MH_007 === Sarah Eustis: could see very up close and personal how our place and the way that we treated people and the choices that we made even. Physically within the rooms and the public spaces, how they made people feel. And we got that feedback right away, even as young kids. David Millili: Welcome to the modern hotel you're presented by stay flexi. I'm your host, David Millili. Steve Carran: And I'm Steve. David Millili: Steve, who do we have on today? Steve Carran: Yeah, David today we have on Sarah Eustis, the founder and CEO of Main Street Hospitality before founding main street. Sarah was in the leadership roles on the retail side of things, working on operations, marketing, design, and development for brands like Ralph Lauren, Gap, and Limited brands. Main Street Hospitality now operates 12 hotels in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. Welcome to the show. Sarah works. Sarah Eustis: Thank you for having me. Steve Carran: Absolutely. Absolutely. David Millili: the F the format here, we have really three sections. We're going to first ask you some questions to get to know you a little bit better and talk about your career. And then we're going to just ask for some inputs, on the state of the industry and what current trends are going on. Sarah Eustis: Okay. David Millili: we're going to start off dive right in. What was your first job in hospital? Sarah Eustis: My first job in hospitality. well, my first job in hospitality remains the most important job in hospitality, which is housekeeping. so when I started, when I was 14 and that was, here at the red line, in, in our family's hotel and it was the beginning of. A incredible training that I got working pretty much every job in the place, maybe, except for facilities maintenance. Although I did a little of that probably on the side too, but, we and my children are now doing the same thing. So my first job was in housekeeping and it was where I learned the, sort of the backbone of the. David Millili: Right. So today, if you weren't in hospitality, what, what field do you think you'd be in? What would you be? Sarah Eustis: Oh, goodness. well, it's, it's conceivable that I might still be in the retail apparel business. you can call it the fashion business if you want, but it was not as glamorous as everybody thinks. And, um,Was incredibly satisfying career and took me to a lot of amazing places and worked with incredible people and brands. but there was a moment where it felt like, hospitality was maybe the new horizon that I wanted to, to, to tackle. But I think if, if that moment hadn't come, ah, guys, I might still be living in Paris, you know, which might be don't get me. Don't get me going on that. David Millili: So I'm Joe, keep asking this on the podcast and everybody says there's hundreds, but give me one, what's the, one of the weirdest things you've seen in a. Sarah Eustis: God, I think it was P the people who came for the summer and brought eight cats with them and we allowed them to bring the. David Millili: Well, Sarah Eustis: And it was just, you know, I mean, today that would probably not ever happen, but and I was a housekeeper in that Steve Carran: Did you update the pet policy after Sarah Eustis: we did. Yeah, that was, that was the, David Millili: uh, that was the beginning of it. So who did you, who did you admire? You know, it's interesting. My two grandmothers on both sides who were amazing, female pioneers, one in medicine and the other in business, and both of them way before their time and were, were doing things and manifesting sort of results and careers and, having an impact in a way. Sarah Eustis: Perhaps wasn't traditional for women at that time. And both of them were just remarkable. And I think that, that I am who I am. I have amazing mothers as well, a mother and a stepmother who were incredible and creative. but I think the pioneering aspect of what my, both my grandmothers did was really, probably the most inspiring for me. David Millili: What's the best piece of it. Sarah Eustis: God, David. These are hard questions. You know, I, I think it was during my time at limited, where I, I had a lot of responsibility, it was working in New York city. and, uh,just took on a new role within the limited where I was for 10 years and, moved into another division that we were planning to try to improve and turn around and. The resignation letter of someone who was on the team, I'd been there like a couple of weeks. I think I was trying to put my mark on things and he came to me and he said, you know, I don't think this is for me. I think I'm going to resign very creative guy. And I kind of said, oh, well, okay. You know, I'm building a new team, so, okay. And then later that evening, I had a call with a woman who was the head of the division at the time who counseled me and said, Just sleep on it. Just breathe through, don't accept his resignation so fast. You need this team and you need this person, maybe even just for a phase. And I did, and I slept on it and I came back to him the next day and he ended up staying with me for five years and he was amazing. Right. So the moral of the story is. Managing reaction, not overreacting recognizing as a leader that you can stop and breathe and not necessarily make a decision at that very second inner in a reactive way. So I use that a lot. I say, let me think about it. I'll get back to, David Millili: If you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be? let's see. Sarah Eustis: Ah, that's interesting. You know, I might trade places with Danny Meyer for a day. I know him. He's a friend. I feel privileged to call him a friend, but I'd like to know what it feels like when you've built your company Through through a strong philosophy and ethos, but when you've built it to that scale, what it feels like at that scale and how you feel as a leader. So I'd love to, I'd love to step in his shoes for a day if I could. David Millili: What's a secret talent that you have that nobody knows. Sarah Eustis: Oh my goodness. Let's see. Well, no, I don't want to, I'm not that talented. I just,I guess I, I have some times it's not, and it's not like something practical, like making a great souffle or something, which I wish I could. and maybe just cause it was growing up in this interesting family, but