Just so someone else can get richer. Here are your associates who are cleaning the rooms, who are vacuuming the hallways. Here are your associates who are taking care of the grounds. How do you bridge that gap between what they say? Oh, there's the boss. I'm doing all this work on the ground, and I get X amount of wage. But he and, you know, the other fat cats, whatever kind of thing, they're. They're.
- [18:55]
B
How.
- [18:55]
A
How do you bridge that gap? Say, no, no, actually, we're all associates and we have different roles. And your role is important as my role, but they're like, yeah, but you're getting paid more. I mean, is that. Is there ever any kind of, like, tension there?
- [19:07]
B
There is for sure. So a lot of times when it's. It's, you know, do as I say, not as I do leadership or just weak or leadership where that doesn't care about the outcomes of the associates. That's where you have those kind of conversations. I just don't have them. They. They're real. And a lot of organizations need to take a hard look inside of themselves and go, could we do this better? Yeah, jobs are always going to pay differently.
- [19:28]
A
But.
- [19:28]
B
But it's about how the leaders, you know. And also, are the leaders humble, or are they you, you serve, you take care of me, you service my needs. No, no, no. That's not what we're here for. I always used to tell people at our conferences, I would say, listen, I'm a big guy, and there's only one reason I have those shoulders. It's because I have to stand beneath all of you and hold you up. And that's my goal. And if you think like that as a leader and believe it, don't just think it, live it. People recognize that. See, they're okay with it.
- [19:54]
A
You're mentioning service and humility. You mentioned those two. What are the behaviors of a good leader to help the people that they're working with buy in? What are those behaviors?
- [20:03]
B
Well, a lot of times it's being present, really being present. I can tell you some really funny stories about how we've had major conventions coming into, like, downtown Houston or wherever, where I've worked and I've offered. I've taken off my jacket and I've rolled up my sleeves and I've gone to housekeeping and I start doing something, and the. The. The ladies in there, they love me. And they'd say, chris, we love you, but you are really slowing us down. I think you have more important things to do. But they. They Trust me, because they know I'm willing, and I love to cook. I. I was in the restaurant business. So I'll go in the kitchen and I'll say, chef, where do you need me? And you should see their eyes get big.
- [20:33]
A
They're like, we're good.
- [20:34]
B
We got it. You know, because they just know that I will probably slow them down. But that. That is a sense of. They just know. If they asked, I would. If they want me to go wash dishes, I will go wash dishes. And it's not a show. It's gotta be real and authentic. The other thing is being transparent about your own failures and your own weaknesses. There's so many leaders out there that are scared to say, I screwed up, I made a bad decision, I led us wrong. A lot of this is on me, guys. It's not false humility. It's real and genuine. And I can tell you that I made hundreds of mistakes. I don't know if we have time for a short story, but when I was a young man coming up, I was getting promoted very rapidly. I was seeing a lot of success. Still trying to get a paycheck, really. And not really recognizing I had a fancy suit on. This is like the maybe late 90s, and I'm walking through a Hilton hotel. Marble lobbies, and I had fancy shoes with wood heels, right? And click, click, click. And I used to walk real fast because I thought it made me look important. And I was walking through the lobby of one of our hotels one day on my way from one place to another, trying to look important and moving, and. And one of our housekeepers, who really made a massive impact on my life and made me turn on a dime, literally that day and for the rest of my management career, I was walking through click, click, click. And she said, good morning, Chris. How are you? And I said, fine. How are you? And I kept walking. And. Which. Right, that's nice. I was polite, right? No. She said to me. I heard it from my back, do you even care? And I literally stopped on a dime. And I realized right then and there that I had been walking over people for process instead of purpose. And I turned around, and I went back and I talked to her, and I apologized to her. And I said, that was horrible of me. And I said, you. I even. I remember saying. I said, you deserve for me to pay attention when you talk to me, so tell me how you're doing. And I made a conscious effort for the rest of my career to spend time to know people. It's not easy. You're busy.
- [22:22]
A
Right.
- [22:23]
B
But what is your most important thing? Knowing them, knowing what drives them, knowing how to grow them. Because if I know them and they want to win my job, because I'm almost embarrassed to say how easy my job got near the end because people were so after it because they cared, and they were so part of the mission that I was left with not a lot to do, which is good.
- [22:43]
A
It sounds like you people. Well, I was very clear hospitality in serving others, but is paying attention. Like, to give someone your attention is showing them that you recognize that they matter. And I imagine that is informed by your Christian faith.
