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Check-In with Bryan
Welcome to Check-In with Bryan, your essential podcast for staying ahead in the dynamic world of hospitality. Hosted by Bryan Fish, CEO of Reliance Hospitality and a highly sought-after keynote speaker, this podcast dives deep into the strategic insights, evolving trends, and transformative ideas driving the hospitality and travel industries forward.
Drawing from Bryan’s extensive background in hospitality management, strategic planning, and business innovation, each episode features compelling discussions with influential industry leaders, hotel executives, investors, asset managers, and expert consultants. You’ll gain valuable insights into operational excellence, market developments, investment opportunities, asset optimization strategies, and relevant travel news influencing the hospitality landscape.
Designed specifically for hotel owners, operators, hospitality investors, travel professionals, and industry leaders, Check-In with Bryan empowers listeners to elevate their business strategies, harness industry-leading insights, and navigate the ever-evolving intersection of hospitality and travel.
Stay informed, inspired, and ahead of the competition with Bryan Fish and Reliance Hospitality.
Check-In with Bryan
Making Workspaces Feel Like Hospitality with Jill Szmanda of Forward Tilt
What happens when you bring true hospitality thinking into offices, schools, hospitals, and corporate HQs—not just hotels? In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan sits down with Jill Szmanda, Director of Sales at Forward Tilt, a Scottsdale-based full-service workspace design and commercial furniture firm that’s helping companies turn “just an office” into experience-driven spaces people actually want to be in.
From Dutch Bros’ HQ to NextSpace’s three-story showroom, Jill has spent her career bridging the gap between design vision and operational reality—making sure what looks gorgeous on paper actually works in real life (and doesn’t fall apart like a Wayfair sofa in a hotel lobby).
Along the way, you’ll hear about:
•How Forward Tilt approaches offices as a “magnet, not a mandate” to bring people back to work after years of remote culture
•Why hospitality isn’t just for hotels anymore—and how it’s shaping offices, healthcare, schools, and even vet clinics
•The biggest design mistakes owners and developers make (hello, white sofas and angry yellow walls)
•How to create spaces that reflect a company’s identity and culture without feeling over-designed or cookie-cutter
•The rise of color, pattern, and custom pieces (like Dutch Bros’ peace-sign conference table) and why “millennial grey” is officially over
•Practical tips for balancing budget vs. experience—where to splurge, where to save, and why that $14k coffee table might not be the flex you think it is
•The importance of experience design: scent, music, lighting, art, furniture placement, and even the way power outlets are planned
•The connection between how people live at home and how they show up in shared workspaces (plus some hilarious real-life stories)
If you’re an owner, developer, asset manager, or leader trying to:
•Refresh an office or workspace
•Design a new hotel, amenity space, or shared lobby
•Make your workplace feel more like an experience than a cubicle farm
…this conversation will give you a ton of practical insight, a few “oh no, we did that” moments, and some fresh ideas you can bring straight to your next project.
Check-In with Bryan is hosted by Bryan Fish, CEO of Reliance Hospitality, where he sits down with industry leaders, designers, owners, and innovators reshaping the future of hospitality, travel, and experience-driven spaces.
This episode was recorded at NextSpace in partnership with Immedia.
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•👍 Like the video if you got value from the conversation
•💬 Drop a comment with your favorite takeaway—or the worst design choice you’ve ever seen in a hotel or office
•🔔 Subscribe to Check-In with Bryan for new episodes and our Friday Checkout mini-episodes
