After recently reading Conrad Hilton’s autobiography, detailing his personal story of incredible success in the business world, I was left with some lasting impressions of him, the hospitality industry, and entrepreneurship generally. This blog post felt like a good opportunity to write my thoughts down as much of the lessons from his book resonate today – 70 years after publishing and almost 140 years since his birth in San Antonio when New Mexico was just a territory.
For starters, Hilton’s personal story begins in what we consider The Wild West. His father did honest work running a general store and regularly traded with ranchers and settlers. As a result, Conrad Hilton grew up no stranger to profound opportunities discovered by pioneers in the frontier community. Hilton built his success seeking out opportunities that others overlooked. That was my first takeaway: push beyond what’s familiar and comfortable to explore the unknown.
Hilton was born into a deeply devout family and made his faith the center of everything he did. His book details myriad instances of when sacrifice was required, being broke time and time again. He was able to get back up, network, make friends, and press forward through it all without compromising his integrity. That’s my second takeaway: establish unchanging principles based on wisdom and a polestar you can rely on through thick and thin.
Much of what we learn from other industry tycoons, we find are trends throughout Hilton’s book. One recurring theme is that success is not only about making money, but about building trust. He highlights the lengths he was willing to go to be honest and fair to his partners, employees, and guests. Quality was non-negotiable in his work, allowing no room for cutting corners, swindling, or trickery. This last takeaway reinforced: anything worth doing is worth doing right.
In all, it was a fun book with some surprises, humor, and was mostly an interesting glimpse into continuity of business over time. A quick read and worth picking up even if you find it easier to skim over chapters on international politics and the social scenes at that time; which felt less inspiring to me.
Let us know what you think. I’m always looking for books on business and people who have made a difference in their industry. Reach out with suggestions when you get a chance as I would love to hear from you!
– Lee Sumner, Research Director
