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I got back from a great time in Spain just in time for October, traditionally Asheville's busiest month of the year. I was optimistic (as always), but there was at least some doubt about how it would look. Are the leaf peepers really ready to come back to town?

Short answer is "yes". More on that below.

We've begun implementing some new ideas based on chats and feedback from the Hostelworld conference.

Based on my experience at OneFam Sungate hostel in Madrid, I've started up a Hostel WhatsApp chat to help guests connect with each other beyond just running into each other in the common areas. I've always wanted something like this. But I've been hesitant, waiting on the perfect option or technology to show up. I wanted some fancy solution where you're only connected with people who will be there at the same time as you. I wanted a platform that everyone would easily be on. WhatsApp isn't perfect - it's not near as common domestically. But for the sake of not letting perfect be the enemy of good enough, we launched it. It's still early, and I'm still figuring the right way for us to engage. I've added events in there to try and inspire conversation or meetups. But there have been plenty of nights with no one in the chat where it feels like I'm yelling into the void. And when it's slow, does that actually reinforce the sense of quiet, maybe leading guests to think less of their experience? I don't know. Has anyone had positive experiences with other lodging businesses who did this sort of thing well? I'd love to hear about it.

I also heard several other hostel owners refer to their standing meeting with their Hostelworld rep. Embarrassingly, I didn't know one could have a standing meeting with their HostelWorld rep. Whoops. Now, those were from much larger hostel chains; I don't really need a recurring meeting. But I was able to set up a call, we had a great chat, and she sent over some demographic and booking data for the country and the region, and I've already made a few tweaks on the platform to address some gaps.

All in all, a helpful conference!

We've also begun re-designing our Local Info area. Since we've opened, it's been a hodgepodge of rack cards, stickers and QR codes without much order or flow. I think most customers ignore it. So, I wanted to make it more usable. We've broken it up into categories (food and drink, nature, art, culture, local neighborhood), given just a few recommendations per category, with links for more information. It's in version 2.1, so it's not very pretty. But once I feel good about the info we have up there, we can make v2.2 look better. Again, good, not perfect.

October Stats

We had a great month. In fact, our best month since we've been open! The highest occupancy we've had, the most guests we've had, and the most revenue we've generated, all without the crutch of whole-house rentals. All from selling a bed at a time.

Our weekend occupancy was great for the month (73% full), including our first full sell-out of 2025. And all of this was with increased nightly rates as well. It actually makes me consider raising rates more often. But that likely won't happen until we get back into the warmer months next year.

We hosted a lot of guests, and they were all pretty happy with their choice. In the future, we'll have lots of months like this. October will be better than this. But for now, we'll celebrate this success!

October Marketing Overview

Every time I see something to this effect - it hits. Probably because it's true. I obsess over product, mainly because it's what I'm good at. And, living on-site, it's right in front of me. I get immediate feedback.

But in what was a good month, we had 136 guests stay with us. ~200k visitors came to Asheville in October. I'm under no delusion that the majority of those are our potential customers. But even with only a sliver of that, the potential market is huge. For any new business, creating brand awareness from scratch is a tough haul. A hostel has it even harder. I've talked before about wanting word of mouth to be the principal driver. I've given up on that pipe dream, but even still, I have to continue to make people aware we exist in a crowded market. Leave no stone unturned. Get creative, try new things, be okay with some of them not working.

We're sponsoring the Asheville Turkey Trot 5k this year - first time we've really done something like that. Who knows if it will pay off. I also plan to dig deeper into the influencer marketing world and figure out how we best fit in there.

Want to help me spread the word? Help me raise awareness? Tell one open-minded friend that we exist. If you get em here, we'll be sure they have a great time.

September was the month of milestones. Our 2-year hostel on the 23rd and Hurricane Helene's anniversary just four days later. Which means that, for the foreseeable future, September will always be the month of milestones. An odd combination of highs and lows, of celebration and sadness.

When I think back to our anniversary last year, I was so excited. We had a great weekend full of celebratory events and, despite the hangover, I was so fired up for our first real October - our first real leaf season, and the upcoming growth of Year 2. Then, 4 days later, everything changed. 4 feet of water in the parking lot and backyard. No power. No water. I lost contact with a volunteer staying with us for 5 days, and feared the worst.

I don't write all this just to relive the trauma all over again. There's been plenty of that. But to highlight the mental whiplash of being a small business owner at that time. The drastic shift. One week I was planning for growth; the next, I was processing refunds and figuring out how to fill up our toilets.

It took a little while but the business finally started to show signs of life. The first 3 months of 2025 positively comped YoY. We grew MoM in 5 of the first 6 months of the year. We attracted several whole house rentals that brought in big chunks of revenue when we needed them. Tourists slowly started to come back. July and August actually felt summer-ish? And hopefully, this October will be similar to the one we were all excited about in 2024.

That said, I'll always view Year 2 of the business as a sort of lost year. The year I burned through a lot of reserves. But also the year we learned a lot about resilience. The year we grew (more on that below) in the face of tremendous headwinds. The year where the local small business community really got each other's backs. The year we stayed open as a business when many didn't.

Since I started this venture, I've always wanted everything to move faster. And this past year served as a healthy reminder that it's a long game, and it surely won't be the last speed bump that is completely out of my control. But what I can control is our product. How people feel when they walk in the door and how we enhance their experience before they leave. That's still working. And I'll continue to think creatively on how to introduce new people to the idea of hosteling.

2 very different days for our backyard…

Year 2 Stats

It's not good enough long-term, but it's still nice to see growth in a year with some serious macro-uncertainty (and with plenty of room for more growth). We saw an increase in total income, a slight decrease in total expenses. Both good things. The lower expenses is a bit misleading because our lender graciously delayed 4 debt payments immediately after the storm. Regardless, it's mildly positive. Going forward the biggest lever will be refinancing our debt towards the end of 2026. I'd like to think by this time next year, the business will be much healthier, and I'll have 3 years of real financials to show (as opposed to a pretty business plan) and that, combined with lower national interest rates **fingers crossed**, will lead to much more palatable debt service payments (and cash flow!)

