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AttractionPros brings you into the room with the top leaders, executives, and influencers in the attractions industry, to gain the widest possible perspective of all areas of the industry. Most people are only exposed to the practices of their own organization without seeing how the rest of the industry operates. By following AttractionPros, you will gain the skills and knowledge needed to succeed and learn from the best of the best, whether you are the CEO or just beginning your career.
Episodes
22 minutes ago
22 minutes ago
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Josh Henderson is the CEO of Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, Florida. His career path spans the for-profit attractions world, starting as a lifeguard and expanding through roles across water parks and major operators like Six Flags and Great Wolf Lodge, along with leadership in privately funded public parks. Today, he leads a nonprofit natural attraction designed to deliver a high-quality experience without a gate fee, supported by donations and mission-driven revenue. In this interview, Josh talks about being a student of the industry, community dictating the business model, and emerging natural attractions.
Being a student of the industry
“I think being a student of the industry is starting out in one particular sect and then continuing to move on, and try and learn as much about each discipline as I can, really served me well and helped me grow in my career.”
Josh frames his growth as a willingness to expand beyond his original lane. Early on, he was convinced aquatics was his forever path, but as his interests evolved, he leaned into learning disciplines he once avoided, such as food and beverage. That mindset now shows up in how he spends time in outlets, looks for new revenue opportunities, and stays curious about parts of the business he doesn’t claim to have mastered.
He also shares how he learned by putting himself in rooms where he wasn’t the expert: “going into the uncomfortable situations where you're not the smartest person in the room, and and being humble enough to accept that.” Conferences, peer conversations, and surrounding himself with specialists became his playbook for continuous learning, especially in fast-changing areas like marketing.
Community dictating the business model
“We've allowed the community to dictate part of our business model.”
Bonnet Springs Park wasn’t designed in a vacuum. The founders conducted focus groups and asked residents what they wanted most. One clear answer shaped a major revenue and experience driver: an event venue that could host hundreds, where people could choose their own caterer. That choice reflects a deeper clue about the park’s role: it’s meant to serve community needs, not just operator preferences.
That same philosophy shows up operationally. Josh describes a difficult mindset shift from maximizing yield to creating shared opportunity, like bringing in authentic food trucks for festivals even when it hurts his margins: “when you're a community park and you're doing something for the betterment of the community, that means giving somebody else a chance to make a dollar as well.” In his view, the park succeeds when the community feels ownership, champions the mission, and participates in sustaining it.
Emerging natural attractions
“It barely existed when I got into it back in 2017.”
Josh positions Bonnet Springs as part of a growing sector that blends nature, placemaking, and attractions-grade operations. He calls it something you almost have to see to understand: a free park that aims to deliver “a paid level experience for free,” with immaculate restrooms, interactive exhibits, and accessibility features like a free internal tram system so guests with mobility challenges can fully enjoy the property.
He also links this sector’s growth to professionalization: daily inspections, strong documentation, and applying paid-attraction standards to a free environment because attendance and wear-and-tear are so intense. The opportunity, he suggests, is for leaders to think of the attractions world as an umbrella where “good business is good business,” and where creating “family experiences” can look different than building roller coasters while still delivering the emotional outcomes the industry is known for.
Josh shared that people can learn more at BonnetSpringsPark.com. He can also be found on LinkedIn or by email at josh@bonnetspringspark.com.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Jan 06, 2026
Tuesday Jan 06, 2026
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Matt and Josh kick off their ninth annual “Resolutionary” episode with a familiar challenge in the attractions industry: it is easy to set big intentions for the year ahead, but it is harder to stay accountable and actually follow through. They address that by reviewing last year’s goals with honest grading, then setting fresh, practical priorities for 2026, anchored in community, intention, and continuous improvement. In this episode, Matt and Josh talk about their annual “Resolutionary” tradition, reflecting on 2025 and setting personal, professional, and industry-wide focus areas for 2026.
Resolutionary as accountability, not perfection
“While it’s sort of a loose resolutionary process, there is some accountability in there.”
