Mark Reichle on Craft Lodging, Quality Standards, and What Makes a Boutique Stays Unforgettable

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. As you listen today, let one idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Codaspoti and today’s guest is Mark Reichli. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Select Registry, a curated collection of boutique inns and bed and breakfasts.

known for setting the standard in authentic lodging experiences. For over 50 years, Select Registry has connected travelers with exceptional hospitality, rigorous quality assurance, and the promise of a memorable stay. Mark joined the company after two decades as an innkeeper himself. After serving on Select Registry’s board of directors, he took on the director of operations role and eventually worked his way up to CEO. During the pandemic,

Mark led initiatives such as the Select Safe program, which helped keep guests and staff secure. He regularly appears on hospitality podcasts, supporting independent property owners through education, networking, and high standards of guest experience. Today, the organization features hundreds of independent properties across North America, all united by a rigorous inspection process and a passion for excellence. Now, before we get into all that good stuff,

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Mark Reichle (02:20)
Thank you so much for inviting me, Anthony. I really appreciate it.

Anthony Codispoti (02:23)
So Mark, you began your career at Ford Motor Company before spending over two decades as an innkeeper. How did you find your way from Ford Motor Company into becoming an innkeeper?

Mark Reichle (02:37)
Yeah, so it was an interesting journey. ⁓ My wife and I both worked for Ford Motor Company. We did the same thing, but ⁓ we never saw each other ⁓ because we had rigorous careers. And so we ⁓ started thinking about things that we might want to do differently that we could do together that would give us ⁓ more time together.

We both sort of created this list. And oddly enough, we had the typical stuff, the HR consulting, HR compensation business. But both of us, oddly enough, had own a bed and breakfast on this list. And at first, we laughed at it like it was a ridiculous thing to consider. And then it sort of stuck and became our passion. So we

took some classes, we ⁓ started looking for places that ⁓ were suitable for us. We had a fairly ⁓ robust list of things that were important in terms of location, size of the business, ⁓ what the business catered to. ⁓ And our intent was really to kind of ⁓ understand what we needed to save to do it down the road.

And during that ⁓ process, we stumbled onto a property in Kansas City that kind of met everything that we were ⁓ looking for. ⁓ Maybe not at the right time, but ⁓ everything that we were looking for. And we decided ⁓ to leave Ford and ⁓ buy this business. Now, it was a challenge because, ⁓ you know,

there was always a carrot at Ford and we were leaving ⁓ benefits and a secure salary and what we felt would be secure careers. So it wasn’t an easy decision, but it ended up being the right one for us.

Anthony Codispoti (04:45)
So where were you physically located when you were working for Ford?

Mark Reichle (04:49)
So prior to owning the inn, were both in Cincinnati. Ford had a couple of transmission plants and my wife and I were each at ⁓ one of the transmission plants. I happened to travel all around with Ford. lived in Ohio for a while in both Cincinnati, as I mentioned, and in a little town called Sandusky, which is outside of Cleveland. I was in Arizona at their proving ground and then the rest of the time in the

⁓ metropolitan Detroit area.

Anthony Codispoti (05:19)
And you mentioned you both had this idea on your wishlist of owning a bed and breakfast. What do you think was the attraction for each of you?

Mark Reichle (05:29)
I think part of it is ⁓ that it was something completely ⁓ different from what we were doing. ⁓ It was truly owning our own business. ⁓ We were interested in ⁓ sort of catering to business market.

⁓ and we felt like we could kind of meld the interest in owning an inn with catering to business travelers. So ⁓ that kind of worked well for us.

Anthony Codispoti (06:03)
You mentioned that you took classes. What kind of classes were you taking to learn about the industry?

Mark Reichle (06:09)
Yeah, there were a couple of folks that sort of did like this, so you want to be an innkeeper class. it was a weekend thing. was actually, ⁓ we were kind of expressing this interest to my wife’s sister. And she gave it to us as a gift. And it happened to be ⁓ occurring in Cincinnati around the time that ⁓ she gave it to us. And it was a. ⁓

a man who had run an inn successfully for years ⁓ and started to consult with folks who wanted to do the same thing. And so he told us everything. We talked about financials, things you shouldn’t do, things you shouldn’t do. wasn’t anything like, ⁓ you know, like you’ll be excited to make cookies and you’ll be

⁓ having wine with guests. It was a very real look at what in keeping life is. You know a lot of folks get into this business thinking that it’s going to be a ⁓ sort of this

⁓ host and hostess experience and guests are going to come in and be happy and you know they talk to you about the fact that you’re going to be plunging toilets and that sometimes guests aren’t going to be happy and that you have to kind of go beyond just offering a bed and think about what kind of experience and what kind of heart you want to put into the place. ⁓

was I think intended to be more discouraging than encouraging, but the discouragement didn’t work for us. We had kind of expected that, you know, we went into it with our eyes wide open. We weren’t, ⁓ you know, we weren’t ⁓ necessarily going into it thinking that it would be a kickwalk.

Anthony Codispoti (07:51)
Ha

So you’re in Cincinnati, you take this class. ⁓ How did you find this opportunity in Kansas City and say more about maybe the timing wasn’t quite right?

