1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Welcome back to the Hostel Road Trip podcast. 2 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:16,400 Just super excited to be here with a gem of a hostel here, the Houza Hostels with Michael 3 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,760 and Nathan, the founders. 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:24,640 And we are just excited to hear about the emerging market in Hawaii in general and just 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,920 a beautiful story as I always are of how the hostel started. 6 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:33,920 I'm here live from Hermosa Beach, LA at the ICHLA Beach Hostel. 7 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:40,080 I'm with my co-founder Bob Dyer, who's down in the Salulita, Mexico area and our amazing 8 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:41,080 hostel down there. 9 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,960 Now, Michael, where are you right now? 10 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:44,960 We're both in Maui. 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:46,580 Both in Maui. 12 00:00:46,580 --> 00:00:50,520 That's why they're looking very relaxed, shoulders dropped, smiles on. 13 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:52,520 Yeah, this morning. 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:53,520 Yeah, great. 15 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,160 Yeah, we're all looking at the ocean. 16 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,360 That's why we have a smile on. 17 00:00:58,360 --> 00:00:59,920 Beautiful stuff. 18 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:05,520 Now, I have a bunch of questions, but curious, the name right off of that, how did Houza 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,520 Hostels become the name? 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:09,520 I'll name this opportunity. 21 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:10,520 Yeah. 22 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:11,520 Okay. 23 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:12,520 Nate came up with the name, so go ahead, Nate. 24 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,640 You kick it off here, Nate. 25 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:24,240 Well, in my previous career, I did morning meetings and every single meeting started 26 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,440 with a, how's it? 27 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,160 And how's it here in Hawaii? 28 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,400 I've been here since I've been 19, so almost 30 years now. 29 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:38,480 But how's it just, it's the all encompassing word that says, yeah, it says, Aloha, how 30 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:39,480 you doing? 31 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:40,560 What's going on? 32 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:41,560 It's the greeting, right? 33 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:42,560 It's how's it? 34 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,920 Instead of saying, how's it going? 35 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,360 They break it down to just how's it. 36 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,600 And yeah, so it's the way that we greet each other here in Hawaii. 37 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:52,600 I didn't know that. 38 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,920 Well, you learn something new in every episode, I'll tell you. 39 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,320 It shows that I need to spend more time out there. 40 00:01:58,320 --> 00:01:59,320 Absolutely. 41 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,640 If you look at our logo, though, we incorporated, so the Shaka kind of goes hand in hand with 42 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:04,640 the how's it, right? 43 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,560 So if anyone looks up our logo, how's it Hostels? 44 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:09,080 It's got a little Easter, what do you call it? 45 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,480 Easter egg in there with the HH and the Shaka. 46 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:14,480 Okay. 47 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:20,520 And then another thing I've always felt that, you know, hostel owners are usually eccentric 48 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:25,080 people, interesting people, and the journey of how they got to the point of starting a 49 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:32,640 hostel and going on that adventure is usually very unique and filled with great adventures. 50 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:38,440 So each of you, if you would take the time to let the listeners know, how did you first 51 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:40,000 get exposed to hostels? 52 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,200 And then when was it in that exposure that you had this like moment of lightning in a 53 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,040 bottle like, I want to do this, I want to open up one of these. 54 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,640 I'll let you start with this one, Mike. 55 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:51,840 Michael, you kick it off. 56 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:52,840 Yeah. 57 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,440 So listen, I'll just be honest, we're not your typical hostel owners from that perspective, 58 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,280 you know, okay, we're pretty ordinary, right? 59 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,680 But we appreciate people, we appreciate the human spirit. 60 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,520 I did travel in hostels when I was when I was younger. 61 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,200 I can't say that I, you know, in recent years have stayed in hostels. 62 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,920 But we just we came across an opportunity here. 63 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:19,160 It was, you know, advertisers, there's a property for sale. 64 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,600 And, you know, it was it was operating as a hostel. 65 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,240 And so we were reviewing like, huh, that's interesting. 66 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:26,400 Like, what is that about? 67 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:32,520 And so, you know, actually, Nathan is Nathan, have you ever even stayed in a hostel? 68 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:37,560 I recognize about two years into our journey, I had a flashback that when I was traveling 69 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,960 as a part of a youth group in Europe that I was one of the ones that didn't get put 70 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,320 into a host family. 71 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:50,240 And now I remember I was like, oh, my gosh, I did stay in a hostel. 72 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,320 I have stayed in a hostel. 73 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,560 But it took you buried that nightmare. 74 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,440 No, it was it was not a nightmare at all. 75 00:03:58,440 --> 00:03:59,680 But I was joking. 76 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:00,840 But yeah, it was. 77 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,400 Yeah, we I really I have had zero hostel experience. 78 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,760 In fact, I came to, you know, came to Maui when I was 19 79 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:17,120 and then just kind of started on the entrepreneurial just grind of of of making it. 80 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:24,800 And so I'm I'm actually getting to now live vicariously through, you know, the recognition 81 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:30,560 of everything that I missed as somebody that that worked really hard from a young age to 82 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,640 to make it and to provide I missed. 83 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:41,440 And so I think that I have a unique perspective in in watching what we what we've been creating 84 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,200 that in this community, it's like, you know, the things that when you look back on life 85 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:46,480 that you regret. 86 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,720 Well, some of those things for me are being lived through through other people and we're 87 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:56,800 providing now so so that they get the opportunity to to stack these experiences that are so 88 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:57,680 so meaningful. 89 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,440 Yeah, I really like that. 90 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,640 And I saw that on your website that you provide the free activities. 91 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:08,160 And that's so important of what a hostel really is, is bringing people together, giving people 92 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:13,600 the space, the platform to get to know each other, spark up relationships, take adventures 93 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,160 together, have experience together, fall in love. 94 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,360 Yeah, it's such a beautiful thing when it's done right. 95 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:24,320 And I was telling someone the other day, I look at it like more of an art form more and 96 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:29,360 more as the years go on or a craft or a skill, you know, and you're always trying to polish 97 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,800 that and get a little better at that and work your skills at it. 98 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,720 And it's very fulfilling to see it when it does work the way it's supposed to. 99 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:41,840 But I also think it's really cool that you guys got into this in the way you did, because 100 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:46,480 everything's usually we don't hear from people that got into it down the road after not having 101 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,320 a life changing experience in it when they're younger. 102 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:55,200 So I think it shows to the testament of the business model that it is a solid business 103 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,560 model, especially if you can purchase the real estate without question. 104 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,640 And I'll let Mike actually finish what he was saying, because it is interesting. 105 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:08,640 We were actually going through and we had decided to partner. 106 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:12,720 We'd been colleagues for 10 years and we were going to go and purchase apartment buildings. 107 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:17,120 And that's really how the journey started is we were looking at an apartment building, 108 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:22,320 but I'll let Mike kind of finish out where we what ended up happening and how we got to 109 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:22,960 our purchase. 110 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:25,200 You know, so yeah, I'll complete that thought. 111 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,240 But I do have to just take a minute and give a shout out to you guys, because look, 112 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,240 I know there's a lot of jobs that have just dropped like, what? 113 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,640 These guys don't even know anything about hostels or whatever. 