Introduction and Mindfulness in Business
[00:00:00] Kim: Everywhere you go, there you are, and that's by Jon Kabat Zinn. I'm a big proponent of meditation and mindfulness. I'm a mindfulness coach as well, and I feel That's what I've infused into this business. Everywhere I go, this is why you hear so much of why it's so important for me to feel that my guest is very much hosted.
The Boostly Podcast Overview
[00:00:39] Liam: Welcome back to the Boostly podcast. The podcast that gives you the tools, the tactics, the training, and most importantly, the confidence. So you can go out there and get yourselves more direct bookends. This is the mini series where we dive behind the host of a successful and interesting host from somewhere in the world.
[00:00:56] Liam: And today we've got a special guest. Uh, this person is a best selling author. They've got an awesome, uh, accommodation business and something about to launch as well, which we're going to talk about today. And, uh, I'm really excited to dive into our business. She really infuses everything, her character into the business around her.
What is Purveyors of Leisure?
[00:01:15] Liam: So please welcome Kim. Kim is the CLO. That's the Chief Leisure Officer. Of Purveyors of Leisure. So welcome along Kim.
[00:01:25] Kim: Thank you, Liam. Happy to be here.
[00:01:27] Liam: I'm so pleased to do this. So Kim, can you give us a elevator pitch? What is Purveyors of Leisure? What, what, what does that mean?
[00:01:33] Kim: Purveyors of Leisure stems from a conversation around two men who meet a lot to me, my husband and my long term friends and investor of most of the properties that I manage, and they were originally the gentlemen of leisure.
[00:01:50] Kim: And when I joined their team. I became also one of them, but I couldn't be called a gentleman. So we went ahead with purveyors and that's where the name came from. And, you know, our reasoning behind this is that we as friend groups travel often in large groups and that's how we got into looking at vacation rentals as, as a business opportunity.
[00:02:14] Kim: And we, our, our tagline is we take leisure seriously. So you don't have to
[00:02:19] Liam: tell me about where your business is in the world. Whereabouts are you based and, uh, what kind of, uh, business is it? Boutique hotels? Is it short term rentals? Uh, take us through that.
Expanding the Business
[00:02:29] Kim: Yeah. So we began in greater Palm Springs area.
[00:02:32] Kim: Our first, uh, property was right across the street from the famous Coachella festival. Polo grounds, uh, was a huge success. And then we started building the portfolio primarily in Southern California. We expanded for a moment into Arizona and then retracted. And so we've been playing primarily with properties that can host upwards of 16 people.
[00:02:53] Kim: And most people are like, I don't want anything to do with that. And we said, we will take them. And it became clear to us that with the right systems and the right tech, That we could manage the very things that people were concerned about and we went full full head going in on purchasing homes that most homes are not 10 bedrooms.
[00:03:20] Kim: However, they could be 6, 000 square feet and can be made into 10 bedrooms. And so that's how we started. Identifying the value proposition. A lot of these homes were large. They were on large, excessive lands, which was very important to us. So that to not disturb neighbors and to really provide the perfect experience for our guests to feel as if they were in a private resort.
[00:03:45] Kim: And so that became our mission, and we would find properties somewhere between the 4000 and 6000 square foot. Uh, we would. Take down walls to the, to the, to the studs and redesign and renovate and some of it went really well, and some of it took forever due to coven. Uh, but we, we've had great fun implementing the concept that.
[00:04:09] Kim: If you people would like to travel in larger groups, and it's just, it's impossible to think that you're going to get 10 hotel rooms. I mean, when you really think of it, and then where do you spend your time when you're together, you may go to the pool, or you may spend time at a lounge, but it's really the kind of experiences that We as friends had experienced, which was where all the fun was right, making dinners together, joking around game nights, all types of karaoke and whatnot.
[00:04:38] Kim: So I think it just became clear to us that we had hit a niche that many people were absolutely frightened to to to look at and it has worked for us.
[00:04:51] Liam: Can you take me through the kind of specifics? How many units is it at the moment? And, um, yeah, what, what, what does that look like?
[00:04:59] Kim: Sure. Yeah, we, so we currently have five properties.
[00:05:02] Kim: Uh, one, the smallest one is six bedrooms. Largest is 11 bedrooms. All of them are in Southern California and we really kept the winners. I guess is the best way to say it as things have changed as I'm sure we've heard plenty about the market. And as the, it just seemed like the right move to sell into the market a few years ago, and we did that we were up to 14 properties at 1.
