Can a Hotel Run Without a General Manager?

In this episode of Check-In with Bryan, Bryan sits down in person with returning guest Cody Adent, President and Chief Financial Officer of Vibrant Management, a forward-thinking hospitality management company specializing in boutique hotels, independent properties, and unique hospitality experiences.

Cody shares how Vibrant Management is expanding into markets like South Lake Tahoe, why their “Virtual GM” model works so well for smaller independent hotels, and how AI, automation, guest messaging, smart locks, revenue tools, and remote operations are reshaping the way boutique properties are managed.

The conversation also dives into hotel tech adoption, why hospitality is such a difficult industry for new software companies to break into, the role of AI in improving—not replacing—hotel operations, and why independent hotels need partners who understand their specific challenges.

Bryan and Cody also talk about BITAC, casino hospitality, guest data, OTA challenges, conference networking, hotel reviews, barn door disasters, family travel, and the realities of building long-term relationships in the hospitality industry.

In This Episode

• What a Virtual GM is and how it works
• Why smaller boutique hotels can benefit from remote operations
• How AI is being used in guest communication and revenue management
• Why hospitality tech companies need to play the long game
• The challenge of switching PMS, booking engines, and software systems
• Why independent hotels are often underserved by major conferences
• How Vibrant Management finds its niche with unique properties
• Cody’s path into hospitality through finance and hotel ownership
• What casino hotels can teach the rest of hospitality about data
• Why great hotel operations still come down to common sense
  
  
  #Hospitality #HotelManagement #BoutiqueHotels #IndependentHotels #HotelOperations #HospitalityIndustry #HotelTech #AIHospitality #RevenueManagement #HotelOwners #HotelDevelopment #VibrantManagement #CheckInWithBryan #BryanFish #HospitalityPodcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Independent hotels are operating in a different world than they were five years ago. And most of them are still using the same playbook. Cody Aiden is trying to change that. He's the president and CFO of vibrant management and built a model around boutique and independent properties, limited AI, automation, remote operations, and what he calls the voice examples. The way of running a smaller hotel at a high level without the overhead most owners is required. We also get into bite effects. The way that room matters for independent operators and the big companies in it when it comes to serving this segment of the industry. This is a conversation about where independent hospitality is actually headed. Not the conference version, the real one. New episode of Check In with Brian? Oh no. This episode of Check In with Brian is brought to you by Reliance Hospitality. Hospitality consulting, project management, and business process outsourcing, built exclusively for the owner's side of the table. PIPS, renovations, budgets, brand compliance, we manage it all so you don't have to. Learn more at Reliance Hospitality.com. I'm your host, Brian Fish, and we have a returning guest today, Cody Aiden from Vibrant Management. I guess I should do it backwards. You're the president and chief financial officer of Vibrant Management. Yes. Not just from Vibrant Management. We're happy to have you back. Oh, I'm happy to be on a room. And you're in Scotts.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, now I'm actually in the room. It's way better. Right. Last time you were through a computer school. Yes. So much better to be in person.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

And I was in my office with like a thousand things around me.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah, I remember a bunch of books, I think.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Those are all cookbooks. Are they really? Yeah. Just because they look good? They look good.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

I like to read a cookbook, but I haven't used half of them.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

You actually like to read cookbooks?

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Yeah, I like to read them like a novel.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Interesting. If they have photos, you might say something about my intelligence. I've never read a cookbook. I've never used a cookbook.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Oh, well. You should try. I'll send you some.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Okay, you send me a gift and I'll read it. That's a great question. Uh you can answer a bytack for what's something most people don't know about you, that you read cookbooks. Your cookbook. I think I'd use that one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Because that one was less embarrassing than I like to watch a good Hallmark movie.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Oh, you do? And my wife likes the Hallmark movies.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

But they all s follow the same formula.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

So everybody goes to a small town, they fall in love, and then there's a little bit of turmoil. There's a little bit of turmoil that's not actual turmoil. Yeah. And then everything turns out well at the end. So well, you kind of uh let into it because you are here, but you're here for a good reason. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Why are you in town? So I'm here uh to be the master of ceremonies for the Bitec Casino event, uh, which is really cool because you know, we don't have any casino hotels. And so I it was actually I got to moderate a panel today, and it was really fascinating to hear them talk about the casino aspect of their business. And there's so much information there and and the data they have and how they strategize, it was actually quite interesting.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

The whole thing is data driven.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Oh, yeah. He was talking about like if they put in, because we're one of the questions was about how they're utilizing AI. And um, Steve Neely was saying that if they put in like their player's card, then they instantly get all the data on like, oh, Brian Fish is at playing the Wheel of Fortune and it's his birthday. Go make sure you tell him happy birthday. So then any employee that walks by knows Brian Fish is sitting here playing Wheel of Fortune, it's his birthday today. Wow. And so they come up back, oh Brian, hope you're having a great birthday, you know. So it's just like those little touch points, and then they also have the data on uh like geofencing the other casinos next to them, so they know if they're going and leaving yours and going to the other casino and kind of like the FBI is what it felt like.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

That's slightly creepy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

A little bit, yeah. I went, I'm assuming well I think it's gotta be after phone, I'd imagine. It's just just like you know, social media is always listening to us and knows what we're up to, and now AI knows even more.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

So it just goes to prove the point that the brands, especially they have a lot of data that they're just not sharing with the on the franchise side.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yeah, it was fascinating. It was the most interested I've probably ever been in a panel because it was all new to me.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Was it as exciting as the last ByeTech that you and I were at that you didn't have a voice? Yes, you did not moderate the panel that ended up being it was more entertaining that one because it was very entertaining.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Yes, they actually, you know, had a difference of opinion and shared it, which most people don't do. So it was really refreshing to have that.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

