Scott Pinocci’s Networking Philosophy: Genuine Human Connections Over Transactional Exchanges

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 Scott Panucci, director of food and beverage at the Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The Ocean House is known for its luxurious accommodations, spa services, and fine dining experiences.

It is the only property in Rhode Island to hold both the AAA 5 Diamond and Forbes Travel Guide 5 Star Distinctions, setting a high standard for guest satisfaction and hospitality excellence. Under his watch, the Coast Restaurant at the Ocean House has maintained its status as one of the top waterfront dining venues in the region. Prior to joining the Ocean House, Scott contributed to other award-winning establishments that earned praise.

from renowned critics and organizations. 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, therapists, and prescription medications. 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. 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, Director of Food and Beverage at Ocean House, Scott Panucci. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Scott (01:51)
Yeah, thank you for having me, Anthony.

Anthony Codispoti (01:53)
So Scott, you studied restaurant management at Johnson and Wales University from 2004 to 2006, and then started a string of management jobs at different establishments along the way. What first sparked your interest in this industry?

Scott (02:09)
It’s great question. My cousin actually was a sous chef at this small bring your own bottle Italian restaurant. The culture and the community of the Italian is so important to me. So getting to know the food and familiarize myself with Northern Italian cuisine was interesting. So I started off at a really young age of

busing tables and then starting to learn how to use server. Actually worked into the kitchen as well, but it was his passion and the passion of the executive chef at the time. In the techniques and the thought process that went into each dish, it just sparked my interest. And then from there, you know, the hospitality and watching guests and people have a great time and come together, just, it just felt natural.

Anthony Codispoti (02:56)
And how did you make the decision to go to Johnson and Wales?

Scott (03:00)
Well, Johnson Wales was founded in Providence, Rhode Island originally. So it has campuses, it has had campuses around the world, ⁓ but it started in Providence. So the decision to go to the school was when I began thinking about hospitality as my career going forward. I had experiences, I had learned to bartend, I had learned to serve, I worked in kitchens and worked as a sous chef as well. So there was all of this background and…

I decided having a degree was going to open some doors for me, so I went down that path. Johnson and Wales had a really great curriculum that was based on going to class Monday through Thursday so that you were eligible to work in the industry Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, which is an important component to the hospitality industry. So those tenants really spoke to me.

Anthony Codispoti (03:49)
So people outside of the hospitality industry are probably like, I’ve never heard of Johnson and Wales. They don’t have a football team or a basketball team that I’ve been able to see on TV. But it’s very highly regarded in the field. What are some things that you picked up there during your education that maybe you wouldn’t have just going right into the restaurant space and kind of working from the ground up there?

Scott (04:10)
Well, it reinforced actually a lot of the things that I had seen and some.

understanding the importance of standard operating procedures, recipes, formalizing things, things that independently owned restaurants that I was familiar with hadn’t really adopted to. And I saw an opportunity where independently owned restaurants could learn some key tenants that were taught at Johnson and Wales ⁓ that could get translated to a smaller mom and pop, if you will, place to allow for them to have more sustained

quality, longevity, costing, menu costings, things of that nature, and menu building ⁓ classes and things of that as well. But the most important thing that Johnson and Wales focused on was networking and getting to know the people within the industry, getting to know the people next to you. that was a really big part of it. And that helped me throughout my career.

Anthony Codispoti (05:05)
So networking mostly with the other students.

Scott (05:08)
getting to know the students, but then also getting out in the community. Providence itself has a very dense population of restaurant owners where corporate chains are not as prevalent. The original Capital Grill was started in Rhode Island, ⁓ but it’s a home of lot of independently owned chefs. And so you getting out there and networking with people, you never know who your next business partner, boss is going to be. ⁓

You know, that was something that Johnson and Wales really pushed you to go and do. Go get internships, go get a weekend job while studying and diversify and get to know as many people as you can because it’s such a big network of people, but it gets smaller and smaller as you go further into the community.

Anthony Codispoti (05:55)
You know, I want to take just a moment and talk about this importance of networking because from my own personal experience, but also from the hundreds of guests that I’ve talked with so many times, it’s who you know, that ends up opening up a door for you down the road, right? Here’s story after story about people who apply for dozens or hundreds of jobs and they can’t get a call back, they can’t get an interview, even when they’re very well qualified for that position. But when somebody knows who you are, right, you’ve

broken bread with them, you’ve sat down, you’ve had a laugh, you’ve shared some personal stories. That just changes the dynamic completely. Do you think about networking in the same way now that you did when you were back in school?

Scott (06:38)
Somewhat, I mean, I’m a personable person. I’ve always, I’ll talk to someone in the grocery store just about the oranges or the broccoli, you know, because that’s just my personality. So I still think it is a really important thing. ⁓ You know, not only our…

professional relationships, but our personal relationships as well, haven’t had the opportunity to have personal relationships developed into professional relationships over time. I think it’s only grown, you know, my ideas on networking and my view on networking. So it started off there in at Johnson and Wales from a professional standpoint. And it’s only grown since then.

Anthony Codispoti (07:18)
So for some people to hear the word networking, just feels icky, right? Why do you think that is and how do you approach it in a way that doesn’t feel that way?

Scott (07:21)
It was a good

Well, I think if you people aren’t sincere and if they’re not completely connected with what they’re doing in a professional professional networking, I could understand like that icky feeling that people might get. And I think that if you’re not genuine and if you’re not completely honest with yourself and who you want to be in your communications, whether people aren’t straightforward and honest as well, I think that’s where that ickiness might come from. If you’re being a performative in your position or in your career.

