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Anjali Agarwal on Hospitality, Grit & Deal-Making
21 Plays3 months ago
Anjali is a Hospitality Real Estate Founder and Executive with a 25-year track record of delivering the rare combination of both creative, branded experiences and financial successes. Born in India and now based in San Francisco, Anjali started the year with the launch of her own real estate investment platform, Bristlecone Capital, where she is focused on investing in outdoor-oriented real estate. With experience earned from leadership roles at Starwood Capital Group, AutoCamp and The Chartres Lodging Group, and a Master of Management in Hospitality from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Anjali shares how she drives value across every stage of the investment cycle. With experience participating in $4 billion of transaction activity, planning and executing $1 billion in renovations and leading over $6 billion in asset and investment management, Anjali breaks down her fundamental basics for any sized opportunity.
Learn more about Bristlecone Capital at bristlecone-capital.com.
Thank you for listening and if you want to know more about Lady of Record visit Instagram @ladyofrecord and ladyofrecord.com.
All information provided is for informational purposes only. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or recommendations and should not be considered specific real estate, legal, investment, financial or tax advice. Investing entails risk, including the possible loss of principal, and past performance is not predictive of future results.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Lady of Record Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Lady of Record, the podcast. I'm Georgie Paul, founder of Lady of Record. Join me as I interview incredible women who are boldly owning their financial security and impacting communities through the lens of real estate.
00:00:20
Speaker
I hope you enjoy. Today's guest is Anjali Agarwal. Music
00:00:40
Speaker
Anjali is a hospitality real estate founder and executive with a 25-year track record of delivering the rare combination of both creative branded experiences and financial successes.
00:00:55
Speaker
Born in India and now based in San Francisco, Anjali started the year with the launch of her own real estate investment platform, Bristlecone Capital, where she is focused on investing in outdoor real estate.
00:01:09
Speaker
Before creating her company, Anjali was senior vice president at Starwood Capital Group, where she oversaw a $4 billion dollars hotel portfolio across the US, including the recent launch of one hotel, Hanalei Bay, named to Condé Nast Traveler's best hotels and resorts in the world and Michelin Key.
00:01:31
Speaker
Before a joining
Early Career Challenges and Resilience
00:01:32
Speaker
Starwood, Anjali was one of the first employees and chief operating officer of the innovative outdoor lodging company AutoCamp. where she oversaw a 175 person team and led the opening of numerous iconic locations, including Cape Cod, Joshua Tree, Catskills, Zion, and Yosemite, which earned a spot on Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Places on Earth.
00:01:59
Speaker
She also held roles with the Charters Lodging Group, Orbitz, and Marriott. Throughout her career, Anjali has participated in $4 billion dollars of transaction activity, the planning and execution of $1 billion dollars in renovations, and over $6 billion dollars in asset and investment management.
00:02:21
Speaker
She also earned a Master of Management in Hospitality from Cornell University and BA from the Institute of Hotel Management in India. Anjali is highly recognized for her track record in deal-making and driving value across every stage of the investment cycle.
00:02:41
Speaker
She is a thoughtful, tenacious leader, and I'm honored to speak with her today. Anjali, welcome. Are you ready? i'm ready. Thank you so much, Georgie, for having me. It is such a privilege to be here, an absolute honor to be your very first guest on the podcast.
00:02:59
Speaker
Anjali, I like to start with the question, what about real estate creates a spark within you? I think it's that ability to find value where others aren't seeing it and then being able to unlock that value in a material way. I find that really gratifying.
00:03:16
Speaker
ah there's There's two other things. I think that tangibility that comes from a before and after. So if you look at that image of the one hotel, Hanalei Bay, our our founder and visionary Barry Sternlich had this idea of opening up the entire lobby to the mountains and ocean of Hawaii instead of the very kind of kitschy enclosed space that it was.
00:03:42
Speaker
And so seeing that transformation from this is what it used to be to what it is now. And you can, with real estate, you can see, feel, touch it in such a tangible way ah that it's really exciting.
