Hospitality: The Key to a Kinder World | Evelyn Vargas | TEDxHasanuddin University — Transcript

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1. 0:00Transcriber: Abdul Kader Akeel Reviewer: Manlin Fang
2. 0:11The other day, a friend sent me a video on Instagram
3. 0:16and perhaps you've seen it as well as it was going viral.
4. 0:22It's someone falling off their bike in Bali. It's an accident.
5. 0:29Someone has fallen onto the rice field. They are full of mud. Head to toes.
6. 0:36As I watched this video, I realized, wait a minute,
7. 0:42someone is actually recording this video instead of helping the person on
8. 0:47the ground. And this is something that unfortunately happens very often in Bali.
9. 0:55Now, what I discovered here is that Indonesian people are usually
10. 0:59the ones running to help the person on the ground.
11. 1:03I always wonder, why are these kind of videos going viral?
12. 1:10Someone stops to record a video
13. 1:13or even record it while they are driving instead of stopping.
14. 1:19Dropping the phone and running to help.
15. 1:23Do you notice this that people are not always nice and kind to each other?
16. 1:31Maybe after the fact of Covid when we couldn’t connect with each other,
17. 1:35we kind of forgot how to do it. In traffic , people don't let other people in.
18. 1:42It's chaos. Madness for what? To get ahead. Five seconds. Do you notice this?
19. 1:53It doesn't need to be this way. That's it.
20. 1:57Here in Indonesia, I've discovered that when you give a smile to someone,
21. 2:03they will smile back and even more.
22. 2:07Indonesian people welcome you with the warmest, greatest welcome ever.
23. 2:13It's like people here know how to connect with each other.
24. 2:17So what I've discovered and experienced is this
25. 2:23the solution to connect with each other is hospitality.
26. 2:29The dictionary definition of hospitality is the friendly
27. 2:33and generous reception of guests, visitors and strangers.
28. 2:39I connect with the concept of generous behavior,
29. 2:43and I believe we need to embrace a mindset of kindness, generosity,
30. 2:49and welcoming others.
31. 2:54So how do I know this? Well,
32. 2:57I know this firsthand because for all of my adult life,
33. 3:01I've been working in the hospitality industry, and as a child back in Peru,
34. 3:07we lived much like you do here.
35. 3:11Our house was the gathering place for celebrations with family and friends,
36. 3:18and those celebrations full of sharing of food and dancing happened very often.
37. 3:28My family taught me how to be nice, kind and welcoming others.
38. 3:36Maybe that's why I spent my life being kind and welcoming others.
39. 3:43It is definitely why I chose this industry.
40. 3:48Some people call it the service industry. I don't.
41. 3:54Service and hospitality are not the same thing. Service is transactional.
42. 4:01Trading one thing for another. But hospitality.
43. 4:07Hospitality is transformational. It's about relationships and connections.
44. 4:14And I truly believe that this is the mindset that it is key to
45. 4:18a kinder world.
46. 4:22So what can you do to embrace a hospitality mindset
47. 4:27and culture in your life? I have four key points for you and they all start with
48. 4:34the letter C. First is curiosity.
49. 4:40When I arrived here to Indonesia,
50. 4:43I came from working in fancy hotels and venues in Spain.
51. 4:49I learned a lot of rules and standards that did not apply here.
52. 4:55Even my clothes were all wrong for the island.
53. 5:00I realized that my approach was not the right one for the place and the time.
54. 5:07If only I had been curious and asked questions even before
55. 5:14I got here to find out how things work here.
56. 5:19To find out how we greet and how we communicate.
57. 5:24How important are any kind of celebrations and even traffic?
58. 5:30Driving commuting? Everything is different here and I love it here.
59. 5:36One reason I get to celebrate at least three New Years every single year.
60. 5:45My second key concept is caring.
61. 5:49My husband works in the hospitality industry as well.
62. 5:53He's a chef and not long ago he told me a story that I want to share with you
63. 5:58because I believe it truly embraces the concept of caring.
64. 6:04My husband is very particular,
65. 6:08not always one of those horrible yelling boss chefs, but he is particular.
66. 6:15One day he was called at a table of a guest who was wearing a mask
67. 6:20and no one could understand what he wanted.
68. 6:24Now, my husband found out that this guest had no teeth because he was on
69. 6:29an accident. None of the other restaurants around
70. 6:34the area wanted to accommodate the order because he couldn't chew,
71. 6:39but he wanted to try nice food.
72. 6:44Now my husband, even though he was busy, he cared.
73. 6:50He made time to prepare the specific food that the guest was required
74. 6:54so that he could enjoy nice food.
75. 6:59The guy was so happy. My husband told me he jumped out of his chair
76. 7:04and hugged me right there in front of everyone.
77. 7:08And this guest came back a couple of times after that. Caring really matters.
78. 7:19My third C concept is a special one because it contains two C's is what
79. 7:26I call creative courtesy. It's the story that made me fall in love with
80. 7:33the possibilities of experiencing the power of hospitality.
81. 7:39It was my first big job in the hospitality industry at
82. 7:44a five star hotel in the room service area . We had a standard.
83. 7:50Every order would come up with a specific setup cutlery, napkins,
84. 7:56salt and pepper and a small glass filled with jelly beans.
85. 8:01Yes, jelly beans or sometimes gummy bears or candies.
86. 8:06We had more than 500 rooms in this hotel, so you can imagine how busy we were.
87. 8:14It was really fun. One particular room would always call to ask
88. 8:20for more jelly beans because they loved them.
