The Halo Effect: Hospitality Stories with Ashleigh and Michael Donald

Is Your Website Working While You Sleep? w/ Silvia Del Corso

In this episode, Ashleigh and Michael are joined by Silvia Del Corso, founder of PinkSEO, an award-winning SEO agency built on a simple premise: no jargon, no fixed contracts, and results that really move the needle. In this conversation, Silvia shares how her background in travel and tourism shaped the way she runs her agency today. She explains why trust is now the central currency of digital search, how AI has flooded the internet with beige content and what that means for businesses that want to stand out, and why your website should work like a salesperson and winning you new business while you sleep. We also dig into what really separates a website that looks impressive from one that actually converts, why PinkSEO works in high-trust sectors like medical, legal and financial, and how operating without fixed term contracts keeps the whole team on their toes. Whether you're in hospitality or any other sector, this episode is packed with practical, no-nonsense thinking on visibility, trust, and digital growth. Connect with Us: * Ashleigh Donald on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleighdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleighdonald/] * Michael Donald on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgdonald/] * Silvia Del Corso on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/silviadelcorso [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/silviadelcorso] Find out more: * Halo Business Consulting: https://www.gohalo.co.uk/ [http://www.gohalo.co.uk/] * PinkSEO: https://pinkseo.marketing/ [https://pinkseo.marketing/] Don’t forget to like, subscribe, or follow “The Halo Effect: Hospitality Stories with Ashleigh and Michael Donald” on your preferred podcast platform. Please get in touch if you would like to see us discuss a particular subject on a future episode. We would love to invite fellow hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs to join us on future episodes, so please DM us via socials or email podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] if you are interested.

Connection, Community and the Future of Hospitality with Katie Tobin & Karen Willey

Why the best business development doesn't feel like selling If the idea of "business development" makes you uncomfortable, maybe this episode is for you. Ashleigh and Michael are joined by Katie Tobin and Karen Willey, co-founders of Always Thinking and Festival of Hospitality, two people who've spent their careers proving that the best business development doesn't feel like business development at all. It feels like keeping in touch. Making introductions. Being genuinely helpful. Connecting people who should know each other. Showing up consistently over time. With more than 50 years of combined experience across hospitality and the built environment, Katie and Karen have built careers on relationships. They've also seen first-hand what happens when the right people aren't involved in the right conversations early enough. That insight sits at the heart of Festival of Hospitality, the hospitality community and event series they created. Hotels can take years to move from concept to opening. Yet decisions made in investment meetings can shape the guest experience long after the doors open. Owners, investors, operators, brands, architects, designers, project managers and hospitality leaders all bring different perspectives, but too often they're working in parallel rather than together. Festival of Hospitality was created to change that. By bringing decision-makers from across the entire hotel lifecycle into the same room, the conversation becomes richer, collaboration improves and, ultimately, better hotels are created. Because the best hospitality experiences don't happen by accident. They're built through shared understanding, diverse perspectives and strong relationships. Katie and Karen also share lots of practical advice. Visit the hotel you've been curious about. Experience the service. Observe the design. Build your reference points. Pick up the phone instead of sending the fourth follow-up email. In a world where so much interaction has moved online, the willingness to connect in person remains one of the most underused advantages in business. And then there's Pay It Forward, their schools outreach programme introducing young people to the breadth of opportunities within hospitality. From design and technology to finance, operations and leadership, they're helping the next generation discover an industry that can take them anywhere in the world. This episode is a powerful reminder that hospitality has always been, and always will be, a people business. The connections we nurture, the communities we create and the willingness to bring others into the conversation will shape the future of our industry. Whether you work in hospitality or another sector, this conversation is a masterclass in building relationships, backing yourself and playing the long game. Connect with Us: * Ashleigh Donald on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleighdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleighdonald/] * Michael Donald on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgdonald/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgdonald/] * Katie Tobin on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katie-tobin-b5133324 [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katie-tobin-b5133324] * Karen Willey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-willey-0a21a418 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-willey-0a21a418] Find out more: * Halo Business Consulting: https://www.gohalo.co.uk/ [http://www.gohalo.co.uk/] * Festival of Hospitality: www.festivalofhospitality.live/about [https://www.festivalofhospitality.live/about] * Always Thinking: www.alwaysthinking.org/ [https://www.alwaysthinking.org/] Don’t forget to like, subscribe, or follow “The Halo Effect: Hospitality Stories with Ashleigh and Michael Donald” on your preferred podcast platform. Please get in touch if you would like to see us discuss a particular subject on a future episode. We would love to invite fellow hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs to join us on future episodes, so please DM us via socials or email podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] if you are interested.