Mark Reichle (08:16)
Yeah, so the timing wasn’t quite right, was all around, was all around financials. we stumbled onto this place because there was a magazine at the time, you know, there was no, there was no internet. So there was a magazine, we got this magazine every month, we looked in the back for ends for sale. And it just so happened that we looked in the back for an end for sale and

⁓ this place in Kansas City popped up. But the only reason it was there that month was because in the prior month, it was misplaced in Mississippi. ⁓ there was some miscommunication about what the abbreviation for Missouri was. I think that was MS was put in instead of MO. And so they, as a courtesy, ⁓

let the ad run in the right place the next month, which is when we happened to see it. I think from a… So the prior owners, the folks that we bought this business from had a profile of their ideal guest. And I think that ⁓ we met the ideal portion for a number of things, ⁓ but for…

⁓ having a substantial resource to ⁓ use for a down payment. ⁓ And luckily they worked with us. They were really supportive. They knew that ⁓ the business had 13 rooms. ⁓ It was a busy operation and set in an urban environment.

lots of turnover and they knew that the folks that they had spoken with prior to us who were sort of retiring and looking to own a bed and breakfast as a retirement gig wouldn’t cut it because the business and we kind of tested that the business was busy and active and exhausting. So we met their profile for

you know, for ⁓ being hospitable. We met their profile sort of as the energy demographic, if you will. ⁓ But we did have some challenges because our plan was to save money for about 10 years and buy it at that time. And we didn’t have, ⁓ we hadn’t done that yet. So one of the things that was interesting about our purchase is that ⁓ my wife found

in some research. was on a business trip for Ford, and she stopped at a bookstore and was looking at various books about buying a business. And she ran across the last chapter in a book that talked about rolling over your 401k into a business ⁓ without losing or without having to pay a tax penalty.

Currently, that is a fairly common practice. At the time, it was obscure. There was like one law firm in Chicago.

that had done this successfully. And so we called them. They started us walking through this process. And we were really, really skeptical. We thought at any moment the shoe was going to drop or all of a sudden we were going to buy this business and the tax bill was going to come due. But over time, we were assured that it was a legitimate process. And

They walked us through everything and they made it happen for us.

Anthony Codispoti (12:10)
So you were able to roll over the 401k as a way to put that down payment down, purchase the business. And you guys started pretty quickly and you were off to the races and everything was sunshine and rainbows, right?

Mark Reichle (12:22)
⁓ Yeah, I mean, we left Ford on October 31st. We drove from Cincinnati in a U-Haul and our car with our dog. And we started at the end on November 1st. And one of the things that we had built into our sales agreement with the prior owners.

because we had developed this great relationship with them, ⁓ we developed this overlap period. So two months prior to closing, it was a little bit risky, two months prior to closing, we left our jobs, we came and worked for them. And then two months after the closing, they continued to work for us and they taught us everything about the business. We knew nothing, we were…

willing sponges and the only stipulation was that ⁓ we had to just do what they asked of us. That if we didn’t agree with the process, we can change it when this four month period was over, but at least learn the business and. ⁓

it was really, really beneficial. And at the same time, they introduced us to Kansas City, because a big part of our work was ⁓ helping guests kind of experience Kansas City. And then at the same time, they also introduced us to…

⁓ they’re very loyal guests and made that transition for the guests a little bit easier. while it was, ⁓ it’s very unique. have, you see that very rarely occur, ⁓ but for us, it was a really good transition. Now at the end of that four month period, there still were some challenges. You know, we, you know, there still were things that we had to learn, but we had the basics under our belt.

Anthony Codispoti (14:20)
So I do want to get into present day and talking about select registry. But before we get there, in your tenure as an innkeeper, can you share a challenging experience that going through that really helped to shape the way that you think about and approach hospitality?

Mark Reichle (14:39)
Yes, so the worst experience was a guest started a fire in one of our guest rooms. ⁓ And it was, you know, it was terrible. It was right around Valentine’s Day weekend. We were full. They were careless. They had put some candles on a bed and the bed caught on fire, which started the room on fire. And everybody was fine. ⁓ But it ⁓

but it ⁓ was awful. Well, here’s what was interesting though, is the folks who started the fire were ⁓ as big a jerks after the fire as they were before. They ⁓ were not really sorry and they took advantage of every ⁓ extension of hospitality that we offered them and the other guests.

But the other guests could not have been nicer or more supportive. So it just really gave us this ⁓ insight into human nature and the fact that, you know, really most folks are most folks are ⁓ genuine and ⁓ supportive and ⁓ you can’t let

the bad eggs kind of spoil what you do for the 99 % of the folks that are really there to enjoy yourself.

Anthony Codispoti (16:11)
So remind me how long you and your wife had this in.

Mark Reichle (16:15)
21 years. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (16:16)
21 years. then how did

the opportunity so you you know what this life is about, right? As you move into select registry, and you know, you’re this organization that, you know, collects these brands together. ⁓ You understand what the innkeeper the bed and breakfast life is like, how did the opportunity for you to join select registry come about?

Mark Reichle (16:37)
So it was kind of interesting. We decided that we were going to put our property on the market. We had some concerns about where interest rates were going to go. And we knew that as interest rates went up, the cost of or the selling price would come down. And that concerned us. So we also felt like it was going to take us about five years to sell the property.