00:03:55
Speaker
um And I think the third is just the living, breathing nature of real estate cycles. So you really have to be tuned with in tune with where we are in the cycle. And it's really important to understand that to make the right investment decisions.
00:04:11
Speaker
As I like to say, the clock is always ticking. So speed of execution is key to delivering success. I love that you brought up kind of being able to do different executions at different points in various cycles. and that really kind of leads me to my next question, because it seems as though you've embraced some pretty significant transitions throughout these cycles.
00:04:35
Speaker
over the course of decades as you've grown your career. And you've really spanned such a wide range of experiences moving to the US from India, setting your sights on Cornell and working for all sorts of different types of companies from startups to global institutions. And of course, most recently, which I'm so excited to dive into the launch of your own company. How did you maintain your desire to not only break into this industry, which is very, very tough, but to also stay throughout these challenges and grow?
00:05:08
Speaker
some of that came from adverse circumstances early on in my career. So when I graduated from a hospitality degree in India, I felt very lucky and fortunate to have landed a job um in in Chicago. And, you know, America was always the land of opportunity and where I wanted to be.
00:05:28
Speaker
ah And within three months of doing that, 9-11 happened. And here I was in an 1100 room airport hotel near O'Hare when not a single person wanted to get on a plane.
00:05:44
Speaker
So I was an international employee on a visa. And so therefore one of the very first to get laid off when I was 21. And I had to leave all of my belongings, my car, my apartment, and and had a had to leave within two weeks.
00:06:00
Speaker
And when I got back to India, I didn't let that experience deter me. I think I approached it with a renewed determination and um I asked myself, well what can I do to make myself more valuable?
00:06:14
Speaker
What can I do to make myself less dispensable? And I said, well, I want to go to the best hospitality school in the world. And that's when I set my sights on Cornell. And then I did everything that I could to get accepted.
00:06:27
Speaker
And when I did, when I graduated from Cornell, that's what really opened up a whole new world for me. It helped me from a network and confidence and knowledge standpoint to catapult my career.
00:06:42
Speaker
So I think what I learned, you know, that setback early on in my career was a very valuable experience and learning lesson for me because it taught me how to ah face adversity head on and be better from it. And so I very much believe that sometimes it takes taking one step back to take two steps forward. I love that philosophy. And I think to your point, when you experienced that so early on in your career, you're ready to approach the next step with a more diverse perspective. How did those challenges kind of ebb and flow over the course of your career? I think that one, ah you know, has really taught me how resilience.
00:07:22
Speaker
um I think the, you know, then I went on, I was very lucky at Charters Lodging to learn from some of the best mentors in the industry. And I was able to rise. And I'll speak a little bit that to that later about how i was, you know, taking a seat at the table well before perhaps I should have. ah But that's what let me sort of stretch myself to the deep end. And and it ended up working out. So I think taking risks became important.
00:07:47
Speaker
ah very much part of my DNA. um When we were at AutoCamp, um we were a very young, fast-growing startup, and within a year of me joining, ah we were faced with this global pandemic.
00:07:59
Speaker
And initially, it was pretty scary because it was, do we have the cash flow to weather through this storm? How long is a storm? um yeah you know what what How can we pivot our business two to get to it on the other side. And I think ultimately we were able to do that um and actually get better for it. So it was not only great product market fit during the pandemic, but we became a better product, a better company, a better customer experience from the pandemic.
00:08:29
Speaker
So I think, ah
Investment Strategy and Risk Management
00:08:30
Speaker
you know, taking, becoming more of us, taking and learning to be resilient ah has been a driving force. Knowing that you are someone who has been able to take those risks head on, like you're saying, because you've worked through challenges at various points in your career, real estate does take serious grit and the implications to those decisions from a financial standpoint are so immense.
00:08:56
Speaker
How do you, when you are looking at taking that risk and balancing it with potential reward, how do you know which opportunities to pursue versus which opportunities to hold back on?
