Cold open

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Live Let Thrive, a podcast about the Airbnb life, the share economy, and everything in between. Here are your hosts, Micah and Steve.

SPEAKER_04 0:11

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Live Let Thrive. This is episode 261 of your favorite short-term, long-term, medium-term podcast in the world coming at you from Fort Worth, Texas. Micah couldn't join us today, but we're going to have a great show because we have a special guest, Mrs. Al Ashley Ching. I already messed

Ashley Ching's background: Tiffany, Home Depot, and founding Inhaven

SPEAKER_04 0:41

up. Mrs. Ashley Ching is joining us today. And who's Ashley? You ask? Well, I'll tell you. Ashley is the founder and CEO of NHAVEN, a professional home furnishings and consumables procurement. Say that five times real fast. Solution for the vacation rental industry, saving property managers and hosts significant time and money. I like those things. Ashley has spent her career sourcing products, leading operations, and establishing brand standards for Fortune 500 companies. Prior to founding Inhaven, she was a chief merchandising officer at the Company Store, a Home Depot company, and head of global merchandising operations at Tiffany and Company. Wow. She lives in New York with her husband and four young children and a dog named Chase. Welcome to the show, Ashley.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Thanks, Stephen. So nice to be here. Thanks for that long interrupt introduction.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

You know, I didn't think it was so long when I was that, but you have some big words in there, and that kind of tied me up a little. But we powered through like we do on this show. Um, yeah. So how did you get started in the in the whole short-term rental industry? I know we'll get we'll go back to where you started in these in these big companies, but what what drew you to the short-term rental industry?

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Sure. I am an avid guest. Um, I have four really young kids, as you mentioned. So my oldest is nine, my youngest is two. And when we travel, we no longer stay in vacation rentals. We stay in, sorry, we no longer stay in hotels, I should say. We only stay in vacation rentals. We need a kitchen, we need um multiple bedrooms. And so, you know, I've come become very familiar with with sites like Airbnb and Verbo and Booking.com to book vacation rentals when we travel. And we will book what we think is the perfect location. Pictures look amazing, but more often than not, we show up to terrible sheets, missing pots and pans. And um, you know, as you mentioned, I've been in procurement, merchandising, sourcing for basically my entire career. And so I'm naturally curious, you know, for these vacation rental owners and property managers, how do you procure for these homes? You know, why is it so difficult? And so I spoke to dozens and dozens of them, and overwhelmingly, they their response was, it's a nightmare. There's no standards, I have no idea what I'm buying. I am not a home furnishing, especially hospitality grade home furnishing expert. And so this really piqued my interest given my background um with the Home Depot, um, given my you know extensive career in e-commerce, uh, you know, I thought, well, I can do something about this. And, you know, I want to make their lives easier. I want to create simple, simple procurement solutions for them and also improve that guest experience. So, you know, whether you're staying in a beach rental in, you know, Maine to a Colorado Rocky excursion, um, you know that as a guest, you're gonna show up to a great sleep experience, uh, fully stock kitchen, fully stock bathroom.

SPEAKER_04 3:39

No, no.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

So that's how it all started.

SPEAKER_04 3:41

That that is that is cool. That's a lot to unpack there. Um I want to go ahead because I asked dumb questions on the show because you know that's what I do. But um the word procurement, uh, please explain what that great.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

It's really just how do you buy? Um how do you shop? How do you find things? Yep. It's a great um, yeah. And I didn't I didn't know much about it, you know, before I got into the industry or into the you know, whole sourcing procurement world. So yeah, and you know, it's funny, this this industry is, you know, some people will say, oh, you know, it's such a cottage industry, but it's actually a massive industry, you know, $160 billion industry worldwide. And um, you know, it's amazing to me how people still source things from Walmart, Amazon. And I think about other large industries like restaurant industries or um, you know, they don't go to when they run out of hamburger buns to the nearest Kroger or Albertsons, you know, they have professional procurement

Hotels have procurement solved - why don't short-term rentals?

SPEAKER_02 4:37

solutions, and that is what Inhaven is. It's a professional procurement solution um with a curated assortment of hospitality grade goods. So you don't need to question whether you're buying something that's gonna withstand the wear and tear of your guests, but also give your guests a great experience.

SPEAKER_04 4:51

You know, you know, when you mentioned um hotels, so they they they have a great procurement process, I reckon, if I can say that. And and and here's the thing, and I when when my family started growing, same thing, just uh we could Airbnbs or or short-term rentals or VRBOs, whatever, because you know, we have a you know big family and they need a lot of space and they need we need a kitchen because you know, feeding them is expensive. Um, so so anything that can help, right? And amenities are great too. Um, so hotel crown, cramma and a sala in a hotel room that wasn't an option anymore. But every now and then, like me and the wife will go somewhere and we'll stay at a hotel room. I'm like, oh yeah, this is okay. The bed is like perfectly made and crisp, and the sheets are nice, and everything is just I was like, why can't yeah, short-term the short-term rental industry? Why can't Airbnbs be like this? That's what I've always wondered. It would be awesome to have that, but um, I guess that's what you're providing.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Yeah, you know, I mean, I love the idea of uh vacation rentals um, you know, being very unique. I don't want to ever turn the vacation rental industry into the hotel industry, right? You can travel to a Hyatt hotel in Tokyo, Japan, or Cincinnati, Ohio, and you basically get the same room, right? It all feels the same, which is not the way that I like to travel. But what I do want to provide is that consistent experience of when you arrive into in this you know amazing vacation rental experience, whether it you know looks like a cabin or a beach house, whatever the vibe is that host is you know is making through that through their expression of what that local feel should look like, the bed should feel great, the kitchen supplies should be fully socked, and the bathroom should be fully socked as well. And those are just utilitarian, you know, and that's where I'm looking to provide more consistency to really improve the foundation of those days.

SPEAKER_04 6:41

Nice, nice. And something that automatically jumps out. And I don't mean to bring up a competitor if it is a competitor, but um, I know uh I've heard of host GPO. Sure. And they and their their thing is they provide you know quality products that are affordable to short-term rental hosts or whatever. Is that kind of like similar to what you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Yeah, I mean, we do offer, we have a very different experience. Um, so we it's all curated on our site. So you don't have to go to off the site to search for items. So everything's been curated, and we've done taken at really at time savings, um, giving you back the time of searching through what's going to work on all these other um manufacturer sites. The other thing that makes us different is that we're going direct to the manufacturer. So those people that produce the sheets and the towels for West Elm, um you'll find on Inhavian, we're going direct to the manufacturer. So really cutting out that retailer cost and you're getting significant savings by doing that. Um, and then, you know, we are, and I can't speak for HostGP or any of the other people, but we are a team of merchants. Um, our team has over 100 years of sourcing experience. So we really know what goes into the quality of those sheets, the quality of the amenities, the kitchenware. And so we're using our expertise to then curate that assortment for hospitality use in the site. So, really, it's a trusted place where you're going to find products. You don't need to go on go on Amazon or Wayfair and do the search and filter, and you still get 50,000 results and you're reading through all the reviews, which is so time consuming. We really are serving up those best products for your rentals. And we do encourage everyone to shop our checklists, which is organized by um good, better, best pricing, what we call basic, um, sorry, budget, basic, mid and lux. And so, regardless of your budget, you can find something that's affordable and makes sense for the type of property and type of experience that you want to offer your guests.

