From Adventure Travel to Hotel Management: Amanda Arling's Journey in Hospitality

In this episode of The Hospitality Mentor Podcast, host Steve Turk interviews Amanda Arling, the president of The Whalers Inn in Mystic, Connecticut. Amanda shares her unique career path from studying microbiology to working in adventure travel for the company Back Roads. She discusses how her love for travel and culture eventually led her to a management role in the hospitality industry. Amanda highlights the importance of relationship building, both in creating guest experiences and mentoring her team. She also shares insights into the challenges and successes of opening a fine dining, sustainable seafood restaurant during the pandemic. Listeners will get valuable tips on hospitality management, creating memorable guest experiences, and the importance of community engagement.

00:00 Introduction to The Hospitality Mentor Podcast

00:31 Meet Amanda Arling: President of The Whalers Inn

01:49 Amanda's Journey into Hospitality

02:33 From Adventure Travel to Boutique Hotel Management

07:00 Transitioning to The Whalers Inn

15:22 Building a Team and Mentoring Future Leaders

19:27 Creating Unique Guest Experiences

26:46 Challenges and Successes in the Restaurant Industry

30:34 Final Thoughts and Advice for Aspiring Hospitality Professionals

31:27 Closing Remarks and Sponsor Message

Welcome to the Hospitality Mentor Podcast.

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I'm your host, Steve Turk.

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Join me as we dive into the personal

stories of some of the world's

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best hospitality professionals.

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We follow the journey of their ups,

downs, and wild turns to find out

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what it truly takes to make it in

the amazing world of hospitality.

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Welcome to another episode of The

Hospitality Mentor Podcast, and

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today I am very excited to hopefully

have my new friend, Amanda Arling,

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president of the Whalers in Amanda.

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Thanks for joining me today.

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Amanda Arling: Thank you

so much for having me here.

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Pleasure.

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Steve Turk: Well, it was great.

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We were just talking backstage listeners

that I had met Amanda at the Select

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Registry conference back in November in

San Diego, and I just thought all these

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people were doing such cool things in the

industry, and I wanted to share more about

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what's going on in that world of, we say

curated hospitality is what they're doing.

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Uh, and so Amanda, before we jump

into your story, maybe you give us

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a 32nd like download on what you're

doing now, what is the whalers in,

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and then we'll work our way to it.

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Amanda Arling: Yeah, so

we are the Whalers Inn.

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Uh, we are located in Mystic,

Connecticut, this charming little,

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uh, seaside riverside community

on the Connecticut shoreline.

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And currently we consist of a 45 room,

uh, boutique hotel, a 75 seat fine

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dining restaurant, and another wing

of our hotel in another restaurant

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opening, uh, in the coming days actually.

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Oh,

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Steve Turk: wow.

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We get you in the middle of that.

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That's busy time.

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Amanda Arling: Very busy.

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Steve Turk: Well, as I love what you're

doing, if you haven't seen it, listeners,

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go check out the Whalers Inn Online.

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So pause this, really quick, check it

so you can understand where she's at.

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Uh, it is a beautiful place, but I always

start with the first question here was,

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what was your first job in hospitality?

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Amanda Arling: Well, uh, I, I think

that I took a little bit of a diverse.

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Route, uh, probably a little bit different

than most, uh, in the hospitality world.

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Um, I actually started out in, uh,

adventure travel and adventure tourism.

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Uh, I worked for many, many years

for a company called Back Roads.

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Uh, at the time they were

the world's number one, uh,

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largest active travel company.

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And my background is, is in the

luxury adventure travel sector.

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Steve Turk: That is so cool.

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So tell, tell me about that, because

I was looking at your background.

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You did work there for many years.

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It's almost eight years.

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What is it like?

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What is that?

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Life, like when you're doing

that, how'd you get started in it?

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Amanda Arling: So, um, at, at

university I studied microbiology

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and molecular genetics.

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And in the 11th hour, much to my

parents, uh, dismay, I did a hard,

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hard, uh, exchange of my path.

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And, uh, ended up studying,

um, uh, cultural anthropology.

