This week on The Mobile Alabama Business Podcast, we sit down with David Clark. Listen in as we discuss his life, career journey, and how he got into the world of tourism!
Produced by Blue Fish.
Transcript:
David Clark: My name is David Clark and I'm president and CEO of Visit Mobile.
Marcus Neto: Yay. Well, David, it's good to have you here.
David Clark: Thanks, Marcus.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, absolutely. We've known each other for a number of years. We were just talking before we started recording that we used to run into each other a lot more downtown.
David Clark: That's right.
Marcus Neto: But I'm glad to have you here because I think we uncovered some things with the Karlos Finley interview, even though that really wasn't the focus of his interview. And I want to expand on that with you here in a minute about the heritage tours and things like that, that might be coming down the pike.
But to get started, normally, we want to get a little bit of backstory about the person. So tell us the story of David. Where are you from? I'm gathering that you went to high school and college. So where did you go to high school and college at? What'd you study in college? Are you married? Stuff like that.
David Clark: Yeah. A quick 35 years of my career. I can do that in about one minute.
Marcus Neto: We've got time, so don't do it in a minute, but yeah.
David Clark: So yeah, I grew up in Kentucky in Madisonville, went to high school there, graduated from there. And did a golf scholarship thing at Morehead State and two years there in Kentucky and then transferred to Western Kentucky University, and graduated from there and majored in business.
And then actually started my career in golf at The Grand Hotel in 1987 as an assistant golf pro loading bags, thinking I was a pretty good player. Maybe I could play practice and get on the tour. I found out pretty quickly after a year or two that I wasn't that good. I was okay.
So I really learned the business of golf, the people of golf, and bringing teams together, and rose through the ranks there and eventually became general manager of The Grand Hotel. So from that, I was at The Grand for about 23 years in different phases and different positions, and then left there for Spectrum Resorts, The Beach Club based out there. And then Spectrum was The Beach Club and the Turquoise Place, and teamed with them.
Marcus Neto: [inaudible 00:02:21].
David Clark: Two big properties in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, great company there. And then a little over four years ago, this opportunity came at Visit Mobile. And through the collaboration of those 32 or 33 years, knew a lot of stakeholders here. It was a natural fit. I'm fortunate to be here.
We have so many great things going on in Mobile. And I saw that I just wanted to be a part of that team and the stakeholders to, hopefully, take 10 or 15 years here and really try to move the needle and raise the bar, and take all the assets, the great assets that everyone has, and bring them together to sell tourism.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. No, I think many people in the Mobile area have heard of Visit Mobile but aren't really familiar with what it is that you all do or what you're charged with and stuff like that. So why don't you just give us a summary of...
David Clark: Yeah. So our team at Visit Mobile, we sell tourism, we sell everything about tourism in Mobile. So we partner with our lodging folks, our attractions, our retail, our restaurateurs, everything that Mobile has to offer. And we sell it, we promote it.
We have three segments that we are always paying attention to every day, and that's the leisure, the business transient, the conventions. So we have a marketing team, we have a convention meeting sales team, and we have a mixture of folks dabbling in all that like me.
So we have a team right now, about 15 folks. And we're really trying to drive the lodging metrics of Mobile. And if we do that effectively, then we will compress the market everywhere and get people in here to come and stay, eat, shop, and look at the great arts and the culture and everything else that we have in Mobile. So that's what we do. We have a great team.
The thing that makes our job easy is that we have great stakeholders. Mobile's an easy... It's becoming a much easier sell based on everything that's happening in the world right now. Our smaller metropolitan areas, people are leaving the big cities, they're coming to the smaller cities. And people are really digging Mobile right now.
I live Downtown Mobile. And the advantage of that too is I get to walk to work, I get to walk to the restaurants, and I get to see everything, and be intertwined in everything.
Marcus Neto: We need to get you one of these Super73s that [inaudible 00:05:01].
David Clark: Oh. I saw that.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, no, it's a fun way to get around downtown, for sure. I think people don't realize if you sell lodging and people are staying in the hotels, they're naturally going to fulfill all the other things that you want to push, which is the eating and the entertainment and the shopping and stuff like that. So I can see why you would be focused on that.
