Defining Hospitality

What if the biggest advantage in hospitality design isn't having more options, but fewer, better ones? 

On this episode of Defining Hospitality, Ashley Squires walks through how The Stylist Group is rethinking the front end of design sourcing. She breaks down how her team narrows a project down to a tailored "starter kit" pulled from dozens of premier manufacturers, why a fast turnaround can save a firm real time and money, and how she's working to bring a sense of joy back into a process that too often feels like a grind.

Ashley Squires is an interior designer, hospitality design expert, and creative strategist with more than 25 years of experience across hospitality, multifamily, and private aviation spaces. She's led design work for major hotel brands, multifamily developments, and cruise lines, giving her firsthand insight into where the sourcing process breaks down for design teams. Alongside her partner Andrea, she co-founded The Stylist Group to turn that experience into a free resource other designers could lean on.

Chapters:
00:00 Stylist Group Promise
00:24 Show Mission Intro
00:48 Sponsor Message
00:57 Meet Ashley Squires
01:23 Time Is Money Setup
02:57 Defining Hospitality
03:25 What Stylus Group Does
04:50 Library Space Problem
06:24 Curating From 27 Makers
09:26 Designer Testimonials
11:26 Fast Turnarounds
15:33 How Palettes Get Picked
18:25 Christmas Day Unboxing
19:54 Sustainability Break
20:19 Measurable Time Savings
22:06 How To Get Started
25:12 Recent Project Wins
33:27 Wrap Up And Contact

Quote of the Show: "No matter what the needs are, whether you're a big firm or you're just starting out, consider us your design resource library." - Ashley Squires

Building a hotel, brand, or guest experience? Reach out to Dan on LinkedIn or hit reply on the Substack to share what you’re working on.

Links:
🏨✨ Defining Hospitality is Sponsored by Berman Falk https://www.bermanfalk.com/ - Check out their impact page! 🌍🌱 https://www.bermanfalk.com/impact/ 

Ways to Tune In: 

Creators and Guests

Host
Dan Ryan
Host of Defining Hospitality
Producer
Serena Johnson

What is Defining Hospitality?

Welcome to Defining Hospitality, the podcast focused on highlighting the most influential figures in the hospitality industry. In each episode we provide 1 on 1, in depth interviews with experts in the industry to learn what hospitality means to them. We feature expert advice on working in the industry, behind the scenes looks at some of your favorite brands, and in depth explorations of unique hospitality projects.

Defining Hospitality is hosted by Founder and CEO of Agency 967, Dan Ryan. With over 30 years of experience in hospitality, Dan brings his expertise and passion to each episode as he delves into the latest trends and challenges facing the industry.

Episodes are released every week on Wednesday mornings.

To listen to episodes, visit https://www.defininghospitality.live/ or subscribe to Defining Hospitality wherever you get your podcasts.

DH - Ashley Squires
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Ashley Squires: [00:00:00] trust that the Stylus Group has the experience and knowledge and bandwidth to be able to fully support your design vision without you having to lift a finger, so that by the time you need to go and present something to your client, you will be able to call it your own and know that it is absolutely going to meet your goals

What I do is inconsequential. Why I do what I do is I get to shorten people's journeys every day. What I love about our hospitality industry is that it's our mission to make people feel cared for while on their journeys. Together, we'll explore what hospitality means in the built environment, in business, and in our daily lives.

I'm Dan Ryan, and this is Defining Hospitality.

This podcast is sponsored by Berman Falk Hospitality Group, a design-driven furniture manufacturer who specializes in custom case goods and seating for hotel guest rooms

Dan Ryan: Today's guest is an interior designer, [00:01:00] hospitality design expert, and creative strategist. She spent more than 25 years designing hospitality, multifamily, and private aviation spaces.

She's led design projects for brands across hotels, multifamily developments, and cruise lines. She's a design curator at The Stylus Group. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ashley Squires. Welcome, Ashley.