I have, I can read the. I, I have a little bit of a sixth sense about the room and that helps me. Maybe I shouldn't give it away, but, David Millili: Yeah. it's not really a secret, but it is something that I sometimes it's painful because I can see a car crash before it's going to happen Steve Carran: Oh, no, Sarah Eustis: between two Steve Carran: the room looking so Sarah Eustis: And I'm like, I'm like, oh no, stop, stop talking. Stop talking. David Millili: first guest was Anthony Valkyrie. Who's a good friend of mine and he is,he can read the room and then he can read a person. And two, two minutes, he'll walk over. If he walks away, he'll, he'll tell me something. And he's actually predicted things he's met. And I've worked with, and then he's told me what was going to happen just by meeting them in like an elevator by random. He's like, oh, I met so-and-so works at your company, then I'll be like, . And I'm like, we're going to happen. And then like six months later, I'm like, Hey Anthony, guess what? Yeah. Sarah Eustis: Oh David Millili: those things happened, Sarah Eustis: Well, I don't know how my good, my predictive skills are. and I've certainly made plenty of great hires and not great hires in my, in my career, but more in the moment trying to help people find consensus and like get us to a good place. And I use my special secret sauce. David Millili: What scared? What scares you? ah, let's see. well, I thought. You know, going out of business, might've scared me before COVID but now I'm not even scared of that. I don't, I don't want it to happen, but, I don't live, I don't fear. I feel grateful that for whatever my makeup, I don't spend a lot of time in, in fear, healthy, healthy pragmatism, and certainly,Understanding the risks of what it is that we do. I guess what scares me most is the, really the safety and wellbeing of our people, right? So hotels are open living, breathing places, the door, literally the door has never been locked on the front of The Red Lion Inn that anything could happen at any time. And I think we have a health. Fear about that and the safety of our people. and that's, that's what keeps me up is just making sure that we have measures in place to prevent bad things from happening. So, and they haven't. Thank God. Knock on wood. Steve Carran: That's good. Prevent them is have like eight cats in the lobby or Sarah Eustis: Well, I know like guard cats. Steve Carran: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Sarah Eustis: exactly. Exactly. It's too. David Millili: If you could pick one superpower, what would it be? Sarah Eustis: If I couldn't pick one super power. So a lot of people say predicting the future, but I don't want that. Don't want to know. I don't want to know. I don't know. I think doing all my email correspondence in my sleep would be a superpower so that while I'm sleeping, it all gets done. And then in the morning I wake up and. I can think again. David Millili: That's pretty good. Sarah Eustis: I'm not trying to be, I'm not trying to be cheeky. Wouldn't that be a good one? David Millili: Yeah. Steve Carran: It's one of the best ones I think we've heard. That was, that was great. That was great. I would love that would dude. David Millili: Yeah, we've had, we've had invisible and other things like that. So it's not that that's the most unique we've gotten so Sarah Eustis: oh, okay. I just made That up. I don't know where that came from. Steve Carran: Well, I like it. I like it. Well now I, you know, now it's there. I appreciate you, you know, answering those quick questions. Want to learn a little bit more about you, at this, at this kind of part of the podcast, where did you grow up? Sarah Eustis: I grew up, just outside of Philadelphia. Um, but because my father moved up here to the Berkshire's when I was quite young, really sort of half of my life was spent up here, in the summer and, and any vacation that we had. So it was really Philadelphia Berkshire's. David Millili: Which-which area. I'm sorry. I'm from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. So Sarah Eustis: So yeah, I grew up in, in Gladwin kind of on the border of Gladwin and Haverford right. In the, you know, beautiful main line. Yeah. So, Steve Carran: Awesome. How did that shape you kind of grow up outside of Philadelphia and obviously you spent a lot of time where you currently are now, obviously that played a role into maybe falling in love with area, but how did that kind of shape you as who you are? Sarah Eustis: Well, you know, I'm, I, I got myself to the city as soon as I could. so I do love the energy and the inspiration that comes from living in a city, which I did for many years in New York and San Francisco Paris and so forth. But growing up, it was, you know, somewhat rural in Gladwin where we lived, definitely country setting where we are now. And I think it's a great place to start your life and maybe a great place to David Millili: Yeah. Sarah Eustis: kind of come later in life with a heavy duty intense city chapter in the middle. So I feel it. Happened that way. And Philadelphia is a place that I love. I, I didn't, wasn't drawn back to live there full-time because I was so, so connected to the life in New York. but it was, it was a remarkable place to grow up. David, I think you can relate to that. a lot of traditions, a lot of history, in a way of life that you know, is very, kind of a little more structured and the Berkshire's that when I was growing up were. Hippie seventies. So it provided a nice balance. David Millili: I always look at it as there's really something that grew up somewhere where there's seasons, where it changes like I'm in Phoenix now, but I can never imagine having grown up here. I just, you know, I think there's just something about growing up and going through the anticipation of, you know, the fall coming up or spring going in the summer and those things. So I always thought that the seasons always had something to do with it, Sarah Eustis: Totally. And I lived in San Francisco for a couple of years, which I loved, but I knew I could not live there my whole life. Great people, amazing place. But there just wasn't enough. You're right. There. Wasn't enough evolution for kind of change of change of season and point of view. So Steve Carran: Absolutely. Absolutely. So