114 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,400 They're you know, they're not coming from a hostile background, which is totally 115 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,640 acceptable and understandable and valid. 116 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:44,880 But I will say I started look, I've been a long time listener, first time guest of this podcast. 117 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:51,360 And I thank you guys props because you introduced us really to a lot of the nuances of what 118 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:52,560 actually goes on in hostels. 119 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:52,720 Right. 120 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:57,600 I mean, I have a little bit of experience, but what you guys have done in the past with 121 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:03,120 your original podcast, now the revamped one, it's been really instrumental for us to learn. 122 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,240 And look, we are we are learning as we're doing. 123 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:07,920 So by no means are we experts. 124 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,440 We've done a lot of things right. 125 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,560 But we appreciate that this hostile community, I mean, it's fantastic. 126 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,960 And people like yourselves that are out there sharing just big props to you guys. 127 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,080 Really appreciate it. 128 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:19,520 That's so kind to hear. 129 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:20,320 Thank you so much. 130 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:25,520 It touches in a great spot because a big objective of like the the genesis of the 131 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:30,480 podcast idea was, you know, when you were getting into hostels, just like we were like, 132 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:31,680 where's the resources? 133 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:33,440 Like, where can I find out more info on this? 134 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,120 And there was like an outdated website and an outdated book. 135 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:37,760 And that was it. 136 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:43,280 And we were like, gosh, there's not any resources for maybe someone that wants to get into this 137 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:48,240 industry or is going through the process of opening one up and needs to hear the struggles 138 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:52,080 of others to motivate them, inspire them, find them the path. 139 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:58,160 So I'm so happy that that was utilized in that purpose for you guys and giving you some 140 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,320 insight and awareness to the industry and exposure. 141 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:01,440 So awesome. 142 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:02,560 Thank you for those kind words. 143 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,920 Well, and it started with listening to the podcast, but then it translated to, you know, 144 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,320 when we were starting and looking at some of the more technical aspects and I mean, 145 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:18,240 from looking at we wanted to look at because we aspire to grow. 146 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:23,200 And so we wanted to look at other companies that were growing and doing it right. 147 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:27,840 And so from the very beginning, we really looked from just looking at your website 148 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:34,640 messaging, we were like, wow, this is the type of company that we want to be. 149 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,440 So from the very beginning, we really have looked up to your guys's journey for sure. 150 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:41,440 Oh, that's awesome to hear. 151 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:43,600 Very kind words. 152 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,400 But Bob's all the reasoning behind that website. 153 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,320 I call him the Don Draper of the hostile industry. 154 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,160 Yeah, you got a fantastic website, but also like Nathan said, I'll piggyback, you know, 155 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,840 the messaging, the culture that you guys are creating. 156 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,400 You know, we have volunteers that work at our space and man, darn it. 157 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,440 You guys, you're the only hostile we've ever heard of where people are like, 158 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,840 hey, you guys are great and all, but we want to go back to I.T.H. 159 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:11,600 From Hawaii? 160 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:12,320 Oh, man. 161 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:13,680 That's where everyone that's here. 162 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,560 The only place we lose people to is Hawaii. 163 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,520 It's like the white whale of the industry, but we'll keep we'll send them your way for sure, 164 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,320 because what a great shop you got going on over there. 165 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,800 Well, we were out and we recognize right away that from from volunteers, you know, 166 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:32,080 it's a great, great way to learn. 167 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,040 It's one of the things that we do is we interview volunteers, especially as non-hostile people. 168 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:43,440 And we get to to really sit down and we have surveys that we created with volunteers to 169 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:44,880 learn, all right, how do they do it? 170 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:49,760 And the ones that came from you guys, we've gotten unbelievable feedback. 171 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,960 So in growing the business, it's a it is a great way for new hostile owners that 172 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:58,960 if somebody's just getting started, it's a great way. 173 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,280 Listen and learn to the people that have have experience in other places. 174 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:05,200 Great point. 175 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:06,240 Great point. 176 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:06,960 Absolutely. 177 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,520 How about so how about purchasing the property to walk us through that, 178 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,520 how that went once you guys found the found the the hostile? 179 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,160 Yeah, so OK, we'll hop back. 180 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,040 We got off track a little bit. 181 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,640 But basically, yeah, look, we were Nathan and I, we have a passion for real estate. 182 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,720 You know, we're we're business savvy. 183 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,360 We figured, look, let's let's put our heads together. 184 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:28,240 Let's figure something out. 185 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,720 And we were looking at buying apartment buildings and living in Maui. 186 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:36,480 It just became kind of logistically challenging, especially since like you, Bobby, 187 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,040 you know, I've got I've got two young kids. 188 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:43,040 You've got one on the way and and you know, when you've already gotten so you can relate. 189 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,800 But coming from Hawaii, I was like, oh, man, I just don't see myself flying out to Cincinnati, 190 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,040 Ohio, to try to inspect some apartment building. 191 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:50,240 So what do we have here locally? 192 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:51,920 So we started looking around what was for sale. 193 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,720 And that's where we came across this building that was it was an apartment building and 194 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:58,880 it was formerly operating as a hostile. 195 00:10:58,880 --> 00:10:59,920 And so it inspired us. 196 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:01,840 And we thought, huh, what is this hostile business? 197 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:02,800 Let's look into this. 198 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,640 And then obviously living here in Hawaii, there's tremendous demand. 199 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:08,960 Tourism is a huge part of our economy. 200 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,320 So we figured, well, why couldn't we open up a hostile? 201 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:17,440 And so we started looking into various zoning regulations and what was required and, you 202 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,120 know, the opportunity to to do so. 203 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:22,800 And we found a property. 204 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,160 This is a separate property than what we ultimately operate now as a hostile. 205 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:34,640 But our original goal was to convert a property that was that had the proper zoning at the time 206 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:36,240 to be converted into a hostile. 207 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,920 So we bought a commercial building and we went through that process. 208 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:41,280 We we we bought it. 209 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:47,440 The agent was I'm not going to say his name, but he was like it was crazy. 210 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,760 He was like the guy from Better Call Saul. 211 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:55,760 Like if you've ever seen that show or heard of Breaking Bad and then the spin on. 212 00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,760 Oh, my gosh, this guy was it was wild. 213 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:02,320 It was uncanny how his voice sounded just like him. 214 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:04,480 And we never actually even met him in person, to be honest. 215 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,760 But we had conversations with him on the phone. 216 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,560 And man, it was why he spun this thing a whole different bunch of ways. 217 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:14,640 But it was it was it was Saul Goodman. 218 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,200 So we bought a building with Saul Goodman as our agent. 219 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,080 Mike fired him, by the way, but we still paid him. 220 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,640 Yeah, yeah, I actually fired him. 221 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,720 I said, look, we're going to purchase this and we're going to pay you. 222 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,240 But we just have one condition. 223 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,080 We don't want you to represent us anymore. 224 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,040 And ever again, I never want to see you again. 