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The Boostly Podcast
Designing with Intention: Molly Cooper on Curated Spaces & Guest Experiences
00:36:01
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to the Boostly Podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the training, and most importantly, the confidence so you can go out there and get yourself direct bookings. Today we've got a spotlight series on the Boostly podcast where we look at businesses, we look at other hospitality, things that you as a host should know about. And we're going to shine the Boostly spotlight on Molly Cooper from Curated Curated Spaces. She's the co founder and this is an awesome podcast and place that you can go to basically to really understand boutique spaces style and putting the joy back into traveling in general. So this is good for you if you're thinking, hey, how can I make my places stand out? And just good for you is a host if you want to find more information about really making your places, you know, give them the wow factor. So let's dive in. Welcome along, Molly. Thank you for joining me.
- [00:57]
B
Thank you for having me. Thank you for the nice intro as well. Always helps.
- [01:00]
A
No worries. I should just quickly mention because if not, Mark will will shoot me, that we're sponsored. This podcast is sponsored by Hostfully, which is a property management system and that's actually the one that I use to to get my guests. If anybody is looking for a property management software, then go and check out Hostfully. There will be a link somewhere around the podcast. So Molly, let's dive in, shall we?
- [01:24]
B
Yeah, let's do it.
- [01:26]
A
Okay, so first question is what. What is curated spaces? What's the elevator pitch?
- [01:30]
B
The million dollar question? Well, it all started as a podcast, sharing the stories behind boutique spaces around the UK and it's all snowballed in the best possible way into a platform we're launching in the next couple of months to try and put the joy back into travel booking. So we've got an amazing collection of boutique spaces and we're bringing them to life through creator and tastemaker content.
- [01:51]
A
Nice. And what inspired you to start? It sounds like there's a story there.
- [01:56]
B
Well, I was always that person growing up whose favorite program was that amazing hotel show with Monica Galetti and anything to do with travel and spaces that was just so me. And I actually ended up working in startups for sort of six years actually. And I was always that person interviews. He was like, there's someone who'd like to start their own company one day. And I just finished my last tour of duty as a chief of staff at a series a startup within to Engineering, which admittedly was not my. Not my cup of tea. But it finally felt like the Time had come to put my money where my mouth was and actually go and build that company. So I didn't really know what I wanted to build, but I knew I wanted it to be within travel. Hospitality, it's just a sphere that I really love. So that's why I started the podcast. Like many other people, I just thought maybe something will come of these conversations with interesting people doing interesting things in a sphere that I love. And, yeah, I guess some things did come of it.
- [02:52]
A
Yeah, it's good to hear. Hey, the hospitality bug does. Does bite people, doesn't it?
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B
Yeah.
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A
Nobody I speak to go, do you know what? I set out to get into hospitality. A lot of the time they go, do you know what? That I really just loved what it was all about. At the end of the day, traveling is full of joy a lot of the time, and. And they make people make memories when they come and travel which last a lifetime. So this is what gives me the passion for it. I think you always think, what are the best memories? And often they're holidays or time away with loved ones and stuff like that. So ultimately, it's quite a nice place to. To kind of live in and to be in that space, isn't it? So that's very cool.
- [03:27]
B
And I think it really attracts sort of people, people. People who love to be in the real world. And I was amazed through the podcast how every space that I went to, because I'd often get in my little penny, the polo, and, like, schlep across the country, and you arrive somewhere and every single person working there, from the receptionist to the waiters, to the founders that were my, you know, podcast guests, you could just tell that everybody loved coming to work and, you know, coming from the world of tech quite, you know, redundancies, redundancies, and growing, grown, grown. It was actually just such a refreshing, positive take on life and work. And, yeah, I just absolutely love it.