David Clark: And tourism is a big thing in Mobile. I don't know if people realize that, in normal times, there's just over three million visitors that come in that spend $1.2 billion. We employ, as a hospitality community, about 17,000 jobs.
So when COVID hit, it was devastation. The travel and tourism industries were the largest affected adversely industry or adverse industry in the world. And so it is balancing back and Mobile is balancing back quicker than most cities, so we're thrilled about that.
Marcus Neto: So one of the things that Karlos touched on was this idea of heritage tourism. And then we also have done an interview with Eva, which I don't know if it's actually been released just yet, about some ecotourism things that she's doing.
And I know you and I were speaking beforehand about the possibilities there for Mobile. And I guess I'd just ask you, what do you see when it comes to those two things? What are some of the numbers that you guys are throwing around when it comes to those two things?
David Clark: Oh yeah. So I think Karlos hit the nail on the head. Eco, when I came here four years ago, was in my crosshairs immediately. Our delta is one of the largest biodiverse deltas, America's Amazon, top 35 in the world.
In fact, we just had Costas Christ here, who coined the term ecotourism. And he's collaborating with Coastal Alabama Partnership, and our organization, and many other stakeholders, to try to brand our delta and all of our water assets. And hopefully, we can get him on board for a while and we can drive that brand and message.
So we began eco from Downtown Mobile, almost three and a half years ago with WildNative Tours and Perdido Queen at Cooper Riverside Park. And I've always thought that Cooper Riverside Park was one tremendous opportunity for Mobile. It's very underutilized. We have a cruise ship, normally, that's bringing in 200,000 passengers. Just to the south of it, we have a convention center. Just to the north of it, it's bringing in 250,000 people. So you have pent-up demand.
Marcus Neto: That's crazy. These numbers-
David Clark: Half a million people around that space the whole time.
Marcus Neto: These numbers are insane.
David Clark: Yeah. It's crazy. And so you have Water Street, which is a little problematic with traffic, but we can get through that. I thought, sadly, it just seemed like Mobile sort of ended at Water Street. People should be using the river. We have a great riverfront, a great port there.
Marcus Neto: Have you ever been to DC?
David Clark: I have been to DC.
Marcus Neto: So do you [inaudible 00:08:14] King Street [inaudible 00:08:15]?
David Clark: Yes, absolutely.
Marcus Neto: When I moved here, I always saw Dolphin Street as King Street.
David Clark: There you go.
Marcus Neto: It's very similar in a lot of respects, right? And on a Friday and Saturday night, it's nothing for people to go down, have dinner, walk around, there's entertainers. I always remember the guy with all the glasses that plays with the water in them, and he plays the glasses and stuff.
But it's just a very romantic place for people to go and walk. But you have access to the water. And it always blew my mind that here in Mobile, and I'm glad to see that that's changing, but for a long time, there was no access to the water down there.
David Clark: Yeah. Well, now there is. And Karlos, the mayor, a lot of us have been collaborating the last two or three years on trying to program that space. For instance, the idea of a container market down there. Just think about it.
Mobile, the McLean family, they revolutionized container shipping for the whole world. It happened right there on the river. It so happens to be that the containers are in GulfQuest Maritime Museum. That's iconic. It's authentic for us. Why not try something like that?
So we're moving toward ideas like that to program these things, to where it can be very diverse, authentic incubator space. And then also to do some cool things that we're working on in collaboration with Africatown and the Clotilda.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. I was going to say [inaudible 00:09:37].
David Clark: From a phase one standpoint. Yeah. So from a phase one standpoint, for the last year and a half or so, our organization's been collaborating with the Africatown community, the collaborative, and folks like Commissioner Ludgood on trying to turn that story into an experience.
It's a 160-year-old story that's an international story that unites two continents. And we're very passionate about, if we do the right thing for Africatown and if Africatown wins, the rest of the communities in coastal Alabama wins.