you mentioned your first job in hospitality was a housekeeper at the Red Lion Inn right. Did, did you guys have a nickname for the housekeepers there or was there a nickname? People call Sarah Eustis: We, um, yes, we were called the candy stripers because we had to wear ridiculous uniforms, which at the time now looking back, they were kind of cute, but they were pinafores with red and white stripes. And my best, friend's still my best friend. And I, started on the third floor and we were, we were candy stripers kind of like volunteers at the hospital used to be called that. but we were, we were candy stripers and it was, again, it was a privilege and it was fun and it was sort of the summer scene at the red lion. So Steve Carran: Absolutely. And you work there with your best friend, right? how how did that kind of establish a base for your hospitality career? I feel like that's a great position to just get thrown into and learn how hotels run in general. So can you explain a little bit kind of how that set the groundwork for your career moving forward? Sarah Eustis: Well, it's interesting because I think, you know, so much of what happens to you early in life and a, you know, an adolescent and teenage hood. It's. It's happening to you. It's sort of more subconscious. It's not strategic per se. so understanding,first of all, the fundamentals of showing up to work, beyond hospitality, even kind of showing up on time. Being part of a team, managing priorities, understanding how your work impacts other people, right? it was just a great, fundamental building block for being a professional. Then from a hospitality specific standpoint, I could see very up close and personal how our place and the way that we treated people and the way that we, the choices that we made even. Physically within the rooms and the public spaces, how they made people feel. And we got that feedback right away, even as young kids. And so this notion that what I do impacts the way people feel, what I do impacts how people feel about the value of what they got. the way that I greet them impacts the, their experience that was embedded in, us from a very, very young, age And it just it's been there the whole time and I took it, you know, I took it to retail and then I got a lot from retail and then brought it back to hospitality because the two are very connected. Steve Carran: Absolutely. David Millili: So you went to Smith's college, you played field hockey and lacrosse. You have a favorite moment. Uh, you guys are covering them up here. Yes. Well, let's see, at Smith, you know, I found myself in a leadership position. I mean, I don't know why or how, but I ended up being captain. And one year I remember it was the first year. I think it was my sophomore year. you know, we had, we were, we were good, but we were always, you know, Wellesley and Williams and we just, we, we couldn't keep up with those teams. but I remember specifically in our sophomore year, we'd beat both of them. And I think it wasn't, it was just because I don't know, somehow we had unlocked something not to be corny with sports metaphors, but we had unlocked something as a team that was really exciting. And, I just remember that was a particularly. Sarah Eustis: Thrilling victory. Um, those Wellesley girls, you know, how they can be. So, Steve Carran: yeah, know. Oh yeah. Sarah Eustis: and the Williams and Williams people, you know, they just think they're just always unbeatable. So it was great. David Millili: So, as you can see where we're trying to dive deep into you, so you majored in fine art and history, Sarah Eustis: Yes. David Millili: any connections there and going back to hospitality and kind of what you're doing. Sarah Eustis: Sure. well, listen, I grew up both. My parents are, my mother passed away a few years ago, but, she was a concert pianist. my father is, 87 and going strong and he's an architect both highly tuned, creative. so art and music was a big part of my life. And I guess I thought I was always going to be a fashion designer. I thought I would go to design school and I ended up at Smith with a, more of a liberal arts approach, which I'm glad I did, but in, so doing, I focused on, on fine art, so active studio work and, and art history, which I use all the time actually, because it had everything to do with. light and spaces and colors and texture and all the things that I'm still doing all the time when we're creating hotel rooms or a beautiful lobby. and I, I think, you know, my, my father worked in Philadelphia for Louis Kahn, who was an incredibly famous architect and, icon of his time. And. He a lot of my inspiration still. I revert back to him about how the concept is developed for a building, how it moves through the, the sort of measurable period and then back sort of into the immeasurable, because it takes on kind of a soul. Sarah Eustis: So, you know, our architecture and all of that. Just felt like a natural and I'm just, I happen to be the most practical person in my family. The only one who's ever worked for anyone else. and wasn't a practicing artist, so I I'm very conventional that way. I like to have a paycheck, but, and I'm not as talented as they are. Steve Carran: Oh, so after college, you kind of, did you use kind of that inspiration? Your family's very art are into art and music, and then you went into retail, right. Is that kinda what chose that helped you make that decision? Or what was the reasoning for going into the retail side of things? Sarah Eustis: you know, again, I just, I don't know when it was, but I had decided that fashion design was going to be my thing. An independent of anybody, you know, kind of suggesting it to me. and I tried to take sort of practical fashion classes at Smith and it didn't, it didn't quite, it didn't quite fly for my, my, my advisor, but I, I dove in right after college and, and tried to get all the practical training I could. And,Again, I think it's an extension of the artistic blood running, running in the family. but again, I, I guess I,throughout these different chapters in my career, and I think also having very creative, but also very practical people in my family gave me a bit of a balance. And maybe that's my secret sauce, David, that I mentioned earlier, which is. Being able to translate