Vol. 11, No. 5 | Local Magic
Hey Ya’ll!
I’ve had a week in duality. (That’s honestly the best way to sum up my life, but this one was different.)
On Sunday, I attended the Hospitality Hued award ceremony, where I was nominated for the Spirit of Hospitality award. It’s the first time I’ve been nominated for anything, and it was pretty awesome to be seen. What I found even more interesting about the night was the range of hospitality represented. I live in a beverage/restaurant bubble so I don’t often interact with other hospitality professionals. From what I could surmise, a lot of people in the room worked in corporate hospitality management, whether it was real estate, hotels, or franchises.
On Tuesday, I was invited to a salon (the gathering kind) hosted by Alison Cross at her new space in Castleberry Hill, Local Magic. The gathering was centered around Meryanne Loum-Martin, the owner of the boutique hotel Jnane Tamsna in Marrakech; Cebo Campbell, an author and brand strategist for hotels; and artists Fahamu Pecou and Tracy Murrell. It was incredible. It was expansive. Again, I was struck by how broad hospitality can be. Everyone in this room was a creative and driven by experiences.
Neither event was right or wrong. Both are needed. Both inspired me. The first showed me the power of building systems and community at scale. The second showed me the kind of creative energy I want and need to live inside. The second lit me up and reminded me that I’m a creative. I’m experience-driven. I love textures and storytelling. Being in rooms filled with similar minds makes me feel less alone.
I currently straddle this fence of a corporate life, but I can see the fork in the road. I get to work with other creatives (bartenders) often and it’s the most satisfying part of my work. But on the other side, I work in an extremely corporate structure that isn’t necessarily driven by innovation, creativity, or forging a new path. I was having an informal conversation with someone that’s been at my company for a while and they said they were always told not to rock the boat. Eek! I am a boat rocker! I want to feel the water. I want to splash around and then figure out if we can get the boat upstream in a totally new way. These people don’t even want to get wet!
Being in those two rooms helped me realize this push and pull that I often feel. The answer is neither structure nor creativity. Room two reminded me that what I respond to is: a story-driven, creatively led point of view with the structure to support it.
Hope you’re well!
Shannon