 Hey y'all, it's Jamie with Out of Bounds with Jamie and Abby. For this episode, we have the amazing Deepa Tell on, um, talking about the Hermitage Hotel, um, and how her career started 20 years ago. I mean, being 41 and, um, such an amazing woman advocate, um, for Nashville and how they redid the Hermitage, I'm just blown away. And thank you, Abby, so much for bringing her on and introducing us. I mean, I literally wanted to keep talking. I know. She was amazing for a while. I know I had breakfast with her, like probably a couple of months ago and I was like, she has to be our next guest because, um, just everything she's doing for Nashville and then the history of the Hermitage, Hermitage Hotel, which I'm not sure a lot of people know. Yeah, I did it. Yeah. So anyway, listen to the episode. We hope you guys love it and enjoy Deepa Tell. For this episode of Out of Bounds with Jamie and Abby, we are with the wonderful Deepa Tell, who is the managing director at the Hermitage Hotel and we're so excited to talk to you. I just feel like before we actually met, I heard your name a hundred times. Everyone's like, do you know Dee? Do you know Dee? I'm like, no, I'm like, I know who she is, but I don't know her. So then we had coffee and I was like, you have to come on the podcast. So here we are. Gosh, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to get to know you. I mean, we've been here, I mean, for five minutes now and I can already tell we're going to have a lot of fun today. Totally. I can't wait. And we're at Drewsy and Dar and it's beautiful. We recorded our December podcast here with Clark Byard and it was under construction. So it's really fun to like come back and do it again. I know you see this face all fully finished. It's amazing. It's beautiful. I mean, literally we got out of my car at valet and we turned and the pink hermit was right there and I'm like, oh no, we cannot go down there until we go to the pink hermit. Okay. So Dee, tell us about your childhood and where you're from and how you got here. Yeah, absolutely. So I was brought up in England, Coventry, which is north of London and born and raised. So moving to the United States is really interesting. So our family had a summer vacation in the mid nineties and we traveled to a lot of different states and one evening there was a big family get together and everyone was talking about us potentially moving to the United States. Maybe it would be wonderful, bigger, better opportunities for the kids. And so I'm put on the spot and asked, why don't you stay here for a year and attend high school and get to explore the culture and in a different community? And I thought, gosh, surely they're joking. So I said, as the gracious young Indian girl that I was, still am, but was. Um, sure, sounds like a great idea. And well, that idea was, was taken pretty seriously. And I found myself in Vicksburg, Mississippi with a family I barely knew going to school and 14, 9th grade. I don't know what a pep rally is or all the different terminology and I sounded different, looked different. Oh my gosh, very foreign, very interesting. Was it like a host family, kind of like a foreign exchange student type of program? No, I probably shouldn't have said that. They are related to us, but not a family that I actually spent a great deal of time and met them once and they were lovely. But you know, you're, you're plucked out of England and dropped into Mississippi, which is a completely different. Yeah, all together. I'm from South Louisiana. So I get it. Yeah, I get it. My mom's from New Zealand, so she moved from New Zealand to South Louisiana. So whenever we were talking about your history and trying to learn a little bit about you and Abby told me that you were in England and went to Mississippi, I was like, Oh, that's very similar to my mom. It's a culture shock. Absolutely. And so I completed a year, went back to England. That took another year to work through the visa process. My dad was born in Africa, later moved to England, still Indian, but that took a whole another year and we moved back to Mississippi, this time in South Haven, which is right outside of Memphis. And then to Pearl, Mississippi, where I finished my year and a half. So four high schools, four years. That was quite the roller coaster. Wow, I bet you were with the, your like family didn't know that well for a year, but then you said you're the rest of your family came over or no, this was the same. So once we all relocated here, we all moved together and my parents were sort of traveling and trying to really figure out where they wanted to settle down in terms of just looking at businesses, looking at jobs. And, and so we were with family at that time as well. But, you know, it was, it was great. I will say that today I feel very rounded by lots of exposure to, you know, different cultures, different backgrounds, different experiences, working through those adversity, you know, moments. It teaches you a lot. It teaches you a lot. Well, and being without your parents, I'm sure for that time period was just like, I can't imagine at 14, that's such like a vulnerable age anyway. Yeah. So don't ask me what books I read and what my curriculum might have been. I can't imagine Bailey next year being going away, going to New Zealand. Uh-huh. You know, and staying with my family there. I just, I have a 13 year old now and I just can't imagine that. I don't know if she could. Yeah. That's amazing. I love this story. So then what brought you to Nashville? So I came to Nashville at this point. I'd graduated, moved to South Carolina, finished school. I was working at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia, which is our sister property. I'm, I think 2021 was asked if I would be part of the opening team of the Hermitage Hotel. And I thought, uh, yes, that is a phenomenal opportunity for a 20 year old kid to get exposure into. And so that was really my first experience even in Nashville. It's never been to Tennessee and fell in love with the hotel. I had no intention to move to Nashville. We, I went back to Richmond, Virginia, came back and forth several times. And the general manager at the time said, pulls me aside and he said, D, what is it going to take for you to move to Nashville? And this is me sitting in my room one night, take out a sheet of paper, pros and cons. What does it mean to move to Nashville? I don't know anyone. I don't know this property. This is very