The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast

Hosted by Michelle Pascoe

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334

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Welcome to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast, where we explore the heart of the hospitality industry through conversations with leaders, experts, and innovators. Each episode brings you insights, practical advice, and inspiring stories that help you elevate guest experiences, enhance team performance, and stay ahead of industry trends. Whether you're an owner, manager, or passionate professional, this podcast will ignite your passion for hospitality. Tune in, learn, and grow with us!

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October 13, 202633 min

Where Should AI Stop in the Hospitality Guest Journey?

AI in hospitality should stop where the guest journey stops being predictable. Customer experience strategist James McIntyre tells Certified Speaking Professional Michelle Pascoe that AI belongs in the functional layer: wait times, routine requests and standard upsells. Service recovery, moments that matter like birthdays and anniversaries, and anything ambiguous must stay with a human. What happens to guest trust when your chatbot makes a promise your team can’t keep? DESCRIPTION In this episode, Michelle is joined by James McIntyre, creator of the ACTIVATE Framework, to work through where AI earns its place in the 2026 guest experience and where it needs to stay out of the way. Keeping a person in charge of service recovery matters because a guest who is only mildly disappointed can drop from a seven out of ten to a one when they reach a chatbot with no phone number and no human to talk to. James introduces promise governance, the idea that every commitment an AI agent makes about your brand needs the same guardrails as a commitment made by your team. He treats it as a leadership question first, then a training question, with technology last. The conversation also turns to loyalty and membership programs. James estimates the average Australian belongs to between eight and eleven loyalty programs. He explains that trust breaks the moment a brand forgets something a guest has already shared, whether a person or an AI was meant to remember it. KEY TAKEAWAYS AI should own the predictable, low-impact layer of the guest journey, including wait times, routine requests and standard upsells. Service recovery, moments that matter and anything ambiguous need a human leading the interaction, not just a human in the loop. Promise governance makes leaders accountable for every commitment an AI agent makes to a guest, backed by ongoing training and current data. The ACTIVATE Framework is an eight-step method for deciding where AI belongs in the customer journey, starting with an audit of the real journey. Loyalty programs build trust when venues remember what guests have shared and prompt members to redeem their rewards. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introducing James McIntyre, customer experience and loyalty strategist01:23 - How to use AI in hospitality without losing the human touch06:36 - Who owns the broken promise when an AI chatbot over-promises09:24 - The risk of AI tools over-informing and over-promising to guests13:03 - Does AI build or erode trust in loyalty and membership programs?16:42 - Why reminding members to redeem rewards keeps them loyal18:52 - How to reward long-term customers, not just new ones22:12 - How to reactivate disengaged customers using AI and test-and-learn25:56 - The ACTIVATE Framework for AI-enabled customer experience29:57 - The first guest moment a club CEO or hotel GM should hand to AI NEXT STEPS - Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast - Join Michelle’s newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog - Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms WORK WITH MICHELLEMichelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Explore her Customer Excellence and Engagement Programs, the Middle Management Movement and Mystery Shopping Business Insight Reports: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms ABOUT JAMES MCINTYREJames McIntyre is an Australian-based customer experience, loyalty and growth strategist specialising in customer journey mapping, lifecycle marketing, retention, loyalty strategy, CX design and AI-powered personalisation. He has held senior consulting and leadership roles across Wesfarmers, OnePass, Flybuys, Medibank and Cash Rewards. James created the ACTIVATE Framework, an eight-step methodology for AI-enabled CX transformation, which comes with a free three-minute diagnostic. Learn more about the ACTIVATE Framework™ and take the free diagnostic: 8 questions, 3 minutes, for a personalised assessment of where your CX is leaking commercial value: https://jm-cx.co/activate-framework/

October 6, 202643 min

Expectation vs Experience: What's the Difference?

