Inside Canopy Portland: Ginny Hussey on Travel, Community, and Local Flavor

Lisa Belisle: Hello. I am Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to or watching Radio Maine, where we explore and celebrate creativity and the human spirit. We are sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery in Portland, Maine, and today I have with me Ginny Hussey, who is the General Manager of Canopy Portland Waterfront, really kind of a neighbor to the Portland Art Gallery. It's a pleasure to have you here today.

Ginny Hussey: Thank you so much for having me.

Lisa Belisle: It's my pleasure. I have to start by asking, so it says general manager, your official title, but your email signature says something else.

Ginny Hussey: Yes. Canopy is such a unique brand, and part of the identity for the brand within Hilton is that all team members are actually enthusiasts. So being the general manager, I get the title of Chief Enthusiast, and that really relates, I think, to the culture that the brand wants to provide for the team members and that experience for the guests. I feel that my job is to come in every day as that enthusiastic, positive leader and really have that energy put forth towards the guest experience and my team. So it's great.

Lisa Belisle: I think it's a great title.

Ginny Hussey: Yeah, it's fun.

Lisa Belisle: It's something to, when you manage people, not that there's anything wrong with managing, but that's very different than when you cause enthusiasm to occur. It just kind of sets you down a different path.

Ginny Hussey: It does. It puts me in a really purposeful mindset every day, rather than just, okay, I am a general manager, I manage this property, here's the day to day. I do really find myself that I need to focus on enthusiasm and positivity every day, and fortunately it comes pretty natural for me. So it was a great fit to just jump into this type of a role with that as an added component to it, which I really appreciate because it suits me so well.

Lisa Belisle: And apparently you've done a very nice job because you have actually won accolades. You've been manager of the year in the Vail Resorts prestigious management trainee program, and then also twice you've been Canopy's General Manager of the year.

Ginny Hussey: I know, and I get so humble with those accolades. For me, I think that I've achieved those things because I've been surrounded by such an incredible team of people, and I think been able to influence what we do at a property in a way that has achieved results. I'm super proud of those, but none of those would come without such hard work and dedication from my team and them living up to the positivity and the environment that we really want to provide to our guests. So it's been great to see and great to have happen for the hotel.

Lisa Belisle: Especially the fact that you started something essentially in the middle of COVID.

Ginny Hussey: Yes, yes, we did.

Lisa Belisle: I mean, not only did we have a pandemic, but you're like, I'm going to be part of starting this new property.

Ginny Hussey: I know.

Lisa Belisle: And you did it.

Ginny Hussey: We did it.

Lisa Belisle: Congratulations.

Ginny Hussey: Oh my gosh, thank you. Opening a hotel is an experience in and of itself, and then having a layer of it being just post COVID was very challenging. From delays with construction, to furniture, to just hiring people in general. At that time, it was very difficult. I still remember the mask mandate had gone away maybe two weeks before we opened the hotel, which was so amazing to celebrate with all of our faces out and smiles being seen, and then it went back on two weeks after that. So dealing through all those challenges, obviously that teaches you so much, and I'm super proud that we got through it all and are now on the other side of it.

Lisa Belisle: Having spent fortunately many, many nights at various properties, I am always so grateful for the opportunity to be in a space where people seem to enjoy their jobs, seem to want to welcome me and my family onto their property and really make it feel like our home away from home. Because you can have all the amenities, you can be in a great location, you can provide all the stuff, but it really is the people that make the experience, and it's the experience that makes the memories. So whether I've traveled for work or whether I've traveled for vacation or other things, I go there and I come away with a sense of experience. So for you, you are bringing that experience to people who are coming and making your property their home away from home for a period of time. What does that mean to you?

