The Outdoor Hospitality Podcast
Hear from the elite operators and brands driving the glamping and the outdoor hospitality industry forward. Gain insights on everything you need to launch, grow, and sell your business.
Our content includes glamping, STVR (short term rentals), unique stays, landscape resorts, RV Parks, RV resorts, and campgrounds
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The Outdoor Hospitality Podcast
Isaac French of Live Oak Lake: 'Less, But Better' in Hospitality and Living Life
What if a small, story-rich resort could command a seven-figure brand premium—and what would it take to build one? We sit down with creator-operator Isaac French to trace the arc of Live Oak Lake. From building Waco's first micro resort, an early Airbnb suspension that forced an unexpected direct booking strategy, and a sale shaped by the power of narrative. Isaac opens up about the choices behind fewer, better units, and why biophilic design moves both hearts and numbers.
- Live Oak Lake origin, design-led build, and early traction
- The Airbnb suspension forcing a direct booking strategy
- Unreasonable hospitality as a design and operations ethos
- Brand value, opco-propco structures, and earnest money
- Where social media is headed for hospitality
- Biophilic design, indoor–outdoor living, and wellness
- A 200-tree orchard as living artwork and venue
- Farm hospitality as the next major opportunity
- Values-based community, family, and craft-forward living
Subscribe to Isaac’s newsletter at IsaacJFrench.com for short lessons and stories on design, hospitality, and building a better life and business
Find Isaac on socials at @IsaacFrench_
This episode is brought to you by Clockwork Design- outdoor hospitality's top architecture & design firm. To learn more email christian@clockwork-ad.com
This episode is power by Sage Outdoor Advisory the industry leaders in feasibility studies and appraisals.
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All right. Well, welcome back to the Outdoor Hospitality Podcast. I'm your host, Connor Schwab, joined by the great and wonderful Isaac French. Welcome, Isaac.
Isaac French:Connor, thank you for having me.
Connor Schwab:Thank you. It's a pleasure to be joined by you. I just we're both just at the glamping show, and Isaac was a keynote speaker there. Sadly, I missed it, but I heard great things from the people who got to see. For those of you who might be living under a rock and don't know who Isaac is, he's kind of one of the bigger names and more influential people in the unique stay and hospitality space. He's the you know founder and former owner of Live Oak Lake, which was acquired for several millions. And since then has opened the Experiential Hospitality Group, which is essentially kind of like a masterclass group for operators to exchange information and insights and to network. And then he's got at least three other properties that I'm aware of: an orchard, a train car, and a nook, all very different, but with fine, fine craftsmanship and attention to detail, of which I believe have been highly successful. And then Isaac has attracted quite a massive brand for himself. I know he's got 80,000 followers on Instagram, many, many thousand followers on X and YouTube. And uh yeah, so he's an important guy. So listen to uh he's been through the ringer, so I'm happy to have him on. And yeah, Isaac, what are you how are you? What have you been up to?
Isaac French:It's I'm I'm good. Yeah, I can't believe we didn't run into each other at the clamping show until just a minute ago. I didn't know you were there, but that was a little bit of a whirlwind. I've been traveling a lot. So this year, earlier this year, I sort of decided because I'd been getting all these invitations to to speak, which are which is very humbling for me because I don't think I'm anything special, but I'm you know obviously flattered when people want me to come and share what I've learned and with their audiences. And so I love people, I love connecting with people in the real world even more than way more than social media. So I decided at the beginning of this year, I'm going to take advantage of as many of these as I can this year only, and we'll take it, take it from there. But you know, I want that, I want that opportunity to to build real relationships. So I've been on like a dozen trips this year for those kind of events, and then this past month, this feels like I've been traveling a ton. And right now I'm right in between two trips, so you're catching, catching me at the right time. But yeah, it's been it's it's been a whirlwind in a good way. It was in Mexico a couple days ago, was in Colorado and Tennessee just before that, and have been helping to evangelize the future of hospitality and travel, which is, in my opinion, these small experiential, story-driven stays. So it's pretty exciting. I love it.
Connor Schwab:And was is was Tori and Seth down there too? I talked with them on the way out of the show. They said they were headed to Tulum.
Isaac French:Yeah, yeah. We ran into each other in the airport, which was fun, as well as Ben Wolf, who was also at the show. And what show was this?
Connor Schwab:What was what show was this?
Isaac French:It was a it was actually a mastermind group. There's a guy named Rich Summers who does like a boutique hotel mastermind, and so he brought all the about a hundred plus folks together in Tulum, which was my first time to that area, and including some like bigger real estate names. And yeah, we it was a two-day event of lots of different sessions geared around real estate and hospitality.
Connor Schwab:Did you get to do any fun stuff when you were there?
Isaac French:You know, I did not, besides uh just hang out with people. I wanted to like go, well, Ben and I snuck away one night actually, and we went. Have you seen Azullik before on Instagram?
Connor Schwab:Is that the kind of stick-built one on the coast with the really interesting architecture and like structures?
Isaac French:Yes. It's probably like one of the more kind of like one of the OG landscape resorts. I think it was built like 20 years ago, actually, but it is quite a marvel. So Ben and I, he funny story, Ben's partner Jesse in Owassi lives over in Portugal and recently was playing tennis with this random dude who turned out to be the brother of one of the owners of Azulek. So through this roundabout connection, we got hooked up to some of the ownership down there. So we he went and got a tour, and then we went and had dinner, and you know, got to walk around the property, which which was really inspiring just to see. Tulum obviously has a lot of cool properties. It also kind of sort of has a bad rap because there's a lot of projects that are kind of half done, and we ex we got to experience that firsthand. Like the place we were staying was this incredible architectural masterpiece. Like if that place was in the States, it would definitely be getting like all of the headlines and architectural publicity. It uh it almost looks like this Colosseum, like it's this four-story, three towers that sort of make up this circle. And in the middle, there's just this huge forest and a pool and trails. And but I mean, like you drive through you drive down a dirt road that feels like you're on the moon for like half a mile just to get there, and then like immediately adjacent is this huge eyesore of a construction site that apparently was started like you know two years ago, and then they just totally abandon it during the foundation stage, and that kind of stuff is all over the place. So it's it's a weird juxtaposition of incredibly beautiful, innovative, you know, creative structures and just third-world country through and through, I guess you could say, which was that's what I love about travel. Like you see new things, you experience new things. On the architectural front, it was so cool in different places we went where the event was hosted and where I was staying, just to see, again, like what people do in other places, especially somewhere like Mexico, where labor is so much cheaper and where I feel like regulations are so much less of an issue. They just build very creatively. And that's always been an inspiration for me. But again, that was a new region for me to go. So I came away with a lot of architectural inspiration, if nothing else.
Connor Schwab:You take a lot of photos. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I I went to Tulum with my girlfriend a year ago to go scuba dive the cenote, which by the way is one of the most epic things I've ever done. So highly recommend it if you end up going back there. It's like a top five life experience.
Isaac French:Somebody invited me to come to a private one because I know a few folks down there that like own cool properties, and I just ran out of time. But that that I've seen those pictures, they look incredible.
Connor Schwab:And yeah, you're right. Tuluma is such a fascinating place. One of the best places in the world that does this indoor-outdoor concept in so much of its architecture where it's they're really meshed and it's just amazing. Obviously, they have the weather, the warm weather to support that and kind of a lack of bugs. Which makes it really easy to do that. But yeah, like even just looking through Airbnb at places to stay there is like you could do it for hours because the the places are just so beautiful and so unique.