HostelWorld Conference

Just a week ago, I got back from a week-long trip to Spain centered around a HostelWorld Conference in Seville (shoutout to my team who kept the place chugging along while I was gone). While the conference material is helpful, the real value comes from meeting other hostel owners, hearing how their business is doing, and learning little nuggets that I can bring back home and put to work here. I returned with a whole list of potential ideas for events to host, tools to build, experiments to run, etc.

Should be a fun year 3 :-)

The unpredictability of this business can be frustrating at times. I'm a problem solver and a logical thinker. I want to assign a cause and effect to everything. To explain every boom and every dip. But the Universe disagrees! Come on this rollercoaster with me. Take a look at our first 9 days of August below.

No big holiday weekend, just a really good steady run of guests. On pace to be our best month ever. Then, the next 10 days…

Oddly dead. And those numbers include 2 work/trades staying with us (also known as non-revenue generating guests). I blame kids going back to school because…why not?

But then we came back and closed the month really strong. The big peak was Labor Day Weekend but still a really nice last 10 days.

When you're dealing with the sample size I am, the difference between good nights and bad is literally convincing ~6 more people to stay here. It's tiny. A random cancellation because a potential guest got sick decreases occupancy by 5% for their stay. So I can't overanalyze every little peak and dip. But I sure would like to!

Two other big milestones near the end of September - our 2 year anniversary (party details TBD!) and the 1 year mark post-Helene. I will certainly have more thoughts on the last 12 months and everything it entailed in the next newsletter, but I'm happy that the business is still alive and well and we're able to celebrate the first 2 years!

Lastly, I'll heading to my first industry conference, put on by HostelWorld, at the end of the month. They're hosting it in Sevilla, Spain (woah is me!) and it'll be my first time in Spain at all. But it's work travel. It's a write off!

August Stats

Despite the weirdness mentioned above, we had the best pure hostel (i.e. not supplemented by a whole house rental) of the year so far, which is nice! As you can see, getting closer to 2024 numbers too. Last August was the last full pre-storm month, so the last "normal" YoY comp I'll have for a while. As I've been telling folks, it does seem to be picking up. September is a little bit of a shoulder season kind of month, but I continue to expect October to be good in town. Hopefully we get a piece of that!

August Marketing Overview

Increased the budget this month even more, but not quite getting the ROI needed. I'm going to dial it back a bit, as the more expensive bids don't seem to be getting higher quality clicks.

To close, I was at 1 Million Cups last week as part of AVL Entrepreneurship Week. It was a presentation by Cam Cushman, the guy who started the first 1 Million Cups group 13 years ago. I give a lot of credit for helping me find some of my people locally, so it was cool to hear the origin story.

I'm not usually the type to get moved by PowerPoint presentations, but he had a slide with a quote that basically said, "Running a business is one of the hardest things you'll ever do in your life". I actually got chills. I often don't pause enough to recognize that this isn't easy, and it won't happen overnight. But I'm glad I have a great group of supportive friends and family to keep me going. Thanks for reading and following along, amigos!

We had a short whole house rental last month, which gave me a chance to take a 2-day retreat of sorts. I used an AirBnB credit I had from being a Superhost (humble brag) and rented a cozy A-Frame on a farm in Southern Virginia. I (mostly) turned my phone off and took the time to disconnect, decompress, and think at a higher level about the business. To be fair, I only turned my phone back on to ask the host for a corkscrew so I could actually drink the wine I brought…but maybe read a couple of emails, too.

While there, amongst other things, I finished a re-read of The E-Myth Revisited. It's an old-school business book but I like it because it really harps on working on the business and not in the business. That's certainly the goal for me, but it's always nice to be reminded. One of the parts that resonated with me this time around was the prompt: "What will your business look like when it's done? How will it act?" and suggesting that the business should start acting that way long before you're finished. I wrote down a few things:

• Deliver a custom-tailored experience for every guest
• Streamline operations so staff can focus on hospitality
• Run the business without much oversight
• Ensure the guest doesn't feel like any of it is automated

What has me excited for the next few months and what I'm working on is building out these automated systems whose benefits will compound over time. Systems that will allow me and my team to spend less time doing repetitive tasks and more time improving the guest experience. I'm working on replacing Zapier/Hubspot with a custom n8n solution that stores all booking and guest info in my own database. It will reduce costs slightly, but more importantly, it'll let me build exactly what I need and nothing more.

I've also been offering manual upsells of our private rooms to bunk room guests as the calendar allows. While it seems obvious, I'm not a natural salesman (and I'm allergic to aggressive ones). That said, I'm pushing past that. And once I have the upsell process dialed in, I'll automate that too. In the past, in terms of revenue, I've spent more time thinking about how to increase occupancy, but another lever to pull is increasing revenue per guest. Room upgrades, merch sales, and beer sales all fall into that. And it's all important.

Aside from using AI to code custom solutions for the business, I've found a new AI prompt that has been useful - serving as my CFO. I was able to have it analyze 2025H1 P&L and give feedback and recommendations. Part of the prompt was to shoot me straight and not sugarcoat anything. Which led to this fun exchange:

AI CFO: Marketing spend: I see $400 in Jan + $890 in Apr for "Accounting & Tax." Where are your ad dollars hitting? Hidden in "Subscriptions" or "Marketing & Advertising"?

Ryan: For marketing, it has its own account, did you just miss it? Please be sure to scan carefully. I'll attach a screenshot just in case.

AI CFO: Marketing spend: yes, I saw it—and it's tiny. You spent $760 total (2% of net revenue YTD). For a property that lives or dies on digital reach, that's sparrow-feed. Until the storm hangover passes you'll have to buy visibility

I don't even understand the insult 'sparrow-feed', and it still hurt. But the robot was right!

It also encouraged me to stop being lazy with my bookkeeping on a few accounts, which I knew but needed a little nudge. To give the story a happy ending, I took these recommendations, cleaned up the books, and got a nice pat on the head:

Stripe & OTA fees now showing properly

This is a big win for financial clarity—you now have Card Processing Fees ($267) and OTA Commissions ($234) showing explicitly instead of being buried. That alone makes your P&L 3× more usable.

Advertising is back up (and that's a good thing)

• $480 on general ads
• $84 on social media

You've been underspending in marketing for a while, so I like this trend

Tough love. But if you're a small business owner and aren't using AI models to augment your team, you're falling behind. And if you'd like to but aren't sure how, reach out.