SPEAKER_04 8:30

I love checklists. And here's the thing, because like, so with our business, you know, we manage over 60 properties at the moment, right? Awesome. Yeah. And we have some of our own mixed in there. It's it's uh it's a mix, but um I've been trying to automate things in a way as far as onboarding a new client, right? That we're gonna manage for. And one thing I was sitting down, racking my brain, I thought, oh, this would be easy. I just make a little checklist of everything an Airbnb needs or short-term rental needs. It took me like three three days, right? And I, you know, not like I'm doing it like, you know, 24 24 hours a day, but every time I'd sit down, I'll be like, oh, it needs this, it needs this, it needs this. So I I love the fact that you go to your site and you have a checklist of everything that you're gonna need.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah, and what we'll do is for larger clients like you, we'll create a page specifically for you. So if you're a property manager and let's say that you have a mix of you're purchasing for your homeowners, and and in some cases, the homeowner homeowners may want to purchase products for themselves, you know, that you can point them to a specific page that has been built for your properties that meet your standards, and it gives your own homeowners also, you know, a jumping off point to say, okay, this is what Steven expects in his homes to maintain his brand standards. So um we work really closely with our enterprise level accounts um to really improve the purchasing experience, not only for themselves, but for their owners as well.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Nice, nice. I need to get with you after the show. I don't want to turn this into a yes, please do. Yeah, yeah. I try not to turn this to an infomercial too much, but just trying to get the information on your company because it sounds pretty interesting. And it's just so it's just uh so what all do y'all do? I mean, you don't do furniture,

Mini soaps vs refillable dispensers and state regulations

SPEAKER_04 10:10

right? Or do y'all do furniture?

SPEAKER_02 10:11

We do. We have furniture, we have home decor, we have outdoor, um, but we are obsessed with the bed, the bath, and the kitchen um and the cleaning supplies. So, really creating the foundations this day, and that's really where our expertise lies. You know, again, as I mentioned earlier, we want the homes to feel unique. We don't want to standardize the the furnishings, the home decor, but we do feel there is a need to really standardize that sleep experience, the bath and the kitchen. And so that's where we really put a lot of our time and effort, and that's where all of our many of our supplier relationships um are with those types of suppliers as well.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

Okay. So and now the ultimate question Yep. Um mini soaps or no mini soaps or mini shampoo.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

Well, we we have both, um, but we do see more and more hosts and property managers moving towards refillables. Um, so we have a lot of great refillable solutions where you can do wall-mounted dispensers that you don't even have to drill in. You can use liquid nails um to apply them on the wall, and then you know, they can easily be real refillable. So we do see more and more people doing this. You know, California and a couple of other states have banned those small travel size. Oh, yeah, they ban them uh from even from short-term rental use. So um, you know, more and more we see people going to the refillable options, and and guests are getting more and more used to it because they're going to hotels as well. And most of the hotels I've stayed in in the last year have gone to the um dispenser systems and the showers just because of the some of the regulations that are taking place in various states.

SPEAKER_04 11:47

So yeah, I always thought those little things were cool, but but then you're like day two, you're like, oh my god, how much should I put? Because I want to run out.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Well, it's funny because you know, with vacation rentals, it's longer days. And even, you know, we have the 12-ounce bottles on our on our site, and those only last about eight to 10 days, depending on the you know, the number of people using them. So, yeah, those small bottles really only last a day or two before they're out, but it is a nice starter kit, you know, if you want your guests to then go out and buy their own amendies.

SPEAKER_04 12:19

Yep. You know that uh uh what's his name? John Galifanakis, you know, the comedian.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

You seen his show Between Between Two Ferns?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 12:29

Okay, so I'm looking at you right now, and you got these two um funky looking lamps. So you know you should make a show called Between Two Lamps. That would be your show. Yeah, I need to look at YouTube and watch and watch what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

I know exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

I've never seen lamps like that. Were those are those from your site?

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Things those are not from my site, but yes, um, I'll tell you after the show some other analogies people have made with these lamps that are not appropriate for this podcast.

SPEAKER_04 12:59

So, yeah, well, you don't know the podcast. It might be very appropriate for our training. We haven't dropped any F-bombs yet, but yeah, it's still young, it's still early. Um, so what exactly did you do for the Home Depot uh when you were there?

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Sure. So they have a bunch of private label brands, and one of them is the company store, which sells you know, sheets, towels, home decor as well. Um, and I ran merchandising there. So I was responsible for sourcing all of the products um at the company store. I also ran the e-commerce site as well. So um that was a really cool experience. And a lot of the suppliers that we have today um came from some of my relationships there. And fortunately, I worked at the Home Depot pre-COVID and was able to travel and see their you know manufacturing facilities in India and China and and just you know, uh faraway places that obviously we haven't been able to get to. Um, you know, I guess now people are opening up a little bit more, but um, yeah, so we have an amazing supplier base. Um, and some of that's from my my days at the Home Depot.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

Oh, nice, nice. Yeah, because they have some good, they have some good stuff there, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Great, it's a great company.

SPEAKER_04 14:05

Yeah, I like them more better than Lowe's for some reason, but uh we always go to the Home Depot for everything we need, and and um, and sometimes you go there multiple times a day if you're trying to fix something.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Um it's amazing how many stores and how many people shop at the Home Depot. I think most of the US population shops at least a couple times a year.

The ruined 50th birthday: why sheets and sleep matter

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Yeah, they have an incredible consumer.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Yeah, it for sure. Um okay, so like why are why are why are sheets and towels and stuff like that so important? And what and what kind of quality do you do you really need in your short-term rental?

SPEAKER_02 14:38

Well, they're very important. Um, and actually, sadly, my so I have a really good friend who celebrated her 50th birthday over the weekend. And she called me this morning. She was in the Poconos, and she said, and she had planned this trip for months and saved up a lot of money, um, had her whole family to the Poconos. So her parents, aunts and uncles, kids, you know, they all did a weekend there. And she said, Ashley, it sucked.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

The home was beautiful, the beds were so bad, we we didn't sleep a wink. And so that is, you know, and you look at I look at pictures on the Verbo listing, and it's a beautiful home, right? And but you know, you can't judge a book by its cover. This home has really crappy, you know, sleep experiences and they've gotten somewhat good reviews, right? I think some people are are scared to speak up just given the way the review system works. Um, but that is why, you know, it's really important to care about the foundations of this day because it can make or break a guest experience. And now when she thinks back to her 50th birthday, she's gonna think back to the shitty, you know, night experience. Sorry for swearing, sleep experience, but you know, and not think about her 50th birthday. And and when she called today, we all have stories like that, right? And this is why I started in Haven. This is why we exist. So it's super important. And there are great sheets and towels and amenities at every single price point. And there are hospitality grade versions where you have the special hemstitch, you know, thread that help with the with the housekeeping teams and the turns to make it go faster because they know that the green uh hamstitch sheet goes to the queen bed versus the pink to the king. Um, you know, there's just a lot of things that that, you know, a lot of products that we have that that help with those turns and hope help with the overall guest experience. So I think that the sleeping, eating, and bathing is the most, you know, those foundations need to be in place before guests can um enjoy all the gathering experiences and everything else that you work so hard to um, you know, make your home unique and special.

