Lodge at Marconi’s Pivot to Weddings: Sterling Herzik’s Destination Wedding Success

Anthony Codispoti (00:01)
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 Sterling Herzick. She is the corporate director of sales and events at Oliver Hospitality, a Nashville based hospitality group known for developing and managing boutique hotels, design forward experiences,

and unique food and beverage concepts. Founded in 2009, Oliver Hospitality creates memorable guest stays by combining thoughtful design, authentic service, and innovative operations. This has earned them recognition for their stylish and welcoming properties. Now Sterling brings years of experience in hospitality sales and events, having worked with Bobby Hotel and 21C Museum Hotels before joining Oliver Hospitality.

She is also a graduate of the University of Arkansas where she studied hospitality administration. Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Ad Back 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 and restaurant employees free access to doctors.

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All right, back to our guest today, corporate director of sales and events at Oliver Hospitality, Sterling Herzick. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Sterling Herzik (02:06)
Thank you so much for having me! ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (02:08)
So Sterling, you chose to study hospitality management in college. What inspired you to choose that path? Had you worked in hotels prior to going to college?

Sterling Herzik (02:18)
⁓ I hadn’t-

hotels I actually started out my college career studying political science which is kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum of where I am now. ⁓ I had gone through two and a half years ⁓ under that and I got a job working at small law firm in the town I was going to school in and I immediately knew that was not where I was supposed to be and the environment just wasn’t inspiring to me and I didn’t

didn’t see myself thriving there long term. I had, however, been working in restaurants since I was 16 as a server and I actually always loved it. I loved how you meet new people every single day. Every day is different. It’s not mundane. And at that point I was basically just trying to brainstorm what can I do with something like that in the long term.

⁓ Hotels wasn’t necessarily on my radar in the beginning. I thought I would stay in food and beverage, but once I got my foot in, I realized how much I loved events and hotels, and it’s been basically up from there.

Anthony Codispoti (03:29)
And so what is it that you really love about this space? What makes hospitality so special in your heart?

Sterling Herzik (03:36)
You know, I…

Kind of going back to being a server, it’s working with someone different every single day and meeting people from all over. And more importantly, in my specific role, how special it is to be a part of people’s huge days. So we’re doing weddings, we’re doing large corporate events that are milestone in most of people’s lives. And to be able to bring that to life for people and be such a bright point in their life is super fun and inspiring.

and fresh every day. ⁓ So that’s really something that I just kind of fell in love with off the get-go, that you’re in a positive environment that’s ever-changing and you’re not gonna feel like you’re kind of just stuck going round and round with the same day. ⁓ That’s been super fun. Exactly, the variety.

Anthony Codispoti (04:26)
You love the variety of it.

And so where was your first career stop post college?

Sterling Herzik (04:35)
So my first job out of college is in, towards the end of my college career, I was working as an event server at 21C Museum Hotel in Bentonville, Arkansas. ⁓

At the time, that was a very upscale hotel for the area, which was super fun because I was seeing events come to life right off the bat that were big and exciting for me to kind of see come together. And as soon as I was just working that event server job, I knew, OK, like this is where I want to be. What do I have to do to basically work up within this to make this my actual career? So I started at 21C in Bentonville as an event server towards the end of college.

and then basically grew through promotions within them.

Anthony Codispoti (05:25)
And then from 21C, you went to Bobby Hotel. What was that transition like?

Sterling Herzik (05:31)
Exactly.

I actually, 21C moved me to Nashville, Tennessee to work as the event manager at their company that was here. And after I had been there for a while, ⁓ it actually news came about that it was going to be selling to Hilton. ⁓ At the time, I’ve really found like a true love for working with the small branded hotels and the creativity that comes within that when you’re not so much stuck in a box. So I knew I

wanted to kind of branch out. The Bobby Hotel in Nashville is a one and only independent hotel. It’s beautiful. I had been inspired by it multiple times. It wasn’t far from the 21C I was working at and I had walked through it. So I essentially just started watching their job openings and was hoping, crossing my fingers to kind of get my foot in the door. But it was super fun to switch over there and see a very small management style as well because they are one and only.

It was different way of doing things, so I learned a lot at my time at the blobby.

Anthony Codispoti (06:37)
So as you compare and contrast those two experiences, what did you learn by having those two different sets of circumstances?

Sterling Herzik (06:45)
My biggest jump too was when I went to the Bobby, I jumped into a sales role while previously I had been totally event focused. I would encourage anyone that was interested in sales for events to actually work an execution role prior because it totally changes the way you’re going to sell things when you’re actually the one boots on the ground watching them come to fruition, what works, what doesn’t work.

When I got to the Bobby, I got a newer perspective on basically creating your own SOPs. Everything is kind of working from the ground up. Whereas 21C was also a small company, but most of that had already been built. Whereas at the Bobby, it was kind of like a free for all of how do you want to structure the sales role? How do you want to build it from here? What clients do you want to go after instead of having more of a blueprint to kind of guide your way?

Anthony Codispoti (07:42)
what attracted you to the sales side of the business? It sounds like that was something that you hadn’t done up to that point.