Matt frames the episode as a look back and a look forward, without pretending these are rigid, all-or-nothing resolutions. Josh reinforces the point that saying it out loud matters because it creates real follow-through. “The fact that it is recorded, broadcast, and immortalized into the podcast ether creates that accountability on us.” The result is a tradition built on reflection, transparency, and a push to be more intentional year over year.
Reviewing 2025 with candor
“I would give myself a D on that if I was going to give myself a letter grade.”
Instead of glossing over what did not happen, Matt shares where he fell short, including his goal to write more, and explains how his creative energy flowed into other outlets. He also celebrates wins like bringing back mastermind programs and expanding leadership-focused initiatives, including what grew out of their IAAPA experiences. Josh shares major momentum in his consulting model, emphasizing sustained client engagement and outcomes over one-off workshops. He also checks off key milestones like launching his online course, Service Recovery Hero, and exhibiting at IAAPA Expo.
Advocate and collaborate, and getting more voices on stage
“It’s two words: advocate and collaborate.”
Matt’s 2026 theme centers on helping more people get connected, get involved, and grow their confidence, especially through speaking opportunities. He makes it explicit: “My goal in 2026 is to get more and new people speaking at IAAPA so that we can hear those new voices and new perspectives.” Josh expands on the momentum that collaboration creates, comparing it to a flywheel that is hard to start but easier to sustain once it is moving. “The momentum builds upon itself.” Together, they position community-building as both a leadership responsibility and a practical growth strategy for the industry.
Process before scale, and building the next book
“I’ve created a buffer step between growth and scale, and that is process.”
Josh shares that growth has revealed a tipping point: without stronger internal systems, expansion could create friction instead of results. By gathering feedback from clients using his favorite experiential questions, he identifies what is working and what could improve, then commits to tightening operations to make outcomes more consistent. He also sets a creative goal connected to his book journey, developing the framework for his next book. Matt validates the importance of structure before execution, emphasizing that a strong framework makes the writing process possible.
Identity, habits, and a personal resolution
“As of January 2026, I am a world-renowned pianist.”
Josh takes a left turn into identity-based habit building, inspired by prior conversations and the idea that identity drives behavior. He talks through making the piano easy to access so practice becomes natural, not a chore. Matt, as a musician, backs that up with a simple truth: if setup is hard, it will not happen. They also connect learning to teaching and family, with Josh noting the value of teaching to deepen mastery.
Industry resolutions: basics, breaking silos, recovery tools, and people first
“Do the basics really well.”
Josh offers three industry-focused resolutions: nail fundamentals before chasing wow moments, remember that guest experience is everyone’s job, and proactively define a service recovery toolbox so teams do not default to escalation. Matt adds a human-centered reminder that ties everything together: “Don’t forget about your people.” He argues that with all the technology and innovation available, it is still employees who make the business run, now and forever.
If anybody has any resolutions or things that they’re focusing on, we want to hear them! Share your goals on social media and tag them so we can reshare and help keep the accountability alive.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Dec 30, 2025
Tuesday Dec 30, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Case Lawrence is the founder of CircusTrix. After helping shape the trampoline park category through early growth and major consolidation, he helped unify CircusTrix, Sky Zone, and Rockin’ Jump under the Sky Zone brand, navigating adversity including COVID and the long work of integration. He later stepped away from day-to-day leadership and brought his hard-won lessons into the classroom, teaching entrepreneurship at the BYU Marriott School of Business, which also helped him translate years of stories into principles for new experience builders. Case’s new book, Off the Ground, chronicles his journey in entrepreneurship and the trampoline park industry. In this interview, Case talks about the power of relationships, joy-based entrepreneurship, and influencer-based experiences
The power of relationships
“One of the key things I learned is the power of relationships.”
Case frames Sky Zone’s evolution as proof that big outcomes are rarely just the result of strategy on paper. He points to the trust between Jeff and Rick Platt, along with himself, as the glue that held a shared vision together through adversity, saying the three leaders “became partners in every true sense of the word” and stayed unified when outside forces could have splintered the effort.