225 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:32,640 Saul Goodman was up to his tricks. 226 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:33,680 And we so we had to pivot. 227 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:35,600 But look, I digress. 228 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,960 We bought this commercial building and then boom, COVID hits. 229 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:40,240 Right. Oh, my. 230 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,400 We're a prior to COVID. 231 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,920 Actually, we had gone through the process of obtaining the correct permitting. 232 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:47,600 And it's a it's a it's a journey. 233 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,080 You know, it's a at least 18 month journey. 234 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,720 And so in the midst of, you know, planning for that and we had hired engineers 235 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,600 and architects and all the stuff that you need to do, COVID hits. 236 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:01,600 And it just completely spun out our, you know, our business plan 237 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,160 because everything was on halt from a lending perspective. 238 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,120 So we just had it was a waiting game for a little bit there. 239 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:12,880 And then, you know, unfortunately, due to some circumstances locally here 240 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:18,480 in Maui related to housing and such, the county actually changed the zoning. 241 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,400 They changed the zoning for their property that we had. 242 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,680 And so I guess we can't do a hostile on that building now. 243 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,280 And so that's when we decided, well, that's OK. 244 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:30,560 You know, we'll take that on the chin. 245 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:31,680 We'll keep going. 246 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:34,720 And because it was COVID, we thought, well, maybe there's a hostile owner 247 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,360 that is interested in selling. 248 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:39,600 So we literally started door knocking. 249 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,440 We would we went to the few hostels that are available 250 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,680 and we started knocking on doors and asking. 251 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:49,040 And sure, sure enough, we found somebody that says, you know what? 252 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:50,080 Yeah, I'm ready. 253 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,680 You know, the world is ending and there's too much uncertainty. 254 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:54,960 I've been doing this a while. 255 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:56,480 And he said, you know, I'm out. 256 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:57,520 I'll sell it to you guys. 257 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:58,240 Let's do this. 258 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,320 Shared accommodations in the middle of the pandemic was probably not 259 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,600 not the vision that most people said, this is what you should jump into. 260 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,440 It's the worst bottle for it. 261 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,240 Right. And you're and your main clientele is international. 262 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:13,840 I was like, this is really the worst. 263 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:14,640 You know, yeah. 264 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:18,880 But hey, we believed in it and we believed in the vision without any experience, 265 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:23,200 not knowing and knew that, look, we, you know, there's an opportunity here 266 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:28,640 because there's everything shut down to potentially go and grab an opportunity. 267 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,360 And that's what we ended up securing. 268 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,960 Now, were you guys, would you say, you know, we often refer to it as ultimate host, 269 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,480 but did you guys see yourselves as being involved in the hostel and be like, 270 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:42,400 I know how to show people a good time in Maui. 271 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,400 This will be a fun project to be involved. 272 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,040 Or were you guys in the mindset of like, bought this hostel. 273 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,960 Now we got to find a manager and kind of give them what they need to do to run the hostel. 274 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,440 What was your position there? 275 00:14:53,440 --> 00:15:04,240 Okay. So I'd say because our goal is to grow, we always knew that our highest and best use 276 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:05,920 is not working in the business. 277 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,600 It's really working on the business. 278 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,640 But we also knew that we needed we were going to need a team. 279 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,800 And the reason that we're where we are, the reason that we, you know, 280 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:22,960 received the Oscar that we did all of that really came from us making the right decisions 281 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,440 in the people that we put in place. 282 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:32,000 And I'd say one of our skills that we have is the ability to lead. 283 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,280 We've, you know, our careers have been built a little bit in leadership. 284 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:40,240 So to be able to lead a team and know ultimately what we were trying to accomplish, 285 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,040 putting them in place so that we could continue to work on the business 286 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,200 has been a key in our success. 287 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:46,800 Nice. James, you have something for that? 288 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:55,280 Well, I do have, but I wanted to make 2024 the winners of the best small hostel in North America. 289 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:55,760 Correct? 290 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:56,320 Correct. 291 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,760 Huge. So just applause there. 292 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:00,320 Thank you. 293 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:06,160 You know, all Canada, all US, all Mexico, and, you know, just into the business. 294 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,720 Yeah, that's very impressive, you know, to see how quickly you honed in on things, 295 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:12,400 dialed them in. 296 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:13,760 That's a hard award to win. 297 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,960 I do wish they gave us a trophy, like a little gold trophy. 298 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,360 That would be nice for the fire mantle. 299 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:20,160 It would be, right? 300 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,600 At least a clap for the door for reception. 301 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:24,320 Come on. 302 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,440 You get a little sticker, you're like, man, where's my little gold trophy 303 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:29,760 that I want to show mom? 304 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:30,260 So true. 305 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,120 So maybe you could help me with that. 306 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,920 I've been bothering them about that for a few years now. 307 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:41,360 But I did have one question I wanted to dive back into, back up. 308 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:46,480 Since you have experience in this, and I think that this is so important for anyone getting 309 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:51,920 into hostels and listeners, the ability to purchase the real estate not only changes 310 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,400 your margins, it changes the journey. 311 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:55,440 You control your destiny. 312 00:16:55,440 --> 00:17:01,840 You know, everything changes compared to a commercial trip in that lease where the better 313 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,920 you do and the longer you stay, the more expensive it's getting. 314 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:08,000 You know, your margins are getting squeezed and then you might just get pushed out. 315 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:10,320 You might have a great operation, top rated business. 316 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:11,760 You might have a great operation, top rated making money. 317 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,640 But this guy decides he's going to level the block and build up. 318 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:15,920 They're watching your success. 319 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:16,800 Yes. 320 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:19,920 It's success tax, right? 321 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,080 The more successful you are, they see it. 322 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:25,680 They know now you're needed. 323 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:28,720 And that's great advice on a side point there. 324 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:32,000 If you do have a landlord and you earn a triple net lease, you're never doing good. 325 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:32,880 Always look bad. 326 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:34,960 You know, look broke. 327 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:46,080 But if you would give us some insight into, if you wouldn't mind, you know, just so listeners 328 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:51,040 can understand that it is possible to like real estate financing for a hostel. 329 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,600 A lot of times the perception is it's not possible, but how was your experience or your 330 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,600 journey within that that allowed you to be the owner of the property? 331 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,160 Yeah, look, so we went through some unprecedented times. 332 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:10,160 I think, you know, between COVID and then, you know, we experienced there was a little 333 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:14,880 blip there where there was a bit of a banking crisis, right? 334 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,520 Where we were looking to refinance. 335 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:23,920 So, you know, right now, these are not the best times for financing across the board, 336 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:24,960 all real estate assets. 337 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,440 However, it is possible and it is possible. 338 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:33,280 Particularly, we found that with SBA, SBA loans. 