Sterling Herzik (07:48)
I loved events, but when you work in events at hotels, you work really closely with the sales manager, so you kind see what they’re doing. And I had an interest in what that…

side of the spectrum would be like. Like I said, to me it’s so beneficial to have worked both because both feed into each other so much and working both roles independently give you such a better perspective of what’s going to make the actual events be a success because it’s kind of like a long time saying in hotels that sales basically sells a dream and then operations has to deliver a nightmare. And that’s a hundred

Anthony Codispoti (08:28)
⁓ I hadn’t

Sterling Herzik (08:29)
Yeah, what

Anthony Codispoti (08:29)
heard that before. ⁓

Sterling Herzik (08:31)
I’m trying to avoid, obviously, and I think working both sides gives you an idea of, what is the reality of this going to be when it comes to real life?

Anthony Codispoti (08:42)
Okay. So then how did the door open for you to join Oliver Hospitality?

Sterling Herzik (08:48)
⁓ I actually was pretty happy at the bObi. I didn’t have any intent on leaving, but I was reached out to by a recruiter.

via LinkedIn ⁓ that basically pitched the opportunity to me. My first role with Oliver Hospitality was essentially working as like an internal task force senior sales manager ⁓ between all of the hotels. And that sounded like a big challenge because I had only previously worked for independent hotels at a time. When I worked at 21C, I had worked for multiple of their properties, but I was always focusing on one at a time rather than a portfolio as a

altogether and that really intrigued me because I knew it would be different and a challenge and it has proven to be in lots of good ways though. So that was kind of what roped me in and as soon as I interviewed with the company I interviewed with my now boss and we really hit it off right off the bat and she was super

good for me to talk to because she is such a hard worker and she’s really out there doing the work, which I think is something really good for people to see when their leaders are hard workers because I think they’re we get into the slippery slope of feeling like you have so much on your back and to have a supervisor or manager that you know totally has your back and is willing to do whatever to get it done with you and work as a team is super positive.

and that’s an environment I want to be a part of.

Anthony Codispoti (10:26)
So it sounds like a couple of things drew you in. You were intrigued by the challenge of working on multiple properties at once. Your soon to be boss seemed like somebody who was a real go getter, hardworking, seemed like she was somebody who would have your back. How did you get that sense in the interview?

Sterling Herzik (10:45)
think because her role, so she works as the vice president of sales, revenue and marketing, but just in talking to her, she was so aware of what was happening at each of the hotels individually, where a lot of times people in those roles are kind of looking at.

the top line, they’re not looking down under and she knew the names of their clients. She knew when they were staying, like the size of the events, could talk about them on a personal level. And I was like, okay, she’s actually really involved here. Like she wants the success of the properties. She wants to create these good relationships and that’s just not something you always find. ⁓ So that was just a great spark right off the bat for me to see.

Anthony Codispoti (11:33)
And so you’ve been there now a couple of years and you’re still smiling and happy and talking favorably about your boss. So it seems like things were as advertised. Am I right?

Sterling Herzik (11:35)
Okay.

Yeah.

Yes, I’ve gotten really lucky. I am definitely in the happiest place I’ve been at from a work perspective, so it’s been really nice.

Anthony Codispoti (11:52)
Okay, so tell us about Oliver Hospitality. What is it that you guys are doing there?

Sterling Herzik (11:57)
So we are a small ownership and management firm in the hospitality world. What I think is so unique about OHM is we are working in markets that are drastically different from one another. So it’s not so much working in one box of space. ⁓ Our hotels and our properties are very uncomparable to each other, but that makes it fun. And like I said before, it makes it a challenge.

But it’s something new every day and each property is attracting totally different clientele, a totally different goal, and it really melds together really well. ⁓ We have our Oliver Hotel brand, which right now we have a property in Knoxville and a property in Oxford, Mississippi. Those are both college towns. They’re definitely appealing to a college, SEC school kind of dynamic, which of course is fun for me because I also went

went

to an SEC school. So I understand that. And that’s been really cool to work within. another perspective, we have a hotel in Atlanta called Hotel Claremont. It’s definitely an iconic hotel in Atlanta. It holds a lot of history. We reopened it. We totally redid it. It has so much personality. And it attracts a really funky client, which is fun and totally different than any of our other properties.

and then you can jump over to our property in Northern California. It’s called Lodge at Marconi. It’s about an hour and a half north of San Francisco.

in full transparency, the middle of nowhere, but the most beautiful middle of nowhere place you’ve ever been. ⁓ But obviously totally different than inner city and ⁓ small town roles. It’s something totally different. It sits on 63 acres. It has multiple buildings. It’s a whole other challenge. So that’s really what’s special to me about Oliver hospitality is each one of our properties are have their own personalities and are so standalone and don’t

necessarily mesh together in a way a lot of other hospitality firms kind of grow, where they grow within similar markets. We’re kind of branching out and doing our own thing all over the place.

Anthony Codispoti (14:20)
That’s what I was going to notice here. Like I’m looking at your website here and it’s like Georgia, California, Tennessee, Mississippi. Like they’re geographically dispersed. Are these all properties that you guys own or are you managing for other folks?

Sterling Herzik (14:30)
There’s no rhyme or reason.