But the main thing is to get Africatown restored. And it's a very resilient community. They fought hard for a long time. And I'm proud to say that it's coming together, thank goodness, because of a lot of collaboration and teamwork through the city, through the county, through Africatown, and our organization, and many others.
What we've done over the last probably seven, eight months is we had a SCADpro contract that the City Council and the Mayor's Administration awarded us. We had two projects there; an immersive project and a Clotilda short film project. Both of those are complete now.
Marcus Neto: Nice.
David Clark: It's amazing. And we can't wait to roll it out. And we think the right time to start with tourism in Africatown is when the Heritage House is ready. And thank goodness for the great leadership of Commissioner Ludgood, the County Commission, the city, and Africatown. It looks like that could come to life January of '22.
Marcus Neto: Okay.
David Clark: We look at that as anchor number one for tourism in Africatown. And we also look at maybe about that time to start and show the Clotilda short film at GulfQuest, to have water tours to Twelve Mile Island in the proximity where the Clotilda was discovered, have experience givers, storytellers.
We have a script developed now. We have a lot of cool things that could wrap around that. And then from a heritage tourism standpoint, I think that there's a lot of people, lots of people that are going to come in wanting to experience that. Heritage tourism is the thing right now.
And to prove the point, Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson, what he did in Montgomery. The first year alone in Montgomery, a half million visitors, Civil Rights.
Marcus Neto: That's insane.
David Clark: And I'm proud of our State Department of Tourism, Lee Sentell, Rosemary Judkins. We [inaudible 00:12:14] very closely. They founded the Civil Rights Trail 16 years ago from Alabama. Now it's in 16 other states.
Lee just actually published a book on civil rights. It came out last week. Our civil rights assets in Alabama and throughout United States are tremendous. And the international visitors are really coming in, in droves, to see that.
So I think at some point in time, heritage tourism in Mobile, Alabama, Africatown, when the assets are fully built, can bring in a million visitors a year. That's how big it can be.
Marcus Neto: So that's double what you see with the Convention Center and with the cruise ship.
David Clark: That's correct. Combined.
Marcus Neto: The numbers are insane. I'm on the board for the chamber, and one of the things that we're always looking at is a diversification of the assets that Mobile has. So we don't want to be too heavy on manufacturing. We don't want to be too heavy on healthcare. We don't want to be too heavy on tourism. You want all of those things to be-
David Clark: To balance.
Marcus Neto: ... growing at the same time. So it's nice to hear that there are things that are going on besides the beach. Right? I think so many of us think, because we live here and we live amongst all this stuff all the time, we're like, well, there's nothing to do because it's too cold or it's raining. I can't go to the beach, or I can't go out on my boat or whatever. But it's nice to know that there are other things that people are going to be able to do when they come to visit.
David Clark: That's right.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. I do feel the need to say something. If you're not from this area or you moved here, one of the things that people don't really realize is that Africatown, the name actually comes from the Clotilda. Right?
David Clark: That's right.
Marcus Neto: So when the slaves were brought on land, the slavery was over. And so they were told that they could take this land and occupy it. And it was called Africatown. Because when I moved here, I was kind of like, wow, that's a really odd name for a town.
So it's like even in the name of the town, there's a lot of history about the ship and what's going on and stuff like that. So it's really cool to dig into that.
But let's go back because you have accomplished quite a lot. To be the general manager of some of these properties that you've been a general manager of and to have accomplished some of the things, you definitely have some skills or some experiences that people would really appreciate hearing about.
So tell us about your first job. And were there any lessons that you remember from that? And when I say first job, I mean flipping burgers, pushing a broom. [inaudible 00:15:01]
David Clark: Yeah. I learned a lot there. It's just that I've learned all my life that, first of all, you hire people that are smarter than you, that you get in there and work hard with everybody and you roll up your sleeves.
I've always found, I found as I get older that people will work for blood, sweat, and tears when they know that you know what a day in the life of what they're trying to accomplish is, and soul. I've fortunately had a lot of great leaders and mentors myself that have taught me these life lessons.