new. I'm in Virginia. I have friends. We're, I'm getting a little established of getting my footing in my position there. And I really thought about, and I thought, gosh, this could be a great opportunity because there would be a lot more effort and work and learning to be had in terms of development. And so I went to my boss at the time or not even my boss at the time. And I said, Greg, listen to me, hear me out. But I would love the opportunity to move to Nashville if you would consider letting me over to your housekeeping department. And he said, what? You want to do what? And he said, I would love for you to oversee guest services and the front of the house. And I said, I've done that. And I need to know the heart of the hotel. Oh, that's nice. Not the most glamorous job, but it's the most important job. Yes. And and he agreed. And so that's what brought me to Nashville as I was overseeing the housekeeping department. I love that. I love that you did that. Yeah, I, you know, I think you've got to really understand kind of the foundational aspects of the industry that you're in. Right. To really get to enjoy, be fulfilled, be able to be a leader and to fully understand the business. And that's an important aspect to a property. Absolutely. And what comes with that is also respecting those employees and understanding what they do in the nuts and bolts of, I mean, they're they're like, how do you put it? The soul, the soul of the team. That's right. That's amazing. So in a hotel, we call that the department's heart of the house. So engineering, housekeeping, because these are the employees that are working in the background. There's so much effort that goes into a luxury property for the guests to feel that they're having an effortless experience. And it's an important piece of it. And our teams are so socioeconomically diverse. They're multicultural people from different parts of the world with different backgrounds and traditions. And to me, that's so important. Growing up in England, you're in a melting pot. So much exposure I got growing up as a kid, different religions, celebrations, cultures, ways that people come together as a family or as a community. And that's not as available in the South. You don't see that, you know, multicultural community as much. And so I really enjoy it. I really enjoy that because I have a true love for the culture of humanities. I love that. And that's an important piece of it because I grew up in that space and was required to learn about all the different traditions and the celebrations. And that was really weaved into my childhood growing up. Yeah, that's amazing. So how long were you managing that department? I was managing it directly for about a year or two and then just progressed into different leadership roles and eventually still had oversight. But my oversight continued to further expand as I further developed into my role and into leadership to eventually overseeing all aspects of the day to day hotel operations and then today beyond that. That's amazing. Yeah. Isn't she impressive? I know. I can't wait to learn more about this hotel. I mean, we've been here for six years now, but you told me more in the past couple of days. Right. About the history. I want to clarify. So when you said the opening, this was under the new ownership, right? That's correct. Because this hotel has been what year did the Hermitage Hotel officially open? So we officially opened in 1910. OK. And the family that I work for purchased this property in 2002, closed it, fully renovated it, restored it. It was really in a very poor, dilapidated condition at the time that we bought it in the 2000s and really just bought life into the space. But life at a different level of investment and the investment was really at that luxury five star level that Nashville and its area really hadn't seen. And and I wanted to be part of that. And that's really the part of the industry I love so much is that you have this high touch space and you're able to really go above and beyond in a way that is so anticipatory, so unique, so special and be able to be creative and be able to give your team the empowerment to to do so much more than just work within the box. And so I love the just the name of your your podcast out of bounds. I love working out of bounds. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, let's go into the history of the hotel because I don't like I know the messaging has been out there, but still people I run into don't know. And I think it's so cool, like one of the coolest parts of Nashville. It really is. It really is. So when I started at the hotel, of course, there were lots of parts of history that were weaved into storytelling and how the hotel was described and the suffrage movement, which I'll explain in a moment, was there, but not really there from my perspective. I didn't fully understand the depth of the history and didn't fully appreciate it at the time until we were leading, you know, a few years up to the Centennial anniversary. So this hotel was built in 1910, Nashville's first million dollar hotel. When you walk in, you know you're at a special place. It was a place to gather. In fact, one of the first phrases that were coined back at its opening was meet me at the Hermitage. And that's what people did. It was a place of celebration. It was a place to be. It was a place to be seen. Architecturally, Bo's art architecture was is considered to be a masterpiece. Fast forward to leading up to 2020, we were embarking upon a national celebration, a celebration that celebrated women's right to vote. Well, Nashville and Tennessee became that final 36 date that was needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, which at the time in 1920 and even prior, men were only able to have a seat at the table to vote. Women did not have that that right. And so it was a 72 year long fight to get to this point. You had 48 states at the time, 36 needed to to vote yes and be in favor. We were down to 35. Tennessee became that final pivotal state. And so this hotel became the headquartered hotel for the suffrage movement, both the pro suffragists, the anti suffragists, and to think that there were women at that time that were not in support of equal voting rights was also quite shocking to me, but perhaps maybe not too surprising. And so we really got further deeper into the history and learned so much and learned of how impactful our state was in passing the