between creative people and business people, because oftentimes they do not understand each other. David Millili: difficult. Sarah Eustis: we waste a lot of time and money sometimes, on the lack of understanding. And so this crazy family, and then also in. Passion career. I found myself often in a, at a table translating the creative vision to the business people in a way that would enable them to get on board and vice versa. does that make sense? Kind of a Sarah Eustis: bilingual bilingual kind of role? Steve Carran: hundred percent. That's great. That's awesome. And then after, after retail in 2012, you came back to red line and 2013 started main street hospitality. how did that come to be? That had to be pretty exciting. Kind of coming back to your, to your roots, where you first started in hospitality, how did that happen? Sarah Eustis: well, it was, it was, um,I think a combination of, of, of the universe sort of telling you. Should happen if you're listening and, and, and a sequence of events. So, we were living in Paris at the time. Um,I actually, I actually, you guys are gonna think of kind of, anyway, I don't know, I'll throw it out there when I, there was, I had an epiphany at one point when I was driving up to the Berkshire's from New York city. And I said, you know, I think by the time I'm 50, I probably will be up here doing something with the family, but. It just hit me. I'm like, and I don't remember exactly how old I was at that time in my forties. And I just thought, I don't, I don't know why it just hit me. So then we went about our business. We moved to Paris and, my grandfather passed away in 2010 and we came back for the service, with our, with our two boys. And I remember sitting at the service honoring him and there were a lot of people. And looking around at my family and looking around at the sort of, um,I guess what had been created by the first and second generations, I would listen to small pond guys, really small, but nonetheless, we created some good things that, that deserved to be stewarded into the future. And I kind of looked around, I have amazing brothers, you know, one of those in Colorado, one of them's in the Dominican, one of those. You know, was doing his own thing. And I said, gosh, not sure whose if anybody's going to step up in the third generation. And, the second generation was sort of getting ready to maybe think about relaxing and doing other things. So it just kinda hit me, like maybe it's time for us to think about this because there was a lot of good material to work with. And main street is what I hope is this. Reconstitution of a lot of that good material. so I convinced my husband to, to leave Paris after my, I had a contract there that had, was coming to a close. And, um, we thought about going back to New York and kind of scrambling up the fashion ladder again. And we just thought, you know what? It might be time to take our collective energy professionally and, and, um, give this a shot. So we did. Yeah, it was, it was a little bit of a leap, but we don't regret. We don't regret it for a second. David Millili: think that's a great story. So going from retail to hospitality and you look at kind of the executives, are there any similarities, in the type of people, or do you feel other than yourself, obviously you've made the smooth transition, but, uh, similarities in that world and. Sarah Eustis: Yeah. I think there are a lot of similarities. David, And I guess what, what was interesting specifically to my journey, which is what it is, is what it was, what I realized reflecting, not until I came back to this business. Did I realize that each of the brands and the big companies that I worked for, Ralph Lauren gapping limited brands and it Tom in France, they were all family businesses. I know. It didn't really, I didn't even realize it while it was going on, which meant to me that the, the founder of each of those companies showed up every day at the office and would talk about right. Ralph was there, Les Wexner showed up every day. I mean, David Millili: Yeah. Sarah Eustis: not that that's so unusual maybe, but they would talk about why, where the business started and why it was important. And, and that I found very grounding and. Working in a culture in terms of retail, way I worked with some amazing people, you know, at the time when I was at gap bank, it was becoming more, a little more academic, you know, there were Harvard biz, they were Harvard business school people everywhere. There were, there were BCG consultants everywhere at limited, but I liked that. I thought it was, it was becoming a bit more academic balancing the creative right. And I think that that honestly, the, the translation of what, what we were there to do, which is to create a great product in line with a coherent story, price, it correctly, create a good value, create an environment that people can enjoy your product, smile at them when they come in the door. And you know, all those things that are, that are the same in hospitality. Right. To your question about the leaders in those businesses? I think they were, they, they had the same mission and they were, they had a lot of the same characteristics, I think, because we were welcoming people into our stores and into the life of the brand. and we were doing it a thousand times over, you know, we had huge, huge, um, retail programs. So. I think there's a huge translation and there, there are a lot of, a lot of great people who I learned from, and brought that back to hospitality. Steve Carran: And it seems like it just kind of with main streets. And I don't know if it's their mission statement or what you want to call it, but it says that main streets driving purposes to create places that enable people to connect in meaningful way. How do you do that? Sarah Eustis: Hmm. Well, it's a very good question. And we talk about it all the time. so connection is a very broad word, right? And I think maybe even more pertinent given what we've all been through the last few years, human connection, something we used to take for granted, right. We have a lot of, you know, we're connected on a lot of devices and we're over connected. And we're also very disconnected as, people, um, in a lot of ways. So hotels and the kinds of hotels that we love to create. And. steward