It might not feel natural, for someone in hospitality who’s been in this industry as long as I have, it’s always just been such a natural thing for me. I love connecting with the vendors. ⁓ Danny Meyer has the setting the table from Danny Meyer. talks about…

getting to know everyone, getting to know your vendors, getting to know the person who delivers the seafood every day, getting to know the guests, getting to know your team. ⁓ that really, that echoes with me. And I think that’s networking, right? Like looking someone in the eye and having a genuine interaction with them and asking questions and waiting for response. I think that if you’re genuine in your intentions, you will get more out of that networking and it will be less transactional or gross as you said.

Anthony Codispoti (08:41)
I appreciate everything you just said right there. A couple of key words I want to hone in on genuine and sincere were words that you repeated there a couple of times. And I think that’s really the key to it is not to go into it thinking that it’s transactional, like what does this person have to offer me? What can I take from them? It’s just be a human being, just connect on a personal level. And maybe your paths cross again somewhere down the road. Maybe they don’t.

Maybe you guys end up developing a really good friendship. Maybe you don’t. But just being a genuine human being in the moment, I think that’s really sort of the pillar of what makes good networking work.

Scott (09:20)
I agree. And it makes it so much easier to do business or grab a coffee with someone or have a dinner. To break bread is exactly the way to say it. think like if you can connect with someone and have that, it makes it so much easier to have a professional relationship with people because it’s based on your personal relationship already.

Anthony Codispoti (09:41)
So Scott, you’ve received recognition for your work at a number of other establishments. ⁓ Jamestown Fish, Cook and Brown, Public House. As you look back on your previous experiences, what’s the biggest lesson you learned earlier in your career that still guides you at Ocean House today?

Scott (10:00)
⁓ I think, you know, I…

Never stop pushing yourself to be great. Don’t look at what other people are doing around you. Look at what the people you want to be like are doing. So look outside of your sphere. Growing up in Rhode Island, people will compare themselves to other restaurants within Rhode Island. At Cook & Brown Public House in 2010, we opened on a shoestring budget with a chef-owned concept.

we opened the doors and let it go. And we just did what we thought was right on a daily basis. And we started comparing ourselves to the best restaurants in San Francisco at the time. We started comparing ourselves to the best bars in New York City. And we looked into Paris and we just, we weren’t comparing ourselves to the person on the street or across town. We were trying to find inspiration from the best of the best. And we kind of took a why not us approach. And that approach has

has helped me throughout this whole career of mine where I’m looking at greatness and excellence across the industry and trying to say, why can’t I do that? And from a mom and pop 50 seed restaurant on Hope Street in Providence, Rhode Island, where we were.

Esquire Magazine top new restaurants, James Beard semi-finalist for best new restaurants, and then subsequently the years following outstanding cocktail programs by James Beard for two years straight. It’s that why not me approach and that pushing yourself to be excellent. ⁓ You just have to go for it.

Anthony Codispoti (11:41)
I love that because I think that the biggest limiter for most people, myself included, is this gray space, but you know, the six inches between my ears. ⁓ Because we tend to just think too small and we think I could never do that. Like that person has some special ability. They were born a certain way into a certain environment that gives them a leg up. And the stark reality is, and I can say this from my own personal experience as well as again, having talked to

hundreds of different people on this show. The only thing that makes these people special yourself included Scott I want to hear your perspective on this is the grit the resiliency just the get up every day and try to turn the dials a little bit make it a little bit better.

Scott (12:27)
No, mean, and it’s consistency as well. I mean, I think that that’s it. if you can find an approach that works for you to accomplish the things that you’re looking to do, consistency in the hospitality industry is the difference between good and great, between good and excellent, between one star and two star Michelin or two star and three star. It’s like these little processes that you create. ⁓

in a workspace, but that also comes back to us as individuals. like having a routine that works for ourselves and understanding what we need to fuel ourselves and not letting go of the pursuit. think you really just can focus on people get caught up in the why can’t I do things and it’s opposed to trying to find the ways to why. And take so many people are concerned with taking risks because of their concern of the adverse effects. if it’s to go back to

the word genuine, you’re taking risks in your career that are genuine and they’re founded in ⁓ the right thoughts and the right ideas to achieve something, you get an opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them and continue to grow. And ⁓ surely made enough mistakes in my career, but I’ll make a hundred more because you just keep growing and developing and people learn a little bit more about you as you take these risks and…

you learn about yourself as well.

Anthony Codispoti (13:53)
So how did the opportunity to join Ocean House come about?

Scott (13:58)
Networking. I was working at Jamestown Fish for a number of years. gentleman who was the wine director at the Ocean House at the time, it was his favorite restaurant. know, Jamestown Fish, owned by the chef Matthew McCartney, who’s a master of wine candidate, who ⁓ was Food and Wine Magazine’s top chef northeast at the time. know, so this chef that was there,

together this amazing wine list. He has this tremendous Italian-based food and it was just a perfect opportunity. So in being at Jamestown Fish, I met the wine director of the Ocean House. Jamestown Fish decided that they were going to be closing up shop after 10 years, which is a good run and it was great but

The knock on my door came as soon as that restaurant got announced closed from the wine director saying, are you interested in coming to work at the Ocean House? And I said, well, sure, certainly, you know, it’s a Relay Chateau, Forbes, triple five star property, and about 45 minutes from my home in Rhode Island. So it was an opportunity, it was something I had been admiring from afar and was known for its excellence and its luxury. And I took that opportunity.

Anthony Codispoti (15:13)
What is Relay Chateau?

Scott (15:15)
Réleschateau is a collection of inns and restaurants that originated in France and is now on every continent in the world. It’s a collection of restaurants, inns as I mentioned, that all kind of share the same ethos, if you will. it’s some examples of Réleschateau restaurants are Daniel, Perse,

French Laundry, 11 Madison Park, hotels like the Inn at Little Washington, ⁓ Meadowood in Napa Valley, the Ocean House, we could plug in as well, are independently owned.

places that are really focused on sustainability, high quality guests experience. It’s originated in France as a collection of little inns on this road that all kind of had something in common. Like you knew if you stayed at this one and this one, they would recommend each other. If you’re traveling 25 miles a day, you get to the next stop and you knew because they were really chateau that they were going to have the same quality. And now that it’s…

Anthony Codispoti (16:20)
They did things a certain

way, kept a certain standard.