vote, but the Nashville wasn't this hotel was. And that story in that rich history really got the attention of our senators and so many that this hotel was designated as a national historic landmark. I love that. The last historic landmark was a Ryman auditorium. And to get a distinction of that caliber of that prestige, you have to have made a significant impact in our nation's history, a positive significant impact. And so that to me just gives me chill bumps. So that the spaces that were in the restaurant that were in the walls that you are surrounded by, imagine if they could talk and what what you could, you know, I also love the flower lapels story. That's right. The colors. Will you talk about that? I would. So the movement also became known as a war of roses. And so if you wore a yellow rose on your lapel, you were in favor of the vote. If you wore a red that distinguished that you were not in favor of the vote. So that's how they all knew who was where. And so you had the anti suffragists that were lobbying hard to overturn those legislators who were voting pro. There was a lot of colluding, spying legislators getting drunk off of whiskey on the eighth floor of this hotel so that the anti suffragists could sway their vote. Oh, and we are in prohibition. So right. It was there was a lot of there was a lot of colorfulness that was happening during that time. And it really blew down. You've got the state capital located next to us. You had the leader looking outside of her room. I mean, you didn't have the technology that you have today. But these were women that were campaigning hard to to to really fight for their right for quality. And they did it through cookbooks. They would write recipes within cookbooks that would have subliminal messaging in them that would say these are the reasons why it's important for women to have a right to vote and the right to be part of making good legislative decisions such as pasteurization of milk, how schools are operating, how meals are being served. There were so many things that we're taking for granted and not fully understood that these books were used as part of that campaign. And on the flip side, the anti group that was not in favor would depict these women as masculine monsters that they were stripping the right of their their husband and the man of, you know, going out to vote and perhaps he might have to babysit that night or take care of the family or perhaps cook that night. Yeah. So there was a lot of this campaigning that was centered around why it was the worst decision for a woman to write at the table. It makes me like when you you're talking about that cookbook, like imagine being that woman of the person who decided, hey, I think this is a good idea. Imagine how afraid she was. What if I get found out? You know, what if somebody rats me out? You know, I just I cannot imagine being a woman at that time. I know it was tough. And there was a lot of tough history centered around it. But for us, it was celebrating today, right? Can't change the past and the history. But what we can do is celebrate today and beyond. Right. And to know that this hotel has such representation of of so much history besides the suffrage movement, but particularly that that really resonates with a lot of not just women today, but young girls. And so we worked with the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. And you know, my kids got folded into the history so that they better understood because I felt slightly embarrassed and also frustrated that this part of history really wasn't folded into our education as much. And there were so many people who didn't know if you knew you had some connection to the suffrage movement, if you knew you were either a historian or just knew it because of some connection. But the average person didn't really recognize the importance. Right. I didn't know until two days ago about this hotel and what it actually means to Tennessee. And it's I could wait for this. Yeah, I know. Well, and then you guys wrapping the yellow rose into the design of your uniforms and stuff is really cool, too. I love that. We did. You know, 2020 was a tough year, as we all know. And we started off with a really robust programming ideas of how we were going to celebrate, but celebrate in different ways, different ways to connect with different people, different generations, different backgrounds, different interests. And so we really tried to fold in the yellow rose and tried to tell the story in ways that were modernized in ways that were really historical and would resonate with those who really appreciated history. And so you have in the lobby this beautiful exhibit that speaks to it and you can read about it and appreciate it. Or you could have a cocktail through our suffrage cocktail menu, which took every key suffrage leader and we described this person by three adjectives. Wow. And then we created a cocktail that was built around the adjectives. And then on the back of the menu described each leader and their impact and their a little bit about them. That's amazing. And that really connected to a younger generation because they felt, oh, I can order a cocktail by an adjective that resonates with me. And yet it was a way to educate not just on the hotel's history, but history of our nation. Yellow Rose Tea was another beautiful experience that we created that in 2020 was socially distant. It was safe. We could serve in a manner that was, again, really being thoughtful about the guest experience, knowing that we were all in a really difficult, awkward time with the pandemic. But we had the 19th Amendment that was the front of your menu. You had it wrapped in this beautiful yellow fabric. You were gifted with a yellow rose at the time of the conclusion of your tea. You had in a re-ainactor that played Anne Dallas Dudley, who was a Tennessee suffragist who really just touched the table for maybe 20, 30 seconds and told you a little bit about it enough to just inspire you. And that was really the goal was how can we program our activities and offerings to really be inspirational and to take a bit more of a deeper dive into connecting our hotel and our city to history, but creating fun experiences around that. That's so amazing. How long did it take y'all to come up with these ideas? So we had been working on it the year prior. And so the ideas we had were much grander and bigger. But as we got closer into February, March, April, it's