The Unfamiliar Shift with Ariela

Katherine “Kat” Lo is the Founder & President of Eaton Workshop.

Born in Hong Kong, Kat Lo is a next-generation leader, driven by her moral compass and committed to reimagining the future of hospitality for the betterment of the people and the planet.

In 2011, Kat joined her family business in hospitality, and just a few years later, her father appointed her President of Eaton Workshop.

It was in 2014 when Kat founded Eaton as a global hospitality company with a mission “to uplift the human spirit” and “to transform hospitality into a force for creativity and social and environmental impact.”

Building upon her creativity and passion for the arts, Kat and her team launched Another World is Possible in 2020, which is an online multimedia festival featuring innovative panel discussions and original short films produced by Eaton, itself.

 Now, fast forward to the present day, and Kat Lo is officially the Chair of Eaton Workshop, with an emphasis on progressing Eaton’s storytelling and sharing impactful pieces of thought leadership with the world.

What You Will Hear:

• How Kat built her career in the hospitality industry
• Creating Eaton Workshop
• Eaton’s ethos
• Los Angeles culture
• How boutique hotels can be a vehicle for progression in local communities 
• Stress points for boutique hotel owners today
• Creating and retaining a familial environment with your team
• Creating a brand that transforms an established industry
• Intergenerational mentors and teachers
• Advice for boutique hotel ownership
• What boutique means to Kat

Quotes:

“It's really about reimagining a hotel space as a cultural and community center.”

“LA, for me, is music, art, and wellness.”

“Boutique hotels can really be a vehicle in local communities, reaching out to make those connections and working with people who are embedded in the communities.”

“I think an important thing is for our mission, vision, and values to not only be reflected for the guests, but also for everyone that works there.”

“We can get caught up in the disruption and these exciting, big picture things, but it is also important to remember just how to take care of people when you're in hospitality.”

Mentioned:

Eaton Workshop

Pioneertown Motel

Sponsored by Solonis

BLLA

Sarah Sklash is a passionate Motelier and Co-Founder of The June Motel.

 You may recognize Sarah as half of the iconic duo who starred in Motel Makeover, a Netflix series that followed their renovation of The June Sauble Beach. Through light-hearted and sincere episodes, Sarah and her Co-Founder, April Brown, painted a beautiful picture of how their brand came to be and why boutique concepts are here to stay.

 Before Sarah became a full-time Motelier, she spent a decade working in public service, focusing on vital statistics and creating customer-centric processes. She finds her years of government experience to be especially useful in navigating all the government interactions required as an entrepreneur.

 When away from her desk, Sarah is a passionate traveler who believes that “the moment you first open the doors to a new hotel room is the best feeling in the world.”

What You Will Hear:

• How Sarah built her career in the hospitality industry
• Career shift and first property purchase
• Motelier
• Disadvantages and advantages of no formal hospitality industry education
• Being unique and individualistic
• Ethos of The June Motel
• Advice on maintaining good partnerships
• Importance of communication
• Business models
• Obstacles and lessons in property ownership
• What is success to Sarah?
• Understanding risk
• Motel Makeover on Netflix
• What does boutique mean to Sarah?

Quotes:

“So much of The June actually comes from just our personal desires as travelers.”

“The June Motel is really all about being a throwback to the good ol’ days and enjoying the simple pleasures.”

“Communication is such a key part.”

Mentioned:

The June Motel

April Brown

Motel Makeover on Netflix

Sponsored by Solonis

BLLA

Based in New York City, Ernest Lee has an extensive range of business experience in investments, real estate, finance, strategy, and even operations. It’s safe to say, in the bustling “City That Never Sleeps”, he is truly doing it all.

As the Chief Growth Officer for the famous citizenM Hotels, Ernest is responsible for implementing new growth initiatives, products and programs, pursuing strategic partnerships, and developing long-term commercial strategy in collaboration with citizenM’s Chief Commercial Officer. And, to top it off, he is recognized for guiding the complex, multi-regional expansion of citizenM’s North American portfolio. These luxury properties or “proud misfits of traditional hotels,” are satisfying the modern traveler’s desire for affordable luxury and brilliantly shifting the status quo of hospitality as we know it.

What You Will Hear:

• How Ernest built a career in the hospitality industry
• Chief Growth Officer explained
• Learning by looking at other industries
• citizenM Ethos
• Creating a new category, Affordable Luxury, in the boutique hotel industry
• Building a boutique hotel portfolio based on transparency
• The 360 experience. Advice and tips on owning and operating a boutique hotel
• Authenticity and the importance of listening
• Choosing locations
• What boutique means to Ernest

Quotes:

“I've always had the ambition to become more well-rounded as a hotel owner and hotelier and get much closer to our guests.”