Isaac French:So I'm sure you're familiar with the term biophilic design. I'm not actually, so please school me. So this is definitely for me like a huge guiding light. Basically, the idea is that you're connecting people with nature through the built environment to improve health and well-being. And so obviously, natural light, plants, water, natural materials, organic forms all you know help foster that connection, that sense of calm and harmony. But I felt like multiple, again, like multiple structures and places that I visited there just crashed it out of the park with biophilic design. Like trees coming out of you know the side of a building and plants just enveloping it to where it truly feels like yeah, you're living, you're living in nature, and those lines between indoors and outdoors are blurred. So that was one of the most inspiring parts.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, absolutely. It's it's super cool. With that weather and lack of regulation, it you it really produces some incredible stuff. I'm very jealous of that, both those things that they have. Yeah. What uh so I mean, I want to spend a little bit of time just talking about Live Oak Lake simply because that's important to kind of your backstory, but I don't want to spend too much time on it. I want to get to what you're working on now. But maybe could you tell the audience just a little bit about that project for their own context?
Isaac French:Sure. So the story of Live Oak Lake in a nutshell is five almost five years ago now, I had a dream to create something that I didn't think ever had existed, which was this charming village of caverns in the middle of Central Texas around the lake. And so through a through a 12-month period of just sheer determination and a lot of luck, good timing and willpower and team effort, was able to buy five acres and design and build seven really beautiful modern cabins, dig a dig a lake, create a common space and trails and just this really rich outdoor experience. And then launched the brand in January of 2022 and had this terrific, you know, terrific reception from everyone, really. We were getting like rave reviews and tons of income, and like all of the risks seemed very validated. And then two weeks after opening, I woke up and my entire life changed because our entire account on Airbnb was suspended with no warning, with no recourse. And it was a much bigger deal than I expected because Airbnb basically told me, tough luck, there's absolutely nothing we can do. You cannot talk to that department, and sometimes these properties never come back online. And at that time, there were very few examples of and I really didn't know of any of you know Airbnb properties marketing directly. And so through through meeting a mentor randomly, because I wasn't really on social media at the time, I got the idea to run a giveaway with an influencer, spun up a website, threw up an Instagram page, Venmoed the lady $950, and you know, seven days later we had $40,000 of direct bookings, all yeah, all direct and over 5,000 followers, kind of starting from from scratch. And then just as luck would have it, or God or something, like two days later, Airbnb restored the entire account. So if it hadn't been for that window, I never would have took took that leap. And we doubled down and went all in direct and grew a pretty big following, about 130,000 followers in the first year. And then at the 18th, 18 month mark, with you know, with a million dollars top line the first 12 months, $550,000 of bottom line profit, 80% of all bookings direct. We sold the property and the brand for about three times what it cost us to build. And yeah, and now since then it has continued to expand the brand has the follower count. And so that's Live Oak Lake.
Connor Schwab:Cinderella story. You know, it's that's amazing. And what what would you attribute that success to? You know, was it the location? Was it the property design? Was it the unit design? Was it how you marketed it online? Like what do you attribute that to?
Isaac French:It's really difficult. I think it's impossible to pinpoint one thing. Specifically, I think it is the culmination of a ton of little things, little ordinary decisions that were made with just like an unreasonable amount of care and intention. And specifically in the design of it. So everything from the site plan and how we kind of leaned into the natural features of the property, the you know, the topography, we dug out this, we turned this swampy marsh into this beautiful lake. We cleared out all these briars to expose these incredibly beautiful live oak trees, and then we really built around that. And instead of trying to squeeze as many units as we possibly could to juice our numbers, we cut back on the number of units. We spent more money than we should have. And, you know, just in every way, even though the utilities cost us a lot more, the access did, we wanted to create the most magical experience possible. And I think you, I think the takeaway there is like you have to be a visionary. You have to be, and you have to have conviction because a lot of people are going to try to steer you away from, you know, again, spending, in that case, like $250,000 per 400 square foot cabin. And that's with, you know, with no design or construction management fees, because I was kind of doing all of that. There's so like I wasn't being driven by the numbers. I knew just like in my heart of hearts that the feeling would be there and the numbers and the money would follow if the feeling was there. And so the feeling was the product of all those little decisions, all the way down to you know, the silverware that's in the drawers, literally. And so I think that just being again unreasonable about all of those details, including in the hospitality itself. So I assume you've read that book, Unreasonable Hospitality.
Connor Schwab:I've I haven't read it like cover to cover, but I've like read sections. I'm very familiar with the concept.
Isaac French:It's like my favorite book. Definitely my favorite business book. But so yeah, I mean, I just love how simple he makes it because it applies to pretty much every business and every industry. But the you know, the the concept actually let me just look it up because there's this great quote that from Penn and Teller, the magic show. So this was Teller. He said, sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect. I think that's what it comes down to. It's just that that extra 20% in all those little details that produces that, you know, 80 or 800% effect. And if it means doing 50% less in terms of quantity or like footprint that you're trying to accomplish, but being more concentrated, this is the theme I try to drive home more than any other. If you want my number one piece of advice to build a world-class micro resort and it's that's just gonna crush it, or if you want my advice to like live a really meaningful life, I'm not that necessarily qualified to give it, but it's the same. Do less things and do them better. Do fewer things and do them better, build fewer units and spend more money. And so I think that that was the product.
Nick Purslow (Ad Read):Connor, do you want to talk about glamping permits for a second?
Connor Schwab:Yeah, it's it's hugely important. The two biggest roadblocks to getting you know glamping projects built is the funding and the entitlements and the permitting. So it's it's a really big deal.
Nick Purslow (Ad Read):Yeah, and it can be a very challenging and you know, sometimes quite intimidating process, not just putting all the materials together, but presenting it to the county, often going through the public hearing process, which can be really scary and sometimes quite nasty. And that's why it does help to have people who are used to doing this on your side. And that's why we're delighted to announce that uh today's sponsors are Clockwork Architecture and Design. They're an architecture firm based in Kansas City. They have a specialist outdoor hospitality division that have done tons of work in the glamping and RV resort space. They're experts at designing and permitting glamping resorts or whatever kind of outdoor hospitality project it is. They'll come to your property, walk the land with you, work at work through a concept with you, design the whole layout of the site, and then gather all the materials for the county, deal with the county, deal with the public hearings if you'd like them to. And they're just you know all-round fantastic partners to have on your side. And Connor, I know you and Sage have had some pretty good experiences with clockwork as well.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, we've we've been working with clockwork literally the entire time that I've been at the company, so for four years. And so we've done dozens and dozens of projects with them. And love the chance to get to work with them because you know they are the best and most experienced in the industry. They they really know outdoor hospitality and they've designed some world-class sites. It's just, yeah, they're they're very talented. You'd be in good hands to work with them.
Nick Purslow (Ad Read):Yeah, and I can't vouch highly enough for Christian Arnold at Clockwork, the owner. He's a you know fantastic guy who cares about what he does, looks after his clients, very reliable communication-wise as well. And yeah, we're we're super excited to partner with them on this. So if you are looking for site designs, you know, entitlement help, whatever it may be in that field, then do con contact Clockwork Architecture and Design. And the way you can do that is by emailing Christian at clockwork-ad.com. Uh, all the details will be in the description as well. So go check that out if you want. Um, so yeah, thank you, Clockwork. We couldn't recommend them highly enough. Go check them out.