He also pulls the lens closer to the human side of deals, noting that founders bring emotion, identity, and fear into negotiations. “To really get a complicated deal done, especially these big mergers, you’ve got to delve into the human side.” For him, the win is not only the transaction, but building enough credibility and empathy that everyone can cross the finish line feeling respected and secure.
Joy-based entrepreneurship
“Most discretionary dollars now are in search of experience. They’re in search of joy.”
Case explains that entrepreneurship education has long centered on solving pain, but entertainment and attractions thrive on creating something people choose because it elevates their day. He argues we’re entering a moment where the market is hungry for “heightened experience,” and that demands a new set of tools for identifying and building ideas rooted in delight, not frustration.
He connects this to how experiences are becoming more accessible to create, pointing to trampoline parks as a breakthrough that proved you can deliver “outlier, non-everyday experiences with limited capital.” That shift unleashes imagination, invites more founders into the space, and sets the stage for the next wave of innovation, especially as tech-enabled experiences expand what’s possible.
Influencer-based experiences
“Look to YouTube, look to the influencers, look what the young people are watching on TV now.”
Case predicts that what audiences binge online will increasingly become what they demand in-person. He describes influencers as experience designers in public, building appetite through episodic “wild experiences” that viewers will soon want to participate in, not just watch. In his words, “the merging of influencer culture with FEC attractions is going to be big.”
He also highlights the operational artistry required to translate entertainment into something guests can actually do. Using Ninja Warrior as an example, he notes that the job is to make it feel authentic while adjusting it for real people: “allow them to feel like they’re participating in this authentically, but dumb it down, ease it down in a way that they can participate in it… and make them feel like a Ninja Warrior.”
Case says Off the Ground is available for pre-order now on Amazon, and will be publicly available on January 20th, 2026. You can also learn more about Case at caselawrence.com.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Dec 23, 2025
Tuesday Dec 23, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Kim Welch is the founder of Welcome Hub. After growing up as an attractions fan, she started at Enchanted Forest Water Safari, learning front gate ticketing, retail, food, and games. She later moved to Orlando, spent years in entertainment at Universal Orlando, then shifted into IT and digital ticketing, becoming a subject matter expert working with marketing and operations. Roles at Universal, Gateway Ticketing Systems, and SSA Group led her to launch Welcome Hub to reimagine how tickets are delivered. In this interview, Kim talks about making digital ticketing better, tickets as a pre-show, and creating unboxing moments.
Making digital ticketing better
“That's what making it better is all about, is how do we take some of these burdens off of our guests and give them the options they need to make their visit even easier…”
For Kim, “better” means removing friction for both guests and teams. She recalls buying tickets at a kiosk, then photographing each printed ticket just to share them with her family because there was no flexible digital option. When guests must invent workarounds like this, the system is failing them.
Behind the scenes, she notes, teams juggle separate setups for PDFs, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, and event tickets, often updating the same content in multiple places. This complexity pushes organizations to scale back branded content even though that weakens the experience. Kim’s answer is a unified delivery layer like Welcome Hub that pulls ticket data via APIs and centralizes links, wallets, and messaging so information stays accurate and guest-friendly.
Tickets as a pre-show
“Coming from entertainment, I have a bit of a flair for the dramatic theatrical. So I always think of the tickets as the pre-show.”
Drawing on her entertainment background, Kim argues that tickets should be treated as part of the show, not just a barcode. Just as a pre-show sets story and context, ticket communications can orient guests, answer key questions, and build anticipation long before arrival. She points out that operators invest heavily in onboarding staff, yet rarely design equally thoughtful onboarding for guests.
Kim suggests enhancing confirmation emails and ticket pages with brand voice, clear “need-to-know” information, and links that adapt over time. Simple improvements, like structured data that lets email platforms surface trip details, can help guests find what they need quickly. Even small, incremental changes can transform ticketing from a dry transaction into a stage-setting moment.
Creating unboxing moments
“Why aren't we doing this for attractions that spend multi-millions of dollars on beautiful themed physical spaces? They don't have these other tangible moments pre-visit.”