Scott (16:22)
Exactly, there’s a certain

expectation that you can have going to that place and that continues today.

Anthony Codispoti (16:29)
So tell us more specifically what the customer experience is like at Ocean House.

Scott (16:34)
So customer experience at the Ocean House is really focused on the discerning luxury traveler. When you walk in the front door, you’re greeted immediately by our bell team, our front desk team. You really get the sense of being in coastal New England when you’re here, from the details of the furniture to the smells to the unique placements in and around the rooms, where you don’t get the feeling that you’re in

Chicago or Los Angeles when you’re here, you feel like you’re in coastal New England from, you know, the wicker chairs that are placed in our fine dining restaurant to, you know, classic Rhode Island and New England ingredients that are utilized. Our sourcing of our ingredients is a real important part of what we do where we try to be sustainable as possible when we can. So you really get a warm feeling of New England hospitality by being here. ⁓

from the attention to details through all of the accoutrements and the things around the hotel, but also from the people themselves, the genuine interest that people show, and then making sure you have a wonderful experience.

Anthony Codispoti (17:43)
So it’s a hotel, luxury hotel, spa, restaurant. What else am I missing?

Scott (17:45)
Right.

No, excuse me, you nailed it right. So we’re one of 14 Forbes.

travel guide 15 star properties in the world. So we have a hotel itself for its rooms and bar and restaurant are five star. Our spa is five star and they have multiple treatments and again and they utilize all of the coastal ingredients, seaweeds and things from nature during those processes. And then the restaurant coast is a Forbes five star restaurant. So the three together on the same property puts us in a pretty unique space here in the world.

Anthony Codispoti (18:21)
Yeah. How many beds or how many rooms? many keys?

Scott (18:23)
We have

49 rooms and 20 suites. So, Relais Chateau traditionally is a smaller place. Think about these inns 100 years ago in France. With 49 rooms and 20 suites, we’re on the bigger side of things from a space side for Relais Chateau, but we stick to the core tenets of that.

Anthony Codispoti (18:46)
And tell us more specifically about the restaurant because that’s where your involvement is.

Scott (18:51)
Yeah, so Coast is a chef’s prefix menu, five course tasting menu. We’ve got a couple of different levels of wine pairing. So our sommeliers and our wine directors work tirelessly with the chefs to make sure that the global…

⁓ wine world is represented on the menu each night. Right now we have wines from South Africa, New Zealand, France, Germany. ⁓ So we’ve searched far and wide for wines to pair with the food, which is always a reflection of what’s in season, close by to the hotel as best as possible. We will go outside. mean, we’ll serve Japanese Wagyu because it’s the best. So there’s a focus. ⁓

focus on technique, there’s a focus on sourcing, and while we try to be sustainable and local, we’ll also go get that caviar from Belgium because it’s just so great, you know? So we’re not afraid of truffles from Piedmont when it’s truffle time, so we try to balance the two, right, the sustainability efforts, but also really try to pay homage to the great bounty of the world as well.

Anthony Codispoti (19:58)
Are there any specific approaches that you’ve

brought from your previous experiences at some of the celebrated restaurants into Coast and, you know, kind of changed up how they do things?

Scott (20:09)
Absolutely. mean, we’ve done a lot of different things with the beverage program. I’m fancying myself a barman. So ⁓ with cooking Brown’s success of. ⁓

utilizing different techniques and cocktails. We’ve put that some different infusions and things of that, some table side cocktails in the restaurant as well. We have a cocktail cart that we’re rolling out this season as well, where we’re gonna make some table side cocktails, utilizing vintage spirits. So there’s some showing us to that as well. It’s just, it’s a collection of my career is the things that we bring to the hotel every day. And, you know, the biggest thing I can say is that

Continuing to grow and continuing to learn is the most important thing.

Anthony Codispoti (20:53)
So when you talk about making cocktails table side for the show aspect, the first thing I think about, because I’m an old guy, was that 1980s cocktail movie with Tom Cruise. it that kind of thing, flipping things around your back? Or what’s it like?

Scott (21:03)
I’m

A little bit less than that. The idea is that, you know, we’re coming by with a vintage cognac to make you a cocktail. We’re coming by with a vintage gin or chartreuse. ⁓ And it’s fancy crystal and technique stirring and shaking if necessary as well with the cocktail. So more just a more intimate. ⁓

interactive thing with the guests as opposed to sitting at your table and someone in another room makes the cocktail and brings it over to you. So it’s just a little bit more bespoke and a little bit more of a dialogue with the person making the cocktail as opposed to, you know, see something on the list or pick something from your favorite bar at home and wait for someone to bring it to you. So a little more interactive.

Anthony Codispoti (21:50)
Gotcha.

Okay. ⁓ So you guys have received AAA five diamond and Forbes five star ratings. Those sound really impressive. And I know that they are but especially for folks who are outside the industry, they don’t really have a sense of like what it takes to get those recognitions. I wonder if there’s a little anecdote, a specific story that you might be able to share.

that really exemplifies what it takes to achieve and maintain these kinds of honors.

