Thoughtful Generousity - the key to hospitality

Hey everybody. Welcome to the next episode of the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the trainings and most importantly, the confidence on how you as a host can go out there and pick up yourself some more direct bookings. My name is Liam Carolan, I'm Mark Simpson's co host and today we're going behind a successful and interesting host. We're going to be asking questions about their hospitality business, trying to extract some, some juicy answers, some things that you can do and implement within your business. And I'm really excited. Today I'm joined by Laura Wegner and she's got a brilliant short term rental business called the Suite Life in Whistler or Suite Life Whistler. I should say. I'm excited because of two reasons. One, she's an awesome host, she's very prepared. We've, we've spoken obviously before this podcast, but also because she is going to be in an up and coming project called Hospitable Host. So it is something which you'll be able to dive in and read more about her and we're going to speak about that. So without further ado, let's introduce Laura. Welcome along.

Thank you so much, Liam. I'm very excited to be here and able to talk about my business and what I love most about hosting.

Well, I'm excited to have you here, so why don't you give the audience a introduction into you and, and your business?

Sure. So my business name is the Sweet Life Whistler in British Columbia, Canada and we offer currently a one bedroom boutique vacation rental on the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain. I have to say Whistler is my all time happy place. I've been to over 20 different countries around the world and Whistler still has my heart and it's where I love to adventure. So, so grateful that I'm able to have a business there. And I just launched an Airbnb management company. We want to support and educate investors who are looking to build out their Whistler portfolio and maximize their ski and ski out revenue potential.

That sounds amazing and certainly something which, I mean Whistler in general. I'm actually going snowboarding next week. So anything that you ski in, ski out, you know, sort of anything like that I absolutely love. So you mentioned the model that you use and when it comes down to one thing, I'd love to know, which not many other people know, if we can get something interesting or may surprise people about yourself.

Oh, I think, I think this is quite surprising. I am a certified teacher and I have My master's in applied linguistics. I did some linguistic work in Papua New guinea and I'm actually credited in the Ethnologue, which is a language book of all the languages in the world of discovering a language called Yiri Bomb. So me and one other linguist out in the bush with a backpack discovering some languages. Of course, I say discovering because that's from a Western viewpoint, because that language group knew their language, but most people don't know that. So there you go.

That is amazing. That really is. I mean, in terms of to be accredited as, you know, like you say, Western wise, discovering the language. Like there is not many people who can, who can say that. So thank you for sharing that, Laura. So let's go into the hospitality business a little bit more. What would you say is the most important thing for your guests aspect and why, why do people come and stay in the Suite Life Whistler well, what.

I've learned from our guest and from the reviews is that people are really responsive to hospitality. And I know that seems ridiculous to say in the hospitality industry, but I think there are some hosts out there, not a hospitable host, mind you, but there are some who've kind of forgotten that hospitality is the golden rule in the business. They think it's all about the bottom line. So what I've stumbled upon is kind of reexamining hospitality and how crucial it is to the guest day. I know I've been in 20 different countries and whenever I have stayed, stayed at a place where hospitality is the very first thing that's on the list, then they extend to me a higher quality of service. There's a higher return on my experience. And I feel valued instead of just sort of processed and pushed through the system. And people are really yearning for that, the connection of that, the seamlessness of that, the thoughtfulness of that. And I personally believe if you're going to engage the golden rule, right, we want to treat others the way we want to be treated, then it's really hard to do that by just considering the company's bottom line.

And people agree with you?

Yeah, people. They sense that when you are stingy on some level, people just go, oh, especially generous people. So hospitality first and everything else will.

Fall in line is so true. There's. There are hosts out there, unfortunately, who consider guests a number and a pound sign or dollar sign. It's very, it's very difficult because when you return back to the heart of what we do, which is being hospitable, that is when we get the biggest reward from it. And I know we're gonna going to dive further into that right as, as we go on. So what kind of guest avatar do you host? Who is it who comes and stays with you?

Our guest avatar are jet setting couples. They're world travelers. They're seasoned, they have high demands on accommodations. They absolutely need that ski and ski out. Don't even talk to them. There's no hot tub, there's no ski and ski out. Forget it. They're not going to look at you and you know they've been around. So they know good hospitality and world class hospitality when they see it. So couples, that's our target avatar. You do any advertising or any copywriting, we speak directly to them. We want to attract them in and they want to adventure together while they connect together. And that's, that's our main target avatar.