I was checked out until 30 minutes into that.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Yeah, because then that's when they got into it.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

And then when they got into it, I was like, I was here for it. And then when they were getting ready to wrap up, I was like, why can't we have 30 more minutes? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

That's nice. I always tell if a panel's good or not if I am tempted to look at my phone. That's when I know, okay, I lost my attention. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Well, at least your voice came back.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Yeah, thank goodness.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Yeah, that was really bad.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Uh yeah, when I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

What a silent MC.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Yeah, use sign language.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

We do have to recognize because I was asking him before we started, like, what happened to Rich? Everybody knows Rich Fiola.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

And his quotes.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

He's the legend.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Like, I feel a little off now when I go to the events because I used to know, like, I knew exactly what he was doing. You knew the cadence, you knew the Uber story.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

The camping story.

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Yeah, like, and then he's gone. So now there's MCs.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Yeah, so now we've got, I think this year there's four of us. Kelly Cardenas is is doing six, I'm doing six. Uh, Brent Aherst from uh Curator. Curator, yep. I think he did a couple, and then there's a gal that I don't know that I think she does like the health tech stuff.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yeah, but it's been really fun. And I got a Kelly did the sales and marketing in Florida, and that was awesome. It it's been nice to have it be refreshed and have a new energy and a different perspective. And you know, Kelly does it differently than I do it, and I do it differently than Brandt does it. And so I think for the people like us who have had the luxury of going to multiple buy tax, it's nice to have it mix it up a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Well, I was Kelly was at one in November in Sarasota. It was like the fall went our fall owners.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

So that was probably the first time that they had a new MC then, I bet.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

I think well, Rich was there.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Oh, he was, and then Kelly was there.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Oh, he was like a keynote or something like that. But it was funny out for a lot of us that had been back, like the that we had been several, like we've been several times to have there's always a rigid schedule. Yeah. That was like not part of the normal schedule, so that kind of threw everybody off the first day. But uh that's awesome though. He's got a that guy is like full of energy.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Oh my gosh, he's amazing, and he like knows everyone. Like someone said, like, oh, I'm a Patriots fan, and then the next day he has a Patriots player doing like a video tribute to the guy in at Bitec. And then someone else like loved this musician and he got the musician to do a video for him. Like, I I've never seen anything like it. It was amazing. Great energy. He was awesome. He was a great, great MC.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

I yeah. Well, hopefully, maybe he'll be at the next one. I don't know when my next one will be. I guess it'll be the fall.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Yeah, the next one I go to is in an in in the beginning of July. I think it's purchasing and designed spring or s or summer, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Oh, in Savannah.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Well, that'll be nice. The JW there is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

That's what I've heard. I've never been, so I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

I have never been there either. That's just a talking point I was given. So I was told it's amazing. Well in an old warehouse.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

I've heard that from other people too, so I'm excited to see that.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Yeah, so yeah, let me know how it is. So, what's going on at Vibrant Management these days? I I hear that uh you might be headed to Lake Tahoe.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Yeah, so we just met some really cool owners who are uh under contract on a property in South Lake Tahoe. So it's 14 units right now. Uh they'll be using one of them for themselves to be able to go up on vacation. So it'll be 13 units and they're gonna do the full proven process. So they're gonna run on virtual GM. Uh, we'll be taking care of all of their management. It's really like the perfect property for our system, you know, the right amount of rooms, the right structure. Uh, they're gonna go through and and revamp it and redesign it once they get through their off season, but really exciting for us because their peak season will be all of our other properties off season. So that works really nicely, you know, and uh we're just super excited to be in Lake Tahoe. I mean, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Yeah, that's amazing. So, for those who don't know and didn't listen to the episode with us in the fall, um, what is the virtual GM process process?

SPEAKER_00 8:26

So that was born really luckily in uh 2020 before COVID happened. But we had a property we're managing called the Dwellings in Lavurkin, Utah. Awesome property right along the cliff. And the gal who owned it, she'd never been in hospitality. She's just independently successful in the corporate world, bought this property, built the hotel, and she was gonna hire a general manager, pay him 60 grand a year, have him live in one of the units. It was 17 units. And I was thinking, like, that's you're taking a unit out, it's 60 grand a year. You're also gonna have to have at least another employee because he's not gonna work seven days a week. And I was like, Janet, I think, I think we can do this virtually. And that's kind of how it got coined, like the virtual GM. And so obviously we know so much more than we did then. Um, but then when COVID happened and people were used to not having human interaction and and using Airbnbs and using remote locks. And so we, you know, went through all the different tests with the different like AI tools. Like we use Kipsu, we use Whistle. I think there was one other one that we used. And then now we use Aki, and it's been an awesome partner for us. So we use AI and automation to create a seamless guest experience. We will utilize Lynx locks for the lock software, and it's amazing how um receptive the audience is. Like the dwellings, for example, so they've been open now for six years, and they've got over 305 Star Trip Advisory views, and there's never been anyone on site. No, no staff, no amenities. And so even though, and they're running a great ADR, there were times their ADR was over $300 a night. So they're getting a good rate. And because your two big biggest expenses typically will be your debt service and your payroll. And now we've mitigated that so much that that their profitability was exceptional.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

We've talked about this before, but I just have I want to reiterate it because what I do find interesting, and I'll have you answer the question, is the guests don't find it odd.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