Connor Schwab:I was perusing your website, isaacjFrench.com, and I I want to read your manifesto because I I think it's so poetic and eloquent. Beauty matters, and it starts small. Beautiful communities begin with welcoming homes. Before great towns, build warm kitchens and rich traditions, build for children to play and neighbors to gather. If you want to change the world, start small. Plant a tree, sweep your street, break bread, break bread with a stranger. Together we can make the world more beautiful. One corner, one space, one story at a time. Which god dang Isaac, that is like that just hits. And then your mission statement is I make art in nature, restoring old train cars, building cabins and villages, planting orchards and gardens, and making places that make you feel alive. But these aren't just spaces, they're immersive little worlds, they're experiences. Every moment and detail is designed to draw you in, a little like your favorite art or music does. And I think that's why your uh your you know personal brand and your uh properties have done so well. You're like the least uh commercial, like least a corporate guy I've ever, you know, followed who's you know so successful in business. For someone who's so successful in business, you seem to care very little about what most people in business care about, whether that's like profitability, bottom line, nail and scale, like IRR. Like I don't really hear you ever talking about those. It's it's it's more about like I'm gonna take care of the other person and the rest will take care of itself. And I think that's a huge key to your success in a really wholesome way. So like I I I love I love that aspect. And then how how how did this acquisition come about? Is it something you were expecting, or did you did you design with that in mind, or did someone just approach you?
Isaac French:In the back of my mind, the whole time we were building, I entertained the notion that one day we would sell, or at least we'd you know be open to it. It's really weird because when you go through, I mean, you've you you know you're an industry veteran, but like when you go through the blood, sweat, and tears to like give birth almost to a property like that, you become emotionally attached to some degree because it feels like your baby, but it but you also, like, for me at least in the moment, I was so burned out, to be honest. Like I was loving it, don't get me wrong, I loved it through and through. But the stress that comes even maybe it's just, you know, when you're compressing a timeline like that and all the things you have to battle through to make that happen, you know, the hundred-hour weeks nonstop, the delays, the setbacks, the price increases, the budget shortfalls, just everything, it adds up, and you sort of get a little bit burned out at times, and and you're like tempted to sort of take the payout. Now, in the moment, you can never do that because you've got to actually bring it to birth. Like, you've got to have that one thing, that one thing on your resume that will like hopefully help set their trajectory for the other things. But in the back of my mind, I was like, look, if somebody came along and wanted to pay us a bunch of money, I'm not gonna be sad. So it was a little bit of like that mixed with, I'm gonna be very sad because this is where I've emotionally invested my life. And it's the culmination of so many of my own personal passions and dreams. But basically, the way it happened is we listed the property for sale at four months in for what I thought was a crazy price. It was like six million dollars. We had we had spent, for context, 2.3 million to build it. And we got a ton of interest all of a sudden from buyers, which surprised me. What seemed to be interest, but I'd never been through the process. And it was really just tire kickers. It was people that, you know, had seen all of the hype around the property and really wanted to like dig into the numbers and just kind of, you know, glean whatever they could glean. And so the takeaway there was no serious buyer is going to entertain you if you don't have 12 months at least of operating history, no matter how strong your cash flow is, your follower growth, your projections, all that. I guess I didn't expect that because on the other hand, the bank had reappraised the property at four months in for twice what their initial appraisal had been. And we had refinanced it, we had completed a refinance six months after opening for a hundred percent of the entire construction cost, plus around $400,000, which is crazy. So we were we now had, you know, everybody paid off and we had $400,000 tax-free to reinvest however we wanted at four months, uh, six months. But the buyers like are they mean business and they want to see serious historical numbers at a T PL, a trailing 12-month PL. So we took it offline about a month later, and then at 12 months, relisted it. It also helps because we had a more specialized broker, shout out David Dumental with the Intrepid Group, who did a great drop, great job of just like sending it specifically to experiential buyers. And we got a bunch more interest now that we could demonstrate that those number that those projections actually came true. And we got under contract. So I'll just tell you the story real quick of like how it all happened. We got under contract for six six and a half million, which just seemed like a great price. The second time we relisted, we were a million higher than the first. But we came down a little bit, six and a half, and the buyer put down like 20 grand of earnest money, and uh they did due diligence, everything checked out. We were a day away from closing, and they scheduled this celebratory call, which I should have been suspect right away, to sort of just like, I guess, congratulate one another on the transaction before it had actually closed. So we get on the call, and their lawyers on the call, and he's like, actually, we need to tell you that we had a little hiccup with the financing. We want an additional two weeks. And I should have known right then and there, but basically the deal was through. They had already the deal was had fallen through. They had already, you know, for like several weeks at that point, been searching for a different loan because their original lender backed out and they never told us. So we ended up, you know, the next day they were like, sorry, we can't do it at all. So we we were now, you know, had no prospects on the line, but I had emotionally invested that we were about to sell, and so it was just a roller coaster. Uh we could barely like cover the attorney's fees with the earnest money that we had because they didn't have nearly enough. And then three days after that fell through, we get another LOI for seven million, so another half a million dollars. And the six and a half was the highest we'd gotten by a good margin. And so we got after a little negotiation, they wanted us to sell our finance a piece of it. I didn't want to do that, so we we negotiated it, but we got under contract for seven million, and then sure enough, that deal almost fell through, basically did fall through like three different times. We could have walked with a couple hundred thousand dollars of earnest money at one point, but we didn't want to, and so we gave them extra time, they got a loan, and we closed, you know, four months later, five months later. There's that great saying, fish swim, birds fly, and deals fall through. And we definitely experienced that. But yeah, so all in all, it was it was a very educational experience, the selling process, which honestly, as a kind of a lifelong learner and just like a very curious person, similar to the building of Live Oak Lake and not just the the property and the construction and the design aspects, but the brand and the marketing and the operational aspects, I just love learning. And so I felt like I was just getting like a master's level education in all of these different disciplines and aspects of business, of real estate, of life, of negotiation. And so yeah.
Connor Schwab:What was your biggest takeaway from the transaction of like actually selling? And I'm interested because I'm going the brokerage route myself, so I'm gonna be help focused on helping people buy and sell these types of properties. So I'm curious selfishly as well.