Scott (22:23)
Great question. Something that we’ve done in Coast, it’s always been ⁓

We’re actually shifting it a little bit currently, but something that we had done over the previous years was a bread service. So it was a, ⁓ homemade brioche bread at one time. And we had butter that came from a single cow made butter exclusively for coast. And it wasn’t on any menu. It wasn’t something that you knew where you were going to get. So after one of the second, the second course would leave the table. It started a chain reaction, right? So there’s a process that we built into.

the steps of service that once that table that that food was cleared the expediter knew that the bread had to be handed off with the butter to the person that cleared the table while that’s happening someone in the dining room is putting down a selection of salts and peppers on the table setting up with the plates and the the butter knives and that’s again this is not on any menu anywhere but the guest is seeing this all of this happen and

As the person who cleared the table is coming back, they’re picking up the bread and the butter and the other person is finishing setting the table. And it’s like a ballet where the person walks away from the table and the other person is arriving with this bread and to explain the salts that have been put out on the table as well. And they’re underneath a flower. So it’s like this little dance that we have kind of choreographed. And it’s an example of one little process.

throughout an entire experience that makes these seamless transitions. And ⁓ it’s just, it’s that type of coordination from both the culinary side to have the bread in the window at the perfect time to have the butter perfectly temped. The bread’s just warm enough. The servers know exactly what to do at a time. And it’s just a coordinated execution.

Anthony Codispoti (24:14)
So I’ve never worked in fine dining, but I love processes. And when I can kind of spot something that is being very well coordinated, I’m like, wow, especially in a busy environment like a restaurant. You guys notice this very choreographed dance because you’re the ones having to architect it and follow it. I would assume that other people who come to dine in your restaurant who have hospitality experience would notice that. Do you think the average lay person?

Scott (24:23)
you

Anthony Codispoti (24:44)
recognizes the beauty of the dance that’s going on there.

Scott (24:49)
I hope that they don’t realize it until it’s over. I hope they realize it when they reflect back on it and they say, wow, that was really something. It was just like, it should be seamless. It should be something you’re just enjoying. It should feel effortless, right? And I think that if…

if they notice it little micro things during the process, I think that that’s wonderful, but I almost prefer they reflect upon it and just say that was seamless and anticipatory. And, you know, for us, we talk about luxury a lot and what does luxury mean? And luxury is like having what you want when you want it without having to ask for it.

you know, like, wow, they knew exactly what I needed, when I needed it, how I needed it. And I didn’t have to tell them that that was the process, that that was the case, you know? And I think if we can put together, string together a series of those moments through dinner with exceptional food and wine pairings as well, I think that you really hopefully realize it at the end. You know, you can just say, well, that was just.

Anthony Codispoti (25:52)
I just had a wonderful time and everything was delicious.

Scott (25:53)
That was just so

wonderful. I, you you don’t, can’t quite put your finger on why you can’t, you don’t really understand what happened, but you just know it felt good. It felt effortless. You didn’t, you weren’t ever left wondering what’s next or what we’re what, what’s going on, you know?

Anthony Codispoti (26:10)
I think it’s sort of like good technology when technology works. It’s sort of invisible. It’s in the background. It’s just doing its thing when it’s not. Then you get frustrated and you’re like, the Internet broke or, you know, Zoom didn’t work today or whatever it is. And it’s something similar, right? When it just flows beautifully like, wow, it was just really nice. If it doesn’t, you’re like, man, I had to wait like 15 minutes for somebody to bring me a drink or the bread never showed up or came out stale or yeah, yeah.

Scott (26:13)
You

You

Exactly.

we talk about, you said you love processes and I’m in total agreement. We’re going to guess we’re a couple of nerds, but something I say to my team is process based approach creates culture, right? And if you have enough processes in place, it creates that culture of we thought of everything. We want to.

detail everything because once the processes are set, then it allows for people to be themselves. There’s no wondering what we’re gonna do for you for your anniversary. We have a process in place for how we’re gonna celebrate your anniversary for this season. Therefore, that allows for us to be more spontaneous in the moments because we’re not trying to come up with a way to make your anniversary or your birthday celebration acknowledged. We’re thinking we already have something in place and now we’re taking another extra step

to be able to make it even more special, to expand even further upon that.

Anthony Codispoti (27:31)
So the stark reality though, Scott, is that as well as you try to choreograph and plan for everything and have all these processes, sometimes you get thrown a curve ball. Sometimes the process breaks and you’ve got to deal with it in the moment. Can you think of a story where something like that happened? You got a real challenging situation you had to work through.

Scott (27:39)
See you again.

Nothing is coming to my mind immediately. mean, any process is always going to get challenged in some way, or form. And you think it’s going to be, I think it’s going to go perfectly. And then all of a sudden it takes that one person with that great question or that guess that just completely debunks all of your time and effort and energy that put into something. I can’t think of any one specific thing, but I will say that… ⁓

It’ll have that exactly what you just described will happen when you haven’t revisited your processes. You haven’t gone back and taken a second look at or a third or fourth look. You’ve kind of just resting on the fact that it’s been working and you’re not looking to tweak it or change it. So it’s definitely happened, but nothing is coming immediately to my mind.

Anthony Codispoti (28:33)
How big is your team roughly that reports to you?

Scott (28:36)
Great question. So I oversee all the managers and directors on property. So my team is about, I have about 20 directors and managers, but.

The food and beverage staff, because of our seasonality and our location on the New England coastline, we go from a staff of about 70 people in the winter this time of year now to 250 people. So we do a tremendous amount of onboarding and recruiting at this time of year and transitioning people. The staff is diverse as any staff in the world. imagine we have just in food and beverage, we’ve had staff from 30 different countries this past summer. So, you know, from all over

map people that have come back year after year after year to people that have never been to America before. So, you know, we juggle that by having processes in place to help acclimate people to not only the Ocean House and but also Watch Hill and then being in Rhode Island itself, ⁓ helping people transition in is a big part of it and everyone’s different. it’s a

Anthony Codispoti (29:43)
You know, I talked to another hotel in northern

Michigan where they actually completely shut down for the winter. And so it’s like having to completely close and reopen for the season. But they talked about something similar, where they’ve got a lot of international workers that come in to help with that sort of, you know, seasonal burst in demand. ⁓ Is there like a special visa process that goes on with this?

Scott (30:01)
Yes.