So we own

both of the Oliver’s, so the one in Mississippi and Knoxville, as well as the Lodge at Marconi. ⁓ We have a few others that are currently coming up in the works, so that’s exciting as well. That will be launching here pretty soon. And we do manage a hotel in Sarasota, Florida, called the Sarasota Modern. That’s our newest current hotel. We just took over it in October. And where I’m actually at today, ⁓ the Clarksville Riverview Hotel, which is actually

owned by Hilton, we manage it for them, which has been super nice to see also working with these big brands and what we can bring to the table. That’s something they don’t currently have. I would say the boutique hotel experience is definitely starting to reach some of those bigger brands and clients and guests are starting to find more of a value in those more tailored experiences. So you’re seeing it kind of branch out.

out a little wider. ⁓ So we’ve gotten to work with both Marriott now and Hilton to kind of see what we can bring to the table and come to play with and see how it works and it’s been going super well.

Anthony Codispoti (15:50)
And so you’re taking some of your boutique hotel expertise and sprinkling it onto these big brands like Marriott. How does that actually play out in reality?

Sterling Herzik (16:01)
Exactly. So in reality, of course, it’s a balance, right? So it’s not so much like, for example, the Hotel Claremont in Atlanta, we own and manage it.

We can do whatever we want there. We’re calling all the shots. It’s finding a middle ground with like Hilton Marriott within using all their systems, which is obviously different for us from a like technology level. But we’re bringing to the table. They have the funding. They have the infrastructure basically. We have the guest experience that’s going to be more standout and something people are going to remember. And we know how to

basically train a team to come to that goal. We know how to design a hotel to come to that goal and basically make it more of a memorable experience than if you just were to stay at any hotel that you can go to in any city. ⁓ We’re trying to make them unique is essentially what we’re throwing out there.

Anthony Codispoti (17:02)
And are these boutique ish hotels under the big name brands like Marriott, are they still carrying the Marriott name? I mean, clearly you can find them like in the Marriott booking engine, their website and whatnot. But what’s what’s the moniker on these hotels?

Sterling Herzik (17:16)
So they’re still ⁓ flagged. like, for example, the Sarasota Modern ⁓ is the Sarasota Modern, but when it reads it’s Sarasota Modern by Marriott.

Anthony Codispoti (17:26)
Got it, sort of the subtext there, got it, okay. All right, and so tell us about your role, corporate director of sales and events. What does that entail?

Sterling Herzik (17:38)
So at each of our properties we have a…

sales and events teams who are on a day-to-day basis answering leads, basically going out and finding new business and groups for the hotels, as well as executing events almost on the daily. We have stuff going on all over the place, and I oversee those teams. So I jump in when they need help, when things get crazy, of course, which we definitely see. ⁓ I can jump in, help them, whether it be just day-to-day work, helping them answer leads, but I also try to give

them guidance on what can we do to really capitalize on revenue for the company while also giving the guest the magical experience they’re looking for. Like what are we going to provide that’s going to stand out from every other hotel or venue that they’re reaching out to and part of that is such a personalized experience that we really want to provide our guests to make them feel special and to make them feel as if they’ve come to the right place ⁓ obviously and that we’re going to do everything in

power to make their vision come to life because I think that’s what so much of sales and events is is people have these ideas but they don’t know how to put them together where it’s our job to essentially lead them in a way that’s going to bring them to success.

Anthony Codispoti (18:56)
Sterling, sometimes ⁓ talking in depth about a specific example can help really paint a picture for people. Can you think of a particular client experience that you’re very proud of where you brought kind of a unique event experience to them?

Sterling Herzik (19:13)
Yeah, mean definitely, I think more than a specific event, our property, the Lodge at Marconi opened in September of 2024.

excuse me, ⁓ which is our property in Northern California. When it first opened, it’s very kind of funky. It’s a different experience. There’s no TVs in the hotel rooms. It’s very unplugged. There is hiking trails all over the property. And our initial goal, looking at it, was going to be, OK, this is going to be a wellness venue. We’re going to go after wellness retreats, yoga retreats. That’s the client that’s going to thrive here. ⁓

And after working on the project for a little bit, I kind of realized, and we did as a team, like this untapped potential in weddings there.

because geographically it’s gorgeous. So essentially I started reaching out to these brides that would reach out kind of on a whim and be like, OK, we can build these wedding packages to be incredible and different than anyone else is experiencing. And our weddings are now our leading revenue driver as far as sales and events go out there. And they’re absolutely gorgeous. They’ll blow you away. We’ve gone viral in different Bay Area.

subreddits things like that and that’s something I’m really proud of is seeing the basically this gap something that we had no intention of making Marconi is a wedding venue and it has fully transformed into being almost that and

know, brides and weddings are basically, they’re going up and up every single ⁓ year on what the expectations are, how tailored to them we can make it. And that’s what we’re providing them is a beautiful space and we’ll do whatever we can possible to make your vision come to life. And if that means using four different of our buildings in a single day, we’ll do it. ⁓ We’re basically selling it as a complete property buyout situation

and

getting creative with them on what can we use all these buildings for to actually make each of their experiences feel like they’ve totally taken over. They are getting a completely customized wedding at the hotel, which they really are, truly every single one. We did 27 in 2025 and every single one was totally different. So that’s something I’m really proud of is growing that entire market out there and seeing the potential there.

