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....

World of Opportunity: Chance Encounters

Listen to Blog After 33 years with Marriott International, Nusrat Mirza learned first-hand how our company can open doors to a world of opportunity. Nusrat’s story goes back to 1978, when he became a restaurant supervisor in one of our properties. Today, he’s the General Manager of our beautiful Renaissance...

More Lessons From A Car Guy

After nearly 40 years as a CEO at Marriott, I love to read about how others lead. Recently, I blogged about Bob Lutz's new book "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters," which has many lessons from his tenure with General Motors. My 13-year service on the GM Board ended about a...

Lessons of a Soda Jerk

My very first job was a soda jerk and that taught me a lot about customer service. It was very busy, especially on the weekends. Filling orders in a timely way was a challenge and great fun. I was thrown into the front lines and was stuck many times. When...

In Good Company

Listen to Blog To stay in business for almost 85 years, well, you know you’re doing something right. To stay in business for this long and be recognized as one of the most ethical companies, that tells me we’re doing a lot of things right. For the fourth year, Ethisphere...

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...

"Hands-On" Teaching is Key to Success

Listen to my blog When I served on the General Motors board, I had a chance to work with Bob Lutz. Bob came on board as Vice Chairman of General Motors, primarily working on product development. He’s written a new book, which has been covered in The Wall Street Journal....

From Herdsmen to Hotel Workers

Listen to blog When we open the doors to a new hotel, we also open the doors to a world of opportunity for people who may never have imagined that they could work for a company like Marriott. Philip Papadopoulos is the general manager of the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort...

Get a Taste for What it Takes at 'My Marriott Hotel'

When I visit our hotels, I always like to go to the kitchen. A clean, well-run kitchen usually means the rest of the hotel is also clean and well run. In the hotel business, we call it "the heart of the house." The kitchen is pretty close to my heart...

Get Moving at Marriott

As summer approaches, many people start thinking more about getting fit and leading healthier lifestyles. We want to look better in our bathing suits. But many find that it can be quite difficult to get started with a new exercise program or diet. Our Marriott associates are no exception, and...