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Um, graduated, uh, during a very

unstable time in the economy.

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And, uh.

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Uh, didn't really know

what I wanted to do.

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Actually, this is a true story.

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Um, the day after I graduated with my

degree in cultural anthropology, uh, I

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am at home, back at home in my parents'

basement, so to speak, and, um, no

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idea what I wanna do, where I wanna go.

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Nothing lined up yet.

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And there was, I think it

was like A, B, C or CNN.

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There was a, a Sunday morning news.

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Um, um, uh, briefing going on and

they listed, uh, the five most

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unemployable college degrees.

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Coming in solidly at number

four was anthropology.

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So I knew pretty quickly I needed

to figure out what I wanted to

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do and in what direction I wanted

to take and in line up a job.

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Uh, and I love to travel and I love

meeting people and I love exploring

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new places and exploring new cultures.

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And that quickly led me into

working with back roads, travel.

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Um, it started off as a guide,

but ultimately landed doing

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trip design and development.

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Steve Turk: And so what is that like?

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So who is the kind of

traveler doing those?

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I've never taken an adventure trip.

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It sounds awesome.

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Who was like, the people that were coming?

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Was it families, single people?

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Was it all mix of different people?

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Amanda Arling: A lot

of families joined us.

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Um, a lot of couples, uh, I think

the target, target demographic, the

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target traveler, there is somebody

that wants to have a true, um, true.

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Um, experience representative

of the communities, uh, the,

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the places they're visiting.

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And I think that right there

is what really, um, solidified

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my path in hospitality.

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Um, as a former, you know, anthropology

student, uh, as, uh, an individual guiding

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these trips or doing trip design and

development, it was so important for me

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to create itineraries that were reflective

of the culture and the community and

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the people that we were visiting.

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And I think that that is an

ethos that I have carried

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through, um, with me to this day.

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Steve Turk: That's amazing.

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And so we talk so much about

experiences and people willing

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to pay for certain things of that

are really high end and memorable.

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Mm-hmm.

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What are some tips for somebody

out there, like if they're thinking

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about how I wanna start putting

together some cool experiences?

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You have a great track record of doing

this for so many years and people will

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talk about what you're doing now, but how

would somebody start thinking about that?

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Amanda Arling: It's all

about relationship building.

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So whether you are, uh, you are.

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Uh, interested in buying a small b and BA

rental property, um, opening a restaurant.

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Um, it's all about the relationships

that you build, and I think that

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fostering those relationships off

offer many opportunities and open

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many doors to these really incredible,

um, true experiences from your town.

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You know, and I think it's so important,

you know, you never recognize what

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you have in your backyard, right?

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Yeah.

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So, so that is something that

I struggle with to this day.

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Uh, here, living in Connecticut,

um, it's such a magical place.

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People travel from all over to visit us.

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Um, so don't ever lose that.

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Uh, the magic of your, your

hometown, the magic of your backyard.

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You know, put on your, your tourism

glasses as if you were visiting

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your town for the first time.

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Steve Turk: Gosh, that's such a great tip.

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You know, it's true.

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It hit me.

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I've lived in Miami my whole life.

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I was in college and there's so many

people that would go to the Everglades.

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They come down here just to go check.

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And I've never been.

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I never went.

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And then recently I'm like, I'm

going out there and I'm taking my

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kids and we're gonna go see it.

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And it's like, man, this

is very cool out here.

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And I kind of want to go back a little bit

more and see some of these things that.

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You don't see as a tourist, right?

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It's, it hit me.

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'cause that, that's exactly what I

was saying just a couple weeks ago.

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Amanda Arling: It's, I gotta go, you

know, we all work so hard and you

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know, when you have that time off,

when time you wanna spend with your

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spouse or your friends or your family,

our, our instinct is to get away.

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Our instinct is to go someplace new,

try something new, which is wonderful.

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But it is really great to kind of just

take a step back and look at your town,

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um, uh, from a different perspective.

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Steve Turk: That's just, that's

an awesome tip from this.

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I'm taking that one.

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That's gonna be one of

the highlights here.

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So you do that for almost eight years?

