New Book Captures the Entrepreneurial Spirit and Values-Driven Leadership of Hospitality Industry Icon Bruce White

Book foreword written by J.W. ‘Bill’ Marriott, Jr., Chairman Emeritus of Marriott International | Documentary film version to launch later this year

/EIN News/ -- Merrillville, Indiana, May 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forty years ago, Bruce White founded White Lodging in 1985 in Northwest Indiana with a single hotel and built the company into one of the largest and most respected hospitality companies in the United States. He passed away in 2023 from cancer, leaving behind a company that never knew anyone else at the helm.

Hospitalitarian: Bruce White’s Legacy documents and shares the stories that built White Lodging from a small hospitality company into a player on a national scale.  The biography was researched and authored by Kathi Ann Brown, who is the co-author of two books with Chairman Emeritus of Marriott International J.W. ‘Bill’ Marriott, Jr., including Spirit to Serve and Without Reservations.

Bill Marriott authored the book’s foreword. Hospitalitarian, published by Spectrum Creative, is now available on most online platforms, including Amazon. 

A Bigger Story to Tell
Bruce always believed that “a leader is to be judged by how effective the organization is in their absence” as a reference to leadership in general, however this phrase took on a different meaning once he was diagnosed with cancer and the company considered its future without its founder.

That’s when White Lodging’s CEO, Jean-Luc Barone, and Bruce’s wife and newly appointed Chair, Beth White, determined the best way for the company to thrive without its founder was to lean into the values and mission the company was founded on. That meant truly understanding and documenting how Bruce built White Lodging and ultimately became one of the hospitality industry’s earliest franchise success stories.

Since Bruce’s passing, his adult children have taken on a bigger role in the company and stewarding the values that made White Lodging successful, including serving on the Board of Directors, in addition to Conner White serving as Chief Investment Officer.

“We began documenting the company’s history and Bruce’s entrepreneurial journey to help ensure that every associate at the company – now and in the future – knew about White Lodging’s founder and his expectation for the company and our people, including our culture and the relentless pursuit of excellence for each other, our guests and our owners,” said Beth White. “As Kathi researched and assembled the manuscript, we saw that the stories and lessons could appeal to a much broader audience, so we decided to pull it all together into a book.”

The book is expertly summed up in a quote from Bill Marriott, who was a long-time friend of Bruce: “You couldn’t be a Marriott franchisee without knowing and benefiting from the knowledge, insights, and friendship of Bruce White. He wanted us all to win: Marriott, White Lodging, and hundreds of his franchisee peers. If that meant rattling our cages or pushing us to reconsider our policies, so be it. His heart was in the right place and his integrity was unquestioned.”

Bruce was a self-proclaimed lifelong learner and valued education as a core value – something his grandmother instilled in him. The White Family supports a variety of education-based and community organizations for which this book will serve as a foundation for sharing Bruce White’s legacy. This includes those involved in Big Shoulders Fund and Purdue University, where he is the namesake of the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute within the Mitch Daniels School of Business and White Lodging – J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University.

“There are only a select few in any generation that have the combination of intelligence, street smarts and firmly held values that Bruce had,” said Mitch Daniels, Former Indiana Governor, and President Emeritus of Purdue University. “His relentless pursuit of excellence across every aspect of his life – personal, professional, and philanthropic – is something we hope to instill in every student at Purdue University. And thanks to the generosity of the White Family, we are well on our way.”

A film version of the book, narrated by television host Mike Rowe, is in the works and expected to be available to the public later this summer.

Any income from the sale of the book or documentary distribution will be matched with donations to education initiatives in Northwest Indiana from the White Family foundations.

Hospitalitarian: Bruce White’s Legacy
Bruce White was a hard-working, relentless perfectionist who was never satisfied with the status quo. As one of Marriott’s first franchisees, Bruce built one of the most successful and well-respected hospitality companies from a humble start in Northwest Indiana. From roadside hotels to some of the largest and most experiential urban hotels in the United States, Bruce ultimately developed more than 200 hotels and 60 independently branded restaurants across the country. He was an inspiration to hospitality entrepreneurs for four decades and introduced innovative concepts like the first dual- and tri-brand hotels. Most of all, he challenged conventional thinking in his quest to be the best and leaves a legacy of entrepreneurial excellence and an inspiring model of a life well-lived.

Hospitalitarian is written chronologically and starts before Bruce’s birth with the influence of the generations before him in their search for the American dream – and ultimately his parents’ unexpected move to Shelby, Indiana, where his father Dean White took a fledgling sign company his father started and transformed it into a booming business.

In the book, Bruce and others discuss the influence his grandmother had in his life and how growing up in “The Region” of Northwest Indiana among blue collar steelworkers and neighborhood fist fights helped him develop thick skin and a keen ability to befriend individuals from every background, religion and race. 

Fast forward to Bruce’s enrollment at Purdue University where he acknowledged that he ‘never let school get in the way of his education’ and that he was more likely to be found on a basketball court than in class. Yet, Purdue had an immense influence on Bruce that helped strike deep business, personal and philanthropic relationships that were foundational to his success.  One of those relationships was with his wife of 35 years, Beth, whom Bruce met at a Purdue homecoming football game after he graduated.   

Bruce fell in love with the hospitality industry as a teenager when he helped his dad open the Holiday Inn in Merrillville, Indiana. Bruce recruited his friends to help load furniture, bus tables and clean dishes. While he ultimately skipped his plan to go to graduate school to help his dad at the Holiday Inn, it was a chance meeting with a Marriott executive that was the impetus to a lifelong passion and entrepreneurial success. 

Hospitalitarian highlights the highs and lows Bruce experienced growing White Lodging, raising a family, keeping friendships and maintaining a values-driven life regardless of the circumstances. Reflecting his own love of learning, the biography contains more than two dozen ‘Bruc-isms’ that help readers more deeply understand what shaped his entrepreneurial focus and journey.

The biography includes stories and interviews with friends, family members, early coworkers, and business partners, including Mitch Daniels, former Indiana Governor and President Emeritus of Purdue University, and Liam Brown, Group President, U.S. & Canada at Marriott International.

About White Lodging

White Lodging, established in 1985 by the late Bruce White, has evolved into one of the country’s largest privately held hospitality companies focused exclusively on highly curated urban and lifestyle properties. The company develops, owns, and manages a portfolio of brands in destination-driven markets, including Austin, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Indianapolis, and Louisville. With a focus on elevated and experiential service, White Lodging’s portfolio consists of approximately 60 premium hotels; a private collection of world-renowned luxury ranches; 50 locally relevant, award-winning restaurants; and 10 market-leading rooftop bars. White Lodging focuses on hiring and developing Hospitalitarians that are committed to exceptional service and fostering meaningful connections. White Lodging has earned the Gallup Exceptional Workplace award five times, including in 2024, and consistently is in the top J.D. Power Guest Satisfaction Benchmark listing for third-party management companies. For more information about White Lodging, visit www.whitelodging.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Attachments

• Biography of Bruce White
• Learn About White Lodging's 40-Year History

Mike Banas
                    White Lodging
                    219-472-2861
                    mike.banas@whitelodging.com