And I think that when you get up there and you roll in your sleeves and when people know that you really care about them and their family, they're with you. And I think you have to over-err to that because you're going to get better results when you do that.
Really, it's servant leadership. And y'all know this, and people listening know that. Some people might think that's a little weak, but I think it's very strong. And I think you've got to get in there. And I think it's powerful when you know what a day in the life of your stakeholders, what they're doing.
I found in my life that you've got to wash some dishes if you're going to be a general manager of a hotel or a restaurant. You've got to clean, you've got to clean some rooms. Your housekeepers have got to see you, and they got to know that you're all in. And they got to know that you appreciate them because what they do, it's really hard work.
And in the hospitality industry... What's rewarding about our career is that you meet a lot of diverse people, whether you're working on their team or whether they're you're customers. And I've always been fanatical about keeping in touch with my housekeepers, my customers, my mentors, and trying to go the extra mile.
And I'm still trying to improve every day on that, as busy as we all are with different things coming at us. Earning the right to lead, success is never final with that.
Marcus Neto: Can we stop right there? You just said something that I think is so amazing. Earning the right to lead. That as a statement... And I didn't mean to interrupt, but I just want to highlight that because that is such a profound statement in just a few words, earning the right to lead. Because a title does not give you that right.
David Clark: Title means nothing. Title is nothing.
Marcus Neto: Yeah.
David Clark: You've got to increase value every day you come to work. You got to be results-driven. And you got to learn to slow down every once in a while too at times to have that balance. But all my life I've respected our housekeepers, our dishwashers, our groundspeople, the people that really do the hard work. I used to do it too. I graduated from college and started loading bags and picking up range balls and cleaning clubs. Right? And I learned a lot of life lessons.
Marcus Neto: [inaudible 00:18:11].
David Clark: And I think that's what life's about is earning the right to lead and earning respect, and understanding too that you're going to get humbled a lot along the way, and it's good for you. You're going to face adversity and challenges.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. If you look to the business world, is there somebody that you look to that motivates you or that you think, hey man, they've really got things together? And it might not be somebody in your space. It may just be a businessperson, that their processes and their way of thinking and stuff like that jives with you.
David Clark: Yeah. There are so many. I've been fortunate to have some of the best leaders and work with people, hundreds and thousands of people.
Marcus Neto: Yeah.
David Clark: I have sort of a coach right now, Dan Lumpkin, Lumpkin & Associates. You talked about earning the right to lead, he coined that. I respect him so much. He lives in Fairhope and he helps a lot of people. He's been a big-time mentor even in my hard times. He's helped me understand more about myself.
How do you say who you are when you're reinventing yourself? And those kind of things. And to restore some confidence. But I have a lot of Dan Lumpkins also in my life of customers who I keep in touch with today that are 90, 95 years old, that live in Leawood, Kansas or that kind of thing. People that have just taken a chance on me.
Or Pat Browne, who was the World Blind Golf Champion, that I had the pleasure of coaching him for years. And he taught me lots of life lessons of what happened to him, and how he changed the world even after he was hit by a drunk driver, which caused his blindness. Great faith and great passion to help change the world.
The diversity I've been around has taught me that having diverse teams is important, hiring people who think differently than you do is very important because a lot of times as leaders, a young leader... I remember there was a time where I wanted to maybe hire people that were a lot like me. Because it's more comfortable, right?
Marcus Neto: Yeah. It's a mistake. You have all these shortcomings [inaudible 00:20:38].
David Clark: It's a disaster. It's a disaster. You've got to have people... If we were all the same, we'd need fewer of us, right?
Marcus Neto: Yeah.
David Clark: We need diversity. The last year has taught me even more lessons. You have to be intentional about inclusion. You have to be intentional about when you're hiring people. What space are you advertising in?
Marcus Neto: It's going to reach [inaudible 00:21:01].
David Clark: Because we were sometimes in a traditional box. Well, how are some other cultures? They may not go there. So constantly learning and growth.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. I did want to point out. I don't know if you did this intentionally, but you said that you have a coach. And then you, a few sentences later, mentioned that you coached. And I just think that it's important to note that, as leaders, oftentimes that is the situation.