Ginny Hussey: It means everything. It's really why I fell in love with the industry, was the ability to connect with people from all over the world and, just as you said, make that memory for them, give them that lasting impression. I absolutely agree that a hotel is a hotel. They're all the same in multiple different ways. And what really differentiates that experience for our guests is their interactions with your service team. That ability to connect on a very personal, genuine level, I think, is what makes people return to your properties, return to your business. That's what I promote most with my team. Of course, you want the foundation of the hotel to be clean, to be well kept. All of those things are critical as well, but it's really the connection that we have the opportunity to make that is what needs to come to life every day. And I really promote, listen to our guests, find those little moments where you can make an extra connection or provide them with a level of service or a surprise that they never would have anticipated receiving in this type of environment. So I love that part of my job every single day.

Lisa Belisle: You grew up in Colorado Springs, and I've been there actually twice to watch two members of my family graduate from the Air Force Academy. It's very military, at least in part, but then also it's a very diverse kind of part of the world, but it's very different from Maine. So tell me about the Maine connection.

Ginny Hussey: So, well, my family and I, we moved here when I was going into high school. However, my mom and her family had always grown up coming to Maine. So I had spent summers all my life for a week, two weeks, three weeks down in Biddeford Pool. So when my father had an opportunity to come to Maine and work with the Portland Pirates for many, many years, we all came along with him. And that transition from eighth grade to high school is never easy, but I feel so fortunate to have landed in Maine and in particular in Yarmouth, and it was the right move for us, I think overall, because there's just a different feeling in Maine. There's this small community kind of vibe that's so special, it's hard to explain unless you live here. I feel like everyone is two degrees of separation and so thoughtful and kind towards one another.

And as soon as we moved here, I knew even after high school leaving, going back to Colorado for college, living out in Colorado for a little bit after that, I knew I wanted to come back to Maine. There's just such a pull here with the environment overall that I knew I'd be back at some point. And I think I landed back here at just the right time for my career with where Portland was in developing hospitality in 2014. So no, I think I'll be in Maine for the rest of my life. There's nowhere else I'd want to be at this point.

Lisa Belisle: So as you're talking about the two degrees of separation, I'm thinking about one of my daughters' good friends whose father was also in hockey. He was a player at the University of Maine and then nationally and is still in hockey. And she was part of this for the entirety of her life. Her whole family moved around to support that hockey life. And she's back, my daughter's friend and their family, they're back here in Maine. So they have purposefully chosen to be here in Maine. Which of course helps that the person who was the hockey player grew up here in Maine. But I think it's interesting that you could live literally anywhere else. You're exposed to so many things when you're in the hockey community, and you decide that there's something special about this part of the world.

Ginny Hussey: Yeah, absolutely. I think Maine just has so much to offer on so many different levels. There's such unique places to visit throughout the state. Even over the last several years, I've found myself exploring different towns and locations that I had never even gone to. So I love that there's just so much opportunity to explore and interact and meet new people. And it's, again, that community, that very small town feeling that you can meet someone new, but then you find things in common. There's just such a love and appreciation for the state. So many people who live here have this special feeling that Maine offers so much to you when you live here or if you have a family here. So many friends of mine who maybe were elsewhere for college or just after are all now back in Maine, so it has some kind of gravitational pull. I can't even explain it, but I think once you are here and you visit it, it's so easy to fall in love with.

Lisa Belisle: I suspect that this translates well into the work you currently do in hospitality, because part of what you're doing is welcoming people to your property, but part of what you're doing is welcoming people to the state, so you become an ambassador, and that's really important.

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. I think that's a really fun part of our job. Even at Canopy and in Portland, of course people are wondering about that immediate area, but so many people are wondering about the surrounding towns. We're going up to Bar Harbor, or we're going to Boothbay, and we do need to know a bit about these other areas. I think that having those genuine experiences and being able to speak to what there is to do throughout the entire state is so important. And actually over the years it's been fascinating, the number of guests that I've come across that have actually ended up relocating to Maine too, especially post pandemic, when jobs became that much more flexible and you could work remotely. So many people I knew that interacted with us on, say, a weekly basis and would come in for a job, then leave, go back home, would just end up actually relocating to Maine overall. And I think, again, it's some magic that Maine has that once you're here you really feel it, and you don't want to leave once you're in it.

