April 13, 2023 • 27 mins
Meet Carol and Jeff Watson, the Couple who left successful corporate careers and took a leap of faith into the world of Bed and Breakfasts. Find out how that leap turned an old historic house on Cape Cod into a highly desirable travel destination. Welcome to the Captain Farris House.
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(00:00):
The risk takers, innovators, business owners, and they're a couple.
(00:14):
Welcome to a couple of entrepreneurs, a series about couples who start a business together
without ending their relationship.
Hear their unique stories, get tips, advice, and a secret to their success.
Would you work with your spouse?
Hosted by Micki and Tony, a couple of entrepreneurs.
(00:35):
Co-founders of Brandy Shorts.
A corporate jungle exit, an old historic house, and the leap of faith that made a dream come
true.
Meet Jeff and Carol Watson, owners of Captain Faris fed and breakfast in Cape Cod.
(00:58):
Welcome to the show.
Well hi guys, thanks for being on the show, a couple of entrepreneurs.
Carol and Jeff, can you tell us who you are, what you do, and what led you to be a couple
of entrepreneurs?
Okay, so I'm Carol, I'm Jeff.
(01:20):
Well we are the owners slash in keepers of the Captain Faris house fed and breakfast
up on Cape Cod.
So we've been here for seven years and we're starting our eighth season.
So why this business?
What drew you guys, there's so many different businesses that you could start, why this
one?
(01:40):
That's a good question, Tony.
We ran across this, we thought about a franchise, we thought about a restaurant.
We wanted to do something that we liked and we liked to entertain, we always had to entertain
back in New York and family gatherings, friends, neighbors, so we figured we would do something
along that line.
(02:02):
The only difference now is that we're getting paid to do it.
But what I learned from our relationship is that we work well together, right?
Like when we were entertaining, I wasn't the only one cooking and cleaning.
I would cook the main things, he'd be on the grill, he'd stay up at night and help me
(02:23):
clean up, which to me was an amazing asset to have.
So we work together well as a team.
We both enjoyed hospitality.
So we always talked about doing something around those lines and that's why we're here
(02:45):
at a bed and breakfast.
I mean, why that place, why that location?
Well, we were laughing because everybody asked us that question.
When we went to the aspiring innkeeper seminar, we learned a lot of different things.
One we learned that, yes, we want to do this.
(03:07):
We were both on the same page.
They go through the background, what it takes, and so we both were on the same page on that.
We learned that they said, do not buy a place where you wouldn't want to live.
And then the other thing that we learned is most people get out of the business because
they want to, they miss a lot with their grandchildren.
(03:30):
So we decided we want to go someplace where we would love to live and be close, still
close to family.
So on the way home, on the drive home, I started searching for a bed and breakfast for sale
on Cape God.
And that's how we found this place.
We drove up here and saw two bed and breakfast in September.
(03:56):
And we came and we stayed here in October.
In November, we made an offer.
And then in January, they accepted the offer.
I left my job on January 28th.
We moved up here in March.
March 30th.
(04:16):
March 30th of 2016.
And we opened up on April 15th two weeks later.
So it didn't give us much time to think about it.
We just did it.
We put our house on the market and sold it in two weeks.
And we just never looked back.
We've been here for seven years.
We didn't have time to look back.
It was moving.
It was almost like it was predestined.
(04:36):
This is where we are supposed to be.
And we loved the Cape.
We had never really been on the Cape before.
We absolutely love it here.
Cape's beautiful.
I actually went to undergrad at school in Boston.
So like I went to Boston College.
I went to BU.
Oh yeah, down the street.
So like what a beautiful part.
I mean of the country, right?
(04:57):
The Cape.
What a great choice by you guys.
What's the name of your bed and breakfast?
It's the Captain Farris House.
It's a historic building.
The Farris family lived here.
The building Greek revival, 1845.
It was restored in the 90s and became a bed and breakfast.
The Farris family lived here.
It was a residential area, historical Bass River area.
(05:21):
It has a lot of character.
It's just an older home, but it's been restored.
So it has the modern comforts, but you feel like you've been transported in time.
It's just really a cool place.
So what did people say, you guys?
Because we get this question a lot.
So your husband and wife team.
He said, you know what?
(05:41):
We're going to leave our other careers and we're going to go open this bed and breakfast
as a husband and wife team.
What was the reaction you got from friends and family about working with a spouse?
Some people were happy.
Some people were not happy.
The common theme was a lot of work.
And we say yes, and it's not for everyone.
It's not for everyone.
(06:02):
We had a dream.
At the end of the day, we never have to say what if.
We'll never have to say that.
What if?
We never really did it.
And now, eight seasons, we're still doing it.
We didn't realize, at least at that time when I was doing the corporate, he was in pharmaceutical
(06:23):
sales, the time that we caught up was in the evening.
So I would leave early in the morning and I wouldn't get home until later.
And then when we came here, all of a sudden we have to share an office.
I didn't realize he talked to himself.
So it was very different than being in corporate and being able to call the help desk and being
(06:47):
able to have somebody else do the finances and the accounting and everything else.
And now we're thrown in together, running a business that we had no idea how to run
in a historical building that had a lot of deferred maintenance.
I help them, I do.
(07:08):
The thing is, you have to laugh about it.
We have some stories to tell, so you just kind of have to take a breath and recognize,
okay, this two-shell paths and we love each other and he still makes me laugh.
We just, sometimes we just have to laugh.
No, that's great.
Since the humor we find out, a lot of the couples we talked, it was really an important
(07:31):
ingredient.
You were talking about some stories or challenges.
What are some of the biggest challenges you guys faced when you started the business and
how did you work together to overcome them?
When we started the business, it's really understanding how to run a business.
I mean, this business was a turnkey.
That's why we were able to open it up in two weeks.
(07:52):
So there was a process and the structure already involved, but then how do we come in and put
our own stamp on it?
The challenge was to just really understand how to manage a business, a profitable business.
They said, don't fall in love with the building.
Unfortunately, Kyle, she fell in love.
And I love the area.
(08:13):
I love the area.
So it was, it was a, it's kind of like a love-hate relationship.
You know, yes, it's a beautiful property.
I think for us, with the help of us in this business, is that we have a separate owner's
court.
So we can take ourselves away from the business and come back here and still have a place
that we call home, you know?
And that was, because a lot of the businesses, the bed and breakfast, you don't have a separate
(08:38):
owner's court.
As you live actually in the building, you take one of the rooms, you know, and you might
live in the basement in the summertime and attic in the wintertime of Issa Versa, whatever
the case may be.
And so that was the thing that really drew us to this building.
We actually have over 13,000 square foot of living here.
Oh, wow.
We have an acre and a half, an acre and a half of land.
(09:01):
We have a 35-car parking lot.
We have 10 rooms, 10 guest rooms in total.
We have a number of suites.
We have a building right next door that also has two suites in there as well.
So you know, we learned in the seminar that you have to have at least 10 rooms to be a
business.
I was going to say, so getting some education like a seminar has been helpful then.
(09:24):
Oh, the seminar was, the best thing you can do was about, I would say it was maybe 15
couples maybe from all over the country.
It was just a couple things to decide because you can't do it by yourself.
Either you're both in or you're not in, you know.
So and I tell you, it's not, people come to the hotel.
I always wanted to have a bed and breakfast and you hear the spouse say, eh, not me.
(09:48):
So that's, you know, so it was, which made sense.
So the seminar really helped us to understand.
How many guests do you usually have?
We have a capacity of 22.
22.
So in the summer, our season is like June, you know, May it starts like right after Memorial
Day goes through, I'd say Columbus Day.
(10:10):
It's 24 seven.
We are on call all the time.
Yeah.
Do you guys close at all or open all year round?
No, we do close.
In fact, usually it's like mid December, all of January we close.
Most of our business is on the weekends.
So and then we opened up a tea room to the public.
(10:30):
We're able to serve afternoon tea.
We do a traditional British tea service, three tiered service and people come and make reservations
and we serve them tea Thursdays through Sundays.
Oh, so that's in addition to the, it's a different business almost.
You don't have to stay at the bed and breakfast to take advantage of the taste.
Right.
Right.
(10:51):
Oh, that's a great idea.
Yeah, we were able to get a variance to be able to serve the public.
So I see it as like a brand extension because now we're establishing relationships with
the people who live here and they're always asking for, you know, information about the
bed and breakfast because people have homes here, but they can't always entertain or maybe
(11:11):
they don't want to entertain them so they can send them to us.
So we've gotten some business through that as well.
So that's great.
So that helps you, it's a separate business for you, but it also drives people to your
core business.
Exactly.
So smart.
Very smart.
That is so smart.
Is it your backgrounds in corporate help you create?
Oh, yeah.
(11:32):
Across the street from us is the cultural center of Cape Cod and they do an amazing,
they always have like concerts and artists and it's become kind of a magnet for people
who live on the Cape.
So we're trying to figure out how do we package that.
We're trying a spring wellness retreat at the end of April where people will come and
(11:57):
stay overnight with us for the weekend, but then we have yoga and meditation and cooking
and dancing and painting.
You're doing a great job on your own core business, but you're constantly thinking about,
well, what if I do this?
Or how can I add this way?
Yeah, yeah.
Brand extensions.
(12:17):
Yeah, I think a lot of it is the marketing.
To your point, Maggie, I feel like everything that I learned from American Express and MasterCard
has helped me to really think through this as a business.
And we always wanted to have our own business, but I feel like that corporate really helped
(12:40):
to train us for where we are today.
I wouldn't have wanted to do it prior to now.
We had great experiences.
We traveled the world.
We met a lot of great people and being able to watch these companies in action.
So it's like, now this is a much smaller scale, of course, but it's ours and we've put our
(13:04):
stamp on it, which is nice.
Do you feel the same way?
Oh yeah, definitely.
I'm a salesperson.
I've been in front of people since I was a flight attendant since the bank.
I'm sales, as she tells me.
We have many hats around here.
But one of them is sales.
So I remember we'd go out there and talk to the people and if we're running late behind
Sunday, I'd go out there and entertain them and tell them stories.
(13:27):
Tell them stories.
We both have our jobs.
And sometimes when I get a little crazy in the kitchen, she wheels me back in and she
reminds me, it's only breakfast.
It's only breakfast.
But we're partners, though.
We make the decisions together.
She's got a full plate with the walker in it.
And what's interesting is our relationship, we are so different.
(13:50):
And I didn't realize if I had to work with me, we probably wouldn't have a well-run
business.
But Jeffrey, he's very, he's like quality control, operations management, business development.
Everything is like clockwork with him.
He's very organized.
(14:12):
I am more the creative side.
So I'm making, I'm developing the menus and I'm making the plate look pretty.
So did you guys naturally, did you naturally fall into your roles or did you pre-define
them when you opened up?
No, we just kind of naturally fell into it.
We naturally fell into it.
And I think it even happened back in the Yonkers when we was cooking.
I would always like get in the kitchen first and I would season the stuff up.
(14:35):
So because we don't really work well together in the kitchen when it comes to preparing
stuff.
So I try to get in there first and do it.
I use everything possible.
I'm a cooking clean kind of guy.
And she's whatever you have.
And give me a space I'll take it.
If you move, if you move your plate, I'm there.
I got it.
But so yeah, we've had to learn to play nicely.
(14:58):
Yeah.
In the sandbox.
He lets me know where my space is.
This is mine.
So funny because it sounds like there's a lot of creative, like one partner's creative,
one partner's business.
I mean, we have the same kind of thing.
You know, I'm more creative.
He's more business.
But yes, we, you know, that seems to be a common thread.
(15:19):
You define your roles.
You figure out what you're good at, you know.
And so I do what I do best and she does best.
And we respect that.
We respect that.
We stay in our lanes.
We stay in our lanes.
And I'm anything, anything that's on top of the stove, I do anything that's in the stove
countless.
(15:39):
You have folks that work for you.
You have a staff.
But when it comes to the cooking, that's a role you guys have taken on.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Why is, why is that something as opposed to hiring staff to do that?
Why have you guys taken that on?
Well, it's just breakfast.
Well, you know, first of all, you have to be served safe, you know.
It's a, you have to qualify every five years, you take this test, it's either pass or fail.
(16:02):
And health department never tells you to come in and surprise you with an inspection.
Yeah, but to answer your point also about why not hire someone, I think because we're
a small business, we do have to manage the expenses.
And I kind of, Jeffrey was always the breakfast guy.
Like he, I never really ate breakfast.
Jeff, I just loved to cook.
(16:24):
And Jeffrey always ate breakfast.
And he always cooked breakfast.
So it was kind of part of our, part of us, you know, to put our stamp on what we do.
So you know, we could hire someone that's going to be, you know, additional funding.
And it's part time, it's seasonal.
(16:44):
You know, it's kind of challenging to find the right, the right players.
It sounds like a really smart business decision what you guys decided to do, right?
You can do it.
You have the passion to it.
You have to worry about an expense for it, the safety part with the health.
We do a lot of video production in the hospitality industry.
So we're familiar with all the health.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, so, so yeah, that makes perfect sense.
(17:06):
But being in a bed, a bed, I'm sorry, being in a bed and breakfast, you guys are home.
She's having a great big good.
I love, I love to cook.
She loves to cook.
We're both Italian, we love food.
And Carol, just like you, I use every pot and pan in the house.
Oh my God.
I'm the cooking clean guy, Jeff.
I'm more like you.
That's how we define our roles.
(17:28):
So even on a day to day, when she decides to make dinner, when she finishes, I go in
that clean, you know.
So we're still working together.
It's helpful.
Yeah, we hear you guys.
So how do you separate business and personal since you're living in the place of your,
well, yeah.
Well, you have a separate quarter.
You have separate quarters, but you're still, I mean, you're together all the time.
(17:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's challenging.
I guess you're right.
It's kind of melding together.
When there's no guests, that's our time to kind of do what we want to do.
You got to find time out for yourself.
You know, like I go back to the gym now.
I'm kind of got the pentaton.
She goes for a walk.
You just take some time.
Let's do this to get out because this was kind of suck in it because it's always something
(18:15):
to do.
You know, it's always something to do.
Yeah.
It's been challenging to separate personal and business because it's all melded in
together, but we've tried to, we try to go out to dinner every now and then.
So yeah, it's been challenging.
Yeah.
So do you go to other bed and breakfasts on vacation?
Yeah, we did go to a bed and breakfast.
(18:38):
It's kind of to see how they do things.
Yeah.
Find myself very, very critical.
I look for things that maybe I wouldn't have seen, but we traveled the world and stayed
at the best hotels.
I was going to say, there's like a theme that keeps reoccurring.
It's like, you guys just, you've learned so much, right?
Whether it's like you've took a course or you're from the business or your travels,
(19:02):
you've learned all this in all these different ways, right?
And you've incorporated it now, corporate, which is what a great way to approach things,
right?
It's taking these nuggets from these different places in your life and then putting it into
this business.
Do you guys have like any guiding principles or keys to success you would share with other
couples thinking about going into business together?
(19:23):
A couple of things that come to mind is, you know, just have fun, you know?
Try to have fun with it because it's like life is too short.
You can't take it too seriously or else you get kind of pulled under.
So it's important to have some time out where you can just kind of breathe a little bit,
(19:44):
laugh a little bit, enjoy each other's company, you know?
If we have a bad day, I usually just breathe and say this two-shell pass and come back
to and then tomorrow's another day, you know?
It's like more on-the-job training, you know?
I mean, especially with an old house, something always comes up.
(20:05):
It's, oh, that's something new.
I didn't know what they say.
It's better to be crying once than to cry over and over.
So if you've got to fix something, fix it right the first time.
Because what happens is this, in this business right now is quiet, but when it starts, Tony,
it's nonstop.
I mean, last year we had, we had off June 9th last year.
The next day we had off was October 20th session.
(20:26):
So we worked like 145 days straight.
So we realized that when we have a, if we just sit down and do nothing for us, that's
a good day.
I'm one of a bunch of boys, people, I know the neighbors, they know us because I have
the dogs.
So I, you know, people know who we are, you know?
And since it's a neighborhood, even when we had to get a variance, hit the people that
(20:48):
were on the board lives in the neighborhood.
They say, oh man, you're doing a great job in your house.
Can you see me out there working?
It sounds like relationship building is one of the keys to the success.
Oh yeah, always.
Yes, relationship building.
Yes.
That is definitely.
He's definitely business developer.
I'm business developer.
I tell you, you know something?
Hey, look, she's the president of the corporation.
(21:09):
I'm the vice president of the corporation.
She's the treasurer of the corporation.
I'm the secretary of the corporation.
You see how much more I have.
But we're 50, 50, so she can't fire me and I can't fire her.
And that's how we're saying, we got the corporation and that's how we set it up, you know?
So it's, you know, and they said, we have an exit plan, but we had an exit plan.
(21:29):
It was a 10 year plan.
You come in, you work 10 years and you get out.
That's involved.
Well, after COVID, I had to throw it out to window.
Thank God, yes.
So do you guys, you said stories.
Are there any interesting stories, you guys?
I mean, you have this 18, is it 1841?
1845.
1845.
Are there any stories about guests that have stayed?
(21:51):
A story about that without giving names or et cetera, or things that have gone on in
there?
Or ghosts?
Bingo, bingo.
No.
Oh, tell us.
You know, can we talk about your sister?
Can we tell her where you're at?
No, there has been rumors, you know, says these are old, no, she's right.
These are old homes with a lot of history in them.
(22:13):
We do have pictures of Irma Farris on the wall, like she was a nurse.
We have books.
Some of the staff has said that the Captain Farris, you know, they've heard noise in there.
Yes.
Okay.
There's one guest.
He lived in California, he and his wife, they would come named Ben.
And he would come and stay with us because he had family here.
(22:36):
And one year, he wasn't able to get a room here because we were sold out.
But he knows that at three o'clock, there's cookies.
So he came to the back door, he's like, Carol, you got any cookies?
I was like, come on in, Ben.
Now, it's like you build these relationships.
I remember also another time I went to the supermarket and one of the guests was in the
(23:00):
supermarket.
He's like, you know, when I went there, I was a guest, but I left and I felt like a family
member, like a friend.
Because we treat, when we open up our home, you're no longer just a guest.
They feel welcome and they come back, which is great.
We always tell people, you come in as a guest and you leave as family.
(23:21):
That should be your tagline.
Well, no, I love that.
You come in as a guest and you leave as family, right?
That should be your tagline.
We get a lot of repeat guests, a lot of Europeans, you know, Europeans know how to take holidays,
you know.
I would just say one, a couple from Europe.
She thought she was turning the light out on the porch and she really pulled the fire
(23:42):
alarm.
This was at two o'clock in the morning.
She pulled the fire alarm and she says, I'm so sorry.
And everybody had their white.
Everybody had to evacuate the fire department came and she was so sorry.
She was so impressed.
I said, well, I understand.
I know it's a little confusing, but I'm pretty sure no matter where you go on God's earth,
(24:03):
that little red box, there's a fire alarm.
You know, it might be different in Europe, but it's not that much different though.
If there's other couples that are thinking about going into business together, what would
you say to them?
You both got to be in.
If you're not both in, it's not going to work.
The simplest that you can't say, yeah, I'm in and then we start and you're not in.
Yeah, I would say do your research.
(24:25):
Make sure that you're tapping into your passions.
Make sure that you're in, you know, that it's the two of you because it's not going to work
if it's just one and the other one is not fully in it.
But I'd say do some research and don't think too hard.
(24:46):
You know, at a certain point you could talk yourself out of it because it's just a different
lifestyle.
It's just different.
Like if I asked you guys the biggest challenge and the biggest reward?
The biggest challenge I think for us was not not listening to a real estate person when
(25:08):
he said it had too much deferred maintenance.
You know, I said, I was probably wondering because it took us a while to catch up because
we had to do the deferred maintenance.
We'll finally start to catch up now, starting to see a small profit.
Yeah, I'd agree.
I'd say the biggest challenge is maintaining the property to, you know, so not knowing,
(25:32):
I mean, you could turn or faucet and all of a sudden the water's not coming out and it
was working like yesterday.
So I think that's the biggest challenge, not being able to predict the day to day.
I'd say the biggest reward is just knowing that we did it.
We did it.
(25:52):
We had a dream and we just stepped out.
We didn't have all the answers, but we don't have to adjust so we don't have to look back
and say, what if?
We live in a dream.
And we're still together.
Yeah.
That's very rewarding.
That's great.
I would say another challenge is trying to adjust what was to what is now because, you know,
(26:20):
traveling on business class, staying at, you know, great hotels, eating in great restaurants
and getting paid for that.
Company car.
You know what?
What is that was now this is.
You know, I understand.
It's so funny.
My American Express days, I used to, you know, I had clients that were at conventions in
(26:42):
Hawaii and I'm like, this is great.
I think I can make that one.
I think I can help.
Somebody's got to do it.
I know.
Exactly.
And I'm just saying to now, like you guys, we have our own business and we manage it that
way.
It's a whole different story.
But I think this is great.
I think this is great.
Thank you guys for being on the show.
It was awesome to meet you.
(27:03):
Thank you.
And you shared so many great things.
Thank you guys so much and all the best of luck with your business.
For more info on the Captain Faris House, visit CaptainFaris.com.
(27:25):
For more episodes, visit brandingshorts.com forward slash podcast.
Thanks for listening.
The risk takers, innovators, business owners, and they're a couple.
(00:14):
Welcome to a couple of entrepreneurs, a series about couples who start a business together
without ending their relationship.
Hear their unique stories, get tips, advice, and a secret to their success.
Would you work with your spouse?
Hosted by Micki and Tony, a couple of entrepreneurs.
(00:35):
Co-founders of Brandy Shorts.
A corporate jungle exit, an old historic house, and the leap of faith that made a dream come
true.
Meet Jeff and Carol Watson, owners of Captain Faris fed and breakfast in Cape Cod.
(00:58):
Welcome to the show.
Well hi guys, thanks for being on the show, a couple of entrepreneurs.
Carol and Jeff, can you tell us who you are, what you do, and what led you to be a couple
of entrepreneurs?
Okay, so I'm Carol, I'm Jeff.
(01:20):
Well we are the owners slash in keepers of the Captain Faris house fed and breakfast
up on Cape Cod.
So we've been here for seven years and we're starting our eighth season.
So why this business?
What drew you guys, there's so many different businesses that you could start, why this
one?
(01:40):
That's a good question, Tony.
We ran across this, we thought about a franchise, we thought about a restaurant.
We wanted to do something that we liked and we liked to entertain, we always had to entertain
back in New York and family gatherings, friends, neighbors, so we figured we would do something
along that line.
(02:02):
The only difference now is that we're getting paid to do it.
But what I learned from our relationship is that we work well together, right?
Like when we were entertaining, I wasn't the only one cooking and cleaning.
I would cook the main things, he'd be on the grill, he'd stay up at night and help me
(02:23):
clean up, which to me was an amazing asset to have.
So we work together well as a team.
We both enjoyed hospitality.
So we always talked about doing something around those lines and that's why we're here
(02:45):
at a bed and breakfast.
I mean, why that place, why that location?
Well, we were laughing because everybody asked us that question.
When we went to the aspiring innkeeper seminar, we learned a lot of different things.
One we learned that, yes, we want to do this.
(03:07):
We were both on the same page.
They go through the background, what it takes, and so we both were on the same page on that.
We learned that they said, do not buy a place where you wouldn't want to live.
And then the other thing that we learned is most people get out of the business because
they want to, they miss a lot with their grandchildren.
(03:30):
So we decided we want to go someplace where we would love to live and be close, still
close to family.
So on the way home, on the drive home, I started searching for a bed and breakfast for sale
on Cape God.
And that's how we found this place.
We drove up here and saw two bed and breakfast in September.
(03:56):
And we came and we stayed here in October.
In November, we made an offer.
And then in January, they accepted the offer.
I left my job on January 28th.
We moved up here in March.
March 30th.
(04:16):
March 30th of 2016.
And we opened up on April 15th two weeks later.
So it didn't give us much time to think about it.
We just did it.
We put our house on the market and sold it in two weeks.
And we just never looked back.
We've been here for seven years.
We didn't have time to look back.
It was moving.
It was almost like it was predestined.
(04:36):
This is where we are supposed to be.
And we loved the Cape.
We had never really been on the Cape before.
We absolutely love it here.
Cape's beautiful.
I actually went to undergrad at school in Boston.
So like I went to Boston College.
I went to BU.
Oh yeah, down the street.
So like what a beautiful part.
I mean of the country, right?
(04:57):
The Cape.
What a great choice by you guys.
What's the name of your bed and breakfast?
It's the Captain Farris House.
It's a historic building.
The Farris family lived here.
The building Greek revival, 1845.
It was restored in the 90s and became a bed and breakfast.
The Farris family lived here.
It was a residential area, historical Bass River area.
(05:21):
It has a lot of character.
It's just an older home, but it's been restored.
So it has the modern comforts, but you feel like you've been transported in time.
It's just really a cool place.
So what did people say, you guys?
Because we get this question a lot.
So your husband and wife team.
He said, you know what?
(05:41):
We're going to leave our other careers and we're going to go open this bed and breakfast
as a husband and wife team.
What was the reaction you got from friends and family about working with a spouse?
Some people were happy.
Some people were not happy.
The common theme was a lot of work.
And we say yes, and it's not for everyone.
It's not for everyone.
(06:02):
We had a dream.
At the end of the day, we never have to say what if.
We'll never have to say that.
What if?
We never really did it.
And now, eight seasons, we're still doing it.
We didn't realize, at least at that time when I was doing the corporate, he was in pharmaceutical
(06:23):
sales, the time that we caught up was in the evening.
So I would leave early in the morning and I wouldn't get home until later.
And then when we came here, all of a sudden we have to share an office.
I didn't realize he talked to himself.
So it was very different than being in corporate and being able to call the help desk and being
(06:47):
able to have somebody else do the finances and the accounting and everything else.
And now we're thrown in together, running a business that we had no idea how to run
in a historical building that had a lot of deferred maintenance.
I help them, I do.
(07:08):
The thing is, you have to laugh about it.
We have some stories to tell, so you just kind of have to take a breath and recognize,
okay, this two-shell paths and we love each other and he still makes me laugh.
We just, sometimes we just have to laugh.
No, that's great.
Since the humor we find out, a lot of the couples we talked, it was really an important
(07:31):
ingredient.
You were talking about some stories or challenges.
What are some of the biggest challenges you guys faced when you started the business and
how did you work together to overcome them?
When we started the business, it's really understanding how to run a business.
I mean, this business was a turnkey.
That's why we were able to open it up in two weeks.
(07:52):
So there was a process and the structure already involved, but then how do we come in and put
our own stamp on it?
The challenge was to just really understand how to manage a business, a profitable business.
They said, don't fall in love with the building.
Unfortunately, Kyle, she fell in love.
And I love the area.
(08:13):
I love the area.
So it was, it was a, it's kind of like a love-hate relationship.
You know, yes, it's a beautiful property.
I think for us, with the help of us in this business, is that we have a separate owner's
court.
So we can take ourselves away from the business and come back here and still have a place
that we call home, you know?
And that was, because a lot of the businesses, the bed and breakfast, you don't have a separate
(08:38):
owner's court.
As you live actually in the building, you take one of the rooms, you know, and you might
live in the basement in the summertime and attic in the wintertime of Issa Versa, whatever
the case may be.
And so that was the thing that really drew us to this building.
We actually have over 13,000 square foot of living here.
Oh, wow.
We have an acre and a half, an acre and a half of land.
(09:01):
We have a 35-car parking lot.
We have 10 rooms, 10 guest rooms in total.
We have a number of suites.
We have a building right next door that also has two suites in there as well.
So you know, we learned in the seminar that you have to have at least 10 rooms to be a
business.
I was going to say, so getting some education like a seminar has been helpful then.
(09:24):
Oh, the seminar was, the best thing you can do was about, I would say it was maybe 15
couples maybe from all over the country.
It was just a couple things to decide because you can't do it by yourself.
Either you're both in or you're not in, you know.
So and I tell you, it's not, people come to the hotel.
I always wanted to have a bed and breakfast and you hear the spouse say, eh, not me.
(09:48):
So that's, you know, so it was, which made sense.
So the seminar really helped us to understand.
How many guests do you usually have?
We have a capacity of 22.
22.
So in the summer, our season is like June, you know, May it starts like right after Memorial
Day goes through, I'd say Columbus Day.
(10:10):
It's 24 seven.
We are on call all the time.
Yeah.
Do you guys close at all or open all year round?
No, we do close.
In fact, usually it's like mid December, all of January we close.
Most of our business is on the weekends.
So and then we opened up a tea room to the public.
(10:30):
We're able to serve afternoon tea.
We do a traditional British tea service, three tiered service and people come and make reservations
and we serve them tea Thursdays through Sundays.
Oh, so that's in addition to the, it's a different business almost.
You don't have to stay at the bed and breakfast to take advantage of the taste.
Right.
Right.
(10:51):
Oh, that's a great idea.
Yeah, we were able to get a variance to be able to serve the public.
So I see it as like a brand extension because now we're establishing relationships with
the people who live here and they're always asking for, you know, information about the
bed and breakfast because people have homes here, but they can't always entertain or maybe
(11:11):
they don't want to entertain them so they can send them to us.
So we've gotten some business through that as well.
So that's great.
So that helps you, it's a separate business for you, but it also drives people to your
core business.
Exactly.
So smart.
Very smart.
That is so smart.
Is it your backgrounds in corporate help you create?
Oh, yeah.
(11:32):
Across the street from us is the cultural center of Cape Cod and they do an amazing,
they always have like concerts and artists and it's become kind of a magnet for people
who live on the Cape.
So we're trying to figure out how do we package that.
We're trying a spring wellness retreat at the end of April where people will come and
(11:57):
stay overnight with us for the weekend, but then we have yoga and meditation and cooking
and dancing and painting.
You're doing a great job on your own core business, but you're constantly thinking about,
well, what if I do this?
Or how can I add this way?
Yeah, yeah.
Brand extensions.
(12:17):
Yeah, I think a lot of it is the marketing.
To your point, Maggie, I feel like everything that I learned from American Express and MasterCard
has helped me to really think through this as a business.
And we always wanted to have our own business, but I feel like that corporate really helped
(12:40):
to train us for where we are today.
I wouldn't have wanted to do it prior to now.
We had great experiences.
We traveled the world.
We met a lot of great people and being able to watch these companies in action.
So it's like, now this is a much smaller scale, of course, but it's ours and we've put our
(13:04):
stamp on it, which is nice.
Do you feel the same way?
Oh yeah, definitely.
I'm a salesperson.
I've been in front of people since I was a flight attendant since the bank.
I'm sales, as she tells me.
We have many hats around here.
But one of them is sales.
So I remember we'd go out there and talk to the people and if we're running late behind
Sunday, I'd go out there and entertain them and tell them stories.
(13:27):
Tell them stories.
We both have our jobs.
And sometimes when I get a little crazy in the kitchen, she wheels me back in and she
reminds me, it's only breakfast.
It's only breakfast.
But we're partners, though.
We make the decisions together.
She's got a full plate with the walker in it.
And what's interesting is our relationship, we are so different.
(13:50):
And I didn't realize if I had to work with me, we probably wouldn't have a well-run
business.
But Jeffrey, he's very, he's like quality control, operations management, business development.
Everything is like clockwork with him.
He's very organized.
(14:12):
I am more the creative side.
So I'm making, I'm developing the menus and I'm making the plate look pretty.
So did you guys naturally, did you naturally fall into your roles or did you pre-define
them when you opened up?
No, we just kind of naturally fell into it.
We naturally fell into it.
And I think it even happened back in the Yonkers when we was cooking.
I would always like get in the kitchen first and I would season the stuff up.
(14:35):
So because we don't really work well together in the kitchen when it comes to preparing
stuff.
So I try to get in there first and do it.
I use everything possible.
I'm a cooking clean kind of guy.
And she's whatever you have.
And give me a space I'll take it.
If you move, if you move your plate, I'm there.
I got it.
But so yeah, we've had to learn to play nicely.
(14:58):
Yeah.
In the sandbox.
He lets me know where my space is.
This is mine.
So funny because it sounds like there's a lot of creative, like one partner's creative,
one partner's business.
I mean, we have the same kind of thing.
You know, I'm more creative.
He's more business.
But yes, we, you know, that seems to be a common thread.
(15:19):
You define your roles.
You figure out what you're good at, you know.
And so I do what I do best and she does best.
And we respect that.
We respect that.
We stay in our lanes.
We stay in our lanes.
And I'm anything, anything that's on top of the stove, I do anything that's in the stove
countless.
(15:39):
You have folks that work for you.
You have a staff.
But when it comes to the cooking, that's a role you guys have taken on.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Why is, why is that something as opposed to hiring staff to do that?
Why have you guys taken that on?
Well, it's just breakfast.
Well, you know, first of all, you have to be served safe, you know.
It's a, you have to qualify every five years, you take this test, it's either pass or fail.
(16:02):
And health department never tells you to come in and surprise you with an inspection.
Yeah, but to answer your point also about why not hire someone, I think because we're
a small business, we do have to manage the expenses.
And I kind of, Jeffrey was always the breakfast guy.
Like he, I never really ate breakfast.
Jeff, I just loved to cook.
(16:24):
And Jeffrey always ate breakfast.
And he always cooked breakfast.
So it was kind of part of our, part of us, you know, to put our stamp on what we do.
So you know, we could hire someone that's going to be, you know, additional funding.
And it's part time, it's seasonal.
(16:44):
You know, it's kind of challenging to find the right, the right players.
It sounds like a really smart business decision what you guys decided to do, right?
You can do it.
You have the passion to it.
You have to worry about an expense for it, the safety part with the health.
We do a lot of video production in the hospitality industry.
So we're familiar with all the health.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, so, so yeah, that makes perfect sense.
(17:06):
But being in a bed, a bed, I'm sorry, being in a bed and breakfast, you guys are home.
She's having a great big good.
I love, I love to cook.
She loves to cook.
We're both Italian, we love food.
And Carol, just like you, I use every pot and pan in the house.
Oh my God.
I'm the cooking clean guy, Jeff.
I'm more like you.
That's how we define our roles.
(17:28):
So even on a day to day, when she decides to make dinner, when she finishes, I go in
that clean, you know.
So we're still working together.
It's helpful.
Yeah, we hear you guys.
So how do you separate business and personal since you're living in the place of your,
well, yeah.
Well, you have a separate quarter.
You have separate quarters, but you're still, I mean, you're together all the time.
(17:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's challenging.
I guess you're right.
It's kind of melding together.
When there's no guests, that's our time to kind of do what we want to do.
You got to find time out for yourself.
You know, like I go back to the gym now.
I'm kind of got the pentaton.
She goes for a walk.
You just take some time.
Let's do this to get out because this was kind of suck in it because it's always something
(18:15):
to do.
You know, it's always something to do.
Yeah.
It's been challenging to separate personal and business because it's all melded in
together, but we've tried to, we try to go out to dinner every now and then.
So yeah, it's been challenging.
Yeah.
So do you go to other bed and breakfasts on vacation?
Yeah, we did go to a bed and breakfast.
(18:38):
It's kind of to see how they do things.
Yeah.
Find myself very, very critical.
I look for things that maybe I wouldn't have seen, but we traveled the world and stayed
at the best hotels.
I was going to say, there's like a theme that keeps reoccurring.
It's like, you guys just, you've learned so much, right?
Whether it's like you've took a course or you're from the business or your travels,
(19:02):
you've learned all this in all these different ways, right?
And you've incorporated it now, corporate, which is what a great way to approach things,
right?
It's taking these nuggets from these different places in your life and then putting it into
this business.
Do you guys have like any guiding principles or keys to success you would share with other
couples thinking about going into business together?
(19:23):
A couple of things that come to mind is, you know, just have fun, you know?
Try to have fun with it because it's like life is too short.
You can't take it too seriously or else you get kind of pulled under.
So it's important to have some time out where you can just kind of breathe a little bit,
(19:44):
laugh a little bit, enjoy each other's company, you know?
If we have a bad day, I usually just breathe and say this two-shell pass and come back
to and then tomorrow's another day, you know?
It's like more on-the-job training, you know?
I mean, especially with an old house, something always comes up.
(20:05):
It's, oh, that's something new.
I didn't know what they say.
It's better to be crying once than to cry over and over.
So if you've got to fix something, fix it right the first time.
Because what happens is this, in this business right now is quiet, but when it starts, Tony,
it's nonstop.
I mean, last year we had, we had off June 9th last year.
The next day we had off was October 20th session.
(20:26):
So we worked like 145 days straight.
So we realized that when we have a, if we just sit down and do nothing for us, that's
a good day.
I'm one of a bunch of boys, people, I know the neighbors, they know us because I have
the dogs.
So I, you know, people know who we are, you know?
And since it's a neighborhood, even when we had to get a variance, hit the people that
(20:48):
were on the board lives in the neighborhood.
They say, oh man, you're doing a great job in your house.
Can you see me out there working?
It sounds like relationship building is one of the keys to the success.
Oh yeah, always.
Yes, relationship building.
Yes.
That is definitely.
He's definitely business developer.
I'm business developer.
I tell you, you know something?
Hey, look, she's the president of the corporation.
(21:09):
I'm the vice president of the corporation.
She's the treasurer of the corporation.
I'm the secretary of the corporation.
You see how much more I have.
But we're 50, 50, so she can't fire me and I can't fire her.
And that's how we're saying, we got the corporation and that's how we set it up, you know?
So it's, you know, and they said, we have an exit plan, but we had an exit plan.
(21:29):
It was a 10 year plan.
You come in, you work 10 years and you get out.
That's involved.
Well, after COVID, I had to throw it out to window.
Thank God, yes.
So do you guys, you said stories.
Are there any interesting stories, you guys?
I mean, you have this 18, is it 1841?
1845.
1845.
Are there any stories about guests that have stayed?
(21:51):
A story about that without giving names or et cetera, or things that have gone on in
there?
Or ghosts?
Bingo, bingo.
No.
Oh, tell us.
You know, can we talk about your sister?
Can we tell her where you're at?
No, there has been rumors, you know, says these are old, no, she's right.
These are old homes with a lot of history in them.
(22:13):
We do have pictures of Irma Farris on the wall, like she was a nurse.
We have books.
Some of the staff has said that the Captain Farris, you know, they've heard noise in there.
Yes.
Okay.
There's one guest.
He lived in California, he and his wife, they would come named Ben.
And he would come and stay with us because he had family here.
(22:36):
And one year, he wasn't able to get a room here because we were sold out.
But he knows that at three o'clock, there's cookies.
So he came to the back door, he's like, Carol, you got any cookies?
I was like, come on in, Ben.
Now, it's like you build these relationships.
I remember also another time I went to the supermarket and one of the guests was in the
(23:00):
supermarket.
He's like, you know, when I went there, I was a guest, but I left and I felt like a family
member, like a friend.
Because we treat, when we open up our home, you're no longer just a guest.
They feel welcome and they come back, which is great.
We always tell people, you come in as a guest and you leave as family.
(23:21):
That should be your tagline.
Well, no, I love that.
You come in as a guest and you leave as family, right?
That should be your tagline.
We get a lot of repeat guests, a lot of Europeans, you know, Europeans know how to take holidays,
you know.
I would just say one, a couple from Europe.
She thought she was turning the light out on the porch and she really pulled the fire
(23:42):
alarm.
This was at two o'clock in the morning.
She pulled the fire alarm and she says, I'm so sorry.
And everybody had their white.
Everybody had to evacuate the fire department came and she was so sorry.
She was so impressed.
I said, well, I understand.
I know it's a little confusing, but I'm pretty sure no matter where you go on God's earth,
(24:03):
that little red box, there's a fire alarm.
You know, it might be different in Europe, but it's not that much different though.
If there's other couples that are thinking about going into business together, what would
you say to them?
You both got to be in.
If you're not both in, it's not going to work.
The simplest that you can't say, yeah, I'm in and then we start and you're not in.
Yeah, I would say do your research.
(24:25):
Make sure that you're tapping into your passions.
Make sure that you're in, you know, that it's the two of you because it's not going to work
if it's just one and the other one is not fully in it.
But I'd say do some research and don't think too hard.
(24:46):
You know, at a certain point you could talk yourself out of it because it's just a different
lifestyle.
It's just different.
Like if I asked you guys the biggest challenge and the biggest reward?
The biggest challenge I think for us was not not listening to a real estate person when
(25:08):
he said it had too much deferred maintenance.
You know, I said, I was probably wondering because it took us a while to catch up because
we had to do the deferred maintenance.
We'll finally start to catch up now, starting to see a small profit.
Yeah, I'd agree.
I'd say the biggest challenge is maintaining the property to, you know, so not knowing,
(25:32):
I mean, you could turn or faucet and all of a sudden the water's not coming out and it
was working like yesterday.
So I think that's the biggest challenge, not being able to predict the day to day.
I'd say the biggest reward is just knowing that we did it.
We did it.
(25:52):
We had a dream and we just stepped out.
We didn't have all the answers, but we don't have to adjust so we don't have to look back
and say, what if?
We live in a dream.
And we're still together.
Yeah.
That's very rewarding.
That's great.
I would say another challenge is trying to adjust what was to what is now because, you know,
(26:20):
traveling on business class, staying at, you know, great hotels, eating in great restaurants
and getting paid for that.
Company car.
You know what?
What is that was now this is.
You know, I understand.
It's so funny.
My American Express days, I used to, you know, I had clients that were at conventions in
(26:42):
Hawaii and I'm like, this is great.
I think I can make that one.
I think I can help.
Somebody's got to do it.
I know.
Exactly.
And I'm just saying to now, like you guys, we have our own business and we manage it that
way.
It's a whole different story.
But I think this is great.
I think this is great.
Thank you guys for being on the show.
It was awesome to meet you.
(27:03):
Thank you.
And you shared so many great things.
Thank you guys so much and all the best of luck with your business.
For more info on the Captain Faris House, visit CaptainFaris.com.
(27:25):
For more episodes, visit brandingshorts.com forward slash podcast.
Thanks for listening.
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