Knowing what you know
That is a great question. When I look back over my 30+ years in the industry—from my time as a project manager building hotels to managing hospitality operations and regional engineering—the answer is a definite 'yes,' but my focus would be much sharper if I were starting today.
In the hotel world, you learn quickly that success isn't just about the 'build'—it's about the precision of the systems, the documentation, and the coordination between stakeholders. If I were starting over, I wouldn’t change the path, but I would treat the early days of my own business with the exact same high-level operational rigor I used when managing multi-million dollar hotel builds.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned across all these roles—whether it’s commercial facility management or property maintenance—is that the technical side is only half the battle. The real 'profit' comes from the efficiency of your systems and how you manage client expectations. I’d do it all again, but I’d build to scale from day one using that same big-picture management mindset.