Anthony Codispoti (21:47)
So if I’m sort of reading between the lines, understanding this correctly, maybe the initial vision for this property was, hey, know, business events, right? Corporate events. It sounds like maybe the challenge that you ran into is it’s sort of like two sides of the same coin. Like what makes it so beautiful and appealing is that it’s unplugged and it’s out away from the city. But at the same time, that makes it harder to get.

Sterling Herzik (21:57)
Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (22:14)
business folks out there just to evaluate the property. I assume like once you get them out there, they’re like, this is amazing.

Sterling Herzik (22:16)
Exactly.

They’re full. But you have

to take an entire day out to actually go out there and see it because I mean round trip out of the city, it’s three hours.

Anthony Codispoti (22:27)
Okay. And so Alright, so you’re running into some headwinds here. And just Yeah, you had a couple like one off brides reach out. And so you kind of like, you know, scratched your chin a little bit, you’re like, maybe there’s some legs here. And so when you started to get some traction with that, how do you grow that side of the business? Like, do you develop relationships with wedding planners? Or how do get the word out?

Sterling Herzik (22:50)
You develop relationships with wedding planners for sure, as well as we market really heavily towards brides. To get our name out there, we’re going to like a wedding convention basically in January. We work with different ⁓ wedding venue search platforms that kind of…

hone in on who you are. example, there’s a website called Here Comes the Guide. It’s a smaller one and they basically break all their venues down by woodsy or like ocean views and we have a bay view and it’s very woodsy. exactly. So you’re able to kind of narrow in on who is actually going to be interested in having their wedding here and open to an unplugged wedding that is remote and something different. And you know, as soon as people get out there,

Anthony Codispoti (23:26)
You got both.

Sterling Herzik (23:41)
kind of like we talked about, they’re sold on it, it’s just getting them out there. Also, we realized pretty early on there are other wedding venues out in the Point Reyes area, which is where Marconi is, however there’s no other…

large wedding venues that have guest rooms. So that’s something niche that we have, especially when you’re out there. If your guests are drinking, it’s a late night, regardless, do you really want them driving an hour back to another hotel? That’s something really good we’re bringing to the table. A safe place for your guests to stay overnight. And there’s something special at also having like the exclusivity of everyone there at the property is your family and friends. And I think once we started

learning those niche things that we were really standing out on, it was kind of easy from there to sell ourselves to wedding planners and also redevelop the property to make it. ⁓

like the most ideal situation as possible. For example, in our very early days, our weddings were basically happening under a tent in a field called the Meadow, which was lovely. Don’t get me wrong, but you’re also like, you’re on grass. The ground can get wet. It gets very rainy up there. So we were like, okay, our development team was like, what can we do to basically mitigate that situation so we can…

give our clients the for sure day that they’re expecting. So we took what was an old tennis court ⁓ on the property and basically concrete it over, completely redid it, and now it has a beautiful permanent tent there and it’s still within the woods. It still has gorgeous lighting and now year round, you’re good to go. We don’t have to worry about the rain. So part of it is also just redeveloping the property for the client that we want staying there.

Anthony Codispoti (25:27)
Yeah.

So let me see if I heard you correctly. In 2025, you had 27 different weddings booked there. And I’m going to guess like a weekend, you can only do one wedding, right? Because like you’re pitching this as, hey, the whole property sort of becomes yours. So that’s more than half of the weekends in 2025. What’s the goal for 26?

Sterling Herzik (25:49)
Exactly.

The goal for 26 is to, of course, bro on that. Really, our peak season is between about…

mid-March through mid-November, the weather up there does get very, very rainy once you hit December, January, February. So while we still hold weddings over those dates, we’re not expected to basically fill them out, which is understandable because there is walking involved with our weddings on site as it is, 63 acres. Gorgeous walks, but it can get a little wet. So we’re hoping to exceed that number we did in 2025 and

basically go out from there each year. But correct, we are holding only one wedding a weekend, which makes it special. You don’t have to worry about other weddings loading in, loading out, before or after. And your family can come in town before. You can find fun things to do in the area. It’s nice, beautiful, secluded beaches, cute little towns. So it’s made it fun and kind of like a trip for everyone. It’s a true destination wedding experience when you’re out there.

Anthony Codispoti (27:04)
That’s really cool. What other exciting projects are coming that you’re able to give voice to now, Sterling?

Sterling Herzik (27:12)
⁓ So we do have another hotel that we have launching in Nashville, which is exciting, especially for me because I am based in Nashville. ⁓ So that is one. We have another one that’s coming out in Aiken, South Carolina, which is going to be another Oliver branded hotel, which is something different. ⁓

Aiken, South Carolina, just to give everyone some perspective. It’s right over in the area where the Masters are played each year. So it’s going to be a totally new market that we’ve never explored before. And it’s another historic building we’re renovating. I think that’s something that’s also special about Oliver, the other brands are doing too. There’s so much, there’s a lot to say about companies that are taking these old buildings that hold so much history and basically giving them a full facelift and a new life while still paying homage to what they

were before and that’s what Oliver really tries to do. The majority of our hotels are historic buildings which also tell a story which is what boutique hotels are all about is a story within where you’re staying. Everything is intentional. What I would say is like one of the biggest words within the hospitality world is you want everything to be intentional and nothing is overlooked. So even those small minor details have thought behind them.