not happening. None of these things are happening. That we had to really kick into gear and think very quickly of how we were going to celebrate and still make that beautiful noise that we needed to make at a time in which our entire world was at a halt. And I couldn't see myself not being part of a positive initiative, a positive celebration. And why would we let a global pandemic completely... Stop a celebration. Stop the celebration. Ignore it. We couldn't let it disappear. Another 100 years weren't going to come in my lifetime. And so how are we going to author this chapter? How are we going to connect with our partners in the community? How are we going to work with all the different organizations that we're also trying to celebrate? And we did it. We were able to make a way to connect with the community and beyond through storytelling, through different programming initiatives. And it was probably one of the most proudest moments of my entire career. Absolutely. Especially as a first female managing director of 112-year-old hotel. We need a cheers to that. That is absolutely incredible. Thank you. I mean, so impressive. It had to have been such an accomplishment. And like, what were you thinking when they named you that? What was your reaction? So I was a first general manager female as well, prior to being managing director. It was really a very proud moment that was probably six years ago. And then to be a managing director was really, really, I was just really proud. I was proud that I could share that with my children because I wanted them to be inspired and have that positive influence. But it wasn't until the year of the celebration that I just, it was a different feeling altogether. I couldn't have been more proud. I couldn't have been more humbled. And to share that with a team and to get the team to be excited about that. And we have men and women in leadership. This is not a place that we just serve women. We serve all guests. We're Switzerland. But it was just so great to get everyone folded into the celebration and just all be so proud of the things that we were about to accomplish and that we had accomplished. Well, and had you not been in that leadership role as a female, I mean, maybe the team wouldn't have put as much behind it. You just never know what would have turned out. So congrats to you. I know. I feel so blessed to get to know you right now because it's such a huge accomplishment. I know. I'm a stay at home mom. This is my first job in like, I don't know how many years. So I always go back and like the both of you, you have had an amazing career and listening to your story, it just blows my mind and I see it back and I'm like, gosh. I mean, I know what my job is an amazing job like my kids, but I just, I don't know. It's so impressive. I never would have thought. You also have a husband who works so much that you support like more than, you know, you're not just a stay at home mom. What's not right? But it just, it blows my mind. Like one of my girlfriend, she's a partner for one of the music agencies here and I pick her brain all the time. I just, I love it. You know, we always talk about how like just a stay at home mom, which you say a lot and I always correct you because I'm like, the whole point of having the right to vote 102 years ago was that you can choose. Right? You can work. You can choose amazing careers or you can choose to stay home with your kids. And that is honestly the reason I'm not a stay at home mom is because I don't want to be with my kids that much. So I would prefer to work and see them at night. You know what was so funny? So I'm for Taylor's 16th birthday instead of doing a big party. Her and one of her best friends, they asked me the mom, you know, can we just go to New York? Can that be our party instead? So the four of us went to New York and we went to the New York fashion museum and they had a display, y'all, it was stunning. But it went from, I don't know, say the 1800s and it had what the women wore all the way up until present day, right? And I just, I love 1950s. I love the clothes. I love that. I think that's why I love this so much. Cause wouldn't you say this is like a 1950s art deco? Yeah, a little bit, a little, like hints, yeah. Modern. So anyway, I'm looking at the 1950s clothes and I was like, Taylor, that's me. That's me. And she goes, mom, don't say that. And I went, what? I like the dress. And she's like, mom, no, don't say that. You're not a 1950s lady, you know? And I'm like, well, I didn't mean it like that. I just, I want that dress. Well, it's funny you said that because the other day I was somewhere and a lady brought up that when she started working in her career and she wasn't that old, they had to wear dresses. They could not wear pants. And I just thought, gosh, I feel so removed from that. I don't even think about it until we talk about the history and how far we've come. And I love that you're keeping that alive because like we said, our kids don't know that. Absolutely not. And it's so important to show how far we've come as women. It's so true. I couldn't agree with you more. And you talked about pants. I had a tiny moment in my, right when I started in my career where the uniform for my job at the time, I was 19, was a jacket and a skirt and pants were not an option at the time. And I just thought, and heels I'm sure. Yes. And I just thought, yes. And I hate pantyhose. Yeah. Who likes them really? They're coming back ladies. I'm just telling you to be aware. Can't do it. And so I had about a year of that in that it was like these really horrible polyester uniforms and moving to Nashville and under the leadership that I was under, it was really nice because we removed the pantyhose and we, you know, allowed the women to wear as they please in a business professional attire. But it wasn't that long ago. Right. I mean, it touched a part of my career. Yeah. And people, they're watching right now, they don't see what you have on your feet. Like you're in this gorgeous suit, but you have tennis shoes on. I do. And I love that. Like I just, I love that we're not expected to wear heels anymore. And that's part of our fashion and I love it. Yeah. I do too. Although I do love my heels. I do too. That's why your feet hurt. That's why my feet are always so right. Well, so what other things did you face in like a more male dominated industry? What did I not face? Yeah. You know, it's been, it's been very