July Stats

Occupancy was up from June but revenue and guest count were down, mostly due to timing of some down payments and the whole house rental being a smaller crowd. Either way, summer still feels so much better than spring. I continue to look at 2025 as a bit of a lost year, where we tread water and build a base for a strong 2026. August has started strong, and I'm hoping Labor Day Weekend closes the month well. And I do think this October should be quite busy for us (and Asheville in general).

July Marketing Overview

I bumped up my Google ad budget after getting scolded and it does seem to have helped. I'm getting close to having my conversion tracking be perfect, so it's still a bit manual, but definitely feeling more bookings coming from Google. Tossed a little money to boost a TikTok video that I spent too much time making without much impact. Continuing to try and crack paid social media but haven't figured out the secret yet.

June was good. We were buoyed by a 6-day whole house rental, but I'll take it either way. I even get to use the big P word.

PROFIT?!?!

By the strictest definition, we deposited more money than we spent in June. That's a first. And I will happily celebrate that.

Now, to be completely fair, that is with the friendly owner still taking a $0 salary, so I wouldn't call the current level sustainable, but nonetheless, here's a month without using Recovery Loan funds or writing personal checks to the business. We will call that a win.

July will likely not quite get there based on how it looks currently, but we do have another shorter whole house rental as well as hosting folks from Thrive Remotely Digital Nomads Retreat and AI in Production Conference later in the months (nerds!) so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Some other observations:

The website has been live for a little over a month and we are seeing a little positive growth on the organic search side. In the first 28 days since the switch, we had 267 search clicks and 4,870 impressions, up 13.6% and 19.9% respectively over the previous period.

Interestingly, half my website traffic is coming from locals visiting my Daily Food and Drink Specials list. This is a free resource I put together months back as a good list didn't really exist. It now has pretty good SEO rankings and gets a lot of referral traffic from Reddit. It's currently free, and I view it as a value-add to the community. I've thought about different ways to try and monetize it in the past but don't love any of the ideas and would rather use it to build good will in the community over time.

I've mentioned it in the past, but I partnered with the great local outdoor gear company ENO and wrote this article for them, describing my journey and how I think about the value of great communal spaces. Ideally it will raise awareness of the hostel brand and our customer bases likely have some overlap! Please give it a read if you haven't and check out their site too if you're in the market for the ability to lounge outdoors.

Lastly, if you're young and hip and on the Tik Tok, give us a follow here. Apparently, it's popular amongst the youth. Trying to grow anywhere and everywhere!

The green glow is beautiful. The whole house rental accounted for ~38% of monthly revenue but the number looks the same in the back account! I did remove those days from the occupancy rate number so I could get a feel for how normal hostel operations were in comparison - better than May, still not up to 2024 / pre-storm numbers yet. The thought around town seems to be October should be good, but until then slowly growing back.

June Marketing Overview

I was recently discussing with a friend that I am finding it much easier to run Google Ads than Meta ads. It's how my brain works. It's not hard for me to experiment with different headlines and selling points, experiment with demographics and different audiences, etc. Whereas with Meta, there's this quality bar (in my head) that needs to be cleared visually before putting money behind it, and that is a chore for me. Maybe that's a sign that I should hire that out, but spending money is the worst. So, for June, I just had Google ads running, continuously testing different keywords, budgets, etc. Definitely still a work in progress.

I have a lot more ad ideas I want to try on Meta, now only to find the time to create the content. Thanks for following along!

May wrapped to a close and was better than April as expected, but still a decent bit down from 2024. Depending on the metric, we're down 25%-35% vs. last year which is definitely not what I would've predicted if you had asked me pre-storm. And while this dip in May was definitely influenced by the slow tourist environment in Asheville, it was at least partially hurt due to a fun screw up by yours truly.

Back in March, I wanted to raise prices a bit for Memorial Day and the 4th of July, since both were big weekends for us last year. I bumped up all the rooms by $10 to $20 a night and went on with my day. As April came and went with zero Memorial Day bookings, I started to worry. Damn, I thought, maybe this summer's going to be rough.

Then in early May, while training our newest employee Alex and walking through the Rates page, I finally got close enough on the calendar to see what was happening. I was speechless. Bunks were listed at over $100, private rooms over $200.

Part of me wants to blame the UI (still trying to blame anyone but myself), but the column I thought was asking for the new price was actually asking for the amount of the increase. So, when I tried to raise bunks from $45 to $55, I accidentally added $55 on top, listing them at $100. My private rooms were priced like downtown hotels. No wonder nobody was booking.

I fixed the prices, but who knows how many people saw those numbers, booked somewhere else, or now think we're some crazy overpriced hostel. Memorial Day Weekend turned out okay, with 10 or 11 guests, but nowhere near the sellout we had last year. Frustrating mistake. But you live and learn. At some point I'll have all pricing automated. Until then, I'll just read a little more carefully.

On a brighter note, I finally launched our new website in May. I originally built the old site with WordPress back in 2018, when the hostel was just a business plan and some financial projections. It worked well enough for a while, but parts of it felt clunky, especially on mobile, which now makes up about 70% of our traffic.

With recent AI tools, I was able to rebuild the site from scratch and am actually make edits faster than I could with WordPress. Plus, it gave me a chance to revisit the homepage copy and layout. I've also added a tool Clarity that allows me to see how visitors behave on the site. It has already helped me catch a few bugs and confusing UX flows.

The goal, especially as I ramp up paid marketing (more on that below), is to improve conversion and make sure the site does a better job turning visitors into bookings. Hopefully the time investment pays off.

The MoM stats are a bit misleading due to last April's whole house rental; May was a better month overall. But still not where we need to be. On the positive side, June is looking pretty good so let's hope that continues and we have a lot more green to show next newsletter!

May Marketing Overview

***Cool sound effects*** New Section Alert!

I dabbled in paid marketing last year, but it didn't perform well so I pulled the plug. Since then, I've had some hyper-targeted Google ads running, but with a very limited subset of keywords.

Inspired by a marketing event hosted by AVL Digital Nomads, and realizing organic growth isn’t going to cut it at this rate, I’ve decided to jump back in.