Nice. We, we love that you're really clear on your avatar and it's something which we talk about all the time at Boostly is really find out who it is and how you can appeal and we'll dive more into the, the marketing and, and that side of things as, as we go along. What would you say is the reason that you got into hospitality? Take me back. Like you say you've discovered languages. Take me back. How did, how did this all come about and why? I guess.

Well, it's a story that we hear quite often in the hospitality industry. You know, some people get into it because that's their first choice. I had a gourmet coffee service business that was thriving for over a decade and then Covid came in and obliterated that business because we were in offices and when all the offices shut down, our service was basically no longer needed for a two year period. So my gourmet coffee service business died quickly and it was, it was deeply painful. I mean, I had plans that I was going to build that up, I was going to sell, you know, that business and all of that got stripped away. So it's March and I'm realizing my business is dead. Nobody's going to be needing my coffee service. And I don't really have many options except for one. We had purchased a Whistler condo a few months prior and we were updating it and that was really my only financial game in town. And, and so I just dug in and I said, okay, I know long term rentals. I've been doing long term rentals for about 20 years. So I thought, well, I'm going to get into the short term rental, but there's a Problem. I have no knowledge of the short term rental industry. I've stayed at places but I didn't know. So I had no knowledge of short term rentals. I had no reputation. That's huge in the short term rental industry. I had no traction with online travel agents. And of course we know occupancy rates were like they tanked. Right. They were at nothing in March. So I, it's kind of a Hail Mary. I threw up and like in a football game and here it is. I didn't know that it was going to be so successful successful and that people were going to respond so well to it. And I'm grateful. So all of you who came to stay with me, thank you.

You know, that is amazing. First of all, it's very brave to do that at that time. But also we become very resourceful when we need to. And it sounds like, I mean, you know that it sounds like it was quite emotional and devastating what happened with the boutique coffee business. But when this hospitality journey gives you that lifeline, it sounds like it could have, you know, put you in something which it sounds to me as though you really love and something which has got a lot of opportunity around hospitality. So.

Right.

You know, we're glad to have you on as and then led you on to, you know, writing a chapter in Hospitable Host and becoming a soon to be best selling author, which is going to be amazing, which we're going to dive into. So what I'd love to know is when you had bought that condo, I guess that was before you knew how to track where properties work. But is there any, was there anything that gave you a good feeling that that was going to work? What was it that that made you think, hey, do you know what this probably will do well as a, as a short term rental?

Well, look, even though we weren't going to necessarily rent that out as a short term rental, we're still investment people and we're not going to buy something that doesn't cash flow. So cash on cash, all of those things, we did look into that. So that was the good news. We did the cash on cash value with a long term rental in case we had to rent it out long term. But the main thing that I can say is we've known this area our personal knowledge about 20 years. So we know the that particular niche market now. Besides that though, I'm all about networking with professionals. So we went to this real estate agent, Danny o'. Neill. She's amazing. She is an expert in her field. She knows that ski in, ski out market like nobody else. And we partnered with her and she helped us with her resources and sources help us to know is this a good investment. And then after I had that information I went out to some short term rental management companies and I said, hey, what do you project my income could be for this scenario? And that was kind of just what I did. Not understanding that I was going to be in the short term rental industry. So I used the knowledge that I had at the time and the connections, the networking that I had. So I would highly recommend to people that find an expert, everybody says this, find your experts that you love to partner with and use them as a resource. They're happy to do that. And Dani was invaluable. She's amazing. Any property we purchase will go through her.

Definitely, definitely. Get good people on your power team is so important. And I also like the. One of the things which I got draw the listeners attention to is that you did have that secondary exit planned as well. You know, the long term you had already checked the figures so it kind of gives people two exits, you know, if. Or you've got yourself two exits if you need it.

Right.

If you're struggling on how to get direct bookings and overwhelmed on where to start, then I recommend you go and book in a call with Boostly and our team right now. We can walk you through exactly what we're offering, how we can help you and give you a portfolio of websites that we have worked with that are matching not only your niche but could be in your location as well. Boostly has helped over 2000 hospitality businesses all over the world increase their direct bookings. And if you are interested then all you need to do is go to Boostly. B O o s t l y.co.uk call and booking an appointment with one of our sales team.