SPEAKER_04 16:40

That is true. Um, speaking of the type of bed, I mean, what do you suggest? Because uh I I guess at our places, uh our friend Sarah, you know, Sarah Glidewell from the Car Wheels, shout out to Sarah. She she got us started in this whole um uh you know designing Airbnbs for us and getting everything for us. She was great, you know, she was doing it now. She's you know uh doing bigger things, but uh she she told us to use these medium firm memory foam beds and like the uh Zenus green tea, whatever they're called. But yep, they seem pretty good. I don't know, we don't get a lot of complaints sometimes, sometimes, but not mostly. So we don't put pillow tops, we use those. Are those pretty yeah, yeah, yeah?

SPEAKER_02 17:19

They're great. And I think it's you know, a lot of questions I get are like all foam versus hybrid, where you have some coils built into those bed in the box. So it's really a preference. You know, sleeping is so um subjective, but those brands that you mentioned create awesome mattresses. Um and I think it's it's important that you sleep in your own homes, you know, your rentals as well, and experience it as a guest. You know, with pillows, I always recommend that you put two sets of pillows on every bed. So let's say you have a queen size bed, you have two queen medium um firmness pillows, and then two firm. So you're really giving your guests, you know, the type of sleep experience that they're looking for. And you see a lot of hotels doing that as well, where they have the different options for the guests since it is so subjective.

SPEAKER_04 18:04

Pillows are crucial, yeah. Big time. I didn't think about that. So two you do two medium firm ones and two and then two firm. Oh, but never soft, you never do soft.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

No, no, even the medium, the medium, the medium can like really, you know, be quite soft for some people.

SPEAKER_04 18:21

Wow, that's cool. I mean, some something as small as a pillow can really make a huge difference and you can advertise it, like you know, personalize your sleep experience with different pillow options.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

I think it can go in your listing, it could go

Two pillow firmnesses per bed and other small game-changers

SPEAKER_02 18:34

in a little note next to the bedside table, you know. So I just it's those little um the they're really thoughtful, and I think guests really appreciate, you know, that type of uh thoughtfulness in the home.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

Yeah, because if you have the wrong pillow, you wake up with a crick in your neck.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Exactly. Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

And obviously, and I will I say it on the show all the time hell no to canopy beds. Because I don't know if you've ever used them a year at you know, I on your side or at any of the places, but yeah, the you know, people are vacation, those things get to move in and all the screws start getting it's it's just a nightmare. Yeah, so no, no canopy beds, we don't do that anymore.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Um I love it.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

What other what other like um I guess small things that was seeing smaller minor uh at a short-term rental make like a huge difference?

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Yeah, I think um chargers so so through throughout the uh properties make a huge difference. So chargers, you know, we sell lamps with charging stations built into the lamp, the USB. Um, same within the kitchen. So I just think uh those make a huge difference. Um makeup towels, I think, are very thoughtful um from a guest and a host perspective. They really help to preserve your towels, but I think the guests appreciate them as well or makeup wipe. Um, and then I just think, you know, uh making sure that your kitchen is stocked um well for a stay. So let's say you have a, you know, your house um is listed for four a guest, you know, it really services four guests, then you should have eight of everything, just double everything so that they're not doing dishes all day long. So, you know, things like that that just make for a great stay.

SPEAKER_04 20:16

You know, you know, it I'll I bring it up on the show sometimes, but like um we like to go to South Padre Island, right? And that's one of our favorite spots, you know, here in Texas. And I grew up, you know, my family from South Texas and all that. So, anyways, but I to see the transition from how it old school rentals used to be, as in condos on the beach or whatever, where they didn't supply a damn thing, you know. You're lucky if you got a coffee maker, but if you did, there sure as hell weren't gonna be no filters, there wasn't gonna be any coffee for you. Uh, you might get one roll of toilet paper or or just to start start off. If that they might tell you, hey, go buy your toilet paper, go buy your paper towels. I mean, you didn't have nothing, and so it's funny, it took it a while for those old school ones, and probably there's still some holdouts that aren't providing anything. But I remember like you know, getting used to the Airbnb experience when people are started to provide you with things, and like this is really cool. And then going to written at a a really nice place in in Padre, and they're still still doing it the old school way, where I wake up in the morning, what there's no filters, there's no, there's nothing I could eat. Ah, nothing worse than waking up all groggy and not being able to make a cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

It is the worst. I think coffee is critical. Thanks for bringing that up. I agree. Um, you know, I think that I tell some of my clients, you know, think about going to the Motel A, like just basic, basic, you know, hotels, right? Or motels. They have a coffee maker, they probably have a Keurig or some version of a Keurig, you know, little case suite. Um, they've got shampoo, they have conditioner, they've got towels and sheets on the bed. You know, they're not, you're not like renting sheets to go there. So we need to at least be providing what the most basic hotels provide guests. Um, and then I'm really trying to elevate. Like I want to elevate everyone away from microfiber sheets. I don't know why so many people still use microfiber sheets. It bothers me so much. They're just they they do not breathe well. Um, and they do not lead to a good guest experience. And you can get a great cotton polyblend sheet for the same price that you're probably buying those microfiber sheets for, and they'll last a lot longer.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

What are those called? Poly, what are they called?

SPEAKER_02 22:24

They're um cotton poly, so they're cotton polyester blends. So usually they're like 60% cotton, 40% polyester. So they provide the durability that polyester does, and they provide the wrinkle resistance, but at least you've got the breathability of the cotton, right? So that your guests don't just sweat all night long. I was just saying in a rental um in DC, it was a gorgeous rental, and they're a big rental company. I keep meaning to write them, but the sheets had polyester, you know, they were they were microfiber sheets. And literally, my whole family, my parents were there too. They were like, we just sweat all night long because they just don't breathe. I'm trying to really, you know, and and then going back to the Motel 8 experience, right? Those motels don't don't provide micro, they have a cotton poly blend, right? So I don't know why you know we we do microfiber in this industry, but wow trying to get people to at least consider um a blend.

SPEAKER_04 23:15

That is that is great advice. That is great advice. I'm gonna save this, of course. Well, save every episode, but I'm gonna send I'm gonna send this clips from this episode to my potential clients. This is gonna be easy for me, you know. You're gonna help me land clients. Thank you so much, Ashley, for that. Yeah. So so okay, what about like comforters? What do you do with the comforters or do you do quilts? So what do you what's the your situation?