There are a number of different visas that exist in the US and abroad as well. you know, we take advantage and work with as many of them as possible. The H2B ⁓ visa is originated with farmers ⁓ in the US where think about like a orange harvest season where there’s such a…

large amount of oranges that have to be harvested. There just aren’t possibly enough American farmers to do that. So you can get professional farmers from outside of the U.S. to come and help with your harvest. And they come in and there’s a certain level of hospitality, if you will, that you have to provide them housing and things of that nature.

to allow for them to come here from outside the country. And basically you have to say, there’s such a high demand for the jobs that I have at a certain point of time, there just aren’t enough local.

professionals that can do this. So we need to find them from other places. So we go through that process each year. We’ve developed some amazing relationships with individuals that are professionals that either go back to their home country and then come here, or they go to a sister property or another property during the off season, where then they can come back to us in the summer during our peak season. So it’s tremendous. And then there are student visas as well with the J.

There’s like a work and travel where students from universities throughout the world can come here and work for 90 days or a hundred days. And then they get two weeks to travel at the end. So they get like a cultural experience of working in the U S but also getting to travel. So, you know, we, we, we work a lot with that, that as well. And, know, a number of others, won’t bore you with them, but it’s, it’s, it’s a really interesting thing. And it’s been one of the core pillars for us.

as a company to allow for us to do what we do, but also for us to offer a unique experience for our staff and for our guests.

Anthony Codispoti (32:11)
That’s really cool. So with this big seasonal surge that you need for professional help, where do these folks live?

Scott (32:20)
So fortunately, the Ocean House ownership has homes that purchased here within the community. So we are able to offer housing to them. it’s a really unique situation that we’ve created for ourselves where the ownership is so focused on delivering the highest quality luxury experience at the hotel, but also really have strived to be one of the best employers as well. So we’ve purchased.

Anthony Codispoti (32:27)
No kidding.

Scott (32:49)
apartment buildings, homes, multifamily homes throughout the community that allow for us to provide housing to our international staff and our year-round staff within the community. that includes going to having a shuttle to come to their home and pick them up that the hotel provides to picking them up and employee housing and dropping them off at work 10 minutes before their shift is supposed to start. you know, during our recruiting process, we explain you’re coming here, but

We’re going to provide you housing. We’re going to pick you up at housing. We’re going to drop you off at work so you’re on time.

When you get here, they’re going to have their uniform ready for them. We dry clean and have it prepared for them so they can look their best. We have a cafeteria that is complimentary so that they can come here and also dine and not have to worry about that. So, so many of the things that in the outside of what we provide are challenges, right? Where am I going to live? How am I going to get to work? How am going to find time to clean my uniform to make sure I look the best? we really focus as an employer on trying to provide all

of the tools that we see as potential tripping blocks for our team so that they can just come in with their positive attitude, be flexible, and really just can deliver the highest quality experience possible.

Anthony Codispoti (34:06)
similar to how you’re orchestrating the customer dining experience, trying to foresee all of these things. How can we make this as smooth and seamless for our workers as possible?

Scott (34:16)
Exactly, and as much of that as we can do for them and we try to improve upon it every year, you know, we utilize Gallup for our surveys to get feedback on how we can improve and just like the processes we were just discussing, I mean, we’re always constantly looking at ourselves in the mirror and saying we could have done this better, we could have done that better and we utilize our time between seasons to try to have as much impact on improving not only the guest experience but also for our staff as well.

Anthony Codispoti (34:43)
What’s a recent improvement that you made for the staff experience that you’re particularly proud of?

Scott (34:50)
Great question, great question. So this here’s one that we did this year. We’ve always had an employee of the year, leader of the year awards. We do like a quarterly thing where people can be nominated for employee of the year, leader of the year. And up until this year, we had only done it for year round staff could be eligible for the win. So this year we shifted company wide so that seasonal, the staff that is here for our seasons as well can also be recognized. So.

We had three people who are here on different types of visas, but had such a significant impact that they were employee of the year. You know, we have from different areas of the hotel, these individuals, either they’re first year here or coming back year after year. So that was a really big thing because it makes the goal was to hopefully make allow for everyone to feel as though they are a part of the team and the family. It’s not just this person who is here 12 months of the year that could be eligible for that.

Anthony Codispoti (35:48)
It’s not like a two class

system. trying to break that.

Scott (35:50)
Exactly, exactly.

That was a real big goal was to try to make everyone feel like they are just as important.

whether they’re here for six months or for every day. So that was a really big thing. the employee party was great. It was just a positive attitude. And the people that won that deserved to win as well were recognized by their peers at the end of a very busy season. I think that was one of the biggest things I’m proud of is that we extended our appreciation to people that deserve to hear about it.

Anthony Codispoti (36:22)
Looking ahead, are there any exciting culinary trends or maybe guest focused initiatives that you’re exploring that you could talk about?

Scott (36:31)
⁓ We are just always constantly adjusting and improving things. I’m sitting in a room right now that is about to transition into the ceiling is going to have clouds hanging from it and there’s going to be a Christmas tree in here as we’re opening up a hot chocolate ⁓ cider. ⁓

pop up essentially, there’s some retail that’s going to be available as well. you know, just, we’re always looking at ways to find things for the guests to do to enhance the guest experience. And so there’s nothing trendy or anything about it. It’s hot chocolate, it’s cider, you know, there’s gonna be some eggnog. We’ve got some great sponsors that we work with. So they’re gonna, you know.

You can have some some rum with there or some some vodka or tequila with some of the drinks as well and you know so I’m just just excited that that every day

We’re a place at the Ocean House where we’re looking at the world as a whole. Like I said, back in Cook and Brown, we’re looking at what other great resorts around the world are doing. And we’re looking at things that we’re excited about and trying to determine what that is. It’s a tricky time of year right now where we’re out of the summertime, but we’re into this busy holiday season. So a lot of the creativity starts after the New Year where we start to really dive in and what we want to do January, February, and March are highly creative times of year for us.

time traveling, we’ll spend time dining and going other places to see things that we liked and experience different things and we’ll work with our relationship partners to visit some other properties and just to brainstorm you know to collaborate to network ⁓ to really give us an opportunity to see what other people are thinking and doing.