- [04:03]
A
And the nice thing is, as well, because I speak to a lot of hosts who go, do you know what? I'd love to start podcasts. And we were just talking before we hit record about, you know, podcast and what it kind of gives you in general is, for me, it's really opened my eyes to seeing how many other people are in the same. I guess not the same boat, but the same sea as us. You know, like, we're all in hospitality and how you can get inspired just by talking to some of these founders or some other hosts and things like that. It really helps me within my hospitality business. Did you find the Same for yourself by talking to all these guests that it really helped you with seeing what was out there and what you could do within your business.
- [04:41]
B
Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's amazing, isn't it? I'd literally go somewhere, I spend the night there and I'd have done my due diligence before I'd have gone through the website, troll the people coming on as my guests and then I'd go for a walk around the next day and they'd be like, oh, that's why we did this thing. And this is this, this thing. And I'd be like, you just have no idea, would you? Walking around like the level of thought and detail that's gone into a. The design of spaces and the experience is amazing. And then I guess for me personally, I had like two major revelations over the sort of six to eight months when I was just whizzing around the country talking to people which were on the spaces side. All these lovely founders who'd, you know, quit the day job in London and put all their life savings into creating this lovely space and bringing it to life and been pulling 80 hour weeks for two years. They were all like, so glad you doing this podcast because we're so fed up with booking.com, we've just delisted. We're really trying to drive direct bookings but you know, socials isn't our natural environment. So it was a bit of a rock and a hard place trying to drive those bookings. And then I guess on the flip side, I was suddenly living my content creator life, which was quite unexpected for me. And I was actually just amazed at how hard it was to make any kind of money. And actually towards the end I was sort of being like, please be some pity money, I'm burning through my savings and people would ping me like 200 quid.
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A
Wow.
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B
And I was just like, surely I thought I was being completely rubbish. But then I started speaking to actual content creators who knew what they were doing and had hundreds of thousands of followers and they all just kept saying like, oh no, travel. You don't get paid for travel content. You get a free dinner, free stay, but money doesn't really swap hands, which to me just felt a bit baffling. So you look at, I don't know, consumer goods, fashion, beauty, TikTok shop. I mean consumer led sales are just, you know, booming in other industries. But travel seems to be a bit lagging behind in the booking.com era. So I guess these two major revelations sort of have now snowballed into this new platform we're launching. So, yeah, I 100% wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now, which I love, if I hadn't done the podcast. So I'd say go for it. If anyone's thinking about it, just do it 100%.
- [06:46]
A
You know, start. Start now and get perfect later, they say. And I'm glad mention social media because it brings us on to the next question that the mantra that I've read about on your website is to scroll less and live more. What does that mean to you? And how did it help to shape curated spaces in general?
- [07:03]
B
Yeah, so it's, I mean, it's been a real journey for me this, I think before I quit the job to actually go and do something, I was a little bit, you know, had a good job, which I enjoyed, worked with great people. I was. No, you know, I wasn't stuck in a horrible situation. But I remember just feeling a little bit sort of, I wasn't quite on the right track and felt like I was spending too much time watching telly and like, you know, going around London in a concrete box. I felt a little bit out of sync, I think, with, you know, the world and all, all the natural cycles and rhythms. So I actually, for a fit, for a period when like really tapped into eating seasonally and, you know, living with the seasons, which actually, when I then started speaking to chefs and these founders of restaurants with rooms, you know, the best thing was going down to the kitchen garden and getting back to nature. And I found that whole experience of getting offline just so refreshing and so grounding and just amazing someone. And I think anyone living in London spends too much time on the sofa or on online. So for me it's how can we spend less time doom scrolling through Instagram and TikTok and actually going for that spontaneous midweek supper or going for a cuppa with your friend and actually just enjoying the real, the real world a bit. But I do now acknowledge we have gone full cycle and we are releasing a tech platform. So it's something we're trying to balance and I think we really want the new platform to be somewhere that you can go to find that perfect space we're looking for without having to doom scroll 20 pages on booking.com and actually you can get out there and start enjoying a good time sooner.
