79 Bali Vibes, Miami Roots: How BAYA is Redefining the Landscape Resort - Ben Wolff

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Speaker C: hey uh there I'm so glad you've joined me for this episode because we're diving into something truly inspiring now. Imagine a 25 acre tropical fruit farm transformed into a luxury outdoor retreat that feels like it's straight out of Bali, but it's actually outside of Miami. That's the vision behind Bayer, a brand new landscape resort that's already turning heads in the world of hospitality. I'm joined today by the brilliant Ben Wolfe, co founder of Oneira and Oasi and now one half of the team alongside, uh, his business partner Steve Turk. Bringing Bayer to life. We are talking about how this project came to be, what makes it so different and why it's more than just another resort is a whole new category of guest experience. Ben shares how the idea sparked what happened when he first walked the land and how they're building a team that's nothing short of exceptional. And of course, we're exploring the guest journey they're creating from natural pools and wellness rituals to grottos carved from coral limestone and the fruit growing around the steps from your room. So if you're curious about what it takes to dream big, build differently and, um, redefine outdoor hospitality in the US you are going to love this chat. So let's dive in. Glamping and unique holiday rentals are surging in popularity with the growing desire of customers to book holidays that deliver, uh, an experience. They are also the new business of choice for those wanting to improve their work life balance. So how do you build a strong business like this that gives you the life you need and a great investment? I'm Sarah Riley and I want to share what I've discovered after being immersed in this industry for over 20 years to inspire you to find out more about what's going on. Welcome. This is the business of glamping and unique holiday rentals. Before we start with the episode, I want to share something with you. For years I've been guiding people to launch and grow their own unique glamping businesses and transformational retreat events. And honestly, I've lost count of the number of times someone said to me, this is great, but can you just do it for me? For a long time my answer has been no, but not anymore. Now I've built a team, a hand picked collective of trusted creative experts who understand our industry. We've come together to offer done for you marketing and, um, business support. So you can stop carrying it all on your own and start focusing on what you love most, creating beautiful experiences and lifelong memories for your guests. Because let's be honest, until now, your team has been you. And that's just not enough. You wear all the hats, manage all the customers, and still need to figure out the ever changing world of marketing, bookings, dip algorithms, uh, shift competition gets fierce, you become less visible, and it feels like you're carrying the world on your shoulders. But now you can expand your team without having to expand your payroll and finally get the help you need to take the pressure off and move forward. To find out more about the team you've always wanted but never had, head over to inspiredcourses.com team and learn about what inspired collective offers. And let's get some of those to do's off your plate. But be aware, uh, that we only have capacity to work with a handful of people. So if you're interested, be sure to get in touch. All right, back to the episode. Ben, thank you so much for joining me today. It's really lovely to have you here because I couldn't resist but get in touch and ask you about your new project because I've seen it talked about on the Internet and I was like, okay, I need to hear about this one. It sounds really interesting. So what's the vision for Bayer and what immediately clicked for you and made you say yes to partnering with Steve and others on this project?

