Digital Social Hour
How a 29-Year-Old Became a Vegas CEO | Jonathan Jossel DSH #1256
Sat, 22 Mar 2025
🎰 How does someone become a CEO of a Vegas hotel at just 29? Tune in now to Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly as Jonathan Jossel, CEO of The Plaza Hotel in Downtown Las Vegas, shares his incredible journey! 🚀 From navigating rigorous gaming licenses to revitalizing the iconic downtown district, Jonathan takes us behind the scenes of Vegas's transformation. 🌟 This episode is packed with valuable insights into leadership, the casino business, and the future of Downtown Vegas. Learn how Jonathan's vision elevated The Plaza and how collaboration with other casinos is reshaping the city's entertainment scene. 🏙️ Whether it's the art of creating unforgettable guest experiences, the impact of festivals, or the legacy of visionaries like Tony Hsieh and Steve Wynn, this conversation is a must-watch for anyone fascinated by the magic of Vegas. ✨ Don't miss out—watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets! 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🔥 Join the conversation and discover how innovation, passion, and perseverance can lead to big wins. 🎉 CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Becoming CEO at 29 02:20 - Las Vegas Business Growth 04:10 - Super Bowl Weekend Experience 06:00 - Las Vegas Pricing Issues 06:40 - Biggest Political Controversy 09:04 - Steve Wynn's Impact 13:18 - Legacy in Las Vegas 13:29 - The Early Days of the Podcast 13:30 - Competition Among Vegas Casinos 16:58 - Zipline Adventure 22:05 - Learning from Tony Hsieh's Leadership 23:28 - Tony Hsieh's Influence on Plaza Renovations 24:12 - Exploring Downtown Las Vegas 26:36 - Best Off-Strip Restaurants 27:40 - Where to Find Jonathan 27:41 - Future Plans for the Plaza APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: jenna@digitalsocialhour.com GUEST: Jonathan Jossel https://www.instagram.com/jonathanjossel/ SPONSORS: SPECIALIZED RECRUITING GROUP: https://www.srgpros.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/
Chapter 1: How did Jonathan Jossel become a CEO at 29?
yeah i was the youngest uh when not ceo but gaming licensee so to hold a gaming like to run a hotel casino in vegas you have to have a license i went through that licensing process and became the ceo when i was 29 years old that must have been a rigorous process i'd imagine you know what's funny is it is but when you're so young you don't have trusts and different uh investments and kids and all these other things that
Chapter 2: What challenges did Jonathan face in obtaining a gaming license?
Typically they would investigate. So I didn't have other properties. I was 28 when I started the process. So it was a pretty straightforward process, but they still investigate everything. Your bank accounts. I'm originally from England. Oh, wow. So you got to submit your bank records from the UK and they go through everything. It took nine to 12 months. Nice. I got citizenship out there.
In England?
Yeah. My dad was born there. You've been out there at all? Been to Ireland. Okay. I need to get out to England though. You got to use your citizenship. I know. Well, I might have to claim it. Because he was born there, so I don't know how it works, but he said I could claim it whenever I wanted to.
Oh, you haven't claimed it? Okay.
Yeah, that makes sense.
You should probably do that. Yeah. If you want it. If I want it, yeah. If you're never going to go, then what?
It's hard to beat America, man, you know?
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Chapter 3: How is Las Vegas evolving as a city?
I agree with you. I was born in South Africa, grew up in London, England, been 17 years here in Vegas, and nowhere else in the world I'd want to be. Wow. And that's not just America. Vegas is the best. You've seen a lot of growth here. That's the place to live in Vegas. Yeah. It's mind-blowing. I mean, I've been... primarily in downtown Las Vegas. To see the growth down there has been awesome.
But as a city, it's just completely evolved. And wow, is it just only going to grow more in the next decade. Yeah, with the sports teams coming in from real estate. Yeah, real estate, sports teams, everyone in California wanting to move here. Especially after the fires. Yeah, it was happening before that, but even more so now. Yeah.
I feel like I'm speaking like the mayor now promoting Las Vegas, but yeah, it's, it's, the growth is amazing. The development and, and just the diversity just was only casinos. Now you, like you mentioned sports, but there's also tech moving here. Right. There's other investment companies. Hollywood. Hollywood's here. Mark Wahlberg's here. It's pretty, pretty diverse. You're here.
I'm here.
Social hours here.
I'm four years here. And, uh, it's been the best city I've ever lived in. I'll say that.
Where were you before?
I was in LA for a bit. I was in Jersey city and Bridgewater, New Jersey. Okay. And do you always wear your face on your shirt? Always. I just order new merch. How many things do you have? I know I have a hundred of these actually. So people think I wear the same shirt every day, but I just swap them.
