Abigail Flynn on Becoming GM at 24 and Proving Success Without College Through 22 Years at Family-Owned Olympia Hospitality

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Abby Flynn. She is the Senior Human Resources Manager at Olympia Hospitality. They are a batik-

focused hospitality management and development firm based in Portland, Maine and founded in 1969. They are known for combining the art and science of hospitality across dozens of properties, emphasizing trust, accountability, and continuous improvement in every project. During Abby’s career, she has held multiple leadership positions in the hospitality sector, overseeing hotel operations and championing service excellence.

Her dedication to teamwork and guest satisfaction has led to notable industry recognition such as Hilton’s Barbara Bajon General Manager of the Year and Highest H. Honors Loyalty Award. She was also contributing to several thought pieces on organizational purpose and service, earning her a reputation as a forward-thinking leader who values both people and performance.

Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Adback Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your hotel employees free access to doctors, therapists, and prescription meds. And here’s the fun part. The program actually puts more money into your employees’ pockets and the company’s too.

One recent client was able to increase net profits by $900 per employee per year. Now results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the senior HR manager at Olympia Hospitality, Abby Flynn. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Abigail Flynn (02:13)
Absolutely, I’m happy to be here.

Anthony Codispoti (02:15)
So, Abby, when did you get your first work introduction to the hospitality industry? How were you drawn in?

Abigail Flynn (02:23)
I’ve been in hospitality my whole life, actually. I started in housekeeping at the In By the Sea, which is a pretty well-known resort in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. And it was just a summer job for me, which then transferred to when I did go to college at University of New Hampshire for a little bit. I found pretty quickly that I could go anywhere because I worked in hotels and there were always hotels where I was going. So…

⁓ I have been in hospitality since I was able to start working.

Anthony Codispoti (02:55)
And so part of the draw for you was that you like to move around, like to travel. so.

Abigail Flynn (03:00)
I just felt it was advantageous that I had a skill set that anywhere I wanted to go, I would have the ability to get a job. And it also allowed for some flexibility for me to kind of come and go as I needed to. So it just was a fun, active ⁓ way to fill my time and help earn some money to prepare for the latter parts of my life.

Anthony Codispoti (03:25)
Was there a particular moment in time where you realized this is the career I want to be in? Like, this is my path.

Abigail Flynn (03:34)
Yes, it happened pretty early in my 20s. I did not end up finishing college. It just was not the right move for me at the time that I determined. And so I very quickly realized that although I wasn’t going to finish school, I needed to figure something out and prove that that was not a critical mistake to life’s successes. And so I was able to

From housekeeping, I followed a little bit of a progression of housekeeping to room inspector to quality assurance manager. So I was seeing some early movement, which kind of triggered to me like, hey, I could grow in this. It’s not just an entry level job for me. And I decided to take a step back ⁓ from the man. I had gotten to a management role and I decided to take a step back because I knew if I wanted to keep going that I would have to get some

customer service ⁓ training and time. And so I actually took a front desk position with Olympia at a branded property. And then again, kind of quickly saw that employees related to me, guests related to me, that I trained well. I really ⁓ embraced all of the opportunities that were being given to me. And again, was able to see some forward progress.

of positional growth. And at that point, it was like, I’m not going to stop until I get to the top ⁓ and see where we can take this.

Anthony Codispoti (05:11)
So it was interesting, you were kind of on one path in the hotel space and you were getting more responsibility heading towards more leadership roles. But there was an awareness even at a young age that if you really wanted to advance your career, you kind of needed to do a sidestep and get that customer service experience. Is that something you were coached on or were you just kind of observing that that’s how the folks around you were doing?

Abigail Flynn (05:35)
I have been very fortunate in my life to have a pretty strong sense of self-awareness, to know where my strengths and where my opportunities for growth are. And at the time, I was incredibly shy, ⁓ very introverted, still am, but that’s a developed skill. ⁓ And I recognize that although I could…

do great behind the scenes work. What I wanted to be doing is leading people and working with the guests and ⁓ really understanding all aspects of the industry. I was clearly seeing some success on one path, but there were multiple paths that I was aware of and I didn’t want to settle in one place. So I knew that forcing myself out in front of the guests was a way to really help me improve that.

ability to communicate with people, feel comfortable in ⁓ a front-facing position. And so it wasn’t necessarily something somebody told me to do versus I knew that it was an important part of my own development.

Anthony Codispoti (06:47)
this path that you were on in the hotel space, of entry level position, working your way up, getting these different levels of experience, is that unusual in the hotel industry for folks to come in at sort of the ground floor and see that kind of ascension?

Abigail Flynn (07:05)
I don’t think so ⁓ by any means. not to downplay the need, you know, that there are obviously hospitality programs, degree programs, I think they’re all important. But I have also found, particularly when you are working with humans, that there is only so much you can learn from a book. And the more important lessons, I believe, come from the experience. So

the ability to learn and grow. I do believe that, at least in our company, we have quite a track record of promoting from within and seeing internal growth. ⁓ Most, as a prime example, the majority of our home office team all have come up through the hotels, particularly in the operational bay. So it’s just an industry that lends itself to that level of experience.