In the spirit of this newsletter's focus on data and transparency, I'll be sharing the metrics I'm seeing, what I'm learning, and whether I can land on something that actually works. I'm definitely still a novice here, so if you have ideas or advice, don't hold back.

I have 1 Google campaign targeted towards hostel-related keywords which has been running for a while. I've just recently started a more generic "places to stay in Asheville" type campaign and trying to get very targeted on demographic and audience (need to be careful here as I start competing with high-end hotels for these search phrases). And I ran 2 different Meta ads, one more generic to draw eyeballs to the hostel, and one short run trying to catch people coming to town for the Half-Marathon this past weekend. Basic metrics are below, and by next month's newsletter, I should have the Conversion tracking in a much better place too so I can include that:

I have a lot more ad ideas I want to try on Meta, now only to find the time to create the content. Thanks for following along!

April was the first month where the macro (slowdown post-storm) outpaced micro (natural growth of the new business). Our local Tourism Development Authority is projecting 12-14 months before we're back to pre-storm demand. I didn't want to believe those numbers, but April (and an early look at May) make it seem more valid than I'd like. We'll see how the month develops, but last year May jumped for us, and so far this May isn't showing the same lift.

I did have one whole-house rental from a college friend of mine in April, which allowed me to take a quick vacation (or, as the IRS calls it, a "business trip") out to DC and check out Caravan Hostel. It's always good to lay eyes on a new hostel and see how other operators do it. Like it or not, I can never travel the same way again, as I'm always looking at these things through a hostel lens. I did get to have a nice chat with the owner and staff and pick up small things they do that I could potentially bring back. These range from tiny touches—like bedside nets for phones instead of shelves — to bigger upgrades like a security system that automatically sends each guest a unique code. This is my dream setup but it's not cheap and thus probably not happening in 2025.

I'm also excited about a new partnership we've formed with Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO), a great local-turned-national outdoor gear brand. It started from a desire to get some hammocks in the backyard in time for summer, and has blossomed into a great partnership. They've not only loaned us some hammocks and a stand for the guests to enjoy, but I'm writing a guest blog for their site about building community and we'll be collaborating on social as well. I've enjoyed meeting their team and am optimistic about their ability to put our brand in front of a lot of new eyeballs (they have a much larger following than me...for now). They're a great company, so if you're in the market for some outdoor gear, check 'em out!

April was also the wrap up of our spring intern, Cam, from Mars Hill University's business school. He split his time with us between The Lazy Tiger and Patchwork, and was a nice addition to the team. For the hostel, he helped put together and distribute a survey to young travelers to gather some data on what they look for when they book lodging. We'll have some content and website updates coming out this summer that will be fueled by this data, so it should be helpful. He was my first intern, and it was a good learning experience for me as I continue to improve as a manager and leader. And we also added our 2nd non-Ryan employee to help with weekend front desk work, Alex. Trying to look like a real business...

Here's to hoping for a strong May!

Numbers are wonky again due to the whole house rentals. It makes the occupancy look good, but I took payments for these back in November, so it's not shown in monthly revenue. I will need to separate these all out to get a cleaner read of progress, but that's down the priority list a bit. Soon, AI agents will pull down this data and clean it up for me.

Still majority of bookings coming directly, either through the website or folks calling. That could mean a few things:

1. Our website/SEO/PPC set up works well, or
2. We're not quite competitive or captivating enough on the OTAs

Probably a little of both. There are only 2 hostels on Hostelworld locally, and I'm pretty comfortable with how we show up there, but AirBnB just has so many options so there's more work to do there to move up the search rankings.

March has felt like a very busy month for me as a human, but occupancy-wise, the growth over February was not that crazy. It's a bit counterintuitive but the slower times end up being busier for me. It's like I know they won't last forever so I cram as much in as possible.

We've made some improvements around the property, starting with the parking lot. For new guests, the parking would be confusing, no matter what I mentioned in the email (that they likely didn't read). The spaces were lined with spray paint, which would inevitably wash off after a few rains. But no longer! A local friend helped me source some used railroad ties, and after adding some reflectors and new lighting, it's a lot clearer!

We also added name boards to all the rooms. It may seem simple, but it will help guests find their room, remember which room they're in, and talk about their room with other guests. It also helps when onboarding new people and I don't have to clunkily explain why I call it room 2 and room 3. Like a lot of things, it probably should've been done a lot sooner, but it's done now!

I built a Murphy bed in the owner's quarters so I can raise it up and actually have some semblance of a living room to hang out in with privacy. While living on site can be fun and certainly helps me be a better operator, it's not always easy to get downtime. I'd either sit at the desk in the lobby, which means I'm working, or awkwardly sit on my bed to watch TV, or squeeze a yoga mat in the walkway between the bed and the wall. No longer! Now the bed folds into the wall, the new loveseat pulls back, and I have a spot to sit comfortably. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to not hear if a guest drops something in the kitchen or doesn't close the damn fridge. And poor dumb Chloe hasn't figured out why the bed keeps disappearing - she constantly thinks we're moving.

March also served as the 6-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene, and Good Morning America came down to do a full show and feature the region's recovery, and they raised a lot of money for some great organizations here. They shot live on site at Highland Brewing and I rolled the dice to get up at 5 and go stand in line to be part of the crowd. I ended up getting pretty lucky with my spot. My front row space happened to be right behind where they were doing their feature interviews, and I got a lot more screen time than anticipated! You know I was rocking the logo. I also brought a Tiger mask to wear, but the second I went to put it on, they politely told me that wasn't going to work. I didn't see any immediate spike in traffic or bookings from it, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. Someone did comment on how it appears I pushed many women and children out of the way for my spot. I WAS THERE FIRST.

I've also been working on some new local partnerships and hope to have more to share there soon - stay tuned!

A couple of these can be somewhat misleading. The total guest drop off is mainly due to no whole house rentals in March. The revenue number looks great but that's helped by deposits for future house rentals. These are non-refundable so I don't mind counting them as revenue now, and they help with cash flow, but that's why revenue growth looks so much crazier than March's occupancy.

I've tweaked/improved our AirBnb listings some, and we have seen a little more traffic from there recently. Still a small sample size, so we'll see if it sticks.

