We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mauricio Schüler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mauricio, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
The legacy I’m hoping to build is centered around fostering a love for lifelong learning and embodying the idea that learning itself is our ultimate life goal.
When I lived in Australia, I worked coaching soccer for toddlers from 18 months old to 6 years. It was rewarding to watch them growing. After a couple of years, I was the general manager of the franchise learning all business related things. Then, the challenge pasted. My boss opened a new business and without his mentorship I stopped learning, we just repeated processes and I got bored. Soon I wanted to open my own business to learn new things.
Over the years, I came to realize that my boredom originated in the lack of challenges and learning opportunities in the company.
People leave their job when they stop learning. Learning is our ultimate life’s goal.
I wish my life to serve as an example that learning doesn’t stop with formal education, but is a lifelong journey of discovery, questioning, and sharing knowledge. I hope to be remembered as someone who reminded others of the joy and importance of never stopping to learn, grow, and share what we know with the world around us.
Mauricio, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
From a Physical Education teacher in Brazil to a hospitality innovator in Prague, my journey embodies a passion for lifelong learning and adaptability. I’m a loving proud father who weights life experiences much more than any possessions. I’m not impressed by what people make, I get impressed by how one treats another human.
My story is extraordinary. I began as a Physical Education teacher in Brazil, but a trip to New Zealand to learn English changed my life’s trajectory. Early on in my life, I discovered my passion for cooking, inspired by my mother’s culinary skills and my grandfather’s mastery of hospitality. In New Zealand, a job as a kitchenhand, showed the vibrancy and energy of a professional kitchen, and I got hooked and in just a few months I was already cooking main meals and steaks for guests. When my English language skills were enough to communicate, I scored a cook position in the wilderness of the Fiordland National Park in the South Island, cooking for trekkers. This led me to Australia, where I formalized my chef education, worked with celebrity chefs, featured on cooking books, and met my wife.
Life’s unpredictability then steered me back to education, managing a preschool soccer program in Australia for 6 years. We relocate to Prague in 2017, where we welcomed our daughter and I joined my wife’s family hotel business, in the marketing and innovation department, where I failed to inspire the leadership to create a better onboarding system. This was a wake-up call to develop my interpersonal skills and understand more in depth how the industry deals with skills development.
The pandemic’s impact on hospitality became the catalyst for the Schulering HUB project. The name stems from my surname, Schüler, meaning “student” in German. My grandfather’s mantra of lifelong learning resonates deeply with me, inspiring our mission to tackle industry challenges through education.
We aim to revitalise hospitality by addressing critical issues:
– The “Silent Resignation” that has left the industry 48% below pre-pandemic levels,
– Leadership shortcomings Poor work culture,
– Lack of transparency in career progression and compensation,
– Discrepancy between hospitality education and industry needs.
Our multifaceted approach includes:
– The Schulering HUB podcast: Featuring industry leaders discussing solutions and trends,
– Hospitality Professional Learning Journey: Facilitating skill development and recognition,
– Standardized Operating Procedures (SOPs) development system: Engaging teams for better compliance,
– Consultant directory: A marketplace connecting hoteliers with verified experts.
We focus on independent hoteliers, who lack resources to keep pace with rapid changes. By creating the right space and bringing the right people together, we believe we can rescue an industry grasping for innovation.
Our achievements, including ranking in the Top 20 Hospitality Podcasts globally and being a finalist in the UN Tourism Startup Hospitality Challenge, fuel our passion. But what truly drives me is the noble cause of facilitating learning and development opportunities in an industry I love.
This work isn’t just about improving hospitality – it’s about fulfilling a lifelong passion that excites me every morning. It’s my greatest personal achievement, and I’m committed to making a lasting impact on the industry and the people within it.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Life’s journey has taught me invaluable lessons, but one stands out in my business experience: Even the most proven, logical, and well-documented strategies can falter in new environments.
In 2018, I joined my wife’s hotel business with a mission to reduce our reliance on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and their hefty commissions. Armed with industry knowledge and a clear vision, I proposed a strategy focused on enhancing guest experiences to foster loyalty and drive direct bookings. This approach aligned perfectly with industry trends and data.
However, my proposal was met with firm resistance from leadership. The project failed, not because of flawed logic or insufficient evidence, but because of my approach. I had overlooked the crucial importance of understanding and respecting the existing culture and building trust.
This experience taught me a profound lesson: We cannot force change; we can only inspire it. True transformation comes from within, often taking unexpected forms. The key lies in nurturing an environment where change can naturally evolve.
My failure became my greatest teacher. It showed me that success in business – and in life – isn’t just about having the right strategy. It’s about connecting with people, understanding their perspectives, and inspiring them to embrace new possibilities.
This realization has transformed my approach to leadership and innovation. Now, I focus on building relationships, fostering trust, and creating an atmosphere where ideas can flourish organically. I’ve learned to be open to outcomes that may differ from my initial vision, recognizing that adaptability and respect for diverse viewpoints are crucial for success.
In essence, my journey taught me that the most powerful changes often start with a shift in our own perspective. By embracing this truth, we open ourselves to endless possibilities for growth and innovation.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
My favorite marketing story is how we created our podcast.
In 2022, I was trying to connect with professionals to learn how they were coping with and recovering from the pandemic. However, nobody was accepting my LinkedIn connection requests or replying to my emails. It was a disheartening 0% response rate.
At the time, I was reading Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” One sentence struck me: “People think about themselves 95% of the time. If you want them to listen to you, make it about them.”
Inspired by this, we decided to create a podcast. We would ask the same questions I had been trying to ask, but in a public format. I identified the 20 most influential people in the industry and crafted an email announcing our podcast. In it, I listed five names from my list as prospective guests and expressed my desire for the recipient to be part of this exclusive group.
I sent the email to all 20 names, and remarkably, ALL of them replied. I managed to record podcast episodes with seven of them.
Despite my dislike for my voice, accent, and occasional stammer, I proceeded. I didn’t want to have a podcast; I just wanted to gain industry insights.
After recording 10 episodes, we decided to honor our commitment and launch the show in October of that year. I encouraged my business partners to take over the interviewing, but it never materialized. We didn’t even look at the podcast statistics, focusing solely on the content and what we were learning.
Once the show was live, it became easier to speak with hospitality leaders. I found that I enjoyed the conversations, and guests appreciated the podcast format.
A few months after launching, we were listed in the Global Hospitality Magazine as one of the TOP40 Hospitality Podcasts. In our next meeting, we were astonished: “People are actually listening to us? Who is our audience?” We even joked that if we all voted for ourselves the following year, we could reach the TOP5.
This unexpected recognition was a turning point. We invested in better equipment, refined our interview techniques, and shifted our focus from personal learning to providing valuable content for the entire industry. We’re grateful to our voters and the International Hospitality Institute for creating the listing.
Today, with over 70 episodes and a young YouTube channel, our reach extends far beyond our initial goals. This success originated from a single, well-crafted message and the decision to create a platform for learning and sharing.
Our journey proves that sometimes, the most powerful opportunities arise from our greatest challenges. By shifting our perspective and focusing on providing value to others, we not only achieved our initial goal but created something far more impactful than we ever imagined.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.schulering.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we.are.schulering
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schulering
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/schulering/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SchuleringHUB-Hospitalty
- Other: https://schulering.buzzsprout.com/
Image Credits
– Harriet Marshall
– UN Tourism