SPEAKER_02 23:39

We do we do both. Um, you know, we do do comforters and you have the duvet covers. We like the duvet covers because you can throw those in the wash, you don't have to wash the comforters every single time. And then we've got great quilts that are um machine washable, quick dry. So it really depends. I think the comforters do not quite nice in like colder locations where you just need that extra warmth, um, versus a lot of our um, you know, southern locations, beach beach locations use the uh quilts. Um, but it you know, with the quilts, I think everyone, you know, one thing I see a lot is a lot of colored quilts. And I think everyone should move to white betting. I think it's just it's a much cleaner look. Um, it speaks to the cleanliness when the guests are staying there. Um, I think they get a little worried when they see like colored anything, colored towels, you know, just in terms of the cleanliness. So um, you know, I think there is an importance to moving to all white. And you can bleach everything, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:33

Bleach the hell out of it. Uh funny you should say about the the the colors. Um, so at this place we went to, and uh uh the last trip we did was Puerto Vallarta, you know. And I will say it's beautiful, but don't go in the summer, it's like a million degrees and humid, it's it's pretty brutal. Um, but in the in the when it's the high season, it's I mean it's good, I guess October through April, whatever. Um, anyways, about enough about that. There was uh they had a black toilet, a black toilet, and that's wow, yeah. That's just the weirdest thing ever. And I'm like, I don't know how I feel about that because you can't, you know, you know, just like you said with the white sheets, or with the put black sheets on a bed, you're like, wait a minute, you know. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, so right. You do want to re um, yeah, hotels. I mean, they do that, they do white sheets. I mean, white, white everything, right? Yeah, I thought there was a movement going to away from that, you know. Um, we've had guests on the show that say no, don't you know, do colors and don't do white anymore. But I guess you know, you're the expert.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

In Haven's coming back with the all-white recommendation. It just it really, you know, they've done a ton of guest surveys on color versus white and consistently guessed it look for they just associate white bedding, white towels

White bedding wins guest surveys every time

SPEAKER_02 25:50

with cleanliness, and color can wear people out at times. So um, you know, I think it's most important to listen to the guests and what they want and uh white white wins every time.

SPEAKER_04 26:01

Or maybe like a light, light, light beige.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Yeah, any light colors, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, it doesn't need to be, you know, white, white. Um, but yeah, tan light tan or beige.

SPEAKER_04 26:14

What what are some things? Okay, let's get to towels before I get there. Uh what kind what kind of towels are are good to have at your at your units?

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Yeah, so again, it's white. Um, we do um a lot of towels in bulk uh that have some polyester blend to it, just for the durability perspective, but most of them are cotton, um, mostly cotton, some are like 90% cotton, 10% poly. But um, you know, again, I think it's sticking to all white. It's finding the hospitality grade ones that have special stitching, double stitching that just make it fray, you know, they just won't fray like uh those towels that you find, you know, in Target or Walmart. Um, so I think it's just sticking to the hospital hospitality grade where the construction can withstand the wear and tear of the commercial laundry machines.

SPEAKER_04 27:00

Hmm. That makes sense. That makes sense. Um, I I we we helped set up a a place for this is a long time ago, um, for a friend and in in Houston. And we have a friend in Houston that helped actually set it up and stock it and all that. And she and my friend Marty, shout out to Marty. Well, she she bought high quality towels, right? Uh the thing is, I guess straight from the rack, set up the Airbnb, set up, you know, and um, I guess the first wash, they got all you know, as uh stuff started coming off of them or something. Are you supposed to wash them before you set them up for an Airbnb or you can put brand new ones up?

SPEAKER_02 27:41

So only if they've said that they've been pre-washed should you put them out, but I definitely would wash them because they're I know where they're coming from, these factories, and they just need they need a wash. Um, you know, they still they've been handled, you know, and and folded by sometimes humans and they've been in, you know, a plastic bag. So definitely I would recommend wash stuff that shouldn't be coming off. That's that's scary. Um, and I guess the only thing I would say though to my white rule is a black makeup towel is key with your towels. If you make the investment in white towels, black makeup towels will help protect them. Um, and the black makeup towels that we sell are uh bleach resistant. So you don't have to worry about you know bleaching them, they'll they won't fade, the color won't fade. So um, yeah, we really think that to improve the durability, definitely add a black makeup towel to your mix.

SPEAKER_04 28:33

Is is it um damn near impossible to get makeup out of a white towel?

SPEAKER_02 28:39

No, I mean you can use bleach, it just depends on what kind of, and sometimes it's the um and I'm sorry, I'm not like a facialist, but whatever's in their face cream or whatnot, you know, the chemicals will sometimes um you know can can ruin can ruin white towels and towels in general.

Where to save money: decor and kitchen gadgets

SPEAKER_04 28:59

I know the word, I know the word because uh for my because because my wife's an aesthetician. So I know I I know a big word.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Oh, we should get your wife on here to talk about what she recommends. She would be the expert.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

She would be, yeah, she would steal the show for sure. Yes, yeah. So so cool. Um, what are some items like in and that really people spend a lot of money on it really don't make a flip of difference in a in a short-term rental?

SPEAKER_02 29:24

Um, I think decor. Like I think that you can really, I think, I think with like artwork and whatnot, you can have great artwork that you don't have to spend a lot of money on. You know, some of our vendors, our manufacturers will offer artwork where just some of the like it will look like it's a painting, but just some of it's painted that helps save cost. Um, I think like mirrors and all that kind of stuff, you can find great mirrors for very affordable prices. So I think a lot of the decor you can you can really um not spend there. And then I think in the kitchenware, you know, there's areas where you might want to spend more, like the pots and pans, so they withstand that wear and tear and you know, they you limit all the scratches and whatnot. But then there's things like you know, whisks and different kitchen items where you can find really affordable um products that you know just don't break the bank. So I definitely there's areas and and we we spell that out in our checklists. Um, but definitely decor I would not spend a ton of money on. And I think furniture too. I mean, you can find great coffee tables, great sofas, and they don't have to be thousands and thousands of dollars. What have you found to be the best areas?

SPEAKER_04 30:35

To be the the most useless thing to put in, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

The best areas where you can cut costs.

SPEAKER_04 30:41

Um, you know, to like you you mentioned decor, and yeah, you could put some cool artwork for pretty cheap. I will say this that if you put it like a really nice piece, it could really tie the room together, you know. For sure, yeah. And and there's and I'll and there's this like the place we stayed in Puerto, it was a big is a big, you know, two-bedroom, really nice place on the beach. Um but there was I and I remember scrolling through the the listing and I was just mesmerized by this one painting of a lady just like a like um uh like a native late looking lady with this flowing uh dress thing and had this just basic colors behind her, but I was like, I was just like, wow, it looks so cool. And when I got there, I was just like appreciating the art so much, you know. Yeah, and so what's what's crazy because yeah, you can go really, really cheap with it and be okay, but then again, you don't want uh every one of your Airbnbs to look like a a Wayfair ad, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Um definitely there's some really great, like we have vendors like Wendover Art and Left Bank, where you can find amazing pieces, right? They but they do not break the bank. You know, they're just they're they're stunning, uh, they're showstoppers, but you know, it's not you know thousands and thousands of dollars to get that to get that look. So I don't suggest like going to IKEA and getting all your artwork. There's just there's some great vendors out there where you can find really affordable art that will that will make a difference and you know, really pulling the place together.