Foster connection in a number of ways, one, the sort of warmth and genuineness that you get from our people, whether it's the first call on the phone or arriving a feeling of, I see you, you belong here and I value you, right. Which we, we train for. And we send that message in a lot of different ways. Then the, the actual environment. You know, you can walk into a room, think about it, and it can feel very over-lit and the spacing of the furniture can be all wrong and it can make you not feel drawn to stay there and to sit next to someone and have a drink and talk and converse and maybe meet someone new. So when we think about lobby design and the way dining spaces, we really think about how are we building connections? Why do people want to see. another very practical way is, you know, throughout the experience of being with us, how we build connections to the place for any guest, you know, through really personalizing their, their stay through letting them know that we can, we can find things that make sense for them, as opposed to just fitting, fitting a bill. So. People can connect in unmeaningful ways too. But we like to, we like to drive, meeting meaningful connections. Not only because it feels good, but because it makes people come back and it helps with our sustainability. Right? If you have, if you have a transactional experience somewhere, you know it and you feel it and you don't, it doesn't really make you say, oh my God, that guy behind the front desk was so. He connected with me so deeply that I just, I want to, I can't wait to go back. Does that Steve Carran: Absolutely. Absolutely it does. I was going to, my next question is what, what can I expect when I come to one of your properties? Well, you just answered it, so I don't need that asset. David I'll let you go. That was a good, that was a very good explanation. So when you're looking for a location, is there a particular type of location you're looking for as you expand? And also if you are, do you have any new properties coming up? So. Sarah Eustis: We do so, so we, again, we are not, and I just was at, I just was at a conference and I was sitting with my friend Romy, who founded Owen's life house. and it was fun to exchange with him. You know how he's building his business and what their strategy is and how it's unique from ours. And what I love to do is collaborate with people in the industry. I think there's room for everybody. I really do. And we're, we're trying to do something a bit, a bit unique. So we do not have a, a brand rollout plan. At least not today. We're looking for unique locations where the kinds of hotels that we do would really make sense whether they already exist and they deserve to be. Transformed or whether there's a, there's a market that really is, yearning for something like this. So th the, the exciting thing, what I feel very proud of is the evolution of our portfolio, which I'd love to say it's been really strategic and fun. It hasn't, it's been about relationships. It's been about, kind of, finding great markets like. Rhode Island came about because we formed a relationship with Peregrine who are incredible development partners, and they invited us to Newport. And then our friends in Providence saw that we were involved in Newport and they said, what about coming up here? So it's, it's been, the growth has been organic. And I guess I would say that what's nice now is that we have a fairly considering we still have a relatively small portfolio we're diversifying. So we've got sort of entry point. affordable design hotels. We've got a great group in the iconic boutique kind of upscale. I hate that word, but you know what I mean, space and then our newest property, which I'm excited to tell you about will open in July. And it is it's called The Canoe Place Inn and it's in Hampton based in New York and it's going to be a really, it's going to be a remarkable. Property. and without a doubt, a luxury property, again, that word is overused, but it will be in that price point in that quality level. So affords us now. we're playing in all these different spaces. Are we, are we looking for interesting coastal locations? Because we can use the tuition that we paid in Newport. Sure. Are we looking for cool emergency. Secondary tertiary cities in downtowns because we've paid the tuition and we know how to do that. Are we looking for relationships with institutions, academic or art institutions? Because we believe hospitality can really be meaningful when it's done in harmony with those kinds of institutions. So we, we are looking at all of those kinds of pockets, but the projects have to. They have to pass through a pretty rigorous filter now to, to make it to the slate. so anyway, yeah, that's how I would answer that question. Steve Carran: Awesome as CEO right now. What's the biggest problem you're tackling right now. Sarah Eustis: Well, it's. It's not going to sound well. You know what? I was going to answer it one way and now I've changed my mind midstream. right now I would say it is the. Journey to scale and the definition of scale and what that looks like. And I mentioned Danny Meyer, who, again, I have the privilege of knowing and getting to chat with every once in a while. And in the book that he wrote called setting the table, a lot of it was about, you know, he had one incredible restaurant that everybody just loved deeply. And then he decided to open up. And as soon as you take what it is you're trying to do and you, and you, and you take it more horizontal, less vertical, you, you face the issues of scale, meaning how can I be sure that our identity and our value system translates correctly to a bigger portfolio? How can I be sure that the systems and the infrastructure and the people we have in place can. Take on 2, 3, 4 more hotels. How do I ensure that the bottom line of the company actually makes sense so that we, I mean, you know, basics, so these are the things that I find exciting, Steve there, and they're just, they're ongoing, but they are the things that occupied most of my time. Right. and trying to do them in, in some kind of balanced. which is very difficult, but we're, we're getting to that. We're actually getting to lift off, which is pretty exciting. I know, I always say that like it's right around the