Another month of positive growth, but still firmly in the slow season. We had a little snow yesterday and I'll be very happy if that's our last. I'm ready to get outside!

I continue to try and spend more time focusing on sales and marketing, which shows up in a few different ways. I like taking any opportunity to get new people in the space to show them around, which helps them spread the word. I've started hosting a monthly coworking day with the Asheville Wanderlust Society. AWS is a group for travel lovers, both locals and visitors, that spun up last year to try and replicate the best of the Couch Surfing community. Talk about people that understand the hostel life. I've met some great folks and it's been cool being able to share the space with them.

I've also been thinking more about how to more effectively reach younger audiences. I like to pretend I'm still young, and after a fresh shave, I can damn sure pull it off, but we could definitely do a better job of attracting the youth. I spoke to a class of Entrepreneurship students from Mars Hill University about my story, and it was helpful to see what clicked and what didn't with that audience. In general, the college age kids in the US just don't travel as much (at least internationally) as some other countries, and so the hostel concept is still foreign to many of them. There's probably an education piece as part of any marketing effort that could help with this. Related to that, we're fortunate to be bringing on one of those entrepreneurship students as a Spring intern, and part of what they'll be tasked with is helping outreach to younger audiences. I'm not afraid to hire to try and supplement my weaknesses :)

I've also been using AI to help build some custom software to help the hostel operate more smoothly. First step: build out a daily info dashboard to replace the handwritten one in the lobby. The one we had was fine, but it was still manual work that I didn't want to do every day, or would forget to do, and my handwriting is awful to boot. Now guests can find the daily weather, events, helpful links and Wi-Fi info all in one place, and most importantly, it's legible. Several other fun software projects on the docket - more to come!

I'll also look to hire another part-time employee this month, which will be assisted by my other AI-led project, Patchwork, a platform that helps businesses fill part-time roles. I wrote more about it here, in case you're curious!!

The full green screen is good again. I did have a one-night whole house rental, which buoyed these numbers a bit. It reinforces the need to continue to be creative about different ways to generate revenue.

The beginning of March has been slow, hoping it will pick up again with some nice events in the next few weeks. We'll see!

Book Your Stay

When my part‑time remote role at Gumroad wrapped up at the end of December, I found myself with a bit more free time and a lot less income. I decided to finally try and build something I've thought about for months. Hiring for part-time roles is time consuming and it's hard to find the right fit. I've long noticed that existing job search platforms try to solve every employment issue, resulting in bloated, chaotic systems that just don't work for us. In conversations with several hospitality business owners, the frustration was unanimous—they were tired of sifting through endless listings that rarely delivered the right candidates.

That's what sparked the idea for Patchwork. I set out to build a lean platform dedicated solely to connecting local hospitality businesses with professionals seeking flexible, part‑time opportunities. On Patchwork, employers can post positions that are easy to manage, and jobseekers can find roles that align perfectly with their schedules—making the hiring process both efficient and effective.

I won't claim that Patchwork will revolutionize the industry or that it's destined for massive success. The truth is, I'm not sure what will come of it. But building an entire product from scratch, exploring a new customer base, and tackling a fresh problem has been a fun challenge.

One of the most exciting parts of this process has been rediscovering my passion for coding. With the help of AI‑assisted tools like Cursor, I've been able to get back into coding in a way that's both fun and efficient—something I hadn't experienced in a long time. These tools have allowed me to focus on creative problem‑solving rather than getting bogged down in repetitive tasks. I built patchwork and wrote probably 1% of the code. AI wrote the rest. It's getting good.

Looking ahead, I'll continue to improve Patchwork and if it gains traction, eventually expand it beyond Asheville. The goal is simple: save employers time by simplifying the search for quality, part‑time employees, and help professionals fill their schedules with the right opportunities.

Thanks for following along on this experiment. I'd appreciate any feedback, or if you have any questions about the process, don't hesitate to reach out!

One month into the new year and seeing some great progress. The hostel is still slow, as is town in general, but that's to be expected. Still hard to dissect how much is seasonal vs. storm-related, but as some data is trickling in, I think the forecast is better than some I've seen. For example, Asheville vacation rental occupancy in November (purposely excluding hotels as they had FEMA vouchers) was at 49% vs. 60% in Nov 2023. Asheville being down 20% YoY isn't good, but also not near as bad as some estimates have projected. And by comparison, my November occupancy was quite a bit higher than November 2023. Startup revenue growth can still happen in a tough macro environment, and I hope that trend continues. Still just trying to focus on what I can control.

I closed for 8 days mid-month to take my annual planning retreat. Last year I spent it on the Pacific coast of Mexico, but this year I scaled back all the way to the sunny coast of Florida (thank you in advance for your pity). It was part productive and part fun, as friends and family joined me towards the back half of the week. I could always look back and say I should've spent more time doing x,y, or z, but between the trip and a staff meeting before I left, we have some great ideas for the year and have the wheels in motion on a few.

For example, I've switched our room configuration around a little bit. One of the 8-bed coed dorms is now our female dorm, and the old 4-bed female dorm is now a coed (and slightly more expensive). Our female dorm occupancy was higher than coed and I wanted to open up more slots for ladies that wanted to book that room. Plus, now we can have a slight premium option for those that would prefer to have fewer roommates. This feels like a small but positive change.

We're revisiting our marketing strategy (or lack of one) too. It's not something that comes naturally to me, but several books have suggested to me that marketing is in fact important as a business owner. I'll take their word for it for the moment. We've sent out our first marketing email, targeting all past guests. The idea is to share events in the upcoming month, feature a new business, and in general, remind our past guests of the fun they can have in Asheville. Stats on the first email newsletter: 54% open rate, .7% unsubscribe rate, and 0 new bookings using the newsletter discount code. Got some good feedback generally on the newsletter but I hope that bookings number turns positive. One of the things that annoys me about marketing is not everything is attributable or measurable. I'm accepting it (for now).

As mentioned in that newsletter, we've launched part 1 of our rewards program. It's been an idea since I started, but I finally got around to setting up the technical plumbing to track it. We may change the parameters, rewards, etc., but it's good to have the data flowing automatically.