00:09:08
Speaker
That's a really good question. And I think that's really evolved for me over time. So when I was starting off, um I relied largely on a financial model and I put in all these inputs and then the model would tell me, does the deal meet the return criteria or does it not?
00:09:25
Speaker
And of course, there was you know a basic toolbox where hospitality as an asset class is is riskier because unlike an office or retail or residential where rents are locked in for years at a time,
00:09:38
Speaker
ah we look at hospitality as daily rents, right? So you have the ability to change your rates on a daily basis. And that makes it a much more volatile asset class. And therefore, it does have to inherently underwrite to a higher return.
00:09:53
Speaker
I think obviously the other elements in the toolbox are if if there's entitlement risk or development risk or some kind of natural disaster risk, as we experienced very frequently at AutoCam, ah those kind of deals need to underwrite ah to a higher return.
00:10:09
Speaker
um As I've evolved and grown in my career, though, and gained that experience, I've really come to rely and lean in more into my gut. And so if I have strong conviction in a deal, whether that's because i see value where others aren't finding it,
00:10:25
Speaker
Or I've had this experience and playbook before, whether it's the market, it's the execution, it's the capital structure, or it's some combination of those key elements.
00:10:38
Speaker
If I have conviction in a deal today, I'm much more like likely to lean into that and find a way to get creative and make a deal work. And the last thing I'll say is, to your original point, I think it is important to have discipline and alignment on what is the deal criteria, what is the right fit, because it's important to say no to deals that don't fit so that you can open up your bandwidth to say yes to the right ones.
00:11:08
Speaker
That's so
Role of Women in Real Estate
00:11:09
Speaker
interesting to hear you talk about the specifics to underwriting for hotels. I've never, that's the one asset class I have not personally worked on. So hearing you talk about even how you underwrite for daily rates, I think that is so fascinating. And then just even more to your point, knowing when to say no. So you still have the bandwidth to say yes, and just being patient in that. And really, it sounds like going back to the numbers is really important to you.
00:11:32
Speaker
Yes, I think it's a combination of the numbers and the gut and conviction. I want to to really talk about today too. Obviously, we're aware of some of the challenges, but I really want to use today to talk about the positives of being a woman in the real estate industry, um ah so especially at the founder and executive level, because I think that brings its own set of unique opportunities and characteristics. um Are there specific qualities that you see women bringing to real estate? And how do you own your authenticity in that way? I think those conversations about women are definitely happening today. And I find that so refreshing.
00:12:11
Speaker
um yeah I remember when I started my career ah several decades ago, i had just become accustomed to being one of the only women in a room surrounded by a sea of black suits, leave alone being the only woman of color with an immigrant accent.
00:12:28
Speaker
ah So I think it's come a long way from there. And in recent years, I think the conversations have evolved to um having a seat women having a seat at the table.
00:12:39
Speaker
And I'll tell you, I wasn't shy about doing that. I remember very early in my career when I was an and a first year analyst and we were working. i was at Charters Lodging working on a three quarters of a billion dollar deal that we were pitching to Goldman Sachs.
00:12:55
Speaker
And um I did a lot of the we are very small company. So I i did a lot of the underwriting. I did a lot of the tours. I did a lot of the due diligence. So I knew i knew the deal well.
00:13:08
Speaker
um But typically, as a first year analyst, you don't get to sit in that room pitching to Goldman Sachs, MDs and investment committee. um As it turned out at the time, this is over two decades ago, we were still using big binders to to present our deal materials.
00:13:25
Speaker
And it turns out ah we got a phone call the night before the meeting from Kinko saying, well, we haven't finished printing and you're going to make miss the overnight FedEx delivery to get these delivered to New York.
00:13:38
Speaker
So um our CEO goes, well, someone's going to have to jump on a plane and deliver these manually to New York. And I raised my hand and um took a red-eye flight, ah made it right in time for the meeting, just had enough time to shower, sat, got a seat at the table.
