Karl Zottl
Karl Zottl started his career in the retail sector at Bath and Body Works, then spent 20 years in the automotive industry, started and lost a coffee company, and eventually landed in the hotel industry where he now manages Global Hotel Group, which includes Hampton Inn, Hilton, DoubleTree, Motel 6 and others. Zottl shares with us the lost art of making your way up through the retail sector, investing in people as well as businesses, managing through disruption, and trusting your gut.
What didn’t you know at the start of your career that you now understand clearly?
How to get the most out of people. When I started, I had a tendency to think you can do it all by yourself. As I got further into my career, I realized that the more I could get out of people, the more I could help them develop other people.
What was the best piece of advice that you got from your parents growing up, and one important piece of advice you would give to your kids?
My dad came to this country from Austria and had to work his way through school. He always believed in education and working hard. You can never have your education taken away from you. It will be there your whole life, while other things may not. My dad also taught me the value of money-saving money, looking for value, and looking for discounts. If you spend $1, make sure it’s $1 that you are willing to spend.
What part of the hospitality industry most related to your experience in the retail industry, and how do you use this as an advantage?
If you can hire, motivate, and develop individuals, you will be successful. Always stay in contact because you never know when they might come full circle.
Do you need to tailor your management styles for different businesses to be effective? For example, do you think how you manage stores for Bath and Body Works would be the same as BMW?
A lot of it would be the same. It comes down to sales and how much money each business makes. The only way you’re going to make a lot of money is to have people that are very highly motivated and have the same goal.
How did you adapt your hotel business when COVID-19 hit and how do you deal with disruption in general?
We had to react very quickly, and we changed our business model. Instead of being more of a hotel, we reached out to many different groups and organizations so we could help get people off the street. And at the same time, we still had people renting hotel rooms, and even had record months because we adapted very quickly to the environment. Now we are going into the extended–stay business. We have two groups, a premium side, and an economy side, and everything is gearing towards the economy side and extended stay. There are a lot of people losing their housing because they don’t have any money, and they need a place to stay. The extended–stay hotel business is growing very rapidly. We have changed many properties to extended stay and will continue to purchase more so we can be more profitable in the future.
What is the best business advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?
There are many things you can do that don’t need a huge investment of money. The biggest thing that I learned is if you think you need $100,000, you probably need $200,000. Given the opportunity, you should go for it, just make sure there’s a risk-reward in there, and that you’re not risking too much. I never wanted to put my family at risk. But if you’re going to do it, try to do it early when you’re young, because that way, hopefully, you’ll be able to bounce back pretty quickly if something unexpected happens.
What are the biggest problems our generation will have to tackle?
Unfortunately, you’ve got some major ones, such as global warming and the national debt. It’s really a shame that we’ve put you in this position, but your generation is going to have to step up.
What’s one bad event in your life that led to something good?
I started a coffee shop business in 2000, a version of Starbucks, and unfortunately, the recession came in 2007 and 2008 and I had to shut it down. It was very, very tough. But what I learned from it is you can’t be too emotionally attached to anything, and sometimes you just have to admit that things didn’t work out and you have to bounce back, as big a disappointment or failure it might be. This was what I learned from it and moved on.
If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?
Besides buy Amazon, Apple, and Tesla stock? I would tell myself to trust your gut. If you know a company is good, you should invest in it.
What do you think will be the next major change in our society?
I’m not going to say there will be flying cars tomorrow, but I think of things like underground tunnels that could make life a lot different and more advanced. Certainly, travel to outer space; everyday individuals will be going to the moon, and they could orbit the Earth, which I think would be an amazing accomplishment.
What are your best qualities? And what do you think others would say?
One of my best qualities is that I take a personal interest in anyone that works for me not only in their job, development, and promotions, but becoming a better person. I think people would say that I’m a really good listener. I don’t jump to conclusions. You might be having a very bad day and there could be many reasons for that, and so I think before you say something you’re going to regret, just ask the person to slow down a little bit.
What movie or TV character are you most like?
There is a movie from the ‘90s called Rudy. It is about a guy who wanted to play football for Notre Dame, but he struggled in school, and he was too small to play football. It was just sheer determination that enabled him to get into Notre Dame after going to community college, and then his junior year he got onto the football team, through hard work. I identify with that. When I was growing up school didn’t come easy for me initially. I had to work pretty hard at it, so I identify with Rudy from that perspective.
Many in Gen Z have grown up with modern conveniences such as smartphones and the internet. How was your experience without these tools?
When I was growing up, we didn’t have a car or TV, and we certainly didn’t have any cell phones or computers. But you didn’t even notice that or think about it. You did a lot more walking, took public transportation, read a newspaper. Whatever you have at the time is what you adapt to.