I think when we have transitioned from a property that didn't operate that way and then did. So we have a property in Shelbyville, Illinois. Uh an older gentleman owned it, so he ran it like super old school, like a regular key to get into the room. And so when it's cool. Yeah, it is cool. But when Renee bought it and she listened to the virtual damn podcast, found us, had us come on, put her in the proven process. And so that was a difficult transition for the existing guests. We're like, wait, what? Like that's not how it is, you know. But when we've taken a property like the dwellings or the bungalows or Adobe Desert, where they've opened with our systems, then it that that's never been an issue. Sometimes they'll be like, Oh, really? You're you're not there, you know, because they'll talk to the virtual gems and be like, oh, Megan, do I am I gonna get a meet you? And she's like, oh no, I, you know, we we operate virtually, so no one will be on site, but but she's a real person. She's a real person, yeah. So all of our virtual GMs are stay-at-home moms, which is so cool because it creates an opportunity for these women to be in the workforce where they otherwise wouldn't be able to. Most of them have little babies at home. And so you might be calling the bungalows to make a reservation and Allison's gonna answer the phone and be in the kids' pickup line. Uh, but I think that COVID also allowed us to be more human in the sense of when COVID happened and we're on Zoom calls and we're at home and maybe you're not dressed up as nice, or or your child walks in the room. I feel like we're so much more willing to accept that now, where in the past it would have been like, that's unacceptable, you know. 100%. And so like when they hear a baby, they're like, oh, your baby's with you. Like, oh yeah, I work from home. And I feel like it's endearing, if anything. And it and it makes them realize, you know, that human element of it.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

The only thing I don't like is when you hear the doorbell and a dog barking.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, that's not great.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

That is annoying, but I don't know that that happens when people make a recipe. I mean, I'm sure that it has. It probably has. Yeah. That's my only thing that I don't like when I'm on the phone.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

And the and they're up front and let them know that they're not there, but that they can call them at any time. And then most people prefer to text anyways. And so we use Akia for text message communication, and then we have a room book built out and that, and then the AI is going to answer the black and white questions like what's the Wi-Fi password or all the normal. Yeah, anything that is it doesn't need a human's input. So that way you get a response right away.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Just don't do like the Hilton Garden in it, London Heathrow Terminal 5 when I asked it how to get there because I couldn't figure out how to get there, and it just kept telling me that the hotel was conveniently located in London's Heathrow Terminal 5. No shit, sure luck, that's the name of the hotel.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Yeah, it uh there's definitely times where AI can be a real nuisance and a pain in the butt. So I think our strategy with AI is to have it and enhance the guest experience, not to replace anything.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

The good news, and I don't know if you're hearing this, most of the conferences that I've been to and like things I've listened to this year, we finally moved past, I think, what AI is replacing. People are now realizing that AI is just helping us do our jobs.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yeah, I agree. I think that was probably the sentiment of the conversation over the last couple of days at Bite Casino.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

You're just doing your job better, but the reality is somebody has to put something in it.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Yes, to work.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

No, it's a cool thing. And you for if somebody needs towels or something, you have like a system for this.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Yeah, it's different based on every property, but some properties will have like a supply closet. So if it's, you know, because housekeeping will obviously be there in the morning and ideally we'll have a maintenance manager on call, but let's say it's late at night and they don't have the more towels, then we'll have a coded supply closet that they can go grab for themselves.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

Yeah, I thought of you a few months ago. I have somewhere I may have been in a voco. Maybe maybe it's not voco. We'll give them credit anyways. They had like a locker system, kind of like the Amazon lockers that you pick up packages. So that if you needed something extra, you like did something on the app and then you went to the the little machine and the little box would pop open.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Yeah, just like like a Home Depot order or something.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Right. Yeah, I was crazy. And I thought of you, I was like, that seems like something that would work for Cody.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Yeah, there probably is a cool way to incorporate something like that.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Yeah. I mean, because your tech stack So is has your tech stack been growing over since you started?

SPEAKER_00 14:20

I feel like it's evolved. Um, but now it's you know, WebRes is the PMS that we use, Dueto is a revenue management tool, Aki is our guest communication platform, Flowdesk is is our email um how we reach out to the guests every property we send our past guests an email at least once a month. And so I'd say it it I don't know that if it's grown as much as it's as it's evolved. And really, so many of those partners we've met at Bytech. In fact, the very first ByTech I ever went to is when I met Dueto and sat down with them and they explained what they did. And I was like, oh my gosh, this this is exactly what we need. Right. You know, and that's an example of using AI to now one person can manage the revenue for all these properties where that wouldn't have been possible without a tool like that. Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

And is the AI do you feel like it's accurate most of the time?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

I think Dueto probably oversold their AI capabilities. So I don't we don't really utilize that as much, but it's an awesome program. It's super easy to change rates, it's instantaneous, but I think they have room to improve on actual AI implementing the changes. So we've used Take Up in the past as well for properties that are in Think. And I was really impressed with what Take Up did. Like it genuinely did push the rates because the property was at um the owner had owned the property for 30 years. And so I think she had a predetermined like value point for her property and was like, oh, we can't charge this much, you know? So she would always inhibit her growth. And then once we turned on Take Up and the data told her what the price was, then there would be times her rooms would get up to $700 a night and she would have never allowed that. If it was her reaction, interestingly enough, they stopped using the program. What? Yeah, I couldn't believe it. Why? I think you know, she's she's owned the hotel for so long and she likes to be in control and just felt like she wasn't controlling it. Um I mean the data was like excellent. I mean, looking at the year of your growth and revenue and their ADR increases and and and seeing those taking advantage because uh this property's in Gainesville. So if there's a concert or if the gators are in town, like all of those things that that increase the rates so much, the AI was able to pull that data in and knew, oh, this we need to be at this price right now, you know, and so it was a great program, but they just weren't weren't fans of it.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

