Associate Spotlight: Larry Johnson
Our latest Associate Spotlight is Larry Johnson from The Seelbach Louisville Hilton. Larry is the Seelbach’s Hotel Historian and Lobby Concierge. He has been at The Seelbach since 1981!
Tell us a little about yourself…How did you end up in the hospitality industry?
I was raised on Seelbach Avenue in the South End of Louisville. My parents moved there when I was four months old, and I had no idea what the Seelbach meant. In 1979, I had a job as an extra in the movie Stripes, and I met a guy who was with the unemployment office, as I was with the KY National Guard, and we became good friends. In 1981, he called and asked me if I wanted to be a doorman at the Seelbach Hotel. I had no idea that the Seelbach even existed. I filled out an application and got interviewed by the AGM, and at that time he told me the job was temporary. Two years later, he was gone… and I’m still here, so he was wrong!
What was your background (school and/or work) or experience before joining Musselman Hotels at The Seelbach?
I was in the National Guard for 21 years. I had been a paint contractor, I had worked at Ford Motor Company, Courier-Journal Printing – so I’ve done a little bit of everything.
What was the learning curve like, and how is the Seelbach different from other places you’ve worked?
We had two weeks of training before we opened the doors. We knew how to help the guest do what they needed. My job was to unload the luggage and make sure it got brought into the Front Desk, and the first time I was standing out on the steps and somebody asked me a question I didn’t know the answer to it bothered me, and I made myself a promise it would never happen again. So I got out and walking the streets of Downtown Louisville to figure out where everything was. I got to the point I finally realized where everything was in Downtown Louisville.
Around 1987, I started up the Guest Services Tours, sort of like familiarization tours. I called around to all the museums and historical homes and found restaurants, and I was spending 3 days in training with employees and they were doing everything we recommended to the guest. It got to the point that I just loved what I was doing.
In 1988, I was standing at my desk on Derby Day, and my wife called to let me know I got a letter from Ford Motor Company requesting me to come back to work, after being off for 8 years, and she asked me what I wanted to do. I told the GM and my boss what was going on – they got this dumbfounded look on their face and I turned back to the phone and I told my wife to throw it in the garbage, I’m not interested.
What has been one of your proudest/most memorable moment at the Seelbach?
Probably assisting President George H Bush. He wasn’t feeling well when he arrived and one of the Secret Service told me and I ran to get him a Ginger Ale. And he gave me an umbrella thanking me for getting the Ginger Ale. I found out later anytime somebody did a special favor for him, he reciprocated. I thought it was just a black umbrella, but it ended up having the Presidential Seal on it.
I know you’ve received numerous awards over the years – is there one that stands out in particular and why?
In 1988, I was named the National Bellman of the Year. I had taken one of my Bellman who one the State Bellman of the Year, and I went with him to Frankfort to receive his award. In 1988, I was nominated for the same award – won the state, went to the award ceremony and the GM came to me and it was March after I received the state, and he just said “You just won the National Bellman of the Year” – I didn’t think anything about it, no big deal. I came out of the meeting and he says “You’re going to Dallas for the awards ceremony” – and they’re taking care of your room, we’re flying you out there, you can take your wife and daughter. We flew out, I’m still thinking it’s just an award. The next morning the day of the ceremony, we walked into this room and there were probably 1,000 hotel owners from all over the country in this room.
After the awards ceremony, I had a phone call waiting for me in the room and it was the GM from the Seelbach and he said, “you need to come back a day early, we’ve already changed your tickets.” I asked what’s going on, he said: “you just get back here and come in Monday morning dressed in your uniform.” I come in and Good Morning America was interviewing me from the lobby from NY.
The Rose Award was nice. I didn’t expect it, but to have the Seelbach Employee of the Year a few weeks away, that just blew my mind. I really didn’t expect it.
How have your duties changed over the years?
I went from being a doorman for 3 years to the Bell Captain for 18 years, Lobby Concierge for several years, then went upstairs to work on the 7th floor for 6 or 7 years. Last March on a day when Presentation Academy was coming in for a tour, I was standing in the lobby waiting for them, and Mr. Musselman walked up behind me and told me he had two questions – one question was about the Concierge Lounge, and I answered it and I asked what the second question was, and he said “How would you like to come back down to the lobby?” – I was kind of shocked and I turned and looked at him and said “If you’re not joking, I’d love it.”, and I trained two people and have been back in the lobby ever since. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me!”
What is the most interesting challenge you have encountered and how did you handle it?
Probably one Derby Day, a lady came to me and told me her party had already gone to the track, and they had her Derby ticket. I told her to let me see what I can do. This was three hours before the Derby. I called a few friends of mine and told them the predicament. She didn’t need an expensive ticket to get in. I called somebody in the hotel that I knew had extra tickets, and they gave me a first-floor clubhouse ticket. I took it and gave it to her, not knowing who the lady was. About three weeks later, I received a box that was hand delivered from Brown Forman and inside the box was a bottle of bourbon with a gold label on it, with my name on it.
What is your favorite thing about your role at the Seelbach?
Helping people. A lot of people are interested in getting write-ups. If I see people leave with a smile on their face, I know they enjoyed it!
What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
Play golf
Who inspires you?
Probably my parents, especially my mother – she never met a person she didn’t like. You talk about the service industry, she worked in restaurants, she worked as a Private Cook up until I was born and then she worked in restaurants until I was a year old into the mid-70s. She never missed a day of work and I could never understand when she would come home and her feet would hurt, her legs would hurt… I understand now.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Well, my whole family is going to Hawaii in September, and I really didn’t want to go. I’d been there three times. I kept telling my wife and daughter I didn’t want to take the long flight. The night they were trying to talk me into it, I go home and I have a message on my phone. I’ve got a friend that lives in Honolulu and I haven’t seen him in 25 years, and he picked that day to call me. Normally we talk around Christmas and Birthdays. The last question he asks is “When are you coming to see me?” – we talked for a half hour and I was waiting for him to ask, I ask “Why haven’t you asked me when I’m coming back?” He said “I’m tired of asking ya,” I said “Well we’re coming in September”, and I thought he was going to jump through the phone
I met him here 30 years ago, and we’ve remained friends all those years.
I’d really love to go maybe to Switzerland.
If you had to choose one motto and/or saying to live by, what would it be?
“Do to others, as you would do to yourself”
If you wouldn’t do it to yourself, please don’t do it to them. In my opinion, the guest comes first. Sometimes I’ve been around guests who I know are wrong, but I still do it anyway. I let it prove to them they’re wrong, and then they come back and ask me.