00:13:56
Speaker
And there were a lot of questions that these MDs were asking that I just happened to know the answers to because I was really close to the deal and was able to give them the answers they needed. We ended up getting the deal. i ended up getting a promotion. And it really worked out because of this twist of fate that made me jump on a plane to New York on a red eye. So I would say that, you know, and I think that conversations evolved even more today where women are now talking about, well, we're building our own table.
00:14:28
Speaker
And I just love that. That really resonates with me because women bring such a unique skill set to real estate. And I'd love to see women more women in senior roles in real estate.
00:14:38
Speaker
That
Mentorship and Supporting Women in Hospitality
00:14:39
Speaker
is such a great story, Anjali. And I love, I mean, the amount of bravery. how How did you get the bravery to raise your hand in that instance? Where do you feel like that comes from within you? I think it comes from, and I'll speak to this a little bit later, but I think it comes from the encouragement and support I got from my mother early on in my childhood, where I was just, you know, always, I was able to break the glass ceiling in my family. And she always supported,
00:15:06
Speaker
ah the crazy career and dreams I had. And even to this day with launching this company, she's really been a big cheerleader for me. One thing that also really stands out to me is I can only imagine that you've seen the role of women in the industry change a lot over the last 25 years. I don't know if you've seen different environments where you've you've been able to be mentored by other women or have the opportunity to mentor up and coming women in the industry, whether it was in more of your startup environment or more in an institutional environment. But I'd be so curious if that's been a part of your career as well.
00:15:44
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah, I would say at Charters Lodging, one of the co-founders was a woman and she was also a woman of color, Maki Berra. And i think having her as one of the leaders of the company early on really helped me envision ah future where I could do that. And, and and she was, I learned, and and she's a very smart woman, very calm, very self-confident.
00:16:08
Speaker
And I learned, ah I was fortunate to have a mentor like her, whom I could learn from as well as other, uh, women leaders that I learned from during my time at charters. And then it was really gratifying to me when I went over to auto camp and, um,
00:16:23
Speaker
was was told by some of the early stars and early risers in the company about how ah they i was doing that for them because it's so important to give back and and and just to hear that ah was was very, very fulfilling.
00:16:40
Speaker
I'm also doing it in a more formal way. I'm participating in a group, a nonprofit called the Castel Project, and their goal is to help women leaders rise to senior executive roles within hospitality.
00:16:54
Speaker
So I'm a frequent speaker in these hospitality education programs all for for women that help them just understand what are the options out there for women? What are the different paths they can take?
00:17:08
Speaker
ah How can they ah leverage their experiences and sort of connect the dots? ah Because a lot of times there'll be career switchers who will say, well, how do i I want to do this, but I don't really have an experience. And how do you translate the skills and knowledge you've gained?
00:17:25
Speaker
Um, to sort of catapult yourself into the hospitality industry and then rise there. So I think that mentorship has been ah really, really important and something I want to continue to do as I evolve.
00:17:37
Speaker
And in bringing, like you're saying, that visibility to the possibilities within the industry. And i love that you brought up people who might want to just completely pivot careers. When I started in real estate, I had no financial experience. But going back to some of your earlier points, I just knew that I loved the tangible nature of it.
00:17:57
Speaker
um Kind of like you've been talking about the the architecture, of the buildings, the fabric of being part of a city. And I just knew I loved that. And I knew that I, you know, learned the rest. But when when you have someone who says, you know, it kind of just takes that one person to say, go for it, give it a try. We'll be here to help you and support you through that transition. Because I think sometimes those also make the best professionals in real estate.
00:18:21
Speaker
when you almost have a blended background and can come in and bring all of that to the table. I couldn't agree more. Sometimes, you know, the disruptors are the ones that come from not knowing anything about the industry, so they don't know what they're disrupting or breaking. And that's what the, and I attribute AutoCam's co-founder, Neil DiPaola, who came not from a hospitality background and was really able to do something very special with AutoCam early on.
