The Hotel Daddy Podcast

Hotel Daddy is a podcast featuring in-depth interviews with hospitality movers and shakers, offering candid conversations that reveal how the best in the business became the leaders they are today. Listen in for inspiration and behind-the-scenes stories from the best in the industry.

Hosted by T. Blake Danner, Executive Producer, Stephanie T. Bryant, Production and Engineering by David Jewell. Associate Producer, Nelson Luis Ortiz, with original theme music composed and produced by Evan Jewell.

Last refreshed: December 22nd, 2025 at 10:15 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Outside, On Purpose

What if the most valuable amenity isn’t a butler or a points upgrade, but time you can feel? We sit down with AutoCamp’s Chief Commercial Officer, Bryan Terzi, to trace a career that moves from Starwood and W Hotels to SBE’s celebrity-fueled nightlife, through chef-led creativity at Mother Wolf and Sydell Group, into CRM scale at Sage—and finally to the surprising power of outdoor hospitality. The throughline: brand clarity, operational empathy, and marketing that translates real moments into st...

Dec 12, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Small Town, Big Hospitality Vision: Kat Bangs on Designing Emotion In Hotels

Emotion is the real currency of hospitality, and Kat Bangs knows how to design for it. Blake sits down with the creative mind turned small-town hotelier to explore the choices that turn spaces into feelings, lobbies into communities, and careers into lives that actually fit. Kat’s path runs from Michelin-level service and national press to leading creative for multiple award-winning hotel openings. She breaks down the difference between spectacle and service, why “never dumb it down” earns trust...

Dec 05, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 5

From Pirate Kitchens To Radical Candor: A Chef's Journey into Fine Dining at Scale and Life as an Out Trans Man

What if a single bite could send you home again? Chef Ollie Walleck joins us to explore how memory, empathy, and rigor can reinvent what a kitchen feels like—and what guests taste on the plate. From his start as a teenage cook chasing the service rush to leading teams at The Midway in San Francisco, Ollie breaks down the craft behind food that scales to thousands without losing nuance, warmth, or soul. We get granular about culture change: why the scream-and-throw era doesn’t build loyalty, how ...

Nov 28, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Building Salt Hotels With Heart, Design, And Community

What does it really take to walk away from a marquee role and build a brand that feels personal, principled, and wildly creative? We sit down with David Bowd, co-founder and CEO of Salt Hotels, to unpack the decision to leave the world of iconic properties and start small with a 20-room inn in Provincetown, Massachusetts —and how that leap reset his definition of success. From St. Martin’s Lane and Gramercy Park to a boutique collection rooted in design and community, David shares the choices, m...

Nov 14, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 3

How A Michelin Star Chef Builds A Life Around Food, Travel, And Wellness

The best restaurants don’t just serve plates; they build worlds. Chef David Myers joins us to unpack how a driveway farm stand, a passport full of stamps, and a Michelin star shaped his approach to food, leadership, and life. From Los Angeles to Tokyo, Dubai, and Miami, David shares how he balances French technique with California freshness and global flavors while keeping one rule sacred: keep it simple and make it craveable. We talk about pressure—and why he treats it as a privilege. David ope...

Nov 07, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Building People Culture Balanced with Compliance

Step into the lobby with us and meet Victoria Fabio, a people and culture leader who grew up roaming the Gramercy Park Hotel and went on to transform workplaces across Soho House, Four Seasons, The Sydell Group, SALT Hotels, and CORE. Her story weaves together childhood memories, hard-earned lessons, and a blueprint for safer, smarter, and more human hospitality. We dig into traditional HR and modern people and culture, and why the companies that win invest first in their teams. Victoria breaks ...

Oct 31, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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