The Moment I Realized Where Real Revenue Comes From
When people ask where I learned to train people—really train people—I always go back to my time at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. I absolutely loved Starwood. I was there from the beginning, starting at a Westin, and got to be part of the company’s entire transformation into a world-class brand. It shaped so much of who I am professionally and personally.
I understand Barry Sternlicht is bringing back the Starwood name; honestly, it makes my heart happy. If they’re building that kind of culture again, with that same focus on brand, service, and people? You can bet I’ll stay at those hotels if I can. Heck, if Barry’s listening—I’d love to work with that brand again. I really would.
Long before “brand culture” was trendy, Starwood was laying the groundwork for what it meant to build world-class service from the inside out.
One thing that often gets overlooked is just how incredible their leadership training was. It was emotional, impactful, and designed to create real growth. Anyone who went through those programs—whether you were in operations, sales, or revenue—will tell you they carried those lessons throughout their career. Even our revenue management training included modules on emotional connection and leadership. It was that good.
And here’s the thing: leadership training like that can’t be separate from the training we give associates. They have to go hand-in-hand. When leaders and frontline teams are speaking from the same playbook, everyone is aligned. That alignment is what supports emotional connections, great service, and loyalty-building moments.
And yes, we’re building loyalty with our associates too. We want to be the kind of place people want to stay and grow. I still remember one Starwood CEO saying he wanted it to be "the most fun place to work in the universe." That stuck with me and shaped how I think about company culture to this day.
“It wasn’t just a job. It was a turning point.”
This book sits in my office as a daily reminder of where I came from—and how powerful great leadership and company culture can be.
Their program was called Building World-Class Brands, and I didn’t realize at the time how perfectly that name captured what we were doing. It wasn’t just about customer service. It was about how we treated each other, how we worked together, and how that showed up for the guest.
I was a Director of Revenue at the time—living in spreadsheets, forecasts, and pricing models. Revenue is an extremely analytical job, and I’m a naturally expressive, people-first kind of person. So you can imagine the looks I got when I was also put in charge of service culture training.
People asked: “Why is the DRM running emotional connection workshops?”
The answer was twofold:
I needed a creative, expressive outlet to grow—and the leader who saw that and gave me this opportunity? Total genius.
Because my job was to make more money. And the best way to do that? Build loyalty. Create emotional connections. Strengthen culture.
That eight-day (or maybe it was six? It felt like a month—I honestly can’t remember now) Train the Trainer course was no joke. It pushed me. I even questioned myself a few times during it. But what I gained from it was foundational. It taught me that pricing strategies might get you booked once, but loyalty is what drives long-term success.
It wasn’t just about the guest—it was about the employee experience.
Starwood believed in the service profit chain: take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your guests. But they went further. We were also taught to take care of each other, the brand, and the business. When you do that well, the bottom line takes care of itself.
And it did.
Loyalty starts before the guest ever walks in.
You can’t price your way out of bad morale. You can’t discount your way into brand trust. But when your team feels seen, supported, and valued—when guests feel a real emotional connection to your people—that’s where the real money is.
I’ve spent decades optimizing revenue. But I’ll always say this: you’ll never outperform your culture.
A world-class brand starts with your people.
That’s what I took from Starwood, and it’s what I bring to every client today—whether I’m reworking a pricing model or coaching a team on building better relationships.
Yes, we’ll get the revenue dialed in. But what truly moves the needle? Making people feel like they belong.
Curious how culture and revenue connect in your business? Visit kellyhaynie.com or reach out for a tailored strategy session.