Kim believes attractions are overlooking powerful “unboxing” opportunities. Guests might spend thousands of dollars on a vacation yet receive nothing more than a plain confirmation email or generic ticket. She compares this to retailers and credit card brands that design packaging specifically to be unboxed and shared.
She imagines destinations sending pre-visit kits or postcards that tease dining, merchandise, and stories, paired with digital content and QR codes. These touchpoints help guests visualize their spend, plan their visit, and feel excited well before they arrive. Kim also notes that when attractions do not create these moments, influencers and third parties fill the gap with messaging that may not align with the brand.
Kim can be reached via email at Kim@welcomehub.org, and more information about her work and Welcome Hub can be found at welcomehub.org, where she shares a manifesto on guest-centric ticketing. She is also active on LinkedIn, and encourages industry professionals to connect, share ideas, and explore small, incremental steps that make digital ticketing and pre-visit engagement better for both guests and operators.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Michael Acevedo is the Business Development Manager for Nassal. Growing up in Orlando, Michael turned a summer job at Universal Orlando into a two decade career that has spanned ride operations, tech services, engineering, Universal Creative, Walt Disney Imagineering, and now themed construction and fabrication. He has worked on projects such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Transformers, the Fantasyland expansion, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, before moving into project management and business development at Nassal and its design build brand, nFusion. In this interview, Michael talks about reliability & guest experience, being yourself, full circle career moments.
Reliability & Guest Experience
“Every minute of downtime on this one attraction impacts the guest experience so much more than even 10 minutes of downtime at this other attraction.”
Michael explains how his time in tech services engineering at Universal revealed the tight bond between reliability and guest satisfaction. By combining uptime data with daily guest ratings and information on which rides guests could or could not experience, his team could see which attractions caused the biggest drop in satisfaction when they went down and prioritize problem sensors and components accordingly. This moves reliability from a back of house statistic to a strategic lever, guiding where to invest time and resources so that technical decisions protect the most emotionally important moments in the visit.
Being Yourself
“So the most important piece of advice I would give people is just be yourself.”
Looking back, Michael admits he spent years trying to match an imagined standard of who he should be at companies like Universal and Disney. Over time, he noticed that promotions, project invitations and leadership responsibilities tended to appear when he was showing up as his authentic self. In an industry that needs everyone from artists and engineers to plumbers, accountants and ticket sellers, he argues there is no single template for success. Bringing your real background, culture and personality into the work, and remembering that you are also a consumer of these experiences, is part of what makes you valuable.
Full circle career moments
“I don't know if I'll ever be able to top that moment, standing there with people who I looked up to, that I was right alongside them.”
Michael recalls a defining full circle moment on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. After years of development, he stood at the exit on opening morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and watched guests step off the attraction in disbelief, some in tears, thanking the team for making their Star Wars dreams real. He links that experience to seeing creative leader Scott Trowbridge at Universal years earlier and wondering what it would be like to work with him, then later sitting together as peers on Galaxy’s Edge. Through mentoring students, hosting shop tours and sharing his story, Michael hopes to help others create their own full circle career moments.
Michael encourages listeners who want to learn more about Nassal to visit nassal.com, where they can explore the company’s portfolio of themed projects and capabilities. He also invites anyone seeking career advice or interested in working with Nassal to connect with him directly on LinkedIn.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Tuesday Dec 09, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
IAAPA Expo is often described as the “most wonderful time of the year” for attractions professionals, but it can also be overwhelming: long days, packed schedules, and endless conversations. By unpacking the expo, Matt and Josh share how they turned the week into a soul-filling, business-building experience through people, intentional design, and investing in the next generation. In this episode, Matt and Josh talk about how to turn IAAPA Expo into the most meaningful and memorable week of your professional year.
People, Meetups, and Becoming the “Elder Statesman”
“This was such a huge ‘people’ experience for me.”