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Mm-hmm.

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How do you then make a transition?

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Because you turn this into something

very different than giving tours, right?

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All of a sudden you

start to get involved in.

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Being the place people stay.

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How did that happen?

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Amanda Arling: So after eight years of

life on the road, I mean, I was living out

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of a suitcase 11 months outta the year.

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Wow.

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I was ready to, to put down some roots.

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Uh, it is a, travel is

very nomadic lifestyle.

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It's very much romanticized, but I was

certainly ready to kind of be closer to

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family, put down some roots in one area.

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Um, it's a long time to be on the road and

it was actually a much more natural jump.

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Than I thought it was going

to be, you know, as a guide.

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Um, and also doing trip design

and development for back roads.

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Um, so much of what I did was

manage expectations for our guests.

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You take a, a family of four from

New York City and you put them

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into the, uh, you know, Ecuadorian

Amazon or the Galapagos Islands.

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Um, it's very different.

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So, uh, a lot.

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A significant portion of my role was

to interpret those experiences, to

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set those expectations, to foster that

journey for these guests on their trip.

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They paid a premium to be on.

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Mm-hmm.

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Uh, and also worked with, um,

local hotels that are where our

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partner, partner properties, partner

restaurants to ensure that they were

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delivering on, um, an expectation.

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Right.

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So, while.

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I was very much fostering the front

of house side of things as a guide

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in doing trip design and development

landing here at the Whalers Inn.

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I came on as their general

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Um, it, it, it was very natural.

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I just kind of stepped into that

back of house position at that point

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and learned the ins and outs and the

behind the scenes, uh, of it all.

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Steve Turk: Was there something that

surprised you and what was the name

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of the place that you started at?

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Amanda Arling: So here

at the Whaler's Inn.

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Okay.

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I started at, um, a general

manager at the time.

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It had just been acquired, uh,

by the current, uh, family,

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the current group that owns it.

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Um, and I think I learned

what I learned the most about.

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Um, I.

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Definitely the financials of it, the

behind the scenes, uh, working in the

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finances, which I actually found that

I really, really loved and enjoyed.

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Mm-hmm.

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And just how much work goes into it.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, engineering departments,

housekeeping, all of your support staff.

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I mean, it truly takes a village,

um, to provide the level of service

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that we're trying to provide here.

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Steve Turk: And so how'd you

find that first opportunity?

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Right, because it's a

little bit different.

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Like you were in travel for so long.

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Mm-hmm.

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Like I know if I was still in

hotels and you came along, I'd

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be like, well, I don't know.

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Amanda, you've never really done hotel.

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How did you get involved there?

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Amanda Arling: It wild.

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Um, uh, it was one of those

very serendipitous experiences.

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Um, you know, ready to put down

roots, ready to try something new.

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And a fellow back roads leader, actually

somebody who's a very, very close.

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Close friend of mine.

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Um, it's kind of giving her my

thoughts, you know, I gotta get

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out, I wanna try something new.

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I wanna be closer to family.

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And, um.

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She mentioned, uh, that her, she had a

family member who, uh, had a business

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partner that had recently invested

in this property in Connecticut.

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You should reach out and see what they're

doing and if they have any open positions

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and if there's any symbiosis there that,

that you could really collaborate on.

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Mm-hmm.

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Uh, so I, um, at the time I was,

uh, actually mountain biking my way

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through southern Utah in a tent, and

I submitted my, my CV on my phone.

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Um.

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To, uh, the owner at the time.

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And, uh, we had a, an interview from

a tent in a national park in Utah,

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and it, it went great and it was, it

sounded like a fa fascinating experience.

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They were really trying to breathe

some new life into this property.

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Um, and I get a phone call not long

after the interview had ended, and, uh,

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they're like, how quickly can you be here?

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I was like, um, well it's gonna

take me two days to to, to

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ride my bike outta the park.

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Uh, I'll drive across the country

and I could be there within the week.

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And they're like, great, great, great.

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Uh, you're hired.

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I'm like, so what position, uh, am

I starting out, like front desk?

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Uh, do you need someone administratively?

