Creating Global Opportunities - Rwanda Partnership Trains Women for Hotel Jobs

There’s an old adage that says, “If you educate a woman, you educate a generation.” That is what Elizabeth Dearborn-Hughes, founder of the Akilah Institute for Women, is doing in Kigali, Rwanda. Elizabeth, a high-energy American with a passion for helping others, fell in love with the African country the...

What I Learned from Starbucks' Howard Schultz

I recently read Howard Schultz’ book “Onward” about the fantastic turnaround he made as the new CEO of Starbucks. As you may know, he semi-retired, but when the company got into trouble he returned as CEO and made a remarkable turnaround. It seems that Starbucks had expanded too fast. It...

Living the American Dream

My family has lived the American Dream. My father started out herding sheep and saw an opportunity and drove cross-country from Utah to Washington, D.C. to open up an A&W Root Beer stand. That was way back in 1927. Many of us forget where we came from, but not me....

Lessons on Life and Lodging

The other day I received a totally undeserved standing ovation as I spoke to students at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. I think the students just wanted to stretch their legs after 45 minutes of listening to my stories. I was really surprised and stunned by the applause. But...

Blogging with "The Boss Man" - Our Summer Interns

Listen To Blog I started out at Marriott much the same way our young people do today. I worked after school and during the summer. It wasn’t called an internship back then, but I knew it was a great way to get experience and learn the business. When I was...

Celebrating the First Graduate of the Marriott Scholars Program

When I was growing up, my parents often reminded me that education was a passport to the world. They encouraged my brother and me to pursue college degrees and instilled in us continuing thirst for knowledge. They were also committed to building and investing in the lives of other young...

20 Years of Helping Youths with Disabilities Find Meaningful Careers

July marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, something our company has supported with all our heart and soul. After all, we are in the hospitality business and we welcome everyone. That’s why last night I attended a very special event we...

Urging the U.S. Congress to Support Language Education

I recently blogged about our new program with Rosetta Stone that will allow us to train our people in more languages. And in the past I've blogged about our Sed de Saber - "Thirst for Knowledge" - program that has been so successful in teaching English to our Spanish-speaking associates....

Marriott and Rosetta Stone Teaching Together

I've found in all these years that the most important thing in success in life and in business is communication. Marriott is a very diverse company and our employees speak a lot of languages. Having hotels in almost 70 countries means our guests speak many languages too. We're trying to...

Determined to Get an Education

Reflecting back on Marriott's 80 years in the hospitality industry, one word summarizes our company's enduring success: opportunity. This weekend in San Francisco, I'm challenging our JW Marriott, Marriott and Renaissance General Managers from around the world to look for opportunities for their associates to grow and build careers within...