Matt’s first big takeaway is simple: people. From the AttractionPros Meetup until leaving Epic Universe on Thursday night, he was in constant conversation, reconnecting with long-time colleagues, and supporting first-time speakers. Matt also talks about his evolving role as a kind of “elder statesman,” helping newer professionals, making the event as much about lifting others up as about his own experience.
Booths as Mini Attractions
“An expo booth should operate like a mini attraction.”
Josh shared how he treated his exhibit booth as a mini attraction. With two interns, they focused on fundamentals of guest service. Details mattered: enhanced carpet padding that felt like “walking on a cloud,” comfortable lounge-style furniture, and a coffee station with branded cups and carefully placed lids so the logo was always visible.
Inclusion Beyond Accessibility
“Inclusion is not the same as accessibility.”
Matt highlights a powerful session on inclusion led by Sharon Newhardt and Enzo Piscopo of Morgan’s Wonderland. Enzo, presenting from a wheelchair on a stage accessible by a newly installed lift, shared how physical accessibility does not automatically equal inclusion. He explained that while ramps and designated seating may check compliance boxes, they can still leave guests and employees feeling excluded such as never being able to choose a seat behind home plate or in a dream location at a ballpark.
When IAAPA Expo Really Is a Family Reunion
“You never know who you’re related to at the Expo.”
Josh shares a story that turns the “family reunion” metaphor into reality. In the middle of a packed Tuesday, he receives a text from his mom: “We have a cousin exhibiting at IAAPA.” The next day, Josh finally met his second cousin once removed — someone who has been in the industry longer than he has, working on the chemistry behind skin for animatronics. They realize they’ve likely been in the same building at the same time for years without knowing it.
Quick Hits: Energy, Words, Appreciation, Rest, and Instagrammable Workplaces
“Sleep and rest are not the same thing.”
Matt runs through a series of “quick hits” that left a mark on him. From the Women in the Industry Luncheon, he shares Lauren Hodges’s concept of managing energy, not just time, reframing mindset language, demonstrating a deeper sense of appreciation, and differentiating sleep from rest. Finally, seeing IAAPA staff proudly taking selfies in their own event space prompts the question: is your workplace Instagrammable for your team?
The Intangible Value of IAAPA
“The overall value of IAAPA Expo is intangible and sometimes is not even realized until much later in the future.”
While you can quantify tickets, sessions, and receptions, the real value of the week for Josh’s interns came from introductions, mentorship, and compounding opportunities. Josh intentionally introduced them to every person who came to the booth, encouraged them to talk about their own career goals, and encouraged them to attend separately-ticketed events. By midweek, they had lost count of how many executives they’d met. While organizations often focus on hard ROI, it is the personal growth, expanded networks, and renewed passion that attendees bring back are equally valuable, even if they’re harder to measure.
What were your biggest takeaways from IAAPA Expo? How are you turning your booth, sessions, or workplace into memorable experiences? What are you doing to make your operation more inclusive, people-centric, and soul-filling?
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Dec 02, 2025
Tuesday Dec 02, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Salma Abassaly is the co-founder and managing partner of CERTIS LLC. Born and raised in Paris, she moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2007 and built a career that spanned luxury hospitality, corporate services, managing children’s play areas, and leading leisure facilities before becoming an entrepreneur. CERTIS LLC is a UAE-based inspection and certification body that serves rides, attractions, and leisure facilities, pairing technical rigor with real-world operational insight. In this interview, Salma talks about inspections and certifications, relationship capital, and normalizing diversity.
Inspections and certifications
“We work with leading operators regionally and we ensure their rides meet international standards and we offer them an end-to-end approach from concept design to installation inspection as well as their ongoing operational audits and inspection.”
Salma explains that CERTIS LLC provides an end-to-end approach, from concept and installation inspections through ongoing operational audits and periodic inspections. Her own operator background means she “speaks the language of the operators,” helping clients see an inspection body not as a cost or constraint but as an ally that aligns perception and reality through standards. She and her partner, Fadi, intentionally balance operational fluency and technical rigor so there is “no gap” when addressing client concerns.
