Creative source? Divine intuition
On building businesses and the creative process
I’m writing this 52 days into running our little hotel in upstate New York.
For weeks, I’ve been making mental notes of things I wanted to share with you. My intention was to offer a behind-the-scenes look at what it feels like to build a small hotel, to document the brand decisions, the business decisions, and the beautiful, messy reality of bringing an idea into the world. But now that I’m finally sitting down to write, they’ve all evaporated into the bigness of this experience.
The details are so finite. Fleeting. Fast-moving. Every day we’re making what feels like a thousand decisions…some are obvious, others are so small and internal they’re barely perceived. But there is a constant orientation towards the vision.
Does this move us closer to the place we’re trying to create?
In the density of these early building days, I am not only reconnecting to, but leading with, the creative core: my intuition. I find myself centering my reasoning around, “Because my intuition told me.” Period.
There is no story, no reasoning or justification, except that my intuition told me. I’ve begun to trust that voice more than my need to explain it. There is an intelligence available to us that exists before reason arrives, and before we can defend it. So much of creating is simply learning to hear it.
I’m herby outsourcing my decision making to the divine. I’m walking around with a direct line to god. This sweet little all-knowing voice that’s now part of my everyday creation process. And the more I listen, the chattier she gets! “Nope.” Or “turn left.” Or “email them today.” The best part?… she’s always right.
I wonder how many stories we build afterward to justify what we already knew. Can you allow your intuition to be the ultimate source?
Some examples of my intuition being the driver…
Capital Turns out I invested almost the exact amount of money we needed to get this little hotel operational. We’ve built a much larger upgrades budget, but my intuition keeps nudging me that there may be another way. Not cheaper for the sake of cheaper, but more creative. So instead of driving into our fundraise, I find myself asking, “What am I not seeing yet?”
Opening early Anyone could have made the argument to wait until everything was perfect. Instead, we opened for the summer. That decision has given us two months of revenue and profitability, hundreds of guest interactions, and the opportunity to refine our operations while the stakes are still relatively small. We’ve learned more in 52 days than we could have learned in six months of planning.
Pricing There have been several moments where we’ve increased room rates before we felt “ready” or “justified.” It just… felt right. And every time, the market met us there.
I don’t think intuition tells me what to do…I think it tells me where to look. My experience and earned wisdom as a builder and operator still do a lot of the heavy lifting. But they’ve recently saddled up with a new partner: the divine.
In summation: intuition isn’t a substitute for competence. It’s what allows competence to become wisdom. Earn the skills - then let your intuition aim them.
Some recent design inspiration for our Commons (&Cafe)
'Earn the skills - then let your intuition aim them.' love this!
Simply so exciting