SPEAKER_04 32:17

Yeah, because I I was I you know I'm I'm a bit of an artist. I used to do like art shows and stuff like that. So I really appreciated you know good art. And um I I so I would go to places like um um what's it called, Hobby Lobby or stuff like that to get my supplies, and I'd go over to where they have the the furniture art, I called it furniture art, and they'd have the the Roman column thing, you know, everybody had that in their freaking house at one point, and and and just like stuff that mass produced, um it really didn't say nothing, you know. Um now now, like you said, you can get a nice piece of art and and you don't have to put it in every single room, but just like one show piece, right? Yeah, and then you can go and do what you do in the other rooms, yep.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

And it sounds like at your rental, that piece was a very low local piece, right? And so supporting the local, you know, market with buying from a local artist, I think is an incredible, you know. I we talk a lot about uh creating more sustainable rentals, and that goes beyond just buying sustainable products, it's you know, create you know, buying from the locals and and creating more sustainable community around you. So um artwork is a great, a great way to do that.

SPEAKER_04 33:30

And and I did that, you know, and uh at the beginning of what it's so funny. I mean, it's with anything because when I started doing Airbnbs, you know, started with the house I lived in. We moved out and moved and bought another house. So we oh, let's turn it into an Airbnb, see what happens. And I started working with um a local artist, and he started hanging his uh pieces up at my house. Very cool. And this is the beginning, this is the beginning days of of uh Airbnb, and not super beginning, but you know, it's it's six or seven years ago, and and um, and he he actually sold a few pieces there at my house, so he was happy.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Very cool.

SPEAKER_04 34:05

I was happy because I got like real artist artwork on the wall, right? You know, not not not um a mass-produced thing, uh real pieces of art, and then and and then the guests loved it also, and right um, and so um, so I I need to go back to that. I just I just you know, once the business started growing, you don't have time to do things like that, but right those little touches, yeah, they they go a long way.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

Totally.

SPEAKER_04 34:28

That's awesome. And and so what uh and you said you mentioned furniture, you sell you do they do sell furniture on your site? Yep, and so no futons, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:37

You know, you can do futons. Um, it's a great way to yeah, add another quote unquote bed. Um, no, I mean we you know, we have pull-out couches, you know, that turn into sofa beds, um, coffee tables. We've got a lot of outdoor, a lot of great outdoor. Um, you know, we we do it all, but I think, you know, we're very focused on sort of creating a more standard experience around, you know, the things, the high touch, the high touch things like the bed, the bath, and the kitchen. So you can you can outfit your entire rental on in Haven. Um, but we also want to keep you know the rentals feeling unique and not standard in that respect.

SPEAKER_04 35:14

Yeah, the um ISA, you know, like I said early on, uh that was what we put the the mid-century modern futon was always in there, right? Yeah, yeah. And and they don't last very long, the wayfair ones, unfortunately, because you know, people don't know how to put them and they're gonna things start falling off of them. Um, so I I really enjoy a nice sofa when I'm like, oh, just because you're gonna spend a lot of time on the sofa, right? Yeah, on vacation, whatever. So a nice you know, pay a little bit more money for a decent sofa, don't I agree? One ninety-nine dollar special at Wayfair, don't do that.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

Yeah, it's the worst when you sit on those like hard sofas and the depth isn't right and the arms just hurt like sitting there, you know. Yeah, and that's I I definitely agree.

SPEAKER_04 35:59

The comfort and like you said, it's important to stay at your own places because once I started going and touring these and I started like you know, doing some being there for a day, doing minor maintenance or whatever I was doing, I'd I'd sit down on the futon and be like, oh my god, I'm putting my guests on this thing. Oh my, you know, I felt bad about it. I felt bad about it.

Why you must stay in your own rentals

SPEAKER_02 36:18

But yeah, going back to that rental I just was in two weekends ago in DC, there was in all the bedrooms, there was like no dresser, right? They had the closets, but like there was nowhere to like set things down, even in the bathroom. So like everything was just on the floor if it wasn't hung up in the closet. So it was just, you know, and I think if that owner or that manager would have stayed there, they would have recognized that they needed more just places to put things um for guests to set them down. So I think it's really important to stay in in your listings.

SPEAKER_04 36:47

Dresser is super important. Um, I I do use them, you know, especially you're traveling with four kids, you got to put all their stuff somewhere, right?

SPEAKER_02 36:53

Right. Yeah, just to like put the diapers somewhere, or like, you know, I guess those can go on the floor, but there's other things I just wanted to be able to put on a table.

SPEAKER_04 37:02

Right, right, right. And like you like the what are they called luggage rack thing?

SPEAKER_02 37:06

The like the luggage racks, yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_04 37:08

Okay. Um, one thing I want to mention, and and and um I don't know if you have these on your site, but here here's the thing, I'll go into the history of this, right? So, so uh back in the day, um, people you put China cabinets, really fancy China cabinets in their houses, right? And they put the dishes that you're never supposed to use in there or whatever they put in there, right? And um, anyways, uh, long story short, when I got my first house and my mom was downsizing to something like an apartment or whatever, she's like, she had two of these things, and she's like, Well, I don't want to throw them away, they're really worth a lot of money. And I'm like, what am I gonna do with the China cabinet? You know, I don't I don't our generation never really, you know, did the China cabinet thing. And so of course I made it to a liquor cabinet for me, you know, whatever. And and um, but when I went and I and I, you know, after I moved out of that house, I really I kind of got rid of them, and then it's like, man, you know, our generation don't use that. But when I went to to bring a Porto Vallarta up again, they had a nice, it didn't look like the the grandma's China Cabinet, it's just a nice cabinet, you know, glass, right, you know, doors, and they had all the plates, the that they and all the cups and all the coffee cups and the wine had it all right there. And I was like, holy crap, we can't really use these at a short-term rental because instead of putting it in the shed in the cabinets where the cleaners aren't gonna really, you know, look too often or or clean often enough or find things, it might be some missing plates, it might be you have it all right there in one spot. I was like, man, this would be perfect for short-term rentals.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

It's great extra storage, especially for people you know that have space contraints. I totally agree.

SPEAKER_04 38:43

I'm bringing the China cabinet back to our generation.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

I think you should. There's a there's a company that we've been working with that has, I mean, I guess they they find really cool local antiques, and then they mix that with you know a mixture of of you know stuff they find on Inhaven or other sites. So um, but it just it really brings um some uniqueness and they have like a story, each rental has a story to tell. So yeah, I think it's a great I don't, I mean, China

The China cabinet comeback for short-term rental storage

SPEAKER_02 39:11

cabinets are you know can can seem old and dodgy, but yeah, if you find the right one, I think it's it's just a cool piece to have in your rental and it adds for extra storage.