Managing Inspiring Brands in the AI Era with Sam Weston

In this episode, Ashleigh and Michael are joined by Sam Weston, Head of AI and Marketing at 80 Days [https://www.eighty-days.com/] and editor of Hotel Speak [https://www.hotelspeak.com/], a specialist with over two decades of experience across hospitality, digital marketing, brand strategy, and AI. Sam explores why brand has never mattered more for hotels and why "brand legibility" is fast becoming as important as brand strength. The conversation covers generative engine optimisation (GEO) and how hotels can make themselves discoverable in AI-powered search, the rise of agentic AI and what it could mean for the future of hotel bookings and direct revenue, and how hotel websites need to evolve to serve both human visitors and AI agents. Sam also shares three practical first steps any hotelier can take today to prepare for an AI-led discovery landscape. 🔗 BONUS LINK [https://www.eighty-days.com/blog/brand-legibility-what-ai-needs-from-your-hotel-brand/] - Read Sam's latest article on brand legibility and what AI needs from your hotel brand:  Connect with Us: * Email: ⁠⁠podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] * Website:⁠⁠ [http://www.gohalo.co.uk]www.gohalo.co.uk⁠⁠ [about:blank] * Instagram: ⁠⁠@haloitsmichael⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/haloitsmichael] and ⁠⁠@haloitsashleigh⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/haloitsashleigh] * LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Halo Business Consulting⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/halo-business-consulting] Don’t forget to like, subscribe, or follow “The Halo Effect: Hospitality Stories with Ashleigh and Michael Donald” on your preferred podcast platform. Please get in touch if you would like to see us discuss a particular subject on a future episode. We would love to invite fellow hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs to join us on future episodes, so please DM us via socials or email podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] if you are interested.

The Hospitality Revenue Engine with Stephen Levin

What if your front desk is the most underused commercial team in your hotel? In Episode 46 of The Halo Effect, Ashleigh and Michael are joined by Stephen Levins [https://www.linkedin.com/in/slevins/], Vice President International at Frontline Performance Group [https://frontlinepg.com/], who leads an international team supporting more than 1,500 hotels across over 100 countries. Stephen's hospitality story starts in Ireland, runs through a graduate programme in car rental, and lands in Dubai eleven years ago, where he's helped continue to grow FPG into a global SaaS and services business working with Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Jumeirah, Emaar, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and more. In this episode: * Why an upsell should be something you do for a guest, not to them * Pre-judgement as the single biggest blocker in any guest-facing sales environment * How a well-run upsell programme delivered an 11% RevPAR lift and a 5.5% ADR increase at 50% occupancy * Why incentives are a retention strategy in a market where turnover is hospitality's biggest problem * Where AI and technology genuinely help, and where they quietly damage the guest experience * Listen until the end to hear about the moment Stephen says was worth much more than any financial achievement Connect with Us: * Email: ⁠⁠podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] * Website:⁠⁠ [http://www.gohalo.co.uk]www.gohalo.co.uk⁠⁠ [about:blank], www.frontlinepg.com [www.frontlinepg.com] * Instagram: ⁠⁠@haloitsmichael⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/haloitsmichael] and ⁠⁠@haloitsashleigh⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/haloitsashleigh] * LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Halo Business Consulting⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/halo-business-consulting] and Frontline Performance Group [https://www.linkedin.com/company/frontline-performance-group/] Don’t forget to like, subscribe, or follow “The Halo Effect: Hospitality Stories with Ashleigh and Michael Donald” on your preferred podcast platform. Please get in touch if you would like to see us discuss a particular subject on a future episode. We would love to invite fellow hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs to join us on future episodes, so please DM us via socials or email podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] if you are interested.

Reviews & Reputation with Paul Griffiths

In Episode 45 of The Halo Effect, Ashleigh and Michael are joined by Paul Griffiths [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paulgriffiths-guestrevu], Head of Commercial Growth and Strategic Partnerships at GuestRevu [https://www.guestrevu.com/] and Co-Founder of Next Wave Hospitality [https://www.nextwavehospitality.co.uk/]. Paul's hospitality story begins the way so many do, with the odd silver service shift at sixteen, and pulling pints behind the bar through university, The medical biochemistry degree might be a little less usual. After a brief stint trying to leave the industry behind, Paul found his way back, and has spent the last decade working at the intersection of hospitality and technology, helping hoteliers around the world better understand their guests and use data more meaningfully. In this conversation, Paul shares what eight years at Guestline taught him about the realities of hotel operations, why guest feedback and online reputation now sit at the heart of commercial performance, and how AI is changing the way guests discover, book and experience hotels. He talks through the friction points hoteliers can't afford to ignore and explains why a single point increase on a five-point review scale can support an 11.2% price increase while maintaining occupancy. We also hear the origin story behind Next Wave Hospitality, with the upcoming London event on 19th May already nearing capacity. In this episode: * What guests really expect from hotel technology in 2026 * Why unanswered reviews quietly cost hotels bookings * The shift in how guests discover hotels, from OTAs to AI itinerary planners * The commercial case for reputation management * Turning negative review themes into standout marketing campaigns * Paul's advice for anyone early in their hospitality career Connect with Us: * Email: ⁠⁠podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] * Website:⁠⁠ [http://www.gohalo.co.uk]www.gohalo.co.uk⁠⁠, www.guestrevu.com [http://www.guestrevu.com], www.nextwavehospitality.co.uk * Instagram: ⁠⁠@haloitsmichael⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/haloitsmichael] and ⁠⁠@haloitsashleigh⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/haloitsashleigh] * LinkedIn: ⁠⁠Halo Business Consulting⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/halo-business-consulting] ; Paul Griffiths [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paulgriffiths-guestrevu]; Next Wave Hospitality Don’t forget to like, subscribe, or follow “The Halo Effect: Hospitality Stories with Ashleigh and Michael Donald” on your preferred podcast platform. Please get in touch if you would like to see us discuss a particular subject on a future episode. We would love to invite fellow hospitality professionals and entrepreneurs to join us on future episodes, so please DM us via socials or email podcast@gohalo.co.uk [podcast@gohalo.co.uk] if you are interested.