So we've talked about where your property is, we've talked about obviously your journey. What is it about your properties that attract your ideal guest? What would you say is the most crucial thing? Why do they come and stay with you in particular?

Well, I'd say I think it's something that I talked a little bit about is just hospitality. But maybe I should dig into more of my deeper side of hospitality, which I've coined the phrase thoughtful generosity. So my idea of hospitality and extending it is, contains this component that's a part of my core values which is being thoughtful and being generous. Right. So I just want to share if I may. I don't necessarily like to read Stuff, but this is my company's definition that I developed of this, and I think it's a great starting off point. We extend thoughtful generosity and gracious hosting to our guests to help them feel at home. We fill our suites with many thoughtful extras. And these touches say, welcome, enjoy. We anticipate needs in an exceptional way to build customer loyalty. And we know that going the extra mile isn't just a commitment, you know, it's, it's something that we're all in about. We're not going halfway. So this idea of being thoughtful and generous at the same time just pretty much defines that. Each guest that comes to us, they have different needs. And somebody may be looking for a hiking adventure, somebody may be looking for a water adventure, somebody, maybe it's an anniversary or a birthday. So what we want to do is we want to find out from our guests what they're there to celebrate, what they're there to do, and then we want to provide them with something that's going to really meet their needs and elevate their stay. Right. So if, if you come to me and you say, hey, Laura, I've never skied Whistler before, what are your favorite runs? Well, I'm going to give you a Google map that has the runs on it that you can follow. Or mountain biking. We just recently had a gentleman last summer say, hey, I have a son, he's 10 years old, he's never gone mountain biking. I want to take him on some trails and we literally charted out a trail for him, for him and his 10 year old son. And he just thought it was fantastic. So it's one thing to say, here's my favorite hikes, but it's another thing to go to that extent and say, what are your specific needs? And let me see if I can meet those for you. That's what I call thought. Thoughtful and generous.

That's lovely. I mean, the overall feel I get from it is that it is a very tailored sort of guest experience, you know, depending on their needs and of their stay. You guys are thinking, hey, what is their needs? You know, they're coming here for this reason. What can I do to make it more special for that? And that is a lot of, of what hospitality is. But I can feel you live it. Do you know what I mean? I can feel that it comes through, it shines through from you. So.

Oh, good.

What would you say are the top two tips for the stuff that you've found that works to demonstrate either generous, you know, sort of your hospitality style, thoughtful Generosity and what has worked for you that other hosts listening would be able to go, you know what, I'll do that in my, in my properties as well.

Okay, now just to clarify, are you speaking about my tips for host in general or in general?

Yeah, just any top, Top two tips they do.

Okay, top two. Well, the first thing that I would say is I'm a huge advocate of networking, not having to reinvent the wheel and learning from other people's mistakes. So I would say making sure that you have an understanding that you don't have to do it alone. The hospitality industry is really, really good hosts. Like especially hospitable hosts, people that have a real longing to be hospitable and extend hospitality regularly. Those are the people that understand that community is important. And so support, encouragement, mentoring, networking, education, being connected with the hospitality tribe. I've seen that be the key to people's success because the hospitality community is so generous. And if you say, hey, I have a question about this, there's so many people willing to help because somebody stepped up and helped them. So that's huge. You don't have to do it alone. Another tip that I have actually has to do with a book. It's so funny. I don't recommend too many books, not that I don't read, but this book, if you are type A host, I highly, highly recommend the Gap and the Gain. And that's by Dan Sullivan. And he basically talks about people that are really driven in the industry, how they are unhappy with the progress, because, you know, it's. There's always something in the future that you say, okay, here's my goal, but the goal is always moving. You're getting better at something, but the goal is always moving. So it seems out of your reach. And so this revolutionized really my business life. And it was so interesting that he said instead of looking at what you're missing, all that you have, the, the, the journey that you have to go on, look at where you began and look at how far you've come and measure yourself based on that. So today, instead of measuring myself on oh my goodness, I need to get all my systems in place and completed and stuff like that, and oh my gosh, whatever it is that I need to do, that weighs heavily on me. I go back to that, how far have I come? And then I, instead of getting overwhelmed, I get encouraged. And so that has been such a productive read with high benefits. So recap. Don't do it alone and find resources that are really going to encourage you to Move forward and get you in that mindset of success.