Speaker A: Yeah, so it's been an evolution. I wouldn't say it was an immediate yes and I can break down that story a little bit, but I met Steve on his podcast actually and you know, really liked him at that time. We had a great episode and stayed in touch. I've gone to a bunch of conferences, speaking or otherwise in Miami and we often bump into each other and I've been dreaming about doing this tropical landscape resort style concept for, I mean, almost five years now. I have a partner in oasi, my hotel marketing and management business, who has a direct to consumer exotic fruit business and had a farm outside of San Diego and um, with all these exotic fruit trees and just, you know, beautiful sort of farm agritourism kind of vibes. And I remember we were talking about it back in 2021 that why is there not this exotic fruit forest tropical style landscape hotel in the U.S. right? You have to go to Bali or Costa Rica or Tulum. Right. You have to go to these far off places to, to have this experience and there's no reason we can't create this in Florida or um, in certain parts of Southern California. So I, I wanted to do it since then and in early 24 I thought I found the right partner to do it in Florida that we sort of pursued that for a couple months. Didn't end up being the right fit. I had stayed in touch with Steve. He already had this 25 acre exotic fruit farm in Redland through a family friend that he was going to lease the land. And at the time I was a little concerned about land lease. Uh, every project I've done, we've owned the dirt and you know, investing millions and millions of dollars into improvements. Like I've always felt much more comfortable owning the land. So we kept in touch. His concept was like a little more glamping, a little more rustic, but kept in touch. Really wanted to find a way to work together in some capacity and then who I was going to be working with, like that didn't pan out for the project in Florida. So Steve hit me up in November of last year and said that they got their zoning verification letter to pursue the project. I ended up going out to the site in January and was really blown away by the property really. And that, that's that along with Steve and sort of his execution over that year to get entitled, not fully entitled but have a zoning uh, approval to do, to do what he wanted to do was enough for me to say maybe we should do this together and combine visions and we both have personal brands, we both have networks. So felt like doing it together would just be, you know, a massive success. So I brought in my GC&CO developer Banks Chisholm, who has developed the last two on air properties. He is uh, a GC unicorn. Comes in on time, on budget.

Speaker C: Cool.

Speaker A: I don't think I'll ever, Yeah, I don't think I'll ever want to work with anybody else again. So brought, flew him in, flew in a modular manufacturing partner who you may know. Actually he's done a lot with the glamping show I feel like in years past. Ed Haynes EJH Okay. Yeah, so, so we brought Ed in as well because we wanted to do the project modular and, and we basically knocked out partnership terms in a matter of a few days. So that's, that's kind of the story of how it came together and super excited about the team and this concept.

Speaker C: I've seen the pictures, they're really interesting. So what is it about that land that really stood out for you? What was the, the moment that it kind of shifted from, you know, actually this, this could be really good. Let's, let's do this venture.

Speaker A: Yeah. So I uh, mean look, they have 25 acres of these mature exotic fruit trees so, you know, long and lychee mame sapote. Like just these beautiful mature trees take years to get to that level of growth. They have giant palms, you know, in a couple of different areas. One is the entryway, which is kind of grandiose, you know, sort of lined with giant palms and other other tropical plants. And then there's this area that has a cluster of giant palms with other vegetation that's kind of grown in between it, you know, other tropical looking vegetation. And so that starts to create the jungle vibe that we're looking to create for where at least some of the bungalows are going to go. Very like tucked into the tropics. So, so it, it already had, you know, maybe 60, 70% of the way there. And we knew that through nearby nurseries and there's actually a nursery that's renting part of the property right now. We could buy their inventory. And these types of tropical plant plants actually grow faster than other, you know, types of grow zones and you know, other climates. So we can really supplement and turn it into a jungle. So that was, that was a piece of it. What was already on the property, the, the amount of like mature growth trees that they already had. In addition to that, just below the surface is white coral limestone. So an inch or two below the surface you have this like white coral limestone that can make for the, the base of a grotto that we can very easily create. So we can make private grottoes. We can make like a big lagoon with crystal clear blue water for the entire property. And so that's like highly unique Instagram, you know, something that people haven't really seen before outside the, you know, inside the US for the most part. So yeah, it was, it was the combination of those things and just walking it with Steve, seeing our visions come together, seeing the excitement of other people on my team in terms of doing, doing this project and creating this vision. So all those things together made it, uh, an easy yes.

Speaker C: M. Almost like worlds collided at the right time. So what about you talk about. And Steve talks about Bayer being something the US has never seen before. So you've mentioned their grottos. And in the UK we have a lot of grottoes. We're actually. A lot of our stately homes have grottos. It's something that was very popular back in the Victorian times. Really elaborate underground or, you know, built into cave systems. And they're very magical, they're very special. They, especially if you marry them up with something like wellness or yoga or some kind of, you know, mystical thing as well. What else is it about Bayer that's going to make it really special and unique? Is it the designs of the actual property? What are you thinking there in terms of what you're going to do?