But yeah, we are growing rapidly, which is very exciting. And like we talked about previously, still completely outward, whole new markets, something different everywhere you look.

Anthony Codispoti (28:45)
It does sound very exciting, especially with you guys being so spread out geographically. I have to imagine that creates some unique challenges.

Sterling Herzik (28:54)
It does. ⁓ I will say our corporate team is also spread out pretty all over the place geographically. We have team members in Atlanta, North Carolina, New York, Florida. ⁓ We are constantly traveling, so everyone’s bouncing around. We’re always constantly on site to see what’s going on in real time, where help is needed, where things are going great. Celebrating everyone’s wins with them will also

basically navigating where we can grow and advance. ⁓ It does create challenges because of course, a lot of times when you work in different hospitality worlds and management groups that have multiple hotels in a small environment, can kind of easily fill in gaps like say an employee is no longer employed there, you can just fill in a gap in the meantime while you’re hiring on. We have to get a little bit more creative in those situations, but it also is what makes it fun.

you know.

Anthony Codispoti (29:53)
So

is there a core team that is located at like a company headquarters or is everyone truly working remote and you guys cross paths here and there because you’re all visiting the properties.

Sterling Herzik (30:07)
Everyone is truly working remote ⁓ and crossing paths when we’re at the different properties. It’s basically remote work with a lot of travel, which is different than I think a lot of other places are doing it. But it also, it’s a new way of looking at it that’s super beneficial. I also think that it’s so great to be working remotely and then traveling to our properties because we’re also getting a hundred percent full on guest experience every time we’re at the property. We’re seeing

what our guests are seeing. staying in their rooms. We’re working with the valet team, the front desk team, to actually see what’s going on in real time rather than being reported back to on what’s happening, which I think is super beneficial that not all hotel groups are actually getting to do.

Anthony Codispoti (30:54)
You said something before about how guests are increasingly wanting, requesting the boutique experience. How is that communication from the guest coming to you and what specifically about the boutique experience do you think they’re looking for?

Sterling Herzik (31:14)
So we’re seeing that more so in just evaluations of our comp sets and markets that we’re currently within and what hotels are starting to lift. And we’re also seeing it with those bigger brands like Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, where their interests are going. ⁓

You know, we hear a lot of feedback from our guests after they stay with us at how special it was and how they felt like the whole time they were truly being pampered and thought about from the moment they were talking to our front desk agents to the moment they were leaving and the valet was helping them load up their car. It’s about giving every single person an individual experience tailored to them rather than having basically a broad blueprint of this is what we’re going to do every single day.

this is how we do A, B, and C, ⁓ we’re willing to get flexible there and have some wiggle room. So I think that’s what we’ve seen more so just from guest experience and hearing what people say and repeat clientele. That is moving away from basically hotels that they might have been staying at previously for a long period of time, every time they were in town on business, things like that, because they’re finding more of a value in that smaller…

more tailored experience.

Anthony Codispoti (32:35)
to hear more about that small tailored experience, that flexibility that you guys have kind of embodied in your company’s culture. And I want to hear about it specifically from the standpoint of when there was a big challenge, like when there was something that was going wrong, kind of, you know, things went off the tracks, you know, even at the best run companies, that inevitably happens. But the way that you respond to those kinds of things, I think is really defining. Can you think about a time where there was a

Sterling Herzik (32:54)
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Codispoti (33:05)
customer experience going off the rails and you guys did something creative to bring it back.

Sterling Herzik (33:11)
Yeah, mean, most definitely. Of course, things happen everywhere. We’ve had properties before where there might have been a maintenance emergency in a few of the rooms. Of course, I’m going to talk from the group side because I’m biased towards groups. ⁓ There is some maintenance issues happening in one of the rooms. And this is a wedding that’s coming this weekend. And they had sold every single room. And they were all supposed to be staying together. We are willing to go.

above and beyond to make sure we’re still going to meet your expectations in the best way possible. For example, ⁓ we lost two rooms due to a maintenance emergency earlier in this year. ⁓ In the wedding that came through, we were like, OK, we realize you have guests coming. They’re going to be here no matter what. What can we do to make it the best experience possible in light of what?

were currently facing and we gave them options of do you want us to bring them to an Airbnb nearby? Do you want us to book them another hotel? And then this was super creative that someone on our team had. We actually offered them the idea of renting, it’s so cute, a little air stream that was renovated into a cute little tiny basically hotel room. And we were like, we can bring this in and we can have them drop in the parking lot and your guests

can still stay on site and get to experience everything. ⁓ So it’s things like that. It’s going above and beyond, which that is the option they went with, to make sure that…

even though things aren’t going perfectly, we’re still gonna do everything in our power to give you the experience that you wanna see. So it actually turned out great. The wedding got to take cute pictures, a little airstream. It was super nice and their guests still got to stay with them and not have to miss out on a single bit of the weekend just because we were down a room.

Anthony Codispoti (35:02)
I love how you guys not only saved the day there, but elevated the experience for your guests, right? That, you know, custom Airstream experience is a point that that group is still talking about today and still showing pictures of today.