⁓ just because it’s generally a slow process and it’s not always easy to find the right person that wants to be in that location at that time. So ⁓ I started to worry about what I was gonna do next. So I felt like I had time, but.

I felt like, wow, I’m a 55-year-old man and I’m not sure that my experience as an innkeeper is gonna translate into the working world. So I better start looking for something now. And it just so happened that Select Registry had just done some restructuring and established some new positions and…

I happened to be qualified. Now, we had been select registry members ⁓ since we owned the inn. We inherited it from ⁓ membership from the prior owners. And I was very involved in the governance of the organization. So I was on the board for a number of years. I

I was not only familiar with in keeping and the struggles and the successes that that world brings, but I also was very familiar with ⁓ the operation of ⁓ Select Registry and how it worked. So that was helpful. And so I started this director of operations job ⁓ and it evolved into my current role as CEO.

Anthony Codispoti (18:38)
Okay, so tell us what it is that you guys do. What are the services that you provide? What is the benefit for an in a small ⁓ bed and breakfast to be a member of this?

Mark Reichle (18:50)
Sure, so we essentially have ⁓ two customer groups. We have the traveler that we offer up our product to, and we have members who we offer up membership to. So ⁓ for the traveler, the organization was essentially started to help the traveler sort of navigate the independent lodging ⁓ environment because there was no regulation. ⁓

this organization was established to sort of put some criteria in place that the traveler could trust, that they could know that they.

could go to a property and some of the very basic things would be met. So what that means for our members is in order to be a part of the organization, they have to meet a certain set of standards. So quality assurance is kind of the hallmark of our organization. Again, it’s what we were founded on and what continues to drive our membership.

member is vetted and ⁓ we’re assured that they have met our quality requirements. Then ⁓ we kind of bring the two together. So the traveler that’s looking for sort of curated quality assured properties ⁓ with the member who meets those standards. And then, and we do that, you know, through our website through

⁓ marketing efforts ⁓ and so we market our members basically through highlighting experiences that can be had in or around their properties. So ⁓ we also have ⁓ an opportunity for our members to network and

learn from each other. know, one of the things that was really beneficial for ⁓ my wife and I when we moved into this world of innkeeping ⁓ is kind of the knowledge of folks who were doing it. So not only the people that we bought the business from, you know, Select Registry has a breadth of knowledge in terms of innkeeper capacity, what they’ve done, how they have done things.

⁓ And it’s a very ⁓ generous community in terms of ideas. And then in addition to that, ⁓ finding things that we think will help our members run their businesses a little bit better. ⁓ In some instances, it might be things that they might not be able to afford on their own, and we utilize the ⁓ environment to…

⁓ expose them to that and maybe get it to them in a manner that is a little more affordable.

Anthony Codispoti (21:53)
Give me an example of that last one there.

Mark Reichle (21:56)
Yeah, so we have ⁓ a couple of things ⁓ that we’ve recently introduced. And one of them is chatbots. So we ⁓ wanted to have a chatbot on our site to help with travelers who were looking at midnight, but no one was there to answer their question or to help with travelers who really want that kind of interaction. ⁓ And so we found a company that

⁓ that not only could put it on our side, but also extended that benefit ⁓ to our members as well. So we have kind of packaged that in as a part of our members’ dues. We have it on ours and then ⁓ they have it on their side if they…

if they want to. So everybody’s independent. ⁓ That means not only independently owned, but independently minded. And so some folks don’t want to have it, which is fine with us. I think our vision for the future is that they would be talking to each other down the road. So our hope is that we will have a ⁓ certainly a broad base of that. And then the other thing, we work with ⁓ a PR firm.

⁓ And we’ve been able to extend ⁓ a PR benefit to our members to ensure that if they want to broadcast either their property or an experience or something that’s special about them, they’re able to do that. And the folks at CIC have been really helpful in ⁓ extending that to our members. So it’s good.

Anthony Codispoti (23:47)
Give us the name of the PR firm again.

Mark Reichle (23:50)
⁓ CIIC public relations. So Carolyn Izzo is the ⁓ primary of the business.

Anthony Codispoti (24:00)
No, I think that’s who got us connected for this. So yeah, I have to say thank you for that. ⁓ So you mentioned that there are standards to be members. And that’s part of what the guests come to rely on. if it’s a select registry location, then I know that these criteria are going to be met. What are those criteria?

Mark Reichle (24:03)
Absolutely, absolutely.

So it is an extensive list, but it is kind of encompassed in a couple of different categories. ⁓ One of the major pieces of it is ⁓ the physical condition of the property. So the exterior and the interior are not only well maintained, ⁓ but updated and ⁓ contemporary so that it meets.

the travelers ⁓ needs and expectations. Cleanliness, ⁓ hospitality, we have an entire section on hospitality, food service, and ⁓ also their digital presence as well. So the consumers experience in migrating their way through their website and ⁓ eventually finally ⁓ booking the room.

in addition to ⁓ how they interact with guests while they’re at the property. So we have ⁓ a group of evaluators, all of whom are required to be ⁓ former select registry members. And they go out and assess the properties based upon these criteria. And maybe while I mentioned five or six different categories, ⁓ there are

probably 200 300 line items that we apply points to not within each but in total. know, hospitality might have 15 different ⁓ areas that we are looking at. And what’s helpful about the process is, first of all, it’s not a surprise. So the endkeeper is aware that the evaluator is coming.

which is different than how it used to be. It used to be sort of this blind ⁓ secret shopper ⁓ that sort of, after they left, sent you a report on ⁓ how you did. And now the process is that ⁓ the property knows that the evaluator is there. The evaluator stays overnight and experiences the place like a traveler would.