00:18:48
Speaker
What I think is striking about your experience also is your ability to work across every stage of the investment lifecycle. um And to me, this is a tremendous feat of both left and right brain characteristics.
00:19:02
Speaker
Can you
Community Integration in Real Estate Projects
00:19:03
Speaker
walk us through one of your favorite deals, kind of a to Z, and break down both kind of the numbers and metrics, but also how you brought a creative, branded experience to life at the same time?
00:19:16
Speaker
I would have to say that one of my favorite deals is the Novotel New York. It was one of the first deals that I took from ah every through every stage of the deal cycle or from cradle to grave.
00:19:27
Speaker
um I was at Charter's Lodging. we purchased a deal for $94 million. dollars It was ah in the middle of Times Square a core was the seller, but also ah the brand and manager.
00:19:42
Speaker
So it was very nuanced in that ah as ah as ah as a brand and operator, ah they were highly motivated to protect the operator's interests. And so they wanted us to invest what was amounting to $118 million dollars in a complete renovation and repositioning of the property.
00:20:01
Speaker
ah And I was able to really negotiate to make it a more targeted renovation, still very comprehensive, but I wanted the dollars to be spent on the highest guest touch points.
00:20:13
Speaker
And so one of the things I found about that property was um The lobby was, so as I was mentioning, it was the location overlooked Times Square. And and you know there's all these customers coming in from all over the world to one of the most popular and most iconic destinations in the world.
00:20:32
Speaker
And the lobby was just oriented the wrong way. So you'd check in and you were facing a wall instead of ah facing that ah incredible view. And so we were able to um create a business plan that involved literally tearing up the entire lobby, creating a circular bar right in the center of it ah with all of the orientation overlooking and opening up almost like a V toward that Times Square view with the large view deck.
00:21:01
Speaker
and so And we were still able to achieve all of that with with the within an $85 million dollar budget. So it was a pretty material, about a 30% haircut to the original budget.
00:21:13
Speaker
um And then we were able to incorporate, as I was mentioning to you earlier, we have daily rents, right, in hospitality. So we were able to incorporate what we call a revenue management strategy, where you look at demand and supply, and it's a pretty analytical software that can tell you, well, what was happening was they were selling the hotel out ah to the leisure customer almost six months in advance at a pretty price conscious rate because they were just kind of filling the hotel up early on.
00:21:43
Speaker
And what we realized was by the time the corporate customer that's less price conscious is ready to book, the hotel was entirely sold out. So we were able to, this took a lot of trust building with the team because they were just not used to leaving inventory open for last minute sale.
00:22:01
Speaker
And so it said, ah it was a matter of, um we know this demand is coming. We know this demand is going to be 40% higher rated than this price conscious leisure traveler.
00:22:14
Speaker
um We just have to forecast and wait for it to come in and start giving them the confidence, but also the support, as you were saying, where, you know, it's okay if you fail, we'll do it differently next time, but you got to try it. You got to see how far you can push rate.
00:22:29
Speaker
So it was also retooling the entire pricing strategy to to really meet that higher rated demand. So we were able to grow rate through a renovation and despite not having any of those amenities or renovated product.
00:22:43
Speaker
And then... um Ultimately, we were able to execute all of this within two and a half years ah compared to a four or five year underwritten hold. So as I was mentioning, that timing and speed of execution really can juice up your returns.
00:23:00
Speaker
And ultimately, we were able to exit the deal um sell the deal and exit at a 42% IRR and over a 2x multiple on invested capital.
00:23:11
Speaker
So really, really successful well deal story that ultimately led to my promotion to oversee the entire asset management platform and mentor these rising stars, which was also very gratifying to be able to have my own success translated into now how do I bring all these other other people up with me.
00:23:33
Speaker
So that's why I'd say that was one of my favorite deal experiences. That kind of leads me to my next question that I think you've been able to do time and time again as part of your kind of personal magic touch to these projects.