corner, but I think it might, we might actually be getting that. Steve Carran: And you mentioned earlier that you're the only one in your family that has worked for somebody, everybody else kind of has done their own entrepreneurial thing. Was there a moment that kind of clicked for you? That's like, I'm good at this. I am good at being a CEO. This is what I meant to do. And that's was there a moment? Sarah Eustis: that's a really nice question. I should be fair to my family. One of my brothers was in the peace Corps for a bunch of years. I, they hear this. They're going to be mad at me. all I would say is that they haven't had traditional corporate jobs. Let's put it that way. Okay. that being said, you know what, that's a really great question and I really appreciate it because there are many years in the entrepreneurial coming out of corporate, where I thought I'd gotten to a point where I was pretty good at that navigating big companies, understanding how to lead teams, you know, moving. You X, when I was at express, I mean, it was a billion dollar company and I was able to affect change inside a billion dollar company. And I was pretty proud of that. And then it was like a humbling, you know, entrepreneurial SmackDown of, of literally just trying to figure out how to create something and make sure the bills got paid. Right. So very different. Took a huge lifestyle change to. And so I had to really have a feeling that I could be successful at this. And probably the thing that I knew early on and I I wasted no time in surrounding myself with people who were much smarter than I was, or at least had more hospitality experience than I did. Because being a housekeeper as great as it is. It's not 20 years of Starwood it doesn't get you that strategic side. So I started building slowly but surely, people around me who, could help, I guess I could see the vision. I could see where it was going and I needed, I needed people to help me kind of row the boat to get there. And, and I would say, and I've made so many mistakes and just an unknown errors until, until you know, that it's an error, right. But I would say coming into the pandemic, shutting down the business for three months, holding the team together, figuring out how people got paid or not paid, getting down to the studs on like, what was important to us and what is our, what is our mission really? And who really are our partners? You see the best and the worst and people during that time. And I would say halfway through maybe a couple months into COVID, I thought, you know what? I think, I think I'm actually pretty good at this because, cause we didn't fall down. Right. I was terrified every day and there was lots of cocktails having every night just to take the edge off. But, but now I have, and so many of the people are still with me and we had to make some changes and that was actually healthy. but I think that's, I think the last few years have made me realize, like, this is what I want to do. And I think I'm actually pretty good at it. Steve Carran: thanks for Sarah Eustis: Pain painful as it was. Steve Carran: now. That's great. so have you ever had a mentor that, that you've had throughout your career? Sarah Eustis: Oh, certainly I've had, I've had quite a few. but one in particular who, uh,I would always kind of revert to him. it was during, during my time at Lee at, um,gap bank and banana Republic specifically. and he was, had, had been part of the creative team and then came out to San Francisco, to be part of the, the buying team or the business team. And I was a young professional, coming up in my career and he really, you know, he just, and then he invited me to come back to limited brands, which is why I, why I did that. And then was there for 10 years, mostly with. not always arm and not always, arm-in-arm sometimes in different divisions, but he, he just, kind of taught me about prioritizing and sort of about urgency and like figuring out what's important in that moment, which I think is such a, sometimes a lacking skill. and one thing I remember he did with us, Being promoted and going to different divisions in the company was he made us go through presentation skills class. Like he got us Sarah Eustis: a coach for like six months. Oh, it was Steve Carran: Wow. Sarah Eustis: It was practicing and videoing yourself and listening to your president. I mean, but I will tell you, and I'm not great at it necessarily today, but it was the best training I've ever had about how to just simply how to express your. And how to be convincing and how to get them, get people on board with them, you know? but he, he was just a great, he was a great mentor. He went on to, run Burberry in London and he's, he's just an incredible, professional. So yeah. David Millili: With With all the industries you've been in, do you believe there's one common trait that the successful people you've worked with? have Sarah Eustis: That's a really good question. And I'm giving it, do, do do thought, because I don't want to answer too hastily. Um,and success is so, you know, it's so subjective, but. I think a healthy degree of humility is is a trait and that can come along with big ego too. I've what I've really learned is that you can have a really strong ego because you're a confident person and you have a vision, but I think a fundamental humility, around knowing you're not always the smartest person in the room. and That you want to surround yourself with talented people and get the best out of them. I've seen that now. I mean, Ralph Lauren is like that. You know, he, one of the most successful guys on the planet, it's not, I think there's a fundamental humility that enables people to build great cultures and great companies. It's not about pure power. I just I've seen that. I've seen that. And I've seen it. I've seen it crash and burn really? David Millili: Me too. I wish I could name names, but I Sarah Eustis: we know if David Nope, Nope, Nope. But we know who we are. We know who they are. David Millili: Yeah. Steve Carran: All right. So now the last section you're almost outta here. Sarah Eustis: fine. Steve Carran: So one, one thing for you here, what would you, you know, if I'm just starting out at hospitality right now, I'm applying for my first job. Just getting in what's some advice you