And then at the end of their stay, they sit down and have a discussion with the innkeeper about things that they did really well, things that could use some improvement. And the value of that conversation is ⁓ that the detail is not lost. So when you get a report, they say you passed or you failed. And our goal is to elevate the lodging experience. ⁓

of all of our properties. And so that consultation is really important in ⁓ helping the member understand that this would be what the traveler is experiencing. And this is how you might want to make some adjustments to ⁓ meet their expectations a little bit better.

Anthony Codispoti (27:36)
As you were talking there, Mark, I’m taking a peek at your website. And I think one of the really cool features of the site is kind of like a hotels.com, if you will, you can book, you can find any one of the member properties, you know, right here on the homepage, you know, just enter my location, the dates I want to stay and it’s like, ⁓ here are some locations near you. for folks that, you know, enjoy staying at like a small and you know, a little bed and breakfast.

This is a way that they can plan their trip and find something that’s in the location that they want to visit.

Mark Reichle (28:13)
Yeah, it is set up a couple of different ways. One is ⁓ to identify a location. In some cases, it might be that they have a particular property in mind that they’ve heard about, that they want to find out more about. In some instances, ⁓ it’s an experience. So if you’re looking for ⁓ sort of a

foodie getaway, you know, might want our experiences page to kind of direct you to that. Or if historic ⁓ significance is important to you that ⁓ you might be directed ⁓ in a different way to a different set of properties. know, the traveling ⁓ journey in terms of finding the right place is… ⁓

different from person to person. in some instances, it’s very specific in terms of I’m going to Camden, Maine, and I want to find which properties are there. And in some instances, it’s I want to go leaf peeping in Vermont. What properties do you have in Vermont?

Anthony Codispoti (29:26)
Sorry,

I’m smiling a little bit. I’ve never heard that term before. Leaf peeping. Yeah. So I’m limit under a rock apparently. That’s a common phrase. Leaf peeping. That’s fun. Now you stepped into the CEO role at Select Registry during the pandemic. mean, quite a time to be kind of climbing the ladder there. Can you walk us through

Mark Reichle (29:30)
Is that right?

You

Anthony Codispoti (29:53)
you know, what COVID was like for the members. And, you know, if there was something that you were able to do to help these properties kind of navigate through those uncertain times.

Mark Reichle (30:03)
Yeah, so it was challenging. Places were closing for a variety of reasons. In some instances, they might have been elderly innkeepers who didn’t want to have people coming into their place anymore, so they just shut down. ⁓ Many places sold as private residences. And then members were challenged with the uncertainty of ⁓

revenue and how they were going to pay their mortgage and how they were going to retain staff if that was ⁓ important to them. And so there were a lot of ⁓ a lot of concerns and being that we’re sort of a marketing organization ⁓ one of the one of the ⁓

first things that they might look at is a marketing organization when you’re not really marketing to a customer. ⁓

using kind of saving costs ⁓ by eliminating that service. So we looked at it ⁓ in a couple of different ways. So ⁓ we had to kind of adjust how we communicated with the traveler too. We didn’t want to be tone deaf and say, hey, here’s a great place to go when ⁓ they couldn’t get in the door. ⁓ And then we also had to kind of ⁓ modify our

⁓ our financial model as well and offer a little bit of grace to the extent that we could. ⁓ The thing that probably was most effective that I think our members found most useful through COVID was our Select Safe program. So our director of quality assurance ⁓ developed a set of criteria ⁓ that the members could take and

apply to their business and feel assured that ⁓ the traveler could come and be in a safe environment. And it was direction from the CDC, ⁓ from ⁓ the hotel and lodging associations. To the extent that we could, we took into consideration kind of state and local differences to ensure that ⁓ our

properties were ⁓ meeting the criteria that they needed to meet. Many of our members found that helpful because they were floundering in terms of how they could and should operate. ⁓ And this gave them ⁓ a set of criteria to follow. was self-assessed, so ⁓ they would… ⁓

identify that they met those criteria and then we sort of badged them as a select safe property on our site. And it gave us an opportunity to communicate that to the traveler who was and was kind of a relevant way to maintain communication with them ⁓ without saying, know, get on the road and travel. So.

Anthony Codispoti (33:21)
What an undertaking for you though, I mean, to try to understand not just, you know, CDC guidance, which was changing all the time, but different states, you know, different municipalities had, you know, their own advice as well. That was regularly changing. So for you guys to try to stay on top of all of that.

Mark Reichle (33:41)
Yeah, so we relied on our members to have some self-direction in that regard. And one of the things that we discovered, certainly not across the board.

