Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:03:26 · Penny Pritzker
[00:03:26] S1: So as I said, it started as a chain of exterior corridor motels. And then the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, we had the opportunity, which is a long struggle into another time, the opportunity to... Basically, the family bought a half finished hotel in Atlanta that had this big atrium. Yep. So this would be like, if you think about some of our founders, a moment where they're pivoting into really travel, not just being, you know, lodges and motels, but into really spectacular hotels. And this became a sensation, the Atrium Hotel. And when that hotel opened... And my my dad moved to Atlanta for six months to basically get the hotel up and running. My mother was in charge of picking out all the uniforms and all of the... She planned all of the opening. And then... And the thing took off. It was a sensation. Wow. And every mayor and every city said, I want one of those in my downtown because it was attracting people back to downtown. And this is a time when downtowns were really more abundant. Everybody was moving to the suburbs. And so Hyatt took off with that trend. And the other part of it was is that my dad had been in the navy in Japan. Yep. And so he had fallen in love with Asia. And so they also... My mom and dad would go once or twice a year to Asia for three weeks because then you didn't travel for four days. You went for a long extended time. And they would... They were going from capital to capital in major Asian countries and making deals to build... To have new hotels built that bore the Hyatt brand. And that's really how Hyatt grew from a motel chain to a hotel chain, which was... Came from the atrium concept at Atlanta and then this international expansion. That all happened before my dad was 39.
00:05:36 · Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:05:36] S0: Wow. [00:05:36] S1: And then my dad was at... A friend of his was having an opening of a hotel in Hawaii. And, unfortunately, my dad dropped dead of a heart attack on the tennis court. And that was the end of his leadership of the hotel company. But he really and my mom created what is the foundation in terms of excellence and service. The vision of what it was like to, you know, travel and have fun with your travel, and the idea that hotels were more than just bedrooms, but instead were... Could be these really interesting architectural places. [00:06:13] S0: You and I talk about resilience a lot, and I know we bonded, unfortunately, over the sad thing we have in common, which is you lost your dad when you were 13. I lost my dad when I was 14, both unexpectedly. How do you think having something and I'd love, you know, in so many ways, this shaped who we are pretty profoundly. How do you think going through something so tragic, so early, changed you? Well, I think
00:06:13 · Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:06:13] S0: You and I talk about resilience a lot, and I know we bonded, unfortunately, over the sad thing we have in common, which is you lost your dad when you were 13. I lost my dad when I was 14, both unexpectedly. How do you think having something and I'd love, you know, in so many ways, this shaped who we are pretty profoundly. How do you think going through something so tragic, so early, changed you? Well, I think [00:06:41] S1: there's a couple of things that I think had big influence on me. I think the fact that my... Watched my parents building something and having so much fun and being energized every single day to get up and make a difference really made me think that every day is precious and that we need to take advantage of it and that you can have fun as you build things. And you can... And that really it's noble to be a business builder. In terms of the resilience aspect of coming from losing a parent like you and I both did early, is I think you treasure every day and you treasure moments. And there's a gratitude for all of the... How fortunate we are. I mean, we did have parents who cared about us. We were able to get a good education. We were taught, I know you were and I was, hey, as women, as young women, we can do this. We can be executives. We can be leaders. We can do whatever it is we set our mind on. And so I think it's... I've always tried to draw inspiration from the tragedy as opposed to allow it to, you know, bring me down.
00:06:41 · Penny Pritzker, Alexa von Tobel
[00:06:41] S1: there's a couple of things that I think had big influence on me. I think the fact that my... Watched my parents building something and having so much fun and being energized every single day to get up and make a difference really made me think that every day is precious and that we need to take advantage of it and that you can have fun as you build things. And you can... And that really it's noble to be a business builder. In terms of the resilience aspect of coming from losing a parent like you and I both did early, is I think you treasure every day and you treasure moments. And there's a gratitude for all of the... How fortunate we are. I mean, we did have parents who cared about us. We were able to get a good education. We were taught, I know you were and I was, hey, as women, as young women, we can do this. We can be executives. We can be leaders. We can do whatever it is we set our mind on. And so I think it's... I've always tried to draw inspiration from the tragedy as opposed to allow it to, you know, bring me down. [00:08:04] S0: Yeah. I I I always say I think it gives... Going through something so hard, so early gives you a different gear. And the gear really is one of a zest for life, risk taking, comfort with risk. And I always say, if the roof's over your head and you can breathe, you're gonna be okay.
00:08:04 · Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:08:04] S0: Yeah. I I I always say I think it gives... Going through something so hard, so early gives you a different gear. And the gear really is one of a zest for life, risk taking, comfort with risk. And I always say, if the roof's over your head and you can breathe, you're gonna be okay. [00:08:23] S1: Well, I think that... I mean, you and I have talked about this. You know, one thing that happens is, I think, when you've overcome a number of very difficult situations in your life, as you have, as I have, as many people have, when you then face the next one, the next challenge, you say to yourself, okay. I know this is gonna be hard. I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna work out, but I know I have it in me to figure this out. [00:08:48] S0: That is one of my favorite things about you, actually, which we will get there later. But when things get really hard, you become your best. Brings out a part of you that I've watched many times now. You become sturdier. And it's something I really admire about you. Okay, another thing I admire about you is when you were 16, your grandfather because your dad had now passed away you wrote to your grandfather a letter and said, why are you only talking to the boys in our family about business? And he responded by putting you in an accounting class. It is mind blowing to me to think that you, of all women, grew up in a world where women weren't supposed to be in business. I mean, I'm like, are we still gonna march for this? To say more, what made you write to your grandfather?
00:08:48 · Alexa von Tobel, Penny Pritzker
[00:08:48] S0: That is one of my favorite things about you, actually, which we will get there later. But when things get really hard, you become your best. Brings out a part of you that I've watched many times now. You become sturdier. And it's something I really admire about you. Okay, another thing I admire about you is when you were 16, your grandfather because your dad had now passed away you wrote to your grandfather a letter and said, why are you only talking to the boys in our family about business? And he responded by putting you in an accounting class. It is mind blowing to me to think that you, of all women, grew up in a world where women weren't supposed to be in business. I mean, I'm like, are we still gonna march for this? To say more, what made you write to your grandfather? [00:09:36] S1: So it was my grandfather's eightieth birthday. [00:09:39] S0: Oh my goodness. [00:09:39] S1: And my mother said, you can give your grandfather whatever you want for his birthday. And I'm thinking, here's a person in my eyes who'd accomplished everything and knew everyone. [00:09:51] S0: Yep.