339 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,080 Cool. Yeah, there's opportunity. 340 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,200 And Nathan, you can attest to this a little more if you want to add. 341 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:40,720 Well, I'll go back. 342 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:48,400 So if we back up in the beginning, we were able to negotiate seller financing for both 343 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:49,600 of our purchases. 344 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:50,160 Awesome. 345 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:51,760 Great, great topic, great area. 346 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:52,880 Please go in more. 347 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,600 Yeah, so that was a big part. 348 00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:00,480 And one of the things that, look, every situation is going to be different, but there are some 349 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:07,280 situations where when you find a hostel owner that's been passionate about hostels, has 350 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:12,160 provided a great experience, but they're just, you know, they've been in the business for 351 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,520 a long time and they're done and they're ready to move on. 352 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,640 I think one of the, they've been so involved in running a hostel that one of the questions 353 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:24,320 that they do have with is, well, okay, if I sell my hostel, what am I going to do? 354 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:25,680 Like, where am I going to get my money? 355 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:27,360 I've been generating. 356 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:33,440 And so, you know, it just so happens that both of the owners of the hostels that we 357 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,840 purchased were in similar stages in their life where they were ready to move on. 358 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:44,960 But to be able to say, well, look, I can move on from the hostel, but I can still make an 359 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,640 incredible income by financing this. 360 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:56,880 We were able to really move things around for both of us and create win-win situations. 361 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:58,720 So that's the first part of it. 362 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:07,840 And then the second part of it is the SBA is pretty unbelievable in what they'll do, 363 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,080 especially once you have an established business. 364 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:18,480 So the opportunity to grow is something that the SBA supports, like significantly. 365 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:24,640 So they're not going to be the one that you go to for a cash out refi, but they're the 366 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:30,560 one that when you have another opportunity to expand that they're going to allow for 367 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:32,480 a very unique leverage set. 368 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:39,920 And they're also very good with the opportunity to secure working capital loans. 369 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:46,560 So the SBA has been, as we are growing and positioning ourselves for growth, the SBA 370 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:59,840 has basically been provided terms to purchase other hostels with the SBA at 85% loan to 371 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:01,360 value ratios. 372 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:08,400 So and look, there's a first bank, but if a first bank goes and they look at, okay, 373 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:14,640 well, if we have the SBA that's siding with us and we get to take the first position at 374 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:21,120 50% and they're looking at a property in Hawaii, or if they're looking at a property in Los 375 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:26,240 Angeles or San Diego or wherever it is where it's a high demand piece of real estate, for 376 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:31,120 them to go to a 50% leverage mark in this market is pretty comforting for them because 377 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:32,800 they're in the first position. 378 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:38,160 And the SBA is set up to help support small business growth. 379 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:44,880 And so SBA takes a second position and they're very favorable in their rates. 380 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:52,720 So as a proven operator, and especially as we've grown and grown our equity, cross 381 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,520 collateralization, all of those things start to come into play. 382 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,440 But I think to go back to your first question of people that are considering purchasing 383 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:06,000 a hostel for the first time, I really believe it's just about, it really is about 384 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,560 the specific opportunity that's in front of you. 385 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:14,480 And then once you find the opportunity, don't let the financing be the thing that stops 386 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:19,120 you from doing it, because it doesn't matter whether it's private money or whether it's 387 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:25,520 hard money or whether it's finding a partner, somebody that may be more experienced than 388 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:31,520 you that will partner and their success, you can align with, there's opportunities. 389 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,240 So never let that be the thing that stops you if this is a route that you want to go. 390 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,240 But it is a hurdle that all of us have to face. 391 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,240 Absolutely. 392 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:46,320 Yeah, we did the seller financing, we did that for a couple of our properties, and it 393 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,640 was the same way it gave us access to get ownership getting started. 394 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:52,160 So how about you guys open? 395 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:53,440 What day did you guys open? 396 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:58,160 And what was the, we always like to say the first 100 days are so important to set the 397 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:02,960 tone of the building. 398 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:04,960 What was your guys first 100 days like? 399 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,960 We'll give that one a try. 400 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,960 Yeah, so like tell us about it Mike. 401 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:19,600 April 21st, 2021, we opened and we had zero hostile experience. 402 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,640 We had no idea what we were getting into. 403 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:28,360 For whatever reason, the seller, he didn't provide us any of the information on what 404 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:31,120 the upcoming reservations were. 405 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:32,120 And so we were kind of blind. 406 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:35,680 We're like, okay, well, we're buying this thing and we're going to just take over on 407 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,120 this date and we have no idea how many people are showing up. 408 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,520 So day one, we're going to get the books, but until then it's like, okay, what's going 409 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:43,520 to happen? 410 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:47,100 Now, I will say two things were going on. 411 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:53,880 Number one, there was this surge of demand that was occurring because it was towards, 412 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,840 although COVID was still going on, we started to see that there was a little bit of a surge 413 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:57,840 of demand. 414 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:03,640 So it hadn't quite just hit yet, but we're starting to see some of that and we anticipated 415 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,500 that and so we did go out and we said, look, we don't know what we're doing. 416 00:24:07,500 --> 00:24:09,240 So let's go and hire someone that does. 417 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,840 And we actually hired a professional consultant. 418 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:13,840 Shout out to Lior Slepkov. 419 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,840 Is that how you say his name, Nathan? 420 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:18,360 I don't know, but it's Lior. 421 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,680 I just know him as our good friend, Lior. 422 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,760 A consultant for the hostel. 423 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:24,760 Okay. 424 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:25,760 Yeah. 425 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:26,760 So he's the hostel consultant. 426 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:27,760 He's awesome. 427 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:29,680 We could give you the contact info and you can put in the show notes or whatever, but 428 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,960 Lior said, look, he's in Europe. 429 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:32,960 He was in Spain. 430 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,720 He's a Canadian guy and he was living in Spain and we reached out to him because of his website 431 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:42,440 and we had a few phone consultations and he said, look, if you guys need me, I'll fly 432 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:43,440 out there. 433 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:44,440 I'll help you. 434 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:45,440 I'll run the front desk. 435 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:46,440 I'll help manage. 436 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:47,880 I'll do whatever you guys need. 437 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:49,180 So we're like, sweet. 438 00:24:49,180 --> 00:24:50,660 So Lior was our savior. 439 00:24:50,660 --> 00:24:53,640 He flew out and man, we couldn't have done it. 440 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:54,640 Yeah. 441 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:59,000 So he was there from day one and prior to opening, we, you know, we were interviewing 442 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,000 folks. 443 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,680 So we had, we had a little bit of a core staff that was there. 444 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,400 None of us knew what to do or what to expect, but you know, it was like, I say it's like 445 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:07,760 drinking water out of a fire hose. 446 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,800 We're like, look, we're just going to learn by doing, we're just going to have to go through 447 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,680 this and it might be a little bit painful at first, but we'll get through it. 448 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,160 And there definitely were some pain points. 