89. 8:25As we work alongside the minibar team,
90. 8:27they discovered that the guests were consuming gummy bears also from
91. 8:32the minibar every single day, and even the housekeeping team.
92. 8:36When they were cleaning the room, they would find empty bags of gummy bears,
93. 8:41candies, and jelly beans in the trash can.
94. 8:45So we told the team in charge of creating remarkable experiences for
95. 8:52the guests in this hotel. Yes, we had a team just for that.
96. 8:57And they came up with the idea of filling their hot tub in
97. 9:03the room with jelly beans.
98. 9:06Now, this was crazy out of our minds and we loved it.
99. 9:13We all work together as a team,
100. 9:15and we find the right moment to set up the surprise.
101. 9:19When the guests were not in the room, we left a note.
102. 9:25The guests were shocked and amazed.
103. 9:29They felt seen, cared for, special,
104. 9:34as if they were the only guest at this massive hotel.
105. 9:40They told everyone on social media and they joined
106. 9:44the loyal program when they checked out.
107. 9:48Now every time I tell this story or I reminisce with friends,
108. 9:53we all get that fuzzy feeling and smile.
109. 9:57That's the power that hospitality has for everyone who experiences.
110. 10:04I know that this was something pretty big, but it taught me to find opportunities,
111. 10:10even the small ones, to show people how much we care for them and to do so in
112. 10:16a unique way. That, to me, is creative courtesy.
113. 10:23Now, my last C word is the one that embraces all the other words,
114. 10:28and it's also the essence of hospitality. Connection.
115. 10:35Connection goes beyond language. It's universal. It transcends all differences.
116. 10:43A few years ago, I was a manager at a hotel in Ibiza, in Spain.
117. 10:49The job was supposed to be fun. We were on a party island.
118. 10:54But little did I know that there was a challenge waiting for me.
119. 11:01My new team were all women. All of them older than me by many years.
120. 11:13And I was their manager. I knew that
121. 11:17I needed to find ways to connect with them.
122. 11:21They were mostly mothers who just wanted to come to work, 7 to 3,
123. 11:26do their jobs and go back home to live their lives.
124. 11:30And they were pretty good at their jobs.
125. 11:35Among all the differences between us,
126. 11:38I knew I needed to find ways to connect with them both at work and on
127. 11:44a personal level. I didn't want to be just a manager and tell them what to do.
128. 11:51I wanted to move them from inspiration.
129. 11:55I remember back in Peru, music was really important.
130. 11:59I actually learned some English from some of those 70s 80s disco music.
131. 12:05That was my favorite kind of music. And these women also love that kind of music.
132. 12:11I found the connection even more. One of the core values of this hotel was music.
133. 12:21So I came up with the idea of creating a sort of
134. 12:25a flash mob in order to present it to the guests.
135. 12:29We had to practice, so we spent time together bonding and having fun.
136. 12:36We chose the song we are family. We are family.
137. 12:43So the day of the show arrived,
138. 12:47we performed right before the buffet
139. 12:52breakfast was about to finish. The result ?
140. 12:55The guests loved it. They all join.
141. 12:59Our team grew stronger and even other teams at the hotel came to watch.
142. 13:06They all took videos.
143. 13:10Even now, years after, I'm still in touch with them.
144. 13:15That's how strong our connection and relationship was. And it still is.
145. 13:24I value connection and friendship.
146. 13:27Working with young teams now in Indonesia,
147. 13:30I emphasize how important is to build and find connection
148. 13:36to help the person on the ground, rather to take a video of them.
149. 13:42And this is why I love living here and why I love what I do.
150. 13:47My house is always open for friends and family who wants to come and visit.
151. 13:53And believe me, when you live in Bali, everyone wants to come and visit you.
152. 13:58I came here six years ago and it was my husband's idea to come here.
153. 14:03Now, if you have a partner or you had one,
154. 14:06you can relate to the idea of going along with something your partner chose
155. 14:10and decided it was really challenging. Far away from my family and friends.
156. 14:17New language, new culture.
157. 14:20But it all changed when I started applying those concepts of hospitality to
158. 14:26my life and business. Hospitality has been transformational for me.
159. 14:31You may be wondering why, and I can tell you that hospitality has opened up
160. 14:35the world to me. I see the impact of the hospitality,
161. 14:40mindset and culture everywhere around the world.
162. 14:43And the best part are the relationships that I've made over
163. 14:49the years with colleagues and even with guests.
164. 14:54And the best relationship I've ever created was 14 years ago,
165. 14:59back in my first big job in hospitality at that hotel.
166. 15:02Of the jelly beans story where I met the love of my life, my husband.
167. 15:08And we've been working in the hospitality industry since then,
168. 15:12nonstop. So what can you do today to infuse hospitality in your life?
169. 15:22Well, first you can open your eyes. Hospitality is already happening.
170. 15:29People are smiling at you. Smile back. Someone allows you to pass in traffic.
171. 15:36Thank them. Let yourself be inspired from what's already happening.
172. 15:44Next start small. Find the little things that you can do for other people.
173. 15:51You don't have to fill up a hot tub with jelly beans.
174. 15:56It's about being curious, caring
175. 16:00and using creative courtesy to connect with others. Take action.
176. 16:08Finally, realize that there is a bigger purpose for our small acts.
177. 16:16Our future depends on kindness, so we must connect with each other.
178. 16:23Hospitality was and is still transformational for me and
179. 16:29I know that it can be transformational for you.
180. 16:32This is a choice and I truly hope you make it one step at a time.
181. 16:39You'll be creating a ripple effect and you'll be making this world a better,
182. 16:45kinder, more generous place with hospitality. Thank you.