“Protecting the customer experience was the number one goal for us, and in order to do that, that requires a significant amount of control. For us, it means that we want to play developer, play owner, play designer, play operator, and play brand all at the same time.”

“When you focus less on a tangible thing, but you focus more on capturing a feeling, then that is when the execution becomes more heartfelt, and it actually feels real and authentic.”

Mentioned:

citizenM

Cushman and Wakefield

Sponsored by Solonis

BLLA

Brian began his career with Ritz-Carlton but quickly transitioned into boutique lifestyle hotels as a manager with The James brand in Miami.

After launching the re-branded James Royal Palm property, Brian then made his way to New York to manage The James Hotel in Soho NYC. His experience in the New York Market was growing by the day, and Brian was eventually given the opportunity to move over to the iconic boutique lifestyle brand - none other than GrandLife Hotels.

Most recently, Brian teamed up with Generator Hotels to create a Global Sales team overseeing their newly developed US properties, in addition to their newly acquired brand, Freehand Hotels. 

What You Will Hear:

• How Brian entered the hospitality industry
• Ethos and mission of both Generator and Freehand
• Hostel revolution
• The authenticity of New York culture
• The Django at The Roxy. Entertainment centered.
• Sales strategies for boutique hotels. Rights and wrongs.
• Investing in boutique hotels and cross-marketing and business alignment
• What boutique means to Brian

Quotes:

“Generator really was the leader in what we called the hostel revolution. They know community better than any other kind of hotel.”

“They really know how to infuse the energy of the neighborhood into the energy of the 

property and seamlessly where you're not necessarily taking away from the guest experience because it's so infused into the neighborhood.” 

“I love New York because everyone is welcomed. Everyone's embraced, and everyone is very authentic in their own light.” 

“When you're in a hotel, you're experiencing a brand's culture. You're using all five senses, mostly to experience what the brand's mission, their ethos, their culture is. You can't do that in any other type of business except for a hotel, and you're just engulfed in it.”

“Authenticity is key.”

Mentioned:

Freehand

Ritz Carlton

James Brand

Generator 

Queensgate

New York Is Dead

Three Lives and Company Bookstore  

Life Stories; Profiles from the New Yorker

Django at the Roxy Hotel

Nomáde Tulum

Sponsored by Solonis

BLLA

Raul Leal is a seasoned professional in the boutique hospitality industry who understands and embodies the boutique lifestyle to a T.  Forward thinking and self driven, Raul is an influential executive with a successful track record of creating powerful brands that infuse character, sophistication and excitement in every element from unique design to lively operations.  With robust entrepreneurial tactics under his belt, he is highly proficient in nurturing deep relationships, going above and beyond customer, employee and investor expectations and transforming innovative ideas from a vision into reality.   

What You Will Hear:

• How Raul built his career in the hospitality community
• Ethos, the mission statement, the concept of the SH Hotels collection
• Holistic well being and wellness in hospitality 
• Where boutique hotels originated
• What is hospitality?
• Mentors and Raul’s passion for people
• Investing in experiences and the ROI
• Teams and tips on leadership
• Current hospitality culture in Miami
• What is a boutique hotel?

Quotes:

“The brand ethos is do all the good that you can.”

“There's real lifestyle hotels, and then there's pretenders.”

“The best hoteliers are the ones that create their own dinner parties and they enjoy entertaining people.”

“The most important thing today is for organizations to have a purpose and leaders to be purposeful.”

Mentioned:

SH Hotels

W Lexington NY

Delano Miami

Sponsored by Solonis

If you enjoyed this episode of The Unfamiliar Shift, please make sure to subscribe and drop us a five-star review.

Welcome to The Unfamiliar Shift with Ariela, the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association Hospitality show..  This is a podcast about the boutique hospitality community and how its top industry executives and leaders stay up to date on the best innovative trends in boutique hotels all around the world.  Each season Ariela will bring her favorite visionaries to discuss new philosophies, ideas and innovations in the hospitality industry, primarily the boutique community.  Ariela will share intimate conversations with these extraordinary leaders as they navigate the unfamiliar shift of boutique hospitality.  This podcast is brought to you by Solonis, the intuitive boutique hotel property management system.

What You Will Hear:

• Ariela’s story
• BLLA
• BLLA conferences
• The Unfamiliar Shift Webinar

Quotes:

“Our industry is vastly changing and I hope this show helps bring clarity in your approach to hospitality.”

Mentioned:

Solonis

The Boutique Hotel Investment Conference

Women in Travel Hospitality Conference

Boutique Hotel Owners Conference