And lastly, we got our front yard monument sign installed (pic below!) This should help a lot with brand awareness; we've transitioned from a weird green house on the side of the road, to a weird house with a cool mural on the side of the road, to now a cool muraled house with a proper sign that will allow people to Google us as they're sitting in traffic. We have seen an increase in Google search traffic since the sign was installed, and that certainly can't hurt.

In general, I'm excited about the ability to move faster. The end of my other job helps that. AI helps that. Growing the team will help that. Excited to share just as many updates from February too. Thanks for reading!

Getting some more green on the board! Nice too, considering we were closed for 8 nights of the month. The crazy high YoY changes are mostly due to just how slow Jan 2024 was. That month, I had 10 guests and 2 of them were related to me.

Either way, this does show good growth. Back a year ago, people barely knew we existed. A lot of our January 2025 revenue was from local partner referrals and/or repeat guests. That's always a good sign, and something that should always help keep us afloat during Asheville's slow months.

Would love any feedback. Until next time!

Book Your Stay

I've always liked to-do lists. There's just something about crossing something off a list that is beautifully satisfying. I used to add the most trivial things to a daily to do list just to have more to cross off. But I never had any method to my madness, never had any consistency. I tried for a while to carry around a small notebook, but then I'd end up forgetting the notebook at home. Or worse, losing it.

So I've always had the desire to be organized and productive, but never had a reliable or repeatable productivity system, and thus wallowed in the throws of mediocrity. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, appeared as a guest on the Tim Ferriss Show, and his brief description of the system struck a chord with me. So I bought the book and dove in. From early on, the system just made sense to me. One of the core principles of the book suggests that the brain isn't designed to keep a bunch of things in short term memory.

"Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them". - David Allen

It's why I was drawn to to-do lists in the first place. Francisco Saez describes the problem better than I could:

"Our memory, short and long term, has significant limitations, so it is not advisable to rely on it in order to retrieve important information when we need it. Using our brain to store information saturates it, since it requires a high level of neuronal activity to keep this information with no interferences. When using an external memory, we ensure we bring back exactly what we put in there and we reduce the stress associated with the need to be continuously remembering everything."

The last part is key to highlight. A system is only good if you trust it. And knowing that you don't have to rely on your memory to get something done in the future relieved so much personal stress for me. So I tore through the book fairly quickly, and started putting his productivity system to work. Rather than summarize the whole book, I'll point out the key points that stuck with me, and how I translated a book written in 2001 into today's technology-laden world.

First Key Principle: If it will take less than 2 minutes, just do it.

It was embarrassing how many things that would take less than 120 seconds ended up on a list for me. It's usually the things that don't take long but we don't want to do: washing the dishes after dinner, starting the laundry, etc. But it feels good to go ahead and rip the band-aid off; things that can be solved this quickly don't deserve time on your to-do list.

Second Key Principle: Make your To-Do list items specific and actionable.

I was very guilty of putting large-scale projects on to-do lists. And of course, because the task seems monumental, it becomes much easier to delay. For example, instead of "Start Hostel", my Next Action List now has items such as "email Dale's banking contacts", "evaluate fonts for website", and "Finish Asheville travel guides". These items are far more actionable, and thus, far more likely to get done.

Third Key Principle: Check the system regularly.

Blindly dumping tasks into the inbox only works if they don't end up sitting there for days at a time. Every morning, I'll do a scan through my action items and decide what I'll tackle that day. It helps me keep a constant eye on what tasks I have in my world, and make sure things don't fall through the cracks too easily.

HOW I IMPLEMENTED GETTING THINGS DONE:

When a task comes in (it can come in many forms - an idea in your head, an email in your inbox, a missed call), I just dump it into a generic inbox list. That's where I can put items without giving them too much thought. If it's an idea, it goes on my inbox list; if it's an email I want to come back to, I'll star it in Gmail; if it's an interesting article, it gets a Chrome bookmark. Then, as time allows, I will iterate through the inbox and place it appropriately. A task can go to one of three systems for me:

• Calendar: if something has to be done at a certain date and time (meetings and appointments)
• Apple Reminders: Tasks that happen on some sort of recurrence (habits I'm trying to develop, chores, etc)
• Microsoft To-Do: pretty much everything else.

Now I'll describe what tools I use and how those systems look for me.

Calendar

This is pretty self explanatory...the only thing I'll make sure to do is add an appropriate alert to remind me to take action when needed. Unfortunately during a pandemic, this is fairly empty.

Apple Reminders

This has been such a game-changer for me in developing habits. This app was so far off my radar that I deleted it off my iPhone to clear space (which I didn't even need). But for repetitive tasks, I needed something simple and it fit the bill perfectly. I set up reoccurring lists based on the cadence with which the item needs to be addressed (daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly). This is the app I credit with making me someone who flosses (I definitely have mocked those folks in my past life), and makes sure I read, exercise, and meditate every day. On a weekly basis, I track metrics, like SEO stats for my website and Screen Time minutes on my devices. And on a monthly basis, I don't forget to pay my credit card bills.

Microsoft To-Do

This is where the real magic happens. It's where I run the majority of my life. and it's where the design will most vary by the needs and lifestyle of the individual. And Microsoft To-Do is ideal because it's a cloud application and easily accessible on my phone, iPad, or laptop. There's no excuses for me to not log in. In my To-Do Implementation, there are 5 main levels:

• Short Term To-Dos
• Sometimes/Maybe
• Major Projects
• Waiting On
• Other Auxiliary Lists

Short Term To-Dos: These are items that I can act on now. I have it divided into sub-lists based on the type of activity just for clarity, but all these items I can theoretically add to my Task List tomorrow.

Sometimes/Maybe: This list holds all the things I want to do in the future: Shows to watch, bands to investigate, places to visit, pie-in-the-sky projects, and more. This list is generally more fun than the Short-Term list, but for any number of reasons, isn't currently actionable or doesn't need to be acted upon in the near future.

Major Projects: This is where I keep track of the big picture items. If I know in advance that any process will have more than one actionable step, it goes here. There are long-term Projects, like 'Hostel - Financing' or 'Learn Piano', and shorter-term projects like 'Roast Coffee Beans'.