Isaac French:I mean, I would have probably done some things differently before long before we sold, like in the way we structured the business. I'm a big fan of an opco propco model. When I set up Live Oak Lake, it was just all under one entity, and so the beauty of it is very simple. We just sold the whole thing as it was, and it certainly depends on what your goals are. But knowing now, without giving too many specifics, because a lot of this just is kind of hypothetical, but there is a high premium placed on the brand component of that exit, but the brand encompassing the social media following, you know, the newsletter, and obviously the reputation and goodwill. But the intangibles themselves were a lot of money, a big portion of that. And so, you know, is there a case where you could sell the real estate and keep hold of the brand and do like a franchise agreement? Yeah, absolutely. And I I think that that model is like really, really great if you do it well. So that's one thing I would have at least split out to have again as just an option when we sold. And and we could have also made that change probably like retrospectively before we sold, but the broker didn't tell me about it. We didn't, I didn't really think it through, and we ended up, you know, selling for a good price for the whole thing anyway. So it worked out. That's one thing. And I guess the other big thing is like I already mentioned it, but like have plenty of earnest money, and this applies to all real estate transactions, but like there is so much work that goes into it, and there's attorneys' fees and so many other things. And I just totally blew it on that first time. We did not, we did not have nearly enough in the contract. Obviously, like it's not gonna go hard until due diligence is done, and that's good because they need to be able to fully underwrite everything and and have a full you know look behind the hood. But after that period of time, you've got again, you've invested so much of your own time and resources and attorneys and all of that, you want to cover yourself. So definitely have like more than enough hard earnest money.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, that is that is super interesting. And if I recall correctly, because I've looked, Isaac made public a lot of the details of your operating history and I think the acquisition itself. And the they gave you quite a large premium for the brand. Wasn't it like a million? Like out of a seven million dollar deal, wasn't it like a million placed on the brand?
Isaac French:They didn't specify that, but based on based on knowledge that I have firsthand of just being a party to the transaction, it was. It was a it was a big portion. It was, you know, uh it was probably seven figures.
Connor Schwab:It doesn't usually go that way. I feel like oftentimes brands aren't given a seven-figure value, especially one that's been around for twelve, twelve to sixteen months. So, you know, kudos to you for for creating something with that much value. That's interesting that you would have so you would have held on to the maybe the Live Oak Lake brand and just sold the property and maybe done it in a couple more markets, basically.
Isaac French:Yeah, potentially. I mean again, with my philosophy and especially just wanting to be able to control every aspect of the experience. I'm not sure that that's the way I would I would want to go if I was gonna be, you know, whether it was I own the real estate or I own the brand. Because the thing is like you're losing control, inevitably. Like you can maintain more control over the experience if you own the brand, because depending on the agreement, you can stipulate that. But I mean, you just don't the owner, no one cares, no one cares about anything like the person who created it, and you know, even more so. Well, let me say it like this no one cares about anything like the person who owns the thing, but even more so, no one cares about it like the person who created it. And there is a distinction there. And so I think it was best that I that I sold everything wholesale, but I I think I see a lot of other transactions and a lot of other sh you know transactions. Trajectories of similar types of properties that I feel like are most optimized by having the separation there. Because, you know, if you look at like all of the top brands in the space, brands, the top players, they are at least a bipart, usually a tripart structure where they have a brand, an operating company, and a real estate company. So I think it gives you maximum flexibility if you do want to scale. And I do think at some point, though the future certainly seems to be more decentralized than the past in terms of brands, in terms of distribution, in terms of customer preferences and whatnot, there will be, there will certainly be some merit to having to having a brand that is overarching and to having the loyalty, the trust aspects that come with that. Whether it's soft, a soft brand association or, you know, something like an Amon style branding, which we could geek out all about brands, but I love particularly because like they keep the Amon name and all the properties, but then they have a different ending that sort of mysteriously ties into the local terrar and the story of the place of every one of their resort locations. So there is definitely a lot to be said for having you know that overarching brand structure, and especially if you're eyeing some kind of more institutional level exit, because as you and I both know, there's been multiple transactions, even in our space, in the hospitality space over the last few years that are just crazy. I mean, obviously way more impressive than Live Oak Lake and on a on a bigger scale, whether that's graduate hotels selling for $150 million just for the brand, for a 50-unit portfolio, again, no real estate, just the brand, or getaway, which included both, but clearly a big premium being placed on the brand that was amassed.
Connor Schwab:Yeah. And do you know what it, you know, for your buyers, do you know what it was that made them attracted to your property and your deal and like what they valued most about it? Do you have any idea?
Isaac French:He was the brand for sure. The the following and the hype and the the PR and yeah, the the distribution. I again I said it's going to be decentralized, and that means that the gatekeepers, the traditional gatekeepers are being pushed out of the way, whether it's the OTAs or you know, traditional media in in every genre, gatekeepers are being pushed aside, and there's never been an opportunity like there is now to own your own destiny. And I think the play for them was more or less we can we can jumpstart our own ambitions to create a brand and to leverage a brand to create other brands, specifically even with the social media following. What if I may without being too critical, what I think that some people miss, and this may apply to even the Live Oak Lake story, is that having, and everyone knows follower account means less and less than ever before. Having the distribution built in, whether that's 130,000 followers or you know, an 80% historical direct bookings rate or a 20% repeat direct bookings rate, whatever the metric looks like, is very different from being able to continue to grow that audience and to reach new people and to nurture the existing the existing people. And you can't take that like it's easy to take that for granted by having all these great numbers, especially follower account, I feel like. So I think that that was maybe a little bit, a little bit of a misnomer because the ability to create the content and to constantly innovate in how you are reaching new people is you know, it cannot be overstated. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. So there's a kid right now, you've probably seen him on Instagram, 22 years old, just graduated from the University of Virginia, was inspired by Live Oak Lake. And so he and a and a and a fellow student scraped together, he sold shoes for like during his college years, like resold shoes on eBay to save up enough money to get a down payment to buy like one acre. And then, you know, got a loan, but committed early on, he was going to document the journey on social media. And so every single day, it's been about four to five months now, I would say, he's posted a reel, like day, and it's in a series format. So day one or day 66 of building Virginia's number one luxury short-term rental. Like that's his hook. And he has gotten like literally hundreds of millions of views and hundreds, like he's up to over 500,000 followers in like four months with this one project. I mean, he's like, I just saw today he posted a story talking to Gary Vee, like he's talking to absolutely everyone because he's just the most viral kid, pretty much, on the internet right now. And he's building this cabin. So that ability to be able to create, and there's a lot of reasons for that. He's great at like compressing a storyline. He's just great at content, like all the things. He knows how to do a hook, he knows how to do the correct cuts, he knows how to tell a micro story, he knows how to tie those stories together into like episodes almost into this entire season, this entire project. And I mean, he's about now he's closing, he's under contractor on 40 additional acres, has like millions of dollars committed because they a bunch of investors now want him to like build a whole resort. So that skill set, if someone's smart, they would they would make that a talent play and not buy his property or buy his following, but buy him basic, basically, like recruit him to be part of a team to market. And and that is worth its weight in gold, like what he has there. And Gary V's advice, it's funny because right before we jumped on this, I just happened to see this story, and it was funny because he was replaying this little screen recording from their call was basically like, dude, you need to quadruple down on what you're doing now. And this kid's posting one reel a day, like it's almost all he does because he has to go around, shoot the whole thing, like it's pretty much his full-time job to post content. The guy, and Gary Vee's like, which, you know, do I subscribe to that mentality? Like, okay, maybe at his stage of life, that's that's great. He doesn't have a family, like that's his life. And I think that you need to make those sacrifices in those different seasons in your life. But anyways, I think it's I think there is definitely something there. Like, if you find, if you find that, you know, that little vein of gold, you need to go all in on digging that thing out and and not just guarding what you have or just sort of like idolizing what you've already accumulated, which would be analogous to buying a big follower account, you know, account that doesn't include any of the actual ability to go out and and get more.