interesting. It's been lots of different hurdles, small and big. And I think when I first started in the industry, it was very hierarchical and you sort of just sort of stayed in your lane. And yet there were moments where I would be in a staff meeting and I wasn't a senior leader at the time and I would blurt out an opinion. And I wouldn't realize until after I left the meeting that someone would say, did you just say that? That's amazing. You said that no one would ever have the guts to say something like that. And at times like it would get me to think, oh, I shouldn't have said that. Should I not? And really questioned. And the more I did it, I just, it became just who I was, who I am. And as I furthered my leadership within the industry, there were often times that I would be assumed that I was the executive assistant. I was a sales person that were in marketing because surely I would not and could not be the general manager. This was several years ago, I was in New York. Remember this, we're headed from one hotel to another, headed to the St. Regis and we're, you know, it's a celebratory event of all luxury hotels. I might have been one or two of my, you know, of female GMs that were present. And so I'm sitting in the car. There's this guy next to me, a couple in the front and he says, oh, where are you from? What do you do? And here's my mistake and I don't do that so much today. But I said, oh, I'm from Nashville, Tennessee and I'm with the Hermitage Hotel. And he said, oh, okay, great. So are you sales or is your husband here? Stop, stop. And I said, no, I'm actually the managing director of the Hermitage Hotel. And he says, oh, I'm so sorry. And I said, you know, it's not the first time that surely people just don't assume that a young female could potentially be in a position of that caliber. And he just felt really this small too. I bet he doesn't do that again. No. I bet he needed to. If you don't mind me asking, I mean, I know we always say you can't ask a woman's age, but you are quite young for this position. How old are you? I'm about to turn 41. Oh. But we didn't get into her college, but you graduated like super early, right? I did. I graduated at 19 with my bachelor's. Johnson and Wales, right? Johnson and Wales. Partially because I started school one year early in England. We started school a year early. And then I was able to accelerate through taking summer classes and taking additional courses as long as I kept a certain GPA that I was able to finish my bachelor's in about three years. And how did you know that this is what you wanted to do? How did you know you wanted to go to the hotel industry and a little bit of background about me? I'm from South Louisiana, a really teeny, tiny small town, Cajun community, oil field community. We did not have the hotels like UC and Nashville and big cities. I never knew that this was an actual career until John took me out of Louisiana, you know? And I saw that. I think it would be such a fantastic career and so much fun. How did you know that this is what you wanted to do? Honestly, I didn't. No. I was 16, 17 going into college. And really still, America was still foreign to me. And the hospitality industry growing up in England wasn't as prevalent. I mean, that wasn't a thought for me. I thought business, perhaps, something in finance. And moving to the country here, my parents were surrounded by lots of family and friends who were really in the hospitality industry and encouraged that I explore it as a great avenue. But more on the corporate real estate side and less on the day-to-day operations. And so I went to Johnson & Wales, which specializes in tourism and hospitality and culinary, and started working at a hotel in Charleston and thought, OK, if I start getting my feet wet and just explore these different positions, I'll at least get a sense of the culture of what it means to work within a hotel, particularly if I'm going to be more on the corporate side and the real estate side. And I just continued pursuing that until I got to Richmond and started really getting into the operations and management. And then moving to Nashville, it just seemed that my career just continued to grow and develop. And I was just able to move up. And a lot of it had to do with I knew no one in Nashville. I was single. I had no life. So I worked every single day for months and months and my boss would be like, I am going to write you up for nods, like, taking the time off. But this was my world. And I just felt that if I could just put in and pour in 100% every single day knowing that I didn't need to balance it out with anything else, that I could continue being that student. It was an extension of my education that I needed to get into the real world, really get into every position, learn it, and really become an expert at it. Quite often, people will work in a position for a year and want to be promoted because of the time that they've been in, but not really due to the results they've driven. I love that. It's two different things. Yes, it's almost like it's expected. If you're in a position for X amount of years, you're expected to move up. And it's not. It's not. Well, and it's rare because you've been with this company for 20 years, right? It's been about 20 years. So I feel like that's very rare these days that you stay with a company that long. You know, I think a lot of it has to do with, I feel very fulfilled, not being complacent. And when you're working at an independent company, you don't have the corporate layers. And you have to author all day long, every day, the next chapter, the next year, your strategic plan. You're very empowered to be very entrepreneurial. In fact, you have to be entrepreneurial to be in an independent setting like this. And to me, I thrive on that, because it takes that grit and that hustle, and you can really step outside the boundary to explore things that are different and unique. And to me, that's exciting. I couldn't work at a corporately structured property. I wouldn't have the flexibility to do the things that I can do today. You wouldn't want to, yeah. Do the same thing every day would be hard. I bet it would be. I would love for you to talk to my 16-year-old. She's trying to figure out what she wants to do forever. She wanted to do medical. And just recently, she's like, you know what? I don't think I want to do that, mom. I'm not sure what I want to do. I want to open up and figure it out. And I'm like, well, what do you mean? I always joke. And I'm like, well, why don't you be in Amy Wells and be sports reporting? Yeah, that sounds interesting, but I still want to figure it out. So I would love for you to talk to her. I would love to talk to her, but it's hard. 16 is hard, 17 is hard, 20 is hard. You just don't know what you want until, you know, much further in your career. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I graduate. Let me tell you. Do you want to know what I graduated in? Fine mute, love in our pond. Let me tell you, that's what I graduated in. Oh my God. I always said, so ironic. I mean, really, I'm spilling the beans a little bit. I did not graduate college. I went to Nickel State and I did. I fell in love with my sorority and I did all things sorority. And then I started working and I was very independent. And I told my parents, I'm like, I'm moving out. I want to move out. We lived 45 minutes away from the college and that drive was brutal. And I'm like, what if I find an apartment that I can afford? And my parents were like, no, absolutely not. I know what you're going to do. You're going to go and party, which I did. And so what I did is I got two jobs. I got a job with school. And then I did. I was a bartender where I met John. And I did my two jobs and I did my school. Well, my school went down the drain. It really did. And so it got to the point that John and I were dating, decided to get married. He was always going to be in coaching. We knew that. So we're like, well, wherever we're going to be, there is going to be a college. I had a plan to go back to school. And I never did. And I ended up having babies and becoming a stay-at-home mom, which I love. Going back to Nichols, I never knew what I wanted to do. I never really gave myself the opportunity to figure it out. I had said I wanted to be a school teacher. And honestly, I wanted to be a school teacher so that way I could have summers off with my children. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. It was just, I always, I did know. I did know. I've always said that. But then with teaching, once I started in school with it, I was like, you know what, I just, nothing clicked. And I think if you have a passion at such a young age and you know, then it'll give you the momentum and the drive to stay in school and forget about the fraternity parties. I know you have to study before you go to the fraternity parties. It's just, it's impressive. It's impressive. I would love for the three of us to sit here and talk about what we would have done at 20 years. Or what would you have done differently? Yeah. I think for me, well, I feel like these decisions start when you graduate high school. It's like, you feel this pressure. I have to know what I want to do, because this is what I'm going to major in in college. And then my major in college is going to dictate the rest of my life. A, I would say, your major doesn't necessarily dictate your life. You know, you can pivot and everything. And so I think if you're unsure and you don't know what you want, do a general degree. You know, do a business degree, do marketing. I did accounting because I, I don't know. In college, I was always like, I'm going to have my own business. I don't know what it's going to be, but that's what I'm going to do. So I did accounting. I'm like, every business needs accounting. And then I worked at a bank. And in the middle of the recession, I told my dad in like the 2008, 2009 recession, I said, I'm going to quit because I want to do my own business. And he freaked out. But I did it. And he did. I know. He's like, can you just like, we just got you through school and all this stuff. Were you married at that point? Not yet. We were engaged. So I was, I was like 24, 25 when I quit. Because for me, I was like, all I can do is fail and go back to that job. Like that, that's the worst case scenario is that I fail on my own and I, and I go back. And that was 11 years ago. And so I think I would tell my 20 year old self like, follow your instinct, do what you want to do, trust your gut, but like also you can mess up. You're young. You've nobody depending on you at 20. So true. When you're 20, you think you're so old. I know. I know. You're not. You're not. So I think just try everything, see what sticks. Yeah. I love that. What about you, Dee? Yeah, gosh, I don't think I would have changed anything because I think that if I had, I wouldn't be here today and I wouldn't have learned all things and have gone through the different hurdles and the successes and even the obstacles because all the obstacles, they all have a learning lesson. Yes. They teach you something either to be stronger or to learn from your mistakes. I would say to my 21 year, 20 year old, just really trust your gut and just go with it. Do the best you can and make those mistakes. They're going to happen. And the best you can do is make sure that you learn from them. And you're only going to get better and better. And here's an example of that. When I first moved to Nashville, I was in a leadership position at the age of 22. And that's harsh. That's really harsh. And to get the respect of those around you who are either a couple of decades older or right at your level was really difficult. But I was on this trajectory of just continuing to move up because that was my path. That was my goal. That was my passion. And I remember one day one of the managers pulls me aside and he says, I want to just share something with you. There's a rumor, it's going around. I just want you to hear it from me. Obviously it's not true because it's a rumor that I'm climbing the ladder and I'm being promoted because clearly I have some relationship with the manager that's promoting me. Oh, God. Oh, Lord. And I fell apart. I bet. I was devastated because I'd never experienced anything like that. I thought it was the worst thing that had, like my life had just been shattered. I mean, really over probably, like today I will say that was a little too dramatic all. I think that is going to happen. Suck it up cupcake and just keep moving on. And so I take that as an example of, I was in my young 20s and I was devastated. I bet. I couldn't believe someone would say something so appalling, so untrue and that they couldn't see that I was doing my job really well. Yeah. And that I deserved success. And so I took the advice of this manager that was 20, 30 years older than me. So someone I really