I'm going to stick that on my audible list. The the Gap and the game by Dan Sullivan was it?

Yes, it is amazing. I'm telling you, I like it totally changed. I would say my success a huge part of that besides taking the Legend X course was reading that book. It took so much burden off of me because I'm so driven and I'm so type A and I want to do things extremely well. That's sometimes I bog myself down with all of those details. And this just said, hey, all the details are still there. You're not ignoring what your journey is. You're just your reference point is different. And I thought wow, thanks Dan.

That's cool. That's cool. And you've just mentioned something which we've got to draw attention to, which is the Legends X program. Me and you have got that both in common. Where we've both gone through the Legends X program with Eric Mower and Jasper Rivers, which is amazing. The overnight success team. And if anybody's listening to this thinking, well what is that? Just Google overnight success, Legends X or Eric Mower, all of that stuff. Or Jasper Rivers. Awesome, awesome. Mentors and coaches who can help you with your hospitality business and certainly helped me and, and it seems helped you along your way as well, which is cool.

Nominal, worth every penny. Best decision 2022. Julie George was my coach. I mean how good does it really get? That course is phenomenal. Highly recommended. If you're looking to scale your short term management business. Take the course. How did you. I'd love to know what did that do for you?

So before doing that course I didn't, I was on about six properties so we're now sitting on 21. So it done exactly what I hoped it would which would allow me to, to systemize and to grow the business. And there's still challenges, still struggles, but having a blueprint of how to do what we've done is the important thing which is I think really what they give you. Especially there's the tech side of things and I don't want to give it away because you know, that's one of those things. But it's amazing. Go and find out. If you're listening to this from the guys, they've got a very simple system but it works. Yeah, it really works. Which is cool.

It does, yes. Two thumbs up for me.

Awesome. Awesome. So what would you say? It sounds as though there's already been been some challenges obviously within the business but what would you say would be the biggest, the. The points of challenge within your hospitality business. What has been the challenge and how you have you overcome them. And on the flip side of that, what has been the biggest wow moment?

Okay, well, my challenge, Liam, I'm still in the middle of my challenge. I did laundry yesterday for the suite because nobody can get my laundry done without big stains on it. So it's a huge thing. Cleaners, I have to tell you something. This is what blew my mind. The cleaners I paid $150 for didn't clean any different than my $300 cleaners. I'm stumped. I don't know what to say. So right now I'm realizing that I'm going to find and hire my own cleaning team. So that's where I am. Because when I have other people's cleaners, I can't tell them what to do. I can give them. I have a list, I have a checklist. I say what I want done, but it's the same thing. Everybody gets challenges with that. That's my bottleneck and I am going to solve it, and I'm going to be so excited when I solve it with.

With that. Cleaners is something which we see time and time again, a challenge within the industry. And when you've got great cleaners, this is advice from. From another host, which is when you've got great cleaners, hold on to them. They will be your most valuable people. And in the end, you'll probably have to end up hiring them at some stage because across a long enough time period, you know, you may grow or the business may change or their standards may slip, you know, so it's a really difficult position to fulfill and quite within hospitality. However, somebody else has said this to me who actually found they were in the same challenge as yourself, where they wanted to have better standards than what they could find in their local market. And their saying was, don't accept low standards. Don't accept anything lower than what you feel your hospitality business needs to represent. And to do that, they ended up doing exactly what you do, and they end up hiring their own team. They've now got a cleaning arm to their business, and now they actually do it for other people, which is. Or not them themselves, but they've got an element to their businesses which. Which does that. And this is what we mean by the opportunities around hospitality, is that right? There's lots of, you know, you can do property staging, you can do welcome packs, you can do upsells, you can do all of this. Stuff, but ultimately the whole reason behind it is that hospital hospitality, you know, that is what can we give the guests to give them the best experience. And if you're not finding the people to do it, then you can create that which is wonderful. And it feels great creating these things, doesn't it?

That's right. I'm in the middle of creating here.

I like it. So flipping that around, what's been the biggest wow moment?

Well, this is one of my biggest wow moments here, Liam. I don't often go on podcasts, so wow, wow.