Ashley Squires: Hello. Hello

Dan Ryan: I'm very excited to speak with you, as all the guests here, but specifically you, because one of the things that I've been trying to figure out and really mess around with over the past year, year and a half, it goes back to one of my favorite cartoons growing up, which is The Far Side.

And there's this one cartoon of Albert Einstein, I'm gonna put it in the, in the Substack here so that everyone can see it, but basically, everyone imagine Albert Einstein standing in front of a blackboard with a huge equation there, and at the end there's [00:02:00] an equal signs and a dollar sign.

And it says under the caption, it says, "After so much work, Einstein finally discovers that time is actually money." So the time equals money. So he comes up with this huge algorithm and then figures out time is money. And one of the things that I love about what you are doing with The Stylus Group is you're figuring out ways to shorten our clients' journeys and be just an extra asset for them to shorten the, the front end of the, of the design phase.

And I, I like to call that frontloading intelligence. So I'm really excited to pick on this with you because I've been trying to do this with casegoods and seating, which tend to be like a long lead item, but they-- that comes after a lot of the design development are... and the schematic designs are done and approved.

So before we get into that,

Okay

what do you love about hospitality? [00:03:00] Why, why does it keep you here? How do you define it?

Ashley Squires: I particularly chose hospitality as an industry, namely because of the broad reach that it has to the general population, it allows people to experience space in a whole new way and perhaps even spark a moment of joy in their life that they might not have otherwise felt or considered

Dan Ryan: Cool. And how did you... Okay, so in your own words, I guess, I am a fanboy of the Stylus Group and early adopter, but in your own words, like tell us like what do you do? How do you plug in with a project? What's Stylus Group all about?

Ashley Squires: So Stylus Group is basically two curators, myself and my partner Andrea, and we have a combined experience working in the industry, knowing what it takes to satisfy the brand standards as well as some of the [00:04:00] complications that happen in the field. So we've kind of shortcutted all of our experience in working with select premier manufacturers to help design firms, free of charge, curate a project from concept all the way through to design development if they need it. Uh, however we can best support their design concept, bringing the materiality as well as particular specifications to the foreground so that by the time they receive their package of materials, or what we're calling a starter kit, they're able to present that readily to a client or, uh, the brands themselves like they are supported in their design

Dan Ryan: Cool. Now, one of the things where I, uh, this was most resonant with me is, you know, I'm in design firms all the time, and you're not [00:05:00] doing the design for the design firms, but you're really just an extension of their library and their resourcing. So the one place where this really came to mind, I was at a firm in New York City,

Mm-hmm.

And like all firms in New York C- So I've worked and lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and also New York.

And the difference between being a rep in Los Angeles versus New York City, in Los Angeles, usually you can have a whole bunch of crap in your car. You can park in front of the design firm. You can walk in. Like, there's not an elevator bank and a security, and you can go in and, and talk and spend time.

And also, there tends to be larger libraries in Los Angeles, and I'm speaking generally for all of you Angelenos. Um, but whereas in New York City, I was at, I was at many different firms, and I'm in there, and then the libraries are so small, and the-- because the real estate is so [00:06:00] expensive.

Ashley Squires: Yep

Dan Ryan: a project kicks off, especially in some- somewhere where they might have limited space for a library, what's-- how-- Walk us through how that works.

Like I-- let's pretend I'm a design f- a designer or a design firm, and I'm starting to work on a new project. How do you help shorten my journey towards having as many different options to present to my clients and coordinate with manufacturers?