admired and looked up to and he said, it's okay. It's a rumor. It's not true. You know it's not true. You can't let these outside influences at a negative that are not here to support you or to be positive or there's, you know, could be someone that's jealous or not, there's lots of reasons why people say things that are not true. And I will never forget that even today and in the future as things come up, people say things. And you just know that, well, okay, great. Yeah. Good for you. The truth prevails. Yeah, it does. But that was a tough time when you were 20 years old. I bet. Me too. Geez. That is hard. I mean, I had just met John at 20. I was still going to school and I don't know. I'm a really big believer in things happen for a reason and really big believer that God put you in a place where you're supposed to be and not to question things. It's hard for me, obviously, because I did it a lot this podcast that I do question myself, but I also have to remember this is the way it was supposed to be, you know? And I have no regrets. None. No regrets. I love it. Yay. I love it too. Okay, so let's end on like all the changes being made to the Hermitage Hotel. I want to talk about Drew C. Endar, the pink hermit and then you guys have an upcoming renovation of the rooms. We do. We do. So let's do that. Because we want everyone to come visit and see how beautiful this place is. I want everyone to come visit too. Because I love the things that we've done and the room that we're sitting in is so beautiful to think that this room is 112 years old and it looks so chic and so just gorgeous. Okay, so pandemic. We had to really pivot just like everyone else. We had, as a company with our ownership, it really talked about future plans for the hotel, sort of its next chapter, its next era, the modernization of our spaces, the redesign. We were really maintaining the integrity of the designer of the 2003, the last 17 years. And we knew that it was time for us to make that next change. And so the pandemic gave us the opportunity. The silver lining of this horrible time in our world was a silver lining for us to fast track all the things that we had talked about doing in the hotel. And that was a redesign. We didn't know how much we were gonna be able to take on. We didn't understand how long the pandemic was gonna go on. But what we knew was this was a time to start making that change. And so we started with all of our public areas. We lightened the tone. We went from dark, jewel tones to softer, lighter, brighter. We went from big patterns to textures and just really softened the space. And as we were doing that through the public spaces, we knew that we wanted to completely overhaul our kitchen. We had already been speaking about Chef John George who is this global, not just a global chef, a restaurateur, a visionary, this amazing man that's created this brand and his restaurant span, Milan, Tokyo, London, New York, of course, Beverly Hills, just beautiful cities. And the idea of him potentially partnering with us in Nashville became just a deeper conversation we all had. And so we finally solidified that partnership that summer. We were still in the center of celebrating the suffrage anniversary and the history. But that year needed to be centered on the historical celebration while we were planning on the next chapter. And so we started building the team out. We built out the design team, the architectural team, the local team that were going to support us. Now mind you, we're doing all of this via Zoom, which was hard. No stress at all on the person that's boots on the ground. And we just built a really incredible team that were really able to bring the vision to life. It was collaborative. The John George team worked with us. Our owners worked together. I worked together. Our design team. We just really thought through the design in a very thoughtful way. And this time integrating the hotel's history further into the design, the color, the naming. Druze and Dar was once a Capitol Grill. It's now Druze and Dar. Two children that lived in the hotel. I love that. That, you know, to think through the lens of children. And I'd say my kids today are the modern version of Druze and Dar while we don't live here. Oh my gosh, they're true. It's like Zach and Cody. Do you remember that show? Come on, am I showing my, I'm showing my children's age. Zach and Cody is, they lived in a hotel. It was a Disney show. Wait, in New York? In New York. No, it was Boston. Oh, in Boston. In Boston. There's one now that's based in New York that I watch with this. Anyway, same but different. Anyway, but yeah, your kids really are. Because I see photos of them and that's such a good night. It is. That story resonated with all of us, but me personally, because both personally, professionally, there's such an alignment with what I do. And in hospitality, there's courtesy, there's manners, there's, there's so much that our industry teaches you that are lifelong lessons. And my kids love travel, they love food. I try not to go on date nights with them. They're really, it's very expensive. They go, no, her, where was it the optimist and her son was like sitting there with all this seafood and I was like, oh my gosh, how fun. I had, I think a glass and a half of wine, that was it. Meanwhile, the food that we had was a dozen ois just to start off with. He wanted octopus that day. And he wanted a date night with mom because mom works a lot and so I'm like, okay, great, let's go have dinner. And he said, well, I want octopus. And I said, you do realize we're landlocked. And so we went, they had it on the menu and so he gets a dozen oysters on a half shell. He's going through the description. He's loving it. He's like, oh, this is really briny. Oh, this is really, you know, this is like a true foodie. Yeah. And we have our meal and it's dessert time and he's, can we just get another dozen oysters instead? Like, I think we can skip the dessert. Oh my gosh. Okay, well. That's fun though. You're creating little like foodie travelers. Yeah, well that check for an adult and a child was like $250. Oh my gosh. Not gonna lie, John and Bailey did that at the same place. Right. And they had a blast, but John said the same thing because they do, they love their food. They do. It's yummy. It's so yummy. I love, I mean, I love, Nashville has some amazing restaurants. It is a foodie town. It was one of the reasons why John George made so much