She also emphasizes credibility as foundational. Accreditation was the stamp that allowed CERTIS LLC to demonstrate quality, reliability, and transparency from day one, opening doors with regional leaders and setting a bar the company intends to uphold as it grows across the region and into emerging markets.
Relationship capital
“I think the transaction is the ultimate accomplishment of the relationship through the company, but before that, there's the relationship.”
Relationships are not just a tactic for Salma; they are a metric of success. She prioritizes availability, consistency, and nurturing human connections beyond business, noting that trust built early makes hard conversations possible when inspections surface issues clients would rather not hear. To protect the partnership at the heart of CERTIS LLC, she and Fadi even engaged in proactive relationship coaching at the company’s founding to set ground rules for how they would show up, disagree, and decide together. That investment sustains a culture of collaboration with each other and with clients, where long-term partnership matters as much as revenue.
Salma adds that surrounding yourself with people who are “smarter than you” elevates outcomes and turns competition into collaboration. Growth, she says, is rarely linear; persistence, shared purpose, and strong partners win over time.
Normalizing diversity
“The goal is not really to highlight gender, but more to normalize diversity.”
Reflecting on often being one of few women in boardrooms, Salma argues that representation fuels aspiration and that women’s leadership brings emotional intelligence, resilience, and collaboration that benefit teams and guests alike. Her advice to women entering the industry is to lead as their authentic selves, not by copying stereotypically male behaviors. She hopes her daughter’s generation won’t even need to notice whether there are two women in a meeting, because diversity will simply be normal.
Salma also shares her experience of the UAE as dynamic, opportunity-rich, and safe, with visible commitment to entrepreneurship and women in leadership. That environment, she says, has enabled her to turn vision into reality and to scale with clarity of purpose.
To connect with Salma directly, reach out to her on LinkedIn, and to learn more about the company, visit the CERTIS LLC website.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Nov 25, 2025
Tuesday Nov 25, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Tyler Rizzo is the Vice President of Finance at COTALAND. Growing up in Central Florida, he got his start in attractions at Busch Gardens Tampa, then earned a hospitality management degree at UCF’s Rosen College before moving from front-of-house operations into analytics at SeaWorld, revenue analytics at Cedar Fair, and leadership roles spanning analytics and food and beverage. He later consulted at Storyland Studios on pre-concept through opening projects. Today, he’s helping launch COTALAND in Austin, a dense 30-acre park with about 30 rides built alongside Circuit of the Americas, home to the F1 United States Grand Prix. In this interview, Tyler talks about bridging finance and operations, not chasing expensive pennies, and avoiding the doom spiral.
Bridging finance and operations
“I’ve kind of always treated it like an improv group; you never say no.”
Tyler explains that finance succeeds when it partners with operators rather than policing them. He emphasizes open lines of communication, involving department heads in decisions, and never blindsiding colleagues with a spreadsheet they’ve never seen. He also stresses getting into the field, noting how proximity to the park at SeaWorld helped finance teams “walk the walk,” hear guests on rides, and translate spreadsheet cells into real experiences.
That frontline credibility matters. Having carried a radio and worked the fryer, he says operators trust guidance from someone who has lived their constraints. Seasonality, hours of operation, and the realities of running rides and restaurants don’t always show up in a model. By pairing operational tacit knowledge with analytics, Tyler builds plans that are both tight on paper and resilient in practice.
Not chasing expensive pennies
“I’ve had multiple times throughout my career where we chased expensive pennies.”
Tyler cautions against over-correcting for small losses without weighing the bigger picture. He uses examples like shrink in retail or food waste in fries: quantification is essential, but so is the cost-benefit analysis of fixes. If moving T-shirts indoors to cut theft chokes visibility and sales, or new security costs exceed the recovered margin, the “savings” are illusory.
He extends this thinking to the industry’s top- versus bottom-line focus. Cutting hours or labor can protect a quarter, but erode perceived value and long-term revenue. He contrasts firms that invest in people and guest experience with those making knee-jerk reductions, arguing that sustainable performance comes from meeting or exceeding value expectations, not just trimming expense lines.