And even if you come to us with a degree, you’re not necessarily starting in a management space anyways. You do need time to understand the operation, understand the way we do things, or whatever style guests you have at your property. And those things come from being in the building doing the

Anthony Codispoti (08:21)
So how long have you been with Olympia Hospitality?

Abigail Flynn (08:24)
Well, my whole life, actually, specifically Olympia, just a little over 22 years when I worked at the In-By-The-Sea. So Olympia is owned by the Mahaney family. At the time, In-By-The-Sea was privately owned by Larry Mahaney. So it was not part of the Olympia portfolio yet. although I don’t, ⁓ those weren’t years with Olympia since I was, I believe 16 years old, I’ve worked for the Mahaney family.

Anthony Codispoti (08:27)
Okay.

Okay.

Abigail Flynn (08:54)
And I joined, officially joined Olympia Hospitality in 2003 and have worked for them ever since.

Anthony Codispoti (09:03)
you say officially, but before that you were working for some of their other properties or the properties that were within the family. Got it. Okay. And I see that you’ve held ⁓ a number of general manager positions. And it’s interesting now sort of from general manager to HR manager of kind of the whole portfolio, how did that transition take place?

Abigail Flynn (09:08)
Correct. Yeah, family member. Yeah. Correct.

⁓ I really think I got the best of both worlds. When I was a general manager, one of my, probably the thing I was most passionate about was creating a culture where employees felt seen and heard, kind of appreciated and really have the ability to thrive. And on top of that, one of my other big skill sets is problem solving. I love to solve problems. I love to solve other people’s problems.

And it was something that I really enjoyed doing. So particularly an area of large focus for me when I was in the GM chair was the employee relations side of the job. And I stuck with the GM role through COVID. took the hotel I was at through COVID and post-COVID there was a very acute need for.

recruitment support at our home office level and we created a position, talent acquisition specialist. So I actually, at the time, chose to take another kind of step back in, I think, positional hierarchy to ⁓ pursue just a different opportunity, which was ⁓ to recruit and help

support the hotels and their efforts to regain staff post-COVID. I thought it was a great use of my ⁓ skills, for one thing. Two, I love Olympia to no end and the idea of being able to bring talent and express to that talent what a wonderful company they’re getting the opportunity to join really fit with where I’m at.

⁓ And with that, I knew that like most things in my career, it would eventually progress and grow. And so as the years I joined home office staff in 2022 in that position, and over the last couple of years, it’s morphed more into a position where not only do I still work with talent acquisition and support the recruiting services for the company, but I also work with more talent management. So learning and development.

which is a huge passion of mine as well. And then also I help support employee relations and our internal communications that go out to our team members.

Anthony Codispoti (11:50)
So hospitality, hotel industry, is one of many industries that I’ve talked with that it’s still hard to find labor. And it’s hard to hold on to good folks. What are some things you guys have tried and found success with?

Abigail Flynn (11:58)
Absolutely.

⁓ Really, it comes down to our values, I believe. I think it’s really creating an environment where those values of fun, continuous improvement, concern for others, ⁓ trust are all things that we live every single day. ⁓ it’s communicating that from the start. It’s creating an environment where employees, I think, work for a lot of people is about surviving.

And we want it to be about thriving. And you help people thrive by focusing on them as a whole person versus just who they are when they’re punched in. And that has been a huge, one particular area where I’ve been very fortunate to have Olympia help me and encourage me to pursue is really in our wellness initiatives and helping create an environment where people feel seen. ⁓ And that helps.

people stay, you know, when they are not just another number or not just a who, you know, that’s the person behind the name tag. And that’s really what we want to see.

Anthony Codispoti (13:17)
So let’s get into a little bit more specifically about what Olympia hospitality is. Tell us about the properties, ⁓ what makes them up, how many locations, what locations, geographies in the country.

Abigail Flynn (13:30)
Yeah, so we have a pretty diverse portfolio of both independent and branded hotels. Through our earlier stages of growth, we primarily ⁓ had a lot of branded properties. Now the makeup is much more in the independent boutique world. we have full service operations from resorts like the In by the Sea and the Alfond Inn at Rollins College and Winter Park.

We partner, have several branded opportunities with Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton being our top. And then we are as far west as Colorado. We have two properties in Colorado currently, some in the Midwest Chicago area, and then we’re spread out down the East coast. So we have ⁓ full service options, focus service options, independent boutique hotels.

multiple restaurants that accompany those ⁓ independent boutique properties as well. And really, you know, kind of what we’re about, ⁓ you know, we offer people and culture support, revenue strategy, and really quality ⁓ guest focus experiences. we talk a lot, you know, what sets us apart is we have our branding really suggests that we blend the art and science of hospitality, which really is about

pairing operational excellence with a deep commitment to people. I mentioned values earlier, but fun, continuous improvement, concern for others, accountability and trust shape those decisions that we make of both how we run our hotels and how we develop our teams. And it’s been a really fun for me, 22 years into the company to see how we have developed and expanded to over 40 properties now from being.