SPEAKER_04 39:18

That's a cool piece, adds extra storage, and and you keep everything in one spot where it's easy to inventory, you know. Send me a snapshot of that, it's done. So I have to go open all the cabinets, look for different things and this and that. It's it's beautiful. Yeah, bringing it back. Um I love it. They mentioned traveling with four kids. Now, when I started when when people started saying, Oh, we're gonna turn these beach houses into into Airbnbs, um so families, you know, travel to the beach, travel wherever, and they have little kids. And what I noticed, the the people with that weren't weren't very good at designing a place didn't even think about the kids. They had little knick-knacks all over the place that my little you know, two-year-old, three-year-old would love to go grab and go break or whatever. Like, why are you putting, you know, why are you putting these things, you know? And so I'd have to gather up all that crap and put it above the fridge or something where they couldn't get to it.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

But they think they'd go, Oh, this is pretty decor.

SPEAKER_04 40:13

But no, no, no, no. What do you what do you how do you talk towards that?

SPEAKER_02 40:16

Yeah, I mean, I think showing up at a place that has a high chair, that has a pack and play or crib or some some way we can put the, you know, where we don't have to carry all that stuff with us, um, even you know, that has some toys like Legos or something larger that they can play with, um, is a huge win. And I really love um my two-year-old now is fine on stairs, but when she was younger, showing up at places that had the gates in front of the stairs, you know, just we would have to typically stack like a bunch of chairs in front of you know the stairwell to keep her from going down there. But you know, it just creates for a uh you know, a stress-free vacation. And I think it's really thoughtful and it goes to um really improving that guest experience and getting that five-star review.

SPEAKER_04 40:59

Yeah, you gotta look at it from all angles, right? Especially at the parent angle. So uh I'm glad hosts are finally waking up to that, you know, get rid of those little knickknacks, you put it everywhere. Um, and glass um coffee tables that have the sharp edges. Yeah, don't oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

I know. I we've stayed in some rentals like that, and it's just like you just see the ER. You're like, how long is it gonna take for them to crack their head open on that? Awful, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:31

They used to make these houses out of glass, everything. I remember the coffee, you know, even the dining tables were all glass back in the day, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:37

Right, right. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 41:39

Now I just cringe at that.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

I know. Me too. We were actually just in a rental in uh Toronto as well, a few weeks or maybe a month ago, and it was all glass. And I to your point, I was like, this is awful for kids. And I should have paid more attention to the pictures when we were booking, but we had a very specific spot we had to be at, and yeah, so we just booked very quickly.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

It's awful for kids, but it's it's I mean, even for the hosts, you know, it's it's a liability.

SPEAKER_02 42:07

They could really get liability, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:09

The kid gets hurt at the place. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

Oh my gosh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:12

They gotta get their asses sued. Um so how did how did uh so this is

Building Inhaven: API feeds and entrepreneurial lessons

SPEAKER_04 42:18

your business? You this is you created this business?

SPEAKER_02 42:20

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_04 42:21

Okay, and when when did when did you create it?

SPEAKER_02 42:24

So we launched officially last September. So it's almost been a year. Um, and but it took over a year to build because the back end we have all the um API connections to our suppliers. So we have you know inventory, uh, we're getting inventory feeds in some cases every 20 minutes. We're able to um send orders directly to them to create a really seamless guest or customer experience on the site. So, yes, it took a long time with all the API feeds that we built um into the site. So it's a really sophisticated back end, which you know really leads to a great um guest or customer experience on the front end.

SPEAKER_04 42:58

Okay, so running a business is pretty easy, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:02

Very easy. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's it's absolutely insane.

SPEAKER_04 43:10

It's simple, right? It's simple.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

Um yeah, the to-do list is not long.

SPEAKER_04 43:15

And this is the first business you ran?

SPEAKER_02 43:18

First business on my own that I've run on my own. Um, you know, when I was, I we haven't really talked about this, but I was with Tiffany and Company for many, many years. And I went out to Asia um to Hong Kong, lived there for five years with them, and ran Asia merchandising. And being in that office, you know, we were a team of 12 and we're running over a $2 billion business. So, you know, it was really entrepreneurial. Um, and the corporate headquarters had given us a lot of leeway to make decisions uh for that business over there. And then um the company store with the Home Depot. I mean, we were when I joined there, it was a 50 person team and basically backed financially by the Home Depot. So it was super entrepreneurial as well. So I've always had this entrepreneurial bug in me. Um, but yeah, so this is the first. One um I've run. And you know, I think we're really here. In Haven is here for small businesses, right? We're creating simple solutions that will help these small business owners save a lot of time, um, which is their most valuable resource. And I think, you know, you and I, both being small business owners, or maybe you're much larger than me, um, you know, you understand how many things you have to deal with on a daily basis. And I when I think about like a property manager, a host, and I think, okay, they're doing revenue management, they're doing um, you know, guest communications, maintenance, all this stuff. The last thing they should be doing is like, you know, the Amazon search for you know, X item and trying to read through all the reviews and stuff. So we're just really developing a lot of solutions for them that just help them save significant time and and money at the end of the day. It's all wholesale.

SPEAKER_04 44:50

That's awesome. And and it's so man, it takes, you know, like you said, um, you're trying to make things easy for them, you know. And and that's and that's what I was trying to do by making this checklist, plus making this list of uh, let's just say the devices you, you know, smart devices you gotta order. Sure. And I'm like, okay, like you mentioned, Amazon. Um I said, so I took it a step further and I and I provided links, you know, with every single product that I was suggesting to them, you know. I'm saying, and so uh I'm like, I want to make this is is uh easy for them uh to digest and and to get started because that's the thing when we do get a client and say, okay, what's next? That's a big question, right? And so so I'm trying to put everything consolidate everything in one spot, kind of like you're doing, you know, like you like you did, and just make it easy for them to go open this, you know. I send them a welcome email and it has all the everything checklists, uh videos, and it has PDFs to download, all you know, making it easy for them as possible because a lot of these people is their first Airbnb, and they don't know what they don't know, and we've we've made all every mistake along the way, but um, just the the act of creating a process and a system is so tedious, right? Because as soon as you start it, you're like, Oh, I have to do this, I have to do this, but it'll save you so much time in the future, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

And now you have to maintain it, right? And so, yeah, you need to move everything over to Inhaven, we'll maintain it all for you, and and um, yeah, get you some hospitality grade stuff that you just don't find on Amazon.

SPEAKER_04 46:27

Sounds like you're gonna be a sponsor on our show.

SPEAKER_02 46:29

Um yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 46:31

I don't know. Host GPO keeps calling. I don't know, I don't know. I just bitter.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

You'll have to try both.