00:23:46
Speaker
But how do you architect community into your projects when you're thinking about whether it's going in and like you've discussed, you know, bringing value to an opportunity where maybe people didn't see it before building something from the ground up.
00:23:59
Speaker
How do you think about community when you're approaching each project? I'll speak about AutoCamp in particular because community was one of our core pillars and a big part of our ethos.
00:24:10
Speaker
And we incorporated community in multiple ways. um So first was in the design. So right from when you're conceptualizing a product project, how can we work with local artisans and suppliers to utilize locally crafted materials?
00:24:27
Speaker
The second was in the operations. So how do we work with local farmers and poets purveyors to source our ingredients for our F&B program? How do we invite in the Yosemite Park Rangers um to so into our programming to speak about the experiences in the park, how to be safe in the outdoors, how to be welcoming of diversity in the outdoors, and how to leave no trace principles.
00:24:54
Speaker
So really incorporating that sense of local um talent that we had around around the neighborhood. and And then the third was the overall customer experience. So communal fire pits was a core part of every auto camp, as you'll see in the image.
00:25:10
Speaker
And the reason for that is we believe that sitting around a fireplace or a fire pit is a real equalizer, right? Nobody knows, everyone's equal around the fire. Nobody knows where you're from or where you came from, what what you do, but you're sharing ideas. You're telling stories about your favorite hike that you went on or this new passion project that you're working on.
00:25:31
Speaker
And um guests were very frequently telling us how that was one of the big reasons that they came to AutoCamp. um And we had a very evangelical following and they they just knew they'd meet like-minded people that they could connect with and share the outdoors with. I love this because that's what I love about real estate too, is you are creating these experiences and it is very tangible going back to where we started this podcast and that spark within you.
00:26:00
Speaker
I see it so much in what you're sharing because it's It is that how do you create an experience and you're using real estate as the vehicle to bring that to life. And
Key Investment Strategies
00:26:11
Speaker
while all of this is occurring, you're still achieving financial success on the back end and driving toward a business plan. So I think it's just such a a fascinating combination of the two, especially in the hospitality space. I think it's really fascinating.
00:26:26
Speaker
specific in that way. I love what you said there about using real estate as a vehicle to bring that passion and those ideas. And sort of that's what I think for me creates that sense of purpose is, right, real estate is the vehicle, but then you're drawing on all of these different important pillars um to to bring it to life.
00:26:48
Speaker
Taking this a step further, I am curious, your experience has obviously spanned billions of dollars. Some of our listeners are new to real estate and are looking to even invest on a personal level.
00:27:00
Speaker
And I'm curious, are there key foundational basics that you think could apply to any sized opportunity and maybe even again, any asset class, just those really key fundamental basics when you're building an investment strategy? I think I'd say there's three things. I do focus and have a passion for turnarounds.
00:27:21
Speaker
um So the first I would say is timing is key, um you know, both in terms of being able to understand where you are in the cycle, but also being able to execute a strategy in a compressed timeframe and then being able to sell at the right time.
00:27:37
Speaker
So the way I like to think about IRR is every day that you're not selling, you're buying. So how can you make that a hold worthwhile? Or if the incremental risk adjusted returns don't justify holding, then you should be thinking about, is this the right time to sell?
00:27:56
Speaker
um So i think timing ah in the cycle and from an execution standpoint is key. and The second, as cliche as it sounds, is location, location, location.
00:28:08
Speaker
ah You know, I think that's so true to have these favorable demand and supply economics. um You know, if there's a location that's irreplaceable because it's coastal, you know,
00:28:19
Speaker
California real estate or it's in a national park, which automatically brings with it high barriers to entry because most of ah national park land is federally owned ah like they like it was at AutoCamp.
00:28:33
Speaker
um And so there's a very limited supply ah that can be entitled. So I think that very limited supply combined with as we had at AutoCamp Durably growing demand, outdoor lodging in general is a segment that's continued to grow throughout the pandemic and beyond.
00:28:51
Speaker
Then you really have a magic formula because your supply is in check, your demand is growing. um and And so I think location that leads to favorable demand supply fundamentals.
00:29:02
Speaker
And then the third I'd say is your investment strategy. So um how much are you going to pay for it? How much are you going to invest ah to renovate it? You don't want to over invest. Going back to that story I shared of the Novotel, how much can you sell it for?
00:29:18
Speaker
ah What brand do you want to put on it as it relates to hospitality? Do you need a brand on it? ah Because then you're sharing ah a fee stream with them. um What can you do to maximize revenues, whether that's daily rents or or ah fixed rents?
00:29:33
Speaker
um You know, where is that low hanging fruit and how can you unlock it? So those are the three cal elements, timing, location and investment strategy. Do you have any
Negotiation Tactics and Perspectives
00:29:44
Speaker
advice to when it comes to kind of more of the deal making and the negotiating side of the equation? Because even going back to your example that you gave earlier in Times Square, you know, you talked about being able to negotiate to the tune of tens of millions of dollars in savings.
00:30:00
Speaker
How do you approach those tougher conversations? I think that, you know, I always start off a negotiation ah trying to before I even start off when I'm thinking about the areas that I want to negotiate, I always try to look at it first from the other person's point of view and say what's really important to them, because if something's really key to them,
00:30:21
Speaker
ah it's less likely that they're going to be willing to bend on it. And so in the case of a brand, you know, that customer experience is key to them and having that consistency across all the brands. So there's an element, I think at the time it was having these LED mirrors in the bathrooms that became a brand standard and a brand element that customers came to accept expect across all Novotel locations.
00:30:45
Speaker
So, or of course, in AutoCamp, it was a communal fire pit as an example. And you don't want to Those are, I say, those are, you don't want to mess with those. Those are non-negotiables, right? But then you find what are the elements that perhaps the customer doesn't see and feel in touch, you know, the, perhaps it's the back of house elements, perhaps it's, you know, a particular light that,
00:31:07
Speaker
they may or may not notice. So really trying to stay focused on spending your dollars on the high touch point areas. um And then perhaps in the negotiation, they don't, ah the other ones are, they're more willing to bend on. So really trying to find those points of opposite. What's important to me is saving dollars. What's important to them is ah driving that guest experience. How can, where, where do those points And then being respectful of coming to a win-win. I never like want to leave a negotiation feeling like it is a zero-sum game.
00:31:42
Speaker
i think it's really important for both sides to feel that they got what was most important to them out of it and come to some sort of win-win. As we're kind of breaking down, again, kind of a range of experiences, but keeping true to the basic fundamentals, do you have personal investment goals within the real estate space or how do you approach real estate on a personal note? Of course. Yeah, I have personally invested in all of the companies that I've been fortunate enough to work with.
00:32:10
Speaker
ah So right back to charters, we're I think what really attracted me to them and made me join them was the fact that any employee at any level, even at an analyst, was allowed to directly invest in each of the deals that we so that we acquired.
00:32:25
Speaker
And what that created was a culture of um collective passion, collective accountability, right? So everyone's dollars are invested. So even if...
00:32:36
Speaker
um You know, early on, if I wasn't working on a certain deal, but I had my dollars in it, I was going to the head of that deal and saying, hey, what do you think about this idea? What do you think about that? It just created that direct owner mentality and DNA that became very core to how I approached real estate.
00:32:55
Speaker
So
Personal Investments and Owner Mentality
00:32:56
Speaker
that was one. I am invested in the auto camp, all of the auto camp properties that were acquired, ah as well as an outdoor lodging fund that we raised while I was there.
00:33:07
Speaker
And then at Starwood, I was invested in the Starwood Opportunity Fund. I've also, on a personal level, done some of my own investing. So I've always...
