Co-founder and owner of MTM Management & FST Asset Management Seattle, WA

We all know the story of the dishwasher who worked his way up to executive chef. Well, here’s a story of a dishwasher who worked his way up to President of the Westin Hotel group. The entrepreneurial spirit eventually called him to start his own company managing privately-owned luxury resorts and hotels. Jim Treadway, co-founder and CEO of MTM Management and FST Management, has a distinguished career spanning over 30 years in the hospitality industry. Jim represents a segment of the industry that may not be as noticeable to the consumer, but those working behind the scenes have an immeasurable effect on a property. At StarChefs, we want to find the masters of industry, especially ones that may not be a familiar name, and introduce their stories to you. We hope you find inspiration and advice to further your own careers or start a new one.

Interview
Antoinette Bruno: You had a long, distinguished career at Westin - one that included various assignments around the world. What did you learn from being abroad? How have you brought those lessons to bear at MTM?

Jim Treadway: In a word.....humility. Like a lot of Americans I was born and bred with a superiority complex with respect to my view toward the rest of the world. I don't consider myself a global person, but I was privileged to work in South Africa and Norway for Westin. What I learned was there are systems, practices, customs, processes, and "things" in other parts of the world that are at least as good as and often better than their American counterparts. James Simkins, EVP for MTM and a 28-year veteran of Westin is a South African, who has spent his entire career in Africa, Asia, and Australia with only one stint in the U.S., in L.A. Between us, as we try to make the MTM-managed properties and FST asset-managed properties as good as they can be, we draw ideas and inspiration from the luxury lodging industry worldwide, not just the US. As we benchmark best practices, through our collective experience, we have more to tap, given our personal career territory has been the world. You'll see this in our properties - whether they be Australian lambswool mattress covers at Willows Lodge or elevator carpets with the day of the week on them that change nightly at the Sorrento.

AB: You are credited with a change in the corporate approach at Westin North America - from a focus on customers as its consumer to one that recognized the needs of all its corporate constituencies (the owner and the employee in addition to the consumer). What inspired this change? Did you encounter resistance to this change? If so, how did you overcome this resistance?

JT: All I tried to do at Westin North America during my presidency was to establish a culture wherein we identified who our customer constituencies were, and what our products should be for each. As a management company, our customers were the owners and our product was asset value. As hotel managers, our customer constituencies included consumers and employees. And our products were a great guest experience and wonderful places in which to work. We developed strategies and tactics to strengthen our product offerings to each customer constituency, and the process we used we called "total quality".

I wanted to make sure there was appropriate distinction between how a management company should operate and how a hotel should operate. I felt that the subject of asset value and the owners' other needs deserved more attention than they were getting, but I didn't want to sacrifice the guest and employee experience for the sake of profit. It's a delicate balancing act. And yes, like all change, there was resistance, which necessitated taking a grass roots approach and enabling acceptance to percolate upwards after a strategy of selling this change, as opposed to just directing it top down.

AB: Inventory management is a crucial skill for many industries - from the airlines to manufacturing. This is no less the case for hotels, and I'm sure you have management insights on this topic. Do you have any specific nuggets of wisdom for hoteliers trying to get a handle on this aspect of the business?

JT: I'm certainly not an inventory management expert. I endorse the notion of forming partnerships with suppliers who can produce not just the best product at the lowest price, but the ability to fill orders on very short notice, thereby allowing us operators to keep our inventories low. A hotel's relationships with its vendors are extremely important. The vendor must share the hotel's vision around delivering excellence to its guests and employees.

AB: In taking on a new property, what is the most common organizational problem you see and have to address?

JT: People working in silos, egos, and inadequate communication. Too often the hotel's vision, aspirations, and goals aren't shared with all its employees. I think it's important to share these, as well as performance information, with all employees so that they feel part of a bigger picture and can contribute more to the overall success of the property. We approach our employee groups as families and don't want any of our family members to be uninformed and/or uncommitted to the success of the property, and therefore, their own personal success and career growth.

AB: What kind of deals are you looking at in this economy?

JT: We are not real estate players, so the "deals" we are looking for are management agreements of luxury independent properties, which are unique, personalized, and destinations unto themselves. Our partners only want MTM to get involved with properties they would like to stay in themselves. That limits our playing field to a very specific niche, which enables extraordinary brand integrity, consistency, and the sharing of a discerning customer base, whose expectations will be met, if not exceeded, by all of our properties. We have proven our ability to manage valuable hotel assets regardless of the state of the economy. Hotel developers and owners come to us when they want hands on and highly personalized stewardship of their assets. And we deliver. We're probably the only management company in America that offers all of its hotel owners as references.