Ashley Squires: We found that a lot of manufacturers end up being in the silo of the expertise that they're supporting. So the idea of the Stylist Group is to work with our 27 currently premier manufacturers that we have that service all aspects of hospitality. We reach out to them based on the designer's concept or schematic design presentation, and we, the design curators, will then present the types of materials we're looking for to [00:07:00] truly tr- drill down into the design concept itself so that we're able to provide the designer with very thoughtful bespoke items that are truly tailored to their particular design rather than getting overwhelmed with a broad range of what may or may not be applicable because someone saw something that they newly released and thought, "Okay, well, we'll just try and squeak that in there too." No, we d- definitely make sure that we are truly tailoring it to the designer so that they're not being overwhelmed with options, but that they're thoughtful enough that everything can be presented and curated for them, and they can truly take ownership of it for themselves without necessarily having too much overwhelming additional materials that then need library shelf space

Dan Ryan: And I just want to be clear to everyone, everyone knows this, but [00:08:00] I'm not a designer, nor do I play one on TV. But I have in- when I was, early in my career, I interned at Hirsch Bedner out there in Los Angeles. And as an intern, I actually... Well, it was just, I got to do a lot of different things. But one of the things that I got to do was organize and throw away a lot of th- uh, things in the library, and put up new shelves, and just reorganize fabric and wood fa- samples.

And, but I know how much work it is for a li- for a, a librarian, a whole design firm, uh, the whole office, the office manager, just to keep that organized. And one of the things that I've, that I, I believe you guys do, it's not... When, when a design firm engages with you, they don't have to use what you're sending them.

You're just basically taking that really wide spectrum of every available finish and fabric from their 27 different manufacturers,

Ashley Squires: Yes

Dan Ryan: of curating it based on whatever imagery they have already approved with their clients, and then sending them a care [00:09:00] package that's there,

Ashley Squires: Exactly. You hit

Dan Ryan: and I'm a little confused, 'cause I feel like there's an, there's other things out there where, where you can do that.

But in my opinion, or just from my limited experience, you might have to go to a manufacturer's website if it's not in your library, or to some other service where you're clicking on a bunch of these different things. You get 27 different packages in, right? Whereas you're bringing them basically, like, a tray.

So I'm curious, what are some of the testimonials or how have you made your, some of your design clients' lives easier? What, what are they saying? How are they relishing in the service that you give them?

Ashley Squires: For the most part, it's been extremely positive, namely because, like you said, we are giving you one package with all of these goodies in it. Similar to Material Bank, but I would say it's totally different in that we are now servicing the designer without the designer having to spend the time clicking and [00:10:00] thinking about what may or may not work, and have to do the research behind the specification to make sure that the brand standards are met. already ahead of the curve in that for them, so that totally behind the scenes and free of charge so that we're able to support them in their journey so that they can reach their destination of the client des- of the client's pr- final presentation,

Mm-hmm.

And know confidently that anything that they have selected from, from our tray, is theirs to move forward with into further specification

Dan Ryan: But they're, and they're not limited to whatever's in that tray also, right?

Ashley Squires: I mean,

Dan Ryan: It's, it's like a starter package or a, like

Ashley Squires: Exactly

Dan Ryan: I guess like s- well, stylist

Ashley Squires: starter kit. We are totally calling it a starter kit, but it's full of all the different materials that they can potentially use. If they don't, then it doesn't work out for them in that [00:11:00] regard. But the hope is that it will spark at least some sort of further conversation so that they can further customize and design what their intention is so

No

can take full ownership of it. ultimately is saving them the time and headache of having to start those conversations so that they can truly drill down onto what that final design needs to be.

Dan Ryan: okay, so going back to that idea of time is money and shortening the journeys of all of our clients and customers. One of the things I'm noticing now is hotels are doing great, especially in that luxury and lifestyle segment.

Absolutely.

Are good, occupancy is high. Renovations are not happening as quickly as they might have in the past.

New-- There hasn't been a lot of new inventory that's come on, and what I've found is that when a renovation gets green-lit, [00:12:00] now it's an opportunistic one trying to get ahead of a World Cup event, a Super Bowl, a football season. There, there's like a real, um, fuse that's lit that has to get it done faster.

For the projects that you've been working on and had success on, have they been opportunistic projects as well as far as from a timing perspective? W- where do you f- what's your ideal sweet spot for the type of project that you work on?