Connor Schwab:That is super interesting. And it kind of jump leads into a question I was going to ask you, and you mentioned it a little bit earlier, but the decentralization and the removing of the gatekeepers, I assume you're basically referring to like the power of social media and the power for any individual to get an audience and capture attention, regardless of their size, basically, as long as you're good at content like this kid, you know. He's just he's just a 22-year-old with no money, and now he's huge.
Isaac French:Essentially, TikTok's TikTok changed the entire trajectory of social media and of media a few years ago because their algorithm discovered before anyone anyone else that how to create a curate a feed for an individual user, no matter what their likes or preferences were, that would keep them scrolling and engaged on the platform for longer than anyone else could, regardless of what the content was and quicker than anyone else could. So then all the other platforms essentially have followed suit in how their algorithms have changed, which means a net result of follower account means less and less and less. If you have 5,000 followers, or if you have 500,000 followers, it really doesn't make a huge difference. What makes a huge difference is depending on the format, let's let's say it's Instagram or TikTok, the first three seconds and the first 10 seconds of your video, do those capture people? If it's YouTube, what is the first two minutes? And then like what is the retention at 50% of the way through? So again, like the regardless of the platform, having the ability to hook people and tell a story is what matters more than ever before. And and that's great for new creators because going from zero to one is easier than ever. And then if you zoom way out, yeah, so the booking channel of the future, I think, is social media for sure, hands down, no question about it. So there will always be inventory on the OTAs, whether it's booking.com or Expedia or Virgo or Airbnb, that will be commoditized type of stays. That will be, you know, standard apartments and undifferentiated homes. But for any type of unique, you know, kind of story-driven properties, like there's such a huge advantage to going so to going direct. I just don't see why anyone wouldn't. And if sure, and that's sure enough, what has happened over the past few years, even since we've sold and continues to happen, which so not only is the media and the distribution being decentralized, but the actual creation and the actual type of product that's coming online, that's being decentralized as well. So you now you have a 22-year-old college kid literally building Virginia's number one short-term rental. And I think that's great because I am all about like empowering the little guys, and we constantly need that disruption. We need to disrupt ourselves. Like it's so easy to figure out the status quo. I mean, no, I'm not trying to get on my soapbox here, but take Live Oak Lake, for instance. This, the cabin style that was fairly innovative and unique, like when we did it, has become so ubiquitous. And I don't mean that in a bad way. Like, I think it's cool, like it's a classy, kind of timeless style. And I think a lot of people appreciate Nordic design. But I mean, just go on Pinterest, go on Instagram, go on Airbnb, and look. Like, there are so many black, Scandinavian, modern cabins and A-frames. And I'm not saying I was the first one, but so you need disruption. You need people doing new things.
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Connor Schwab:I I love the way that you described social media as what was a a portal inviting an opportunity to connect in real life was the most optimistic and that that made me like social media you know more more than I do. So I love that description. And all right, I've got I've got a I would like to own and operate my own property, and my dream and vision for it is, and I have no problem sharing this, but my whole thing is the entire experience is based around turning in your cell phone and all screens when you arrive at the gate of the premise. And that is the you know, it's an adults-only experience where uh the entire experience is built around yeah, turning in all your screens and technology, and it's a mandatory requirement. Like you cannot bring phones, laptops, tablets, any of that. It's not allowed on the property. And like the in and you know there's obviously a nature component and an experiential component after that, but like that is the it's like, hey, get away. Like this is a real, a forced disconnect. And uh yeah, I was just curious. And I I'm almost interested in taking it one step further, or if I launch this, you know, philosophical property, is that we have no social media and we have we we even don't have photos of the property on the website, it all remains uh an enigma. And all we have is photos and videos of literally the front gate. And the only way for you to truly see what is inside the property is to go experience it yourself. You you there is no sharing of the units or the property or the art or the landscape. You just have to see it in person, and then you don't mark it on social media, you simply have to be told by someone who's been there that like it even exists. And I was just like, and it's just this idea of getting, you know, we've gone so far in the social media direction. Is there a possibility where you revert back to, you know, like caveman word of mouth pretty much only? And does that work? I'd I'm curious if what your opinion is on that.
Isaac French:Uh man, it it fires me up. I mean, I love the idea. Of course, the the hard part is like how you get from zero to one, I guess, because you've got to have that spark, even just financially, to get off the ground. But then I I totally think you've got these tailwinds that would propel it because what you're describing is such a universal sentiment.
Connor Schwab:Yeah, I think people are craving that that old in time thing. And we're there's so much looking for shortcuts with like, you know, you call in and you get a dial-in menu or an AI robot, and you can book online and look how easy it is to book online. And yeah, I just want to revert back to everything where it's like, no, no, no, you you can't even make a reservation online. You have to call the number and speak with a super nice, caring human who is gonna like book your reservation for you, and that and that's a requirement. And there's just no shortcuts, and you just have to do it all for real.
Isaac French:You know, the the funny thing is that all the like some of the SaaS companies today, software companies that I hate their guts, but they use that they they apply that mentality to how you cancel your software subscription, which is the exact is the only place I don't want to do that. They're like, no, to cancel this, like I'm just gonna call them out. Adobe is terrible about this. But if you ever sign up for any Adobe product and then you want to cancel it, you gotta literally like call them and like wait on a whole line and do a puzzle and like tell them when your mom was born and where she was born and like all this random stuff to cancel your $30 subscription. So they got the right idea, but they're obviously using it to their advantage. But yeah, no, I totally agree with you.
Connor Schwab:That sounds like the Comcast like internet internet phone service. I don't know how it was in Texas in Waco, but that's the way it was back home. Like to cancel, yeah, exactly. Oh man. Well, I'm really happy that we went down that rabbit hole. And that is very that is very confidence and and hope inspiring. So thank you. I know you're a little we're coming up on an hour. I know you mentioned you had to jump, or do we we haven't even gotten in into any of the things I was planning on?
Isaac French:Let's keep going. We're good right now. We're we're good right now.
Connor Schwab:All right. So so I guess tell me since you sold Live Oak Lake, just give us like a little bit of update on you know what you're working on now and you know what the future holds for you. What's next?