Okay. Well, I put on a tie for you today. I don't normally wear a tie, but.
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Chapter 4: What was the impact of the Super Bowl weekend on Las Vegas?
Yeah. Horrible. A lot of hate coming towards Jewish people, especially on X. Yeah. Man.
Yeah. Although I think a lot of it is just the algorithm finds people. It's like, I don't see a lot of that, but it's definitely out there. It's a pretty scary time. How big was the Superbowl event for you for the hotel? It was good, obviously hard to compare to last year. Last year we had the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, so it was packed and a different type of busy.
But Las Vegas is always one of the busiest, Super Bowl is always one of the busiest times of the year in Las Vegas. Top three, I'd say. It was very good. It wasn't as busy as previous years. There's a lot of rumors as to, or rumblings as to a lot of underperformance in hotel rates and ticket sales for the parties. But I think it's pretty simple that the fires in California are,
uh definitely put a dampener on the mood and and as it should i mean there's what i think 30 to 40 of the business that comes to us vegas comes from california wow and arizona i didn't know that those two states so when you consider that it's uh you know you take a huge chunk of that market out of it it's going to put a dampener on the mood mixed in with obviously a an uncertain political climate
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in some ways. And some people think it's the pricing on the strip has just gone out of control. And maybe that's an element, but that's not a new thing. The fires in California seem like a direct correlation to the slowdown in the last couple of weeks.
Plus stocks tanked that week. Crypto market was down. Everything was, it was just bad timing all around, you know.
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Chapter 5: How did Steve Wynn influence the Las Vegas casino industry?
Yeah, you should, man. Get signed to Sirius. Where do you film yours now? At the Plaza?
Yeah, so we started a podcast five years ago at the bar in Oscars. Oh, yeah? At the bar? Yeah, and the idea was, you know, we'd have people come in, have drinks, whatever, hang out. And I didn't think it was going to last. I think we've done about 140 episodes now.
Well done, man.
Quite a lot for a podcast, right?
It is. Not a lot of shows get to episode 10.
Right. I read that. I read most people give up long before that. No, we're at 140 and we've been able to, my goal with it is, I hope that one day people look back at a snapshot in time from like 2020 to the next decade of what was Las Vegas like and who told the story of the history of Las Vegas. So we've had historians on, we've had business operators. It's not a commercial for the plaza.
It's really just a way to tell the story of Vegas. Who's doing what we've had. probably 10 casino owners on the, on the podcast, general managers, people just in the industry. And, and then we've had, you know, local influences, other celebrities, but just trying to tell the story of the people that contributed to Vegas for that period of time. Yeah. Maybe my kids will listen.
One day it'll be a class at UNLV.
I hope, I hope with my kids, they listen to a few of my episodes too. You know, legacy is important. How old are your kids? I don't have them yet. Oh, I was going to say. I'm getting married this year though. So soon, soon. Congratulations. Thank you. So casino owners have been on the podcast. So how do you view competition in Vegas?
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Chapter 6: What is Jonathan Jossel's vision for the future of The Plaza?
And he really, he didn't actually do much, but he changed the perception real quickly. Everyone's like, oh, that's Tony Hsieh. He's doing this. And he had this book at the time called Delivering Happiness, which is an amazing book. If you've not read it, I highly recommend it. And he invested in downtown and put downtown on the map in a much quicker way that
would have otherwise happened yeah i'm a fan of downtown man it's cool isn't it like i'm not just saying that because you're here like you could have a fun night there and not spend too much money yeah and you can see all sorts of performances sometimes someone cool is uh singing there
Yeah, it's great. We're really proud of it. And I think there's a lot more potential. You see there's a high-rise being built down on Symphony Park right behind us. There's a new contemporary art museum being built by Elaine Nguyen. There's a lot of good things happening down there.
I just think that we definitely made a big start, but there's a long way to go until all of downtown can continue to evolve into and become. And it's the gambling mecca. I think it should be. You know, you talk to Paulie C., but... When you talk about better gaming odds, people want to have their money last a bit longer, right?
So instead of playing triple zero roulette, playing single zero, triple zero, instead of playing six to five blackjack, you should be playing three to two blackjack. Instead of playing two times or three, four, five times odds on craps, you should be playing 10 times odds on craps. And a lot of people don't know that, but they feel it. They feel their money's gone much quicker.
And I think that downtown has a chance to really stand out by differentiating on that.
Yeah. Cause you guys have lower minimums too, which is good. No minimums, but better odds. Yeah. That's the key. Because if you go to the win on a busy night, oh my gosh. $50 blackjack. $50 blackjack.
Yeah.
I only gamble personally with like maybe 500 bucks. So like I'm getting wrecked quick if I go there, you know.
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