449 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,360 We had a lot that occurred that first year. 450 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:19,360 Holy crap. 451 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:20,360 But, but we've grown. 452 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:25,840 I mean, that's how, look, we, we, Nathan said, you guys acknowledge we, we ended up 453 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,200 going from that moment and in three years, you know, winning a Oscar for the best hostel 454 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:31,200 in North America. 455 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,000 So, you know, it's been great. 456 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,140 But when you said a hundred days, the reason that we reacted the way that, that we did 457 00:25:37,140 --> 00:25:42,800 was because we had, we had storms come through. 458 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,800 We had a massive deferred maintenance. 459 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,520 That is the one, one of the things that when you're purchasing an older hostel from that's 460 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:58,040 just been more of a backpacker hostel, that money typically isn't going into capital expenditures. 461 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,520 There's not a budget and a plan. 462 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:04,200 And, you know, so you're purchasing a site that's probably got some challenges and issues 463 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,320 and we sure did hear. 464 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:10,780 And so the roof was, was, was leaking and it was leaking so badly. 465 00:26:10,780 --> 00:26:15,760 We had buckets everywhere up in the rafters, but man, we started missing spots. 466 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:17,680 We couldn't catch them fast enough. 467 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:23,640 And in the middle of the night, the, our ceiling collapsed, people left. 468 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,720 They went and stayed somewhere else. 469 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:26,720 Oh, wow. 470 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:32,720 And, and then, and then a week later, so we finally get through this, you know, just like, 471 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,800 Oh my gosh, what the heck is, how do we get through this? 472 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:37,680 What is the end of the world is happening? 473 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,440 What do we get ourselves into? 474 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:48,360 The next, the next week, all of a sudden there was an area of the, of this building that 475 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:51,560 had kind of been shut down for storage. 476 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,840 But there was an old restroom in there. 477 00:26:53,840 --> 00:27:00,940 And we learned that it was actually the lowest point of the three neighboring properties. 478 00:27:00,940 --> 00:27:07,900 And so there was a, there was a sewage clog, almost at the front of the main line where 479 00:27:07,900 --> 00:27:08,900 they all connect. 480 00:27:08,900 --> 00:27:16,800 And little did we know, but for like 12 hours, three buildings worth of sewage had been piling 481 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,440 into our, our basement. 482 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,640 And so we had to shut down. 483 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:23,640 It was so crazy. 484 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,760 We had to shut down all of our, all of our water toilets. 485 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,560 We had to, we had to, we brought in porta potties and put them in the alley. 486 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,360 So people were using them. 487 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:40,680 Well, look, you know, the coolest thing about the hostel community is truly, we learned 488 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,960 right then that we were all in it together. 489 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:51,000 Like our guests were in it with us and they saw everything that we could, that we cared 490 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:52,000 about them most. 491 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,040 And we were, you know, we did, we went and got lighting and we went and got porta potties 492 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,620 and we went and did, we did absolutely everything that we could. 493 00:27:59,620 --> 00:28:03,640 And then sure enough, all you needed was one little common space where everybody could get 494 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,640 together and laugh and be dry and hang out. 495 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,760 And that's where we learned like, this is, this is special. 496 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:13,880 This is a unique, special community. 497 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:14,880 Yeah. 498 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,560 You're not going to get that at the Rift Culturing with those guests. 499 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:18,560 Yeah. 500 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,920 What other, what other business do you feel your customers, they'll pick up the hammer, 501 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,360 they'll start painting with you, start repairing stuff with you just to, because they enjoy 502 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:27,360 the community. 503 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:28,360 Truth. 504 00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:29,360 Yeah. 505 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:31,400 How about when you guys were starting? 506 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,080 Like is there much, do you have much local competition or how did you guys want to be 507 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,480 different or be, you know, provide something unique to the travelers? 508 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,560 I'll let you take that one, Mike. 509 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:43,560 Yeah. 510 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:48,600 So, you know, you guys mentioned this in the beginning, we offer free activities and when 511 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,640 we bought the hostel, that was not something that was, that was in operation. 512 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:57,440 And we knew that in order to stay competitive, the other two hostels that do extremely well, 513 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:58,440 they had that in place. 514 00:28:58,440 --> 00:28:59,760 And so we're like, look, we got to figure it out. 515 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:04,280 We got to figure out how much personnel, what the insurance is, what the right protocol 516 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:09,840 with, you know, the regulations kind of regular, let's do, let's figure out how to offer tours. 517 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:11,840 And like I said, we offer them completely free. 518 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:18,280 So once we got that infrastructure in place, I feel like we became a lot more competitive. 519 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:22,160 But we also recognize too, look, we had a lot of imperfections with the property and 520 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,000 there wasn't a lot that we could do about it. 521 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:27,880 Initially, we knew that we had extremely high standards and we had goals to go and make 522 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,720 improvements and create an amazing common area. 523 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:35,360 And if you go and look at our website or see any of the photos online or in hostel or whatever, 524 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,320 you're going to see it's incredible now. 525 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,200 But at the time when we first bought it, it was a complete dump. 526 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,040 No offense to the previous owner, but it needed a lot of work. 527 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:50,800 And what we constantly told our staff is, look, if we just have an absolute passion for the 528 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:56,040 guest experience, if we just obsess over the guest experience in terms of customer service, 529 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,320 they're going to overlook a lot of the imperfections. 530 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,960 And we just ingrain that into them. 531 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,920 Just make sure everyone is feeling like they're connected. 532 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,600 If someone is by themselves, reach out to them, talk to them, make sure everyone feels 533 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:09,600 welcome. 534 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:14,320 And all the things that are not in our control, there's not much we can do about it. 535 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:19,200 But what we can focus on is the things that are in our control, offering activities, island 536 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:24,760 excursions, but also on-site activities where people can get together and socialize. 537 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:30,080 And look, not coming from a background in hostels, this was somewhat new to us. 538 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,400 So we had to figure out as we went, we tried some things that worked and some things that 539 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:35,400 didn't work. 540 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,880 Trivia and I might not have been a hit every time. 541 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:40,680 So like, OK, let's pivot, let's do something else. 542 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:48,240 But we just found that being 100% committed to the guest experience and making that just 543 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,080 the benchmark of who we are, it's really paid dividends. 544 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,760 And now, besides that, now we do have over time, we've improved our common space and 545 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,680 all that stuff comes secondary to being obsessed with the guest experience. 546 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:00,680 Nice. 547 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:08,640 Yeah, we always say connecting with the guests there and we always like to shake their hand, 548 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,800 introduce ourselves, get on a first name basis right at the start. 549 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:17,400 And that creates that connection so people can enjoy each other and they're less likely 550 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,000 to maybe comment on some of the faults of the facilities. 551 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:26,640 Because it isn't always an ever improving sculpture, art piece, as James said, a year 552 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,280 from now, it's going to be different than it was today. 553 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,120 And you're going to look back and say, what was it like a year ago? 554 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:32,560 I can't believe how it looks. 555 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,360 So James, you're going to add something? 556 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,720 Well, just on the activities, I love what you said about try stuff out. 557 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:38,720 Don't be afraid to try stuff. 558 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,200 And that's so important to embrace. 