Sterling Herzik (35:07)
Mm-hmm.

Exactly, it’s taking a bad thing and basically we’re like how can we spend it to be the most positive experience we possibly can and you know what it might have been more fun than if they just had the standard room anyway because then they got a fun cute thing to take pictures with and how many people could stay in a little renovated airstream overnight and not many

Anthony Codispoti (35:39)
I wasn’t there,

but I can absolutely guarantee that they were inviting other people from the wedding in come check this out. Look at nobody else was doing that with their hotel room. Yeah, that’s really cool. And you know, a big part of what you do in sales, obviously, is developing relationships with folks, right, developing that trust. What’s your approach to that trust building that relationship build?

Sterling Herzik (35:45)
100%. 100%.

Exactly, exactly.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I think honesty, which a lot of sales can get, sales roles can get a little bit iffy in this way is we want to sell the most supreme experience to our guests, but we don’t want to just sell it to fill a date. We want to do it to actually make it successful. So it’s being honest with our couples, like whether it be a wedding, like we talked about Marconi and you know, the date you’re looking at, I want you to know, like there’s a very good chance it could rain. ⁓

other groups that like our other hotels in like Claremont in Atlanta.

there’s no heating on the roof, so are you sure you wanna do this then? Instead of just kind of swindling it where we’re making sure we’re getting the bookings, we want our guests to be happy and we don’t wanna sign them up for something that we know isn’t going to be successful, going back to the very beginning of our conversation about selling a dream and delivering a nightmare, that is what we’re avoiding ⁓ at all costs. And sometimes that means losing out on business and that is the reality of it, but it also means that every time

we’re securing that business, we’re confidently providing something along with it. And I think that that goes a long way with our clients because they know they can trust us. And outside of that, it’s also just like really personalizing the relationship, understanding who they are, what made them choose us, what their goal is. And we don’t think you’re just like every other corporate retreat coming. What do you want to do to make this different? What can we do to

Anthony Codispoti (37:23)
Mm-hmm.

Sterling Herzik (37:41)
help and it’s remembering that so even if they come and they leave and they come back two years later and they want to do it again we’re like my gosh we remember everything you did do you want to do this again can we what can we change up this time to make it even better and I think that’s something that you don’t always get at other hotels to feel like you’re never a number and you are truly like valued for your experience and as a guest of ours

Anthony Codispoti (38:07)
Sterling, these aren’t your words, but I imagine this is kind of how you think about it. You think about, want that glowing five-star review from the client at the end of their experience. So how do I work backwards to get to

Sterling Herzik (38:22)
Exactly, and it’s a long road, especially in the sales and events world. We work with clients for over a year at many times, ⁓ but it’s every step of the way making sure we’re putting our best foot forward for them at all times and never making them feel as if they…

could be forgotten basically or that they weren’t important and that their vision wasn’t important because working in hospitality is a very interesting industry because it’s one of the only places that you’re truly mixing money with very strong emotions and these milestones in people’s lives ⁓ that…

There’s a lot of pressure in that situation to basically meet expectations that have been developed by people for sometimes many years of what they’ve been thinking of this event is going to be. ⁓ So you learn a lot about people in that aspect of.

What’s going to make them feel like they’re walking away from this? Heard and valued and understood and it’s being patient and listening and like we talked about just being honest because sometimes I will be so for real like we have had brides, for example, pitch something and you have to be like there is no way possible. This is going to actually happen within like the budget. You’re looking at things like that, but instead of dancing around that we’re trying to be upfront with them and letting them know.

We want the best for what you’re trying to do. This is what we can deliver. We’re not going to promise you something. And then down the road, you’re going to get a bill that is going to blow your mind. We would rather just tell you right up front.

Anthony Codispoti (39:59)
No, no, it’s very smart. Sterling, from your early days in events management to now your current role overseeing multiple properties, think back to the biggest personal growth lesson that you’ve learned from. What is that?

Sterling Herzik (40:18)
think for me.

I came out of school in December of 2019. I was working as an event server at 21C and I was lucky enough to be slowly promoted into an event management role. That happened in early 2020, which was super exciting for me. I finally felt like I had found what I wanted to do. I was jumpstarting my career. And of course, as everyone knows and everyone shares a similar experience with,

In March, we got hit with COVID. And one of the first industries to basically go down when COVID came about was most definitely events. So there was a lot of time during that era that I felt like, my gosh, did I make this giant jump over to hospitality? And had I planned all of this? And is this even going to be an industry going forward? I was furloughed. ⁓

for a few months and it was kind of up in the air of what was going to happen. And then whenever I came back from furlough, I was imagining everything to be sunshine and rainbows and it definitely wasn’t. Because there was a time in the events world after that that you were doing nothing but delivering bad news, essentially, whether it be we can’t host your event, we can’t host your wedding, or it was down to things like

Anthony Codispoti (41:38)
Yeah.

Sterling Herzik (41:47)
I’m begging brides to wear their mask walking down an aisle so we didn’t get hit and get shut down for holding the events because of course when events came back it was so black and white of what you could do and what you can’t do before it’s over. Exactly. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (42:02)
still a lot of restrictions.