Anthony Codispoti (38:11)
And so your busy season starts again in what like April May?

Scott (38:16)
It’s funny you say that, from a guest visiting the hotel standpoint, it’s really, it’s April, May, right around that Easter time, the first week of April this year is Easter. But I think, you know, that kind of starts like the kickoff for it. And then Mother’s Day, really things start to get going busy. And we stay busy, you know, for various reasons, but the weather in New England can be…

can be fickle. So sometimes it’s 75 degrees in May and sometimes it’s 50 degrees in May. But the weather dictates a lot of how often and how much people come. So June, July, August, and September are peak times for us. We really stay busy from May till October for sure, but the holidays we pick up quite a bit. We enjoy some downtime, creative time in January, February.

Anthony Codispoti (39:06)
That’s good to have that. So you, Scott, you kind of worked your way through lots of different positions, different stops along the way. I’m curious how you think about the whole ⁓ journey versus destination kind of thought process.

Scott (39:22)
Yeah, and then that’s great. mean, I think about all the jobs I remember. My first job I ever got was a dishwasher and I worked a 40 hour work week and I should have seen the writing on the wall then that, you you’re going to be in this industry for some time. But it’s all the things that I’ve learned that have actually allowed for me to be.

the leader I am today because of my time, mentioned working in kitchens. was a sous chef for a couple of years and that was born out of curiosity for, I knew how to explain food, but I didn’t, I couldn’t tangibly do it. Couldn’t, didn’t understand it completely. So spending time working in a kitchen prepared me to be a better server, learning how to bartend and learn wine helped me to become a more complete professional. And each step along the way is really guided

me towards the next step. And it now allows for me to talk to chefs and professionals that work within the department for me that I can, I understand what their challenges are. I can look them in the eye. I know when they explain a difficult

part of their job that they’re having, I can relate to that. And I think the relatability ⁓ is a big part of being a successful leader, like being able to be patient enough to hear someone out, understand what their challenges are. ⁓ It allows for you to connect and be a more effective leader. And had I not taken every baby step along the way through the process and…

now I have the experience to be able to apply that. I think that that’s a big part of being an effective leader in industry is it’s not just numbers, it’s not just smiling and shaking hands or anything like that. If you understand the processes for each position, you can effectively lead because of your experience.

Anthony Codispoti (41:12)
What kind of advice would you offer to people sort of based on your own experience of you know thinking about the value of all these steps that you’ve made along the way and how that really has shaped and informed and made you better at the current role that you have. What advice would you give for other folks who are kind of coming up in their own hospitality career?

Scott (41:35)
I would encourage people to not take any challenge that comes your way for granted. Think about it, remember it, and communicate it with other people. Try to understand if it’s a challenge for you, is it a challenge for other people? Because if it’s just a challenge for you, you can seek a way to get a solution to that through your peers, through your coworkers, or through someone else in the industry.

If it’s a challenge that everyone is having, then you can combine forces and come up with a solution together. And I think collaboration is a big part of that. don’t try to figure it out on your own. If you’re trying to overcome something and you can’t seem to quite get there, I think it’s important to let people know that because…

Although people may be concerned of a sign of weakness and they’re trying to grow and trying to develop and they’re not trying to show any weakness, it’s actually being a bit vulnerable and speaking up at a time when you’re trying to figure something out. That’s what’s going to allow for you to have not only a better understanding of how other people’s approaches work, but also it’s going to make you a reliable person to speak with those people as well.

Anthony Codispoti (42:45)
I agree

100%. And I actually I’m going to ask you to be a little bit vulnerable now, Scott. Would love to hear about a big challenge that you’ve overcome in your life, how you got through it, and then what you learned and how you grew from it.

Scott (42:58)
That’s a great question. While working here at the Ocean House, my daughter, I have a teenage daughter now, she came down with a ⁓ illness and we didn’t quite know what it was. The doctors didn’t know what it was and…

You know, the work that I do at the ocean house has me here a number of hours a day and then where I was a week. But all of a sudden my wife and I were confronted with our daughter being sick and we didn’t know what it was. So I had to try to balance being this professional who was aspiring and trying to come up with ways to be an effective leader while also there’s all this uncertainty in my life. And during that time I was trying to burn the candle on both ends. was trying to carry the burden of the job.

while emotionally I was compromised and it took me some time while I was going through the process to open up at work about what was going on for me. But I talked to my boss at the time and she empathized with me and guided me through it and helped me understand that it’s not weakness for me to step aside and take care of the things that I needed to do. And in that moment, it reminded me that

It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to ⁓ step aside and let other people help you. And that was a difficult thing for me to understand because I had a great deal of responsibility at work. I was aspiring and trying to grow in my career. So I didn’t want to be seen as vulnerable, but once I did that, once I was able to ⁓ open up to the people around me to get their support.

It allowed for me to go be with my family and not feel like my job was going to be compromised or my ability to come back to the workplace was going to be compromised. So not that everyone is going to be as fortunate as I was to have a situation like that, but I mentioned in our last question about opening up and talking to the people around you. I think having some faith in the people that I was working with.

to explain the situation and the conflict that I was feeling. I was really genuinely conflicted. I remember bringing, there was a night where we had been to the hospital for a week and my daughter was home and she had to go back to the hospital. So I brought her and my wife to the hospital and I had to leave them there to go back to the hotel to take care of something. That was like my breaking point. I had to leave them in the hospital because there was a thing that I had to do and only I could do at the hotel.