That's insane.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

But I feel like, well, it makes sense because I remember when like price optimization was coming around with all the the brands putting it in their systems. Yeah, I mean, the reality is let's face it, it was there was no artificial intelligence, it was just a fancy Excel formula that the system was running, but it was more accurate in terms of like keeping the rate where it should be based on the data than the people setting the rates. Oh, I'm sure, yeah. But it was a control thing for me. Right. Like they didn't like the fact that well, I don't want it to just change the rate. Yeah, I think that's what it came down to was control. Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

But take up was awesome. I was really impressed with it. And then I met at sales and marketing, we met a couple couple other companies. Ideas was one of them. I was really impressed with theirs. Flyer, I was impressed with theirs. It's just once you're in a system, it's so hard to change. Right. Right, because you you've got contracts and you're already on it. And so even though there's other programs out there that I think would also be awesome, we just haven't yet pushed forward to make that effort to try it. You know?

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Okay, that's a good I wasn't expecting to ask you this question, but we talked because you're here for Bitech for the casinos. You and I have been to a lot of Bitech conferences. Yes. We see new vendors all the time, and it's always interesting when on the especially in the technology space, where they come in and they like have this product and it's gonna change the world.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

And then you never hear from them again, like they drop off the face of the earth or for sure. Yeah. But I also think that they don't do they realize that hospitality is a tough space to enter into because it's just hard to change like just like any other large industry, it's hard to just keep changing systems.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Yeah, because even like I've told other PMSs I've met with at Bitech, it was like even if even if you are a little bit better than WebRes, you'd have to be wildly better for us to change it all.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

You know, like you'd have to be 10 times as good for us to go through that process because once you know how something works and you have it built in your systems and all your team is trained on it, the the thought of replacing that when really they're not all that different. Right. I feel like they're all pretty much the same. Maybe one uh PMS's booking engine is better, one reporting is maybe better, but generally speaking, they all do the same thing. They all do the same thing. Yeah, so once some of them look prettier. Yeah, right. Yeah, aesthetically, some are more pleasing. Uh, WebRos has been such a great partner for us. And and the one thing that they didn't really have is their booking engine wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as as it needed to be, and they've since upgraded that. And so now it's awesome. And now you can look at the calendar and see the different rates, and so and they're so willing to work with us since we do use them on such a large basis that if there's an integration that we need or a change that needs to be made, and what I really love is that if you need help, they help you instantly, and it's a person, and so like we have a contact that we can reach out to, and so in some of the larger companies, like that person's not going to exist, and having the support when you need it is so important.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Like Oracle, you'll put a pro you can put a ticket in, right? Somebody might get back to you, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:28

And you're not gonna know who that somebody is, anyways.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

No, and nor does the person that answer you even know how to use this, or they don't know you, you know.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

So they know nothing. It's so different. So it's been they've been a great partner. Wow. But I think also like at this one Bitec, I don't remember the name of the company. But I was chatting with Ted, you met Ted, right? At the Ted Jabara, yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Yep, so Teddy didn't recognize me.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

He didn't.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

So I saw him for the first time in years. This at the last one that we were out. And I kept thinking to myself, I don't know why you're acting as if you have no clue who I am. And then it dawned on me because the last time he saw me, I was like a hundred pounds heavier.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Oh, well, you literally just didn't recognize me. Yeah, it's like, well, that's that's totally fair. So congratulations on losing the hundred pounds. Thank you so much. Um, so Ted and I uh went and got a piece of pizza out like in our free time, and we were talking about the people we met and talking about this one particular company. I said, it's just they're just using AI to give you information, so there's nothing proprietary about it, and you could just do it yourself. And Ted was like, Well, yeah, because they use Claude. We were talking about that before we were recording. He was like, We could 100% just build that dashboard, you know. So so many of these new companies I feel like that are in the space that are all AI focused. Well, AI isn't proprietary, so if you just put in the work, I feel like I don't know what those companies' future is going to look like.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Right. You have to be able to offer something new, yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

And obviously it's, you know, I'm not going to take the time to learn to build that dashboard. So there still is that value add. But for someone who has the team or has the ability to do so, now AI has made it. So even I was talking to another gentleman who owns a bunch of hotels in Sedona, and he wanted this dashboard of reporting. And so his nephew just built it for him using AI, and it was awesome. It was like everything that you would want to see. Is this Neil? Uh yes, it was Neil.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Neil, yes. Uh-huh. He I I spoke to him recently and he was telling me all about this.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yeah, and it was awesome. It was incredible. It was like everything that you want to see, pulling in from all the different properties and one dashboard, and it was it was like that was something that you could sell at Bitech, and he just created it himself. So I feel like if you have the willingness and the ingenuity, you can just create so many of those things yourself. And now it is a company, like they created a company out of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Well, you know, Heather Fields is here in the studio with us today. And this woman can fix anything with the power of YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Yeah, see, if you have a Heather, then you're you have a Heather? You don't need you don't need the company.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Your dishwasher's broken, just call a Heather. That's a good up on YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Heather, my wife's the same way. Like I I get frustrated when things happen. My battery died in my Corvette and it has a rear engine. So the battery is like in the front and it's under all this stuff. And I was like, oh, I'll just rather get a new car than figure out how to change the battery. And so my wife, of course, goes on YouTube, figures it out. So I have a video of me like walking into the garage. She's under the hood changing out the battery for me because she's just got that mindset to figure it out. Yeah. And I was like, I'd rather just tow the car away and give me a new one.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Yeah. No, but it is interesting that all these companies come in and they don't understand, like, because it just that you've named off all these tools that you're using. Yeah. It's like we it could be great, but there's a lot of change management that can use into making it happen. I think we can't just pull the rug out from under no.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