SPEAKER_04 46:38

Yeah, yeah. He came he came on our show a long time ago, the host GPO guy. I forgot his name, but a long many episodes ago. Yeah, yeah. He's Jeff, yeah, Jeff. Some his last name is unique. A do I don't know. Anyways, Jeff, yeah, what's up, Jeff? Um, real quick, I you know, I'll go back to you worked for Tiffany and Co. And and it's so funny, it's so funny, you know. Most I would say most people aren't uh don't have most of the naked eye couldn't tell uh, you know, a stone from another stone or whatever. But that's not what Tiffany's selling, they're selling the box, they're selling the experience, they're selling the name, right? And and that's and that's so cool because you want to, you know, you talked about you talked about brand, you know, forming a brand in your in your bio, right? And so talk to me about uh the power of a strong brand.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

Yeah. So um when I was at Tiffany, I was responsible for the brand presentation in the stores, so creating a more uh a consistent experience. So whether a customer is in Xi'an, China or Sydney, Australia, right? What are they walking into? What's the feel? What's the you know, how's how is the store laid out and all that kind of stuff? So that was my responsibility of kind of standardizing that experience to make sure that no matter where you are as a customer, you're having a great experience. And that's what Tiffany does so well, is they have really, I mean, just made for an incredible guest experience and a very welcoming guest experience, no more no matter where you are. Um, and that has really um, you know, that was very inspirational as I was creating in Haven and sort of saying, look, vacation rentals, it's a great, amazing industry, but we need a more consistent experience. We don't, we want people to say people are really proud about booking these days, right? And knowing what they're walking into and uh similar to hotel, but obviously with the look and feel of vacation rental. So, you know, being able to roll out brand standards for Tiffany and company was, you know, instrumental in me thinking about how do I roll out these checklists and these sort of standards for brands for the vacation rental industry and how do I communicate them. So I'm definitely, you know, not selling jewelry, uh not selling diamonds, but um, you know, I'm taking a lot of that experience um with me to uh create in Haven.

SPEAKER_04 48:52

I love that. I love that. I mean, yeah, as soon as you hear the word Tiffany, you know, you're like, oh, you think of that little box and you think of the stores and everything.

SPEAKER_02 48:59

The stores, and it's all and you know, when the when you talk to the the um sales professionals are in the stores are incredible. And it's just that the experience from the moment you get welcomed into the store and the store and the stories that they tell you. I mean, there's just great storytelling. And I think that there's so much we can take from a great brand like Tiffany and apply them to the great brands of the vacation rental space as well.

SPEAKER_04 49:23

Yeah, because you can buy a diamond ring anywhere, but Tiffany diamond ring. Right.

SPEAKER_02 49:27

It's like how do you as a host, how do you make your guests feel? As a property manager, how do you make your guests feel? And how do you just create a great experience for them? And we and we want to be a part of that.

SPEAKER_04 49:36

So and you don't feel that at Walmart when you're buying a diamond ring there.

SPEAKER_02 49:40

No, no, and you know what? You don't, no, you don't, you know what? And I hope you do get on in Haven and shop because I think you'll feel the experience. You know, we are not, you'll get so much better customer service and experience and and consulting than you would in any sort of online retail space. And you know, that's why our our customers keep coming back day after day to us, is they just really appreciate the service we're providing, um, the level of expertise that we provide. Um, and we just want you know, we're in the hospitality business and we want to provide a great experience to our customers, is they want to provide great experiences to their guests.

SPEAKER_04 50:16

Now, now if I if I call the number, uh Y'all's phone number is a real human answer.

SPEAKER_02 50:21

There's a real human behind it. Yep. Email, anyone, yep, you'll get real humans. Oh yes, and that that order's late or you need to know logistics, you'll get a human behind that. So, you know, we are we are in this with you, um, and we want to deliver.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

So now speaking of late, are are there still like um hiccups in the whole shipping process that where that that was caused by you know COVID and all that?

SPEAKER_02 50:47

You know, it's getting much better. The supply chains really improve significantly. Um, furniture, there's still issues there, but for the most part, everyone's back to pre-COVID days. Uh, we're hoping UPS doesn't strike in a week. That would really suck. Um, so yes, as long as there's a deal there, um, it's actually the CEO's next Home Depot person. Uh, so hoping she's able to strike a deal um with the Teamsters Union. Um, but yeah, that could really mess things up, not you know, across the board. Um, but other than that, you know, things are pretty much back to normal. Um, you know, and we're constantly just in touch with our manufacturers. That's what, you know, these relationships are so important to be in touch with them to know when things are moving out of stock, what our alternative suggestions are, you know, that we're constantly working on that on a daily basis on our site to make sure that, you know, the checklists are all, you know, uh have inventory and are ready to ship.

SPEAKER_04 51:45

Sweet. Could I put a whole um uh let's say a whole yeah, a whole Airbnb together just from your site?

SPEAKER_02 51:51

Yeah. And we've done a lot of um whole homes uh just from our site. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:57

And um go ahead. Airbnb in a box kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 52:01

Airbnb in a box, yeah. You can do it. Um yeah, we've it's been really fun doing uh whole homes with some of our customers.

SPEAKER_04 52:10

And so, oh, so you work with them to design everything.

SPEAKER_02 52:13

Yeah, so we work with them. We'll um, you know, we don't have an in-home in um an in-house design team, but we work with designers to design the properties. Some of them are easy where you don't need necessarily a designer, um, but we do have design partners, uh, interior designers that we work with as well to help lay out the whole home.

SPEAKER_04 52:33

Does that cost extra if I say, hey, I want y'all to help me design this?

SPEAKER_02 52:37

Nope.

SPEAKER_04 52:38

Really?

SPEAKER_02 52:39

Yeah, extra. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 52:40

Holy crap, that's a game changer. I stumbled on a game changer there because I'm gonna use it for real.

SPEAKER_02 52:46

Great. I really hope so. And we've got an awesome design team that

The $11,000 fully furnished 2,500-square-foot rental

SPEAKER_02 52:50

we work with.

SPEAKER_04 52:50

So, so let's just say uh one bedroom, 500 square foot place. Uh, how much would if I went just did everything from your site, you know, help me design it and furnish it fully, all the all the towels, all the sheets, everything. How much you think you could do one of those for?

SPEAKER_02 53:11

I mean, definitely under 10,000.

SPEAKER_03 53:14

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 53:15

Probably, I mean, it you know, we we talk a lot about this with customers. You know, this kitchen is a kitchen, whether it's a 5,000 square foot place or a 500, right? You've got to like outfit the kitchen. But um, yeah, we've been able to do, I think we just did a home that was about 2,500 square feet for about $11,000. What?

SPEAKER_04 53:34

Yeah, I use series.

SPEAKER_02 53:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 53:37

It was furniture, everything.

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Furniture, uh, we don't count electronics in there, like TVs and whatnot, but most of the home was done with us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:47

So thousand dollars for a 2,500 square foot house. Yep. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're gonna you're gonna get a bunch of phone calls now, I guarantee. Because I price, but spent more than that, you know, filling a place with Walmart stuff. So that is cool. That is cool. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna, I'm going straight to the site as soon as we yeah, please do get off this pesky call. Um cool. What are what are some okay, uh real quick before we before we get off this? Um what are some um Ashley design hacks that really that you know, like you know, hacks, I don't know, hacks, tips, whatever. Uh you know, you gave a few already, but like some really cool tips that really make your place stand out and not break the bank.

SPEAKER_02 54:34

Yeah, so definitely um fully stocked kitchen, I think is important and it won't break the bank if you're buying the right stuff. Um, and I think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 54:42

But by fully stocked, by fully stocked, what what all goes into a fully stocked kitchen?