Ashley Squires: Honestly, uh, the more time that we are allowed to have to help curate a starter kit for someone, the more information we're able to provide and give more options for them to consider. um, we can al- turn around a starter kit in as short as 72 hours from start to finish to make sure that we are trying to at least get some of the basics in there for every aspect of the project that they would potentially require. [00:13:00] Thankfully, we also offer, um, when they are filling out their job description form online, designers can select whether or not there are certain manufacturers that they don't want to have included or certain product types that have already been taken care of in a renovation. A lot of the time the flooring is one of the only things that they need to redo and/or the wall covering.

So we're able to really hone in on specific aspects and make sure that we're telling the partners that these are short lead times, what are our best options for materials here, uh, to truly make sure that that conversation is a shortcut for the designer to then kick off and run with by the time they receive their packets. I wouldn't say there's a particular sweet spot so much as more time is more information. Less time means we can still make it happen for you as long as we get, like, a [00:14:00] 72-hour turnaround.

Dan Ryan: Yeah. And I, I also think like I've... Going into so many firms, there are some firms whose libraries are more disorganized than others, right? Because obviously beh- most likely because they're so busy and things aren't where they're supposed to be. So I imagine that you help solve a frustration for a designer who's going into the library looking for that particular material or texture, and, ah, it's not there.

Have you heard feedback on that?

Ashley Squires: We're still a little limited in regards to how many of the industry partners we've been able to start these relationships with. Uh, for example, we don't necessarily have rubber flooring for fitness centers, but that is not a deal breaker at the end of the day because we do offer alternatives. Um, so again, it just depends on how much information is given to us at the beginning of the conversation for us to [00:15:00] curate with to help further hone in on the material needs

Hmm

we can truly service that design concept as best as possible.

So if we know if we're seeing in the imagery, for example, um, wood-looking floor, it's helpful to know kind of a budget range we're trying to aim within so that will that hotel particularly want to maintain a hardwood floor, or do they want the look of it but not the maintenance? So we give like an LVT or a tile

Dan Ryan: one thing that I've noticed is, and I also appreciate about our design clients, is that typically they might-- When they're e- in an early concept, it either comes from, uh, a branding agency or they might have their own branding or they-- there are very clear pillars that are spelled out for what the project is supposed to accomplish as far as aesthetically and feeling and just overall br- brand.[00:16:00]

And it's, it's amazing to me when I look at an early stage, like when the branding agency just comes up with a thing, there might be three f- images of, I don't know, like a, like a woman walking through tall wheat or th- some really tall skyscraper that's strong and... Or something more, more classical. But when I see those things, I can go right to my palette of wood finish samples for furniture and be like-- Or wood and metal and be like, "Oh, okay, I have a feeling...

I, I think that they're-- they want something that's more wire brushed or something that's really high gloss lacquer." But it's not often that as a manufacturer I get to do that at the early stage, right? I'm always kind of reacting, 'cause once that schematic design is done and that, that feeling and then they, they have a direction going, then things get more detailed as far as the materiality.

Ashley Squires: Yes,

true point do you know-- Like how do you narrow down [00:17:00] the palette and the trays or the boxes, the, the care packages that you're sending to your designers?

I'd like to think that because I've been in the industry for so long and worked alongside many of the firms that have been utilizing the Stylist Group services, I recognize what they're trying to accomplish given the narratives that they're providing with their presentation. So a lot of the time, the beautiful wording that they're using to describe a feeling in the setting helps evoke a certain that we're trying to support from the concept phase.

So if I have something set in Savannah, Georgia, that city itself evokes a certain kind of materiality that wouldn't necessarily be applicable for New York. So knowing where the location is, knowing what the brand [00:18:00] flag is, and then knowing who our premier manufacturers are, it truly helps us already start that conversation and look of maybe picking a cerused type of oak finish versus a shiny polished metal. And from there, we give the designers options that will hopefully help support their overall vision and

Dan Ryan: Cool. Cool. And then I know earlier in our conversation you said, you know, you wanna bring joy back into the process of, of, of designing or, or maybe not joy is gone, but like inject a bit more j- joy along the way. So what are some examples of that excitement or relief or joy that you've heard from the clients and the projects that you've worked on or your team have worked on?