But in general, most areas were using the same set of standards. So it was different from place to place. But if you followed the program from the broadest sense, it generally would apply. And if a member had a question about how ⁓ their local situation was different.

⁓ we would be able to advise them on how they, or we were able to advise them on how they could handle that.

Anthony Codispoti (34:26)
How was the Select Safe badge received from the customer side of things? Do you think it drove more visits, more? Oh, for those people who aren’t on the video version, Mark’s eyebrows just shot through the ceiling. He was like, oh yeah, like absolutely.

Mark Reichle (34:35)
Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, because you know, it was was interesting. Many of our properties fared fairly well during COVID, only because maybe they had six cottages and you weren’t interacting with you weren’t interacting with anybody else. You weren’t going through the same communal door up the stairs to a hallway with your individual room door.

you were outside going to ⁓ a cottage that was somewhat secluded. know, some of our members ⁓ closed some rooms down to allow that same sort of experience within kind of one single structure. But for the, our members told us the SelectSafe program did was it helped to ease the traveler’s mind.

as they were considering coming to a property and it improved their business and their bottom line.

Anthony Codispoti (35:50)
What are you seeing as a general trend right now? We’re recording in February of 2026. Is the industry back to pre pandemic levels? Is it still climbing to get there? What are you seeing?

Mark Reichle (36:04)
Yeah, I think that’s really an interesting question. ⁓ Because after COVID, when travel started to open up, business was booming. Business exceeded pre-pandemic levels, especially in terms of revenue, because there was such high demand that was pent up. And folks were

willing to pay a premium to stay at a place and have a good experience. What’s interesting now is that that is starting to settle down. And I think that things are settling back down to ⁓ more of a normal pace. either ⁓ prices are adjusting or ⁓ prices are adjusting or

occupancy is adjusting depending on how you manipulate those two factors. The other thing that’s really interesting is that ⁓ during the pandemic, the service model changed because nobody wanted service. Nobody wanted housekeeping to come in and touch up your room during your stay. Nobody wanted ⁓ to sit in a dining room and have dinner.

God forbid you had magazines in your room. Nobody wanted to have a magazine in a room because they were afraid to touch it. And so innkeepers implemented a number of policies that the traveler is starting ⁓ to pull away from. So the traveler is now, while they were fine with limited service during the pandemic and kind of the aftermath of

the pandemic, I think the expectation now is that ⁓ those services need to come back to ⁓ be a part ⁓ of the norm. So some things are staying in place. Those properties that implemented room service are finding that that’s a benefit. ⁓ But certainly housekeeping is ⁓ becoming more ⁓ of a critical expectation. ⁓ And I think just sort of ⁓

amenities and ⁓ varied food services are starting to ease as well.

Anthony Codispoti (38:35)
Did you find that it was difficult for members to reintroduce those services that they had before because they were out of practice? They didn’t, I don’t have the staff in place for it. Or was it like, no, we know what we’re doing. We just sort of plug it back in.

Mark Reichle (38:48)
Yeah, plug it back in. But the staffing issue, of course, was a problem on top of that. Many places, while they might have wished to ⁓ have a more full service operation, of stayed with sort of a self-service model because they couldn’t attract the employees that they needed to.

needed to track. And I think that that certainly was ⁓ a ⁓ part of the ⁓ sort of housekeeping issue as well, because folks really struggled with finding, ⁓ you know, housekeepers and food service folks that ⁓ could do the work.

at the standard they expected. So in some instances, they were sort of forced to hold on to something a little longer than they might normally have. But in terms of plugging it back in, think everybody was ⁓ so used to doing that. And I think really felt good about offering that level of service. And so returning to that was kind of getting back to really what they wanted to provide.

Anthony Codispoti (40:03)
Right, it’s the hospitality industry. People are in

this because they love to provide that service. And so it’s probably a lot more fulfilling now that they can get back to more of that core mission. You you were talking before about, you know, some of the properties, they have historical significance. ⁓ You know, you’ve talked in the past about authentic craft lodging versus any of these cookie cutter hotel stays.

Mark Reichle (40:12)
Absolutely.

Anthony Codispoti (40:28)
Kit, you share an example of an inn within the Select Registry membership that embodies this sense of craftsmanship.

Mark Reichle (40:38)
Yeah, so what’s interesting about craft lodging and for those who ⁓ need ⁓ a little education on what that is, it is ⁓ authentic accommodations, unique experiences, and sort of this connection with sort of people and place. That’s how we kind of ⁓ define craft lodging. And what’s interesting about craft lodging is that it’s

different from property to property. So how one property might embrace it is different than another. So we have this property in ⁓ Mendocino, California called the C Rock Inn. sits on a cove that guests kind of overlook in their stay and they have incorporated kind of

that into everything that they do. How the rooms are set, the amenities that are provided in the room, the experiences that they offer to their guests are all intertwined with this sort of ⁓ coastal experience. ⁓

And you can kind of ⁓ juxtapose that to, I was just at this property a couple of weeks ago in rural Virginia. So it’s not a coastal place, it’s more of a pastoral setting. And they have really embraced the French heritage of one of the owners. And everything about the place is…

a nod to that. The rooms, the aesthetic of the place ⁓ is ⁓ decorated to kind of set that tone. And then ⁓ the food and the sort of genuine service ⁓ really kind of match their passion for good food and ⁓

an exceptional sort of foodie experience. So they’re very different properties, but they both kind of embrace a passion about a piece of their setting, ⁓ whether it be sort of the coast or ⁓ the environment that they’re creating that harkens back to ⁓ childhood memories and past experiences.