Isaac French:Sure. So I took a step back. We had our first, we welcomed our first son shortly before selling Live Oak Lake, and now we've had another one since. So we've got my wife and I have two little boys. We live on a farm here in Texas, half mile from where I grew up, a quarter mile from where she grew up, and we love our life. We we have, you know, I would attribute so much of any any good thing that I have to my childhood and the way that my parents raised raised me, which is very similar to what we're doing with them. And we're gonna homeschool them and you know have animals and a farm. So they're gonna grow up building forts and trails in the woods and all that good stuff. In addition to that, we have we're very plugged in with our church. We've been on, I just counted up, and this is not a flex, but I was just just since this does account for a lot of our time, we've been on six missions trips in the past just over a year. We love that. It's very meaningful, and it's also good, again, to travel and just see other parts of the world, see how other people live, be reminded of how privileged we are here in the United States and all the things we take for granted. And I really look forward as our kids growing up to immersing them in those experiences as well. And of course, I've been doing a lot of these events this year. I also have experiential hospitality in my community. We are up to around, I don't know, 220 active builders and operators around the country now, which is fun. I'm very invigorated by seeing the other types of properties and concepts that other folks are inspired about and building and helping out in some way. And I've built the Nook, which is my studio where I am today, also like a guest house. We host a lot of folks here. If you come to Texas, would love to host you. And we maybe my wildest project has been this orchard. So a couple years ago, we had this five-acre field just, I don't know, 300 yards from my front door. And it was just barren and and and a little bit of an ice or when you would drive past. So got our hands on that and then kind of called a meet. Well, first, like went through Pinterest. Like, I never had an orchard. I mean, I grew up, our family had a garden and we grew some fruit trees, but I never liked gardening. I hated that. But I just had this dream, kind of similar to the genesis of Live Oak Lake, to create this beautiful place in nature and to build an orchard that was as beautiful as it was fruitful and productive. And sort of kind of kind of like throwing out any idea of like this needs to make money, this needs to have a business model. Just wanted to do a passion project, essentially. And there's a lot of elements to it that appealed to me. I think tree, fruit trees are beautiful and amazing, and there's so many parallels to like humans and trees together, to like communities and the way trees communicate and you know, like pass nutrients to one another. There's just so many incredible things to learn. But also as a generational kind of project to do with my kids, to pass on to their kids. Like if you do it right, an orchard should last tree should, you know, depending on the variety, but last 30 to 50 years, produce fruit. And so there's something, there's like a timeless generational, you know, thinking about two generations ahead of you aspect to it that I that really appeals to me. So we in three months kind of put together this pretty incredible 200-tree orchard trenched in a ton of irrigation, but then went like the extra mile, kind of the the live oak lake approach to an orchard. So the details on like all the gates, the stamped, curved pathways that meander through the space, leading to this little garden in Pergola in the heart of the orchard with a water feature and a koi pond and just beautiful climbing roses and little lights and a and a windmill and a water tower to store water for the trees, and just like bringing all those elements together into like as magical of an experience as we kind of dream up. So we did all that and then planted the trees, and they're now two and a half years old, they're thriving, they're like tripled in, they've tripled in size. We've pruned three, two, two, two times. We had our first kind of first fruits harvest this year, and next year, fall goes well. We're gonna have our first like major harvest. So now I'm kind of like trying to figure out what is the business model because we need to kind of you know build the plane now that we're flying it a little bit. So uh one thing in addition to like the the obvious things like you you pick fruit and you know, some partnering with a local producer to create jams and jellies and whatnot. I want to host events, so small weddings, workshops, photography workshops, orcharding workshops, those kind of things. So there probably will be some hospitality element to it as well.
Connor Schwab:And so there's no overnight accommodation units at this property. It's it's the orchard and some of those other kind of amenities or structure, but there's no beds on this property, right?
Isaac French:Now I've always had a dream of doing like an orchard hotel where you'd have like pods, you know, kind of floating in trees. I don't know if that's the right property. You've got kind of two roads on on two sides of it, and you got some other residences kind of pretty, pretty close by. So ideally, you would have something even a little bigger, a little bit more expansive to really hide you in in the space. I actually was just in on one of the mission trips in Mexico, met a farmer who grows apples and has like these huge orchards. And so I when I walked through those, I was like, oh, this would be the place to do that. And so I told him, have you ever considered kind of even diversifying your business a little bit? And he was just like mind-blown. Like, of course, he had never thought of that. But now he's like, Hey, I think I'm actually gonna take you up on that. I think I want to do that, I think that's a great idea. He's a little, he's a little unsure of like, can we really market this? Like, are people really gonna come here? But I'm pretty confident that they will if he does it right. So it's fun. Maybe I'll have an opportunity that there to help realize that part.
Connor Schwab:And and your property has 50 different varieties on it. So that orchard has 50 different types of fruit?
Isaac French:Sub varieties at least. So as far as main varieties, yeah, we've got everything you can grow in Tex in Central Texas. So we've we've got apples, pears, plums, plumcots, peaches, apricots, pomegranates, grapes, pecans, mulberries, quince, what am I missing? Figs. Those are all, and probably more I'm not thinking of. Those are all like the main varieties. And then of each of those, there's probably three to five sub varieties. So yeah, at least 50.
Connor Schwab:Gosh, Isaac, I like your I love your style. The it's like what you said about Penn and Teller. Magic is anything anyone's willing to spend a ridiculous amount of time on. And it's, you know, and I just love your concept of, you know, hyper focused on ordinary things to take them to extraordinary. And yeah, I mean, what a what an amazing thing just to have in the family where it's like, oh, we could get you know 80% of the you know, fruits or or tree foods that you could want, you know, fresh, organic in the backyard. Like what a what a great thing to have in the family. So I I really appreciate that take. And as a wedding venue, that that seems like a big hit. And so so what's what's next? Do you have other properties that you're eyeing your you are shepherding a lot of people through your experiential hospitality group, which I've been a part of for probably a year. It's awesome. Some of the brightest, most creative minds are in there. I know like Tori and Seth Bolt and Ben Wolf and a bunch of other huge hitters are in there sharing resources, talking, supporting each other, helping, posting deals. Uh it's been a really awesome community, so I I recommend it. If anyone's it's experientialhospitality.com, right? If people want to recommend it. Yeah. So so what's the what's the focus for you? You mentioned YouTube content, you you got the EH, you maybe have other properties. Like, yeah, like what's what are you looking at?
Isaac French:Yeah, so there's a great piece of advice I heard recently, which is like if you want to know who you really are as a person and you're an adult, then close your eyes and travel back in time to when you were between the ages of eight and eleven, and then remember like what did you go to bed thinking about at night that was like so exciting you couldn't go to sleep? And what was that thing that woke you up in the morning? And I've realized that kind of what I'm the life I'm living today in a lot of ways is kind of a another iteration of those same things. Like I was building tree forts in the woods, and I was creating little videos on iMovie, and so uh there's something about building cool places, like building worlds, but also telling some of these stories, and I think there's like some overlap there that I really like, and so making films and making places is kind of like the thing that I want to do for the next chapter, and finding ways where those things kind of again overlap and support each other. But so YouTube I've dove headfirst into over the last two or three months and just really invested in these first videos. I enjoy the like the scientific aspect of like trying to figure out what makes a good YouTube video, but more than that, I enjoy the art of like learning how to tell a good story and how to put together something that's beautiful visually. So of course I I am an artist at the end of the day, so I I draw a lot and I've also been doing some of that as well. But I think I think I'm really gonna continue to like try to hone the craft of making films because I really enjoy that. And like again, a little bit of a longer format, like at least 15 minutes.
Connor Schwab:So what what kind of like what's a can you give me an example of like what one of these 15-minute films is? I wasn't aware that you were doing this.
Isaac French:Yeah, so yeah, I mean, go to the YouTube and look search Isaac French and you'll find the first few the first few that I that we've made are basically many documentaries telling the stories of some of our pro my projects as well as some of our family's projects. So we haven't even talked about some of the stuff we've been up to in Idaho, which is where I used to live.
Connor Schwab:I did watch that video actually.