559 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:43,720 You're going to have some activities that flop. 560 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:48,400 The bar that used to have the great live music for five years is going to fizzle out and 561 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,120 then you're going to have to find some renewal. 562 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,880 In the process of going to that music bar, you're going to see that there's a new axe 563 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,800 throwing place across the street that's rocking. 564 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,160 And now that's the new activity that night. 565 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:05,840 But if you stop trying, then find excuses why you should try or tell yourself, oh, the 566 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:06,840 guests aren't interested. 567 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:11,800 They're going to be interested if you give the effort and find the right spice for the 568 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:12,800 night. 569 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,880 But you definitely have to be willing to try, have to be willing to fail. 570 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,520 And it will continue evolving if you do put in the effort. 571 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:19,760 So that's a great point. 572 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:20,760 So important. 573 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:21,760 A hundred percent. 574 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:22,760 Yeah. 575 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:23,840 And then so that's awesome. 576 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:24,840 So what brought you? 577 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:25,840 You guys had success. 578 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,000 You obviously figured it out. 579 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:29,560 Tell us the next property. 580 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,000 How did you guys get into Hilo? 581 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,000 Right? 582 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:33,000 Yeah. 583 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,000 How did that come about? 584 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,920 And why did you guys pull the trigger there? 585 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:43,760 Well first of all, when we looked, we've kind of looked at the entire Hawaiian islands, 586 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:49,040 you know, our goal from the very beginning was to grow in Hawaii and then from Hawaii 587 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,000 grow on, you know, on the West coast. 588 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:57,120 And from there, we've since changed that to now we're willing to grow wherever. 589 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:03,320 Because we did prove that in opening a property on another island, it is just what's the difference? 590 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,160 There's sea between us no matter what. 591 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:09,720 So being able to do that remotely, it gave us a lot of confidence. 592 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:17,040 But what because there are limited opportunities in Hawaii, we basically put the put the work 593 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:24,600 in figured out just about any property that that would fit our criteria. 594 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:30,200 And we started we started traveling around traveling around the islands. 595 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:37,060 And we had a it was really funny because this this hostel that we purchased, we tried contacting 596 00:33:37,060 --> 00:33:41,480 them three, four times and they never they never contact us back. 597 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:46,720 And we were going to look at a different property when we were over there. 598 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:52,560 And as we were driving through town, Mike said, Oh, there's that there's there's that 599 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:54,720 hostel that we we never called us back. 600 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,240 And he's like, should we stop in? 601 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,740 I'm like, heck yeah, let's do it. 602 00:33:58,740 --> 00:34:02,680 And so we just went we went walking in just like we did. 603 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,520 You know, we're pounding the pavement knocking on doors that the bottom line is that's how 604 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:08,520 we've done it. 605 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,360 You pound the pavement knocking on the work in. 606 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:16,840 And but when we were in, actually in Hilo, and we walked up these big this big grand 607 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:22,680 staircase and we're looking around and we're just like, next right next door to it. 608 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:27,400 There's a kombucha bar and there's a indoor rock climbing place and there's like, oh, 609 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:32,960 cool, five bars and restaurants right like, like literally you can see from from the hostel 610 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,600 we're like, oh my gosh, there's ocean views from the windows and we're like, oh my gosh, 611 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:41,280 we just landed in hostile heaven. 612 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:46,080 So look, it was just happened to be one of the places on the list that that we we had 613 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:51,260 marked and the opportunity and knocking on doors that one presented itself. 614 00:34:51,260 --> 00:34:54,360 So that was the next one. 615 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,360 Yeah. 616 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:06,240 Now in your in your expansions, have you ever thought of going international or just keeping 617 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:07,240 domestic? 618 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:11,360 I'm always curious of what people feel about that, you know, as it's something we've started 619 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:13,600 to play with and it's an interesting process. 620 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,400 But where are you guys on that? 621 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:22,560 Yeah, I mean, I won't speak for Mike, but I think that for myself, just having the comfort 622 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:28,120 right now, I don't feel like we're at the place of growth where expanding internationally, 623 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:35,600 it feels like it would be a distraction of learn too much learning of that. 624 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,560 We don't have a team big enough to handle that. 625 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,440 I feel like that's that's a key piece. 626 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:46,360 Like if you're going to go and grow internationally, there's a whole new set of rules, guidelines. 627 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,600 There's a whole new place you go. 628 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,840 That you've got to have expertise in. 629 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:54,280 And that steps outside the comfort zone. 630 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:59,400 Now, you know, if you have a team and you have that expertise that you can align with, 631 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:04,760 then you know, then it becomes, I guess, look, we'll never count anything out. 632 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:05,760 Sure. 633 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:06,760 Absolutely. 634 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:10,840 Yeah, we've learned a lot of that process ourselves now operating out of Mexico for 635 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:11,840 the last two years. 636 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,920 You know, a couple of the items we learned is obviously being a different country, you 637 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:20,480 know, creating the business in Mexico is completely or any country completely different than the 638 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:21,480 US. 639 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:26,120 So it's a whole new process and, you know, difficult to work through. 640 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:32,080 But then another big one that we learned was posting in another culture, like being in 641 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:33,280 the US being Americans. 642 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:34,760 We know how to host Americans. 643 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:35,760 We know how to be great. 644 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,760 You know, we know how to entertain Americans. 645 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:42,400 But then when you go to a new country, now, do you know how to be a great host of Mexicans? 646 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:47,080 Do you know how to host, you know, Costa Ricans, how Costa Ricans like to be hosted? 647 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,160 You know, so you really have to understand that. 648 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:54,840 And ultimately have a, you know, we've learned is have a managing partner who is from that 649 00:36:54,840 --> 00:37:01,560 culture who can really gear up that project because, you know, the more places you get, 650 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,920 the more spread out you get, you know, if you don't have those managing partners, keeping 651 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:10,040 an eye on, you know, everything in the business, but most importantly, the variable costs, 652 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,520 you can just find yourself working for free or, you know, losing money. 653 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,000 Yeah, that is great advice. 654 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:17,000 I was going to add to it. 655 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,160 So we went through a similar process, how you pass through, you know, you pass through 656 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:25,320 the other hostel a few times before they called you back. 657 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:29,800 We've probably gone through 10 properties that we called and never heard anything from 658 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:34,480 for five years and most recently our mission beach hostel in San Diego, 10 years. 659 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,200 That was one of the first 10 years. 660 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:42,080 Ten years later, we saw a for rent sign on it and we almost crashed. 661 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:46,320 We were able to make the deal work. 662 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:50,920 But yeah, never, never give up when you on those kinds of ideas. 663 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:51,920 So absolutely. 664 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:52,920 Yeah. 665 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:53,920 Yeah. 666 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:58,680 Well, I love the fact that you guys look, you have the courage to go out there and just 667 00:37:58,680 --> 00:37:59,680 try something right. 668 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:06,440 And, you know, similar to that, I mean, I'm a huge fan of just growing in personal development 669 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,400 and taking on new challenges. 