Speaker A: Yeah, so we're, we're, we're going to be doing modular and we're going to customize to some extent in an existing modular manufacturer that we've been talking to quite a bit. Not finalized but, but we have our eyes set on one that produces these beautiful organic shaped units really that almost look like a flower petal or you know uh, something, something organic certainly from a drone shot and from the ground, you know view as well. But of course floor to ceiling glass sort of overlooking the nature, overlooking the grotto, the tropical vibe. But really that organic shape with curves that sort of mimics some of the vegetation that we'll have on site I think is really going to be a special experience for people. We're calling them bungalows. So think like Bali style bungalows or Tulum or Costa Rica but, but in Florida and, and tucked into this, this jungle vibe I think other differentiators, the grottoes for sure and just how crystal clear blue and vibrant blue the water will be because of the white coral bottom and, and still achieving that very natural look is, is I think going to be special and, and quite unique. Outside of that it's blending the agritourism right there. There's other agritourism, um, properties and, and focused you know hotels in the US but not really of this like exotic fruit variety tropical farm in, in the U.S. so I think that's going to be very unique. We'll have farm tours and experiences, you know cooking classes that use the, the local, you know, fruit on site to uh, create various dishes. We'll have a uh, farm to table cafe and juicery, you know light bites, health forward but using a lot of the fruit that we'll have on property. And there will be a wellness, a heavy wellness component as well. A lot of it will be self serve amenities. So sauna, cold plunge, we'll have the lagoon, we'll have a multipurpose room so we can do yoga classes. You know it could be used for a corporate retreat or a mastermind or something like that as well. So uh, we're going to have this combination of wellness, agritourism, you know, tropical and really jungle vibes that you don't typically see in the US and then of course unique inspiring units which, which I always try to do with our

Speaker C: properties very Instagrammable, lots of selfies going on. I can just see it. And so what is it you think about wellness? So clearly wellnesses, uh, a huge industry, it's growing massively. It's got so much potential. Do you think it's really important for new properties, new sites, new businesses large and small to bring in some kind of wellness element. So if it's a very small two people may be running a business and they've only got a few units, then clearly they could have retreats. So retreat events which could be during the downtime. But then obviously for bigger uh, properties like the one we're talking about now at Bayer, that's going to be more spa, wellness, yoga, all these other activities you're talking about. How is important is that going forward, as we go forward through the future of hospitality, let's say.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean look, I think wellness tourism is still growing across close to 10 a year. It's one of the biggest, fastest growing tourism segments, something like projected to hit. It's a massive number. I think it's like 2 trillion by 2032, which is just mind boggling. I think. I think it is what people want today and increasingly what people want. I feel like longevity, biohacking, wellness is like new status symbols and just things that people are increasingly interested in. So if you can interweave that into your travel and hotel experience, then I just think it's a, it's a big differentiator, it's a big value add. And there's a difference right between slapping a sauna or a plunge or something like that at your property, which I do think has value, like there's definitely value in that. And then really going all in on more immersive wellness experiences that are more cohesive with the, the rest of the experience and the rest of the concept, which is what we're trying to go for with Baya. So hopefully you know, that'll, that'll fully come through in all of our programming. So yeah, there's varying degrees but I think, I think at minimum, even with a small property, like no reason not to sauna, ideally something like a plunge as well, the question often becomes like, do you private amenities, do you do communal amenities? And that's where I think a good, a good mix of both is a good strategy. So you have some premium units that have private, you know, wellness amenities potentially and then you can also have a really, you know, cool communal area that, that everybody can use and that has multiple wellness type features. But it does depend how many keys you have. You know, what's your ADR potential? All those sorts of things that are going to help determine what makes sense.

Speaker C: And what is it about the amenities in terms of what do you think, uh, are the most important amenities for the customer now? What's their priority? So we've seen all kinds of different things come and go, different types of hot tubs, you know, private areas like you say, but actually some surprising things as well, like the EV charging point and things like that which are now so important to a lot of people with electricity, electric vehicles. What would you say is a prime kind of driver in this part of the US for amenities in properties like yours?