Ashley Squires: We've heard that receiving our starter kit package in the mail is a lot kind of like Christmas Day to an interior designer, where you know [00:19:00] that your-- what your project's supposed to look like. You get the visual imagery from a digital presentation that we provide to let you know what the tracking information is of your package.

So you're building that anticipation of how we've supported your project vision. But the minute that that box arrives and all of the boxes and packages of materials are now in front of you, hopefully the vision and narrative is matching to what we've surprised you with in the starter kit, so that you're opening a present at the end of the day that feels truly yours, and you feel seen, and hopefully that sparks a bit of the joy in the process.

So it's not a mundane task, but something that ultimately will provide you with that happiness that we've felt putting into the package for the designer team as well.

And,

Hey everybody. We've been doing this podcast for over three years now, and one of the themes that consistently comes up [00:20:00] is sustainability. And I'm just really proud to announce that our sponsor, BermanFalk Hospitality Group, is the first within our hospitality industry to switch to sustainable and recyclable packaging, eliminating the use of styrofoam.

Please check out their impact page in the show notes for more info.

Dan Ryan: and then have you heard, obviously, y- I mean, you're still kind of, you're ramping up, you're, you're, you're working on more and more projects, but have you heard any measurable improvements in, or from your, your clients as far as how it shortened their process?

Ashley Squires: We have. Um, so not only has it saved them a number of hours to, you know, four or five, but it also translates into dollars. So any designer that's spending the time sourcing these things translates to money. So I think that on, on average, a cost savings of, of minimum $2,000 [00:21:00] to have our service package provided is, um, quite a substantial fee that they didn't have to burn while trying to meet their deadlines and overall end cost goals.

Dan Ryan: For those 27 manufacturers across all the different commodities, it's not like you have one manufacturer for each commodity. You have... How many different commodities are you providing in the, in this package to help kick off a project?

Ashley Squires: we have the 27 premier manufacturers, then we have flooring commodities, which are carpeting, LVT, hardwood, and tile. We have case goods and furniture. We have leather and fabrics. We have lighting and mirrors. We have outdoor. Um, and then we have stone and quartz, as well as wall covering. And within each of those sections, we have minimum of two, maximum of five.

So it just depends on who we've been able to partner with at that time to be able [00:22:00] to fully speak to every aspect of the hospitality industry that we can currently.

Dan Ryan: Great. Okay, now imagine there's a firm and they wanna try this out on a project. What, h- like walk me through the... Pretend I'm, pretend I'm the design firm.

Ashley Squires: Okay

Dan Ryan: " Hey, Ashley, uh, okay, I wanna try this out. what do I need to get, like what do I need to do? How do we start this, and then how do you know what to pull from and, and make work?"

Ashley Squires: we ask that the design firm ask to register their account with us, that way they're able to gain access to the website to upload their project information. From there, the form will help determine whether or not what type of project it is, budgets, um, the different premier manufacturers that we should or shouldn't use, um, all of the kind of pertinent information needed to be able to kick off a project. That comes through to my d- curation team, and from there we're able [00:23:00] to either have a elected teams conversation with the designer just to make sure we're hitting all the right notes and fully understand the narrative that's been provided. that's not something that the design team wants to partake in, then hopefully they'll trust us enough to curate a starter kit for them by the desired, uh, deadline, and we'll be able to provide them with a PDF of all of the online selections for specifications as well as a starter kit of all of the material palettes that would support the design narrative as well.

Dan Ryan: Okay, cool. And

so then they s- I, or not they, I submit all this to you, th- some kind of a form.