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And they're like, no, we think

you'd be a great fit for this

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general manager role, which I

recognize is this wild leap of fame.

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Yes.

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Um, wild leap of faith,

and that's so atypical.

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Um, but, uh, we shared a common vision.

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We, we shared myself and the ownership

group, common Vision, uh, a common,

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um, you know, approach to service

and hospitality and a common, um,

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uh, work ethic and work and an ethos

and how we would approach that.

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Steve Turk: So what were

some of those things?

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I interviewed because it is one

thing to, like, if I was on the phone

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with you, I'd be like, all right,

she's in the national park, biking.

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What, and she's gonna drive across the

country to see me at my new investment.

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What do you think it

was that convinced them?

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Like if you had someone you were giving

advice to, was there something that

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you remember from that conversation?

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Or was it just like, I was just myself?

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Amanda Arling: Um, I definitely, you

know, it it's about work, work ethic

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and, and, and your approach to people.

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Right.

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Um, something that I have instilled

here in my, my hiring practices,

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it's not about experience.

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It is about.

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Who you are as a person, your personality,

and your ability to interact with people.

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Um, most hard skills can be taught, right?

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You can teach somebody how to

use a point of sale system.

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You can teach somebody how to

clean a room exceptionally well.

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You can teach somebody how to

like serve a, a bottle of wine.

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Those hard skills can be

teach, but it's about passion.

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Um, and it's about work ethic and those

are, are two things that I would like

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to think that I bring to the table here.

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And, um, two qualities that I

really look for with my team.

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Steve Turk: That's really good.

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So you, you get this job, you drive

across the country, you start, do you

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remember what your first day was like?

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Was it kind of a shell shock?

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Amanda Arling: Terrifying.

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It was absolutely terrifying.

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Steve Turk: Yeah.

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Amanda Arling: Um, you know, I, I

lucked out, uh, it was a, uh, it

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was in December when I started.

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So, uh, at that point in time,

December, November, really through

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April, was very quiet here.

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Mm-hmm.

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So I wasn't thrown in into the chaos

of a, a summer season in Mystic.

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Um, very quiet time of year.

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Uh, to gimme an opportunity

to get my feet underneath me.

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And I, there was an incredible

core team, uh, that had, uh.

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Been with the property

for a very long time.

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Um, we're just, you know, when we talk

about passion and, and, um, you know, work

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ethic, this team had it in spades and they

were so wonderful and so gracious and so

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willing to kind of teach me the ropes, um,

there, but also be really receptive to new

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ideas and, and, um, trying out new things.

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Steve Turk: That's so cool.

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You know, I've worked in some hotels

where the culture wasn't as good and

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they would try you like, all right, let

me see this new leader coming in here.

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Did that happen to you at all?

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I know, certainly,

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Amanda Arling: certainly.

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I'm sure.

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Um, some of that, but I, I

very, I very much lucked out.

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I had a great team, um, and

also the ownership group there.

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Um.

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Take a really fascinating and unique

approach to owning this property.

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Um, they, uh, invest in people

and not profits is what they say.

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So they're all about the people

and who we're building as a team.

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And, um, I am consider myself

very privileged to work with 'em.

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Steve Turk: I love it.

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So now you're there, you're

the general manager, you're

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getting your feet underneath you.

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I would say Helen probably took you a

year to like fully get up and running.

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You would say

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Amanda Arling: still learn

something new every day, but yeah.

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Yeah.

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Steve Turk: What is your day to day

like at this kind of size hotel?

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I've never worked in a 45 room motel.

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I've worked in large resorts.

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Now I have my own hospitality

management company with Airbnb and

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vacation rentals and that stuff.

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Amazing.

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What's that like for you

working in that space?

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Amanda Arling: You know,

every day is an adventure.

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Every day is a little, a little different.

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Um, I, you know, had mentioned when we

first started this call that we are,

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um, opening a new wing to our property.

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Uh, we're mere, mere

weeks away from opening.

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Um, uh, and, uh, this has been a passion

project about five years in the works and.

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You know, today I spent a good portion

of my morning unboxing, uh, furniture and

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artwork, um, touching up, uh, you know,

touching up some paint on the property.