670 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,440 And you mentioned, look, we're you got to go and you got to learn how to operate in 671 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:13,440 a foreign country. 672 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:17,580 And to that note, look, we're we're students of the game. 673 00:38:17,580 --> 00:38:21,840 So if we don't know something, you know, we have the mindset that we'll go out and we'll 674 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:26,860 either partner with someone or we'll hire someone that does have the expertise to provide 675 00:38:26,860 --> 00:38:31,200 that to us, whether it's a consultant like a hostile consultant or if it's a business 676 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:36,440 coach or if it's a social media marketer person that can give us some insight. 677 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:40,760 You know, because we just feel that there's so much to learn and so much to do that we 678 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,320 don't want to be limited based on what we already know. 679 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,960 And there's a bit of vulnerability going out and trying. 680 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:50,080 In that case with Mexico, I love Mexico. 681 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,120 And you guys are like, look, let's let's do it. 682 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:53,720 There's probably so much that you had to learn. 683 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:56,120 But I I can then the fact that you're like, why not? 684 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:57,800 Let's give it let's give it a shot. 685 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,480 And if it doesn't work out, then what what source of happens? 686 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:01,560 You know, we tried. 687 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:03,640 And so I'm a big fan. 688 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,680 I'm a believer that, you know, if you try something and it doesn't work, you just change 689 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:08,080 your approach and try again. 690 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:09,080 Yeah. 691 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,800 And you learn so much from when you do misstep, when you do fail, when you do have one that 692 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:13,800 doesn't work. 693 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:15,920 There's so much learning within that. 694 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,560 But you have to be willing to enter that vulnerable space. 695 00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:23,520 You got to risk it for the biscuit and, you know, and then own it when they don't go right 696 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:27,400 so that you can take responsibility, process, learn from it. 697 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:31,240 And then, you know, you see that one down the road and you're like, well, I remember 698 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:34,280 this, you know, let's not take that road here. 699 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:35,280 Yeah. 700 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:38,920 So I think it's exciting when you look at life like that in general. 701 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,760 But any craft back to that thing, looking at it like a craft, looking at it like an 702 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,920 art, you know, always learning, always looking at it. 703 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,000 That's why I love like the hostile conferences. 704 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:53,000 And it's so great to get together with people who are doing the same craft and working on 705 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,040 it and trying to make it better and hearing and sharing ideas. 706 00:39:57,040 --> 00:40:02,240 It's just when you have that outlook for all listeners out there looking to start a hostile 707 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:07,880 or in the process of doing it, these two gentlemen have the exact attitude that you want to have 708 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,080 and outlook, you know, because that's what keeps you going. 709 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,200 That's what keeps you excited, keeps you engaged. 710 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:17,280 And you have to be willing to take those chances and be vulnerable for sure. 711 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:18,280 Yeah. 712 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:21,000 I mean, I love being at that conference and connecting with people. 713 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,200 And there were a couple of opportunities where people are asking me questions and it really 714 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,280 it caused me to reflect a little bit. 715 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:31,120 And what I found is that when you can go and in a sense, coach someone or teach someone, 716 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,780 that's when you really that you are forced to really recognize like, OK, what am I doing 717 00:40:34,780 --> 00:40:35,920 right or wrong? 718 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:36,920 And that's such a powerful tool. 719 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:41,000 It's not just the one way where, you know, if we were to give someone a tip on something 720 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,160 that they're gaining, we're also gaining. 721 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,600 So the sharing culture of the hostile community. 722 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:49,280 But, you know, we were a little uncertain at first, like, OK, how does this work? 723 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,880 Like, we got this business and should we be a little bit guarded about like what our business 724 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:53,880 model is? 725 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:55,160 How do we, you know, what do we share? 726 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:56,160 What are we not sharing? 727 00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,920 What I found, I told Nathan is like, look, we're what we're doing. 728 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:01,800 We're not we're not inventing something. 729 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:04,280 We're recreating something to be our own. 730 00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:08,800 And the more that we share, you know, the way that you pay it forward, it'll come right 731 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:09,800 back to us. 732 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,800 And I found out I love just by teaching, we learn so much more. 733 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:13,800 So it's reciprocal. 734 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,080 Yeah, I love that outlook. 735 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:17,560 Amen to that brother. 736 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:19,680 Now, what about in your destinations? 737 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:23,520 What are like the top experiences when you like in the area, you know, like every location's 738 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:24,520 a little different. 739 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:29,760 Like what goes down at your places that's like, oh, you got to do this. 740 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:30,760 I mean, we're fortunate, right? 741 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:35,320 I mean, Maui is one of the most majestic places on the planet, on the island of Hawaii. 742 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,880 You know, Hawaii has got volcanoes and majestic waterfalls. 743 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:43,440 So it's like we're you know, we're blessed in that regard that we just kind of show people 744 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:44,440 around. 745 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,480 It's just the outdoor adventures galore. 746 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:51,680 Yeah, I mean, when we look at though, if you take that into the actual like experience 747 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:58,720 of the guest, there's maybe a lot of our guests, they wouldn't be able to do if they were to 748 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:00,720 do a tour to the road to Hana. 749 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:03,800 It's 220 bucks a person. 750 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:08,280 Like I don't know how many of our guests would have that experience in their life, where 751 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:12,920 they have a tour guide that knows the place that's going to take them to the sickest views, 752 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:19,600 the best places, the best stops along the way that that you would pay $220 for. 753 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:23,200 I mean, that's and and they get it for free. 754 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:27,000 So and with other people and they get it with other people. 755 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:28,000 Yeah, $200 alone. 756 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:29,000 Yeah. 757 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:30,000 Yeah. 758 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:34,400 And the coolest thing about it is it's like, look, as many people fit in in the the the 759 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:38,480 van fit in the van and then, you know, three other people that have a car, people pile 760 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:43,800 in the car and it's the caravan and they go out and our road to Hana is just it's this. 761 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:52,020 It's an epic experience for them that you know, it's it's truly searing experiences 762 00:42:52,020 --> 00:42:54,480 into people's minds that they'll they'll carry with them forever. 763 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:59,600 So we are very fortunate that there's there's several of those that we get to do, whether 764 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:04,120 it's, you know, chasing waterfalls on the island of Hawaii, right? 765 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:08,400 That's, you know, they go and they go from waterfall to waterfall to waterfall to waterfall 766 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:13,880 along some of the most beautiful coastlines that exist and whether it's getting in the 767 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:19,040 water and going out for a day of snorkeling and then doing a stop on the way back and 768 00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:20,120 getting shave ice. 769 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:24,460 You know, there's just we're we're fortunate here that we have we don't have to get that 770 00:43:24,460 --> 00:43:26,600 creative on what people want to do. 771 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,600 Yeah, that's amazing. 772 00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:30,040 Yeah, that's beautiful. 773 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:31,040 Now, you know what? 774 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:33,400 I will say, can I just add to that real quick? 775 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:34,760 Yeah, please, please. 776 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,320 What we found, too, is with the hostile community, it's not just about like, hey, what what 777 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,160 what can I do for myself? 778 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:45,460 We found that especially during right after the fires, we felt that there was this overwhelming 779 00:43:45,460 --> 00:43:48,800 sense where where folks were coming to Maui to contribute. 