The advice for someone who's got a saw a service that they want to have in hospitality is understand it's a long game.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

You know, like it might not be, it might be a year before they're ready to work with you, but you've got to get out there and have those conversations. I'm friends with uh Logan, he's the CEO of a Towsy AI, and so they're like an Akia type platform. And that was his learning is growing pains for his company, is it just takes so long. Yeah, you know, it's such a process to to even earn the opportunity to show what your what your software can really do. Because they can give us a demo, but we're not truly gonna know if it's gonna work for us until we try it. Right. And to get to that point is very difficult.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Well it's interesting, and I remember so Rico was at a buy tech quite some time ago. Okay. When I met them the first time, and um one of the founders, Omri, had given me like the sales pitch, and I was like, his last appointment. Most of the people in this room don't even know what an API is, what it stands for. They think you're making soup. Like they don't understand it. But they're a good example of understanding the long game because when they tried to get into hotels, their whole thing was they could create a market basket comparison on purchasing. It wasn't a GPO or anything, they could help compare it. Well, they didn't realize that um chefs, executive chefs, and food and beverage directors at hotels are not the easiest people to deal with. No, they're not, and they do not like change. So they were like trying to get into all these hotels and stuff, and they've done very well now, and they've gotten management companies that have signed up and all this, and they are doing well, but um they had that struggle at the beginning too. They and it was about how do we access and how do we talk to the people the right way?

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Because yeah, otherwise it's hard. It's a it's a hard one. Yeah, and so many of the tools that I've met aren't even necessarily new, they're just different. Right. And so then it's like, how different are you? And and really what is that about value proposition?

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Which to your point about like PMS systems, because everybody sees a new PMS system all the time. Yeah, it's like it doesn't do like it just we're checking people in, checking them out, it runs housekeeping reports, yeah. Yeah, like we just need it to do that. Yeah, like yeah, you can put all the bells and whistles on it.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

The other thing I think that I've seen um software companies where they've kind of gone astray is trying to be everything for everybody, you know, versus just doing the one thing they're really good at. But then because AI gives them the ability to be like, oh, well, we can actually do this, this, this, and the other thing. But then it's like you're just watering it down and you're not great at the one thing you're supposed to be great at. So there's softwares that we've worked on in the past where they tried to do too much, then I felt like they stopped being as good at the thing that they were good at originally.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

Which is usually like PMS companies usually do a poor job with booking engines. Yeah, they're usually not that pretty. Right. But it's not their main business. Yeah, correct. So and there's a lot of like companies now that just do that and they're really Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

I met one at the uh did you meet with the olive guys when you when you were in uh at the Scottsdale one?

SPEAKER_02 25:41

I'm trying to think.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

They they create the booking engine, so you plug into an existing PMS, but they guys from LA. Yeah, uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Yes, I did.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Yeah, that one actually does look really good. It does look really good. I was impressed with their product for sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Yeah, that one looks good. I hope it does well for them.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

We don't have anybody that has a use for it right now, but if you find someone, yeah, we don't either.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Maybe we'll give him a and he's been following up, so he's doing a good job. Sent me a couple follow-up emails. Which, with that said, are you doing what's your conference circuit look like this year? Um, so outside of Bitech, then uh the one I'm really excited about is the independent hospitality show. Uh that is gonna be in Miami. I'm on the advisory board for that one. That's Miami, or I'm sorry, September 16th and 17th at the Miami Convention Center. You know, totally my bread and butter, all independent hospitality people. Uh, and I didn't get the chance to go last year, so this actually be my first time to attend, but it's awesome because it's all tailored to exactly who who my audience is.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

Okay. So you you've never been to it before.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

I've never been to it before.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

Okay. It's the one in Miami's smaller than the one in the UK.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Yeah, because this is like they're just starting the US. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Um, so I'll be interested to hear feedback from this one.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

And I don't know how many people are gonna be there. I don't think it'll I don't think the attendance will be like huge. Yeah, but I think it'll probably be like the right people.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

Oh, and I guess if you're listening, you can use code CodyC O D Y 26 and get free entry.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Oh, maybe I'll go to the independent hotel show.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

And you gotta go to Miami, so that's great. I know.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

And it's in well, September's not such a bad time to go to Miami.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

No, I think that'd be nice.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

It'll be cooling off.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

The convention center's right there in South Beach. Yeah, it's awesome. So it'll work out. Um, and you're on the board for that.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

I am, yep.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

Okay. What um is there anything that anything big coming to the show this year that you can share?

