Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kayleigh Hofer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kayleigh, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Our story with the Jackalope Motor Lodge is grounded in our love for creating spaces where people feel cared for, have fun, and find rest. We didn’t set out in life dreaming of owning a motel to do all of that. However, sometimes life weaves together pieces of your story into an adventure that goes beyond your own imagination. And that is exactly what happened with us and the Jackalope Motor Lodge.
We had lived an amazing big city life by the sea for a full decade, and our journey had been preparing us for some kind of change through career shifts, a global pandemic, the addition of a third little boy to our family, and a deep in your gut honest feeling. In the summer of 2020, our new friends had moved to Pinedale, Wyoming and invited us out to visit. After a short trip to see them, we quickly fell in love with the openness and kindness of the people, the beautiful scenery, and the slower pace of life that Wyoming provides. At one point in our visit we were driving by this vacant motel property and we noticed it was for sale. That was the first seed of curiosity planted where we started to connect the dots of our story to the idea that we could maybe just pull off bringing an old motel back to life to create a living.
We returned to our big city life, kept talking with friends and family through all of the ideas and what-ifs, and simply stayed stubbornly committed to figuring out how to purchase and revive this little corner of Pinedale. Well, our stubbornness paid off because here we are in Pinedale building something brand new through the birth of the Jackalope Motor Lodge.
Some tried and true values of ours are that people are what matter most, and connecting through our stories is where the best of life happens.
As we look back on this story, what has impacted us the most is the way in which the community of Pinedale embraces these values as well. People cared enough to take time to see us, to listen, and to hear our story. As we dive into this community, we want to embody this spirit as a family and as a business. We want to be a place where story matters.
As far as stories go, we’re through chapter one of our story. We purchased the Jackalope Motor Lodge on June 1st, 2021, and started renovations the very next day. The first round of renovations in that initial summer of 2021 looked like taking all of the rooms up to a baseline level – new beds, new paint, and a super deep scrubbing. In the winter of 2022 we moved deeper into the renovations by slowly taking each room offline and crafting it into what has now become the JML standard. As we head into 2023 and beyond we are continuing to dream about what this place can and will become. Each month we move closer to our final vision for what this property will become and we are so excited to unveil new amenities and upgrades regularly. We are certain that each time you visit you will find something fresh and new in this space! We would love for you to come and see what we are up to here at the Jack and experience the charm of this little town of Pinedale.
Walk us through how you knew this was a worthwhile endeavor – talk to us about the logic of why you felt this would work?
We had never been business owners prior to this endeavor, but you could say it was in our DNA. Tyler’s grew up on a farm, and Kayleigh is the daughter of business owners. We were raised with a front row view to the hard work and the sacrifice required to start and keep a successful business going. The first year and half of the JML was definitely that – it often felt like we had jumped off a cliff, and we were continually working extremely hard to make sure we could find a safe landing. Through the support of our family, our friends, and one another, that’s exactly what we did. We knew the market was strong for travel and tourism in our area, and we hoped we could offer a unique and special hospitality experience that would wow people. We celebrate three years on June 1st, and I feel confident that we’ve done just that. Our reviews are strong and definitely reflect the love our guests have shown our corner of Pinedale. Moving through the crux of the start up season has afforded us more time as a family together, and more time to invest back into our local community. We are involved with our local hockey association, our county’s search and rescue team, and other youth development programs in the area. We are so grateful to run this business; more than anything because it has allowed our family to call Pinedale home.
How did we come up with the idea for our business?
The seed for the idea of the JML comes from a birthday party. We are now aware of the movement to revive small roadside motels across the nation, but prior to this we had no idea. We returned from our first trip to Pinedale and attended a close friend’s birthday party. We were sharing how we had jokingly thought about buying a hotel, but then our friend interrupted us and said she had always dreamed of doing that just like this little place she had discovered in Colorado. We did a little digging into the property she was describing to see what it was about, and we instantly knew this could be something we’d love to pull off and have a blast while we did it! Then the rest is history from there.
Kayleigh, love having you share your insights with us. What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.
We are the most proud of who we are as business leaders because our core value is that people are what matter most. This starts first and foremost with our staff. We want our team to know that they are cared for by their supervisors – that we see them as more than a means to an end but we see them as people who we get to work with, grow in relationship with, and see living in our community with us. This same heart extends to our guests as well. People so often love that we are set apart from the big chain – that they get to meet us as the owners and know the face behind the local family small business. People that don’t meet us can tell that we are working to be intentional about each detail of the room, both functional and fun. That our space is meant to lean into the joy of the Jackalope, a unique Wyoming folklore that inspires curiosity and creativity; hopefully that sets a tone for their stay both at our motel and beyond throughout Pinedale and Sublette County. Our community is a hidden gem, and getting to share it with the world is a gift.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Funding was definitely one of our biggest challenges. We were still in the swing of the pandemic, and hospitality had tanked. Banks were not thrilled with our idea or our lack of experience. The initial purchase required every penny we had saved, plus some personal loans. Countless banks turned us down, but after pursuing a few personal loans we knew if those said yes that we had to give it a shot. We are more than grateful to those close to us that loaned us those initial funds giving us a shot at our dream. We wouldn’t be here without them. That is my biggest piece of advice to startups – you have to be really stubborn and try over and over and over again. It will never be as easy as you think it’ll be, but anything worth it never is.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
After we purchased the property, we had verbally worked with a bank that said they would loan us funds for the remodel of the building if we could acquire the property. Well what they failed to mention was that they’d only give us the loan if we had co-signers, which we were not willing to do. So we had to redirect and scramble to find another option. While we were looking for more funding, we opened 8 out of our 15 rooms with new beds and linens, but old everything else. And we did everything ourselves, managing, cleaning, responding to guests needs. It was the hardest 5 months of our lives. But we persevered and got cash flowing. By October of 2021, we finally found a bank that approved us for a SBA loan for the remodel. Needless to say it was extremely rewarding to cross that milestone and continue forward with pride knowing we had worked hard to have the privilege of taking our business to the next level.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jackalopemotorlodge.com
- Instagram: jackalopemotorlodge
- Facebook: @jackalopemotorlodge
Image Credits
Hamilton Creative room photos – Blushing Crow Photography – our family phoot