I think close to 10 when I initially started. But what I appreciate most about Olympia is our growth is really measured in quality versus quantity. It’s what’s going to, what’s in line with who we are as a company. And so we grow for opportunities to add quality ⁓ to our operation.

Anthony Codispoti (15:45)
You’ve talked about your values a couple of different times already. I can tell that they’re important to you. I’m curious to better understand how one takes values from being something that’s written down on paper and actually puts them into living action in a workplace. I don’t know if you’ve got any guidance for us there or if maybe there’s a specific story that helps to exemplify how those values show up in the everyday.

Abigail Flynn (16:16)
I think for starters, you have to bring them off the wall. They have to be part of your conversations. ⁓ when we, it shows up in our, for me, let’s talk about continuous improvement just as a quick example. I I started as a housekeeper and I’m now the senior HR manager for the company. I’m not sure if there’s probably a better.

⁓ or quicker story I could come to that might exemplify continuous improvement or the company’s commitment to that. And I am one of many stories in the company ⁓ of internal growth and people. ⁓ GM at our Hilton Garden Inn in Portland, I say mine because that was one of the properties that I did two tours at in my GM years, but he is a

young man who started off as a part-time server with me in Durham, North Carolina at our Hilton Garden Inn. And eventually with no background in hospitality, but did it as a part-time job. And now he’s running one of our top, you know, branded hotels in the portfolio. And so that’s just, that’s something that the company places a lot of emphasis on is providing opportunities for people to grow.

And then as we have had to develop, I think the hospitality industry has changed over time. And so it is about finding new, better ways to do things, which really exemplify continuous improvement. ⁓ Accountability is really for us, it’s about… ⁓

It’s about changing what that word means and it’s about encouraging people to say who’s going to be accountable for getting these results, you for making these things happen. It’s not a discussion of, who’s responsible for this mistake. I think accountability sometimes has a negative connotation to it, but it’s challenging people to say who wants to make this happen? Who wants to make this experience happen? Who wants to make this memory happen? Who wants to be part of ⁓ creating, you know, this great culture?

Fun, ⁓ think one the things that I noted that I really like that we do is anytime there’s fun employee gatherings, ⁓ holidays, different things, ⁓ our marketing team will gather pictures, reach out to the GMs or department heads and say, send us some photos of things you’ve been doing lately. And then they put together a whole little video for us that goes out in a bulletin. So we can all kind of take part and see the really

fun things that our team members are doing or that we’re doing to celebrate our team members. Whoopie pies are huge in the state of Maine. I think there’s some debate on whoopie pies. Yeah, I think there’s some debate on whether they’re the state dessert or not. ⁓ It may still be blueberry pie, but ⁓ whoopie pies are a big thing in Maine. And every summer we do send boxes of whoopie pies to all of our hotels to enjoy as just little things. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (19:06)
Whoopie pies?

Abigail Flynn (19:27)
Another favorite quick memory of mine, it was a particularly very hot summer. One of my last summers that I was working in Portland, which at the Hilton Garden Inn, it happened to be right next to our home office. And our president, the president of the company brought over popsicles and ice cream and brought them around to the team members. ⁓ And when you have somebody at the top level doing that stuff, living those values.

people feel that ⁓ and they want to replicate that in their own buildings.

Anthony Codispoti (20:01)
Hmm. I had to look up whoopie pies. I’m ⁓ Columbus, Ohio, Midwest guy. I wasn’t familiar with the term. I recognize the treat. I think it’s it’s some kind of a cookie. The top. Go ahead, you describe it.

Abigail Flynn (20:05)
Yes.

Yeah, it’s a cakey cookie.

It’s more like a cake. It’s a cake cookie that has frosting in the middle, and they come in all kinds of different flavors. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (20:22)
in the middle.

So sort of like an

Oreo, but instead of it being like a hard cracker type exterior, it’s more like a cake exterior. Glad we covered that. That was the important thing that I wanted to knock out today. ⁓ I wonder if there’s an example of, because you talk about looking for new, different, innovative ways to do things. Can you think of something in your time there that something that you were a part of, whether it was your idea or you just kind of got on board and helping to implement?

Abigail Flynn (20:31)
Yes.