Isaac French:Which we've done a number of things. We've bought an old train car, we bought an old train depot, we have bought an old farm, we've bought a bunch of buildings in this old town and restored them and opened a bakery, a creamery, you know, more cool Airbnbs. Actually, the one I just released today is maybe one of the most exciting ones, and I've never shared about this on social, so it's brand new. But basically, we bought this old cabin up in the wilderness, two hours away. Like the town that my family lives in is already like way out the beam path. I mean, it's hours from an interstate, an airport, a major city. This cabin is another hour, just like in the middle of nowhere. And you got to drive down like 45 minutes of just dirt roads to get there. But there was this end holding in the National Forest. We got it for 2,000 bucks an acre. And then as a family, like my brothers and I kind of bit off different parts of it, took down this hundred-year-old homesteaders cabin that was about to, you know, crumble anyways, repoard the foundation, restacked the logs, which is what we could salvage, and then in like five weeks, start to finish, rebuilt it into this beautiful off-grid little escape. There's a year-round creak out the front door, and it's just this magical little piece of heaven. So that's another one. So I've been telling those stories, and then I guess using this as an opportunity again to learn the craft. So, from like an editing perspective, I've worked with an editor on some of that stuff, but now like I'm going deep because I'm working on my first one that I'm kind of doing mostly pretty much all myself, which is something totally different, actually. It's much more personal. So I love this. I feel like a little kid, again, like learning how to create films. And I don't know, we'll see where that path leads, but I I think there is some overlap again where you're like building worlds by creating films and creating places. So I'm inspired to to pursue that and and you know, kind of figure out what the business is behind that as we go along. But I do, I think I'm at a crossroads and I I'm genuinely like telling you everything I know. It's not like I have some secret plan, but I do feel like in the near future I'm going to find it. Like I feel like I'm very close to it, whatever that is, in terms of the next business, the next real business and where I want to go with this. Just all these experiences we've talked about kind of coming together for the next thing. So stay tuned for that. And whatever it is, my goal is not to scale it to the moon as always. It's like to be a craftsman, to be an artist, to lead by example, to practice what I'm preaching about like doing fewer things but doing them better. And at the end of the day, to build a life and a livelihood that honors God, that's meaningful to work in, that is, you know, centered around my family and not at odds with it and create more beauty in the world.
Connor Schwab:Incredible. I I I love it. And that saying that you keep using, I think at least someone told me it's a German saying. It's less but better. And I need to find like the actual German translation.
Isaac French:I have not heard that. I mean, it's I'm sure somebody else said it before I did, but that's really interesting. I'd love to hear what other people say.
Connor Schwab:Yeah. Less but better. And it's and it's beautiful. And a lot of people attribute that to like, you know, Apple's success and a lot of other companies where they have like 60 products and they're like, no, no, we're gonna do 12 better than anybody, and that that whole sort of thing. And I got a question for you, Isaac. When are you gonna do a tree house? What do you do with a tree house?
Isaac French:Good question. There's I feel like there's actually uh I don't know. Some unique opportunity because there are a lot of commoditized tree houses these days. And don't get me wrong, like no shade. There's some incredible properties, but that call themselves tree houses and are either one of two things, very kitschy and too treehousey, or not really a technically a treehouse. They're like a little home on stilts in the trees. So I think it would be pretty fun. I actually I don't are you on my newsletter, Connor? I am, and it's awesome. A while back, thank you, of like maybe a few months ago, I did a little series and went down the rabbit hole of tree houses, and that was so fun. Like I kind of tried to deep dive what are the best real tree houses in the world and found a number that I hadn't seen before, because I've seen a bunch of like the famous ones that are really inspiring. So that was that was fun, and I would love to do something like that. Again, I think nature is the place people feel the most alive, as evidenced by the orchard and the live oaks at Live Oak Lake. Like trees mean a lot to me. Trees are maybe my favorite piece of nature, individual ingredient of nature, if you will. They're absolutely incredible. Like the way they function, the language they speak, like the way they're built to endure and be resilient in the fa in the face of adversity is just incredibly inspiring. And I agree with you. I need to do one.
Connor Schwab:I'm uh I'm amazed how many parallels you and I have. So I I have a bunch of brothers. I just did a podcast recording on like me and my own story, so it should launch before this. But we our dad built us a tree house when we were kids, and then over the next decade we added it, and then ultimately it became a four-story treehouse, expanded out and had all these cables and electricity and you know, a trapdoor and a rope ladder and all this stuff. And we also recorded a bunch of home videos, you know, with the freaking, you know, the old cameras and made all these videos in our backyard, you know, like Tomb Raider and James Bond and like all these different things. So do you have any pictures of that four-story treehouse? That sounds incredible. I have one. We uh you know it was like before the age of like taking photos. We have one of it, probably like 70% of its peak, but uh I'll shoot you uh I'll shoot you a photo of it. And but yeah, that is kind of my dream as well, is to get back to the basics with with with a treehouse someday like we used to have growing up. And I've felt uh personally a huge call to work with my hands more and get away from you know laptops and things because it just it's just I think led to a really big burnout that I ha have like been navigating and to just get out and be using my hands. And for you to be, you know, building this business around your your family and your you know your siblings, also your kids and your wife, and to be, you know, obviously there's a there's an internet and real world component to it, but to also be out and doing this stuff with your hand, with your hands, I'm just it's very inspiring. So thanks.
Isaac French:There is a connection there that is so incredible that was, I guess, instilled in me from and it I feel like even some of us that are a little bit older that grew up at like I grew up kind of in the transition of like the smartphone era and really like the home computer era, even. And my parents were already pretty intentional about trying to limit some of those things just because they wanted to emphasize like the the analog, you know, real life working with your hand skills and critical thinking. But so I I think it's kind of like a privilege to have been to grow up in that to have grown up in that era, not to say that there aren't some incredible tools out there now, but no, I I think that more than ever, people are starving for it, they see it, and it's important that we provide places. And for me, that I you know, lead by example and like how I'm raising my own kids, but emphasize the importance of working with your hands. I mean, even scientifically, like it's incredible the kind of research that's out there that shows success by various metrics of having good like hand-eye coordination, which can all completely be influenced and fostered by the say the way that you are, the way that you grow up, the activities that you do, the way you're schooled. And I guess maybe in part of it is like when I wasn't building stuff with my hands as a kid, I was drawing or sketching and like learning to see beauty in the world. And I'm very grateful for that. But it's made a huge difference. And I think it's way more important than because you're saying you're setting the foundation in a lot of ways for everything that comes after that, including education, like higher education and whatnot. Like it's way more important. I never went to college than in my opinion, like going to college, minus a few disciplines, like how you're actually wired as a person, which in a lot of ways is influenced by the things that you do growing up. So couldn't agree more. Man, uh too fun.
Connor Schwab:Do you uh I was just we're just totally getting off the glamping track and I'm I'm loving it, so sorry, audience. But uh one of the things I've talked a lot about lately is you know intentional living communities, and I just I think a lot about raising kids today, and I feel like who who you're like raising your kids around, because if all your kids have smartphones, sorry, if all your kids' friends have smartphones, then it's super hard and like almost mean to not give them a smartphone because they're gonna be kind of like alienated by that. So you almost need all the kids in your like community or school to to not have smartphones too for it to work. So I think a lot about you know having like a cult-de-sac or a values-driven community in terms of like how you're you know raising a family. And I was like, Is that on your radar at all? I know you have I feel like it's very adjacent to all the things that you're doing, but are are you thinking about that or working on that?