Anthony Codispoti (43:10)
That’s really cool. You know, I think it was in Authority magazine, Mark, where you talked about creating experiences that keep guests returning. I wonder, you you shared a couple of great examples of ⁓ some members who are using that, you know, craftsmanship and sort of the uniqueness of ⁓ local charm and character or the inspiration behind it. Can you think of an example of one of your members that’s

implemented a really innovative idea for guests that has really wowed them, really keeps them coming back.

Mark Reichle (43:45)
Yeah, it is ⁓ really kind of interesting, the things that our members come up with. But I have ⁓ two examples that come to mind ⁓ up front. The first is ⁓ the Homestead Madison in Madison, Connecticut in a ⁓ pre-arrival communication.

ask the obscure question about your ⁓ music preference. What kind of music do you like? ⁓ And then the innkeeper takes you to your room and there is an old record player sitting in your room and a collection of vintage albums that are tailored to what you identified in your response to them.

⁓ that you can kind of sit and listen to. And it’s, I thought it’s really fascinating. you know, that’s not easy to pull off, but they have a huge record collection. you can go out into the, you can go out into their library and pull others of a different genre if you want. So I think that’s just really kind of a unique, interesting.

Anthony Codispoti (44:39)
That’s wild.

I thought you were going to say they had something sort of piped through, you know, Bluetooth or

which would also be cool. to have like vinyl there that you can, you know, play an old record. That’s fascinating.

Mark Reichle (45:03)
Absolutely.

Yeah, it really is. The other thing that comes to mind is ⁓ we have a property in Brewster, Massachusetts called the Captain Freeman Inn and they have a flower bar. So as guests are being toured around, they’re introduced to the flower bar. It’s got vases and a variety of different flowers and ⁓ they encourage the guests to build their own.

bouquet that they can kind of enjoy in their room and then take home with them when they’re done. you know, it is really that piece is really kind of an interesting sort of social media moment because, you know, guests are taking pictures of their, you know, of their bouquets and sharing it on their social media feeds and, you know, it…

promotes the end at the same time. So, absolutely. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (46:06)
That Instagrammable moment. ⁓

I love it. Let’s shift gears now, Mark. ⁓ You know, we’ve talked about some ups and downs, but a lot of good stuff that’s happened. Let’s talk about a particularly big challenge that you’ve overcome in your life, whether it’s personal or professional. I’d like to hear what it was, how you got through it, and what do you think you learned coming through the other side?

Mark Reichle (46:33)
Yeah, so professionally, I’ve kind of uprooted myself a couple of times. ⁓ So prior to working at Ford Motor Company, ⁓ I worked on a cattle ranch. And I left the agriculture industry and kind of moved to Nashville.

sight unseen to go to graduate school, which was my segue into Ford Motor Company. But that process was really challenging. I left an industry that I had grown up in that I was passionate about. I left my family and I’m the youngest of seven kids. All of my siblings and my mom and dad were out there and that was a big challenge for me to leave that. And I love California and it was difficult.

to lead that and so I also replicated that when we left Ford and ⁓ moved into the end keeping world so kind of leading a familiar environment and ⁓ going into something that you’re completely unfamiliar with ⁓ that you kind of have the skills to do but you have no experience to

you have no experience to kind of rely on. And there are a couple of things, ⁓ and this is probably more related to my transition from forward to end keeping, there are a couple of things that I think were helpful. I think that they just, one of them kind of just happened naturally and that was networking. So what I mentioned earlier is, ⁓ you know,

building a ⁓ network of folks that you can kind of talk to and rely on. In the NQB world, that’s a little more difficult because you don’t necessarily have a colleague in the cubicle next to you. ⁓ But that community was ⁓ available in select registry. And then the other piece was to kind of focus on

process and make sure that

regardless of what was going on, that there were processes in place that could ensure a smooth operation and ensure that things would run well. ⁓ So professionally, I think those were my two biggest challenges.

Anthony Codispoti (49:10)
So we talked a little bit about why you moved from Cincinnati out to Kansas City, right? You guys wanted to own a bed and breakfast and this was your opportunity. When you were younger, what was driving you to leave the comfortable confines of your home in California to move out to Tennessee, sight unseen for this graduate school?

Mark Reichle (49:31)
Yeah, it was a little bit of dumb luck. So I graduated from college. I worked on this cattle ranch. I had ⁓ worked for these folks throughout college. But I knew that I wanted to.

⁓ pursue the next level in education, but I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. So my two options were an MBA and to go into sort of the labor relations world. And then the other option was to pursue something in the animal health world. So either genetics or

⁓ nutrition. ⁓ I grew up in ⁓ a really small farming community in southeastern California and when I was in high school many of my friends who happened to be ⁓ farmers, ⁓ sons and daughters had to leave school because there were ⁓ big labor strikes by the United Farm Workers.

and they had to get the stuff out of the field. So they would ⁓ miss school because of that. And that always stuck with me. And so the business side of my options weighed more on my mind. And my intent really was to…

live in Tennessee for a couple of years ⁓ and then eventually get back to California and do some sort of labor relations work ⁓ in the agricultural industry. But you know life had its ⁓ own way of ⁓ directing me so I felt like you know getting experience in labor relations with the United Auto Workers is

you know, is a great experience and not often something that you, ⁓ that will come your way. So that’s what took me then to ⁓ Detroit. I I grew up in the desert. ⁓ had no interest at all in moving to ⁓ what I refer to as the frozen tundra, but it was a great experience. Not only working for Ford, but…

I really fell in love with Michigan.

Anthony Codispoti (52:06)
So some of the things that kind of helped you in these moves is focusing on process, I heard you say, and focusing on networking. And that reminds me, we kind of glossed over that advantage, that benefit for select registry members, the networking, being able to sort of learn from each other. Can you say more about how that takes place? Is there an annual event, or people on a Facebook discussion group, a Slack channel?

Mark Reichle (52:12)
Bye.

Yeah, so we do have a Facebook discussion group. Where I find it working best is in ⁓ our meeting settings. So where the folks are face to face. So we have two different meetings structures. We have a national meeting, which we’ll host this year in November in Florida. And then

in opposite years, we do that every other year, and in between that we would, have smaller district meetings. So the national meeting gives our members exposure to a larger group of endkeepers. In some cases they’re in completely different ⁓ geographic areas and ⁓ you know might be doing things a little bit differently because of that and there’s an opportunity to

⁓ to learn and then in the smaller more regional settings it’s just a little more intimate and I think folks are a little more comfortable with ⁓ the conversations that they want to have.

and we structure our meetings to encourage interaction. So we might have a speaker, ⁓ but then we might break out and have our members talk about how that applies to their businesses. ⁓ They might do that in a… ⁓

a small table discussion and then each of those tables will kind of share their highlights. ⁓ And then, of course, the ⁓ lunchtime, cocktail time, dinner time discussions are great opportunities to do that. I personally learned.

more as an innkeeper from those discussions than ⁓ from anything else. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a really generous group of folks in terms of sharing information. And the thing that we belong to when we own the inn, we belong to a lot of ⁓ different ⁓ associations, either at the state or local level. And the thing that was different really about ⁓

the select registry members is that their business strategies and how they run their business was more aligned with how we were running ours, sort of as a profession and ⁓ a business and not a hobby. And so ⁓ that piece of it was always assuring as well.

Anthony Codispoti (55:20)
Mark, can you think back to your 20 plus years as an innkeeper, as a member of Select Registry, something specific that you learned from one of these networking events that made an impact on your business? I’m asking you to dig into the memory banks there.

Mark Reichle (55:38)
Now that was a dangerous ⁓ ask, but.

Anthony Codispoti (55:49)
And maybe it was an unfair question. You’ve been removed from that space for a little bit now.

Mark Reichle (55:53)
No, think that I’m just trying and there were a number of instances. ⁓

So here is one example. At one point in time, we were trying to determine whether it would be beneficial for us to expand our business into the restaurant world.

So we were in Kansas City, we’re in an urban environment. We had a number of restaurants nearby us. But what we saw occurring is that many of those restaurants weren’t unique or local to our area. They were large chains and our guests were looking for something different than that. So ⁓ I happened to be at a ⁓ meeting.

and asked one of the folks I was talking about, who I knew had a restaurant, who was in an urban environment, ⁓ what they ⁓ thought about that idea. And they said, don’t do it. Whatever you’re doing, run ⁓ from opening a restaurant. they ⁓ then shared with us that you have to have the right chef. And if that chef

leaves who’s going to cover the transition to the next chef. ⁓ you know, it’s not, it’s just, it expands your day from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. to midnight when you’re, you know, getting through dinner service and cleaning up from that. So it was really good advice. We never, we never pursued it. And I think we, ⁓

maintained our sanity because of that,

Anthony Codispoti (57:50)
Yeah, it sounds like you steer

clear of a big landmine there. Mark, what’s your superpower?

Mark Reichle (57:53)
Yeah.

⁓ I would say empathy. So I asked my wife that this morning as well and she said something different. She said collaboration. ⁓ And in the spirit of collaboration, I dismissed her idea and went with my own. ⁓

Anthony Codispoti (58:02)
How does that show up in your work?

How do you think that empathy shows up in your daily work at Select Registry?

Mark Reichle (58:22)
Well, I think that ⁓ in Select Registry, it’s easy because I understand what the members are going through because of my experience and I can ⁓ make decisions about the direction of the business based upon that understanding. Even though it’s been seven years since I’ve ⁓ actually been in the…

⁓ in the thick of in keeping, think that ⁓ many of the same challenges and issues are still confronting our members. So it helps in a big way.

Anthony Codispoti (58:57)
What does the future of Select Registry look like? Any internal initiatives or projects, new features, benefits, or big growth plans?