Lisa Belisle: So one of the things about, let's just say vacationing in Maine, vacation mindset is very different than work mindset. Having traveled a lot for work and for vacation, there's really opportunities in both areas. But vacation mindset is like, okay, your mind is open, there's possibilities. You're probably more likely to buy that possibly too expensive piece of jewelry, or hopefully you'll stop at the Portland Art Gallery and get some lovely art. You're thinking about things in a different way. So when you intersect with people who are coming to the Canopy property, you are intersecting with people many times in that mindset. So you are actually meeting them at this interesting intersection of their lives and the possibility that you could say, go to this place. And that could impact them enough that they could say, you know what? I want to come back to Maine for a really long time. That is such a special thing that you are connecting to.

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. I love interacting with our guests. So many guests, of course, they come prepared when they get to Portland. They have their top 10 lists of places to go and things to do. I love being able to then actually offer things outside of that list. I feel that is what a lot of people are looking for too when they travel and when they visit. They want to know from someone who lives here, where would you go? Where would you go to eat? Where would you visit? What beaches do you frequent? Some of those off the beaten path kind of places that you might not see on a top 10 list. I often tell guests, when you're in Portland, you're allowed to have four dinners and two lunches, because I want you to be able to visit everywhere that you possibly can, maybe in a short amount of time, because there's so many places to explore and opportunities to really connect people to the location or to the restaurant.

And I think having been in Portland now for so long, I've been able to create so many nice connections in the community to really feel super confident when giving those recommendations, that they're going to have the type of experience that they should expect coming to Portland and being on vacation. So that's been really rewarding. And then reconnecting with those people to ask, oh, how was your dinner, and how was your lunch? And what was that beach experience like? That's always fun to see how people light up after those moments. And again, what you can impact. From our side of their experience at the hotel, I really focus on that and want to ensure, hey, when you come and stay with us at Canopy, yes, your experience inside of the walls, we want to make as perfect as possible, but I also want to make sure everywhere that you're exploring is at that same level for you as well.

Lisa Belisle: So before we were Radio Maine, we were a couple different iterations of podcasts, and we were affiliated with the Maine Media Collective, which was Maine Magazine. And as part of that, I did a lot of writing and talking with people around the state, and it was, I think, one of the most eye-opening times of my life, and so precious, and I carry that with me even now. And really knowing, I can't really tell you where to go to a restaurant now. That was long enough ago that things have changed, but it was really important to be able to do that in that time. So where are you currently sending people? What are some of the favorites that are so special that you would recommend them to even a family member or a friend that's coming in?

Ginny Hussey: Yeah. A couple places that I can think of immediately in Portland, I love to send people to Chaval, probably because I have a connection with Ilma. I think that the experience there is fantastic. Food is always great. I also love to send people even outside of Portland, which kind of sounds funny, but I recently had dinner at the Dara Bistro in Cumberland that was so delicious and such wonderful service. And again, a little bit off the beaten path. Yes, you might need to get in your car and drive outside of the city, but it'll be worth it. And there's so many places in Portland. My gosh, Isa is always at the top of my list. Oka is so good. Can't go wrong with Scales.

There are those tried and true places that they're going to have a wonderful experience. There's almost too many to list, which is great within the city too, because there's so many different options depending on what maybe someone wants to eat or experience, that you can really push people in the right direction for what they're looking for. Central Provisions, the list goes on. So it's nice to be able to have all the different restaurants and spots within the city, so that really when people come to visit Portland, they can find something that really suits what they're looking for, which I think is so special about our little small city that we have. There is really a robust food and beverage scene, which is great.

Lisa Belisle: I think it's really important the way you're describing the fit with the person, because sure, there are certainly tried and trues, and I've been to many of them and would a hundred percent recommend them to anybody coming into town. And also sometimes there are these little gems that may fit really well for somebody. So in a relatively short period of time for you to be able to go through your mental file of, oh, this person seems like they might be a good fit with Isa, that's kind of the next level. It's going beyond the top 10 list and saying, yeah, this is a match. We're trying to create an experience which is going to work for these people that I don't know very well, but I know well enough to say this is the direction I'm going to send them. So is this something that you carefully cultivate and trying to both understand the resources but also really understand people?