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Mm-hmm.

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Uh, keeping an eye out, uh, on, you know,

all the deliveries that are coming in.

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But that's not typical.

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But it truly, every day,

every day is different.

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My, my sole focus at this

point though is really, um.

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Uh, mentoring the next generation

of leaders within our organization.

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And, uh, also looking towards, uh, what

other opportunities are on our horizon.

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Steve Turk: I like that.

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So why, why don't we go into that?

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That wasn't one of my questions here,

but you talk about mentoring, we're

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on the Hospitality Mentor Podcast.

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What does that look like for you?

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How do you set that up?

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'cause you know, you don't

have a giant team, but you have

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some, I'm sure, some layers.

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How do you keep people motivated that

are coming in to stay on and, and make

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sure that they're giving you their best?

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Amanda Arling: Yeah.

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Well, I, I think we do a very good job,

um, at the start of finding, um, you

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know, those, those core characteristics

we were talking about earlier, people

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that have passion, um, and drive.

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And so I think our, we have a human

resources department and, um, our

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director of human resources, Christine,

she's, she's wonderful at really

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able being able to identify, um,

those, you know, kind of core traits.

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Um.

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We always try to promote from

within whenever possible.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, so we have quite a few members of

our team, uh, that started out maybe as

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line staff that are now in senior level

management with our team over the years.

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Um, our assistant general manager started

out as a front desk agent with us.

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Uh, our general manager of our

restaurant started out the day we

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opened, um, as a bartender with us.

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And it's been so rewarding to

see them grow in their roles.

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It, it's, I.

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It just makes me so happy.

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Um, and so proud of, of everything

that they've accomplished and

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that, you know, is not an uncommon

story within our organization.

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Steve Turk: I love that.

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And so do you have like a certain system?

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Are you doing one-on-ones with people?

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Are you having scheduled

times of chat with them?

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Is it a certain operation model you use?

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What is it that maybe someone

listening that's like, man, I

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really wanna get that going.

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What, what advice would you give them?

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Amanda Arling: We um, we keep

it pretty organic 'cause we're

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small enough to do that still.

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It won't be like that forever.

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Um, we really, um.

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Emphasize and prioritize feedback,

uh, in a really constructive way.

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So, you know, all employees, um, you

know, within the first, uh, two to

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three months, uh, of being here will

go through like a check-in process.

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Um, uh, we do annual check-ins.

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Um, and truly, you know, open door

policy is a little cliche, but,

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um, I'm on site all of the time.

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My door is truly always open except

for right now, which is kind of nice.

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Um, but uh, yeah, we have an open door

policy and, um, we're very approachable.

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Our team is very approachable.

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We also incentivize educational

opportunities, um, and

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networking opportunities.

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Um, it's really important

Confidence builders.

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Um, we, uh, partner with eco,

um, to provide, uh, subsidized

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educational opportunities.

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Um, for our staff, which has been well

received and, and taken advantage of

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by many, um, uh, many employees have

signed up, uh, for their courses and

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have had really great success with them.

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Mm-hmm.

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Um, and we also really incentivize

networking as a confidence builder for

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our team, getting them out with our

local Chamber of Commerce, um, getting

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them to participate in webinars and.

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Uh, the ambassadors out in the community.

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Steve Turk: That's so cool.

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I, because I host my own networking

events now from my fifth one is gonna

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hear Miami, so if anyone listening, we'll,

making some announcements here soon.

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Uh, but it is good getting people

out there because you just like the

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senior leaders and general managers

and executives, I wanna get more people

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that are coming up in the industry to

start networking and meet with them.

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So I'm so happy to hear you.

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Oh,

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Amanda Arling: they, they, they

come along to ribbon cuttings

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in town, um, uh, business before

hours and business after hours.

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It's really important.

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To, for me, for our team to have close

relationships, um, with the other

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business owners in town, with the other,

um, uh, residents in our community.

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You know, the, the, the staff

at the Seaport Museum, the, um,

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service of other restaurants.

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I mean, we're a community and we,

I operate by the mentality that

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a rising tide floats all boats.