And then the whole time I’m away from them, I’m like, just left my wife and my daughter at the hospital. And that was the moment for me that I was like, have to find a balance here somewhere.

Anthony Codispoti (45:43)
And so was that the moment where you really started to open up to your coworkers? Yeah.

Scott (45:47)
Correct, yes, that was the moment

when I was like, I left that day, like, this is not okay, and I need help, and they completely understood, they guided me through it, and I’m fortunate to have had a direct boss at that point, and also a hotel and ownership that understood that I needed the time.

Anthony Codispoti (46:06)
that’s really cool. ⁓ You know, there’s something in our human psyche, so many of us, and I’m guilty of this all the time, where we think we’ve got to carry it ourselves, right? Got to be strong. ⁓ Can’t let other people see that we’re dealing with something. ⁓ But it’s so interesting to me, because the the inverse is actually more of a truth. Like, we’re social beings, we’re, we’re designed

to interact with each other, to rely on each other, to help each other. But there’s something in our neurons here, which say, hey, we’ve got to be strong. We’ve got to carry this on our own. But I think one of the best medicines for whatever we’re going through is safe human connection. And for you, being able to talk with your coworkers, that was a big part of it. Hey, here’s what’s going on. But the even bigger thing was them recognizing that, hey, there’s a gap now that needs to be filled in. We’ve got to step in and help Scott out. And that gave you it.

Scott (46:51)
I agree.

Anthony Codispoti (47:05)
you know, the time ahead space to be with your family more at a time of need.

Scott (47:10)
It was absolutely, it was tremendous for me to live through that experience and to be able to realize work-life balance is such a prevalent thing now. This is going back six years, so it’s always been important, but it’s at the forefront now, just like mental health, work-life balance. think the two are at least at the forefront of a lot of conversation now. That was a critical moment for me.

timeline was like right after COVID. So it was like really like a tricky time, you know, where things were already so… Actually, this was right… This like maybe just preceded COVID. I’m a little mixed up on it right now, but being in the COVID workplace and all of those things, it just really shifted everything. And it’s very interesting to have lived through it.

Anthony Codispoti (47:43)
you

Well, I won’t pry, but I certainly hope that your daughter is doing well today.

Scott (48:06)
I appreciate it, she is. Thank you.

Anthony Codispoti (48:09)
⁓ How would you characterize your superpower, Scott?

Scott (48:13)
Well, think my superpower actually is just, ⁓ I wouldn’t, I’m not sure how I’d characterize it. I could describe it, I think. And we’ve already kind of touched on it a bit. And I think that it has a lot to do for me with being able to connect with people, to understand people and to listen, you know, remaining open to new ideas, remaining open to the fact that you might have a strong opinion on something, but you have to be open to change. You have to be…

not trying to win the conversation, ⁓ not thinking that because you thought something was one way is the way it’s going to be no matter what. So for me, I remain flexible. I remain malleable to the fact that I don’t necessarily know what’s right or wrong and that other people are going to bring ideas to me. And it’s benefited me tremendously being open ⁓ and communicating with different people. So I would say that

Flexibility has been really one of my biggest things is open and flexible, open minded and flexible.

Anthony Codispoti (49:16)
so powerful. It’s a good combination. You’ve got a book or a podcast that you’d like to recommend to listeners, something that maybe has been helpful for you.

Scott (49:27)
The unreasonable hospitality from Will Godara has been tremendous. I mentioned setting the table from Danny Meyer. These are just pillars for me, you know, in this industry. And I was fortunate enough to meet Will Godara. He came and spoke at the Ocean House about a couple of years ago during a Relay Chateau conference. I met Danny Meyer this summer as well. So, you know, getting to meet some of these people face to face, let them know what the impact was for me. you know, from Danny Meyer, who he talks so much about.

the hospitality of taking care of each other, taking care of people. And if we take care of our staff, they’re gonna take care of the guests. If we take care of the people that deliver our goods, you know, on a hot day, offer the vendor who’s delivering the fish a bottle of water, that’s hospitality. And then that comes back to you. And similarly, like taking care of your staff, if they feel more welcome and cared for and you’re genuine with them, then you’re gonna be able to get.

they’re gonna be able to be more effective in the roles that they’re in. those are some really core things. ⁓

Horace Schultze from Ritz Carlton has a great book called Lessons in Excellence. That’s a tremendous book. He was the godfather of the Ritz Carlton. Tremendous, tremendous man with a lot of lessons that he taught. Again, someone who worked through the ranks of the industry from an early age up to the point where he was the CEO of Ritz Carlton. He talks tremendously about unwavering commitment to guests’ experience and also taking care of yourself.

staff and listening to people and constantly assessing and improving yourself. Those are the three things I would recommend for anyone.

Anthony Codispoti (51:08)
You know, some people say, don’t meet your heroes because you often end up disappointed. What was it like meeting Danny Meyer?

Scott (51:12)
You

It was tremendous. He’s a gentleman. We shared a lot of stories and, you know, it was great because when we were introduced, he said, you’re the director of restaurants at the time. he’s like, oh, have lot going on. You’re a busy guy. You know, it’s like, is one of my, here’s this person who’s had such an incredible influence on me in my career, face to face with me, telling me like, wow, he he showed respect for my position.

To hear that, it was wonderful. And getting to meet Will Godara, similar, not as much as Danny Meyer, but I still have a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s been able to do and his perspective is amazing. And similarly, it’s meeting these people that you admire from afar and you realize you’re not that far off from them. They’re just people that have done or are doing the same thing that you’re trying to do.

I think that that’s, we started off by talking about that. Like, why not me mentality? Why can’t I be the next Will Gadara or Danny Meyer? I encourage everyone to make sure that they take that perspective. Those are just people that were focused. They made the best of their opportunities. Sure, they network. They met people that gave them opportunities. But they’re just people that were working in this industry that made the most of their chance.