Because there's always somebody that's a few steps ahead of you that you can learn something from, but there's also a responsibility to pass on the knowledge to those that might be behind us that can then learn from the experiences that you have.
And so I just think if you're out there listening to this and you are wanting to find yourself in a position of leadership, having a mentor is not a sign of weakness. And mentoring others is not necessarily a sign of... It is a sign of power, but it's not an egotistical power. I mean, you do have a responsibility there to guide somebody correctly. Yeah, it's good stuff.
Are there any books, podcasts, people, or organizations that have been helpful in moving you forward?
David Clark: I love your podcast.
Marcus Neto: Oh, come on.
David Clark: I think Blue Fish does... Y'all do a great job. You're innovative and creative. I think that's awesome. Love your new office, by the way, on Dolphin Street. I like to listen to TED Talks.
Simon Sinek is really cool. Great Leaders Inspire Action. Tony Robbins, Why You Do What You Do. That's another good one. And I recommend that if you haven't listened to those, go do it immediately today. They're inspiring and spot-on. Good to Great by John Collins is always a good book, a good read.
And I just think you have to get out there and talk to your people. And you got to be visibly engaged. Bill Marriott once taught me a lesson. When he comes to your hotel, and he used to do a site visit, he didn't come to the GM's office and sit and talk for two or four hours. He'd say, "Take me around. I want you to introduce me to everyone you come in contact with."
Marcus Neto: Yeah. And you better know their name.
David Clark: Well, that's right. When I was introducing Marcus Neto to Bill Marriott, was I looking at Marcus' name tag or was I looking at him straight in the eye? And he was a very smart man. And he knew that if you knew all your folks' names, your associates' names, that you were on the floor, you were with them, and that your metrics, your associate satisfaction would be higher, your guest satisfaction would be higher, your profits would be higher.
Because if, conversely, you didn't, you were staying and spending too much time in your office, you couldn't possibly know what was going on in your hotel, and you'd be a complete disaster. But he knew that before he flew in because if your associate satisfaction was high, your guest satisfaction would be high, and the rest of it would take care of itself. Right?
It really is being visible, being engaged. It's about one-on-ones a lot of times. Quick little information and exchange, and mind-dumping, and move.
Marcus Neto: Offhand, how nerve-racking is it when somebody with the last name Marriott is coming to visit?
David Clark: As humble as he is, I've met him on a few occasions, it's not nerve-racking because he preaches what he said. And he's always said, from 35 years ago when I met him for the first time at The Grand Hotel, he said, "Your associates seem happy around here. Keep doing what you're doing. Take great care of your associates, because if they do, they'll take great care of the guests, and the guests take care of the rest."
And about 10 years ago in San Francisco, California, he came out with a bathrobe on or whatever, because it was the clean bed guarantee and whatever, he talked for about two minutes and that's what he said. "In times like this, where it's the best times ever," whatever, maybe that was 15 years ago, he said, "People have choices. You have to take really great care of your people or they're going to go somewhere else to work."
Marcus Neto: Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. You mentioned servant leadership earlier. And I don't know if you were just using that as a term or if you were referring to the book that Jocko Willink wrote. But the premise of that book is that no matter what the problem is, that it's your responsibility as the person that is the leader.
And so whether it's the fact that there might be trash on a floor or whether somebody that you have working for you is disgruntled, or whether a customer is having a bad experience, all of those fall on the shoulders of you as the person that runs that organization.
David Clark: That's right.
Marcus Neto: And certainly, your metrics are going to show that. What's the most important thing that you've learned about running an organization?
David Clark: Have values. Values are your compass. And a lot of times when people do a value creation of their company, the single most important thing that you must do is... They're your compass, right? They keep you aligned to what you're trying to do.
And a lot of times, people that do their values exercise, they put them on a pretty poster and they put them in the associate cafeteria and they're not talked about. It's a complete disaster. Because if you don't follow your values, you're going to wake up two or three years from now and you're going to say, "Why is our guest satisfaction so bad? Why are profits sinking? Why is our star comp set beating us?" It's because you haven't lived your values.