- [08:36]
A
There's lots of threads that you've mentioned there that I'd like to dive into. I mean, one you mentioned on the last question, which was obviously direct bookings and how curated spaces in general and nice spaces particularly. You mentioned having that experience and the things that the host, I think you said, had details that they put in and put thought into. And this is one of the things which I speak about a lot of the time to my clients here in Norwich, where I said this to somebody earlier on, you've got kind of two places. You've got places where people need to stay, which could be just regular houses, but then you've got places where people want to stay and they tend to be the ones with the detail, the curated ideas. And for instance, in one of our homes, the owners have put up a map of England and then a map of Europe or the world in general. And each, each visitor is invited to put their pin on, on the board and you know, write in the book and that side of things. And this is something where when I first saw it I was like, well that's quite cool. But I didn't realize almost every guest which checks out goes, we really like that as kind of like that just added to their experience. And this is where those details that you mentioned of just those extra lines of thought that hosts can put into their places definitely helps to make the place stand out. And if it stands out, it helps to drive direct bookings through social media, you know, email marketing and all that sort of stuff. So I really love the sound of that.
- [10:08]
B
Yeah, and I think you're so right. All the spaces I went to and they were real mix. Some were tiny little B and Bs with like seven bedrooms and some were, you know, £500 a night, five star hotels, but every single one of them, my favorite bit, and the bit that people, the listeners really loved as well was, was the story and the people behind it and the little things, the little rituals. For example, Heckfield Place, which is just this like billionaires incredible reimagining of what a hotel could and should be. And it's just like, you know, awe inspiring on every single level. And I spoke to their chef, well, their sort of culinary director, Sky Gingell, who's amazing. And you know, I asked her what her favorite part about Heckville Place was expecting it to be. You know, the, you know, the really fancy Bothy spa they just opened. And she said for me, the absolute best moment is every day we serve cake in the, in the dining, in the sort of sitting room by the fire. And it's a proper, you know, Victorian sponge property time cake. Bring out all the tea and all the guests are welcome to join for a chat. Say Hello. Have a slice of tea, slice of cake and a cup of tea. And I was just like, that's so lovely that out of this huge, incredible, you know, estate, that's the little table detail that really sets it apart for you. So I think it just shows that no matter what you're doing, it's the really small homely gestures that bring people together that I think really, really leave a lasting impact.
- [11:30]
A
You got me thinking about Victoria's sponge and cake now, Molly. That is.
- [11:34]
B
Sorry, it's that time of the evening for a snack as well, isn't it?
- [11:38]
A
It's funny you should mention Victoria sponge. Literally. A friend of ours baked a cake this weekend and brought round a Victoria sponge and that was like this, honestly, like that by a fire in general. Sounds. Sounds good. So sticking with kind of the, the vision and the mission before we move on to how the platforms change from, from podcasting into the platform that it is, what do you think most boutique owners listening to this struggle with the most and how does this, this idea for the new platform really help that?
