Chapter 8
Our new CEO was named Maya Lawson.
Forty-seven.
Black.
Former chief operating officer of a national resort company.
Sharp.
Calm.
Absolutely unimpressed by my ownership.
I liked her immediately.
During her final interview, she asked me:
“Will you interfere?”
“Yes.”
The board stared.
Maya laughed.
“Wrong answer.”
“I’m sixty-three. I’ve run this company most of my adult life.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
I smiled.
“I will try not to.”
“Better.”
Then she asked:
“If I make a decision you hate?”
“I’ll tell you.”
“And?”
“You decide if it’s operational.”
“Good.”
“If it threatens the values or ownership?”
“Board.”
“Good.”
She looked at me.
“I don’t want a founder hovering behind every hotel desk.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then we might work.”
She started six weeks later.
My first month as executive chair felt like forced retirement.
Nobody copied me on scheduling problems.
Nobody asked approval for menu changes.
Nobody called about staffing shortages.
I hated it.
Then I realized I also slept eight hours.
That was suspicious.
I returned to Nashville more.
Saw Danielle.
Spent time with my grandchildren.
Started gardening again.
James loved roses.
I had neglected ours since he died.
One Saturday, I spent four hours pruning.
My neighbor asked if retirement suited me.
“I’m not retired.”
She smiled.
“Sure.”
I wanted to throw a pruning shear at her.
I didn’t.
At work, the first annual public ethics report was released.
It included painful numbers.
Discrimination findings.
Complaint failures.
Retaliation cases.
Settlement categories.
Reform metrics.
Not every lawyer loved it.
Maya did.
“Transparency is cheaper than secrecy eventually.”
She had clearly learned from Marcus.
Guest trust began returning.
Not immediately.
Some people said our reforms were performative.
Fair criticism.
Some refused to stay with us again.
Also fair.
You do not get to decide when people should trust you after you failed them.
Revenue dropped seven percent across the affected region during the scandal year.
Then stabilized.
A year later, it increased.
May you like
But I refused to use improved profit as proof morality “worked.”
Doing the right thing does not require a business case