Exactly, Yeah. ⁓

Yeah, one of the first things actually that I tackled that the VP of HR really knew there was an opportunity for improvement in was how we handle our internal communications within the company. As we, know, when you’re a company of 10, it might be easier to have just some email communications to people. But as we’ve scaled and have, you know, over 2000 employees, one of the

challenges that we face sometimes is helping our team members stay connected to Olympia. So they may work for In By The Sea, but they also work for Olympia. And we are the management company. And so it’s important for us for them to feel the culture, be part of the culture, be part of the company. But that is a hard task to take on when you’re trying to reach over 2000 people.

across the country. And so we recognized that our old methods of maybe sending an email to the GMs and saying, hey, GMs, make sure you tell your staff this, that that really wasn’t working, ⁓ particularly because the GMs already had such a significant workload as is. So I took the opportunity to look for some kind of internal communication

options for us and we ended up signing on with a company called Change Engine. ⁓ I look at it as like our own personal marketing team for the HR squad and so they have helped me over the last several years ⁓ really ⁓ develop ⁓ an automated onboarding sequence so we have over 20

probably close to 25 communications that go out within the first 90 days of hire. So that people are getting the same messages, support, they’re getting an introduction into our values, they’re getting reminders about consistent check-ins to ensure that expectations are clear, that they don’t have questions. We send out like a prime example on…

Day seven, send out, we have a message that goes out that basically calls out like, wow, seven days in, you’ve probably had a ton of information thrown at you. And we don’t expect you to remember much of it because they don’t, you know? But here’s a resource for you that has all of this stuff that you’re being told. you know, it’s kind of about, Change Engine has helped me transform the employee journey, I believe, from start

to throughout their continued employment. ⁓ It’s really, our president said last year, it was the unsung hero of our organization, but ⁓ it is a piece of technology and service that ⁓ we have implemented that I think has reduced a significant workload on the HR part and allowed us to just have a lot better connection with our employee base.

Anthony Codispoti (23:54)
Wow.

Is there a mechanism in there to track if people are reading or engaging with the messages? Yeah. How’s that work?

Abigail Flynn (24:18)
That’s the best

part about it is that it also has a lot of analytics. I certainly understand people need to understand their return on investment and there are a lot of analytics that allows us to see who’s reading them. In particular, what we use that for is to really understand what messages are resonating with people and what messages are not. It’s not meant to be a tracking system to say, well, who’s engaging? It’s saying,

what things are working for our employees, what are they liking, what are they reading? And so a lot of our wellness campaign and messages that we send out have some of the highest open and read ratings, which also tells us that that’s an area where we should continue to focus. So not only has it helped us just really streamline our communications, it also helps give us information on where our efforts need to be focused.

Anthony Codispoti (25:15)
I’d like to talk about maybe one or two of your LinkedIn articles. ⁓ There’s one here where ⁓ service is not an obligation, but rather an opportunity. Can you talk more about what that means to you?

Abigail Flynn (25:33)
Yeah, I guess I can give it, the best is to give it to you an example. So for a few of my years in my career, I had the opportunity to open the Hilton Garden Inn Durham University Medical Center, which is in Durham, North Carolina, sandwiched between a Duke’s East and West campus. And the majority of our guests, definitely at least at the time, 50 % of our guests were staying there

because they were visiting the medical center. There’s a pretty major medical center there. And a couple of areas of specialty that the medical center covered was cancer treatment and transplant services. So we were seeing ⁓ guests that were really in all stages of their lives. ⁓ We saw great miracles happen. We lost people ⁓ in their time there. And I found it.

a really interesting service position to be in where the guests that you’re taking care of don’t actually want to be staying with you. So these are guests that are coming here because either they have a major medical illness, a family member has a major medical challenge, and they’re spending their money on that. And now they’re spending their money on hotel and food and

⁓ It’s not a leisure-based hotel. It’s not guests that are coming to make memories. They’re going through some of the hardest times in their lives. that led me to the realization that we had the opportunity to treat these guests in a way that when they left, the way they left was saying, I wish I didn’t have to go, but if I

since I did, I’m really grateful I had the opportunity to stay at this property. You know, that it was something meaningful that they were taking away from a very challenging time in their lives. And that’s really where I realized kind of the opportunity that we have to make a difference for people in the service industry and to not shy away from the that I think it’s a

profound gift to be able to help create memories for people. ⁓ And so that became kind of the service philosophy that we took on at that hotel that said, are going to have, we are going to make these connections with our guests, have them be seen, valued, really learn to anticipate human needs behind a stay. ⁓

design experiences where they felt respected, cared for, and really ultimately glad that there was a lot of places to stay, but glad that they got to stay with us, even if it wasn’t always the cheapest option or the closest option, although we were pretty close, fortunately. ⁓ And we saw that time and time again, and just in the connections that we made with our guests. And so there was no obligation in that. ⁓

It was an opportunity to make the world a better place for the time that these people were there. And that was something that you could see the staff light up about that. resonated. It was the property that I was fortunate enough to receive the General Manager of the Year award. It was also a two-time Hotel of the Year, which is the number one ranked Hilton Garden Inn in North America. ⁓

And the reason for that was because of that service mentality that said, is an opportunity to make a difference for people.

Anthony Codispoti (29:32)
That was actually going to be my question. You trying to put myself into the shoes of a staff member there. I could see that being almost too weighty, right? Like, OK, I’ve worked in a hotel before. This is, you know, business travelers, leisure travelers, people coming and going. I kind of got my arms wrapped around that. But this is a much different environment that you’re describing. And I could see some people saying, I’m just not up to this. But. Your experience was different.