- [12:12]
B
Yeah, so I think we're facing this massive shift at the moment. You've got millennials everywhere. We've got Gen Z up and coming and purchase really differently to previous generations. We're super visual, we're really into authentic. Flashy things no longer appeal to us. We're all about experiences, getting off grid, creating our own stories and memories and actually traditional marketing, especially for hotels, which would be, you know, those landscape, empty shots of a perfect looking room they actually don't work on. Like, I wouldn't book a hotel if those are the only pictures I'd seen. Everyone I know. And we did a lot of, a lot of user interviews around this. When we say, how do you find somewhere to stay? They'll trawl through their Instagram, save sections, all those posts they've saved over the past year, they'll then find that hotel and click on tag to see who they know, who's been there and look at their pictures. So people really want that sort of authentic glimpse behind the perfect pictures that you see on websites. But I think sort of navigating this influence, the marketing landscape is something that I think just the nature of the name is a little bit off putting for a lot of people. I think influencers got a lot of connotations and you do see a lot of stuff at the moment about the death of the influencer, which I kind of agree with. But I think it's a really interesting marketing channel, especially in hospitality, which is Such a sort of personal lifestyle led decision, you're much less likely to, I mean you can easily spend 20 quid in a T shirt because you saw someone wear it and you could wear it once and forget about it. But actually your holiday, like you said earlier, they're so important. Could be maybe you're going to propose, maybe it's your child's first trip to the sea. I don't know. These like massive life milestones, they're really precious and actually you want to know you're booking somewhere that really aligns with what you want to get out of that trip. So actually I think you find people are really following very niche creators these days, which is why I think actually micro creators and those like nano influencers are really good place to start for a lot of people. But actually they're often doing it part time alongside a full time job. They don't really know what they're doing, the spaces don't know what they're doing. So it's this huge minefield of how do you even start a proper creator marketing campaign or initiative? So actually we try to just really simplify it. We've got a group of incredible spaces, a group of brilliant creators and we just made it really easy for them to access each other and tap into this like visual storytelling to help bring those spaces to life for Gen Z and Millennial bookers and actually rewarding the creators for doing so.
- [14:44]
A
I mean it sounds really good. And how does created spaces make that high quality kind of marketing accessible? So I guess what would a host need to do to be considered for curated spaces, you know, as one of those places that the, the creators would come and come and look at.
- [15:05]
B
Yeah. So we've done a big old mapping and we've got about four or five hundred spaces on our radar that we'd love to have. And we've started at more of a sort of hotel, pubs of rooms, guest houses, so sort of hosted stays. But we've already had so many cabins and exclusive hires reaching out to us, saying, I love what you're doing. So we're definitely going to look at an offering for those kind of spaces. Spaces too. But for us it's not about being like the super fanciest, flashiest. It's spaces which have a real sense of soul and spirit and who are doing just brilliant things, whether it's. I mean, I always used to say this podcast, I never thought I'd have so many conversations about soil health, but everywhere I went they were like, oh, my kitchen garden. What we're doing for regenerative rewilding, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So we really don't have a specific criteria but we do look for spaces that are doing something really special and bringing that, that soul and charm and story. And I think what's really neat actually is we're going to start with this sort of group that we've mapped out and want to have on board. But from there on, as we bring on spaces they can tag creators they've worked with. We can then go out to those creators and get them on the platform and when they join they can tag other spaces they've worked with. So it should start to become a bit of a self fulfilling cycle. And actually we don't have to curate or go out and find those spaces. We can get, get brilliant, you know, tastemakers who have been to way more lovely places than I have and they can bring on spaces they've worked with. And so it should become a really lovely growing community.
- [16:34]
A
But yeah, I think that's cool because at the end of the day they say that people, if they had a great experience, they will tell somebody about it. And it sounds like if there's the creative people out there who have been to these places, if you say, hey, where's one place that you'd go which was, is amazing and you always go back to, you'd go, ah, there was this awesome, you know, X, Y or Z, whatever it is. And, and even for me a place comes up here locally which I'm like, oh, there was a sauna and a sparum and, and you know that they had marshmallows and, and all these things which made it an experience as opposed to just somewhere to stay. So it does make sense. Ultimately if you get these people together and this group then it's going to give a really good network of, of places which are special, you know, for, for people and where they can go and create these lovely memories.
- [17:20]
B
100%.
- [17:21]
A
Yeah, there's some people who would be listening to this go. Do you know what? I think they might see creator led marketing as just influencers in general. And I know of a few hosts who've had some not so successful results with influencer marketing. How does this differ? What would you say to those hosts to reassure them that this is different?
