Weekly Series with Dennis P. Rizzo

As Bentley Price Associates celebrates its 50-year anniversary, I would like to take a moment to thank the many friends, colleagues, clients, and members of our team who have been part of this journey over the years. Building this firm has truly been one of the great privileges of my life, and it would not have been possible without the relationships, trust, and dedication of so many people who have supported our work along the way.

In this weekly series, I’ll reflect on some of the experiences, lessons, and moments that helped shape more than five decades in hospitality and gaming executive search.

The Story Behind Bentley Price Associates

Over 50 years ago, a good friend of mine, Toney Schatzlein, who was with the VIP Agency, kept encouraging me to join him. At the time, I was busy as the General Manager for LeBaron Hotels in Buena Park and overseeing another property in San Diego. When LeBaron Hotels went into bankruptcy, I called Toney, and he was starting his own company.

In 1974, I started with Anthony Walters Associates. There were three of us working in a small room. Anthony focused on the mobile home industry, his partner worked in the financial sector, and I started the hospitality desk.

Back then, there were only rotary phones. Imagine dialing 50 calls a day — often long distance — with a rotary phone. There were no computers and no Hotel Travel Index until 1977. All we had were the Yellow Pages, and we had to build everything from the ground up. Eventually, I had more than 20 Rolodexes.

I started cold-calling hotels in Chicago looking for opportunities. What I discovered was that many hotels were searching for Executive Chefs and Directors of Food & Beverage, so I focused on finding the best culinary talent in the world.

After one year with Anthony Walters Associates, I decided to start my own company — Bentley Price Associates, Inc.

At the time, hospitality search focused almost entirely on hotels. The only real gaming market was Las Vegas. Atlantic City legalized casino gambling in 1976, and Native American gaming didn’t begin expanding until the late 1980s.

During the first year of Bentley Price Associates, I realized something important — there was really no one specializing in hospitality recruitment the way I envisioned it. Many agencies placing executives had never actually worked in hotels or restaurants. They didn’t come up through the ranks of the business.

My experience was different.

I started in restaurants in Brooklyn. When my family moved to Florida, I became a bellman at the Aztec Hotel in Miami Beach when I was about 17 or 18. I later worked the front desk and learned the night audit at properties like the Sans Souci and the Hawaiian Isles.

During the Vietnam War, I was drafted into the Army but chose to join the United States Marine Corps, serving two years active duty, including 14 months in Vietnam.

When I returned, I went back into the hotel business, eventually moving west and working in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace.

In those days, you worked long hours for very little money. Everything was manual. There were no computers — you had to physically do everything. But those experiences taught me how hotels really operate and what strong leadership looks like.

As I continued building Bentley Price Associates, I understood that success meant more than simply finding candidates. I needed to dig deeper. Candidates naturally provide references who will say good things, so I began contacting people who were not on their lists to learn more about their reputation and performance.

Over time, I focused heavily on Food & Beverage leadership, especially chefs with international training. In those days, French-trained and German-trained chefs were highly respected. Many of those chefs later moved into broader leadership roles in hospitality operations.

One principle has always guided my work:

Chemistry takes over where experience leaves off.

Experience alone is not enough. An executive must project presence and communicate knowledge in a way that connects with the people they work with. If the chemistry isn’t there between leadership and the organization, the relationship simply won’t work.

That is why I also spend significant time understanding the culture and leadership style of the company, ensuring the right match between the organization and the candidate.

Another decision that defined Bentley Price Associates was consistency. I have never wavered on my approach to assignments, and I have never negotiated different arrangements based on company size. Every organization — large or small — receives the same standard of service.

Looking back, one lesson stands out for the next generation of hospitality leaders:

Nothing is easy.

There will always be someone with more experience or someone who communicates their vision in a different way — the proverbial unicorn. The key is to identify rising stars, help them grow, and prepare the next generation of leaders to follow in their footsteps.

Two simple philosophies have stayed with me throughout my career:

“It is what it is.”
“Chemistry takes over where experience leaves off.”