- [23:00]
B
It is.
- [23:00]
A
And so speaking of being informed by your Christian faith, you were involved with what's called Humanitarian Hotels. Just overall, what is that and how'd you get involved?
- [23:12]
B
So the Humanitarian Hotels is a part of the Pulte Family Charitable foundation, the foundation that was launched. They always had a foundation, but it was really formally launched when Bill Pulte Sr. Passed away and Nancy Pulte Rickard took over along with Mark Pulte. And there were these three hotels that they had been involved with through different business reasons, et cetera, that all of a sudden they had to figure out something to do with them. So they decided, you know, hey, why don't we do good in the world like we do with a lot of other things that we've done with our foundation? So they created the Humanitarian hotels, which our main focus is generating profits and returns at excellent hotels to give them all away, 100% of our profits, all of it. And I feel really blessed when I tell people what my new job is. First of all, they look at me quizzically like, is that really a job? Can it be a job? I don't know any places that give all the money away. And it is. And it's really powerful. People that know me and that know my heart. If you went back and looked at the Instagram. Not Instagram, but LinkedIn comments. When I posted my new role, there's so many that say, this is perfect for you. This is who you are. This is who I know you to be. This is amazing. It's not like a great job leading this big organization. It's, this is who I knew you to be.
- [24:20]
A
Yeah. This is the paycheck to purpose reaffirm.
- [24:23]
B
I love it. I'm going to steal that paycheck to purpose. I love it. We also have other divisions. The Catholic Initiative, which is sponsoring this podcast, which is leaning into basilicas and churches around the country to help create community for the Catholic community and really drive cohesion and neighborhoods that are underserved and preserve that opportunity for people to come to know the Lord through lots of different ways, and they're just supporting that. So it's an incredible foundation that does work all over the world, but also locally, and not only worldwide missions with the foundation, which. That's really not my role, but I kind of sneak in there because I love it, as you can tell.
- [25:02]
A
Yeah.
- [25:03]
B
But we have the St. John's Resort here locally in Detroit, where not only are we an incredible business that hosts over 250 weddings a year and business meetings, and now we're hosting the LIV Golf Tournament, but we also make impact here in town. We're involved in local homeless shelters. We've given over 20,000 meals away from our resort to the community to feed those in need and that are hungry. We house people coming in from other countries to work in our resort, and we give them ESL training. There's just a lot we do locally. So we want to make sure that we're impacting not only our associates, but the world we live in, our neighbors being good neighbors to our community, and then also impacting our world.
- [25:43]
A
That's incredible. I mean, it's really. So there's St. John's Resort, that is all of these initiatives going on, as well as two others. And that's just. That's incredible. But there's three different hotels. One here in Detroit, Michigan.
- [25:56]
B
Right. Which is the St. John's Resort. And then we have the Stone Cliff, which is on Mackinac island, which is plane trains, automobiles, and a horse carriage right away. But it's a magical place where we host corporate meetings, incredible weddings, family getaways, and it's just. It's. It really is. Most of the time in the comments we see from people are. The place is magical. Yeah, it's been. It's incredible. And then we have a beautiful hotel out in Laramie, Wyoming. All of these hotels came to the foundation through different interesting circumstances, but this one came through a friendship that Bill Pulte had. And we end up having a Hilton Garden Inn, which is on the campus of the University of Wyoming. And you might think, well, that's just a regular hotel. And it is. But guess what? Regular hotels can also have a charitable mindset and give away their profits. And the team can get attached, which they are. We host local events there. We're going to try and host a night to shine out there for individuals with developmental and disabilities. Right. So everybody can be part of it. And you might not be surprised to know that that hotel does incredibly well also. Why do you think that is? It's not just because of its location or its brand. It's the people. I mean, I'm excited. We're converting that to a Graduate by Hilton, which is one of the brands that focuses on the college community wherever it's at. And we literally sit on the campus of the University of Wyoming. So three very different hotels.
- [27:15]
A
Yeah.
- [27:16]
B
With one mission. And it's doing good in our world.
- [27:19]
A
That's incredible. I'm really grateful. I have one question. So at the end of this whole thing, I had so many questions that we didn't get to. I don't know if you noticed that at all, but it's a question that we've started asking at the end of every one of these podcasts, and it's this. Your counsel, your advice. If someone were to come to you and say, I want to live out God's presence in this world, Chris, I have no idea where to start. How do I begin?
