Being a hotelier wasn’t always the goal for Brigette Breitenbach. Back in 2006, one of her clients came to her and asked if she could do some branding for a new hotel that was being opened, and she never looked back. Brigette, now the owner and founder of B&Co as well as an owner of the Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, joins host Dan Ryan to talk about what hospitality means to her. 

Takeaways: 

• Hospitality isn’t a service, it is to meaningfully care for the guests. It’s all about trying to make the guest feel cared for.
• It’s important to know what your guests want. Understanding their wants and needs can help to establish your brand. The market and the guests will tell you what they want.
• The younger generation spends more money on travel and experiences more so than previous generations.
• Hotels are like a book, you need to have a compelling story, but every chapter also needs to make sense.
• The best hotels are the ones that offer a variety of different experiences within one space. 
• If you are struggling with something, it’s always better to say that. If you’re willing to do that, it can help with client relationships and staff relationships.
• Sometimes we are defined by the business we don’t take. Sometimes saying no to business can help make sure your staff isn’t overwhelmed.

Quote of the Show:

2:24:  “All of our projects start with a discovery phase and we tell all of our clients that with the exception of a few markets, we don't know their market. We don't know the city that they're from. We don't know the local community.

And so we start to dig in and we almost come at every project with the perspective of being the guest. And so we try to dig in and we understand kind of what's happening in that market. What's new and exciting. And then we really drill down to, okay, who do you think your target audience is? Who are you building this property for?

Or rebranding it for? Because until you define their passions, interests and values really don't know what you're going for. And so to understand that market and guest exploration piece of the puzzle,  you're never going to get to the foundational brand. So it really starts with who are you trying to please.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigettebreitenbach/
• Website: https://bcobranding.com

Shout Outs:

0:25 Independent Lodging Congress

10:52 The Iron Horse Hotel

10:58 Lehman Brothers

11:11 Hilltop

29:53 Bashar Wali

30:22 Andrew Friendly 

31:57 Jason Caldwell

32:10 David Rockwell

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/veOjMFAHF6I