Um, maybe I'll upload the image of the person in the tall grass,

Ashley Squires: Right

Dan Ryan: then you get it, and then are you just sending me everything? Or are you... Or, or do I get to, like, help, I don't know, help, like, with your direction as [00:24:00] far as what kind of materiality and what kind of samples I might get?

Ashley Squires: So it's very helpful for us to have a meeting elected with the designer. That way we can make sure that we are including the proper type of materials that that project is requiring. Otherwise, if the designer doesn't choose to do that, then yes, we would be sending you a material package based on what our vision or understanding is of the narrative based on our selections. The designer has as much input as they can want along the way, or they can elect to just download the presentation, tell us a little bit of information about it, and trust that we will get it to them by their deadline for their consideration.

Hmm.

But they're not obligated to use anything that we send, but we'd love to hear if they do and love to hear any of the feedback, good, bad, or indifferent, so that we can continue to tailor the experience for them.

Dan Ryan: [00:25:00] And then for the t- obviously this is for hospitality, but is there, are there certain areas within a hotel that you're more geared to or, or is it for any and all? Or walk us... Any and all? Okay. And then,

Ashley Squires: and I. Danny and I

Dan Ryan: and walk us through some recent successful projects and how you delighted your clients

Ashley Squires: Fantastic. We've actually managed to receive a number of hotel projects, uh, specific to just a renovation and public areas, uh, not including guest rooms. Thankfully, our premier manufacturers are capable of doing onesie-twosies as much as they are quantities. So for that, we're able to, uh, make sure that it is tailored to the public area experience so that all of the double rubs for fabrics as well as the materiality can meet budgets as whereas t- as well as the durability. And, um, we recently [00:26:00] sent off a multifamily development, uh, project as well. Cool for that we were, um, gave them a little for the apartments that might be considered part of the project itself, but we also focused on a general kind of amenity package so that we can different sort of settings and materials to support what would go into a multifamily housing property,

Hmm.

Knowing that developers are trying to play with budgets as much as possible for duration of that project.

Dan Ryan: starting any new company or service, no matter what you do and what the vision is, it's just, it's always very difficult. What are some surprises that you've, that you weren't anticipating in launching this company?

Ashley Squires: Some of the surprises I think would be just how quickly we're able to pull together a package that, [00:27:00] um, is comprehensive with every sort of premier manufacturer that we can. we've also been hit with, uh, I think budgetary constraints, so understanding what each manu- premier manufacturer high or low based budget would be, um, has been a breath of fresh air knowing that our partners are able to accommodate just about every type of project budget there are

Dan Ryan: that's, so that's interesting 'cause b- a minute ago you shared that based on whatever the performance standards of whatever the material is, whether it's double rubs or I don't even know what flooring ones are, but how, basically however things need to endure or where they're being used in a property, you can kind of pre-select that.

And also you're able to get into a certain budget depending on what type of a project it is

Ashley Squires: We-- It's a range, so we're not necessarily working with a specific dollar [00:28:00] value, but knowing what the designer's trying to hit overall, so a general like $2 sign, $3 sign, and/or, um, star equivalent of a property will help us understand where trying to hit so we can pick and choose which particular manufacturer we'll use for that end goal.

Dan Ryan: Cool. And then for, like as you're looking out to the future or looking at your pipeline of kind of what you see out there, what's exciting you most about the types of projects you're seeing inbound?

Ashley Squires: I would say just the ability to be trusted enough from the designer to help them participate in the journey that is the design. think that the stylist group is truly working in the sweet spot of the design, ultimately by putting the materials together and creating a palette so early on in the game for [00:29:00] a final presentation package that that's the fun part for me.

It, it really-- it doesn't have necessarily the full constraints of having to write out the specifications, take it across the finish line, but being able to participate in each designer's unique vision the joy for me

Dan Ryan: again, I know you're in the early stages, but has there been... If you were to come up with like an archetype or a profile of a designer or a design firm that would be a great fit for the type of projects that you work on, generally speaking, who are those types of designers or design firms that would really benefit from the services that you offer?

