Meachim is finishing his fourth year at one of the nation’s cutting-edge schools teaching a new approach to hospitality, and as Meachim sees it, he is helping the industry play its part in preserving its world-famous climate and landscape for generations of visitors and local residents to come.
Located just steps from the Pacific, the school teaches urgent lessons such as how to incorporate solar and wind power into hotel energy systems as well as sustainable event planning and eco-tourism destination operations.
“When I think of sustainability, I think of it as building a legacy and building something that is going to be for everyone, not just thinking about shareholders but also thinking about stakeholders," Meachim said. "We have an obligation to protect the people and the planet and to make sure we’re part of a responsible business and true to our word and doing good.”
Sustainability has without a doubt become a major theme in the hospitality industry, with hotels, restaurants, theme parks and other destinations adopting practices such as sourcing foods from organic farms and limiting the amount of water used at properties. Hospitality industry experts report that more customers also expect that type of sustainable mindset as they choose where to eat or travel and are tracking the carbon and resource footprints of their travels.
Meachim said the local Hyatt Regency where he has been an operations trainee is doing its part by reducing its use of plastic bottles. Beyond trash and energy use, Meachim said sustainability also means making sure staff and services reflect the state’s diverse population.
“Our state does a really good job about diversity, equity and inclusion,” he said. “We have an obligation to continue that and help represent folks from every background opportunities that are in our industry and preserve that legacy.”
In practice, that broader social consciousness can simply mean always bringing a human touch to customer interactions – in other words, remembering the core best practice of any hospitality professional, Meachim said.
“Customer service can feel robotic at times,” he said. “It’s very important to help people but hospitality is more about service with a heart. You need to engage people with empathy and that’s really at the core of why I’m in the hospitality industry – to lead not just from the head but from the heart.”
Meachim said he would like to eventually manage a resort or other type of hospitality business in California. No matter where his career takes him, Meachim said he wants to keep introducing visitors to all the human and physical diversity that makes the state so unique.
“It’s those personal connections that make me excited about hospitality and engaging with people all over the world,” Meachim said. “Treating it as if I’m welcoming guests into my home and being able to engage with them and making them feel like this is their place too and they have a belonging as well.”