Waiting On: I didn't think I'd get much value out of this section, but it's often a nice reminder for me on who I need to follow up with. If there's nothing you can do on a Project, a task should go here listing what or who you're waiting on someone else to do.

Other Auxiliary Lists: I have a To Buy List, with sublists for groceries, generic, and gifts; I have a Hostel Planning List, as this system isn't designed for a detailed project plan; and a Keep Top of Mind list, where simple refreshers live, like 'Posture' and 'Assertiveness'. Not very actionable but a nice reminder in an app I check daily.

It's not an exaggeration to say this system has changed my life. But I'm nowhere near perfect. There are several items on my list that have been on there too long. There are items on my someday/maybe that should be acted upon or deleted. But I find comfort knowing that they aren't hiding in the depths of my memory, but staring right at me every time I open the app. It holds me more accountable.

What helps keep you accountable? I'd love to hear from you!

I recently completed a three day fast. Many people asked me why (which is a very reasonable question). So, I thought I'd summarize why I did it, what I've learned recently, and how it went down.

WHY I FAST

I've been reading and listening to podcasts about fasting a lot recently. I got really interested in it once I discovered the research about the processes the body kicks off while in a fasted state. From the beginning of our species up until a few hundred years ago, humans fasted regularly, so it makes sense that our bodies adapted to it and can still easily survive it. And I thought, what better time to give your body a kick start than the turn of the new year.

The main benefit I was seeking was starting the process of autophagy, which roughly translates to eating one's self. At a cellular level, there's a separate process apoptosis, or programmed cell death. It's not near as terrifying as it sounds and it quite normal. The sub-cellular comparable process is autophagy. It's the body's way getting rid of old, broken down parts of cells. The mechanisms for triggering autophagy were just recently discovered by Yoshinori Ohsumi, which earned him the Nobel Price in Medicine for his troubles. Fasting does this because when your body realizes its not getting any more calories, it starts getting rid of things it doesn't need and won't have the energy to sustain. But it's not just the wild wild west where things just start shutting down – it's a regulated mechanism to recycle old cell components, destroying old and damaged parts and replacing with new ones. I chose a 3 day water fast because it seemed to be the right balance to gain benefits without losing excess weight.

Autophagy has several benefits that scientists are just starting to examine clinically. It's strongly believed that the failure to clean up these cells is a leading cause of aging. Two of the most devastating (and terrifying) diseases show massive buildups of old damaged proteins – Alzheimer's Disease and cancer. So, there are scientists who are trying to verify that autophagy (via fasting) may have the ability to purge these damaged cells before they grow into full-blown tumors.

Additionally, autophagy can help clean up the immune system in much the same way. It finds damaged white blood cells, recycles them, and upon refeeding, generates shiny new white blood cells. So, if there's something I can do that clean up any pre-cancerous cells and regenerate a new immune system, I figured it was worth a try.

While I wasn't interested in the weight loss aspect of fasting (in fact I was concerned about it), it is a really great way to quickly get into ketosis and really start burning fat. And aside from weight loss, ketosis (and the ketogenic diet) has a host of other benefits.

HOW I FAST

I put together a plan, bought my extremely boring supplies, and had my last meal. It went like this: Eat Thursday dinner, and not consume any more calories (technically I had ~60 every day, will explain) until Sunday dinner. To help with the mental aspect of fasting, I still had "meals" every day, which consisted of:

• Breakfast – black coffee with 2 TSPs of coconut oil (where the 60 calories come from). The caffeine and pure fat of the coconut oil help start off the day with an energy boost. If you can deal with a film similar to gasoline floating atop your morning joe, give it a shot. Fasting purists argue it's not fasting if you consume calories, but since it's zero carb, zero protein (the two things that may inhibit autophagy), I was fine with it. If you were fasting for the weight loss benefits, you might try skipping that, as it does contribute calories that would otherwise be generated from stored fat.
• Lunch – la Croix with 1 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar. The carbonation seems to help suppress appetite a bit, and the ACV helps regulate blood sugar and gives you a little flavor outside of water. Lastly, if you add the ACV like Emeril Lagasse adds spices, it's almost like you're cooking. BAM!
• Dinner – 8 oz of warm salt water. This is surprisingly delicious when you haven't had any sort of food all day, and sodium is the most important mineral to replace when you aren't eating. Like chicken broth. Without the chicken.

And then I'd drink water as needed throughout the day. I tried not to overdrink as I didn't want to unnecessarily flush sodium from the body.

How to Track Fasting - The Zero App

This simple (and free) app has been really helpful in my fasting journey. Aside from a timer that will keep track of when fasts began and how long you have til you reach your goal, they constantly post new research and information about fasting, so you can always stay up-to-date. So download the app and give it a try!

HOW FASTING FELT

I went in hearing stories all over the board from other random internet people (my main source for all important medical information). So, I decided to just do it and see how it felt.

The hunger actually wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, I was hungry, but the feeling of hunger plateaued around dinner time of day 1, and never really got worse. And after you're in a constant state of hunger for a while, you kind of grow used to it.

Energy level was ok. It is suggested that on the first morning, you go out for a long, but casual walk to burn through the rest of your glycogen stores and get your body into fat burning mode (and off carb dependence). It was raining so I just went and walked around Wal-Mart for a while. Great way to distract yourself too. On the last day I started to feel a little tired, but that may have just been me sad and missing my food. Many people say by day 3, they actually have extra energy and brain clarity (likely from being in ketosis) but I didn't experience that at all.

By far the hardest challenge of all was psychological. You really don't realize just how much our lives revolve around eating and drinking. Roommates cooking dinner – I'm heading to my room. Football's on TV, I want a beer. Hell, I thought Uber driving would be a great way to distract myself, and then I pick people up from the local Italian joint, along with their leftovers, and they proceed to tell me how good their manicotti was. Thanks, Gretchen.

On the positive side, I was quite productive. Think of all the time you spend either eating, shopping for food, preparing food, and eliminating food (sorry it's true). And sitting around watching a ton of TV (where you could possibly see a Taco Bell commercial) wasn't helpful either. Alternatively, you knock plenty of stuff off the to-do list.