SPEAKER_02 54:47

So, you know, your cookware, your bakeware, your kitchen utensils, dinnerware, wine glasses, drinking glasses, all that kind of stuff. So you can get that whole list on inhaven.com. Um, and we have great products that won't break the bank at all, um, but will make for, you know, you just want to make sure your guests can cook a meal. And that's why I started in Haven is literally I would drop off my stuff and not there would not be a pan to make breakfast the next morning. So um, you know, just making sure that that the kitchen's fully stocked. I think a great sleep experience will go a very far away. Um, you know, having the right pillows, having the right mattress makes for a great experience. Um, and then of course, cleanliness. Like no one wants to see spider webs and um and cockroaches in your place. So um, you know, I do think sleep and eating is is really important.

SPEAKER_04 55:37

Hmm. Very, very good. So the kitchen. Uh yeah, I a lot of us neglect the kitchen. Get that cheap, you know, set at Walmart, you know, just to have that has every all in one box for like 50 bucks. But I think I think yeah, okay, what real quick, what about um, so do you need a blender? Do you need a waffle maker?

SPEAKER_02 55:57

Do you need what not a waffle maker, but definitely a blender, a toaster, a coffee maker. Um, those are really important.

SPEAKER_04 56:04

Like a toaster you put on top or like a toaster oven?

SPEAKER_02 56:08

Um, we sell a lot of the well, we sell both, but just the toaster, you know, two sliced toaster oven um that you put on top is is sufficient. Um tea kettle.

SPEAKER_04 56:19

Electric tea kettle.

SPEAKER_02 56:20

Tea kettle, yes. That is a must. Uh I know.

SPEAKER_03 56:24

Yeah, as you can see.

SPEAKER_02 56:26

Yeah. Something that can really heat up the water very quickly is very important. So electric tea kettle. Um that's one of our best sellers in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_04 56:35

I'd say I'll tell you a funny story. Uh, way going way back to like this way back 15 years or so ago. Uh I was I was going to England and I first saw these. I don't know what it was. They're like, oh hold on, I'll put on some tea and a plastic thing, and they put it on the thing and push the button down, and like a few seconds later, it was boiled water. What the hell is that? You know, we were still, it took us a while. They weren't even at one, they weren't anywhere here. I mean, I guess you had to special order them back then, but then now they're everywhere. Now they're like a thing. I was like, that's right. They were so they're so crazy about tea over there that they had to have something like that, you know. And then finally we got it. But we had the we had the old school one you set on a stove or something, you know, and it's whistle, which I wouldn't recommend those. Um, yeah, I like the electric ones. Um what about a rice maker?

SPEAKER_02 57:24

Is that that's no, but I mean, those are definitely it's not on our like you must have list, but we do um sell a bunch of rice cookers. I think you know, just people are more coming more and more international. One of the things that I think will come back is Chinese tourism and more Asian tourism that sort of left with COVID. Um, and I think that those like things like rice cookers will become, you know, more and more important. I'm married to an Asian male, and um, I think we have rice every day in our house. So um, you know, I think it's it's really important to accommodate for different types of diets.

SPEAKER_04 57:56

Oh, nice, nice, good point.

SPEAKER_02 57:58

And I would say that coffee makers should be automatic shutoff.

Coffee maker fires and the automatic shutoff requirement

SPEAKER_02 58:01

You don't want to deal with any um fires. Um, I was just on the phone with Keurig today, our one of our distributors, and uh um, you know, we talked about we were bringing on their hospitality grade uh coffee machines or brewers. And one of the big differences between what you can buy at Walmart versus you know the hospitality section is the automatic shutoff. And they've um you know had a lot of hotels switch to their hospitality grade machines because they've had fires with guests for getting to turn off the uh coffee machine. So it's really important. I've have you had Justin Ford from Breeze Way on yet to talk all safety.

SPEAKER_04 58:37

Uh, you know, I was I'll say I haven't had him on yet, but um my my partner in the business, Federico, he got Breezeway certified.

SPEAKER_02 58:45

Okay, cool. Okay, great. So he knows yeah, so you guys can talk through safety stuff.

SPEAKER_04 58:49

Yeah, yeah, and then like I thought a bit earlier when we're talking about leaving pack and plays and stuff for kids, and apparently to the breeze away folks, that's very dangerous because oh previous the previous guest could have broken the pack and play. Oh, yeah, just through the crowd. Okay, yeah, it could get hurt, and then it could be there. We uh what you gotta leave them something, you know. But I know have them have them rent them or have them blah blah blah. Like uh crap. Anyway, so you learn something new every day.

SPEAKER_02 59:20

Totally. I didn't think about that.

SPEAKER_04 59:22

Yeah, even high chairs can be dangerous. Everything's dangerous, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:25

Everything can be dangerous. I know everything's a liability at the end of the day, right?

SPEAKER_04 59:30

Yeah, that's for real. Yeah, have some good insurance. Um, yes. Well, this has been a great, great show. Uh, thank you so much for hopping on. And I'm I'm still, you know, that's it's it's magical to me to bring one of these Airbnbs to life and to see one done well and to see it, see it, you know, with the high-end, you know, nice quality stuff. It just makes you feel good, it makes you stay. And and it's it's it sucks, like you mentioned your friend, you know, her 50th, and and having such a bad experience, and it just oh it sticks with you. And I had a kind of a bad experience, you know, on a recent vacation, and I'm like, I didn't come back refreshed, I come back eh icky, you know what I'm saying? And you want a vacation to to refresh you, you know, and feel good, and and then and then come back, and then you can go back to the 40-hour grind for most people, right? Exactly. Or if you're an entrepreneur, you only have to work 100 hours a week. So it's just right.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

What time is it right now for us?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:27

Yeah, it's time to get back to work.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:28

Um exactly at 8:30 at night.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:33

Yeah, I'm gonna hop on there. You're gonna make like a special Livlet Thrive uh link or something.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:38

Why don't we do that? We'll make a special link. And actually, if you want to um use Thrive as a promo code, a checkout, you can save $50 off your first order.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:49

Nice, that's awesome. So I can order a $50 coffee maker and for and I get it for free.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:56

So you'll have to pay shipping, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:59

But yes, $19.99 shipping.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:04

Cool. You hear that, folks? Go to her site, it inhabit inhaven.com.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:09

Yep, and sign up. And then you can use the promo code Thrive at checkout and get $50 off your first purchase. Um, and you can find us at Inhaven Stay on Instagram and Facebook. Inhaven um or handle on LinkedIn is just Inhaven. Um, and you can always reach out to me, Ashley at inhaven.com. Um, if you'd like to discuss what we do and how we can, you know, help you save lots of time and money.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:36

Cool. I have that all in the show notes for them. And um, thank you for hopping on. I'm going straight to the web server. I'm not even I'm not even lying, just for the show, you know. So I do that sometimes. I'm sorry guys, but uh I'm going straight to Inhaven. I'm gonna look what you can. I got a few Airbnbs in the work, so um one everybody loves one-stop shopping, you know. Yep, um you know, we're we're we're humans are pretty lazy. So they like if you want one place, we're happy, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:02

Well, thank you so much, Ashley. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:04

Thanks, Stephen.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:06

And we will talk to you again soon.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:08

All right, take care, have a nice night. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Live Let Thrive. Be sure to tune in next week for all the latest in the world of Airbnb and all that entails. Bye-bye.