Inns Magazine Issue 1 Vol. 18 Spring Romance 2014 | Page 7

This issue our first one this 2014 is about Romance… my focus this time is loving what you do!

Most innkeepers feel just when you think you’re getting close to knowing most of it, comes some more that you didn’t know. PAII (Professional Association of Innkeepers International) have an annual conference and this year it was in Charleston NC.

It’s a four-day event with tons of seminars to learn the latest and greatest in the B&B industry because we are there to better ourselves.

This year was no exception. There were wonderful vendors (Inns Magazine was a part of that group) and the food was really yummy too! While at the show I attended the second day's main morning event. Two guys called the The Fabulous Beekman Boys were speaking. I had never really heard of them before and when I got there to hear them speak the huge hall was almost full. Their claim to fame is their show. Josh Kilmer-Purcell  and and his partner  Brent Ridge are learning how to become farmers and at the same time are launching their lifestyle brand, Beekman 1802. Brent was a physician who previously worked for  Martha Stewart Omnimedia and lives at the farm full-time, while Josh, a  New York Times  bestselling author, commutes from their apartment in New York City on the weekends.

So I sat there and listened to their business and how they grew it. Their story was amazing, they were honest and built everyone in their community up along with them. So they bought a farm in New York State actually a small village called Sharon Springs but still in the middle of nowhere. They said their show has chronicled their venture into farming and along the way have included other artisans and business people in their area. So the take away knowledge I got from their very entertaining presentation was ‘we are all in business and the people we do business with can be included in your success.’ For instance websites – B&Bs all have them - why not feature a few of your local restaurants and favorite places on your site? It helps boost your viewings as well it adds value to your business relationships.

Their own success was about making everyone around them successful at the same time.

Wow that makes fantastic sense! Here is my interview with the Famous Beekman Boys:

Learning the

Business

editors note