Ginny Hussey: Exactly. I always ask guests when I'm interacting, where are you dining while you're here in Portland? And most people say, yes, I have a reservation here, I have a reservation there, or I have no plans, I don't know where to start. And then it's that follow-up question of, well, what sort of food are you craving, or what are you celebrating maybe while you're here on vacation? Or have you ever been to Portland before? Asking a lot of probing questions and really taking the time to get to know the person too, to get a good feel on, okay, this type of an establishment would be best for them. Maybe they're traveling with small children, or okay, they're here celebrating an engagement, so where's a place that would really go all out for them and be extra special and memorable. So I like to ask 99 questions if I can, because I think that helps with the connection, helps to create a good relationship, a foundation of understanding who those individuals are, and then taking out the Rolodex that I have in my mind of all these spots in the city to say, I would try this, or yeah. I enjoy that part of my job, because sure, it would be so easy to say, well, here's a map and here's a couple spots and go off and enjoy.

But there's no fun in that. You want to be able to feel that you've connected with someone on a level where your recommendation is really going to be the best fit for them, which I love.

Lisa Belisle: You also mentioned, I believe it was Chaval and Ilma, and knowing the actual people behind the places, which I know when I was doing work with Maine Media Collective, Maine Magazine in that time, it was really knowing the people who are doing this, because each of these things in Maine are so personal to the people who are doing this work. If it's Ilma, you're out there and you're showing up every day to create this experience for people, similar to what you're describing in your role. So I think that level of connection with other people who are similarly passionate is really important.

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. And I think too, as you mentioned, that love of Portland, being that ambassador for the state, for the city, I enjoy going out to eat myself and experiencing what we have at our fingertips. And I think if you're able to have those experiences, then that connection or recommendation with the guests is that much more personal. I love being able to say, yes, you should go to Scales and you should get the scallops, or you should go to Eventide and get the lobster roll, or you should go to Central Provisions and get the beet salad. And I think having then those guests hear from you that, okay, you're not just saying a restaurant to say a restaurant, you've also been there and experienced their service, their food, and can speak intimately about that. I think that builds that confidence too in that recommendation. So I love being, again, I think a cheerleader and enthusiast for our city and these businesses and pulling in those connections, and that personal connection, I think, draws our guests to feeling that those recommendations are genuine and are something that they want to explore as well.

Lisa Belisle: Well, we're also fortunate, if you're going to be an enthusiast, that you're an enthusiast for art, and that you specifically are involved and it sounds like maybe founded Canopy's Epic Grant Program for the Maine College of Art. So talk to me about that.

Ginny Hussey: Yes. Well, I am such a lover of art. I think ever since I had the experience in opening the Press Hotel and seeing how art can bring an experience to life for a guest, watching the typewriters go up on the wall in that building was a very fun and unique experience. And then getting to cultivate relationships with local artists over the years, I am just such an enthusiast for that community, and art is a piece of Canopy that is very important. The brand wants you to focus on a local art program, and we were fortunate to have that established when we opened the hotel. And for me, especially within Canopy being part of the community, part of the neighborhood, I just wanted there to be a bigger way for us to give back to the artist community in a unique way. And we're so fortunate to have the Maine College of Art that just produces such incredible alumni year after year.

And when I first approached them about a grant program, really the focus was finding alumni students who are still producing art in our community and want to continue to do more and get their art seen in different ways throughout Portland and throughout Maine. And so we created this Epic Grant Program. Epic is another Canopy term that's used often, so that's how that got thrown in there as well. But the goal is, throughout the nomination process, the folks who apply put forth their art and also share what this Epic grant and these funds would go towards and how it would support their careers. And at the same time, we want there to be a way to integrate them into the property and give them a platform within the hotel to show off the art that they contribute in the community. So we have done a couple things with a few of our artists over the year, a few pop-up shops, but we actually have art from three of our Epic grant winners in the hotel.