Avoiding the doom spiral
“The easy button is to absolutely reduce hours, reduce labor, those start to become expensive pennies though when you’re losing your core market.”
When attendance dips, slashing staffing may seem prudent, but Tyler warns it can trigger a negative loop: thinner teams degrade service, which depresses visits further. His advice is to evaluate and realign the product’s value proposition to what guests expect in that market, then execute consistently over time rather than relying on short-term cuts.
He notes this discipline is hardest when micro results are choppy, yet it’s precisely when conviction matters. Whether for a single FEC or a multi-park operator, recovery hinges on a clear multi-year plan rooted in core hospitality, supported by data, and adapted through continuous testing of operating models, pricing, and offerings without sacrificing the guest experience.
To learn more about COTALAND, visit cotaland.com. To reach Tyler directly, connect with him on LinkedIn.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Looking for daily inspiration? Get a quote from the top leaders in the industry in your inbox every morning.
Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Evan Barnett is the President of Pyek Group. Starting in the industry at 16 cleaning restrooms at Water World USA, he was quickly thrust into leadership, moved from park services to water safety, and grew under strong mentors who sharpened his view of people-first operations. Today, Evan leads Pyek Group across four parks in three markets under two brands, focusing on culture, clarity of mission, and what he calls the “un-water park” mindset: hyper-clean facilities, great food, and genuine hospitality. In this interview, Evan talks about cold, hard leadership, being unoffendable, and doing the basics really well.
Cold, hard leadership
“It’s tough. It’s cold, hard leadership is really what it is. And it’s listening and understanding and just realizing, hey, give the other guy the benefit of the doubt.”
Evan frames leadership as equal parts standards and empathy. Early in his career, he learned that perception is reality: a supervisor saw “slowness” while Evan was meticulously scrubbing grout with a toothbrush. That moment shaped how he equips teams by giving clear direction, the right tools, and assuming positive intent before judging outcomes. At Pyek Group, he translates this into over-communicating vision across varied brands and communities, aligning departments around a single mission so daily frictions become sparks that sharpen rather than burn.
He also guards leaders’ attention from getting hijacked by edge cases. Rather than orbit the “loud 20%,” he pours recognition and coaching into the 80% who show up wanting to do great work, using high-fives, momentum building, and consistent standards. For Evan, culture is “caught, not taught,” spread through a thousand conversations and modeled behavior that make accountability feel fair and human.
Being unoffendable
“The one core value I really want to hone in on that we have is called unoffendable… be unoffendable, man.”
Unoffendable is a Pyek Group core value, not an aspiration. Evan wants feedback to flow fast and candidly without venom and without weaponizing “brutal honesty.” In practice, that means seeking to understand before being understood, extending grace because everyone, including leaders, will need it back tomorrow. He links unoffendable behavior to hospitality itself: when a guest complains about cold food or long lines, defensive walls only distract from fixing the day. Empathy and grace let teams remediate quickly and leave people feeling cared for.
Internally, the same posture fuels agility. Teams “fire themselves” metaphorically, stepping out to reset their mindset and reenter discussions ready to solve problems together. Evan emphasizes that core values must be binary and lived. You are kind, or you are not. You are unoffendable, or you are not. Keeping feedback direct but non-weaponized preserves trust, speeds pivots, and keeps focus on the guest experience over ego.
Doing the basics really well
“Just do the basics really well.”
Borrowing a line he admires from Troy Aikman, Evan centers Pyek Group on mastery of fundamentals: smiling welcomes, clean spaces, good food, frictionless transactions, and consistent delivery day after day. He calls it “power in the mundane,” resetting every morning so the thousandth “Where are the lockers?” gets the same warm response as the first. That dependable baseline becomes a brand personality guests can feel, and it cannot be copied by simply duplicating slides or lazy rivers.
Basics evolve, though. Orientation remains essential, but how teams learn must fit how they consume information today, using short, bite-sized training and tools they can use immediately on Day One. Evan is unafraid to reverse course when basics are misread. The lesson, letting fans tell you what matters and then amplifying it, keeps “basic” tightly aligned with real expectations.