Abigail Flynn (30:02)
⁓ yeah, I, you know, I would attribute to a couple of different things. I think there’s something to be said about Southern hospitality. I think it’s real. I believe in it. ⁓ I saw it come to life there. I think we should not underestimate what people can do when you give them a sense of purpose. And that is one thing that I learned working at that property. ⁓ I often joked like if you were to line up the

team members that that property ⁓ employed and won a significant amount of national awards over. You’d probably look at the hodgepodge group that we were and be like, how did you do that? And we did it because we gave them a sense of purpose. We gave them, I could almost argue that at the same time, I might find sometimes providing service to

people that are on a leisure vacation that sometimes can maybe not be as nice or have different expectations. ⁓ We really communicated the meaning behind the work that these employees were doing and they rose to the challenge ⁓ and really embraced it. I think it started with here’s the vision that I have for this property.

as a leadership team, let’s look at what we can do. ⁓ Here’s who our guests are. Who do we want to be? ⁓ And that’s kind of another example of bringing that culture down. You don’t have a value of concern for others and not have that reach both your guests and your team members. And so it was, you know, let’s design this vision. We rolled it out to the team. made them a part of it. Here’s what we’re hoping to accomplish. Here’s why we want to

accomplish it. And we believe that you guys are the ones that can help us do that. And I think every single team member in that property rose to that challenge ⁓ because it helped them understand that there was meaning and purpose behind the work they were doing.

Anthony Codispoti (32:11)
I love how I was so wrong as we in my head as we were starting that conversation. I’m like, man, that just seems like a situation that people would bail on. But you really crystallize it with like we gave them purpose. We gave them like a greater sense of purpose than that they would have at, you know, most any other job. ⁓ I’m curious if you can show us how you kind of get from like the and I don’t mean this in a negative way, but you get from sort of the the rah rah vision speech of

here’s who we are and here’s what we’re going to deliver to actually putting that into action. Are you sort of just setting that big vision and like it’s up to each of the frontline members of the staff to go and figure out how to do this or are you giving them practical examples of how to do it?

Abigail Flynn (33:03)
Where my role, I stayed behind the scenes. I can’t take credit for the kind of amazing service that I think went into that place. I very seldomly was out front, kind of leading the charge. I was more behind the scenes, cheering everybody on. That’s who I am. I spent my time where I…

feel my time was most impactful was treating the employees and giving the employees the care and concern they deserved that would then exemplify how I would like them to treat our guests. So I believe the better we treat our team members, the better they’re going to, you know, the happier they are, the more willing they are to kind of exemplify that behavior out front.

Where I put the work in was ⁓ I met with, I would meet with every single team member once a month. We would do training once a month, ⁓ all team members from the part-time dishwasher, part-time laundry worker to the front desk agents, the one providing the service. There was no obsolete job in that building. And I made sure that every team member knew that. ⁓ And we would train on not like,

here’s how to be a good front desk agent. It would be like, here’s ⁓ how to communicate with, know, here’s communication skills, here’s team building skills, here’s, ⁓ you know, do we create a great team environment? How do we control our attitudes? know, I tried to train on things that were just generally good life skills, things that were transferable. And I believe when you do that, get…

Anthony Codispoti (34:48)
Yeah.

Abigail Flynn (34:52)
a different level of buy-in that says, okay, this is something that, ⁓ you know, we would talk about the art of the apology. You know, how do we own our mistakes, for example? But that’s something that’s sometimes more beneficial to us in our personal lives than it is our professional lives. And I’d use a lot of personal examples. ⁓ My life was a pretty open book for people so that I

kind of humanized myself as much as I could as well. ⁓ But once I did that, you you give people the tools and then you give them the cheer behind the scenes and they did it all themselves.

Anthony Codispoti (35:35)
Well, that’s really cool. Take us through the art of an apology.

Abigail Flynn (35:40)
⁓ boy. Okay. I can’t remember. I didn’t make it up. I would have to go back and reference. But basically, ⁓ it’s keeping it’s acknowledging, you know, what you’ve done. So I’m really sorry that I interrupted you when you were helping that guest. I see that that created an issue. So you’re acknowledging what it did. ⁓ You’re

extending that I’m not going to do that again. And you’re also thanking them for the, you know, the offer. Thank you for sharing this with me. Like thank you for bringing this to my attention because I think one thing that’s, especially with the guests, ⁓ I think we believe that people just innately love to complain. And for some people that might be it, but I was a big proponent that if somebody is going to have the courtesy.

whether they say it nicely, to tell you to your face that you’ve upset them, that is an opportunity. It is about seeing the opportunity in it. Because so much, especially with social media now and all these online platforms, it’s very easy to just leave, have a problem, and then blast it all over for everybody else, as opposed to giving somebody the opportunity to resolve it. But it’s not like, I’m really sorry if I upset you. It’s like, well, you already know you.