would give. well, it, it's sort of nuanced because you know, there are my husband, my husband, my son for example, is at UMass Isenberg as we speak. And he's interested in going into the management school and he's in the management school for hospitality. So he, and he works in the business and he's trained on the floor and he's done all the things that I've done. Sarah Eustis: I might give him different advice than, than someone who's coming in to, to a different role. But,think the advice would be whether you're coming out of Cornell or big fancy school or whatever is really. Cross training your self, you know, whether it's through a program or whether it's as part of your first job or just asking for it. And really, I mean, I think the most successful people in this business have stood in everybody's shoes or at least most right. Like we just, we, we I'm, I'm pleased to announce. And I think I can say, you know, we have a new vice president of operations who's coming on in about a month. his Steve Carran: Wow. You heard it here. First modern hotelier Sarah Eustis: Crimmins, Steve Carran: breaking news. Sarah Eustis: Joe Crimmins is joining our team and he's an incredible professional. and we talked about this a lot during the interview process that his, you know, the, the, the success in hospitality, no matter what avenue you take, because there are so many great avenues. but the more in your early career, I would say don't get stuck in one lane, even if. You want to do hospitality, marketing, or you think you want to be a food and beverage director, push yourself to try at least even for short periods of time, everything else, because then you understand the synergy of the operation and you'll just be better at your job. And you'll have more credibility with people. David Millili: Yeah. My one company are used to I used to have interdepartmental lunches. I used to make the developers and the support people and salespeople like different random people have lunch together because they never talked to each other. Um, you know, the funniest story is when a developer and I asked her, I said, so we're at lunch. I Reena, what's your favorite food? And she said, potato Sarah Eustis: Yeah. David Millili: potato, but it was just interesting. And people now they start to get th they know each other when they're walking past each other to go to the restroom or go somewhere like communication. But, um, so right now, when you're on LinkedIn, we're all on LinkedIn, but you know, there's so much about COVID and labor shortage. What, what is something we should be talking about that we're not outside of those two topics, because it seems like they kind of dominate from Sarah Eustis: I know. And I don't know if I have anything original to say on that particular note, but,COVID is, again, it is something that just, there should just, We just, we made the playbook. We understand more than ever about these kinds of things and especially in a hospitality environment, how they can be managed. So all I would say COVID is thank God we've been through. Modes almost mostly now. And so we can be even more effective if we have to deal with different versions of things. That's all I'm going to say on that. I mean, we are so much smarter, so much stronger and not afraid, you know, as we might've been of the unknown and whatever. I don't think that we're finding that people are really ready to get back to just normal hospitality kinds of operations. And, you know, we still have QR codes around from place to place and we still have some hand sanitizer in the rooms and we're still very respectful and, and, and understanding of nothing is taken lightly, shall I say? but we, we, the, the, the desire to get back to real human connection and real hospitality has been overwhelming on, on the, on the labor side. I can't, I don't, I don't know what I can add. That is so original except to say that all of us in Danny and I talked about this on a conference panel at ILC in Miami a couple of months ago, that it is now, if this has taught us anything, especially in hospitality, you know, the focus on our culture. On really putting our money where our mouth is in terms of having people feel heard and held when they work for us, whether they're washing dishes or whether they're running accounting. And as nice as that sounds, I'm actually seeing it in practice because people are sticking. I don't have stats for us in terms of our retention, but we're, we're doing okay. And we have an, a remarkable number of. who are joining us, staying with us, growing with us. And last week we had three promotions within the company. It was amazing. So to watch people move and build their careers. The other thing I was so proud of is that the Boston Celtics came after my front desk manager and offered her an incredible job. And she. Really thought hard and long about it. And someday who knows, she may end up with the NBA, but you know what, she, she stayed because she sees the opportunity for her. And I thought that was a big win and no pressure. I mean, listen, people got to fly. If they got to fly, they got to fly. But I don't, and it's not like we're doing anything magic except showing people how yes, we have great benefits. Yes. We're paying people correctly. But there's something about this family of properties and the family of people that people are enjoying. And they're seeing it as a, as a viable, really great chapter in their, in their careers. And we've got some people right in the, in the sweet spots of their careers. So I think the only thing we can do to respond to that, David is to be better. There is no excuse, literally make sure HR. It's really functioning. Well, make sure everybody is, is in recruiting. Everyone's in recruiting, right? throw out the old traditional assumptions about why people want to work and what will, what will attract them to you. continuing to say, oh, we can't get people. We can't get people. I'm not sure I buy it anymore. It's true. I mean, there is a vast shortage of people versus how many jobs are open. the statistics tell you, but if, if you're really having a hard time, then you need to, you need to look in the mirror and figure out like what's going on with our organization, that we can't keep anybody or. get anybody David Millili: That ILC was