sense to us that, you know, you add now a global culinary icon to Nashville. It celebrates Nashville and all that Nashville is doing in terms of just your food scene, your entertainment scene. It's so much more than just what it once was 20 years ago. It's a place people want to be. I'm sitting here thinking we need to do a staycation here, John and I. You do. I would love that. Oh, I thought you meant you and me. Well. I'm just kidding. Me and you too. Tell them that would be great. Staycations are fun. What are your like favorite two dishes? I know the dishes probably change, but what are your two favorites right now? Okay. The ahi tuna is divine. Oh gosh, I want to tell you more than two. Okay. Tell me all of them. The longevity noodles are phenomenal. I crave them all the time. It's got a pound or so of lobster on top and these noodles and the flavor and the punch of just all the different flavors that go into it. The crispy sushi is so good. The warm shrimp salad. It sounds delicious. I've eaten here several times. It's amazing. Everything I've gotten has been incredible. It is good. We are so happy. We've got such a talented culinary team. And just to have a menu that is a little different, but it's really global. You're getting the flavors of, there's European influences. There's Asian influences. There's American influences. I just, I think that that's a menu that really fits into Nashville. Perfectly today. And so this transformation of the space has been really fun to work with just because you can see the arches and the architecture in here so much more than you could have even before the design. The oak bar, which is 90% of that space is all original in terms of its walls and doors and the ceiling. In fact, there's this little window that's been closed off now for a while, but it used to be the window that women were served cocktails out of because they weren't allowed into the space. Is that the little round one? Yes. Okay, yeah. And then we transformed the ladies' room to the pink, it's beautiful. It's pink, it's beautiful. And had a fit about that. Did she? The pink marble. Yes, because we filmed here for her. That's right. That's right. Oh, she loved it. She did. She did. And then you went to Pink Hermit for coffee and that's just a charm. It's fun. It's very fun. It's just fun. Hermit Crab, meaning the hermitage. There's this definition. Again, it's just sort of really deeping deeper into how can we accentuate the uniqueness of this hotel? The hotel is Nashville. There's nothing like it. You can't build hotels like this anymore. And then we transitioned into the guest rooms and our suites are all fully under construction right now. The rooms are being updated. We designed the same palette, the softness. We're working with local artists to really cultivate art, but then the art has, again, like these moments of messaging in there where if you're on the sixth floor where Carrie Chapman Kat stayed, she was the leader of the prosophragist. The art theme on that floor will have a moment of yellow in there. But yet the design of the artwork is all consistent, but each floor will have some element of how it relates to history, particularly in the space that it is. Do you give the guests when they check in? Do you give them something about the history so they'll know what floor? Yeah, we do, we do. So the artwork hasn't all come in. Thank you, COVID and supply chain and all the things that have come from that, but that is in process and it's just been a fun project to work on. The floor that the children lived on, the artwork will represent suitcases and just little things like that that, again, just connect to the family or when Minnesota Fats lived in the hotel and he was a pool player. There's a lot of history and a lot being intertwined and that leads me to our partnership with Draper James, which is a lifestyle retail brand that's owned by Reese Witherspoon and she's such a champion of women and she's so inspirational in so many ways. I just, we're so lucky to have just her in Nashville as a gift of inspiration among so many other women and what you're doing. But we had her and her team design a fabric that has been incorporated in basically a uniform program for the front of the house and the tea service and so she created this beautiful fabric and this print that, again, has like a moment of yellow in there that, again, ties into the history of it's celebrating women and her team were so excited to work on that project that we now have spilling tea with Draper James as part of our tea series. You would love it, the tea spiked. Oh, is it? So do it. You're the Cappy Week to my Hoda. They were hilarious when they came in so they came to the hotel a few years ago. So Hoda and Kathy had to pick three places in Nashville. It was a summer CMA festival and so one of the three spots was the men's bathroom. Of course the men's bathroom. Yeah, 1930s art deco. And we have cocktails waiting. Hoda was sort of, you know, she waited. Kathy was like, hell yeah. I love that. I am your Kathy. I know, Kathy. Yep, cocktail in hand and they stood at the urinals and took the best photo with their cocktails. I love it. Well, everything you're doing, like your leadership here shows, like I feel like it's so female forward and without you at the helm, that wouldn't be the case. So we just appreciate you taking time out of your very busy schedule to do that with us. Thank you. We know you're a Titans fan, so we always love that. Yay, we love it. You mean Dove. And it's female-owned and look at you in terms of just creating a space for women to just share stories and to share their passion. Thank you for doing this. I've enjoyed listening to the podcast and my kids also get a glimmer of it too because each morning I've got this speaker in the bathroom and I connect my podcast or the book that I'm listening to and I put it on the highest volume because I could be brushing my teeth, I could be in the shower, I could be walking. So I need to hear it, no matter what, or blow-driving my hair. And so, yeah, they get to hear a lot of podcasts. I love that. I know, I feel like it's very special and we have two female producers and that's our bread and butter right there. They're the ones that tell us what to do and believe in us and we thank you. It's been fun. I love you guys so much. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. We'll definitely see you again soon. I'd love that. I feel like I'm a...