Our values at Visit Mobile are accountability, communication, teamwork, service, integrity, and community. They're on our reviews. We talk about them at least once a quarter. We go over our business assessments from Lumpkin & Associates about how we're wired, how we like to communicate, how we don't like to communicate.
I think the accountability of your values is extremely important to reach your mission and vision. And that's what I've really learned is really important. You've got to live your values.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. It's a good reminder for me because I don't think... We do have those values written down. I don't know that we spend enough time talking about them. So thanks for the reminder because I probably need to bring that up a little bit more.
Okay. So this is literally the hardest question that you're going to have today. How do you like to unwind?
David Clark: Yard work with my family, recently on a boat, a family boat.
Marcus Neto: Okay.
David Clark: So we go out. And if I can get 30 or 35 miles offshore, and whether I catch any fish or not, that's okay.
Marcus Neto: [inaudible 00:28:13].
David Clark: It's pretty simple for me. All us leaders, we work hard. I challenge people because I've been pretty miserable at it myself or bad at it myself, times of work, work, work, work, and no play. And that's bad for your team. It's bad for your family.
So learn from me too. Take great care of yourself because if you do that, it's not selfish, it means that you can take better care of others.
Marcus Neto: Absolutely. That is a lesson that I've learned over the course of the last two or so, three years. It actually grates against everything inside of me because it's so easy, there are so many things to do, and it's so easy to just say, I'm going to go to the office. I'm going to toil away for 12 or 14 hours a day or whatever it is and just keep doing that.
And you could literally do that, as a business owner, you could do that every day for the rest of your life.
David Clark: Well, you look like you're in shape, Marcus. I want to be like you when I grow up. And the other thing I do is I do jog. I love to jog. That's how I unwind. In fact, I had a "me" moment this morning. I said, "I'm cutting it close, but I don't have anything on my calendar till 10:00, which is rare, so I'm going to go jog an extra mile or two and come in the office late."
Marcus Neto: Nice.
David Clark: And I've really never really done much of that. It's good for everybody involved.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, it is. Because then you come to the office with a different perspective. Sometimes people will mention things to me in passing and I'll say, "Okay. Well, that's good. We'll come up with something for that."
And I don't think they realize what that means, but it means that that idea is probably going to come to me either at the gym or in the shower or while I'm doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with advertising.
David Clark: That's the way it usually comes.
Marcus Neto: It really is. And so the more that you can allow for that space... Because when you're working, working, working, your mind is tied up. And it's not until you free it that you allow for space for those ideas to come into that vacuum.
And so it's extremely important because if you're a business owner, sometimes the ideas aren't necessarily for clients, sometimes they're ideas for the business and how you can expand the business and make it better. And going back to what you were saying, helping your employees feel better about the work that they're doing. And helping your customers feel that they're getting something that's different than what they can get anywhere else, and so on and so forth. So it really is-
David Clark: Well said.
Marcus Neto: It's an extremely important thing in a business owner or a leader's life. Tell people where they can find out more information about Visit Mobile and some of the things you guys have going on.
David Clark: Mobile.org. Mobile.org. We have a very robust website that is connected and linked to many partners, so you can find out what's going on in Mobile. I think a thing we're working on right now too is just a more robust calendar. There's a lot of different calendars in Mobile and there are so many things to do in Mobile.
Marcus Neto: We know.
David Clark: I would love to find a way, if anyone's listening, I know I've got a few folks out there we're going to start collaborating with over the next few weeks. There are so many great things going on in Mobile. But Mobile.org.
Marcus Neto: Yep. Very good. And also, I'm imagining you're on Facebook and Instagram and stuff like that.
David Clark: All of it.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. Well, I want to thank you again for coming on the podcast. To wrap up, any final thoughts or comments?
David Clark: Well, thanks for having me on your great podcast. Again, love your new office. This is a cool space.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. No, I appreciate it. And thank you for making time. David, I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as a business leader. It's been great talking with you.
David Clark: Thank you so much.