It becomes, hey, this is my everyday. But, you know, I mean, it is cool that you get to people listening to this and you can always send a comment or comment, you know, send, send us a message. You'll find out how at the end. But you can always say, hey, this sort of message may get out to people who are in Australia, you know, in, in Europe, in, in all over the world. And the great thing is that it all started with you just going, you know what? I'm going to give hospitality a go. Which is cool.

Right? Right, yeah. So that's definitely a wow moment. My other wow moment came during the Legends X program because, as you know, I mean, I don't know when you were in the course, but they, they introduced us to Air DNA. Like, you know, I was starting at ground zero, so I didn't really know much and I thought, oh, air DNA. And you can go on there and you can research properties. What's the most profitable? And that was part of the homework. So we went, I went on there, clicked on that. I looked at one bedroom listings and I was like, whoa, there's like a thousand plus one bedroom listings. Whoa. So I was like, okay, let's see the most profitable. And it lists the 12 most profitable listings. And so I was scrolling through and I was looking and I saw a picture of my listing.

Nice.

And it was the 8th, 8th most profitable. And I knew it was kind of doing well, but, you know, nobody gives you all their numbers and they're just projections. And I was, I had to, I stared at that with my mouth open for minutes. I mean, I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe it. That was like a wow exponentially notated to the hundredth power or something. You know, it was like, wow. And then I went back on recently before, you know, the book launch, and I was fourth most profitable. So I'm moving up in the world. So regardless of what people think of Air DNA, to rank on there, for me at the Time it had been like a year and a half and the first bit of that was Covid. So how much of that was really in the industry? Wow. Right?

Amazing. Amazing. And do you know what? Air DNA is a fantastic tool and like you say there's, there's some awesome methods. We've actually got Avery Carl coming on on here who talks about the method of using air DNA which is where you get rid of the. The non comparables is it's a really, it's out there. You can search Avery Carl Air DNA and it is a really good free video out there on YouTube which I've used recently. And the nice thing is about hospitality is you continually a student, you know what I mean? As in I. I love finding out new bits of information.

Thank you, thank you. I'm definitely going on there that go check it out. Excellent. Thank you. I love that. And that growth mindset is so important I think in anything in life, right?

100%. 100%.

You don't want to be stagnant and feel like nobody likes to deal with people anyway that are like I'm all that and I know everything like who nobody wants with to deal deal with those people.

The more I know, the more I know there is that I need to learn generally. But so let's talk about two things I want to dive into. You just mentioned the book launch, so I definitely want to dive into that. But just before we do, what would you say is the tech within your business? You started your business, what is the tech which you use and what you'd recommend people check out or at least consider.

Right. So I'm going to put my number one tech is something that I've used from the very beginning, which is TouchStays digital guidebooks. I love them. I love their customer service. I like that I get to communicate with a real person. And my guests have loved that digital guidebook. And every time I do something tailored for somebody, I slip that in my digital guidebook in a link so that other people have the advantage of that too. So yes, I'm tailoring this to somebody but I did that green run for the mountain bike parent and now another parent who wants a green run is going to have access to that too. So Touch day is probably my number one.

Just before we move on from that one. The great thing is that for people listening, if you haven't already heard of touchday or digital Guidebooks, it's just such a good benefit that what you can do is have basically a digital link effectively that is sent to the. The guest and they can just go on and see all the information about their stay and all the personalization that like Laura is putting in. You can always save any of your suggestions in there for future use. So you're not tell everybody individually you're building up like a. Your own sort of recipe, I guess, of how to experience the property.

Right. And if you have different properties, like I have maybe a few properties in one building, all of my building information I can just basically cut and paste and then use the different room numbers for resources for those to be accommodating for those guests. So I find it awesome and I really, really love it. And guests really love it too.

Makes me look good, 100% something which not every host is going to be using. So it separates you from your competition, which is so important.

Right, right. And then my second one. And I know this is going to sound like I'm just plugging Boostly here.

But we don't mind.

I love. I have to say this. When I do business with people, I do business with people that I like. So, Mark, as the face of Boost Lee, I first listened to a podcast of his and there was so much incredible value. And then I thought, wow, he was saying that they have a direct booking website. So now I'm connected with Boostly. You guys are building my website. That's the kind of thing that I was talking about with networking. You find people that you admire and respect and are doing a good job and adding value in the industry and then you also support them. So I love Mark, love Boostly and highly recommend if you don't have a direct booking website, make sure that you're not putting your eggs all in one basket with the OTAs. You have to get a direct booking website. I did.