So we have a mural in our fitness center. We have a beautiful vinyl wall covering in our lower lobby and then a piece of printed work that's in our lower level cafe, Salt Yard. So I've really enjoyed that process over the years, just finding these young aspiring artists and seeing how we can further promote what it is that they're doing in the artist community here in Portland. So yeah, it's been a great experience. One that I look forward to every year is when it's Epic grant time and nominations come through and I get to see all these just incredible people doing amazing things and seeing how it would be a good connect with us at Canopy, at the Press Hotel.

Lisa Belisle: You're absolutely right. There's something really unique in the way that, so it's the former Portland Press Herald Building and the typewriter key, and there's this homage to the past, but also drawing in artists and creating this really interesting kind of cross-cultural effect, I would say. And I think it does make it special when you're just walking from point A to point B to look over and say, oh, there's something there on that wall that's intriguing. I'd like to stop and take a look. I'd like to connect with that piece of art. Do you have that in your own life? Have you brought art into your own home?

Ginny Hussey: I have brought art into my own home. I have a few special pieces, and now that I'm thinking about the pieces that I have at home, it really goes back to that personal connection that I have with each of those individual artists. And that's important to me. And I think that's something that art can provide as well, is not just something beautiful to put on the wall, but hopefully it pulls something deeper. I have a piece from Dietlind, who is part of the gallery, and she was maybe one of the first artists that I came across at the Press. She did a gallery exhibit at one point. She has a couple pieces right outside of the public restrooms, and I always told myself, when it's time for me to invest in a piece of art, it's going to be Dietlind, because I just love what she does.

And so yes, the piece is what it is and fits into my home and the way that I envisioned it, but at the same time, I look at it and I think about the connection that I have with her personally, and I have a couple other pieces that share a similar memory. So yeah, I think art can provide so many different levels to the experience, both personally and in a hotel environment. And at Canopy too, we have plaques next to each of the art pieces that has a QR code. So you can scan that, which will take you to a little bio on the artist and then allow you to continue to scroll to see a little bit more about the art program throughout the hotel. A lot of the inspiration behind the pieces take you on a really self-guided journey through the art that's available on property. So yeah, I think that there's something that art does that is individual to your own experience, which I also like. Everyone interprets art differently, and yeah, it's just another layer that's so special in a hotel experience too.

Lisa Belisle: Well, again, going back to even if you're not vacationing, you have a different mindset when you are in a place like Canopy or the Press Hotel, or really anywhere that you go that's not your own home. So even as you're walking to the bathroom and you're like, oh, that's really interesting on that wall there, it's very different, I think, than you go to work. Let's just say you're in healthcare and you're walking down the hall and you're like, oh, well, no art, it's so sad. But if you're in Canopy and you're thinking, oh, my mind's open and there's this lovely piece of art on the wall and I'm going to stop on the way back from the bathroom, I'm going to learn a little bit more about this person. And then you take that additional step to invest in that art, to bring that feeling, you're bringing the feeling back into the home. And you're also kind of committing to that relationship with that artist, which I really love. And in particular, of course, Dietlind Vander Schaaf is just, she's pretty fantastic. We've interviewed her twice here. She's somebody that I just love as an artist also. We have a piece in our home. It is an investment, it is a commitment. And you're committing to this feeling and to the state of being to yourself.

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. Now I am thinking of an additional piece that I have that I chose and worked with the artist on, because she has a piece at Canopy in Salt Yard in our cafe and bar area, and I chose a piece from her. I think I wanted even a bit of Canopy with me at my home, because that experience in opening that hotel as a first time GM, something I'm super proud of and wanted to remember in some way. And I don't think I could paint my doors at home orange, which is a very Canopy color.

I couldn't think of a different way to really remember that experience for myself. And one way that I could think of really cherishing that was through art. So I am really drawn to how art can create memories and give you just reminders of certain things in your life that are important to you. And that's how, at least, I've invested in art over the past couple of years, is I think of the artist. Of course, I think of the piece and being drawn to that as well. But it's really the memory, I think, overall that it provides to me is so important.