SPEAKER_00 27:29

I mean, there's gonna be uh lots of opportunity for great conversation and networking. They've got like the innovation plaza, we'll have different keynotes and panel discussions, and be it's Miami, so there's gonna be lots of fun networking opportunities. So that's what hospitality does so well, you know.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

No, and it's good that the so I've been to the independent sh hotel show, the original one in the UK. Is it in London? Is that where it is? Yeah, I did it a couple years in a row. Incredible. But it's interesting, and I think you'll see the same thing in Miami. It's the independent hotels don't really get the love at their other conferences as much because they only have so much money. Yeah, you only have so much money, and then on top of it, everything's geared towards uh the franchise community understanding that you're working within.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yeah, because if you can get one franchise, you can sign a bunch of contracts at once versus one hotel at a time.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

Which a lot of times with the big conferences, it's like you know, the people just want the FaceTime with the bigger Well, that's what's worked out well for us, is because we're the opposite where we are looking for those one-offs, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Right. And so most people aren't looking for them. So it it creates an advantageous opportunity for us because not a lot of management companies want to like they wouldn't be excited about a 13-room property in South Lake Tahoe.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

You know, but for us, we're over the moon about it.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

But every management company shouldn't be everything to everyone.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

No, yeah, just like the software, just like I was saying about the software companies. We just are super specific on our niche, and that's that's just where we live, and that's where we succeed. And and the bigger management companies are they have their niche and that's where they succeed. And so it's just been awesome to create a space because so many of our hot the our hotel owners they didn't grow up in hospitality, they aren't from hospitality, they were just successful business people that made it an investment, you know? And so we get to then be the hospitality experience for them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

It's interesting. Um Michael Russell down in Hawaii, same story. Like he he was in like finance doing a bunch of stuff, and then like just decided to go, like they bought a hostel. He was doing horrible, but he got it at a deal and they like created it, but he knew nothing about running a hotel, anything in the hospitality space, and now it's become like his his thing.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Well, it's such a fun industry to be in, too, you know.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Yeah, well, and it well, we could use like cliches. I I always thought it was good. Every day is different. You get to meet so many different people, but I think part of it too is there's just craziness that happens all the time.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Well, yeah, and I love that it opens you up to because I love to travel, and so once you get in it, then you learn about different brands and different hotels, and then you get to go to events like bytech, and when you're with a bunch of hospitality people, they're the best kind of people. So it's always so fun. And you know, they talk about like the bytech family, but you I really have made this relationship is from bytech. Yeah, you know, that's how that's how this friendship was was born, and same with Heather. And so it's the only like networking event that I like to use that word, but or conference that I've ever gone to where I actually have meaningful relationships that came from it, versus like, oh, that was fun for a couple days.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Right, you know, and then you'll never see those versions again. Exactly. No, a hundred percent. So before you were doing the virtual GM thing and you were with you had vibrant, like what hotels did you work at?

SPEAKER_00 30:49

So none. Um, yeah. So my my best friend, uh his dad opened the Cliff Rose, which is an iconic property in Zion National Park, just a couple hundred yards from the entrance. He opened that in 1989. And I had just moved back from Houston uh with my marketing company, and I was starting my financial practice, and so I rented uh like a room in an office from my buddy, and uh my wife had gone over. We have a personal budget, and she went over her budget five dollars. And so I was on the phone with her telling her, you know, why we can't do that and how important it is to stay in the budget. And our office was not very nice, so the walls are paper thin and Breck I divorced you. Uh Breck overheard um the conversation and he was like, Man, no one has ever like treated our business the way you treat your personal finances. And so he asked me if I'd be interested in being the CFO for the Cliff Rose. And so I of course said yes, and that's how I got into hospitality. And then they were at a point where they couldn't really grow the property any further uh from like a rate standpoint, and they they we wouldn't get flagged four-star from triple A, because you just never know. Like we couldn't make a $10 million investment and hope that Triple A believed that we were four star, you know? So we knew we needed to join a soft flag, and so we went through the process with Hilton and Marriott and ended up going with Hilton, and then we didn't even know because we were so novice that you have to have a management company. We thought we get to do it ourselves. Oh, and so they were like, No, who's your manager company? We're like, Oh, we are like that doesn't work like that. So we were actually super fortunate to get Vibrant approved to be a Hilton management company, and that's how Vibrant was born, ultimately just for that. Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

It's good you went to Hilton first.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Yeah, no kidding. If you'd gone to the other big company, they would have told you I'm sure absolutely not well, and like the pip from Marriott was like 32 pages, and the pip from Hilton was nine. So it was a it was a no-brainer for us. Did they want you to rebuild it from scratch? Pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

That's so funny. Although I feel like sometimes when the brand does that, it's because they really don't want the hotel.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

That could be true, but and the thing is overwrite it. The Cliff Rose has as won awards uh as a top performing curio in the world, like it's been amazing. And now we help do all the branding for a tapestry that's just down the street. Um, and they won awards too for the for their branding. And so it's been so cool. And to get into hospitality in that way where I get to use utilize the Hilton benefits, it's just opened up a whole new world to travel for me and my family that we would have never experienced otherwise.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

It is the best program. It's the best. I think the Hyatt program is slightly better right here. Oh, really? I do hear this. Oh, interesting. I have never experienced this myself, but God willing.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

Yeah. But the Hilton program's good.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

It's just amazing. So we've been so blessed to go to so many amazing properties and and just get to learn so much more about hospitality from going to those properties that do such an amazing job and taking like the learnings from them and bringing it back to our hotel years.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

Which uh Hilton properties do you typically try to stay in?

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Um, we go to the Billmore every year with the family. So I love the Billmore. I think it's iconic. The water slides, my kids, they just love it. Uh Del Coronado, have you been there?

SPEAKER_02 33:54

I've been there, I haven't stayed there.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

Okay, also an amazing property on the beach.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Restaurant, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Yeah, it is it's just such a such a cool property. The beach is amazing. Uh, we also love um the Hilton and Huntington Beach, the waterfront. Uh, it's right there on the beach. So they've got water slides too for the kids, which is great. And the beach in California is so long. And so if you ever like try and pull a wagon down a beach, it's just the worst experience. The wheels don't turn, it's you're just like dragging dead weight. Well, they have motorized wagons. Oh. So then you just hit the button and it cruises all the way down the beach. So we're gonna go there in a couple weeks for 4th of July. And then um the Waldorf in Park City is is one that we really love. And then I'd say the coolest one that I've been to is the Petrogal and Cabo.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

So let's talk about hotels though. What's the worst online review that you've gotten at Vibrant that you've thought was fair?

SPEAKER_00 34:46

I don't know. We just got a one-star review at one of our properties. They had stayed a bunch of times, they'd say like 12 times, and then this particular hotel has like a barn door, and they broke it off the wall and like put a huge hole in the wall. And so we charged them the like the deposit, you know. Um wait a minute.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Let's back up.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

They broke the they the barn door came off the track. Like they broke it like off the hinges and then put a hole in the wall. Okay, go on. So, and so the owner called and he was like, Oh, yeah, what do you think we should do? If we charge them, I know they're gonna leave us a bad review. And they had already had another book, like a another um rent night booked in the future. I said, honestly, I would charge them for the damage and I would just tell them, like, you know, obviously you didn't have a good experience, like we'll we'll refund you your future stay. And so they ended up not charging him 200, they only charged them 100 and then let them keep their future stay. Because after we told them that we would cancel it, get their money back, like, no, no, we want to come. And then after they came that time, they like they wrote a really nasty review, one star, and like said, Don't come to this place and it's terrible, and like took pictures, and so that was tough because it they did it in in in spite, you know. Oh, so that wasn't really fair. No, it wasn't fair. I'm I don't I'm trying to think. We don't, I mean, most of our properties get I I'd say that one that is fair and isn't a good review is like the dwellings, for example, is on a major road. And so we give earplugs and a sound machine, but they complain about the noise, but it it's it's true and it's fair. And so we we try and put that disclaimer out there. Um, and for some people, it just depends on what kind of sleep you are. Some people doesn't bother them at all, and some people like ruin their night.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

So yeah, I needed to be pitch black and silent.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Yeah, so I'd say that that was a fair bad review because there is road noise. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

I'm still interested about this barn door coming off the hinges and then putting a hole in the wall, like how that happens. Yeah, I don't know how I don't know how they did it. I mean, I've I may have told you this story before. I don't think I've ever told it on the podcast before, but I worked at a hot hotel in Chicago. It was like well, it was the Crown Plaza Chicago, what it's now the Crown Plaza Chicago West Loop. But um the barn doors when they were installed, they forgot to put like a there was a piece missing.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

Several years into it, we didn't realize that this was the problem. But people would leave us nasty reviews because people would call from the telephone mounted on the wall in the bathroom to let us know that they've been locked in the bathroom. They couldn't get out. Or couldn't get out because they would it would have rolled so far it hit like hit a spot. So people And then like you couldn't get the handle anymore because it was too far past. So people would call screaming and yelling at the PBX operator about the fact that they've been locked in the bathroom, and then they would leave reviews. Well, at the time it was just surveys, and I remember like when like TripAdvisor was just starting to come out, yeah, and like somebody wrote a review online about the fact that this had happened to them.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Well, thank goodness you had phones in the bathroom.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

People thought we put the phones in the bathroom specifically because they were gonna get locked in.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Because they were gonna get locked in it. I remember being a kid because when I grew up, like it was a treat to stay at the embassy suites. Like that to me was the coolest hotel there was. You had two rooms, yeah, and you had a phone in the bathroom and they had a TV, and I just thought that was the coolest thing in the world.

SPEAKER_02 38:04

TV in the bathroom? Yes. Oh, I love a TV in the bathroom.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

First hotel I was ever in that had a TV in the bathroom was the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

That's right. Yeah, and they had like in the mirror in some of them.

SPEAKER_02 38:13

Yeah, yeah. But you know, stupid people, the hospitality industry is sometimes we never thought putting TVs in the mirror, great idea, but longevity could be a problem.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Yeah, not a great, not a great investment.

SPEAKER_02 38:26

Because when the TV breaks, the whole thing is just like horrible. But uh never hit those yeah, these barn doors. This is interesting.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 38:37

Yeah, I used to think it was funny. Yeah, it is funny because and the people would be freaked out because they also would have the the room like the door or dead bolted with the privacy latch on. Right. But as I tell people, if you think that we can't get into your room, you you're living on another planet. It doesn't matter what you do, we can open that door. So people would think that they're like permanently.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

That is fair. I mean, that that would be a fair thought to think like, oh, I've got everything locked.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Right. So, you know, then it would be it would just make it worse when it was like, well, we're gonna come get you out. And they're like, Well, but you can't get in. Oh, but we can. Yeah. And we show up with tools and all this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Yes, then it makes them feel even worse.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

Yeah. And it's like, and we would just like put our hand in and grab the door and move it because again, they're in the bathroom, and most of the time they're not wearing any clothes. Oh, so that was the other dynamic.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

So you I'm naked, I'm locked in the bathroom, and my bedroom door is locked. Yeah. What am I gonna do?

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Yeah, but we're gonna open your bedroom door, we're gonna hand the door because it was just close enough that we could pull it enough so that and excuse ourselves. Yeah. And yeah, that was that was crazy. But now there's photographic evidence of you playing Jenga at Bytech. Correct. With a very intense face. So can you tell us what is going through your head when you're playing Jenga, or better yet, what's going through you're actually very competitive when it comes to anything games. Anything really anything really.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Yeah, but uh what's going through my head in Jenga specifically, so at Bitec, they have the game night, which are my favorite things. So you play yard pong, uh, cornhole, Jenga, and then putterball. And the reason you have to be locked in on Jenga is because it's the only game that you can be the sole reason your team lost. Every other game you may not perform well, but you can't really put the loss on you. But Jenga, if you tip the tower over, you're the reason that lost. It was funny last night that like the time had gone for you to move on, but the group was still playing Jenga and it was damn near about ready to go over. And so I'm like, stop the timer, stop the timer, because I know that then that other team is gonna get the 10 bonus points. Yeah, I don't want that to happen. And I was like, George, tell him to stop. He's like, No, it's okay. And I said, Nope, I'm calling it. It's a bytec official, time is up, like the game is over. And the guy ended up getting the block off and setting it, and it didn't fall. But uh, Jenga's the one you got to really lock in for.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

And try and go first because it's obviously easier in the beginning. I usually always try to go first, and then I avoid being seen it just for any more because I don't want to be the reason why it you do the Homer Simpson into the shrubbery, you know.

SPEAKER_02 41:13

Like just I don't want to be the reason that goes over.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

Yep, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

But I always love when there's that confident person that goes up and thinks that they're just gonna like yank the block out of the thing, but you know it's like someone in uh in Florida took one that like was physically impossible.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

I don't know how his mind didn't correlate that if I remove this particular block, it's physically impossible for the Jenka to stay. So the game was over in like three turns. He clearly failed physically because I think what it was, it was the two bottom ones. That's what it was. It was the two bottom ones in the center was missing, and he took the other bottom one.

SPEAKER_02 41:48

Well, we hope he never builds anything on his own. Oh Lord. St. George, Utah summers over or under on the actual temperature, you admit to giving guess?

SPEAKER_00 41:59

I would say that in St. George specifically in the summer, it's probably like between 105 and 110. But Zion's a little bit better because it's the elevation's a little bit different and you're in the canyon, so it's probably five to seven degrees cooler in the canyon. And then once you get in the canyon, then there's the shade. It's like it can you can be really hot, like in Springdale, but then as you get back into the canyon, actually be cold.

SPEAKER_02 42:20

I still need to go up there.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

I know we got to come right there. Do you fly there? Do you drive, take a train? Um, I would probably it's because you can fly directly into St. George, that's not bad from Phoenix, and then just get like a rental car to get up to Zion. But the drive's not that bad either. You know, because by the time you get to Phoenix Harbor early enough to get a new flight, do all of that, get your rental car, you're probably not saving much time.

SPEAKER_02 42:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

You're about eight hours from here to Zion.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

So, what else do you have happening this summer? Where are you going next?

SPEAKER_00 42:51

Um, so we've got uh Huntington Beach for the 4th of July. Then I go out to Savannah, Georgia in the middle of July, and then I fly from there directly to Denver for my son's birthday. So we're taking him to a Rockies game on his birthday, gonna do Water World, and then my kids have never been back to where I'm from, Shine, Wyoming. So then we're going up to Shine, Wyoming for Shine Frontier Days, do the carnival, do the rodeo, do a concert. Um, Alex Warren is who we're gonna see. So I'm super excited to show my kids where I'm from because they they have no idea, you know? And my mom and my sister.

SPEAKER_02 43:22

Wait a minute, you're gonna see Alex Warren? Yeah, like the Alex Warren.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

The Alex Warren, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

The Alex Warren with the Grammy's audio malfunction.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Ordinary.

SPEAKER_02 43:30

I'm very jealous.

SPEAKER_00 43:31

I know, I'm super excited. In Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cheyenne Frontier Days is the largest outdoor rodeo in the world. So it brings I did not know that. Brings all the heavy hitters.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

Uh so I'm super excited to do that. My mom and sisters, my dad, uh, my wife's sister, her husband and daughter, and then um I think that's everyone, my sister's boyfriend. They're all gonna be there. So there's like 13 of us. It's gonna be awesome. And then we go to then I think we go to Sheridan, uh, Wyoming. I've got a friend uh who lives up there and is a member of a country club, and it's a great golf course. So go up and play golf with him up there and celebrate his wife's 40th birthday. And then I think that's I think that might be it.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

Wow. Cody, thank you for making the trip here from the Phoenician.

SPEAKER_00 44:14

Yes, thanks for having me. This is awesome. It's a beautiful studio.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

You got to sit here in person. It's nice to see you without the screen into my face.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yeah, way better.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

Way better. You'll be back. Maybe I need to come to I need to come to Utah.

SPEAKER_00 44:25

Yeah, let's do that.

SPEAKER_02 44:25

Like Tyler and I are gonna do some stuff like actually like out in the field the second half of the year. So maybe we'll come to Utah.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Yeah, come see Zion, come ride our e-bikes.

SPEAKER_02 44:34

We will oh yeah, I forgot about your e-bikes. Anybody hit anyone out recently?

SPEAKER_00 44:38

Mm-mm. Fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Fingers crossed. I want to be there when it happens. I don't want it to happen. We'll get that on video. But yeah, well, we gotta get you back. Yes, please. Find out who won game night.

SPEAKER_00 44:48

Yeah, I will report back and then you can update them on your next episode. I'm sure the audience will be dying to know.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

Well, thank you, Cody. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 44:54

Yep, of course, anytime. And we'll see everybody else next week.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

Check in with Brian is a production of RH Media Productions, executive produced by Tyler Alexander. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Reliance Hospitality Global, Limited Co., its affiliates, or subsidiaries. All content is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as professional legal, financial, or investment advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions regarding your business.