Customer experience beats customer expectation when a hospitality team understands the why behind great service, says Tracey Boeck, Executive Manager of Hospitality and Customer Experience at Maroochy RSL. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional, explores the exact systems, from hand-picked middle management to in-house market research, that get a 130-strong multigenerational team genuinely invested in the guest experience.What's the one thing about customer service that even great leaders still get wrong?In this episode, Michelle sits down with Tracey to unpack how a 130-strong, five-generation team gets pulled onto the same page about customer experience.Tracey's answer works because it's built on mechanics, not motivation. She hand-picks middle managers to shift culture from the inside, runs her own small in-house market research groups rather than outsourcing the work, and deliberately gathers what she calls "staff influencers" for honest feedback, even when it's not what she wants to hear. Her supplier education sessions turn nervous young staff into confident upsellers who can talk a customer through a rosé or a gin like they've been pouring it for years.The conversation lands on the idea that will stay with you: the difference between expectation and experience. Michelle and Tracey also cover why decor and fabric choices shape how a venue is remembered, and the one Monday-morning fix any hospitality leader can make before spending a dollar.KEY TAKEAWAYS Why hand-picking middle management is the fastest way to shift culture across a multigenerational, 130-person team. How running in-house market research groups, rather than outsourcing them, keeps a venue ahead of changing customer expectations. Why gathering honest feedback from "staff influencers" matters even when the feedback isn't what you want to hear. How supplier education sessions turn nervous young staff into confident, natural upsellers. Why the gap between expectation and experience is the one thing most hospitality leaders still get wrong. NEXT STEPS - Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast- Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: michellepascoe.com/blog- Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprogramsABOUT MICHELLE Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally.  Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprogramsABOUT TRACEY Tracey Boeck is Executive Manager of Hospitality and Customer Experience at Maroochy RSL, overseeing hospitality operations, marketing, loyalty, sponsorships, donations, customer journey, and promotions. With almost 30 years across hotels, restaurants, and clubs, including executive operational roles with Parkroyal Hotels and the SPHC Group, Tracey built her expertise in customer behaviour, loyalty, and the psychology of the customer experience. Website: https://maroochyrsl.com.au/

September 29, 202612 min

Why Your Baby Boomers Aren't Going Anywhere, and Shouldn't

Baby boomers aren't universally heading for retirement in Australia's hospitality and club industry, and overlooking their experience is a leadership mistake, not a succession plan, says Michelle Pascoe, a Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years' hospitality experience. Many senior team members stay for financial, social, and purpose-driven reasons, not ambition. So if your senior team members aren't clocking out for retirement, what are they actually still showing up for? In this solo episode, Michelle draws together four conversations from across the month, with Kenny Ridgell, Cassie Davison, Patty Aubery, and Phillipa Fuller, to challenge the assumption that older staff are automatically on their way out. Leading a genuinely multigenerational team works because it treats resistance to change as a leadership design problem, not a generational one. Michelle explains why the experience sitting inside your most senior team members is often the exact knowledge your emerging managers need, and why some of your longest-serving people may be entering the most capable chapter of their working life rather than approaching the exit. The episode also names the real, practical reasons senior staff choose to stay: not wanting more responsibility, the financial reality of retirement, the social connection a shift provides, and the simple need to feel part of something. Michelle Pascoe closes with a direct challenge to club CEOs and GMs: stop sorting teams by age, and start planning succession years before it becomes urgent. KEY TAKEAWAYS - Why treating resistance to change as generational rather than a leadership design problem holds teams back- Why decades of hard-earned experience make senior staff a hospitality leader's best resource for protecting emerging managers from burnout- Why some long-serving team members are entering their most confident, capable chapter rather than winding down- The real reasons senior staff choose to stay, from financial necessity to social connection and a sense of purpose- Why the hospitality succession gap is closer than most clubs are planning for, and what keeping the ladder down actually means NEXT STEPS - Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast - Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog ABOUT MICHELLE Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry and Disney Institute Alumni credentials, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book the Middle Management Movement, Executive Leaders Movement, or leadership coaching: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms

September 22, 202635 min

How Can Women Build Confidence to Lead in Hospitality?

Female leadership in hospitality grows when women stop waiting to tick every box before applying for senior roles. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the club industry, talks with Phillipa Fuller, Secretary Manager of Club Quirindi, about confidence, mentorship, and leading as a single mother in a regional club. What if the only thing standing between you and that senior leadership role is belief, not experience? In this episode, Michelle Pascoe sits down with Phillipa Fuller, Secretary Manager of Club Quirindi in the New England region of New South Wales, to talk about what it actually takes for women to move into senior leadership in the club industry. Phillipa's started her journey through the industry as a waitress in a coastal pub and moved through various regional clubs and hospitality venues before landing at Club Quirindi eighteen months ago. Along the way, there was one mentor who changed the trajectory of her career simply by believing in her before Phillipa believed in herself. Female leadership in hospitality often stalls not from a lack of ability but from a confidence gap. Women tend to wait until they can tick every box on a job description, while men apply after ticking two or three. Confidence works because it is built through mentorship, networking through organisations like the CMA, and a willingness to ask why when turned down for a role. Phillipa also speaks candidly about leading as a single mother, the importance of delegation, setting boundaries, and communicating openly with her board about what she needs to make both work.  Key Takeaways Phillipa's journey from waitress to Secretary Manager across five clubs in thirteen years. Why women in hospitality often wait to tick every box before applying for senior roles, while men do not. How one mentor changed the course of Phillipa's career in club management. Why delegation and setting boundaries are essential skills for leaders balancing family and senior roles. What needs to shift culturally for more women to see themselves as CEOs, secretary managers, and general managers in clubs. Next Steps - Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast- Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog- Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Phillipa Phillipa Fuller is the Secretary Manager of Club Quirindi in the New England region of New South Wales, with thirteen years' experience across the registered club industry. She has led teams through amalgamation, regional leadership roles, and a return from outside the industry, and now brings a practical, authentic perspective on leadership, resilience, and balancing single parenthood with executive responsibility. Website: https://www.clubquirindi.com.au/

