The "Anti-Consultant"
An afternoon walk with my partner and .raw studio founder usually involves decent coffee and even better conversation. But this time, I was the main dish on the hot seat.
He hit me with the million-dollar question: “In a room full of hospitality consultants, what’s the neon sign over your head? Why are you actually different?”
It’s a fair question. And honestly? I didn’t have to check my notes.
For 8 years, I’ve been the one catching the “master strategies” tossed over the fence by different consultants. I’d flip to page three of the fancy PDF and realize immediately: This is a fairytale.
I knew it wouldn’t work because I wasn’t sitting in a glass office dreaming of brand pillars. I was:
Behind the reception desk playing “damage control” with high-end guests who don’t give a damn about your “vision statement” when their room isn’t ready and they’ve been traveling for 14 hours.
On the floor with the teams when the “revolutionary guest program” collided with the reality of a busy Tuesday and a supply chain that just ghosted us.
Cringing at the disconnect when a guest arrived expecting the polished Instagram dream but walked straight into an operational nightmare.
I’ve been in the trenches - from high-luxury resorts to gritty urban hotels. I’ve lived the expensive, messy gap between a “pretty deck” and a profitable lobby. I’ve seen what happens when the website promises a 10 but the back-of-house is a 4.
So, I’m officially retiring the title. Don’t call me a hospitality consultant. That sounds like someone who charges you for a PowerPoint and disappears before the first guest complains about the Wi-Fi.
I’m your Outside Brain. 🧠
I’m the person you call when you need a strategy that doesn’t just look good in a pitch meeting, but actually survives the first five minutes of a guest checking in. I build operational systems that work because I’ve spent a decade being the one tasked with fixing them when they break.
Boutique brands don’t need more “concepts.” They need operational reality.
Let’s build something that actually functions.