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Um, and we try to really, you

know, enact that every day.

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Steve Turk: So good.

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So now you're in the hotel.

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You got the day-to-day going.

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How do you creating some experiences

for your guests, because you have this

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background of really like putting together

awesome trips and things like that.

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Have you brought some of that over

into the hotel world yourself?

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Amanda Arling: Yeah, we've had

some really fantastic, um, I.

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Uh, partnerships, again, it all

goes back to relationships, right?

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Um, we're very lucky to have some really

great relationships with, um, some really

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cool partners in, in the mystic community.

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We're very lucky, we're situated, um,

uh, within walking distance of the Mystic

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Seaport Museum and the Mystic Aquarium,

who are great community partners.

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Um.

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We have done some really unique

partnerships in the past.

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We have some really unique

partnerships coming up.

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Um, for instance, private dinners,

uh, ticketed dinners on some of

429

their historic sailing vessels.

430

Cool.

431

Um, we did a, uh, uh, this.

432

The Sino is a very famous boat, um,

at the Mystic uh, Seaport Museum.

433

And last year we had, uh, sunset on

the Savino sails where our, um, chef,

434

uh, created these just incredible

dining experiences on this beautiful,

435

beautiful vintage boat as it sailed

down the Mystic River at sunset.

436

It was, it was very special and,

and certainly something that I

437

don't think anybody else is doing.

438

Steve Turk: I think that's awesome.

439

And what about doing something

special for guests in the hotel?

440

Is there certain things that

you're doing to make sure they

441

feel that extra love at your hotel?

442

Amanda Arling: So this probably won't

be very popular, um, but I take a bit

443

of a anti-technology, uh, approach to

hospitality and, um, a, you know, I was

444

actually talking about this recently

with a colleague, but um, if you think

445

back to 2020, um, and even before

446

Substantial push to digitize everything.

447

Um, everything was streamline this.

448

You're gonna cut down on your labor

costs by 60% if you use this product.

449

And while I absolutely think that there

is a place and a time for utilizing

450

technology and utilizing technology

in a really meaningful way so that

451

you can cut down on your costs, right?

452

Mm-hmm.

453

I mean, we all know hospitality industry,

the margins are very, very slim here.

454

Yes.

455

Um, so I always advocate for

whatever you can do to kind of.

456

Um, eek out your share.

457

Right.

458

But, um, there's a, there's a time

and a place, and I take the mentality,

459

we take the mentality here that,

um, it, it's about the people.

460

Um, so I.

461

I think what really differentiates

us and what sets us apart is that,

462

um, it is all about the people.

463

So you, you call us up and there's no,

there's no massive phone tree where you

464

are on the phone for five minutes before

you get to talk to a front desk associate.

465

You're not, um, it's not

difficult to speak with somebody

466

within our organization.

467

We are there to share our experiences.

468

We're there to welcome our guests

in a really meaningful way.

469

And, um.

470

Uh, every single person that works

here has a passion for the community

471

and a passion for this property.

472

And it becomes very clear

when you talk to them.

473

Mm-hmm.

474

Uh, so we, we've created and fostered

ways to do that, to, to allow these

475

personalities to shine through and to

allow these passions to shine through, to

476

enhance your experience as a guest here.

477

Steve Turk: So, good.

478

You mentioned technology,

so I wanna touch on that.

479

Is there a certain

technology you like using?

480

Right?

481

Everyone's talking about hot words

or AI now and all these things.

482

Is there anything you're like, wow, yeah.

483

That is helpful, uh, that you

like using versus everything

484

being, I don't want to use that.

485

Amanda Arling: Um, yeah, I mean, I think

that the benefits, the benefits I see

486

with something like ai, with something

along the lines of any of like the

487

automated calling technology or, um,

uh, reference technology, uh, is that

488

you should be using it or should aim

to use it in a way that's going to free

489

up more of your time, um, to focus on

our guest and the guest experience.

490

So, you know, if it's utilizing,

um, you know, revenue management

491

softwares, uh, and, uh, you know.

492

AI modeled revenue management

systems, something like Duetto,

493

um, to drive your revenue.

494

That's great.

495

And that then allows your team to work

your, whoever's doing it, whether you have

496

a, um, revenue coordinator, sales team,

so on and so forth, to then work more

497

directly with your front of line staff,

um, to help them do their job better.

498

So I think it's really a trickle down

effect if you can use that technology.

499

Um.

500

Uh, to allow you more time

and more resources to work

501

one-on-one with your line staff.

502

I support it.

503

Although I do have to say chat.

504

GPT is my friend very often for,

uh, anything written related.

505

Steve Turk: Yes.

506

I think it's a good, yeah, I've

been playing with it more and more,

507

especially in our hospitality group.

508

Personalized things for guests.

509

Amanda Arling: Yes.

510

All right.

511

Steve Turk: What can

we find out about them?

512

How can we give them some extra love

and attention in a creative way?

513

So I like seeing that.

514

Yeah.

515

But thank you for sharing that.

516

Now your resort.

517

Like I, you know, I tell a guest,

if you haven't looked at the

518

website, make sure to look at the

website, the whalers in mystic.com

519

because it is beautiful and

you can see the attention to

520

detail on all of the marketing.

521

Can you talk a little bit about the

property, why it's such a special

522

place and why people should visit?

523

Yeah,

524

Amanda Arling: absolutely.

525

Um, so.

526

We're really unique.

527

Uh, we are, um, soon to be six

buildings in the heart of downtown

528

Mystic, where stones throw, uh, from

the famed mystic, uh, uh, mystic Basque

529

Bridge made famous by Mystic Pizza.

530

Mm-hmm.

531

May have heard of it.

532

Um, uh, but we are truly

in the epicenter of town.

533

Um.

534

Our location can't be beat.

535

One of the things we like to tell our

guests is that you show up here, you leave

536

your car and you don't have to get back

in it again for the entirety of your stay.

537

Everything is, is within walking

distance, which I think makes

538

it really, um, really special.

539

Uh, we have an incredible

restaurant on site.

540

Uh, the Shipwrights daughter, uh, we won

our first James Beard award last summer.

541

Mm-hmm.

542

Um, and our, our executive chef, David

Standridge and General Manager, uh, Claire

543

Pacini and the entire team there are, are.

544

Doing really, really unique and

incredible things, focusing on

545

local seafood and sustainability.

546

Um, so that in and of itself is worth the

trip, uh, to, to try some of their food.

547

Um, and I think that, you know, coming

to the Whalers Inn, you're gonna have a

548

true and authentic, uh, mystic experience.

549

You walk for the, through the

front door and you're gonna

550

be welcomed by a team of, of.

551

Front desk associates, um, uh, guest

service, uh, staff that are there

552

to make your stay special and to

really curate your experience, um,

553

uh, based on your interests, you.

554

For beer enthusiasts will tell

you where the best, uh, off the

555

beaten pack breweries are in town.

556

You love history.

557

Well, let us tell you about our favorite,

um, exhibits, uh, at the local Seaport

558

Museum and check out this antique

shop around the corner that has some

559

really cool old maps you're gonna love.

560

Um, so it's just a level of of experience.

561

And touchpoint that I

think is hard to replicate.

562

Steve Turk: I think it's awesome.

563

And I remember you specifically standing

up at the conference that I was at and

564

I was just listening 'cause I asked

the question, I forgot what it was,

565

but you talked about the restaurant.

566

It was almost not what it was like.

567

People were saying you

shouldn't make it this way.

568

Right?

569

Yeah.

570

Can you talk a little bit about that?

571

'cause now you're a James

Beard door winning restaurant.

572

Can you just give uh,

people this, that story.

573

Amanda Arling: Yeah,

574

Steve Turk: absolutely.

575

Amanda Arling: Um, so we

576

If you recall, that was a terrible

time to be in hospitality.

577

Um, we had actually intended to open

578

um, and we had to delay our opening by

three months and when we opened, um.

579

The rules and the regulations

were changing every day.

580

You couldn't keep up with it.

581

You know, one day we, we, we could not

be inside, you had to only dine outside.