- [17:45]
B
Yeah, so I think this is one of those channels that it's really in its infancy. I mean, 20 years ago we didn't have these platforms that are now booming and having billions of users and signups. So it's a really new and really young channel. And I think this can lead to misalignment misunderstandings like there's no real set process, there's for boutique travel, there's no real go to a network for creators who want to work with spaces. So a lot of it is either people faking it until they make it, people who kind of, you know, take that, it's a bit of people. And it's a shame because I think it does put one bad experience is enough to put you off for life. I think the other issue as well at the moment is this lack of data and you know, it's coming from like things about the KPIs, the number of PR teams we've spoken to who will typically manage influencer or creator led marketing. And we'll say, okay, so what, what metrics are you reporting onto your clients? Like is it bookings, is it roi? And they'll say, oh no, we actively discourage to be reporting against bookings because we've got no way of tracking it. And that to me again was just like crazy that as if you, you are actively encouraging your clients not to look at the ROI from an investment that they're putting in their money and time. So I think what we're trying to do with curated is putting a bit of a streamlined system in place so you can actually match if you're a space with a creator through the platform. And all those creators are pre approved, we check every single one, we have a look at their content, we make sure it's the kind of content we want to have on our platform and will do your space justice. You can then agree a scope. So the amount of deliverables, it could be a number of posts, a blog piece, whatever it is. And you can then manage the whole collaboration from there on through the platform. You then have final approvals and we're always there. If you do need someone impartial to step in and get involved and then at the end we can actually track everything from views, impressions across all social channels and actually bookings. So you can start to see, oh, that Collaboration did drive 20 bookings, which is great, great. Or that one didn't do as well. Which I think is a really exciting place to be actually for spaces.
- [19:55]
A
Yeah, very exciting. And it's music to my ears because ultimately I do see hosts out there and you go, how did you find that influencer? Well, I just typed in this hashtag and I just invited them to stay and. And you, you know a lot of the time that that influencer might not be the audience or their audience might not be who that host needs sometimes. So this is music to me is that that is connecting the right people with the the right people. Which is really cool. Yeah.
- [20:19]
B
And I think that's something really interesting that is people tend to go straight to the number of followers and you know, do they have 20,000 or 200,000? But you know, you really want to find people who are aligning with the people you want to invite. If you are a cute little outdoorsy cottage on the beach, you want to be finding those people who love beach walks, whatever the weather. You don't want to be looking for high maintenance manicure loving whatevers. So I think being able to go beyond the follower count and see what really matches in terms of demographic is also really important.
- [20:48]
A
100 and I think that's a key lesson for anyone listening to this to take away is don't just get any influencer based on the followers. Exactly what you've said there something you said as the answer to the previous question was about creating that story and creating a story within the photos that the traditional photos now the widescreen or landscape kind of perfectly laid out bed doesn't work. And I'd completely agree that there needs to be more inventive marketing. What, how does some of the storytelling impact the, the marketing? Is there any kind of tips that you could say to people which would work better for their socials and in general when they're posting instead of those type of photos?
- [21:30]
B
Yeah. So I mean this past 18 months has been a real crash course in all things social media and marketing for me. So whatever wisdom I've got, not much I can gladly share. I think for me it's, it's. You've got to either share a story, people love stories, they love journeys, they love the. This is why we quit our jobs in London and you know, sacked off the salary and put all of our savings into this broken old manor house. People love that. They love to root for you, they love setbacks and watch you overcome them. So I think sharing that journey way than people think they should from from day one, you're thinking about going for it, doing that project, just start sharing it, start building in public. People love that. And then the other thing is this emotional connection. A static picture doesn't build an emotional connection. Which is why I think people are loving reels and you know, carousels of moving videos. Something that see that and you have all that, you know, the ASMR stuff at the moment. People just love to get that real intense connection to a place really quickly. And then I think things, I mean, it's just such. It's obvious advice, isn't it? But little hooks that make people sort of like, oh yeah, I've had that thought. You know, all the slam your laptop shut until Monday content everywhere. But those sort of global, worldwide, understood little hooks that people on a Friday are like, oh yeah, that is me. I am there. I'm in that mindset. So thinking of ways that you can build that emotional connection with it with a potential booker. And the best thing is, is like these little, these bits of content, they're not huge marketing campaigns. You don't need an agency, you don't need huge budgets. You just need to be able to tap into a bit of human psychology and create that emotional connection, which I think is great and really democratizing and I think think a really lovely human first form of marketing.