Mark Reichle (59:07)
Yeah, so it’s interesting. think that, you know, I love old movies and ⁓ the line that comes to mind is ⁓ buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. ⁓ Not because of the organization itself, but because of the external factors and the, you know, the big elephant in the room is AI and how that’s going to

⁓ impact not only how the traveler ⁓ discovers your property but how ⁓ the traveler is able to interact once they found you. And so we are ⁓ really working hard to try to understand, well, to understand how the traveler is going to ⁓ complete their journey, how they’re going to book.

and ⁓ eventually get to a property. ⁓ And then the other piece is how are we exposed to the traveler in this new world? And we have relied on for many years, sort of, ⁓

search engine optimization in a very traditional way. And that’s now changing. So our goal is to be visible and relevant in sort of an AI search as well, to be the voice of authority as it relates to craft lodging and ⁓ independent lodging and ⁓ make sure that the traveler is aware of us.

And then the other piece, and we touched on this earlier, is once the traveler does find us, how are we going to ⁓ meet their expectations in terms of ⁓ personalization and ⁓ crafting experiences that ⁓ they are

interested in. you know, our vision is that a traveler’s AI ⁓ agent will be talking with the AI tools on our site. ⁓ And that personalization will be ⁓ crafted through that discussion based upon

the input that the traveler has ⁓ put in and what we have available.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:51)
So what you’re foreseeing is that a lot of people are going to start having their own AI agents that go out and find and book a place for them to stay on their trip. And you want your AI agent to interact with my AI agent, learn that I like &Ms at Check-in or whatever personalization item there is, and then communicate that to the select registry property that they’ve booked.

Mark Reichle (1:02:19)
Right. And there are a lot of things that have to be in place. We’re working right now on our data structure and unifying our data structure so that that information ⁓ is readily available when we’re at the point where customization and personalization is a little more automatic and

seamless. The interesting thing about AI is that that vision could change tomorrow. And that’s both interesting and a huge challenge to try to navigate ⁓ the pace at which things change and the pace at which things become obsolete and the complete ⁓ adjustment in ⁓

in maybe your ⁓ operational strategy from where you were ⁓ six months prior.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:23)
Well, and it strikes me that this is an area where your members are really lucky to have a forward thinking central organization like Select Registry to help guide them through this process, right? A six room bed and breakfast isn’t going to be able to wrap their arms around what’s coming with AI and how to adjust for it, right? They need your guidance in this area.

Mark Reichle (1:03:49)
Yeah, and that’s the other piece that’s really important to us. We like to think that ⁓ we are embracing this technology and…

We think that there is opportunity for us to help our members because your comment is ⁓ spot on. Smaller properties ⁓ don’t have the resources, whether it’s ⁓ staffing or financial resources to ⁓ really ⁓ look into these and implement them. And if we can help them navigate through that, ⁓ we’ll be in a good position moving forward.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:32)
Mark, I’ve just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things. First of all, anybody who wants to get in touch with Mark Reichli or Select Registry, their website’s really simple, selectregistry.com. Mark, we talked about some of the things that folks will find on the site. Did we miss anything? Anything else you want to highlight?

Mark Reichle (1:04:53)
Yeah, know, ⁓ if you’re looking for inspiration, we have blogs that are experience-based that highlight our properties, ⁓ romantic things to do in New England, and the best beaches ⁓ in North Carolina. And for those folks who are kind of looking for inspiration, think that those ⁓ that are ⁓

blog library is really beneficial. As I mentioned, whether you’re looking for experiences specifically or a particular location, our site is designed to help you navigate either of those approaches to end up with a recommendation of a property or recommendations of properties that you can then choose from on your own.

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:51)
part that really caught my attention there, Mark was helping guys like me find something romantic to do with their lovely wives. I need all the suggestions I can get so I can find that in your blog, huh?

Mark Reichle (1:05:59)
Right. Get

cracking Valentine’s Day is around the corner.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:06)
It’s three days

away. don’t know. Maybe I can plan for next year. Also for those listening, if you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you’re listening. It helps send a signal for others to find our podcast too. So thanks for taking a quick moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, you can get your hospitality employees access to therapists, doctors and prescription meds that as paradoxical as it seems, actually increases your company’s net profit. So you can reach out to us at addbackbenefits.com.

So last question for you, Mark, a year from now, what is one very specific thing that you hope to be celebrated?

Mark Reichle (1:06:47)
doesn’t have to be business related. Well, would, well, I’ll provide a few business things. I would love to be celebrating a successful national meeting and a successful renewal season of our members and doing that celebrating in a more balanced environment.

Anthony Codispoti (1:06:49)
It does not.

like that. Anything on the personal side? Or is that what you meant in a more balanced environment? Is that sort of, ⁓

Mark Reichle (1:07:17)
No, balanced environment

is bigger picture. I think personally, I would love to be training for a half marathon. So I’ve ⁓ run in a number of marathons, and I’ve kind of gotten out of that. And while I don’t want to do a full one, I’d love to be in the works for a smaller version of that. So we’ll see how that transpires.

Anthony Codispoti (1:07:46)
Mark Reichley from Select Registry. I wanna be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate you being here.

Mark Reichle (1:07:54)
Well, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much.

Anthony Codispoti (1:07:56)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.