Isaac French:Yeah, I mean, have you read or heard about any of this the way I about the community that we live in? I've talked about a little bit. Okay, so just in a nutshell, yeah, we're part of a it's faith-based, it's a Christian community, but think of it as almost like the modern version of Amish. So we like farm with horses and grow a lot of our own food. We homeschool our kids, but it but it's a community. So there's high school grades, like I teach a high school grade, actually, are more community-centric. There are tons of shared events and music and you know, a craft school and a craft village with cottage industry and businesses that sort of support one another, and craftsmen like actually working and teaching those skills, and just dads like being very plugged in, working a lot from home or near home a lot of the a lot of the times. And so, yeah, technology, for instance, is something like even today, like none of the kids growing up here have phones until they're like 18. Like, no one. And so, like, that's again for me. I grew up because there weren't we didn't have phones anyways until I was about 17 or 18. And then everybody started getting phones, but I didn't have one until I was 19. And so, like, yeah, there's we're very aligned on a lot of those on those values. And again, like it's absolutely I owe everything to that. Like, it's incredible. And and my appreciation increases for it because I see how rare that is today. And I think it's uh a big part of my mission is actually, and for me, you know, faith is at the center of it, but I do think that like community is a universal thing that we're all hungering for, and we've got to find that somewhere just as a solution to so many of the ailments of our broader culture. And it just feels like even politically, like things are more divided than they've ever been, and there's always the temptation to get more divided. And I, as part of like my own stewardship and of like my platform, my responsibility, again, I want to make a mark and find a way to influence in the right way. But like again, we host people here all the time. I want to show real community and an alternative way of living is possible. We didn't even talk about any of that. But again, I could describe it to you, I can send you send you videos on it, I can send you books, but like you got to come and actually see it and see it work to really understand it. And we're not the only version. Like there's again, there's a lot of great forms of that, but that's what really fires me up.
Connor Schwab:What's the what's the physical layout of that? How like how yeah, is are you guys all neighbors, or is it like, hey, we're just people, and then there's like a church or something where we actually go gather, or yeah.
Isaac French:Yeah, so we're it's it's actually kind of broader movement now. There's about 15 of these around the world, including that location in Idaho where most of my family lives, and each one has a different flavor. The the constant is like the church aspect for us. Like, we're again like that's the center of it for for what for why we're doing it. But the way it looks here in Texas, we have like a 400-acre farm that was purchased jointly like 30 years ago. And then over time, you know, people moved there and developed businesses and whatnot. And so, like the homesteads have now or have either become or are in the process of being completely privatized. So everyone owns their own land, but then there's a lot of shared spaces and like commercial spaces. And then, like in in Texas here, maybe only a third of the actual group lives on the land and owns property on in the central area, and the rest would be adjacent or close by and like a 15-minute radius, and would come together for events for church and what have you. But then a lot of the other locations are smaller. Like here, we're at like 1200 people and it's growing quickly, like there's just a huge demand. So a lot of them have have like spread out, moved away, started planted other communities. So, like in Idaho, it looks different. They they do collectively own a piece of land, but it's much smaller. The group's like maybe 200 folks. Most people don't live there, they just live nearby. And then, like in that case, they have a community building and like a community garden and different things that come together on the land. But then they also again have like partnered to buy all these different buildings in this little town to help give back to the community, revitalize that, and then again create like a local economy effect that's bigger than just our community that employs outside people, that brings tourism to the area and what have you. So there's a whole spectrum of of these.
Connor Schwab:Particularly like in America, of having having m more of this, you know, like values-based communities that are popping up and you know, like yeah, trying to create an uh an upbringing that's maybe a little bit insulated from some of the like technology and marketing advertising that's so pervasive in today. And you know, that certainly could uh center or tie around you know hospitality and you know all these things that that that we've talked about today. I guess as maybe uh as a closing, we have talked about it a lot. And I guess it is there anything that you you've kind of talked about as far as like focusing on something really small and authentic, but I guess you know, is there any advice you've had for operators or if there's anywhere that you're putting a bet on like the future of hospitality or like running a business in this space that you'd want to impart on folks who are getting into you know unique or outdoor hospitality as well?
Isaac French:Yeah, I think that what I said about you know the whole ethos of doing less but doing it more is like the only good piece of advice I can really give that applies to everyone. But as far as a niche or kind of like a sub-niche of experiential hospitality, and given all the context of what we talked about, it might make more sense. But I'm by far the most bullish on farm hospitality. And I think that that is by far and away the biggest opportunity in the space as far as demand and what I'm seeing that people actually want, what guests want, what resonates when I talk about it, when we've gone and experienced some of these places. And just to like tiny bit of context, if you look at Europe, the idea of agritourism has been around for a long time. And there's a like Italy, for example, is full of agritourismo's like farms that have lodging, and there's other countries too, but there that's a lot more well known there. And that concept, but also short-term rentals and Airbnb, you know, basically bed and breakfast were Europe was way ahead of the US in that as well. So like they're just further ahead, and they're also just they're just an older, you know, culture and and and history than we have. So I think the puck here in the States, especially, is going more and more that direction. Of course, we already know wellness is probably the number one trend in travel right now. Wellness is just a buzzword, though, and I and whatever. I haven't personally experienced some of the more high-tech forms of that, like cryotherapy and all that stuff. I really believe at the end of the day, like wellness, getting back to biophilic design, at its essence comes down to being in nature, finding the like natural rhythms of life, like coming up when the sun rises and going to bed when the sun sets, or or like using soft, warm lights at night, being in touch with like plants and living organisms. And so taking a walk with no distractions around you and letting your mind wander, all those simple things that we take for granted, like we probably agree on that, but that's the most well like you could possibly be in in my mind in a lot of ways. Like, and that's also the most to me, like the most exciting, inspiring environment I can be in in terms of generating new ideas, solving problems, relieving stress, what have you. So there's some convergence between like farm hospitality and wellness, hospitality coming together. And it's not just rural areas and farms. I think that that in and of itself is a huge opportunity, but more urban environments too, even just sprinkling in some element of growing food and introducing nature to your property. Now, the final thing on that is historically it's been very hard to marry those skill sets. So farming and agriculture is a very generally like utilitarian mindset, and hospitality and luxury and design and comfort is a very opposite skill set. And so they have a hard time going together. If you can find a way to bring them together, that's the magic and that's the that's the opportunity. So whether that's partnering with the farmer or developing an orchard stay or you know, bringing in the culinary aspect of that, people want to get back to their roots, literally, quite literally. And so this is to me what's personally most exciting and would probably be a big part of whatever I do next in the hospitality space. And I also think as a broader theme, it's the biggest opportunity out there.
Connor Schwab:Yeah. It back getting back to the basics. We're we're very aligned on that. And and yeah, for me, for me, wellness is kind of exactly what you mentioned. It's like getting back to these fundamental human experiences that we're so distanced from now. Whether it's looking up at stars or sitting around a campfire or you know, picking your own apples or you know, like w whatever it might be, going on a walk undistracted. Yeah. So inspiring stuff. Do you have any asks of the audience?
Isaac French:That newsletter I care the most about. I I love writing that every Tuesday morning. You can get it at IsaacJFrench.com. Short lessons and stories on design, hospitality, and yeah, building a better life and business. And you can find me on socials at IsaacFrench underscore.
Connor Schwab:And I definitely recommend the newsletter. It's awesome. I don't read hardly any newsletters at all. And I do always read Isaacs when I see them pop up in my inbox. They're great. You're you're quite a talented writer. It's very big compliment, Connor. I appreciate that a lot. It's nice to hear. All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. It's such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.