Sterling Herzik (42:06)
And that was a lot on my shoulders because they let go of my entire team and they brought me back as a one-man band whenever it came to events and I was very young in my career and to be honest I felt like I was totally winging it at the time with a lot of uncertainty of what I was doing. Did I mess all of this up? And I look back on that now though and I feel like it actually grew me into the point I am now because essentially it was a

look back and I see it as a sink or swim situation. These are the cards I was being dealt. I can either take them and truly try to run with them and do them to my best of ability and make these as successful as I can, or I can fold them and I can go try to find a new career path that might make me not as happy in the long term. And it was also taking the risk of, do I stay in hospitality? We lost so many hospitality employees during this time of…

This is so risky. This is not an industry that you know, it’s an industry that is not necessarily needed, but it’s a perk of life, right? Like travel events, that’s a perk of life. It’s not something that has to happen. so it’s a gamble. And at the time, I think that came to light more than any other time previously. So I can look back at that now and be thankful for it. But in the moment,

I felt like I had just made all the worst decisions in the world and what did I get myself into and I just blew my entire career before I even started it.

Anthony Codispoti (43:40)
So what do you think made you stick it out? Because you’re right. You can look back in the rear view mirror now, and there’s a bit of clarity. And you’re like, I’m glad that I stuck it out. I’m glad that this worked. But in the moment, you didn’t know if it was going to work. You didn’t know if the hospitality industry was going to come back, if people are going to come back to events. It was a giant question mark. Why do you think you stuck it out?

Sterling Herzik (43:54)
You know.

really, really wanted it and I didn’t want to give up and I was very vocal with my leaders at the time, my bosses at the time. For example, I’m working very, very little hours even when I was back and I was basically moved from salary back to hourly because…

They didn’t, you can’t pay someone a salary when you don’t even know if they’re going to be able to work their position. So I was very vocal. What can you give me? I will do anything that you guys need. I want to learn. I don’t want to feel like I’m at this roadblock. And I truly wanted it because I wanted this career so bad that it also gave me the opportunity that.

21c as a whole was like, okay, well she she’s willing to do the work and So they started putting me at other properties during that time whenever there was no events of my property They would move me over to like the Oklahoma City property Which was taking time away from my family and my friends to do that but I was willing to take the risk for the hopeful reward at the end ⁓ and I think it’s kind of just not doubting yourself and

I knew that’s what I wanted and I didn’t want to feel like I gave it up just because things got hard at the time. ⁓ And I think that makes a lot of difference.

Anthony Codispoti (45:24)
How did you get through those difficult, uncertain times? Who were you able to lean on?

Sterling Herzik (45:30)
I definitely have a great family, so they were super supportive to me, whether it be…

watching my beloved dog while I was out of town for three weeks at a time working at other hotels in Oklahoma City and such and ⁓ good friends. I had a co-worker at the time that she kind of had the same mindset and she’s still working in hospitality and has really grown her career too to this day that she was super helpful because it was like, okay, we’re going to do this together. We both want it and we’re both not going to give up. Whether it be we’re working till 3 a.m. one night and since we’re the only employees here

I’m also gonna wake up the next morning and be back for the breakfast at 5 a.m. Like I was willing to put in the work and I think that I needed that supportive environment around me to to not make me question myself and to basically be like if that’s what you want to do, go at it. If you’re willing to sleep two hours a night, go at it. But I’m thankful for that because they are supportive of me no matter what I have going on or

no matter if what I’m doing seems kind of crazy at the time.

Anthony Codispoti (46:38)
As you look back on that time, Sterling, is there anything with what you know today that you might have done a little bit differently?

Sterling Herzik (46:46)
⁓ there are some things that I think I think I’ve learned more of emotion with especially when it comes to like social groups at the time. Whereas, ⁓ it’s something you kind of have to clock yourself with sometime when you work in hospitality is like you talk to brides, 15 brides a day, for example, or 15 birthday parties a day, something like that. ⁓

But to this person, this is the biggest thing that’s ever happened in their life up until this point. So you kind of have to like kind of rail it back in and be like, okay, I need to sit here and level with you of what this means to you and I can never treat you like a number or like we’re just zooming through. And I think that is part of it. ⁓ That when I.

I never feel like I treat anyone like a number, but I’ve learned a lot more about the emotions behind those events now that I think I would still handle them with even more care, things like that, especially during the COVID times, because that was a lot on those people that were willing to still go through with their weddings in 2020 and 2021 when…

It was a total risk of who was even going to come. And it was a risk from our side too, because I’m like, I need everyone to be six feet apart. We have a stick that was six feet apart that they were making us go through and make sure every chair was. And, you know, of course that didn’t always come with the most welcoming environment from the guest. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (48:12)
I was going to say that had to have given you a lot

of practice at some really uncomfortable conversations.

Sterling Herzik (48:17)
Exactly, ⁓

which was super helpful looking back long term at the moment. ⁓

Yeah, like it was a very sensitive environment and you’re telling people to do something that they have no intention of wanting to do. And you know, for what it’s worth when you work in weddings and things like that and hospitality altogether, liquid courage comes into play a lot too. And people get very brave and very headstrong once that’s in the mix. So I have learned to navigate around that as well. And just kind of like,

being honest with them from the get go of what we need to happen in that current moment. That still happens in worlds of weddings not wanting to end, things like that. We have rules. So you learn over time how to deliver bad news in the softest way possible, which is something that’s taken time for me to do. And I feel like I’ve gotten really good at it. But in the beginning, you’re like, I don’t know. I don’t know how to break your heart like this, but we’ve got to this thing down.