a great event to Steve and I were there. So we missed you. I'll be at the one coming up in Brooklyn in June. and Andrew, Andrew was our. Uh, he, his isn't hasn't aired yet. He's next week. Um, but yeah, great, great, great organization. Great people, great events. Yeah. It's really, it's a, I always tell people, it feels more like it's almost like a membership or community than a trade show. Cause you kind of feel like everybody's kind of part of it. Like it's just Sarah Eustis: It's amazing. We had a board meeting, at the sound view. and I've been on the advisory board now for, five years maybe. And, um,it's just an incredible group of people. I got to say, just thinking, just thinking sort of a little bit differently about hospitality and creatively and So I feel, I feel privileged to be a part of it. So, Steve Carran: It's a great group. Great group. So one last question here. How, how do you see the future of hospitality with this upcoming rise of technology with web three NFTs? The metaverse all that. How is that going to affect hostel? Sarah Eustis: well, again, these are like million dollar questions, but I think if you know the answer, please let me know. and again, it was really cool sitting there with Rami and talking about technology and, Gretta who you know, is really, and our VP of finances is great too. He's always looking at systems that will just make people's jobs easier. Okay. So from an operation standpoint, we, we are human. We're a human company kind of enabled by tech. We're not leading with tech per se. You're not there that that's just us. Right. But everything's running underneath from a guest experience standpoint, you know, I really do. And having just, I was just in Vegas at the, at the HD conference and, being able to communicate. The concierge at any moment and just kind of chat with her and make arrangements. It was fantastic. Right? So I think that there are these, there are these experience pieces of technology that are, that are also making people's lives better. And the experience a bit more fluid. Although I never think that we're taking people out of the experience of hospitality, at least not in our, in our world, that mainstream,in terms of. Next level. Right. And, and the whole meta aspect of this,I don't know. Maybe people will start seeing in virtual hotels. Probably. Maybe we should create one. David Millili: Yes,they've already started. Sarah Eustis: oh yeah. David Millili: these metaverse hotels. So. Sarah Eustis: I know, and I find that I find that interesting and, and, I want to not be ignorant about it. I have some, some members of our advisory board. We have an amazing advisory board for main street. one of whom is very much on the forefront of all that. So I, I, I make him keep us, ask him to keep us on it. I guess in my lifetime, the kind of company that I'm building with my team, it's tactile. It's real. It just, it just is. and as long as I'm on this earth, it probably, you know, it will be maybe, maybe somebody will take it somewhere else. but, uh, you know, we're kind of low tech on the surface high-tech running underneath is kind of our, sort of the main street position. Steve Carran: like that. They've done anything to, anything to wrap up. David Millili: you think anything, anything that we missed that you want to talk about? Oh, you. I don't mean my, my soapbox. Yeah. You can plug away. You can talk about your property. Oh, well Sarah Eustis: I guess David Millili: up and all that good stuff. Sarah Eustis: thank you. Well, I guess I might, you know, there are two, the two properties that are coming online this year. Are very main street properties. And I guess I would only highlight them because they, they both reinforce what it is that we're about. So Canoe Place Inn which is opening in Hampton bays, New York is the revival of an iconic place that people have loved for centuries. And we're, we're, we're privileged to work with this amazing team to breathe new life into it. Like how. Right. So we, and we, when we there's all that baggage that we have to unpack and we have to know about it, we have to understand what people expect, right. And how Hampton bays as a community can be, feel good about this and not feel, sort of stepped on by some, you know, big, fancy hotel that plopped into their village. Right. So we're spending a lot of time working on that. Then we're also opening. It's currently open, but we're repositioning hotel down the street in north Adams, Massachusetts. And that is also a community that has had an amazing 20 years of evolution with mass MOCA, which has this incredible contemporary art museum, as well as another property that we opened 20 years ago called porches. That really changed the dynamic in Northwest. But there's still more to do. And so we've purchased an old holiday and that was the is the center of the city and it was being underserved, you know, it was just kind of sitting there. It was okay, but it was not adding any connection or value for the, for the, the city. So we took the, the IHG flag off. We've rebranded it, hotel down the street. We start renovations, soon, probably. They'll go on for about six months and then we'll represent this hotel to the community that kind of says, this is a north Adams hotel. It's still affordable. It's got more style. It's gotten a connection to the art world, that connection to the community and something that the, the locals can be proud of and also understand, right? So these two properties different as they are. They're very, mainly. And we just get such satisfaction out of, and we to make some money along the way, but David Millili: Right. Sarah Eustis: get such satisfaction out of doing, doing hotels like this. David Millili: No, and it's great talking to people like you got me when I was managing hotels, they were all independent. So I'm really an independent guy. I always feel weird when I stay in a branded property. Sarah Eustis: me too. I'm a little David Millili: because I'm like, yeah. Uh, but thank you so much. Sarah was great talking to you. Uh,that wraps up the episode of the modern hotelier presented by stay flexi and we appreciate your time and we appreciate you. Sarah Eustis: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure. David Millili: Thank you. Steve Carran: Thanks Sarah.