- [23:16]
A
I love that. I absolutely love it because it's. Take. It took me a long time to realize that within my own business is that it needs to be a motive a lot of the time. Because when I first started this, nobody tells you like what, what to do when it comes down to marketing or I didn't know about podcasts like this or podcasts like curated spaces. And so I was just like, hey, here's a picture of the room. It has a bed in it. Do you know what I mean? As in it is exactly. You just say what the picture is. You go, this is the bathroom, you know, and all things. But it is about exactly that, about creating that kind of emotive feeling. So, you know, we've got a place which has got this awesome freestanding bathtub. And we've. We've considered redoing the photos based on originally when we took them this place, which we've had a couple of years now. It is just a photo of, of the bathtub. Freestanding bathtub, great water pressure for the shower. You know, a couple of things that you wouldn't necessarily see in the pictures because you want to talk about the things that people don't see. But looking back now, what I do completely different is, is fill it. I'd make sure there is rose petals, I'd make sure there's a glass of Prosecco or something on the site. You know, like you'd really trying to set the scene so people can imagine themselves, you know, in there as opposed to just, just the bathtub, you know, like, it is just the bathtub. And this is where I didn't realize a few years ago that people don't actually buy with logic. They do just buy with emotion. Even for work stays, like, we host work stays and we've got a place where there's a dartboard instead of, you know, just. Just the normal stuff. There's dartboard outside. And even workers, even though they're looking for, you know, they're on a budget, they want parking, they want these things. But ultimately, just the fact that they can pitch themselves playing darts after a day's work, or maybe on the day off, they're more likely to book it because they've put themselves in that kind of place and they've connected to, oh, I feel good when I have a game of darts with my work friends. So that's what we'll do after work. So I'll book that one over, over the next one.
- [25:11]
B
A hundred percent. People want to imagine themselves in that space. And for some people, it's seeing that bubble bath running and they're like, oh, get me in the tub. And fellas, it's that, you know, that beer and the darts. Brilliant. Like on there. It is like, you know, you're back to the Victoria sponge. It's the really tiny, simple things that matter. It doesn't need to be fancy, but it is those little things that just tug at people's. Oh, yeah, that is a bit of me.
- [25:34]
A
It's reminded me of a book which I read a few years ago called Story Brand by Donald Miller. And if anybody's listening to this and you want a book which talks about how important story is behind any business, then it's a fantastic read or audible for me as I listen to it while driving around. So I love that. I know curated spaces and the digital platform side of things is new, but what's been the biggest. And this includes the journey so far, so includes the podcast. What's been the biggest wow moment so far and what's been the biggest challenge?
- [26:08]
B
I think, oh, God, the wow moment is hard because there's been so many, frankly, just, like, lovely bits. I actually think my first recording trip, when I went down to Devon and Cornwall, and I think we did, like, six spaces, and I'd never actually done a podcast before, so I was very much, like, faking it till I make it, but it was also just, like, gorgeous weather and we were just whizzing around and, you know, going from beach to beach, and it was just. It was just lovely. I remember this was sort of three months after I'd sacked in the day job, and, you know, I was still like, I don't have to go to work every day. Hadn't run out of my savings yet either. So I think that was a pretty glorious like everything was new and novel. But then actually other. Other why moments we. We released a sort of paid trial mini platform preview last spring and we did a launch party there and actually we. We got like 100 people together. We did a podcast live with one of the directors from the Pig and some other really cool guests. And actually that was the first time I'd had a bunch of people in a room just to sort of be part of curated and what it had become. And that was quite surreal and just amazing to look around the room and see so many faces that, you know, 12 months before I just, you know, they weren't on my radar. I didn't know them and here they were turning up, which was amazing Challenges again, so many. I think it's made me really realize I. I always thought I was quite a people person, but I'm. I think I get a lot more energy from people than I thought. And actually I've just been working from home for the last 18 months now and I think just sometimes I feel like I'm going literally crazy and then I'll go to yoga and be like, oh no, I just actually need to see a human. Which actually is great for the whole real world, why we're doing it. But yeah, there's. There's been a lot of times when it's just you and you just got to keep on going and there's no sounding board and there's no plan B. But I would say as low as it has been, I've never once been like, oh, I'd rather get back to work. That's never crossed my mind.
- [28:11]
A
Amen to that. This I can completely relate. At the end of the day, any entrepreneurship is. Is going to be quite difficult. But. And those. Those times, cash flow and all that stu that comes with it. And like you've just mentioned there actually just being around people, you know, when you work in an office or I worked in retail, it was great to just be around people all day. And actually I used to come home thinking I need to be away from people now. You know, to shut the world out. But it's completely opposite when you work by yourself and you then actually need that social interaction. You need like you say that that soundboard. So it's a great one and one which I think is. Is universal to people will be. Be feeling that. And you mentioned obviously the biggest wow moment. Congratulations on. On just going to do it. And you said like, fake it till you make it. But ultimately I think of some words mentor told me, which was, you know, see it until you be it. You were like, hey, I'm gonna go and do this. And people buy into that and that's why they, you know, you got all them people in the, in the room and, and why it worked out, which is cool. So, yeah.
- [29:11]
B
And I think actually going back to what we said about sharing the journey, I think in the beginning I really hid behind, you know, the we and it was actually just me. And I think as soon as I leaned into the fact that it was just me trying to do this thing, it resonated way more and people got, people got really bought into it. So actually, I think don't go for, you know, glossy perfection. Like show the ups and the downs. People love that. And you are doing something really scary and brave and cool and weird and like, people want to be there for the whole roller coaster. So don't hide behind the Wii.
- [29:44]
A
Mark Simpson, our founder, does exactly this. He started posting a real time update each week on his socials, literally whatever ad, whatever good had happened that week. And I actually messaged him, I was like, are you sure that's okay to overshare some of these things? Because he'd be going, look, this is difficult this week. And since he's done that, he's actually gained more buy in from people because people see that everybody has struggles, no matter what size business, no matter how many staff you've got. And also people have wins and people just like that story. Exactly. What the kind of theme of, of this podcast is is that that people buy into the stories and the emotion behind something. Not just, not just the, you know, the, the, the space or, or, or what's happening, you know, so that's cool.
- [30:32]
B
100%. Yeah. Yeah. Give them the all of it. The good, the bad, the ugly. It's what the people want.
- [30:37]
A
100%. 100%. So there's a couple of quick what if you said there was one common mistake you see hosts make, what would it be and why?
- [30:49]
B
Oh, that's a really good one. Well, obviously none of my guests have made any mistakes. They're all perfect. But I think it would be this leaning into your people, your team. Like, don't just fill your Instagram or your socials with the perfect picks. Show the everyday show your, your do a little Q A with your gardener or your chef. You know, bring the humans that make your space so special and put them at the Heart and the front and center of what you're doing, because I really think that will resonate more than another. Like you say, empty bathtub pick 150. Yeah.
- [31:26]
A
You've got me thinking, like, one of the things that I've done completely by mistake. In the early days, my little boy, he's now 7, but when he was like 3 or 4, I went and done a house tour of, you know, video tour that I wanted to add to YouTube. And I was like, oh, how am I going to do this with a kid in tow? And I was like, actually, let's make him part of it. So we actually filmed it where he was given the tour of the home. And as things happened, you know, like the phone would look at the ceiling, you know, it was terribly filmed at times, but ultimately that people. We ended up using it for the house tour and people loved it. You know, they would feed back on it, you know, said, you know, say hi to Harry and that side of things. So it's funny when you bring the people in and make it like a. Documenting what you're doing instead of always trying to sell, which I think we're kind of hardwired to always think that we always need to sell the business. Hey, this is what we do. This is great. You could come, stay here for this price and actually, it doesn't always need to be like that, does it? Which is cool.
- [32:25]
B
No, you're so right. People can sniff a hard seller mile off, can't they?
- [32:29]
A
Yeah, they do. And they. They usually go the other way, don't they? If it's a hard sell? What. What piece of advice would you give yourself if you were going back 18 months, two years? What. What advice would you give yourself if you could?
- [32:42]
B
I would say just chill out and go with the flow. And some things are not meant to be, so stop trying to force them. The things that are meant to be will happen. They might take some time, but let them just, you know, on their own time and schedule. I think I used to be very much. I have my plan. I got my timeline. I'm gonna make it happen. And actually, you can waste a lot of energy and get obsessed with getting things done when actually maybe you're chasing completely the wrong thing. So I'm a big believer 18 months on now that everything happens for a reason. And if something feels like you're literally wading through treacle, it's probably just not meant to be.
- [33:17]
A
Sounds like good advice. Definitely. So is there anything else you'd like to share in terms of curated Spaces. And how would you like people to remember yourself, Molly, and curated spaces from this podcast?
- [33:33]
B
Oh really? Good question. I don't know about me. Nice. Would have a slice of Victoria's sponge with her curated I'm so excited honestly, just to start sharing it with the world we've been building out for the past eight months. So I've been like a little hermit and my flat just head down building this platform. So actually I'm just so excited to start sharing it. And yeah, seeing people use it, terrifying though putting a baby out in the world to be shot down. But no, it's going to be great. So yeah, we'll be sharing much more over the coming weeks and months. Months. But I think we're just really excited to help people make the most of 2025 and take more little breaks and not wait for big flashy trips but just start building, travel into their sort of more regular cadence and see more that this amazing country of ours has to offer.
- [34:20]
A
And where would they go? What's the links for people to go and find out more about this?
- [34:25]
B
It will be app app dot curatedspaces club, but I'll also send you a link to pop in the show notes.
- [34:32]
A
Awesome. And if you're listening to this while driving, when it's safe to do so, you'll see them in the show notes. And if you're watching this on YouTube, it'll be somewhere around the video for you to be able to click and go straight through to that. So Molly, thank you so much for coming on and sharing the story about curated spaces. And just for the awesome having faith in yourself and going off and doing what you're doing. It's great to hear. I've certainly learned things and the feeling that I'm left from this is really, really focus on telling stories and building emotions with your audience. And yeah, I'm looking forward to hopefully having you back on the Boostly podcast as as things take off with this platform.
- [35:11]
B
Absolutely. It's been such a pleasure. Such a pleasure. Thank you for having me and I'll come back anytime. I'll bring the cake.
- [35:17]
A
Awesome. Like I'm looking forward to the Victoria sponge. Thank you so much. So thank you for listening to this on the Boostly podcast. If you've enjoyed this podcast, you know somebody else who would like to listen to this, go and share it with a friend or family, whoever, who however you'd like to. If you'd like some more advice on direct bookings, don't forget you can go on to any book selling platform or on Audible. And you can search Mark Simpson's book, which is the book Direct Playbook. It's a best seller and it will show you how to get more direct bookings from start to finish. And it's as cheap as as they will let Mark sell it for. He doesn't make money on it. It just really does help a lot of people. So thank you for listening to this. We'll see you on the next podcast. And thanks again for Molly for joining us.
- [36:01]
B
Thank you very much.