That diminishes the response or making excuse. I’m really sorry that if I upset you because I missed your PTO request, I’ve been super busy this week. It’s like, okay, that’s… You’re making the apology all about yourself. And ⁓ the long and short of it is when you apologize, you’re investing in the relationship and you’re putting the relationship over your need to be right.

Anthony Codispoti (37:27)
Thank you.

Abigail Flynn (37:32)
And oftentimes I believe ⁓ in our leadership roles or even as coworkers, we

We don’t feel that we’re wrong and we might not be wrong, but that prevents us from apologizing because we think that that’s an admission of guilt. And really what it is is saying that my relationship with you matters more than my need to be right. And so I am going to take some ownership here to make sure that you understand that you are important to me, you matter, your work matters.

and we’re going to learn from this and move forward.

Anthony Codispoti (38:16)
Abby, you appeared on a podcast about building sober support in the workplace. What motivated you to get behind that cause specifically within a hospitality environment?

Abigail Flynn (38:30)
Well, it’s a little bit twofold. ⁓ One, just as a kind of point of mention, the hospitality industry as a whole has double the national average for substance abuse disorder problems within the industry. ⁓ I think there are some contributing factors to that. It’s long hours at times, ⁓ access to substances. can be very stressful work. It can be very beautiful work, but it can be stressful work. ⁓ And so there is, I think,

in itself an acute need to address substance use within our industry. ⁓ However, I can’t take full credit. ⁓ I’m more of like the person driving the train. We did have a sober team member come to us in HR to introduce us to ⁓ somebody that she knew that offered sober support ⁓ from an employment perspective. And she is a person in sobriety and felt like

our industry ⁓ does, you you go to conferences, you go to networking events, there’s a lot that’s centered around ⁓ alcohol, not just necessarily, but alcohol use. And there was opportunity, I think, to continue to make people feel seen and heard ⁓ where they are in life. And so she presented us with kind of the need.

to explore this. ⁓ We partnered with another company called Sobrant, which provides 24-7, ⁓ complimentary to the employee, peer support and resources. And it really, at the time, resonated with me because taking a hotel through COVID, one of the things that I saw was a large increase in substance and alcohol use and abuse.

and really an acute need to help address that, particularly having a team member ⁓ towards the end of my time as GM come and tell me that they needed support getting to a treatment facility. ⁓ It was hard to navigate. They didn’t have the means to get there, the transportation. So I actually helped her ⁓ get to the detox facility, stayed with her through admission. ⁓

picked her up and brought her to a rehab facility. And about six months later, I did get a message from her mother saying, you know, had I not stepped in, she truly did not believe her daughter would be alive today. And although that paints me in a really positive light, and I recognize that the reason why I addressed that story is because it took a lot of time. It took a lot of energy.

⁓ It was very stressful trying to help her navigate ⁓ finding help. And that is not what somebody needs when they have reached the point in their journey where they say, I’m waving the white flag, I need help. And it is not time and energy that all of our general managers and managers have in the current capacity that they’re in. ⁓ And so I…

recognize one thing that Sobrinth helps us do is provide that they will do the research, they will find the rehab centers, they will find outpatient or inpatient care. ⁓ They help provide us education and material for the employees. And so it really presented itself to say, yes, I know this is happening in our hotels. I know our team members. It’s a, it’s a still a very stigmatized, scary subject to address.

⁓ And I am so grateful for Olympia for allowing me the opportunity to help really drive ⁓ this resource for people.

Anthony Codispoti (42:29)
That’s really cool. Are there any other recent projects or things that are coming up that you’re particularly excited about?

Abigail Flynn (42:38)
Not necessarily. I mean, we’re still continuing. We’re moving into our third year. So this process has been evolving for us. We’re still very much, I think, new in the recovery-friendly space. last year, we became one of ⁓ 15 inaugural companies to receive the national certification for a recovery-friendly workplace. And we were the only hospitality company.

in that mix. ⁓ And then we also have the designation in Maine as well. So I think there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done into ⁓ kind of creating safe spaces for people, education for our department heads about how to talk about substance and alcohol use. So we’re kind of continuing to explore that, but also just continuing in a sense of overall employee wellness, mental health resources.

sharing information about our EAP and just really ensuring that our employees know the resources they have. So it’s not a new exciting projects, but it is really reinforcing the foundational resources that we have that support the employee as a whole person.

Anthony Codispoti (43:54)
That’s great. ⁓ So we’ve talked about some ups and downs. We’ve talked about some struggles of your employees. How about a big serious challenge, Abby, that you’ve had to overcome in your life? How you got through that and what you learned?

Abigail Flynn (44:09)
So I think one of the biggest challenges that I’ve had to overcome, and this is a across the board personal and professional issue for me, is really accepting that I can’t save everyone. ⁓ I gave that example of the employee that I helped get into a rehab facility. I’ve also had employees that I’ve tried to help ⁓ that have not ⁓ taken my help. And so I’ve always been someone

who sees potential in people long before themselves. ⁓ As a leader with that, I make myself very emotionally available. I have spent years pouring my heart, my energy, my time into helping people grow. But the truth is, then I’ve seen it time and time again, that not everybody wants to be that version of themselves that you see. And not everyone is.

willing or able to take that hand. And so for me, that was crushing to me. just, I, if I lost an employee that I felt like I couldn’t say, and when I say lot, I’m not talking about like, you know, someone died, but like having to let somebody go because, you know, they continued to ⁓ make mistakes that

We couldn’t hold onto them. didn’t matter how much I liked them. There’s a standard that we have to uphold. And that I would walk around with another notch of personal failure on my name tag when I couldn’t save somebody, when I couldn’t help them get out of their way. ⁓ And sometimes that…

left me better. It definitely made me take things more personally than it should. And there were opportunities as a leader to be like, you’re a little too personally invested here. ⁓ But at the time, I really didn’t know how to be the leader I was and the leader I wanted to be without being fully personally invested in everything that I did. ⁓

And I think I’ve just had to really learn over time that ⁓ people’s choices, no matter how much I care, are not a reflection of my effort or my worth. And that my role as a leader is to show up fully, to guide, support, offer resources. And I’ve had to learn that the employee’s role or the person in my life’s role is to decide what to do with that support.

and sometimes they don’t decide what I would want them to decide. ⁓ I think what helped me move through that challenge was really ⁓ grounding myself in our values, ⁓ still providing that environment for people, definitely setting healthier emotional boundaries for myself. ⁓ And even in fact, it’s one of the reasons why I stepped away from the GM role a bit was

Honestly, I kind of needed a little bit of a break of that ⁓ level of personal investment that I brought to my work. ⁓ I still get to solve people’s problems, but there are other people’s problems now, and I can walk away from them at five o’clock. ⁓ But I think I’ve had to remind myself that growth requires readiness.

And I can still celebrate the impact that I’ve had ⁓ without absorbing outcomes that I can’t control.

Anthony Codispoti (48:01)
Did this realization, Abby, that you couldn’t save everybody come sort of gradually, like building up some calluses over time? Or was it more of like a sudden realization, like a light switch went

Abigail Flynn (48:18)
No, I definitely think it’s something that I’ve built over time. I think I had some good people in my life. ⁓ As a GM, kind of structurally, we all have a director of operations at the home office ⁓ that we report to. And the person that I had at the time, Greg McLean, he was a good advocate for kind of, ⁓ as you said, like developing that callus and reminding myself that it’s, you

I had some good people in my life cheering me on, you know, that it wasn’t a failure and also like calling me out when I was taking things personally. I think he was a big part of that accountability piece for me of, you know, reminding myself, reminding me of that behavior. ⁓

With that, kind always knew that piece of self-awareness was there. I knew when I needed to pick up the phone and call them and be like, this is what’s going on. And when I needed that reminder. ⁓ And so, yes, it’s definitely experience-based, but it’s also when you know that, you you have these, I think, areas of opportunity for growth. A good thing that I’ve done is find people in my life that can help.

be that catalyst ⁓ for growth for me.

Anthony Codispoti (49:46)
Are those people that are within the industry, like do you have peers that you can go to, like other HR managers at different hotel groups, or are these more just like friends and family who know you?

Abigail Flynn (49:58)
I use the resources within my company. ⁓ my VP of HR is I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn from her. ⁓ she has quite a wealth of knowledge of the, the law side of things. So really to help me kind of take out the personal and examine the law side of things. But, ⁓ she does a, you know, she does a really wonderful job of helping me pull out.

my own answers. You well, what do you think here or what do you want to do about this? It’s a tremendous example of coaching and mentorship. And then, like I said, ⁓ I still, even though he’s not my direct report anymore, I’ll still call Greg if I need. And he is an industry, you know, he’s been a GM, he’s an industry colleague. ⁓ And so I do tend to use, we have some pretty great people within the company that I can call when I need just to.

a different opinion are really a challenge, a challenge in my own way of thinking.

Anthony Codispoti (50:58)
You know, sometimes our mistakes end up becoming our greatest teachers. Is there an early life moment for you, Abby, that seemed like a setback at the time, but now you look back on it and feel differently?

Abigail Flynn (51:12)
⁓ I mentioned it, ⁓ initially earlier on about, not finishing college. And so they, I’ve, mean, I’ve stumbled a lot in my career. ⁓ but I think. Foundationally speaking, like for me, that moment really felt like a setback, it, it, it, or.

felt like that failure moment, or this is gonna be a moment that defines me. So sometimes I think mistakes really are, it’s all about perspective, right? Like we can look at ourselves as a failure, or we can look at ourselves like we really screwed something up. But to me, it’s finding the opportunity in it. It’s not really a mistake anymore if you can shift the perspective. And so when I left school and… ⁓

for no other reason than really just I wasn’t invested in it. I didn’t think it was right for me. But I was met with ⁓ the feedback that this was gonna be a big mistake. This year not going to be successful because of that. And there are still moments when it crosses my mind, but I really think it was a mistake that became one of my greatest teachers. It forced me to work harder, ⁓ to show up.

was something to prove. That has been, ⁓ you know, if somebody were to ask me how I got to where I am today, it’s because I’ve approached every step of my career with something to prove. ⁓ And that came from, honestly, that mistake of deciding not to finish college. ⁓ And so on the flip side, though, it allowed me to build my career through effort, you know, through curiosity, through grit, rather than credentials.

you know, what isn’t written about me on a piece of paper, I bring every day in my actions. so leaving college, I think, pushed me to take ownership of my path, ⁓ grow quickly. And I got my first GM job when I was 24. So I think ultimately it works out pretty well for me. ⁓ But it is still something that I think about to this day of how would things be different if I hadn’t.