And finally there is quite a sense of accomplishment once it's over. It's nice to know that if I ever needed to go without food, I could without issue. And it goes along with what I try to do regularly, which is intentionally practicing discomfort - so helpful to be prepared when you stumble into the unexpected discomfort instead.

HOW TO REFEED

For a fast of three days, strict refeeding protocol isn't as important as it is for longer fasts. But I still like to take care with my first meal. I generally will eat a carb-free meal (such as baked fish and sauteed spinach), to continue the benefits of ketosis for one more day. I will also refrain from alcohol for at least one more day, so I don't give my body anything else to worry about.

More Info

If you're hungry for more information, this is a very strong presentation by Dr. Jason Fung, a leading expert on fasting and health.

I started driving for Uber and Lyft four months ago and have given just over 400 rides. Now that's not nearly as many as some of the drivers who have been going full-time for years, but it's enough to have a good understanding of the system and what needs to take place for the system to run as smoothly as possible. I've gotten better as a driver and have observed the traits of a passenger that both make my life easier and allow me to get them to their destination as quickly and safely as possible. So, I decided it might be valuable to share some of that wisdom with you, future passenger, in case one of these tips hadn't crossed your mind before. If your first thought after reading that is "Just shut up and drive me to my destination, clown", feel free to just click exit. And know that I'm hitting the speed bumps hard if you're in the back. Otherwise, check 'em out, and let me know what you think!

BEFORE YOUR RIDE:

• Be ready to go. Drivers don't get paid well at all for idle time (more on that later), so waiting for you to come downstairs and get in the car can be a real pain point. Both Uber and Lyft give time estimates on how far away your driver is. If you know you won't be ready, just cancel. Or if something comes up that causes a delay, at least message the driver and tell them you're on your way. The not knowing is the worst part.
• Let Drivers know of any special pick up instructions. The more information you can give the driver, the better. But the most helpful pieces of info are as follows:
  • Gate code for your apartment (and building number if your address just takes you to the front gate)
  • Business name – this is much more helpful than address for commercial properties (address numbers aren't always posted and are never easy to see)
  • Entrance location – this applies to apartments, hospitals, hotels, etc.…any large place with more than one pickup option, don't make your driver guess
• Share Your Location with the Driver. Nothing will make finding you easier for the driver than if they have your actual location. And it's not near as creepy as you might think, it goes away as soon as the ride starts, or you cancel.
• Give the Driver a chance to pull off the road. Picking up passengers in the middle of the road is illegal. That doesn't mean we don't do it sometimes, but life is much easier (and safer) if we can pull off the road. This isn't near as important in a residential neighborhood as it is in downtown Atlanta. So, if you're in a busy part of town, find a driveway, empty parking space, or loading zone to stand by.
• Understand your ride type selection. For Uber Pool or Lyft Shared, you have limitations in exchange for the lower rate. You can't change your address or add more than one stop. So don't ask your driver to go outside the rules for you. Remember, for these services, it's not just the driver, but other potential passengers, that are being inconvenienced.

DURING YOUR RIDE

• Talk or don't talk, it's up to you. I've heard of drivers complaining about passengers that don't talk or talk too much, but I suggest that they're in the wrong business. I feel like I have a pretty good gauge on if people want to talk or not, but not everyone is as blessed with a high EQ as me. So a good pair of headphone always helps send the right message if you want some peace and quiet. And one last request…if you want to sit in silence, go for it, but please don't sit in the front seat. That's just weird.
• Feel Free to give directions or share local driving knowledge. This may be another one that some drivers disagree on, but I will always welcome suggestions from passengers if they're offered respectfully. I trust passengers to know what intersections are bad at rush hour, or what lights take forever, far more than Uber's navigation. It factors in traffic, but it's not perfect.
• Keep clean. I'm not going to care if you're feet are wet when it's raining. Out of your control. But taking your trash with you is completely within your control.
• Share details of dropoff as you get close. Similar to pick up, if all we have is an address, it may not be clear cut. Both Uber and Lyft's navigation leave a little to be desired on drop-off location directions, so a store name, side of the road, etc., is always helpful.
• No, you can't smoke in my car. Yes, that includes weed. Listen, man, I'm hip to the game. I'm down. But I use this thing to earn money. And not everyone loves the smell of tobacco or other green leafy substances.
• Don't make drivers wait in drive-thru. While on a trip, drivers earn ~$0.10 / minute. That equates to about $6 / hour. So it's quite a waste of drivers' times to sit in a late night drive thru. They offer UBER Eats for this exact reason. But if you're drunk and the munchies overtake you, at least offer the driver some food and drink for their trouble. A McFlurry makes me very forgiving.

AFTER YOUR RIDE

• Rate your Driver. The rating system is the best way to make drivers better. Rewarding a successful trip with a 5 star rating is a good way to encourage more successful trips. And if you have a bad experience, give a poor rating with details of what went wrong. Uber and Lyft can only police their drivers if they have all the information. Also, we don't know exactly who gave us what rating, so you don't need to worry about someone tracking you down for your feedback. And just to give you a data point to work off of, the average driver rating is 4.8.
• Tips are Optional, but always appreciated. I'll never get mad at someone for not tipping me. I (and other drivers) are fully aware of the agreed upon rates for every trip. That said, it sure is nice. And tips are definitely what make the difference between an average day and a good day driving, money-wise. So if you had a really good conversation, or just want to thank the driver for getting you home safe and sound, toss a couple bucks. And if you don't want to tip, try using the 'Give a Compliment' option. Drivers don't get any compensation for these, but it's a nice little boost to the ego to get some specific feedback on something you've done well.

That's it. Just a few tips to help you become the best passenger you can be.

If you don't have both apps, you should. Unless you're just protesting Uber for their corporate culture (which is your prerogative), I always check both before booking a ride. One is always a buck or two cheaper than the other, and there's really no reason to think one will give you better drivers, cleaner cars, etc. From personal experience, the driver sign up experience for both was very similar.

Are you in need of a private ride from an experienced driver in Asheville? Book an Asheville Airport Shuttle.

If you want to download one of the apps and sign up, you can use these links and get a small sign up bonus (I get a small bonus as well)

Uber Lyft

And if this inspired you to sign up for a driver. I'd be surprised. But nonetheless, I have some referral links for that too:

Uber Lyft

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts!