From near bankruptcy to boutique success

Talia ButtWhenever you you go into a management position and you go in a company that is almost closing, sometimes you see the the flaws immediately, and some flaws only come out of the box when you are really working in it, and that's what happened to me. So I had many fallbacks, many setbacks. They had an impact on me emotionally,

Talia ButtI must say, because you're like, oh, I didn't read this. Why don't I miss miss?

Talia ButtBut then, it was about never giving up. And that's what I saw in my family. They never give up more than one another. No matter what, they don't give up.

the Future of HospitalitySo, Talia, welcome, to the podcast, the future of hospitality. It's, really nice Thanks. To have you here. Before we start, can you maybe tell a little bit more about your expertise and your career in hospitality?

Talia ButtWell, my name is Talia, as you've just announced. I own the Jilt Hotel located in Brussels for a couple of years now. I have been working in it, while as a manager as a JET Hotel manager for about seven to eight years. During this time, I had a clear idea. I had an idea or a vision about what I want to do with, with my future and my career. And we will dive into it, as soon as we go further in the interview, how I did, what I did, what I was thinking. But, the most important part about me is I had goals and I'm very happy I achieved those. And now I'm in in in the procedure of making new, attentions, new goals for the coming future.

Talia ButtAnd it will be, I will be challenging myself, challenging my business, ideology,

the Future of Hospitalityand how to grow and how we need to be happy at what I do. Nice. Nice. I feel your passion about hospitality. Yeah. Because it's a family a family thing. Right? It's like a family

Talia Buttbusiness. Yes. The the business was, family owned in the past, but there were other businesses, in in the family which were there as well. So there was never a, supreme prior priority towards the hotel itself. I was the first person, in the family to really go hands on into this business and, eventually, also in other family owned businesses to really become the core of the family and being an individual, as the legacy now.

the Future of HospitalityOkay. Nice. Nice. I I read something on your LinkedIn profile that you said, like, you want to create a nine plus hospitality experience. That's, of course, kind of a big big goal to say that. But what what makes it a nine plus for you? I'm pretty curious.

Talia ButtWell, yeah, it's it's a good question. I really like the the question on on itself. Success in hospitality is setting clear goals, and then achieving them through perseverance, resilience, strategic planning. That's what it's all about. You just never give up. For me, the milestones include I had an accumulated loss of 100 k when I started in 2014, I guess. And I turned this accumulated loss of 100 k to 100 k profit in only eighteen months in a company that barely bankrupt. Another, yeah, milestone for me was always having stability and be profitable during national crises and also acquiring a funding during COVID nineteen for the major transformations which I still currently have.

Talia ButtThese are milestones you just cannot walk, but you see them and you feel them when you walk in my into my premises as a business. And lastly, I acquired 100% ownership of the hotel itself, which allowed me to really focus on a unique development of a business brand, which was actually missing in the area where I currently have my job.

the Future of HospitalityThat sounds like a nine plus.

Talia ButtI thought we are aiming. And, yes, personally, I would rank myself nine plus. Allowing me to to always keep challenging myself, but also be happy with the achievements I have. But for in the past ten years, arriving at at the place where I am today, I'm very happy. And the best part, I never had any financial help from my family. It was actually the other way around.

the Future of HospitalityNice. Nice. So you you created it yourself. That's, like, the the real pleasure that that you create something from scratch. So I'm pretty curious before we dive into another question. Like, you went from minus 100 to plus 100. How how did you do that? Can you maybe share, like, a little a little storyline?

Talia ButtOf course, I worked hard. I analyzed the profit and loss of the company, which was the first thing to do. Why is there a 100 k loss? Why is this company going bankrupt? And does this really have a future or not for me? Or otherwise, I can do something else. My first accounting person I met with that period was he said, if you cannot make something profitable, go read a book in the park. Don't do business. And that's something I took very seriously and I said, if I turn this company into a profitable one, then it's really true. I'm not built for business. I'm not an entrepreneur. I should go sit in a bar and read a book and do something else. Wow.

the Future of HospitalityYou you didn't read a book, I guess, in the parks. You didn't go and went to read a book in the park, I guess.

Talia ButtNo. I didn't want to go reading a book in the park, but I went to read and analyze what was going wrong on the field and back back of the house. And so I handled those issues. And whenever you you go into a management position and you go in a company that is almost closing, sometimes you see the the flaws immediately and some flaws only come out of the box when you are really working in it, and that's what happened to me. So I had many fallbacks, many setbacks. They had an impact on me emotionally,

Talia ButtI must say, because you're like, oh, I didn't read this. Why don't I miss miss?

Talia ButtBut then it was about never giving up. And that's what I saw in my family. They never give up more than one one another. No matter what, they don't give up. Oh, that's a spirit that you have or you don't have. That's that's in my point of view. It's kind of

the Future of Hospitalityyou have it or you don't have it, but that's nice to hear that that

Talia Buttyou But there is a little bit yeah. There is a small thing maybe I should address here. Some things are not made to work out, and that's when you need to adjust and and have the skill to know, okay. This is not going to work. We should go to another, way of working. You need to understand understand that listening is such an important, part of your life. So

the Future of HospitalityTrue. And from what I understand from you, you said, like, something things you can see from an analytical mindset, you can just look at the numbers, and you can say, okay. This is going wrong here, and this is going wrong there. But some things, you have to experience yourself, and that only happens when you work in a hotel. And can you give me some examples that you said, like, you had some setbacks, some things that happened? I'm I'm really curious about because this is the story from going bankrupt to opening a new hotel, like, one month ago. That's kind of a story in my opinion.

Talia ButtYeah. So the lessons I've learned from from managing a family owned business from from a young age, because I was about 22, 23 when I started managing businesses, and that is the first first thing I learned is cleaning up mess that others leave behind. That's the first thing you have to do. It just not everyone has the opportunity to start in a picture perfect business, to go inside and say, oh, okay. This is how good it is. It's a beautiful product, beautiful business, and now it's, my task to make a new vision to to, you know, upscale and leverage. I didn't have that. So I'm making it very clear.

Talia ButtAnd, also, the family was not having hands on management. There was an external party who was doing the business for the family. And so keep going was my, know, mental and physical and emotional message, and then make the right decision at the right time. And that's some something all hotel background people have at the right time doing the right thing at the right price. Right? So that's something, you know, was my basis intellectually and then send the family, never did. That's all. Has it been an advantage or a challenge for me of being a young young owner or a young manager? No. It has certainly been an advantage.

Talia ButtSo how younger you start, how better. The energy and I had in my twenties and the push through challenges to achieve the milestones I had back, ten years ago, that has changed. I have less time now. I am mother. I have family. I have other ambitions after achieving certain milestones. So, yeah, it's it's very important to make independent, choices, well navigated, legacy

the Future of HospitalityTrue. Nice. Nice. And because you started at such a young age, was there some kind of a mentor, like that you said, like, I got some advice from this this person that really helped me shape me into where I'm where I'm now at this moment?

Talia ButtNo. I, I was preoccupied with, not only handling messes, problems, but also very preoccupied in my own identity. Like, what do I really want? Do I want this? Is this something I want to do? Because you take responsibility as soon as you step in managing a business which is owned by a family. It's not yours yet. Will it be of yours? You don't know because you have other brothers and sisters. You don't know where you actually stand and you cannot replace the head of family who have done, well, in the past fifty years something. And then you come in, step in, you are a total different generation.

Talia ButtYeah. What do you do? So age, was a good advantage for me. It was not a disadvantage answering.

the Future of HospitalityNice. Nice. And so now we talk a little bit about cleaning up the messes. Can you talk about the the good things now? Like, what differentiates you from the other hotels in the area? Like, how do you try to to make yourself different and stand out and being at nine plus what you want?

Talia ButtWell, that is also a very good question. Thank you for asking this, Enoch. I believe that and it's not it's a fact that we currently are located at a area of Brussels, which is needing transformation and upscaling also, a big teaming from the part of the government. And why do we need this? It's not only for we, the business people, but it's also for the travelers and the local staff. Let me get into more detail for this into onto this topic. Brussels South is the biggest train station Belgium Belgium has, and it's also the first, you know, inter internal portal for the international travel. So it's actually the port, the hub of the country.

Talia ButtAnd if it's dirty, it's not being maintained, it's all a nice sight. And also if if security related topics are not addressed, these aren't good things. In the past few years, we have seen many, many corporate hotels putting their their buildings up around this. We have seen international chains arrive at this area. They have a specific way of working. They have a corporate mindset and they're doing business here. And that's where I saw and I always felt this distance and this absence of having a boutique which is local, culturally inspired, offering food and beverages in an all day setting for local and well to travelers and actually showcasing us as a anchor of anchor hotel for the station. We're not as big as the other people other hotels who are around us, but we are an avenue of peace. And we don't we don't need to have 250 rooms. We are safe with the 35 we will be having and the food experience we will be delivering.

Talia ButtAnd that will allow us to create experiences to work on guest experience and making something special takes time and so on.

the Future of HospitalitySo you say that's, like, making it, like, a local experience and a good vibe, and also focus focusing not only on the on the travelers, but also on the local community, especially when it comes to FMB. That is something that sets you apart.

Talia ButtYeah. Definitely. Because there is currently, is a huge lack of, quality food around, us. And, you know, food makes such an important part of a journey of every traveler. There are people who go, travel and they, I wish I could eat again what I ate last week. It was so delicious. People like to have competitive, flavors. And there are people who are explorers. They want to explore new tastes. They want to explore the local food of what is culturally, know in the area. And this is something I want to, yeah, do in my business, and that's something we have been working on in the past few months and years because FNB wasn't my role in the previous, management part. I was more focused on the rooms and breakfast because the previous hotel that was just having this basic service of bed and breakfast and that was enough for the South Station area.

Talia ButtThen now, not anymore. For new traveler, this new generation,

the Future of Hospitalitythis is what they need, and we are willing to offer it. It's really nice to say that because I also spoke to an F and B expert, like, a while ago, and he told me that, if I'm not mistaken, like, 80% of need travelers, when they book a hotel, they mainly look at the food in the area and the food in the hotel. So it's not only about the food in your hotel, but, like, food makes such a big impact on if they choose the hotel. Like, if there's a nice food and beverage environment around the hotel, it really makes him choose for that one because, yeah, food plays such an important role. As you said, like, that's an experience. Yeah.

Talia ButtThat is so what I did is I you know, nowadays, what we do, what we would want to have, we want to have a designated area in which you have an external partner only offering chewy beverages. So I wanted to have this at the first perspective when I was making my my guest experience design, my my my brand. But at the same time, I couldn't allow an external party to have an impact on the food and beverages of the bread itself, which is every imagine something goes around wrong in the restaurant, the the stay of the guest has been impacted. That's something I didn't want, so I made a new brand for the restaurant independently of the hotel, allowing people to have a a recognition itself for the food and beverage part of the hotel. But, hey, look at us. We have a boat. We have a restaurant, which is both for the, yeah, the locals who are coming around. And they are also serving the food and beverages inside the hotel and it matches our ideology.

Talia ButtGiving quality food, giving culturally, you know, getting things which gain momentum here, and and street food, but healthy in a healthy way. So touching all the the needs and requirements in a sustainable way. And it's also very important to clarify because we we are a business which work with the ideology of human meeting planets. If we don't preserve

the Future of Hospitalitythe, you know, the roots of of

Talia Buttthe the sources resources we have today, how will we function in the future, how will the coming degeneration, you know, challenge be challenged and also working in challenging environments. So it's in the core of every human to, you know, be resilient, to preserve, and ensure that they can survive surviving.

the Future of HospitalityAnd I I hear that sustainability is important for you. Like, something that you Definitely. It's also something that a lot of new generations look at from what I know. Yeah. But how do you for example, I I feel about you that you have that kind of vision and passion or hospitality, but it is it difficult for you to to let that passion and vision go to other people? Because at the end, you're not the one that's facing guests, like, the all day long. Like, it's your people. So So how do you how do you do that? Like, how do you give your vision and passion to them?

Talia ButtIt takes time. It takes time to deliver and make a team of people and and supervisors that can mirror the ideology the brand has because, you know, we we are starting up, so we are not well known yet. And the the idea is to cross the message through this hands on experience, our our staff, our people will be doing. And the launch, the testing phase, this all allows us to learn from, you know, mistakes or even experiences which you make during, during all these these developments. So, yes, mirroring the the ideology and vision I have will come across staff and people through training, the, you know, certificates that you receive.

Talia ButtWhen you receive certificates, it's your duty to, you know, formulate your staff to give them the training they require to understand this. And, yeah, it's very important, to inspire people. People working for you should be working, while loving the brand, while feeling connected to it. If they don't have this bonding with your brand, with your image, automatically, you will have a hard time passing it on to the guest.

the Future of HospitalityAnd, yeah, finding these people, forming these people takes time. Takes it up. I think that's also one of your advantages as a smaller hotel, that it's easier to form that, you know, family kind of feeling and that people are really emotionally connected to your brand because it's it's smaller. And when it's bigger, also the people come, people go. It's also more visible. So, yeah, nice. And if you had, like, unlimited resources.

Talia ButtI I would automate so many things. You can't imagine. I would automate all the back behind scenes which you don't see. I would invest in digitalization. I would install the next generation surveyed scanners. You can scan everyone who's coming in. You know who's inside. What's their body temperature?

Talia ButtMaybe that's a bit too personal. I don't know. I'm just

Talia Buttmaking my imagination work right now. But what I would definitely also do is getting rooks, robots in indoor doing labor intensive works to, you know, free up time for for people who are here that they can work on memorable experiences, how to pamper their guests when they are here, and also the commercial side, making business, making the money run-in and be the hospitality industry project, which I aspire to have. We we can't, you know, push this this part away in our business. So the idea is that we be resilient and that we be a profitable company. So I can continue to focus on guest experience, guest decide, at the end of the day, you cannot forget who you are. You're a company.

Talia ButtOtherwise, you can go eat a book in the dark.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Good one. And if you if you said about robots, just, like, would you do it on the back end side or also in the customer facing,

Talia Buttsite? If they don't bother the customer, the idea is that they, that the robots, they are visible, that they are doing their things. So For instance, they are cleaning up a bit of dust that is here and there, that they can deliver a certain plate if ordered. Yeah. Because when you're serving food and beverages, it's also a study which I was focusing on in a couple of weeks ago. And it was you have service a la carte. You have service which is in a bouquet form. You have service on the go and you have service which is called takeaway. Yeah? All these services require a certain functionality from the business.

Talia ButtSo whatever can be done by robots, the better. Right? And who do we want to invest our time in? The people who are here, who see us function, who see the people who are there, and to give them the the right,

the Future of Hospitalityyeah, image of of who yeah. Nice. So that your your people can focus on what's really important that's making the connection and memorable experience with with the guests. That's what you want, and all the other stuff should be kind of outsourced to automation or was whatever you call it.

Talia ButtYeah. But but I don't want to cross, to send out the wrong message. People are so important in this big message, therefore, replacing work done by by people is is yes. It's a part, of course. But which works do we actually want to make done want to have done by robots are the jobs no one has covered with. Scanning a paper.

Talia ButtDo you like sitting behind a a printer and scanning a paper? No. We don't like this. Or do you like,

Talia ButtI know, putting scan scan not only scanning the mapping data. No. That's so outdated. If you look at the technologies and the IT related companies of today, they are all doing this. They're like, oh, no. This is not like old. Computers

the Future of Hospitalitymust humans. So

Talia Buttit's the technology and the, you know, the how technology is evolving and changing things is is inspiring.

the Future of HospitalitySo and it should come in in the hospitality industry as well. And it's coming slowly, but it will So you sound like you're not afraid to adapt new technology because maybe also because you're younger. Oh, Not

Talia Buttat all. Give me resources that you'll see.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Just you need the resources. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Cool. Other question I had, I was the one of the latest. Is there any feedback that you received from a guest that was so valuable for you that it really changed your, your way of working? Can you maybe remember something?

