As the world continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to these unprecedented times, HD is checking in with members of the hospitality industry around the globe to find out how their businesses are being impacted and what they anticipate will change down the line.
Sonya Haffey, V Starr Interiors
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
Maintaining internal and external company meetings, especially with the shipment of samples, has required a lot of time management. In addition, collaborating on design projects now requires several sets of samples and tends to include technology mishaps—something everyone can relate to with online calls. I would love to say there is one thing that sticks out that has been particularly challenging, but these small things add up and have all been equally difficult to adjust to for our creative team.Â
What is your current work situation?
We’re still working from home. We have a face-to-face touch base with our team on Monday mornings and touch base with each member individually, as needed, via FaceTime throughout the day and week. We have not had to make any hard decisions at this point, and we are very fortunate to be in that position.Â
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
We have a very strong team that has adapted quickly to the new “normal” and is able to take on any challenge while maintaining amazing design work and not missing deadlines. This allowed us to move into a new workflow quickly and seamlessly, and has taught us to keep this level of flexibility in the future.Â
What is your pulse on the industry?
We spent a lot of time over the years being strategic with our project types so that we have a variety—hospitality, multifamily, high-end residential, affordable, municipal, and educational. During each economic downturn, different segments take the hardest hits, so this strategy has kept our company out of any major hardship. Our team has not missed a beat with current clients, and I have been reaching out to many of them to assess how we can assist as a partner on their projects, how their needs have changed, and what we can do to help.Â
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
I do see hospitality coming back online in a big way. People have been closed in their homes for a long time, and they are all itching to go out into the world. Most hospitality businesses will need to become more focused around health and wellness, which V Starr has been considering from day one. Operations will need to tighten up, and online reviews will have an emphasis on how the public views you. Training staff will be imperative, especially when it comes to using proper language that will validate the concern of each individual guest. The value we discuss in our team meetings is respect— from respecting yourself and your stability, to respecting others’ concerns for safety, staff, and guests.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
I have a large family of six and one day my four young children were sick of looking at a screen and being cooped up. We were able to skip school for a day and go to a family-owned bakehouse. In addition, while everyone has been working from home, we have been able to take advantage of an empty office and work on some needed upgrades. I can’t wait for the team to get back and see the progress.
Jeremy Levitt, Parts and Labor Design
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
The uncertainty—it’s difficult for us and our staff. They look to us for answers as to what the next steps are and without a real understanding of when the world will bounce back, it has added an angle to all of this that forces us to plan ahead in ways that we’ve never experienced, certainly not at this pace.
What is your current work situation?
We’re all working remotely, which has its challenges as we utilize programs that require a great deal of horsepower, but it has generally been an insightful and successful endeavor. We have weekly company meetings, and we have made a point of regularly reaching out to each other just to chat, tell jokes, etc. We encourage everyone to share anything and everything—recipes, crafts projects, stories from venturing out of the house, and so forth. Being that we’re a creative firm, we also encourage sharing sketches or anything design related that isn’t necessarily work focused. Beyond that, we’ve definitely had to make a few changes within the company, but all have been adaptable. Our team is almost entirely intact.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
We’ve established effective ways for working apart considering we’re such a collaborative and creative group, which has been encouraging and, in some ways, really fun. While we are still working through the hurdles of being able to work through the physicality of materials (i.e. wood finishes, tile selections, fabrics, leathers, and the like), we are finding that the design process has pushed us all to express ideas in a more thorough way through the use of digital communication.
What is your pulse on the industry?
We are seeing a fair number of projects go on hold across the industry. In several cases, there are holds due to monetary concerns, obstacles in securing financing from banks, and the current inability for construction to continue or commence. However, some pauses are based specifically on the need to step back and rethink things programmatically as it relates to a general concern for safety measures and social distancing. Those conversations have been creative and encouraging.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
While a lot of businesses are suffering and the bounce back may take time, we foresee a lot of positives coming out of this. We see there being a deeper connection to nature and wellness, a more holistic approach to cleanliness and proper sterilization in hotels and restaurants, and certainly more creative developments in hospitality experience offerings—whether personal or technology driven. We’re focusing on general inclusivity in accommodating both ends of the spectrum, as some people will want to get back to normal and others will want to start fresh, so the challenge in getting hospitality back online will be finding ways to successfully contain each approach under one roof. We will also see major shifts in the restaurant world, and while those projects have been slowing down less than hotels, we are definitely looking into some more immediate sweeping changes for those experiences.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
We have been spending a great deal of time capitalizing on company developments that were just starting to take shape—we are developing an exciting product line, which we have finally given some undivided attention to. Overall, we are maintaining a great deal of positivity—we definitely want to be a phoenix rising out of the ashes, both personally and professionally.
Alexis Readinger, Preen, Inc.
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?
The hardest part is missing the sense of immediate connection and power our team creates together. Communication requires more effort now. We are being intentional with our communication to maintain velocity and stave off uncertainty.
What is your current work situation?
We have been remote for two months. We are so fortunate to be in the design development and construction documentation phase on everything, so we are busy from our desks and not currently on the job site.
What are some of the positive effects of working in these new ways?
It is great for corporate America to be confronted with having to trust their employees. We have traded a factory mentally oversight for being flexible and confident. The entire workplace now knows that we can work remote, and this bodes well for a gentler outlook on time away from the office.
What is your pulse on the industry?
We only had one project go on hold because there is no one on the landlord side to approve the documents. Everything else seems to be moving, and we are getting inquiries of various scale—from hotels and restaurants to a ceremonial gathering space in the forest.
What does this mean for the future of hospitality?
I have been focused on our neighboring towns for some time, thinking they need to be better served by lodging and F&B. People are ready to drive an hour or two and get out of the city, and this will be great for our central coast wineries, nature lodges, and so forth. We are ready to support that with our magic.
Lastly, share some good news! Have you done anything to stay busy in these crazy times?
I helped with a cross-country move—moving my sweetheart from Wisconsin to Los Angeles. We began during lockdown and split time between camping and interesting stays. We had a night in Iowa at a cutting horse show arena suite, another in a Victorian bathhouse brothel turned hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and yet another in Liz Lambert’s Thunderbird Motel in Marfa, Texas. The stars in New Mexico are pretty spectacular.
Related stories:
4 Design Leaders on Current Challenges and Remaining Resilient
3 Design Duos on Making the Most of Trying Times
6 Designers, Architects, and Entrepreneurs on Staying Connected
For more COVID-19-related news and stories from HD, click here.