You've got. You've got us blushing. Laura, thank you for. Thank you for mentioning. It's easy for me to say on the, on the podcast. You can tell I'm embarrassed. Awesome. Awesome. And thank you for the. The plug. And was there any other text that you. That you'd like to sort of suggest?

Well, I have research and just became a partner with Guesty. I love that, you know, they're going to help me so that I don't have to hire so many people up front because, you know, I'm a small business right now. I'm growing the business. I can't really do that. So I've done a lot of research and I really love their platform and I can give you more on them later, but those are My my three favorite. Those are the ones that I use and so those are my authentic recommendations.

Quick break from the podcast to let you know that the two boostly books that we brought out, the book Direct Playbook and the book Direct Blueprint, are two of the top rated and the best selling in the hospitality category on Amazon. For just two pounds you can grab both of those books Right now. The foundations and the structures that you need to put in place is in the Blueprint. And then for 101 marketing tactics that is in the Playbook. So go and grab a copy on Amazon. Now just type in Book Direct Playbook or the book Direct Blueprint and we'll see you on the other side.

Thank you so much for those. So let's talk about the Hospitable Hosts book project, which I'm excited to I'm lucky enough to have had a sneak peek of your chapter, haven't I? But I'm excited first of all for yourself as the author of the book. So how did it feel writing your chapter in the book? And what would you want the reader to take away from from the chapter that you've that you've contributed? And just for people listening, just to add a bit of context, Hospitable Hosts, if you haven't heard from of Hospitable Hosts, is an amazing book project by Jody Sterling. What she does is she finds hosts from all over the world and they get to share their story within a chapter of the book and it brings people together. And also some of these stories are amazing. I mean I was lucky enough to be involved in the first project and the stories in there and the people that you share the book with is just amazing. And furthermore, you can One top tip as well, Laura, is to make sure you get the book and put it in each one of your properties so your guests can find it as well, which is amazing. But how did it feel writing your chapter? And what what would you want the reader to take away from your chapter?

Well, I'm going to get to that in a second. But I have to say I really appreciated your chapter and how like that you know, when you, when you bump up against people in the industry. I love that book because I get to know a little bit about you, which is where I get life satisfaction if I know about someone's journey and I can connect with them on that point. I love that and I thrive on it. I'm very journey oriented. So to hear you say you want to be a better dad and be present for your family and your wife, you know, those are the kinds of things that we all understand, you know, how a job can suck you dry and how important it is to make those decisions up front. So I was very encouraged. I mean, I was going to put mine in my suite except by the time I got done with it was all highlighted and dog eared. Oh yeah, I was like, you know, communicating with the book itself.

Thank you. You caused me to blush again. I'm not going to fit out the door at the, at the end of this, but yeah, I appreciate it. And I mean, this is, the amazing thing about this, is that you get to share your story and you, you, you'll get messages. I mean, Julie George is a great example. We mentioned early on. She says the book is the best business card you could possibly have because you're putting your information out there and people go, oh, it's Laura from, from Hospitable Hosts. You know, as, as it makes it. How I've, I know this person, I know where their properties are. I know what, what this person is about, you know, what, what their core values are and stuff like that. And that's the cool thing. And once it's in print, it'll, it'll always be in print, you know, like it's always there. It's a. Books are the way that we, you know, Western society has developed, isn't it? By learning from previous.

So it's so true. Yes. So I would say I'll go back to your question of how did I feel while I was writing it, Liam?

Yes. Yes.

I did not like it. Did not like the feeling. Writing for me. Look, writing for me is so difficult. I had an instructor once said, all you gotta do when you write, it's pretty easy. You just open up a vein and draw blood. And I was like sweating blood, you know. So what I like to do when I write is I like to be vulnerable. I like to kind of share, put myself out there in raw form. I don't think that's easy, you know, to kind of expose yourself on that level. Because I figure, I love Benjamin Franklin. He said, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. And I'm like, hey, I like that, Ben, that's brilliant.

I like that. That might end up on my wall, that quote.