[00:05:29] Kim: now we're down to 5 and we are also managing our newest property, which is a 132 acre campground and lodge. Outside of Yosemite, and so that's been really very different and exciting, but it really taps into our understanding of running events. I have a background in music festival events and such and so I've kind of dipped back into that as well and that's camp silver spur and it's a beautiful property and it is perfect for weddings and corporate buyouts and all types of music events.
[00:06:09] Kim: And so we actually are. We have our first camp out coming out next weekend.
[00:06:14] Liam: That's amazing. And what has been some of the kind of challenges along the way? You mentioned obviously COVID is one of them. Is that the biggest challenge so far? Or is there any others to touch?
[00:06:24] Kim: Well, the biggest challenge has been the delay in renovation time.
[00:06:29] Kim: Um, I, you know, ever since before COVID, I was able to have. I had plenty of laborers. I had no supply issues and then cove it hit and it really did change at the pace. I was able to bring these homes to market. Uh, that has subsided quite a bit, but still things are more expensive for sure. And labor is a little bit harder to find.
[00:06:52] Kim: Uh, the challenge is also. I think like most of us finding, uh, good properties in this particular, uh, scope to fight to be able to invest in. And I think that's, that's been the biggest challenge to date, but it's also the reason why we've done a lot more pivoting.
[00:07:12] Liam: What's been the successes? What's your biggest wow moment?
Biggest Successes: Virtual Teams and Hosting
[00:07:14] Kim: My biggest wow moment was recognizing that I could have a virtual assistant team in the Philippines. I could do most of my business from my telephone, my smartphone, uh, that I could be able to run teams on boots on the ground. Offering everyone in our everyone that comes to our property is hosted. So they come in and within an hour, we have our host greet them.
[00:07:43] Kim: And that's primarily just to have a good face to face. But also there's so many systems on these properties. there are acres. It's 2. 5 acres 1. 5 acres and. Pull, obviously you need a pool. And we have pools at all of our homes, and that's a huge draw. And so there's just so many systems that people feel taking care of, and that host becomes their home.
[00:08:09] Kim: Direct line for the rest of their stay. Uh, so the combination of I could treat the guests the way I would treat them. If they were coming into my home. I was able to create the culture between using the technology obviously is is the key here. That's the glue to why this could all be as successful as it is.
[00:08:34] Kim: And I just find that the fact that I can supervise communication with guests and. Train others to speak the way I would speak to the guests. That was in the very beginning, very, you know, a very important piece for me. I don't know about you, but at first, like I'm the only one that can explain this, or I'm the only one that this is going to be, uh, able to, to really help them understand.
[00:09:01] Liam: I'm going to take away from this. First of all, is first of all, really putting yourself into, into this, into your business, which I clearly see you do. And also to. Um, some of these tips that you've shared have been awesome. Uh, thinking of that guest as the hero and passing that baton, that is definitely something I'm going to take away.
[00:09:18] Liam: I hope you've enjoyed listening to this on the Boostly podcast. And if you have, please share it with somebody else who would get the same enjoyment. Pass on this knowledge, this baton, this whole reason we do this on the Boostly podcast. There's so much more we could dive into, Kim. And, um, I love the idea that, um, People can, you know, go and look at your business and, and see what you're doing well there.
[00:09:39] Liam: So please do so. If you'd like to check out the book and Kim's chapter in the book, this hospitable host.com and you can go and check out the bo the book, it's bestseller on Amazon. Um, readily available, all the charities, sorry, all the proceeds go to charities, which is an amazing, and there's now three volumes.
[00:09:56] Liam: Thank you so much, Kim. And what was your motto for us to, um, to, to leave us at?
Closing Thoughts and Kim’s Motto
[00:10:00] Kim: Oh yes. Everywhere you go, there you are. And that's by Jon Kabat Zinn, big proponent of meditation and mindfulness, mindfulness coach as well. And I feel that's what I've infused into this business everywhere I go. This is why you hear so much of why it's so important for me to feel that my guest is very much hosted.
[00:10:25] Kim: Because of how I like to, if you come to my house, you will feel very hosted as well. So that's, that's what I like to think about.
[00:10:34] Liam: That resonates. And it is so, it's very obvious that that goes into your business and it's amazing, Kim. So thank you again for your time on this podcast. Thank you, Leon. Thank you so much.
[00:10:47] Liam: Uh, thank you for listening to this on the Brucely podcast. That's it for this one. We'll see you on the next one. Bye for now.