Speaker A: Yeah, prime drivers. I mean, look, our, our cedar hot tubs and, and sort of how those have evolved have been hugely successful for us. And I think there's been a lot of, you know, copycats out there with that type of amenity just because it is so Instagrammable. It looks so beautiful. It's got a relaxing, you know, the soaking element, you know, and soaking is a growing trend in addition to more traditional hot tubs. So I think that that's, that's certainly an easy one that, that I know is tried and tested and does, you know, increase performance and increase, you know, the, the people that want to share them on social media and help kind of drive that, that word of mouth marketing and peer to peer marketing. Yeah, outside of that, I would say that I think saunas are a big one. I think a lot of people want sauna today and that paired with a, um, a cold plunge, I think is, is a great combination that more and more places are offering and a ton of people are, are using that as a wellness routine nowadays. So I think having it on property is a big differentiator outside of that, you know, it's property specific. I do think that agritourism and sort of farm experiences is something else that's really booming and people are really loving those types of, you know, get, get back to the earth, get back to, you know, understanding how things are grown and grown sustainably and grown the right way and how do I incorporate this into my, my own sort of daily life even when I leave? So I think that that's something that's, that's growing at a, at a pretty incredible clip. It's not as big as wellness today, but it is. I think it's got like a 12% annual growth rate. I mean it's, it's already $100 billion business and growing. So those two are top of mind for me. And that's why we're, we're doing what we're doing with Bayer.

Speaker C: Mhm. So you talk about agri tourism there. I mean, that's really interesting at the moment. There's so many documentaries that have been on that topic. So it's kind of generated this worldwide interest in how our food is grown, where it's coming from, how far it travels, all of those things. Do you think that you'll be tapping into the eco tourism market because of this? And if you are, what kind of sustainability things are you thinking about across the property?

Speaker A: I think we will in, in some ways for sure. I, uh, think that the, the biggest target will be around sustainable food, organic farming, you know, that, that side of things and really the sustainability of, of farming. Right. That, that's one of the big things that we are, I think, helping provide with, with Baya. So where we're building this property, land values are going through the roof. I mean this property is probably worth at least 5 million and probably more. And so it's actually one reason that the land lease that we've uh, that we're, that we're acquiring on the property is so attractive. It allows us to come in at a price point that still allows the project to make economic sense. With 20 units, if we didn't have the land lease and we were trying to buy it and get a mortgage on it, the project probably wouldn't pencil with that few keys. We have to do something much bigger scale, much bigger hotel. It wouldn't be as boutique, it wouldn't be as one of, you know, one of a kind and unique in my mind. So it, the, the land lease structure and sort of partnering with the farmer is what makes it work. And then on their side of things, you know, they're having to really think seriously about do we have to sell this farm? Even though they don't want to. Their property taxes are going through the roof. They can make so much more money just selling it to a, um, uh, a big suburban developer, you know, like Dr. Horton or something like that. Right. So they're having to have those tough decisions. They don't want to do that. They'd like to keep the general generational asset in the family and, and not sell. Which is why the land lease, you know, with us is attractive. But they're, they're alternative. I mean they're, they're renting right now a couple of acres to a nursery for like a few hundred bucks a month. Like it's not moving the needle, whereas we can generate for them Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. So it actually makes sense to maintain the property and keep farming.

Speaker C: Mhm. It's always been something that even on a small scale glamping has been used. I know this is different to glamping. This is resort and this is very experiential and but glamping traditionally has been used to be able to make farming more viable, for want of a better word, which is such a sad thing because farming should be viable, it should be really, really healthy and profitable for the owner, but it so often isn't. So it's just really great news to hear that that's happening because otherwise, you know, it would be overdeveloped that bit of land because they'd have to go down that line. And uh, so you've already attracted some strong investors and are you completely secured with that now or are you still looking for investment?

Speaker A: I guess it'll depend when this will air whether or not we're still looking for investors. But as of today, June 27th of 25, we, we are still looking for some investors. But we're the, we're majority subscribed, right. We opened our investor portal a couple weeks ago. We've had a ton of interest, we're still talking to a number of people. Right. A couple of weeks isn't a ton of time to make a big investment decision. So we are potentially going to have some folks that come into the deal in the next couple weeks. But we will have a close next week. It will be for very likely well over half, if not closer to 60, 70% of the raise. So yeah, we feel really good about where we're at and can uh, see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is, you know, not an easy thing to say as I'm sure you know in today's day and age, last couple of years been very hard to raise capital. So one reason that I, I brought in couple different partners that could help on the raising front for this project and wanted to really just focus on Bayer. Uh, even though I have a ton of other projects that have been sent my way and I've tried to get pulled into, this is really the one that I believe in. I believe investors will be passionate about and want to put their, their money behind and that's been the case so far.

Speaker C: So you've definitely got a ton of juggling balls in the air. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: But this, this is the one, this is the one development, right? That's like in pre development stage and capital raising stage like everything else, you know we just opened up on Air Fredericksburg expansion, and that's been funded for years. Right. And we just had to get it across the finish line. So Baya is what, um, I'm putting my full weight behind moving forward on the development side.

Speaker C: So, I mean, you touched on there that actually getting investment's been really tricky because of everything that's been going on in the world over the past few years. And it's just been this perfect storm which has created particularly the fact that the interest rates have been slightly higher. So investors have been able to get good rates in the bank rather than putting their money into risky projects. However, do you think that that's starting to ease a little bit? So people who have been looking for investment and they haven't been able to get it, do you think that that's getting a bit easier now?

Speaker A: I do think it's better today than a year ago. I think a year ago was one of the worst times that I've ever seen. Still, pre election, just election years are always for the US Always particularly challenging to raise money just because of the uncertainty, no matter which way it goes. So that was. And. And rates were through the roof and there was less of, uh. I think that, like, there was more movement with rates. We've been a little more stable. We've been coming down a little bit, even though it hasn't been material. So it just feels like there's a little bit more stability. But then, I mean, you throw kind of massive tariffs in the mix and some new things that have happened in the last couple of months. We're right. We're right back into that sort of challenging environment. A lot of money on the sidelines. People are kind of seeing how things are going to shake out. So, man, will it be a breath of fresh air when capital's flowing again? Everybody feels more optimistic and less sort of concerned about volatility. So we're not quite out of the woods yet, but I would say it's better than a year ago.

Speaker C: Do you think that everything happening with AI is also bringing in a little bit of uncertainty? People don't know where we're going with this. Obviously, there's some positives, and it's going to really be helpful and make businesses efficient. But there's also big question marks about actually what does this mean for our future. And certainly investors might be thinking about, where do I put my money, where it's going to be safest. Have, uh, you got any thoughts around

Speaker A: AI look, we're leveraging AI as much as we Can I have a content and marketing side of the business that may look entirely different in six months? I mean, it's already changing quite a bit. We're testing quite a bit with AI video and we want to be on the forefront of that. I think it's an amazing innovation what we can do there and how it democratizes the ability to storytell at scale. Right. It democratizes the ability like I don't, I don't need a, um, massive production crew and multiple shoot days and all the rest to produce a really compelling piece of content. And that's only going to continue to get easier and faster. So we're pushing the envelope on that for sure. I actually think that travel, hospitality, glamping hotels are well positioned, at least as well positioned as any industry could be for this AI revolution because people are still going to want to go places, I would think, in the flesh. Who knows, maybe everybody's just like zoning out at their house in VR. But I like to think that there will still be, um, an interest in actually going to real places and staying in authentic, true in real life experiences. So, so because of that, and I also wonder, I mean, you push it to the limit, are we going to get that much more efficient? Is there going to be something like universal income down the line? Like, you know, is every person going to be that much more productive? Right. And if that becomes the case, the work week gets shorter. Right. Leisure and entertainment become even more important to people. So I think in a lot of ways travel and hospitality is very well positioned. In terms of your question around, do I think that that's like causing people to put money on the sidelines? I don't, I mean, I think like, if, you know, uh, the whole thing with tariffs didn't happen, if interest rates weren't, you know, so crazy high, some of the highest they've been in decades, that money would be flowing like, I think something like AI gives people, there's always caution in question, but more optimism and exuberance about the future and what's possible than, you know, I, uh, guess the counterbalancing concern of, of what that means to the future in terms of

Speaker C: like unknown m when someone is starting a new project, whether that's just thinking it up, writing the business plan, getting the investment, or actually putting, you know, a spade in the ground and starting to dig. There's a lot of mindset issues that go on. A lot of mindset things. Doubt, worry, concern. Am, um, I doing the right thing? It's kind of like post project remorse, you Start your project and oh, am I doing the right thing? So have there been any unexpected lessons or mindset set shifts that you have experienced while you've been going through your various projects, but particularly Bayer?

Speaker A: Yeah. So I would say that yes, I have a doubt most days about something and I think that's very definitely healthy. Probably when I've made my biggest mistakes is when I didn't have a healthy sense of doubt around things and questions question what we're doing, is it the right thing? In, in every business, every development that, that I've been a part of and, and I think that like pulling in other people from the team, getting different perspectives and really collaboratively trying to problem solve is going to lead to, to the best solutions and the best outcomes. And we've, we've done a great job of that at uh Bias so far. I would say that by and large, you know, knock on wood, things have gone relatively smoothly for us. We, we, we made, forged this partnership in January, February and we are, you know, we got all of our docs together, got the concept dialed in, you know, got ready to raise, started raising, you know, basically beginning of, beginning to middle of June in earnest and things have gone pretty well so far. So I'm sure we will hit a snag. We always, always do in every project. And that's one of the reasons I'm so excited about the team that we have. It's just, it's a breath of fresh air working with, with uh, with everybody who's on the team. Steve Banks, you know, Steve's partner, Victor Brian, who's, who's come in recently as you know, more on the capital raising and investor, investor relations side of things, who's been wonderful to work with and is super passionate about the concept. So just having everybody so passionate aligned, collaborative project first, not ego or individual person first has been really, really great. So I have full faith regardless of what comes along, we will collectively come together to figure it out. And that's, that's what I mean man. Banks and myself in the past couple of narrow projects we have had some, some dark days. We've gone through a debt crisis when we had our you know, 15 plus million dollar loan get pulled out from underneath us for Onara Wimberley and then had to scramble to find a new uh, source of financing and debt. We have had concerns around various aspects of budget that we've been able to navigate and still come in on time and on budget sometimes with you know, working 80 to 100 hour weeks at the end with, with a massive cruise kind of just, just going above and beyond to get projects done on time. But uh, we've, we've found a way to, to make it happen and I, I've found that the if, if everybody on the team is passionate about the product and the vision and what you're creating and it's a good collaborative environment, you can get through almost anything.

Speaker C: Mhm. Sounds like you've got some unicorns on your team and that's something very special. So I mean it just sounds like you've had so much on your plate. And am I right in thinking that you've got quite a young family as well? I mean how do you juggle it all?

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I get two kids, four and, and eight months.

Speaker C: Oh um, very small.

Speaker A: So we are, we are in the thick of it. Yeah. How to juggle it all. I get up earlier than I ever have but I'm a morning, I'm a morning person so I do, I do like getting up early and I cherish that time from you know, 4 or 5am until 8am before anybody's really up and moving around. So I get a lot done, a lot of deep work, a lot of strategic thinking done at that time, catching up, sort of framing out what, what's most important to get done in a given day. I have phenomenal people on my team, various teams. Right. And Anawasi have an incredible co founder and incredible you know, team members there have GC&CO developer Banks Chisholm and his company JB Chisholm that are just really unbelievable in terms of what, what they're able, the output and the diligence and yeah just how accountable and uh, responsible they are to making sure we have successful, successful projects. So I think that that allows me to do a lot more. If I was just doing stuff myself, there's no way I could handle half of what, what we're doing now. But yeah, on the family side I get up earlier, try to get home, you know, 6, 6:30, have dinner, spend time with, with my wife and kids before bedtime. I will say that like my second child, I have such a different experience in his infanthood I guess you know, his baby period because for, for various health reasons my wife didn't end up breastfeeding. And so I'm so much more involved and, and so much like I feel like I was so expendable with my first child for the first like two years of life and so not the case with my second. Like I often put him to bed uh, more Often than not I put him to bed. He's on the first one he sees when he wakes up in the morning and he has been even at eight months a very grounding presence. And uh, he's very my, my first is like a whirlwind. So much energy, like uh, always moving. He's super funny, charismatic, like really good at getting what he wants sometimes to a fault. So that's challenging. But my second is a lot more mild mannered, grounding, just super sweet. And uh, yeah he's been honestly he's like helped me, I feel like as much as I've helped him probably in his first eight months with how much I've had going on. So it's a special thing.