582

And then the next day it was, well,

you could dine inside, but you could

583

have a maximum of like 25% your actual

capacity and nobody can sit at the bar.

584

And then the day after that it was okay,

only if everybody is masked and there

585

are dividers between all your tables.

586

So we just had to pivot so quickly.

587

Um, and that really kind of

impacted us, our ability to, um,

588

roll out our, our, our concept.

589

You know, our concept is a fine dining,

uh, restaurant doesn't work when you're

590

only allowed to eat, you know, outside

in the parking lot or do to, to go food.

591

Right, right.

592

And being a brand new restaurant,

like nobody knew what we were trying

593

to do, who we were, there was no.

594

Loyal patrons at that point, 'cause

we had never been open before.

595

So coming out of COVID and as restrictions

started to, um, uh, be reduced, um, we

596

were able to kind of actually return to

what our, our mission and our goal was.

597

But the next obstacle was

we didn't have the staff.

598

Staffing was a challenge, and then

the prices were out of control.

599

So.

600

When our mission was to become the

seafood focused fine dining restaurant

601

where we were, we were really trying to

do, um, uh, sustainable local seafood.

602

It made it really difficult and time.

603

And again, uh, you know, we're looking

at the numbers and, and it just, it

604

wasn't seeming to make financial sense.

605

Uh, and there was a lot of

pushback, um, from people as well.

606

Um, when I say we do, uh,

sustainable seafood, um.

607

We don't go to, uh, a local seafood

distributor and say, Hey, we wanna

608

buy, you know, 20 pounds of swordfish

and, you know, 10 pounds of crabs.

609

Um, we work directly with local fishermen

and we say, whatever you catch today,

610

we'll figure out how to prepare it.

611

So if we bring in, um, I don't know, monk

fish for instance, we might only get a

612

few pounds of monk fish, and that is only

gonna be on the menu until it's gone.

613

You bring in bycatch such as,

um, uh, uh, slipper, limpets.

614

We'll figure out how to

make them delectable.

615

So we're working with non-traditional,

um, products, uh, non-traditional seafood,

616

and we're, we're, um, doing something

that nobody in this community has done.

617

Uh, working with things that most

people have never even heard of before.

618

Um, and it, it, it, it was a struggle

at first, but we, we were like, we wanna

619

do this, and this is really important.

620

We're, we're, we're, um, you know, raising

awareness, um, about sustainable fishing.

621

We're raising awareness about our

local fishing communities and the, the

622

fishermen and fishing women who are going

out every day to harvest these items.

623

Um, and you know, if we build

it, they'll come, we hope.

624

So it was certainly a big risk,

but it has really, really paid off.

625

Um, uh, it's been an

incredible journey thus far.

626

Steve Turk: I love it.

627

It's so cool and I gotta get up there

with my family to experience it.

628

'cause every time you tell the

story, like that is just a cool

629

restaurant to go to and experience.

630

And I know how hard it's to restaurants

as a former food and beverage director.

631

So you guys have nailed it and

really putting in the story

632

and making things happen.

633

Now, Amanda, I know how busy you are.

634

You got a renovation going on, you're.

635

Building out this wing, but I

have one last question for you.

636

Yes.

637

So, if you could talk to young Amanda

that was just starting out her career

638

as a guide and she was starting on your

team today, what advice would you give

639

her if you could whisper in her ear?

640

Amanda Arling: Oh, be confident, girl.

641

Do not let anybody tell you you

cannot do it because you can.

642

Go forth with confidence and um,

you know, you're not gonna be

643

able to make everybody happy.

644

But as long as you stay true to

yourself and, and do the right

645

thing and support your team, you'll

be able to accomplish anything.

646

Steve Turk: That's great advice

for any listener out there.

647

And listeners, if you haven't

yet, pause this podcast.

648

Go check out the Whalers Inn,

see what Amanda is up to with

649

her team over at the hotel.

650

'cause they're putting on some

great experiences and a great.

651

Hospitality program over there.

652

Amanda, I appreciate you joining me today.

653

Thank you very much.

654

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655

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