September 15, 202646 min

How Is AI Changing the Way Guests Find Your Venue?

AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini are changing how members and guests find, research and book hospitality venues, often skipping a club's homepage entirely. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional and 30-year hospitality training expert, explains why clubs need AI-ready websites, faster enquiry responses and new weekly metrics to stay visible in this shift. So how exactly is AI rerouting the path your members and guests take to find and book your club, and what should you fix first? In this episode, Michelle Pascoe sits down with Kenny Ridgell, founder of Ridge Media, to unpack what the AI shift actually means for clubs and hospitality venues right now, not in some distant future. Kenny built his business by treating marketing like a science experiment, testing one variable at a time instead of guessing. That approach works because it isolates what's actually driving results, rather than crediting the last click before a booking. The conversation moves from there into the practical detail every club leader needs: why AI platforms are now sending prospective members straight to a booking or room page, bypassing the homepage story a club has spent years building. Yes, this matters, because if that page doesn't answer the visitor's question in seconds, the enquiry is lost to a competitor with a better-prepared page. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why AI platforms increasingly send prospective members straight to a booking page, skipping a club's homepage story entirely. How the hub and spoke landing page model helps clubs get cited by AI search tools and match content to different member and guest avatars. Why branded search and direct traffic are two of the clearest early warning signs of a marketing problem. Why form enquiries and email response speed matter more than call volume when judging genuine interest. How combining AI drafting with a real human response builds the trust that turns an enquiry into a booking. NEXT STEPS - Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast- Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: michellepascoe.com/blog- Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms ABOUT MICHELLE Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms ABOUT KENNY Kenny Ridgell is the founder of Ridge Media, a marketing agency he built while still a student at the College of Charleston. He applies the scientific method to marketing, treating every campaign as a testable hypothesis, and works with hospitality clients including hotels and club memberships on data-driven, AI-ready growth strategies. Website: https://ridgemediallc.com/

September 8, 202645 min

From Behind The Scenes To Stepping Up

Hospitality leaders often stay behind the scenes long after they're ready to step up. Patty Aubery, co-author of the billion-dollar Chicken Soup for the Soul brand, joins Certified Speaking Professional Michelle Pascoe to reveal what it actually takes to move from doing the work to owning your voice and your title. What's stopping you from stepping out from behind the scenes and into the role you've already earned? In this conversation, Michelle sits down with Patty Aubery, who spent decades behind the scenes helping build Chicken Soup for the Soul into a billion-dollar publishing brand before she stepped out from behind it to build her own name. Patty Aubery co-authored more than a dozen Chicken Soup for the Soul titles and helped grow the brand to over 300 published books, all while staying largely invisible behind two famous names. As Patty explains, self-doubt is a habit rather than a fixed trait, and habits change through repetition and support. She shares the exact formula she now teaches women to structure a talk, a pitch, or a promotion case, so stepping into the spotlight becomes a skill rather than a personality trait. Michelle brings this conversation directly to hospitality leaders because the same pattern shows up on the floor, in the back office, and in the boardroom: talented people running the operation from behind the scenes while someone else gets named on the cover. Yes, it's time to step up, because teams follow people who are willing to be seen, not just people willing to work hard. Key Takeaways Patty explains how she went from answering a "secretary wanted" ad to co-authoring more than a dozen New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul titles. Why capable leaders stay behind the scenes instead of stepping up, and how asking "if not you, who?" reframes the decision. The practical formula Patty now teaches women to structure a talk, a pitch, or a promotion case without needing to be a natural performer. Why men apply for roles at 50% qualified while women wait until they feel 98% ready, and what leaders can do about it. The mindset shift, treating self-doubt as a habit rather than a fixed trait, that helped Patty step out from behind the scenes and build her own authority. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally.  Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Patty Patty Aubery spent decades behind the scenes helping build Chicken Soup for the Soul into a billion-dollar publishing brand, co-authoring more than a dozen New York Times bestselling titles and rising from secretary to Vice President of Operations. She is the founder of Goal Friends, a non-profit supporting marginalised and incarcerated women, and now works as a speaker and coach helping women stop hiding, start speaking, and give themselves full permission to be seen, heard, and fully expressed.  Connect with Patty: https://www.pattyaubery.com/