Speaker C: Oh wow. It actually sounds like mirror image of my girls. My eldest who's full of energy, full of beans, just like a whirlwind. And uh, my youngest who is almost like an old soul who's been here before and she's so grounding and she's so great. Yeah, mirror M image. That's so amazing. So looking ahead at this industry and kind of the broader hospitality industry in the usa because I don't expect you to answer for Europe and the UK and things like that, but in the usa, where do you think it's going and what are you thinking it's going to be doing are in the right area? Are we going to be seeing more experiential? Are we going to see more boutique? Are we going to see more niche and particularly um, like things like hotels. Where do you think they're going to be moving? Are they moving into this space too? I mean what are your thoughts on all of this?

Speaker A: Everybody's trying to do experiential. They know that's what people want, they know that's like where the puck is going. Authentic, unique, novel experiences like that leave you with stories to tell. That's what people want and that's, I think that's what people have always wanted. It's just that we started to push the envelopes, envelope more on the hotel and hospitality side I think to create just these wow worthy moments and stories. So I do think that will continue. Yes. The big brands, the institutional players are trying to figure out how to replicate and scale the success of some of these experiential boutique operators. And the big challenge for them is like how do you buy these, try to scale them and not just entirely muck it up with your big cogs and wheels and just your very slow moving entity that isn't innovation first, isn't like, let's dream up something amazing and kind of figure it out later if something doesn't work. Like they're hung up on sometimes. Right. Like oh, does, you know, and we struggle with this with our institutional partners. Sometimes it's like, you know, do we have a five year warranty on the, on, on the FF&E? And it's like if you want something one of a kind and that, that feels authentic and, and has very interesting and unique design and really pops off the page, then like you got to compromise in certain spots so you don't end up looking like every other Marriott or Hampton Inn or, or whatever. You know, the, the sort of big brand or flag is like we don't want to look like the same hotel in every market. Right. Because that's the supplier that has the warranty, that's you know, their preferred partner and all the rest. So I think that's where they're going to struggle is how do you continue to, to lean into like the awesome authenticity, the uniqueness, the bespokeness that makes these properties and this type of hospitality, experiential hospitality, so powerful. Like how do you do that and marry it with a culture that is laser focused on in some ways, uniformity and brand consistency and doing things one specific way all the time. So it's tough. Like that's. I don't know how they're going to do that.

Speaker C: Mhm. And they're going to be like an oil tanker as well. You know, it takes a long time to turn, especially when it comes to things like AI and SEO and all that kind of good stuff. If you want to leave one last snippet of advice for the audience in terms of if they were thinking of getting into this space and they're a little bit excited about what experiential hospitality is all about, what would you say?

Speaker A: It's not for the faint of heart. It's really hard, but it is so worth it. So if you feel like you have the grit, you have the passion to sort of carry you through some dark days and the perseverance, then go for it. Because I have found something that I truly love to do in developing these one of a kind experiential properties. And it's been really hard, but it's been worth it.

Speaker C: Thank you for your time today, really appreciate it. I know how busy you, uh, are.

Speaker A: Thanks Sarah. I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop. I'm addicted. Start your free trial@shopify.com Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com Switch upfront.

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