Ryan Rivett, president/CEO, My Place Hotels of America, and grandson of Ron Rivett, spoke with Hotel Business about his grandfather and how Super 8’s legacy helped shape his company.
“I grew up in and around the culture of Super 8; the excitement, enthusiasm and pride of ownership are familiar feelings today as I recall many of my earliest memories. Ron was relentlessly true to character in every circumstance and among any group of people. Super 8 was just a group of people from Aberdeen, SD, doing business through a focus on relationships, dedication to hard work and a uniquely ever-present sense of ownership of the brand and the “family” that Super 8 almost unintentionally became.
“Whether it’s something in the water around here or unanimous intentionality that’s been placed on benchmarking our success of the legacy that Super 8 created, a tremendous volume of those early principles, attitudes and values continues today within our organization. As we began My Place, we relied heavily on the anecdotal insights and experiences of Ron and others who participated in the early success of Super 8. We found that while the world around us had changed, the core values and fundamental principles of business they incorporated added clarity and bearing to the road map that we were designing for My Place to grow.
“After 10 years of growing My Place, I can say that one of our greatest accomplishments is the sense of community, pride of ownership and the overtly confident tendency of our people to just be My Place people from Aberdeen, SD, doing what we like to do. It’s an honor to be a small piece of the legacy of Super 8, both personally and professionally, and I’m confident that the understanding of its impact and regard for its success will continue for 50 more years and beyond.
—Gregg Wallis