September 1, 202653 min

Hospitality Leadership: Why Working Harder Isn't the Answer

Hospitality leadership means protecting your energy, not working harder. On The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast, Certified Speaking Professional Michelle Pascoe talks with Kith & Kin Hospitality founder Cassie Davison about why sustainable leadership starts with clear purpose, defined values and genuine self-care, not longer hours. So if working harder isn't the answer, what actually is? In this episode, Michelle sits down with Cassie to unpack why so many hospitality owners equate hard work with good leadership, and why that belief keeps running them into the ground. Sustainable hospitality leadership works because it treats energy as a strategic asset, not a personal sacrifice. Cassie explains that when you're running an independent venue you are, in her words, the pebble in the pond: your energy ripples out to your team, your customers, your community and your reputation. Protecting that energy isn't indulgent, it's the first line of business strategy. The conversation also tackles the loneliness of ownership, why 99.6% of UK hospitality businesses are SMEs yet rarely get advice built for their reality, and why chasing every trend from global chains leaves independent operators exhausted and disconnected from their own purpose. Cassie shares the five pillars from her book, Stand Out Hospitality, that help owners simplify decision-making: high standards, standing out, defining identity, building belonging and telling your story. Key Takeaways Why working harder is not the same as leading well, and why burnout is so common in hospitality ownership. How protecting your own energy is a business strategy, not a personal luxury. Why loneliness is one of the biggest hidden costs of running an independent hospitality business. Why articulating your values and purpose to your team changes how they show up at work. The five pillars from Stand Out Hospitality that simplify decision-making for hospitality owners. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally.  Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Cassie Cassie Davison is a hospitality leader, author of Stand Out Hospitality, business coach and founder of Kith & Kin, a movement for independent hospitality operators and their wider community. With over 30 years in the industry, Cassie has built, grown and led award winning pubs, cafes, fine dining restaurants and festivals, earning an MBA and more than 25 business and hospitality industry awards. Download Stand Out Hospitality for free: https://standouthospitality.scoreapp.com/Visit Cassie's website: https://kithkinhospitality.co.uk

August 25, 202614 min

The Real Reason Your Community Work Isn't Sticking

Community work fails in hospitality venues when it relies on good intentions instead of deliberate leadership habits. Michelle Pascoe, a Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in hospitality, argues that community connection, generational culture, and crisis readiness only take hold through repeated, trained leadership discipline, not marketing or one-off compliance sessions. So what does it actually take to make community work stick in your club, instead of fading after the launch event? In this solo episode, Michelle draws together three conversations from across the month and names the pattern connecting them: none of it holds unless someone is deliberately building it. Community storytelling works because it starts internally, not externally. Michelle unpacks why even industry insiders can go years without knowing the scale of what their own club contributes to the community, and why that gap is a leadership habit problem, not a marketing budget problem. Generational leadership works because it's a trained skill, not a personality trait. Michelle makes the case that translating a club's values across an eighteen-year-old and a sixty-five-year-old on the same roster is a learnable capability, no different to reading a financial report, and one most managers have simply never been taught. Crisis readiness works because it's built through repetition, not a single briefing. Michelle draws a direct line between the discipline that prepares a venue for a crisis moment and the discipline that builds shared culture across every generation on the roster. Every club is one resignation away from losing the person holding its culture and community relationships together. Recruitment doesn't solve that. Structured leadership development does. Key Takeaways Why even long-serving hospitality professionals can remain unaware of the true scale of their own club's community contribution. Why community storytelling has to start internally, with staff and patrons, before it ever reaches the wider public. Why translating a club's values across a workforce spanning five generations is a trained skill, not a natural personality trait. Why crisis readiness and generational culture are built through the same discipline, repeated deliberate practice over time. Why losing one key middle manager can mean losing the person holding a club's culture and community relationships together. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally.  Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms

August 18, 202639 min

The Bag That Could Save a Life in Your Venue

**This episode discusses domestic and family abuse, including references to physical and psychological violence. Please take care while listening. If you or someone you know needs support, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, available 24/7. Escabags gives hospitality venues a free, practical way to support domestic abuse survivors. Founder Stacy Jane tells Certified Speaking Professional Michelle Pascoe, how her own survival story became a charity now stocked in over 3,000 locations across Australia, including registered clubs, hotels and community organisations. How can something as simple as a bag on a shelf save someone's life? In this episode, Michelle Pascoe sits down with Stacy Jane, founder and CEO of Escabags, an Australian charity that distributes free escape bags to people fleeing domestic and family abuse. Stacy shares her own experience of surviving an abusive relationship, the strangers on a cruise ship who helped her escape, and the moment she decided to turn her survival into a resource for others. Escabags works because it removes the practical barriers to leaving. Each bag is packed with the essentials someone needs for the first 24 to 72 hours after escaping, from toiletries to a prepaid SIM card, so nobody has to think about money, belongings or being tracked through their phone. Stacy and Michelle talk through what it takes for a club, pub or hospitality venue to become a stockist, why frontline staff are often the first to notice something is wrong, and how one simple question, asked consistently, can be the difference that changes someone's life. Key Takeaways How Stacy Jane's escape from an abusive relationship led her to found Escabags in 2019. What is actually packed inside an escape bag, and why every item is chosen with dignity in mind. How hospitality venues, including registered clubs, can become an Escabags stockist at no cost. Why frontline staff are often best placed to notice when someone needs support. How corporate volunteer days give hospitality teams a hands-on way to get involved. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally. Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Stacy Stacy Jane is the Founder and CEO of Escabags, an Australian registered charity that distributes escape bags to people fleeing domestic and family abuse. Stacy is a survivor of domestic abuse and an award-winning keynote speaker, recognised as NSW Woman of the Year and a Westfield Local Hero, among other honours. Website: www.escabags.orgwww.stacyjane.com Donation Drop Off: Unit 29, 5-11 Waynote Place, Unanderra, New South Wales, Australia 2526

August 11, 202641 min

Are Clubs the Last Place Solving Loneliness?

Clubs remain one of the few places where four to five generations meet face to face. Michelle Pascoe, Certified Speaking Professional and hospitality training expert, and Clubs New Zealand CEO Lucy Waterreus discuss how clubs are helping rebuild social fabric and address a growing loneliness crisis across every generation, not just Gen Z. So if Gen Z is the most digitally connected generation in history, why are they also the loneliest, and what does that mean for the club down the road? Clubs work as a fix for disconnection because they put people in the same room on a recurring basis. Lucy Waterreus points to this directly when she talks about the small group of regulars who show up at the same time every week, the kind of connection Michelle Pascoe describes as a club's table of knowledge. That connection isn't limited to members. Lucy Waterreus also explains how New Zealand clubs are recruiting staff as young as fourteen through school partnerships, pairing them alongside staff in their seventies, and what that does to the myths each generation holds about the other. Michelle and Lucy also talk through what succession planning realistically looks like when one person is wearing the GM, CEO, marketing and finance hats at once, and why getting governance and management right matters more as regulatory complexity increases. Key Takeaways Why clubs remain one of the few places where four to five generations meet face to face, and what that does to the myths each generation holds about the other. How New Zealand clubs recruit staff as young as fourteen through school-linked programs, and what that means for building the next generation of hospitality leaders. Why New Zealand's club sector is heading into a wave of CEO and manager retirements over the next five years, and what succession planning looks like in a lean-run sector. How the blurring of lines between governance and management stalls progress in clubs, and what the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 means for club boards. Why club boards are shrinking and diversifying, and the tension between relying on good hearted volunteers and building governance expertise. Next Steps Subscribe to The Michelle Pascoe Hospitality Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify: https://www.michellepascoe.com/The-Michelle-Pascoe-Hospitality-Podcast Join Michelle's newsletter for leadership, culture, and service excellence: https://www.michellepascoe.com/blog Book customer service workshops and middle management programs tailored to clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Michelle Michelle Pascoe helps hospitality leaders build multigenerational teams, lift service standards, and embed values-led culture. A Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the hospitality industry, Michelle delivers bespoke keynotes, workshops, and leadership programs for clubs, hotels, and hospitality venues across Australia and internationally.  Book customer service workshops and middle management programs: https://www.michellepascoe.com/traininganddevelopmentprograms About Lucy Lucy Waterreus is CEO of Clubs New Zealand, where she works across governance, advocacy and operations for the club sector nationally. She began her career working behind the bar in clubs and has spent close to two decades in the industry, giving her a rare view of the sector from the frontline through to the boardroom.  Connect with Clubs New Zealand: https://www.clubsnz.org.nz