Lisa Belisle: As you're saying this, I'm so glad you're saying this, because it's reminding me of this healthcare job that I had that was in leadership, and I was so happy and proud to be able to lead the groups that I was leading. And one of the first things that we did was we pulled some pieces that Phil Barter, who's one of our artists who's passed away, that he had created, and we put them up on the walls. And when I left that position, the art came with me and is still with me. And at the time, Philip was alive and now he isn't. So now not only do I have the memory of this job that was so important to me on my wall, but I also have this person, this artist, who will always live with me. So that kind of carrying forward, I think, has such a power to it. And as you're describing this, I could really relate, especially when it comes to being in leadership, which it is a wonderful thing. And also sometimes an opportunity that causes us to need to dig deep for our growth, I would say.

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. I think too, my parents have always been big collectors of art and studied art in college. So art has been in my environment for many years, and all the pieces that they have and have carried along with them to whatever destination they've ended up with, they're bringing those pieces along because of that personal connection. And so I'm never going to just buy a piece to buy a piece. I have to have some deeper connection that really resonates with me for me to invest in something like that. So no, I love that art can be so storytelling in a way.

Lisa Belisle: Well, I really enjoyed our conversation today. Thank you. It's been a lot of fun to talk with you. I usually go to the places, if I can, if I'm going to interview somebody. And I have to admit, I have not been over to Canopy yet, so now I'm really looking forward to doing this, because the way you describe it, I have to go see the art. And also meet all the wonderful people who work there. But it sounds like it's an opportunity for many people coming to visit. So how can people learn more about Canopy Portland?

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. So Canopy, again, is a brand within Hilton, so easy to find information, of course, online. But our location, if you're coming into Portland, we are right along the waterfront. So we're at 9 Center Street. You look out our doors and you look straight onto the wharf, and it's really a great destination when you're coming into the city to explore, to, as I said, restaurant hop. So start at Canopy first. We have an all day restaurant, Salt Yard, our cafe and bar. We have service from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily. And then we have our rooftop bar, Luna, in season open 3pm to 11pm every day. Really that quintessential bird's eye view of Casco Bay, which is super unique. Even as someone who's lived in Maine for a while, opening the hotel, being up at that level and seeing the views of Portland, it's unlike anything I had ever seen. So I definitely promote the hotel to people who live locally to just come by, and you'll see Portland in a different way when you're in our location and especially up in Luna. So definitely a place to come visit, and when you need a little staycation in our great city, also a good place to rest your head too.

Lisa Belisle: Okay, well, very good. I do encourage people to go to the Canopy, officially on the Portland Waterfront. And certainly if you're going to go there, you're going to want to stop by the Portland Art Gallery, which is really not that far away, because of course you're going to want to get some very special art to bring back into your home. But it's been a pleasure to speak with Ginny Hussey today. She is the wonderful General Manager of Canopy Portland Waterfront, and I know you're going to want to experience Maine the way that Ginny has experienced it. So thank you so much for coming in and having a conversation with me today about your work. And thank you for being an ambassador for Maine.

Ginny Hussey: Absolutely. Thank you. It's been a pleasure to be here. I'm so proud of our property, in love with our state, so it's a pleasure to talk to people about just how wonderful Maine is to come and visit and experience.

Lisa Belisle: Thank you. I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle and you have been listening to or watching Radio Maine, our video podcast where we explore and celebrate creativity in the human spirit. Specifically today talking about Maine and a little bit more, Portland. I've been speaking with Ginny Hussey. She is, again, the General Manager of Canopy Portland Waterfront. We look forward to seeing you and also Ginny at one of our future Portland Art Gallery openings. And those occur on the first Thursday of every month. And then maybe after you go to the Portland Art Gallery, you can go by Canopy and you can see what they have to offer. But thank you so much for listening today, and I hope you'll tune in again next time.