“I’m Working For Barbarians” - Ritz-Carlton Founder REFLECTS On His Culture Shock In America

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4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

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Summary

Horst Schulze shares the culture shock of arriving in America at 23, leaving Houston for San Francisco, and the lessons he learned at Hilton and Hyatt that shaped his leadership. He also reflects on Stephen Covey’s influence and the emotional reason he finally wrote his book.

Transcript

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0:00.0	And you got that call at 23 to go to Houston.
0:03.0	Was that Hilton or was that Hyatt?
0:05.0	It was Hotel Corporation of America, which became Sonesta later.
0:09.0	Okay.
0:10.0	And so I went to Houston. Frankly, I didn't stay alone.
0:13.0	Very short, because I was totally new.
0:19.0	And when you have cultural beliefs
0:21.4	that are sometimes very stupid
0:22.9	and
0:24.9	the first day
0:26.4	first of all I lived in Hawaii
0:27.9	and no air condition
0:29.5	and I got there late June
0:31.7	I've never experienced heat like that
0:34.3	in Houston
0:35.3	in Houston
0:35.9	and next door I worked and the first day I worked as a Veder actually, was there
0:42.6	a few days.
0:43.6	First day I worked as a Veder, I had an order of fish order.
0:50.2	And I looked where are the fish knives and the fish forks.
0:53.3	I had worked in the finest hotels in the world.
0:55.0	Mine knew.
	...

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