Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show

Michael interviews Klaus Thomsen of The Coffee Collective about building a Denmark-based coffee company rooted in direct trade, transparency, and barista craftsmanship.
After Thomsen won the 2006 World Barista Championship, he and co-founders Casper and Peter started the company in 2007 to address unfair farmer compensation by cutting middlemen, contracting directly with producers, and sharing costs openly, including listing origin payments on labels.
They began with a small roaster and long-term relationships with farms in Brazil and Guatemala, and continue origin visits with a team to maintain trust and feedback. The company expanded organically to eight coffee shops and a bakery (mostly Copenhagen, one in Aarhus), ~160–170 employees, and about one million cups annually, selling to wholesale, shops, and a global webshop in 45 countries.
They discuss scaling quality through written standards, a staff app for onboarding and communication, hiring an external CEO for leadership expertise, balancing ambition with work-life balance, learning from mistakes, and sustaining motivation through continual learning and working with young staff.
Connect with Klaus:
https://www.instagram.com/klausthomsen/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/klausthomsencoffee/
https://coffeecollective.dk/
A big thank you to our epsiode sponsor Sideways. Head to their website hospitality.sideways.ai or email them directly at john@sideways.ai
Connect with the podcast
Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Michael hosts Christian to discuss how voice AI can solve a persistent restaurant operations problem: missed phone calls that cost revenue and damage guest experience.
Christian shares his early experience working front-of-house in a busy Southern California restaurant where calls were often ignored, then explains how a 2024 voice AI demo led him and his cofounder to build Loman, now used by 1,500+ restaurants.
They cover key stats (30% of restaurant revenue comes via phone; 40% of calls are missed), how Loman answers 100% of calls, takes orders and payments, books reservations, answers questions, supports multiple languages, handles up to 50 concurrent calls, and integrates with major POS and reservation systems to pull menus/pricing and push orders into the kitchen.
They also discuss customization, continuous learning from call data, adoption best practices, AI’s future impact, and practical AI tips for operators.
Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show.
Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI.
For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20.
Learn more at https://lodgify.com/
Connect with Christian:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianwiens?skipRedirect=true&miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAABQkpesB4RRaowtsUCQDK-LpDtxIsyEdwfk
Website: loman.ai
Instagram: instagram.com/loman.ai
Connect with the podcast
Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Michael interviews Australian dentist Michael Filosi about applying counterintuitive, hospitality-centered ideas to dentistry to break industry norms.
Filosi bought a rundown dental practice and, after realizing he couldn’t be the best clinician, pivoted—drawing on Good to Great’s hedgehog concept—toward building the best dental practice by focusing on business ownership, high standards, and patient experience. He gradually stepped off clinical work over 2–3 years (from four days a week to zero), scaling from generating 40% of revenue to 0.6%, later selling the business unexpectedly at 41 with no earn-out.
Key initiatives included an annual free Patient Appreciation Day and a “Sparks” program (50 personalized gifts in 50 weeks at $50 each) inspired by Unreasonable Hospitality, alongside friction-reducing service, explicit cultural expectations (“the FPD way”), and hiring for customer care, helping drive retention, word-of-mouth, staff attraction, and 400+ 5.0-star reviews.
Filosi’s takeaways are uncompromising standards and putting the customer (or constituent) at the center; he recommends The Checklist Manifesto and is exploring writing, dentistry, and politics next.
Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show.
Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI.
For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20.
Learn more at https://lodgify.com/
Connect with Dr Michael:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelfilosi/
Connect with the podcast
Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Michael and Brandon discuss the intersection of AI and culture in hospitality, arguing AI can strengthen culture by removing routine work so teams can focus on human guest experiences.
Brandon shares his career path from line-level resort roles to leading Fathom’s hotel management arm within a Maine-based real estate development firm focused on adaptive reuse and “sense of place” upscale soft-brand projects across Marriott, Hilton, and independents.
Fathom operates or develops seven hotels, typically 150–200 keys with multiple F&B outlets. Brandon highlights the Sugar House Hotel in Winooski, Vermont—a Marriott Tribute Collection property that will be all-electric, net-zero carbon, and LEED Platinum—embedding sustainability into every initiative.
He outlines Fathom’s associate-centric, value-driven culture, emphasizing authenticity, celebration, open dialogue, autonomy in recognition rituals, and cross-department cohesion, and explains using AI for SOPs, accounting, HR messaging, onboarding tools, and development analysis to reduce stress and improve retention.
Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show.
Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI.
For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20.
Learn more at https://lodgify.com/
Connect with Brandon:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-hussey-5bb21830/
https://www.fathomcompanies.com/
Connect with the podcast
Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Michael and Pete Hurley discuss how hospitality organizations may shift away from large full-time head offices toward fractional and project-based senior talent to improve flexibility, innovation, and profitability amid tight margins and job insecurity.
Hurley shares his career from launching a hospitality tech startup in 2004 that evolved into a cultural-venue operator business he ran for nearly 20 years and sold three years ago, before moving into consultancy and noticing the growing “fractional” trend and the lack of a dedicated marketplace for hospitality expertise.
He built and coded the Well Seasoned platform in a week, launching in February and growing to about 550 consultants, around 25 hospitality businesses engaging, and regular projects posted.
They cover benefits like faster hiring/onboarding, niche expertise, reduced risk, consultants collaborating to fill skill gaps, and fractionals sometimes converting into full-time roles, while emphasizing the need for a core in-house team and an active community to avoid the platform becoming a static directory.
Lodgify is the headline sponsor for the Hospitality Mavericks Podcast Show.
Lodgify is an all-in-one hosting platform built on one promise, minimum hassle, maximum independence. We help independent vacation rental hosts and small-scale property managers run and grow their business with 0% Lodgify booking commissions, an AI Co-Host (COMING SUMMER 2026, early access open now), and direct booking websites built to get found by AI.
For Mavericks listeners, there's a special offer: 20% off all yearly and bi-yearly plans - Use code MAVERICK20.
Learn more at https://lodgify.com/
Connect with Pete:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/petehurley/
https://wellseasoned.work/
Connect with the podcast
Join the Hospitality Mavericks newsletter
Tune in via your favourite podcast platform - here
More episodes for you to check out here

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy