Carmen Vlasceanu is a global hospitality executive with over 25 years of experience in the hotel, aviation, catering, and cruise industries. Academically, she also has a Master’s in Hotel Revenue Management, and an MBA in International Business and Entrepreneurship, and a bachelor’s degree in Management and Marketing, as well as being a longtime Fellow of the UK Institute of Hospitality. Dr. Vlasceanu is also the founder of Angels-Wings.org, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to inspire people and to help with food, clothes and education for children and people that are less fortunate in life.
In her enlightening new book, Dare to C.A.R.E Dr. Vlasceanu provides a much-needed framework for synthesizing individual growth with organizational transformation in a way which enables people to thrive both personally and professionally. Ultimately supercharging customer experience.
Questions
- We always like to start off by asking our guests to share a little bit about their journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today.
- But could you tell us about what the book (Dare to C.A.R.E) is about? Maybe two or three overarching themes that the book focuses on. And does care in the book represent an acronym? Or are you just using the word care in its truest sense and form?
- Is your book designed more as inspirational reading, or can it also be used as a practical workbook with strategies that individuals or organizations can apply to find purpose and maximize potential?
- What one word should organizations focus on to supercharge their customer experience in the second half of 2025?
- If you could share with our audience one online resource, tool, website or application that you absolutely can’t live without in your business?
- Can you also share with us one or two books that you’ve read, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you’ve read recently, but it has had a positive impact on your life.
- Could you also share with our listeners, what’s the one thing that’s going on in your life right now that you’re really excited about, either something you’re working on to develop yourself or your people.
- Where is the best place that listeners can find you online?
- Now, before we wrap our episodes up, Carmen, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you’ll tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those?
Highlights
Carmen’s Journey
Me: We always like to start off by asking our guests to share a little bit about their journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today.
Carmen shared that her journey really started 25 plus years ago. It started in Bucharest, Romania, coming from a communist country. She’s studied and educated her time to work and live abroad, which was her childhood dream coming from a communist country, you could imagine that she wanted something that was impossible to attain at the time. And so, she prepared herself, and when the opportunity came, she took it, and she joined the cruise ships, and she continued to work for over a decade within the hospitality department.
And later on, rising to a guest services manager, respectively, customer experience in charge. What can she tell you? 5000 guests, they had regularly on board the ships, plus over 800 crew, you could imagine that they’ve seen it all like emotional intelligence, real time problem solving and what truly hospitality matters. She’s come to understand on a deeper level and make sense of it all from a humanistic perspective.
Overview and Key Themes of the Book Dare to C.A.R.E. – Meaning and Use of “CARE”
Me: So, you have a book called Dare to C.A.R.E and anytime I hear the word care, I get really excited, because the long-term vision for my company is to create a more caring world. And it was actually inspired from that cartoon that I used to watch when as a little girl called the “Care Bears”, where they always had these little beams on their tummies, and they would beam out goodness and kindness and all of these amazing, different virtues to people to create a more caring world.
So, I imagine your book is something like that, probably on a higher level, I’m sure, but with the same level of tenets being pursued to ensure people are transforming the world. But could you tell us about what the book is about? Maybe two or three overarching themes that the book focuses on. And does C.A.R.E. in the book represent an acronym? Or are you just using the word care in its truest sense and form?
Carmen shared that it’s actually a combination of both. And thank you for saying that. Actually, that cartoon you were you made a reference to, she doesn’t know it, but she’ll definitely look it up.
Basically, Dare to C.A.R.E is an acronym in the sense that she created a model, the C.A.R.E model, which stands for Connection, Authenticity, Reengineering and Evolution.
Basically this book, it’s about going beyond the service level of service and rethinking, actually, the way we engage with customers, the teams and even ourselves. She went to the core of the service, which is the actual individual, which builds up teams, which builds up organizations. And in all of this, the process, it’s very important, but most importantly, the actual purpose, how to conduct your life with purpose, how to lead with purpose, how to manage teams with purpose, that’s very important, and that’s basically the core of the book.
The book was launched last month in a historical location in the heart of London, the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, and the response was really overwhelming. They had guests from different organizations, the Institute of Hospitality was there present. Other hospitality organizations, cruise industry as well, representatives from the industry were there too. As well as art, sports, and it was a major success.
Me: All right, amazing. So, I had asked if you could share with me maybe two or three overarching themes that the book covers so our audience can get a bit of understanding, is this book for them?
Is there content in there that would help them to satisfy any needs that they may have in their organizations?
I know you mentioned that at the book launch you had hospitality and the cruise ship representatives there. Would you say the book’s content is primarily focused on the hospitality industry, or can people who are in the telecommunication industry or the financial industry take snippets from this book and apply in their own organizations?
Carmen shared, definitely, like you mentioned as well. Indeed, this book is dedicated to individuals as well as leaders from different industries. It’s very applicable to the hospitality industry, however, they have taken the actual teachings from the hospitality industry, and the way customer experience is not only perceived but dealt with in a very personal and human like atmosphere, creating connections, meaningful connections, in a way that people find themselves and they reconnect with others within their purpose.
And so, basically, customer facing industries are no longer just the hospitality industry, but they find the customer experience within the banking systems, pharma industry, retail, all the industries, basically and different organizations have taken on themselves the perfect to perfect, basically their customer experience, and design their processes around customer experience, focus orientation.
So, indeed, that’s what the book is about. It focuses on the individual and its alignment, and how important it is to be aligned with their dreams, with their passions and with their natural inborn abilities, and work towards their professional life. In the sense that if the person basically feels very happy with themselves, they’ve chosen the right job for themselves, that in itself will reflect within their actions and ultimately enhancing the customer experience.
Practical Application vs. Inspirational Purpose of the Book
Me: Now, when you wrote the book, and I know you say you just did the launch, can the book be used, like, for example, as a workbook in an organization, or is it more of reading material where you just take information from it for inspiration. Are there like practical strategies that you can apply as an individual to help you find your purpose, to help you maximize on your potential?
Carmen stated yes, definitely, there are strategies that help both organizations as well as the individual. There are bullet point strategies that help people basically to question their inner self, to find their abilities to better regain strength of their inner and mental health. And so, it does reflect into their life, and they can definitely take the teachings over into the teams. They can connect better with their peers at work and so, it becomes a ripple effect within their communities and within the teams and organizations.
And the managers can definitely use the book as well, because there are different subjects that treat the teams within the organizations. Management also, different schemes and different bullet points, measures that managers can take with them within the teams and better create that cohesion within the teammates and the employees.
Key Focus Word for Enhancing Customer Experience in Late 2025
Me: So, Carmen, if you were to choose, we’re basically at the end of the first half of 2025. If you were to choose one word that you would recommend organizations focus on as it relates to supercharging their customer experience for the second half of 2025, what would that one word be?
Carmen shared that she would want to say, actually, other than just one word. First, she’d like to go to a quote that she likes to use actually, “Consider the fact that the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.”
And so, by extension, she could say, if she thinks of an appropriate word for this half of the year would be resilience. So, that goes to say that, basically, we have to strengthen ourselves in tough times. We have to consider what excites us basically, consider our values as the backbone of our existence, and stay focused on purpose. Yeah, that’s another word that she thinks is very appropriate for this time of the year, “purpose”, personal purpose in life.
Legacy would be another word. She thinks we really have to encourage ourselves to work and act and encourage others as well, to live in the direction of our life-giving purpose. That’s exactly what she’s trying to do with the business she has founded with the angels wings, it’s an extension of her beliefs. And she’s glad she’s done that, because she’d like to transform it in a global force of compassion and into a movement.
App, Website or Tool that Carmen Absolutely Can’t Live Without in Her Business
When asked about online resource that she can’t live without, Carmen shared that it’s hard to say. There’s a number of tools actually, that they’re using on a daily basis, but by far, the point of reference that she uses every day in her personal as well as professional life is the Bible, that’s no secret about it, and that’s exactly the inspiration that she needs each day.
She draws the inspiration as well as the motivation from the Bible, and she tries to inspire people in everything she does, to find better connecting networks, try to encourage people to act and think and conduct themselves in an authentic way, to re-engineer their life and work to the best of their abilities. And if you can make a difference in someone’s life, whether it’s your customers, whether it’s your peers, whether it’s someone within your community, she definitely encourages you to do so. Every small act of kindness really counts. And sometimes it doesn’t necessarily take monetary value, but even if you just have a word of encouragement for someone and try to lighten up someone’s day, that’s a day well lit.
Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Carmen
When asked about books that has had a positive impact, Carmen shared Soar!: Building Your Vision from the Ground Up by Pastor T.D Jakes. That’s a book that actually left a mark on her, in the sense that Pastor T.D Jakes is a messenger of God, a prophet, if she may say, indeed. And it just inspires us and motivates us and it teaches us to never give up, basically, to find the strength within ourselves and never give up. And by lifting ourselves, we make a difference in our communities, in our society, and encourage others to do, basically good in the world, and spread the hope and the light of the world, to those people around us.
We have seen that the conditions of our world today, it’s not in a very good shape. And we tend to look at the differences that divide us rather than the similarities that actually makes us more human and allows us to live in harmony and love and peace. And she really thinks that the world really needs this kind of movements today more than ever. And each person, if they’re doing the right little bit that’s within their power to do, it becomes a ripple effect of encouragement and of inspiration to the people around.
What Carmen is Really Excited About Now!
When asked about something that she’s really excited about, Carmen shared that at the moment, she has quite a few projects going on. Not sure if she mentioned Global Hospitality and Maritime Leaders, is a platform that she developed with courses, providing courses for either students, either people that are willing to develop their personal life, or people that are looking, basically transition from a job to another, or from a domain to another, to pivot within their careers.
She also has mentoring programs, as well as coaching sessions, one on one, or even with teams within the organizations. She does this on demand, and the programs are tailored to their needs after they already have a familiarity top.
Another project that she mentioned is Angels, and you mentioned as well is Angels-Wings, charity org. Basically, they’re trying to help children and vulnerable families by providing food, clothing, education and ultimately hope.
And they believe that the future truly belongs to those that hope and trust in themselves and work hard to achieve their dreams. And they’re trying to inspire young children to do just that and encourage them basically, provide them the means education, school supplies to kind of overtake their regular condition and see beyond their reality. This is what they’re trying to encourage them to do.
And nevertheless, the book Dare to C.A.R.E: Unlock Your Potential to Transform Your Life, Well-Being and Customer Experience. they’re trying to spread the light through this book and words of wisdom and encouragement amongst the organizations, among the leadership within different domains of activity, trying to encourage people to lead with purpose and enhance the human potential ultimately. By enhancing customer experience, we’re enhancing the human potential, which is, she believes that is what the world needs today more than ever.
Where can listeners find Carmen online?
Website – https://ghleaders.com/
Website – https://angels-wings.org/
Email – office@ghleaders.com
Email – office@angels-wings.org
Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Carmen Uses
When asked about a quote or saying that she tends to revert to, Carmen shared that the one she mentioned, and “Dare to care” as well. And the day you plant the seed, we need to remind ourselves every now and then that, “The day we plant the seed, is not the day you eat the fruit.” And that should help us get ourselves through difficult times and work diligently towards our dreams, because dreams are possible to achieve. Dare to Care.
Me: Well, thank you so much, Carmen for taking time out of your very busy schedule and coming on this podcast to share about your book, the many different initiatives that you’re involved in, just trying to make the world a better place and to help each person advance to their most true potential. It was a great conversation, extremely insightful, very purposeful and targeted, and I really enjoyed our conversation. So, thank you so much.
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Links
- Dare to C.A.R.E: Unlock Your Potential to Transform Your Life, Well-Being and Customer Experience by Carmen F. Vlasceanu
- Soar!: Building Your Vision from the Ground Up by T.D Jakes
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