You can reach Evan at evan.barnett@pyekgroup.com, and learn more about Pyek Group at pyekgroup.com.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros:
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Tuesday Nov 11, 2025
Tuesday Nov 11, 2025
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Every year, millions of attraction visitors lose hours in line instead of making memories. Since its inception, accesso’s virtual queuing has saved more than 4.5 billion minutes of wait time, freeing guests to pack their day with more rides, eats, and excitement. The result? Happier guests who spend more and a better bottom line for you.
Ready to turn waits into wins? Visit accesso.com/ROIClinic. The queues are virtual. The results are real.
Nathan Caldwell is the Bestselling Author, Thought Leader, and Speaker of Empowering Kindness. A lifelong performer-turned-leadership coach, Nathan’s early career on stage taught him how guest-facing energy is created (and depleted) every shift. He later guided culture and leadership through multiple corporate acquisitions, evolving his research and writing into the book Empowering Kindness and the practice behind it. Empowering Kindness supports organizations with practical, science-backed frameworks that lift performance by building trust, clarity, and courage. In this interview, Nathan talks about Empowering Kindness, developing leaders, and beating the calendar.
Empowering Kindness
“Kindness takes strength, bravery, and wisdom to execute upon.”
Nathan pushes kindness far beyond “being nice.” Drawing on research and lived experience, he frames kindness as a disciplined leadership choice: seeing others’ needs (empathy), stepping into the gap despite discomfort (bravery), and applying the right response at the right time (wisdom). He cites studies showing that environments rich in kindness elevate wellbeing and performance, arguing that people are literally built to respond to good. Leaders operationalize this by defining what kindness looks like in specific roles, training for it, and equipping teams to deliver it consistently—not hoping people will “just be kind.”
Instead of the tired “compliment sandwich,” Nathan recommends an “Oreo” culture: clearly state what “good” and “excellent” look like, and call them out often. Doing so deposits trust so that hard feedback is welcomed rather than resisted. When leaders are known for recognizing excellence, coaching moments land as invitations to rejoin that standard, not as gotchas. The outcome is a reinforcing loop of clarity → recognition → trust → growth.
Developing Leaders
“They must be great at filling people up with energy.”
Borrowing from his performer background, Nathan describes the “energy lifecycle” of guest-facing roles: guests draw energy all day; if leaders only pull, teams burn out. Great leaders replenish through coaching, recognition, and practical support. He also normalizes the loneliness of leadership and urges leaders to build peer networks, learn continuously (books, webinars, podcasts), and identify personal recharge rituals. The goal isn’t endless cheerleading; it’s deliberate energy management so people can show up strong for guests and each other.
Nathan’s prescription is both organizational and personal. Organizations should create forums and rhythms where leaders learn together and hold one another accountable. Individually, leaders must notice depletion, own recovery, and return to the floor refueled. That self-awareness is a kindness to the team: a recharged leader is capable of the courageous conversations and steady presence that growth requires.
Beating the Calendar
“You have to beat the calendar. You have to win against the calendar. Intentionality is the only way to do it.”
Seasonality and turnover can’t be excuses. Nathan warns against hoping people “pick up” experience during the busy months; that’s how issues get swept under the rug until they become trip hazards. Instead, map the precise competencies leaders need (e.g., handling difficult conversations), then schedule training, role-plays, and practice reps before peak season. Treat these as must-run plays, not nice-to-haves. When intentionality leads, teams meet higher guest expectations without burning out.
His approach centers on earlier, braver, better-prepared conversations. Define likely scenarios, script first lines, practice aloud, and debrief. Pair this with the “Oreo” culture so accountability sits inside an environment saturated with examples of “what right looks like.” The payoff: fewer surprises, faster course-corrections, and a leadership bench that returns each season stronger than it left.
In closing, Nathan invites listeners to connect directly: Email him at nathan@empoweringkindness.com, visit empoweringkindness.com, and find him on LinkedIn.
This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our faaaaaantastic team:
- Scheduling and correspondence by Kristen Karaliunas
To connect with AttractionPros: