We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leila Bedoian a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Leila thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My husband and I have a background in hospitality and always talked about owning a B&B. I personally thought it would be terrible because you would have to be tied to property 24/7. At the time, I was doing marketing for a real estate team, surrounded by transactions every day, and I thought, “Hey, we could totally own a short-term rental”. Next thing you know, I fell in love with what is now our motel and just knew we were going to own it one day. However, we really didn’t want to be tied to the motel 24/7. That’s when we decided to combine the short-term rental & hotel business model to create a completely digital property. After researching the idea, we knew it was doable, and the technology was out there!
We really leaned into the mid-century, art deco meet nostalgic Florida vibes and then brought in the technology to create a modern experience.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in the hospitality industry, got a Business Degree from the University of Memphis with a concentration in Hospitality & Resort Management, and held many positions in hotels, from Front Desk to General Manager at corporate hotels. My husband also grew up in the hospitality industry and went on to work in hotels, most recently being a Director for a company that develops large-scale communities.
With our background, the next logical sense was to branch out and make it on our own with The Local – St. Augustine. We wanted to create an authentic experience in St. Augustine. We want people to really feel submerged in the local community. By using an app to guide the process – they can take charge of their stay in the palm of their hands!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
We have been able to create a great community through social media. What has been really successful for us is creating a consistent aesthetic, being authentic, and being spontaneous. Our social isn’t so tailored that I’m planning things out for the whole month. I’m flexible so I can jump on trends or see something that catches my eye in the motel, city, etc. Also, don’t do every trend. See how it really fits with your business, if it works then great! If it doesn’t, pass on it. Make sure you are always aligned with your brand.
I also know that social is in my wheelhouse, so I keep it close. If it’s not something you are good at then hire someone to do it! Don’t do it poorly. It’s like a window into your business.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
We bought a hotel in 2021 while the world was still going through the pandemic, which felt really insane. We applied for a loan through a local bank, which was the only one even to entertain the idea of loaning us money during a really uncertain time. Then we also got a Small Business Loan, which took about 8 months to close on. Every few weeks, they needed more information. We had to sell our idea. We really needed to convince everyone we could do this! The financing deadline would come up, and we still didn’t have the loan, but we had so much faith in our idea that we kept putting more money down as a guarantee and illustrating that we could do it.. We wanted to hit the ground running, so we signed contracts with vendors and put all our eggs in one basket. Thankfully, it all worked out, and the financing came in during the final hours.
I remember my banker, at one point, was walking around the property and second-guessing himself because the hotel was so run down looking, but he said he believed in us! One year later, we won Best Motel in the US by USA Today!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thelocalinns.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thelocalstaugustine
- Facebook: facebook.com/thelocalstaugustine
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelocalstaugustine
- Twitter: twitter.com/thelocal_sta
- Other: TikTok tiktok.com/thelocalstaugustine