- [27:47]
B
God made you a certain way. And if I could talk to my younger self, I would say you need to fully step into who God made you to be. He gave you certain gifts and talents, and you need to own them, and you need to go out in the world and use them. And. And if they're not being recognized, I would say you should pursue somewhere that will recognize those talents in today's world. In my world, you never quit a job. Right. You're like 25 years. That's what you do every day, no matter what. I think that there are hundreds of organizations where you can go and take your gifts and make an impact. However, if you feel called, we also need missionaries in tough environments, which I felt like for a long time in certain places. Go out and use what you were called to do to bring light to dark places. Right. Because we shouldn't let things happen to us. We should happen to our environment. And when we do that, then that's showing the love when we do it with kindness and care. And then we ask questions, well, is this the really best thing for our associates? People are afraid to do that because the corporate culture will pound them down. Because it's not the most profitable thing. I'm here to tell you that it can be. But go and use who you were built to be. My son is an electrician, and he loves the intellectual IDD community, the intellectual and developmentally disabled community, and he works in a tough environment. Electricians and the trades are tough. A lot of bad choices and all those things. And he always talks to me about how he just doesn't feel it. He doesn't feel it. And I said, chris, it's because you're not being who God authentically made you to be, which is a light, which is an encourager, which is a person that's soft hearted, that can listen to people. And I said, you need to step into that. And here he is now, a few years later, stepping into who he is and he's been promoted and he's leading a team. Sorry, I'll get a little emotional, but his team says, I don't want to work for anybody else in this tough environment because he cares for them. It's available to you. I think we just don't grab it. It's actually available where you sit, wherever you sit. I would encourage, if you're listening to this podcast, wherever you sit, before you go make a change, ask yourself if you're really bringing the authentic you every day to what you're supposed to be doing.
- [29:55]
A
That's awesome. So part of it is, as you said, is taking the skills and talents, the gifts you have and bringing them to the world. And sometimes you have to do something different, like you've mentioned. But also it sounds like sometimes you don't have to do something different, you have to do it differently.
- [30:10]
B
Yeah.
- [30:11]
A
And to, again, if you're a missionary, recognize. Yeah. You're in a place that are this darkness. Bring the light. Be that light there. That's so incredible. I. I'm going to take that away. Sometimes it's not doing something different, it's just doing it in a different way.
- [30:24]
B
Yeah.
- [30:24]
A
Which is so critical. Thank you so much for your time today.
- [30:27]
B
Thank you.
- [30:28]
A
It's been a huge, huge, huge blessing to be able to talk with you. And thank you so much for your work with the humanitarian hotels.
- [30:34]
B
Absolutely.
- [30:35]
A
It is not just impacting all those organizations that are benefiting from this. I think it's impacting the rest of the country. It's going to be more and more people find out about it because they realize, oh, there's a different way. Speaking of doing something differently, there's a different way to do, to work in this world as a Christian in a way that impacts the world as a Christian. And so thank you for everything.
- [30:58]
B
I'm so thankful. I would just say, last thing I would say is for anybody who listens to this that doesn't give all their profits away, I'm not saying you have to. Why don't you just start with dignified employment for all your associates. Why don't you start with that and see how the business results come.
- [31:11]
A
That's awesome.
- [31:12]
B
And then I'll challenge you that if you see a big boost in profits, give some of it away.
- [31:15]
A
It starts. Starts with one. It does. Let's say a prayer. We didn't start, we didn't pray at the beginning. Let's pray at the end, if that's okay with you. Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Father, we give you praise, glory. Thank you for Chris and all his work with the Humanitarian Hotels. Thank you for giving us, each and every one of us, the opportunity to serve the people around us. Help us to see how it is you want us to be your hands, your feet, your heart in this world. We dedicate the rest of this day, however long this day is going to be. We dedicate the rest of this day to you and to your sacred heart and to the Father's will. Help us to do it every day of our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. You guys, thanks for listening to called today. If this inspired you, please share it with someone who needs encouragement today. Hopefully this encouraged you. Hopefully you can share with someone else. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts as well as if you have a question, maybe you have a story of someone you know who is being the hands and feet of Jesus in this world and you want to want you think they should be on this podcast, please let us know because we want it. We need to hear these stories of how Jesus is alive in this world and how people are called even today. God bless it.