I had less than fifty miles of driving to Tampa to visit my friend when I started feeling my eyes get droopy. The kind of droopy that you feel it’s okay to close just one eye for a minute while the other eye watches the road. Then you’ll switch back. That kind of tired.
A clover leaf with hotel options was approaching in just a few miles. I hate spending money on hotels. They are a complete waste of money. Overpriced. I wish I could find a hotel that charged only by the hour. It was two in the morning, and I would only need a bed for four or so hours. My brand is typically on the Motel Six end of the scale. In the early 90’s, I stayed in a Motel Six. There was a sign on the wall where we checked in that read, “When you close your eyes we look as good as Holiday Inn. It’s a mantra I’ve followed for nearly thirty years.
I pulled over at the cloverleaf and did a quick internet search of hotels in the area and their prices. LaQuinta $109. Best Western $115. Fairfield Inn $129. Tiger Villa Motel $39.
Is there any question about which accommodation I chose? Here’s a hint. I didn’t choose the one equal to my value.
Welcome to Swimming in the Flood; a podcast where we develop the resilient leader’s mindset by navigating difficult currents in business. My name is Trent Theroux.
The Tiger Villa was not in the same cozy location as the other hotel choices were just off the highway. I needed to drive about three miles through a dark town that seemed to have glowing cat eyes everywhere watching me pass through in my father’s brand-new white Lexus. Even the car knew that we were not in the right place. I found the motel by the work Tiger in flashing neon. The word Villa was on the fritz. I parked and locked the door. Pressed the button to hear the alarm beep and pressed it again to reassure myself that the beep is still active. There was no front desk. There was a window you could look through and a slot through which you could pass money. “Can I have a room, please.” “The older man behind the window, with an uneven shave and an uneven line of bottom teeth replied, “how many hours?” Hours? “I guess I’ll leave around 7:00 in the morning so six hours.” “Oh” he said. “You want the room for the night.” I didn’t see a menu on the wall telling me what the #1 special was so I agreed that yes, I want the room for the night. I slid cash through the slot, mainly because the credit card machine wasn’t working. No paperwork, no ID – here’s your key.
I repositioned the Lexus so that I could see it from my room, about 16 feet from the window or 4.5 seconds if I went through the window. The room was what you would have expected – squalled, old, tired, stained and on the verge of rancid. Hey, but it was only seven dollars an hour to sleep.
T-shirt on and lying quietly in bed, I could hear a couple in the room next to me start to make some action in the bed. The reason? The headboard was positions perfectly adjacent to mine. Ok, a little sex noise is no issue. I’ll sleep through that. Until he screamed, “I love it when you call me Big Poppa.” That opened my eye. I didn’t hear the radio on. “I love it when you call me Big Poppa.” It was the guy. He was quoting Notorious B.I.G. while in the room next to me. “I love it when you call me Big Poppa.” Please, Biggie. Please finish and let’s go to sleep.
The next morning, I woke to a different sound. This time it was her. My first thought. Seriously folks. My first thought of the morning was – good for Big Poppa. He’s giving her a turn. I sat up and stretched. My second thought was. This is somebody different. Big Poppa did not pay the nightly rate.
The shower had a weak stream. It was closer to a mist. But the stream was strong enough to make a couple of the bugs that were on my legs jump off and I almost put my head through the ceiling when I jumped. I whipped a towel along my body to check for any other critters and bolted out of the Tiger Villa.
On the ride to Tampa, I felt the imaginary bite of bugs on my legs. They were gone, but the feeling remained. Ben Franklin came to my mind. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” How many of you have lived by that old saw? My magic mirror shows me that many of you do. Ben’s right. For every penny you can save on a transaction that’s an extra penny in your pocket. And according to Ben, I just earned $75 with my stay last evening.
There’s an alternative to this thinking. I started dating Penny Tremblay, founder of The Sandbox System. You can find here at www.pennytremblay.com. Our first trip together was to Disney over Christmastime. I was excited to show her the playground in the sun and laid out the itinerary including our stay at the Ramada Inn, which happened to be only a couple miles away from the action.
Penny immediately pumped the brakes telling me that the Ramada Inn was not happening and not up for discussion. She explained to me that she valued herself more than Ramada Inn. She valued her sleep and her comfort more than Ramada Inn. She extended the logic to her business. Penny told me that she has a set fee for her work, and she does not come off that fee. “Trent, this is what I am worth. This is what people will pay for my services. Why should I accept less of myself?” The logic is hard to argue.
Her customers only believe the value based on what they pay. If you lower your price, in essence, you are lowering your value. The reciprocal is true. If we buy cheap there is a sense that we are cheap. Thrifty is part of the scout law. But thrifty is not the polar opposite of extravagant. The Tiger Valley Motel – that is the polar opposite. Thrifty means a value for the quality you are seeking.
Penny views her own self worth as greater than Ramada Inn. She has a different standard.
I am now going to give you Penny’s unscientific, non-peer reviewed, resilient leader theory on understanding your value. Are you ready? Got your pencils out? Here’s it is. Hilton or better. You heard it. Hilton or better.
When Conrad Hilton opened the first hotel to bear the Hilton name in 1925, he aimed to operate the best hotel in Texas. Its design, construction and renovation standards manual is over 250 pages long. Hilton is one of the most respected brands in the world. This is how Penny sees herself – a respected brand.
Picture your college car. Got it? Now, how is that different from your car today? It’s better, right? Better quality, better interior, better body condition all around better. Why is that? A penny saved is a penny earned, still, right? There are plenty of 2003 Toyota Corollas on Cars.com. We drive better cars because we value ourselves enough to buy better. The same with our groceries, clothing and housing.
There is another phrase credited to Franklin, that’s not really his. Penny wise and pound foolish. The idiom warns about being careful about small amounts of money. When it comes to value, Penny is wise and maybe Trent has been foolish.
We are staying at the Hilton or better during our next vacation together. And, maybe, if the mood is right, you can hear me say…
Folks, thank you for listening to Swimming in the Flood. Resilient leaders face challenging currents, and it is tough navigating, but with one tack or another we can get there together.