Ashley Squires: I would say anyone that needs a little extra time in their day, and be able to trust that they are going to be supported what their project goals and needs are. So i- [00:30:00] it's anyone that has the ability to put together a concept narrative, not necessarily the full time and attention get it across to those first options of materials and selections. So anybody

Dan Ryan: Okay. And then let's say I'm li- I'm a designer listening and I'm like, "Oh, this actually sounds interesting," and I just got slammed with three new projects. What's your 30-second pitch to them to try to give you a shot and see how you can augment their process?

Ashley Squires: I would say that if you have 72 hours and you know what project budget and hotel flag or development concept you're trying to achieve, trust that the Stylus Group has the experience and knowledge and bandwidth to be able to fully support your design vision without you having to lift a finger, so that by the time you need to [00:31:00] go and present something to your client, you will be able to call it your own and know that it is absolutely going to meet your goals

Dan Ryan: that's awesome. And then I also wanted to go into the spectrum of design firms. So from a s- a s- you know, there's so many firms now that are just starting up, right? Um, people who worked at big firms are like, "Oh, I wanna take this entrepreneurial step on my own." How do they get going with you- Mm

if they have a project under their belt?

Ashley Squires: Same exact way that the bigger firms do. They just let us know that they're in existence. They give us their address and phone number, and they're able to log into our website and upload any upcoming projects for whatever phase they're working on. We've worked on concepts so that we're just given an image and a narrative, and we're able to support that. We're able to work on schematic design and create further development on the materials for that. But we've also kind of worked on a couple of, uh, design [00:32:00] development packages that have already been kind of marinating, but they need some alternative options that might hit a better price point for them or have a better turnaround for timelines with, uh, production and things like that.

So no matter what the needs are, whether you're a big firm or you're just starting out, consider us your design resource library

Dan Ryan: when we launch this, is there a way to get some images of what those boards look like or the, the onboarding form or anything that we could put up there and share so that people can see kind of what some of the work that you've put out and

Ashley Squires: Absolutely. I'll talk with our marketing team, but we've definitely been putting out onto social media on Instagram, um, The Stylist Group. We've kind of given behind the scenes for some of our material palettes that we've done just in our free time. Um, so anything that the designers submit to us, they can trust is confidential. We are completely behind the [00:33:00] scenes. Our name will not be on anything that they will be ultimately presenting on the materials themselves, but, um, the project name will be, of course. But other than that, uh, The Stylist Group is, um, fully curating and marketing ourselves just to show the material palettes that we can put together, but it's nothing that would ever compete with the designer's vision itself

Dan Ryan: Awesome. And I know you mentioned, um, Instagram, and I know there's a website, but is there... If there's, if anyone else wants to learn more about Stylus Group or connect with you, what's a good way for them to do that?

Ashley Squires: Best way is ultimately through our website, stylusgroup.com. Um, that way we're able... they're able to kind of get a feel for some of the turnaround timeframe requirements, um, kind of where we've been, some, uh, general feedback that we've received from other firms' experiences, [00:34:00] uh, and things like that

Dan Ryan: basically, I'm a big fan. But, no, I wanna thank you for your time and whatever we can do to help get it out there.

And, a- and any of you l- who are listening who are designers, definitely, um, check out Instagram, check out the website, give them a try because you don't have to use whatever's coming to you, and it's a really cool service, and I'm a big fan of innovation and shortening journeys. So please, um, give them a shot.

And Ashley, thank you so much for your time. This has been awesome and very informative to learn more.

Ashley Squires: My pleasure. Thank

Cool.

Dan

Dan Ryan: And thank you to all of our listeners. Without you throughout the hospitality industry, we wouldn't be here learning about these new innovative companies. So please reach out, forward it to someone who you think might be able to benefit from this, and we look forward to catching you next time

[00:35:00]