Anthony Codispoti (53:28)
Interesting. Even today you carry this

with you. Because it also strikes me that the benefit of you having gone this path.

and having sort of to show more grit and more resiliency and put in more effort, I think gives you the perspective of wanting to develop the folks that are working with you now. Because you forged your own path in this way without a college education and understanding that the hospitality industry is a space where others can do that too.

Abigail Flynn (54:03)
Yeah, I think it’s land of opportunity, really. And when I see people that come in that might not have direction or might not be sure of what they want to do, or more importantly, might not have had somebody in their life that have told them that they can do great things, that they can be something great, that they are something great, and that their possibilities are endless. That’s probably been the best part about it.

My job is being a person that can help other people see the great potential that they have. ⁓ It’s something that ⁓ I learned pretty early on from ⁓ a high school track coach that ⁓ made me realize that when we set goals and we dream big, that if we put the work behind it, we can make it happen. And I love being that for other people.

Anthony Codispoti (54:58)
What’s your superpower, Abby?

Abigail Flynn (55:01)
My superpower. I can handle an intense amount of work, but no. I thought a lot about this. I turn people into possibility. I have the ability to see potential in individuals, teams, entire organizations, and most of the time before they see it in themselves. And the superpower comes in because not only do I

believe and see that potential. ⁓ I’ve been able to help build systems, communication, structure, support that allows people to reach that. ⁓ And more importantly, I think the thing that I love most is that I do see people as a whole person, ⁓ not just who they are when they’re working with us. The good sides, the bad sides, all of that makes us who we are and we wouldn’t be exceptional without all of it. And trying to help people

Anthony Codispoti (55:56)
I that.

Abigail Flynn (55:59)
embrace that is so important to me.

Anthony Codispoti (56:04)
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?

Abigail Flynn (56:07)
Hmm. ⁓ I am ⁓ an avid triathlete. I’m actually a three-time national triathlon championship qualifier. I have yet to actually race because ⁓ race in that race, ⁓ but I have enjoyed qualifying for it year over year. ⁓ I’ve completed three half Ironmans and am currently training for my first full one, which I will race in Jacksonville in May of next year.

So when I am not transporting my children to all of their activities, I am either swimming, biking, or running. ⁓ And I love to test the limits of what I’m capable of, and that is just another way that I do that.

Anthony Codispoti (56:58)
That’s spectacular. ⁓ I’ve just got one more question for you today, Abby, but before I ask it, I want to do a few things. First of all, anybody looking to get in touch with Olympia Hospitality, you can find them online, olympiahospitality.com. Abby, any way that you want folks to be able to connect with you?

Abigail Flynn (57:18)
⁓ I am on LinkedIn, so people can certainly find me on LinkedIn. ⁓ I don’t know as if there’s a capacity to email through our website, but if anybody is looking for information, ⁓ my email address is aflinn at OlympiaHospitality.com. But certainly reaching out to me through LinkedIn ⁓ is a perfect way to locate me.

Anthony Codispoti (57:44)
And we’ll include

links to all that in the show notes. For folks who are listening, Flynn is FLYNN, so A-F-L-Y-N-N at OlympiaHospitality.com. Also for our listeners today, as a reminder, if you want to get more hotel employees access to benefits that won’t hurt them financially and carries a financial upside for the company, reach out to us at AddBackBenefits.com.

And finally, if you’ll take just a moment to leave us a comment or review on your favorite podcast app, you’ll hold a special place in my heart forever. Thank you. So last question for you, Abby. A year from now, you and I reconnect and you’re celebrating something big. What’s that one big thing you hope to be celebrating one year from today?

Abigail Flynn (58:30)
Well, gosh, on a personal note, I hope it’s that I actually completed the full Ironman because it’s a lot of training to go into it. Honestly, for me, just still being here with Olympia, think to be with a company that I’m so proud to represent, to help lift up ⁓ a year from now, if I’m still able to provide value and add to

the great culture that exists at Olympia, then that’s celebration and my buck every single time. ⁓ I hope that we are still continuing on our journey to cultivate wellness and resources for our employees ⁓ and just the opportunity to continue to work in this amazing industry.

Anthony Codispoti (59:22)
Abby Flynn from Olympia Hospitality, I wouldn’t be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Abigail Flynn (59:31)
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure to be here.

Anthony Codispoti (59:33)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.