No, I love that. And so there's a bit of pressure with that. You, you write something worth reading. So that was my first hurdle because I'm very particular. Like, I like if people can write well and communicate well. I really love that. And so I, of course, want to be one of those people. But the biggest takeaway, that was my journey. It's so difficult. I hope people enjoy it. Please go out and read it. If you do enjoy it, let me know. I kind of opened up a vein for you, so let me know how that went for you as a reader. But the biggest takeaway that I really wanted to leave with people was that, you know, it's important. We're all part of this world community, and it's important to help one another out along the way. I have been helped out along the way. When I had hard times, I had a semester at college where I had $800 worth of books. I had just come from overseas working for a volunteer organization. I didn't have it, and someone actually paid for my books. So I'm just saying not everybody can do that. But how important it is, just help one person. And the second part of that is this. I used to think it had to be monetary. I used to think I had to support and help humanity with money. But I realized, and what I really want to encourage everybody here today is that if you don't have money to give someone, you're limited on your resources. I would say you are the resource. Look at yourself as a resource. Your time, your thoughtfulness, your compassion, your kindness, your words. Those are the resources. And those are really precious currency. And I talk about reaching out to someone and their family that had a very great need. But I have to tell you something. I received what I call, well, being dividends. I didn't do it because I'd received that, but a beautiful friendship, these well, well, being dividends, where I help someone in a very practical way. And it felt really good. And you can make a profound difference in this world when you engage like that. So there's other things besides money from a country around the world that's a currency. Kindness is a currency, too. So I just really wanted to encourage people, think outside the box with that and just help one person every day.

I can definitely get on board with that one thing. And I don't want to spoil the chapter, but you mentioned. Is it Masha in the.

Masha?

Yeah, in the chapter. I don't want to spoil anything for the listeners, and I definitely encourage them to go to hospitablehosts.com where you'll be able to find out more about hospitable hosts, but also purchase a copy of the book.

That's right.

But I've got to take this chance to ask, are you still in touch with her. And how's she doing now?

Yes, I'm still in touch. Well, she's. When I said that she's a friend, I wasn't just a line in a book. She really is a friend. I really love her. We communicate every week, several times a week. I was teaching her to do something that she needs to be successful here in this area. So every week I see her. I don't want to give it away either, but all I have to say is she's doing well and her family is doing well, she's thriving and she's in community and, and I just saw for Valentine's Day a bunch of people came over and put hearts all over her door saying, we love you, you were loved, you were cared for. And that is just beautiful. And I thought, wow, we all want to belong somewhere and be cared for and it's really beautiful. So I see her maybe three times a week, four times a week, and she's doing well. Thank you for asking.

No worries. I mean, it's a touching story within your chapter and definitely one which hopefully we've sparked some curiosity. And please, if you listen to this, go and check it out. It's well worth listening to. So as we reach towards the end of these podcasts, we love to ask a couple of quick fire fun questions. And just before we go onto those, what does the future of the business for yourself look like?

Oh, you know, the future. I did write some notes here. I don't want to ramble. I'm just going to look. I was really thinking about what my future might look like. And, and I'm going to make a statement that I'm, I'm hoping is marks the future for me. And that's just a season of increase. You know, when a farmer plants a field, you just expect that there's going to be seed that grows. So I would say that 2023 is going to be season of increase with increased understanding of my knowledge of the business, increased understanding of how to serve my partner and guest avatar, brand recognition, favor with couples that are traveling from overseas that find me increased local knowledge and in my niche market, increase of the profit share of the Whistler market there. So if I can be the go to place for couples and increase my, my actual profit share on Black Hole Mountain, I'm going to say that's my phrase for 2023. Season of increase. That's what I'm hoping for.

Nice. So now we'll move on to the some questions which are a bit more just out there. So Random quick five questions.

I love those. Fire away.

If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Oh, I would probably be a giraffe so I could have a really good perspective.

Nice. I like that. That's kind of got few levels to.

Does.

What would be your favorite thing to eat at breakfast time?

Oh, my favorite thing to eat. Oh, there's so many. Liam. I'm just a real foodie. But you know what I eat most often? Even though I say that I eat oatmeal, like steel cut oats, I just love that it seems kind of boring. But my breakfast, I don't unless I go out. But yes. Okay. Oatmeal.

Oatmeal. Cool. Cool. So for this next question, this is the classic question, which is if you could invite any famous historical figure to dinner, who would you invite and why? Or it can be any famous person in general, living or posthumous.