Anthony Codispoti (49:19)
So give us a short masterclass, Sterling. How do you approach those really hard conversations?

Sterling Herzik (49:26)
more than anything people wanna feel heard, right? Like they wanna feel like, you know what, I’m acknowledging how you’re feeling right now and I understand, but here’s the but. So like when it’s talking to brides or even like corporate events where they need something to happen that’s not possible, it’s firstly, before I tell them the no, I have to sit there and tell them.

I’m seeing this from your perspective. I totally see why you feel this way. But here are the facts on why we are unable to accomplish this. Please believe me, if we could do it, I want to do this for you. And I think it’s leveling with them instead of just being like, not possible. ⁓ We can’t do that. That’s something we don’t do, things like that. It’s really taking the time with them to be like,

This is why I think you’re feeling this way. I understand why you do, but these are the facts of why we can’t do it, which takes more time, especially in these quick moments, to really get through that with them and to get them to understand. But I think more than anything in the world, everyone just wants to feel like they’re understood and that they’re…

hurt in their current feelings, especially when emotions are high. So I think just making sure that they know that like their point isn’t going over my head or I’m not taking into consideration what they’re trying to say ⁓ makes all the difference.

Anthony Codispoti (50:46)
you don’t tell him sit down and sober up, sir.

Sterling Herzik (50:48)
Exactly, exactly.

You don’t tell them no, no, no. You have to understand.

Anthony Codispoti (50:55)
Any ⁓ personal daily habits, practices that kind of get your day started, sterling or keep you on track?

Sterling Herzik (51:02)
Nothing too crazy. I like to spend a lot of time outside. ⁓ I think being outside is so good for everyone and getting fresh air. I have a beloved dog. We spend a lot of time outside together where weather is just going on walks after work, before work starts, things like that. And kind of like giving yourself that balance because I’m sure a lot of people are like me is I actually love to work and I can kind of teeter totter a workaholic like mindset.

And it’s breaking past that of you still have to take time for yourself and take time for your own mental health and your own mind to kind of breathe outside of that. taking that time sometimes can feel wrong, especially when you have a long to do list of what to do. But I think it’s important to actually do it. Aside from that, daily habits are basically just surviving on coffee. So.

Anthony Codispoti (51:58)
many cups a day.

Sterling Herzik (52:00)
You know, at least two, but I’m trying to narrow it down to one, okay? So it’s taking time.

Anthony Codispoti (52:08)
Dark roast, light roast, cream, sugar, how do you take it?

Sterling Herzik (52:11)
The

espresso is my go-to. I love espresso. Exactly.

Anthony Codispoti (52:13)
⁓ you go straight for the diesel, I like it. ⁓

What’s something about your industry that you think probably would surprise most outsiders?

Sterling Herzik (52:25)
I think that hospitality as a whole, kind of narrow in on it and kind of don’t think of how much like artistry and creativity goes into it. ⁓ especially in like the food and beverage world, there is so much artistry and thought and…

things put into the menus you’re seeing at restaurants, the drinks that are being served, that is actually quite beautiful, that I think is actually overlooked a lot until you’ve worked within food and beverage especially. ⁓ The mindset chefs have, things like that, to me it’s really fun to hear about in where they get these ideas. ⁓

But I just don’t think people always take into account how much creativity comes to play in hospitality and opening your mind as well as just, it’s constantly a whole new day every single day you’re working, which can make it super fun and that’s different than a lot of industries. It’s never mundane. It is always a new adventure, whether it’s good or bad. ⁓ It’s always gonna bring something new to the table.

Anthony Codispoti (53:32)
Sterling, I’ve just got one more question for you today, but before I ask it, I want to do three quick things. First of all, anybody that wants to get in touch with Sterling Herzick, she’s given us permission to hand out her email address, which is sterling at oliverhospitality.com, sterling at oliverhospitality.com. And we’ll have the show notes for folks, excuse me. Also as a reminder, if you want to get more hotel and restaurant employees access to benefits that actually carries a financial upside for the company,

reach out to us at addbackbenefits.com. Finally, if you’ll pause, just take a moment and leave a comment or review on your favorite podcast app. You’ll hold a special place in my heart forever. Thank you so much. Okay, Sterling, so last question for you. A year from now, you and I reconnect and you are celebrating something big. What’s that big thing you hope to be celebrating one year from today?

Sterling Herzik (54:25)
You know, I think it’s just continuation of like personal growth and learning. And from a professional side, I’m hoping to celebrate even more properties coming on board and learning the new markets. And I just am hoping with each year that I continue to get a better perspective of people and.

what everyone brings to the table differently and to give everyone the best experience possible. So just more personal growth to be honest.

Anthony Codispoti (54:56)
Love it.

Sterling Herzick from Oliver Hospitality. want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Sterling Herzik (55:05)
Thank you so much for having me. It’s been great. I’ve been so excited to be on here.

Anthony Codispoti (55:09)
Love it. Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the inspired stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.