Talia ButtFor this question, I I am yeah. I needed help because I don't see my guests every day. And so I I I asked and heard from from people working in supervised roles. And, you know, the most valuable feedback we we have had at this particular one is people saying, wow. Woah. What you have done at the hotel is something which is unimaginable because we were here ten or five years ago, and we don't recognize this building at all. What how how did you do this? What many congratulations for what you guys have achieved, and we are looking forward to come back and really see final product when, you know, terrace will be opening, your your gym facility will be opened, and your food and beverages will be on point because you're still developing. We see the input which is there.

Talia ButtAnd, yeah, we we we have audios. We have audio messages of guests leaving us these messages who were here before and we didn't leave the property. And, yeah, it shows. So it's it's it's a breath of fresh air as soon as you hear someone saying, wow. What did you do? How did you do it? We see what you did, and, yeah, it's it's inspiring. It's really inspiring that it gives you the the power to to keep on going, I guess. You're on the right, on the right path.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. Nice. So what is basically your next biggest challenge? Like, what is your next goal challenge in your next path with

Talia ButtWell, first of all, this is my baby, which is growing out to become the kid the new kid in town. And then as I explained, from the new kid it is today, we are having this ideology of becoming an anchor hotel for the local businesses as well for travelers. But moving onwards, moving forward, our idea and our passion would be to extend our services and to become a a, you know, a a bit a small maybe chain of details. That's that has been my childhood dream. If I really will go behind this, maybe. You never know. Or maybe not because I am still young. And, you know, there come there there are so many external, sentiments, so many external, emotions I come across, and maybe I might go in another industry. You never know. But the passion I have for the hospitality and, you know, the porteous side, the the wall that I have with buildings might allow us to perhaps scale and do what I really imagined to do, which was my childhood dream of having a series of hotels.

the Future of HospitalityNice. I really hope for you and for the guests that you can get to the dream, because you sound like you do everything what you do from from your heart, and that's important with hospitality. Because if if the art is not involved, in my opinion, and you only do it with your brain and analytical, like, how we can run this business, then it's kind of you missed the point, in my opinion.

Talia ButtDefinitely. And not not for everyone. You know, we cannot judge someone on their likability or likelihood of what what they like in numbers or colors or tastes. So if I'm speaking about growing hospitality, then I don't need to make another chill, but maybe a jack or another concept that allows us to keep going and have this excitement inside the company's wedding. And having several typical types having maybe a budget brand or or an upscale totally luxury because that was my my first idea was to start with make a five star. Make something which is totally upscale luxury. But, unfortunately, process we need didn't allow me to do this. The the city is not ready for it yet, this area.

Talia ButtBut, yeah, that doesn't take away that's why having a five star if you can have a full style which offers five star services because that's what matters. Give them pamper them. Give your guests what they are looking for, and you can do it because you're a small curated property who is focusing on this attention. And give also this training to your staff that they understand that they are not just or that they aren't a, individual here with a certain job description. They have to finish their hours and then go get COVID. No. Try to build these connections.

the Future of HospitalityNice. I love that one because I know from my experience as a traveler, that even the the simplest people can make a difference in your experience. It's not always like you said, like, every person in the hotel can make it a memorable experience. If the experience is better than you expected, then it's a marvelous experience, in my opinion. So if you expect to go to a four star and you get the five star, then you feel like this was an amazing experience. But it's always about exceeding the the expectations of the guest Yeah. Plays an important role. Nice, Tade. We're almost almost done here. Do you have something else that you want to that you want to say that you say, like I don't It can be anything that you want to say to other hospitality professionals, to the younger ones, whoever it is, something you want to share.

Talia ButtYeah. Well, if I would want to share something for enthusiasts of hospitality, the first thing is which was in the past, which we heard from the experts, location is everything. Location is everything. I think there is more. I believe I definitely believe there is more, and that is connectivity. In today's world, if we aren't connected with Yeah. With people through the technologies which are in front of us, we're not doing our job correctly. So reach out, do what you need to do, put your vision into the brains of the people, see inspire them, talk to them, keep present, and make sure that your message comes across. If you cannot do it personally, do it with a video, with over a call, quick talk to them. You'll see how it makes a difference and how sometimes things are misunderstood.

Talia ButtSo that's something I would like to share with the hospitality enthusiasts. And don't give up. Keep going. If it's your dream to make something out of it, do it. Go for it. And be confident. Trust yourself.