I think I would love to invite Warren Buffett's son Howard. He's the farmer and every time I've seen an interview with him, he's just very humble and down to earth and. And pragmatic and he's very focused on helping people. So I really would love. I've even told my husband. I see. That's the kind of person I'd love to sit down and have lunch with.

I like that. I like that a lot. And most people obviously go for. For Warren himself on there, but that is. That's cool to. To invite his son like you say is. I like the different sort of perspective on that. So the last question we always end with is what is your mantra or saying something which resonates with you?

Well, I think this comes from how I like to live every day. You know, showing up well. And that's just love is patient and love is kind and love always wins. I really do believe that. I know there's a lot of crazy whacked stuff going on in this world, but what I've seen is if you come in the middle of a dark conversation and you're able to speak love into that situation and demonstrate love, it really does always win.

Awesome. I really like that. And what nice way to. To bring it to a close. So I know there's going to be people who want to go and check out obviously first your chapter in the book where they can go to hospitable hosts.com and come and check out the book. But if they want to either follow your business or follow yourself, what's the best way to do so?

So I have a Link tree account, the Sweet Life Whistler. And then my Instagram account is the same name at the Sweet Life Whistler. And of course suite is S U I T E Sweet Life Whistler. So please follow me. I'll follow you back and check out my link tree in the next month or so. I'm going to be building that out. But yeah, that has my information there.

That's cool. That's cool. Was there anything we missed or any final thoughts before we bring it to, to a close?

I would like to have a final question with you, Liam.

Okay, cool. Turn. Turning on the interviewer.

That's right. What. What was behind your decision to be a part of. Behind the host? I know it is like, you know, obviously you're getting paid for that, so let's lay that aside.

You know, truthfully, I'm not. I'm not getting paid for. For each one. But yeah, truthfully, the reason I. Oh.

That is so odds.

Yeah. The reason I do this is to talk to awesome people. You mentioned it earlier on in one of your answers, which is when you get to network and you pick up ideas, you pick up inspiration.

Yes.

When Mark said, hey, do you want to come on and do this? I was like, well, yeah, yeah. There wasn't, there wasn't a moment where I was just like, should I do this? It was like, yeah, this is obvious. Yes. How many other opportunities would you get? We probably wouldn't speak. You know, we. Let's, let's be honest. If it wasn't for this, we probably would. That's so true. Cross path. So, no, I'm getting to meet awesome hosts from across the world. I'm getting to learn from them. I'm getting to interact with them. And also it is that recity. You know, Mark Simpson has shared so much with, with myself and improved my business. If I can help, if I can dive in and they say a rising tide lifts all ships. You know, hey, hey, if, if I can help, let's, let's do it. So that's why I do this. And I'm really enjoying it. I've. I can talk for England, as people might realize if it's a case of I talk and I love being in front of people, so, yeah, that's kind of why I do this. But thank you for turning the tables at the end there on the question of me.

Thank you for that. I love that. I had no idea that. I mean, I just assumed. And again, it's because there's certain things about the business that I don't know, and about how Mark runs things there. But that gives me perspective and makes me appreciate what you're doing even more because now I feel like it's not like you're. When you get paid for something, you're kind of helping yourself. I mean, but when you're doing this, it's like your way of giving back. I really love that and I value that and appreciate it. So thank you. I really. The behind the host. I think I was telling you, Alex, I must have listened to that a few times already. Really value people coming on and being able to hear their journey, like I said. And this is, like, right up my alley. So thank you for what you do, and I really do appreciate it.

So thank you.

What an honor.

Thank you, Laura, for coming on and sharing your story. And there's something I say this quite often, but your vibe attracts your tribe, so there'll be people who listen to this and reach out because they resonate with you and your story and your hospitality business. And from this podcast, I've got the. You know, it's returned us back to the warmth of what hospitality should be, that thoughtful generosity. So thank you for. For sharing that. And thank you, too. If you're listening to this on the Boostly podcast, we know there's a lot of places you can put your attention, and your attention is one of your most valuable resources. So we really thank you for putting it with us here at Boostly, and we hope we have inspired you and that you've picked up some tips today. So thank you so much and thank you again, Laura.

Yes, thank you. Bye, everyone.

Bye, everybody.