Anthony Codispoti (52:39)
I love that. as you look to the future, are there any exciting changes that you see coming to the industry?

Scott (52:47)
I think, you know, in luxury travel anyways, think continuing to expand upon unique experiences, giving people an experience that they can’t find anywhere else, really folding into the wellness ⁓ sector as much as possible, know, giving people, whether it’s improved sleep, you know, I’ve talked about having like…

specific pillows for people, having them at the right temperature for people, the ⁓ tonics and things that we drink to help us sleep or help us re-energize. I think that that’s a really big, ⁓ and a lot of places are already working on this and doing this, but I think if we can start to customize wellness things for ourselves when we’re getting away, which is such a valuable time, to get away for three days or four days.

to reset yourself, are we resetting? I think the focus of trying to give people the sense of refreshment after their vacation is, it’s funny to say that, right? But ⁓ we’ve all taken the vacation for seven days and you come back just as tired as you were before that because you either ate too much or didn’t sleep enough or drank too much or whatever the case may be. So I think if we can, something we’ve been talking a lot about is trying to give people that actual refreshment in that sense of.

you know, while I did replenish myself and my heart, my soul, my mind, while I was there, giving them that feeling. So I think that that’s a big part of it.

Anthony Codispoti (54:13)
That’s really interesting. So does this mean like having melatonin bedside for them and maybe some B vitamins in the morning after, you know, a couple of cocktails?

Scott (54:21)
I think it can mean all of that. think it can be absolutely all of that. think in anticipating what people’s needs are, I think that through communication, through the use of technology, you’re able to kind of anticipate what people are looking for. There’s so many algorithms out there, right? There’s so many ways. And if we can leverage some of that type of technology to understand what a person is looking for out of an experience, it can then guide the creative people to a place where we’re anticipating what people’s needs are.

Like if you were here and we knew that you were flying to New Zealand tomorrow, you know, I wouldn’t just treat it as nothing. I would want to make sure that you got a wake up call. I would want to make sure that you had the things that you needed to be sure that you traveled, right? So similarly, like if I knew you were taking a long flight like that, there might be some supplement type things that I could help you with because you’re not going to be up and about moving around as much. There’s just so many things that can be done to help people.

better off. Like if you’re flying the next day after you leave here, there’s so much you can do to help with your circulation. There’s things that you can do to, you know, if, if we take our, if we take what we know about hospitality and the genuine care that we have for people and we can somehow leverage technology to allow for us to, to anticipate what that could look like. I think that we’re, really take it to the next level.

Anthony Codispoti (55:44)
It’s like you’ve got the heart of a caring grandmother and you’re layering in tech to be able to, I don’t know, sort of marry the best of all these worlds and taking care of your guests.

Scott (55:47)
Thank

No, it’s true. mean, that’s

exactly what the hospitality industry is confronted with right now. so many people in the world are concerned about what technology means for their future and their careers. And here we are in hospitality, like someone’s got to make the bed. Someone has to explain the dish to you and so forth and so on. So there’s so much that we can do in hospitality that can be expanded upon with the use of technology. And I think

the genuine care and feeling that we want to give to people can be helped by that. I’m looking forward to seeing how we can continue to focus on wellness for people, but also find ways for technology to help us get there as well.

Anthony Codispoti (56:35)
Scott, what’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?

Scott (56:38)
I love live music, I love dining out, it’s just been travel. Travel is the best medicine for me. I love to see different cultures. I love to see what other chefs and restaurants are doing from the Mom and Pop down the street to the Ritz-Carlton to the Waldorf Astoria, know, all of these places. I just love to see, to be inspired by other people’s creativity.

Humans are amazing. And the things that people come up with are, it’s inspiring. And I find inspiration in a lot of different ways, whether it’s I notice a little thing or admire the way someone did something.

There’s an experience I had at restaurant. I was dining in Manhattan 15 years ago, and I remember watching this server assistant setting a table and he finished it and then he took a step back and looked at it and then he went in and made a little adjustment to this crease. He didn’t even realize he was doing what he was doing, but for me sitting and watching it from afar, was like, that was so inspiring that…

This person who has this, you know, he’s a server assistant role. He’s there to make sure things are right, but he took the time and he inspired me to do that. for me, the fact that 15 years later, I still have this impression from them that day is why I like to travel and get out because I find inspiration in other people and other places.

Anthony Codispoti (58:07)
That’s cool. Scott, 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, if you want to get in touch with Scott, you can find him on Instagram. His handle is at Scott Panucci. That’s S C O T T P I N O C C I. We’ll have that in the show notes. You can also search his name and Ocean House on LinkedIn to connect with him.

And as a reminder, if you want to get more hotel and restaurant employees access to benefits that won’t hurt them financially and carries a financial upside for your company, reach out to us at adbackbenefits.com. Finally, if you’ll take just a moment to leave us a comment or a review on your favorite podcast app, hold a special place in my heart forever. Thank you. So last question for you, Scott, a year from now, you and I reconnect and you’re celebrating a big thing. What’s that big thing you hope to be celebrating one year from today?

Scott (58:57)
A year from today, I hope to be celebrating another triple five star for the Ocean House. Our sister property, the Week of Hageen, is also five stars. as a collection, we’re 20 star collection for Forbes. Not that awards or anything like that is. ⁓

the most important thing, but we hope to be celebrating that because it means so much to so many people. There’s all the time and work and energy and effort and dedication from my engineering team to my team in the laundry, to the logistics people, to the marketing people. It’s a massive amount of individuals that pour their hard work and their heart and their soul into this. And if we’re able to achieve our ultimate goal by doing those things,

be happy to raise a toast with you.

Anthony Codispoti (59:47)
I look forward to that. Scott Panucci from Ocean House. I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Scott (59:56)
I appreciate you as well. Thank you so much, Anthony.

Anthony Codispoti (59:58)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.