Hotel Business was on hand as Zack Gharib, Red Roof’s new president, made his first official visit to one of the company’s hotels, the Red Roof Inn & Suites Indianapolis Airport.
After touring the property with owners Ram Singh and Rupesh Patel, he sat down with Hotel Business to discuss his plans as the new leader of the company.
Being named the president of Red Roof is a “dream come true” for Gharib, who, throughout his career, has held senior-level franchising, operations and brand management roles with Marriott, Vacasa, La Quinta by Wyndham and Highgate Homes.
“Growing up, I always knew I was going to be in the hospitality industry,” he said. “But to have that vision of one day becoming the president of a major company in the U.S., especially being born in Lebanon and then coming here and getting into this industry, is just a dream come true.”
Zack Gharib shakes hands with former AAHOA board member Mahesh Parekh.
But, he said, the title has a lot of responsibility that comes with it, adding, “There are a lot of people counting on me to determine how we drive the company in the future, the vision, the strategy, how we execute and how we go out there and sell the brand. There’s a lot on the line, but I am excited about the challenge.”
He stressed that the company will continue to succeed because of its people. “The number-one thing that I always think about with a position like this is the people,” said Gharib. “I believe we have a great team, and we have great franchisees. If you think about the challenge, we already have a lot of great things going on because I am surrounded by great people.”
He pointed to the fact that some of those people have been with the brand for many years, including some approaching four decades. “We have more than 100 that have longevity, and that speaks of the emotional attachment people have for the brand,” he said. “That really will drive success for the future because they want to see you succeed. That’s really impressive for me to see.”
One of the first areas he is focusing on is building a great culture that will help everyone succeed. “How do we go out there and serve our franchisees in the best way possible and elevate our support and resources for them to succeed?” said the president. “They’re on the front lines of delivering to our guests. While we supply the tools, resources and support, they are out there delivering it on a daily basis. It is important for me to create the culture that everyone wants to be a part of and creates that guest experience at the end of the day.”
He is also going to continue supporting the RIDE (Road to Inclusivity and Diversity in Entrepreneurship) with Red Roof program, a diversity and inclusion platform supporting growth and business expansion for hotel owners and franchisees, and he was impressed with it when he joined the company.
“It has been very encouraging and empowering to see that a lotof hotels are owned by women, fully or partially,” he said. “We have more than 35% of our hotels owned by a woman, which is a powerful thing. We’re bringing a lot more diversity into our industry.”
Throughout history, according to Gharib, when one looks at the great brands, consistency has been a key to success. “To thrive, you have to drive consistency,” he said. “We are looking at everything internally, from elevating our SOPs, processes, guidelines and the way we do things. It all has to tie in and create synergies within our organization. Once that is all finalized, we can go out and start executing.”
Red Roof is also looking at the way to help franchisees open hotels and “support them and make sure they stay on track with all the resources and tools,” said Gharib. “We are working with the general contractors to make sure they know all of the timelines things should work within.”
From a development perspective, the company is also doing a “deep dive” into economic factors, including high interest rates and finding lenders to work with franchisees. “We want to provide them all those resources that can increase their growth and ours as well,” he added.
Red Roof is changing the way it conducts property visits. “While they were good property visits before, now we are developing a process that entails more things we can cover, address and support,” he said.
Gharib said he enjoys visiting properties and plans to visit more beyond the visit to the Indianapolis location. “I have already asked our development team to highlight some areas and some hotels I should visit, starting with hotels that could really use our help and support more than others,” he said. “I am excited to get on the road and visit our hotels. Meeting the owners here, Rupesh and Ram, has been really outstanding and makes me want to pack my bags and get on the road again.”
The president is looking forward to meeting owners and has already spoken to many of them about their experiences. “Two weeks into my start, we had a Circle of Excellence award ceremony,” he said. “I had a chance to meet a lot of them and talk with them about their best practices, ideas and how they are driving success. Two weeks later, we had a meeting of our franchise advisory council. It came at a great time, and I got a lot of feedback.”
Being an immigrant to this country, Gharib can relate to his franchisees, many of whom had a similar journey. “I know the struggle,” he said. “You come to the country not really knowing how you are going to be treated and accepted. A lot of our franchisees have spent countless days and nights, and sweat and tears, building their hotels building the success of their stories.”
He recalled the beginning of his own career, when he worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week. “It was a grind,” he said. “But it takes consistency. It takes belief. It really reminds me when I go to owners and see them working the front desk or cleaning rooms, which I did personally. It puts it into perspective.”
He added, “I have a lot of passion to go out there and provide everything we can do to really support them, elevate their lives and make sure they are as successful as they can be.”
When asked what he hopes his legacy will be once all things are said and done, Gharib said he wants to bring the brand to the next level.
“Legacies are made by what people say about you at the end of the day,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I think I accomplished. So, for me, if I retire one day, and there’s chatter of ‘Zack did this and that, and got the brand to the next level,’ that would be a great achievement and a great honor.”
He continued, “Really, it is what the people, from our franchisees to our employees, say in the future is what matters to me. Now I have a responsibility of going out there and making our team’s environment and lives better and our franchisees’ success even more elevated.”