780 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:54,440 And it was incredible that we offered where we would do like volunteer days where people 781 00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:58,880 that are guests would join together, we would provide the transportation and they would 782 00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:04,440 go to, you know, different disaster recovery zones, you know, areas where they could, you 783 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,240 know, help provide just volunteer work to help support the community. 784 00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:11,640 And it was incredible to watch like we would have a loaded van full of people that are 785 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:14,760 here on their vacation wanting to go and contribute. 786 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:18,180 And what we found is it's it doesn't just have to be a disaster for that to occur. 787 00:44:18,180 --> 00:44:22,680 We found that on a regular basis, we're still offering community outreach where not every 788 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:24,580 day is like, hey, we're taking you snorkeling. 789 00:44:24,580 --> 00:44:26,160 We're taking you to the road to Hana. 790 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:27,280 And you know, it's all about you. 791 00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:30,920 We found that this this community of hostile goers, it's incredible. 792 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:36,040 They want to go and they actually want to go to a local place where it's they can, you 793 00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:39,160 know, help clean up the invasive species. 794 00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:40,160 Native. 795 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:41,160 Yeah. 796 00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:45,280 Native lands, native protected forces, one of the activities that they offer right now. 797 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:49,760 And they literally go and contribute, pull weeds, work. 798 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:54,480 So yeah, Mike, that's a really that's that's a we thought it was about the disaster. 799 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,720 It wasn't about the disaster is about the human spirit, spirit wanting to give back 800 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:01,120 in the hostile community is just lined with people that want to give. 801 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:03,680 So that's that is a good point, Mike. 802 00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:04,680 Yeah. 803 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:08,200 And it's great energy to be around, you know, when you spend time around that, it's a great 804 00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:09,800 benefit of working in this business. 805 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:14,940 You get to be around that positive energy and it's contagious, you know, and it fills 806 00:45:14,940 --> 00:45:15,940 one spirit. 807 00:45:15,940 --> 00:45:21,520 So I'm glad that you guys have found that as well and have brought this quality hostile 808 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:26,520 revolution going on to Hawaii as for a long time while he was known as having not that 809 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:29,960 many hostels and the ones that were there weren't run well because they knew they had 810 00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:30,960 everything. 811 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:32,360 You know, there wasn't much competition. 812 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:36,840 So we were really excited to see you guys get started and start to win some awards because 813 00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:39,200 how are the hostels out there not winning awards? 814 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:40,200 It's so amazing. 815 00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:41,200 You're in Hawaii. 816 00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:47,200 So just really inspiring to see that you guys have gotten in from outside the industry and 817 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:52,760 gotten it so well, so quick and inspiring story to a lot of other people out there who 818 00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:57,520 don't exactly have to have this long hostile history to jump into the game. 819 00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:01,720 So I think that's really inspiring for a lot of potential people out there in closing any 820 00:46:01,720 --> 00:46:07,000 tips thoughts, inspiring words for aspiring hostile owners or people that are currently 821 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:11,400 in the battle of opening up theirs. 822 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:17,360 Mike just dive in, you know, so many people look on the outside, like they want to do 823 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:18,360 it. 824 00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:19,360 They talk about it. 825 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:20,360 They think about it. 826 00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:23,600 I've said this now on this podcast a few times, but you just got to learn by doing. 827 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:24,600 You just got to jump in. 828 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:28,360 And the cool thing is you don't have to be perfect with a hostile. 829 00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,480 Look, you said it's not it's not the Ritz-Carlton. 830 00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:31,760 It's not the four seasons. 831 00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:35,920 Sometimes you can go and you can make mistakes and maybe the guest experience isn't perfect. 832 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:39,080 But we found that the guests are very forgiving and they're just great folks. 833 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:41,320 So, you know, just just get started. 834 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:45,160 Yeah, we got two things that we constantly say. 835 00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:47,160 And we've said it all along. 836 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:51,680 Like in the when we were doing the apartment building, I remember the first day that we 837 00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:55,680 had the call with this real estate agent that got us pumped and ended up getting us into 838 00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:56,680 the business. 839 00:46:56,680 --> 00:47:00,720 But we walked out of there and we're like, yes, we just had an appointment. 840 00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:01,720 That's it. 841 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:07,160 We just had an appointment to go look at a place and we're like, yes, like, yeah, you 842 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:10,680 know, like that's something that we constantly say is just get in the game. 843 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:12,760 Once you get in the game, it's crazy what's going to happen. 844 00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:13,960 This stuff happens. 845 00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:15,200 It's not going to stop. 846 00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:17,920 Once you commit and actually take action. 847 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:20,400 So if you're someone that's on the fence and you're like, should I do this? 848 00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:21,400 There's too much. 849 00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:22,400 There's all this learning. 850 00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:23,400 I got to be prepared. 851 00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:24,400 No, we weren't prepared. 852 00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:25,400 It doesn't matter. 853 00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:28,120 Get in the game and things are going to work out. 854 00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:32,800 And then the second thing that I would say to that that we're constantly saying we are 855 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,080 not the creators. 856 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:36,080 Right. 857 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:40,640 We believe very strongly that success leaves clues. 858 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:46,320 So just all you need to do is look at in today's world. 859 00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:49,080 We could jump on in the beginning. 860 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:52,400 Years back, we could jump on your podcast and there were people out there that were 861 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:54,560 talking about hostels. 862 00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:55,560 Right. 863 00:47:55,560 --> 00:48:00,200 There were you can go and look at structures and go find a company that you're like, wow, 864 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:01,520 I'd like to do it that way. 865 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:07,080 I guarantee you that if you connect with them, they would love to share or, you know, whatever 866 00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:08,080 it is. 867 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:09,080 So success leaves clues. 868 00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:12,120 Get in the game and then you don't have to create it. 869 00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:13,120 You really don't. 870 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:14,120 It's already exist. 871 00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:16,400 Just follow the success. 872 00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:17,400 Let it be a road. 873 00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:18,400 Yeah. 874 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:19,400 Awesome. 875 00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:20,400 Beautiful. 876 00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:21,400 Fantastic words. 877 00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:25,240 You know, I had an old hippie tell me a perfect hostel is imperfect. 878 00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:26,760 And I was like, oh, that was very interesting. 879 00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:27,760 Yeah. 880 00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:29,760 Interesting concept of viewpoint. 881 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:31,680 Well, I will share with you this. 882 00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:38,200 And if it doesn't work out a very wise man that we met at the North American Hostel Association 883 00:48:38,200 --> 00:48:45,800 conference, this very wise man said, look, if all else fails and you don't make it, it's 884 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:46,800 all good. 885 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:49,840 Get a storage area because it's hostile in a box. 886 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:51,800 All right. 887 00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:58,320 Michael and Nathan from the house of hostels. 888 00:48:58,320 --> 00:48:59,920 Fantastic episode. 889 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:00,920 Great having you guys. 890 00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:02,800 So excited to see what you do next. 891 00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:04,220 Excited to come visit you out there. 892 00:49:04,220 --> 00:49:07,120 You come visit us out here anytime. 893 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:13,640 And we look forward to our next episode Sin City Hostel in Las Vegas under new management. 894 00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:17,040 Stay tuned for an exciting episode next week. 895 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:18,040 Thanks guys. 896 00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:19,040 All right. 897 00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:20,040 Awesome guys. 898 00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:21,040 Great episode.