00:33:18
Speaker
Dreamed of having and a little Airbnb that ah that I just invested in last year in Gournville. Gournville was the location of our very first AutoCamp in a market I absolutely love and learn to learned very well because ah of ah my experience at AutoCamp.
00:33:35
Speaker
And so that's been doing incredibly well. And ah and now here I am launching Bristol Cone and hoping to have multiple more hotel investment deals.
00:33:46
Speaker
I think it's so interesting that you bring up owner mentality and you were able to start that fostering that kind of thought process so early on. As you've grown your career um and especially as you've gone from an executive level role at a major global institution to starting your own company, did the way that you personally own your financial health evolve as you made that transition?
00:34:13
Speaker
fairly recently Yes, absolutely. And it wasn't an easy decision. i feel fortunate enough to be in a financial position after 25 years of grit and determination and hard work where I'm able to take a step back from that steady income stream and leap into something that ah has is around fulfilling my dream of owning my own portfolio of hotels.
00:34:38
Speaker
um And I've always found, Georgie, that when I ask myself the question, well, what will I regret more if I don't do? um That really helps me drive clarity and gives me um the courage to make that leap of faith.
00:34:52
Speaker
It makes the answer more obvious. Tell us about Bristlecone Capital. we This is so exciting that you started January 2025. with the official launch, tell us about it. So Bristlecone Capital, I think, is really a culmination of a lot of my different backgrounds. The idea is ah very passionate about outdoor lodging.
00:35:13
Speaker
ah
Bristlecone Capital and Future Vision
00:35:14
Speaker
My co-founder and I both ah come from AutoCamp, and so we certainly have developed a very specialized knowledge in both the opportunities, but also the challenges that come with owning outdoor lodging real estate.
00:35:26
Speaker
um And I think we also bring with us a very specialized network of operators, brokers, ah brands. to to So we really want to focus on, ah and we believe in that magic formula of the demand supply fundamentals being very favorable that I was speaking with speaking to earlier.
00:35:45
Speaker
So I think the combination of outdoor lodging on But then marrying that with my institutional private equity background, ah marrying that with all of the real estate principles that I shared about timing, execution, business plan ah is ah is really, i think, a culmination of all of my skill sets, giving me the tools and and background to to launch this. So we're really focused on outdoor mot markets,
00:36:13
Speaker
ah Think about something like a Yosemite, a Moab, a Colorado, Arizona, anything that has a ah lure to a natural um destination or an iconic destination where we believe that we can either, and I'd say there's about three, there's three buckets. One is value adds. It could be an existing operation, but we're adding an outdoor component or a glamping component.
00:36:39
Speaker
Two could be ah it's distressed either because of the capital structure or because it's mismanaged. And so we're fixing the operation. And then third could be a very targeted ground up development where we're really pioneering an opportunity within outdoor lodging. So we're creating something ground up that doesn't really exist today or fills a white space that you know hasn't been filled. And tell us about the branding side of where Bristlecone Capital is headed.
00:37:08
Speaker
As far as I know, for example, when you were at Starwood, you worked on the one hotel portfolio and brand, you know, is it will Bristlecone Capital be the branding across all of these or will you develop unique brands for each? I'm glad you brought that up because I think that's what makes us very unique in this space is when we created and launched this platform, we really want it to be brand agnostic.
00:37:28
Speaker
um So we we wanted to make a business plan. What's the best investment strategy for this particular site and this particular deal? So we the goal is to not be married to a single brand, but to identify a site and then brainstorm on, well, what do you think will work the best here and why?
00:37:47
Speaker
It may have a brand, it may not need a brand, um but we really want it to be ah not tied into a specific strategy and leave it flexible to execute on what we think is the best strategy and highest and best use for that particular real estate.
00:38:04
Speaker
We can't wait to see Bristlecone Capital get your first projects off the ground, bring them into this world, the communities that they're going to bring together, the experiences that they're going to create. Thank you. We're very excited to get this going.
00:38:18
Speaker
Anjali, it's clear that your career has taken many transitions and turns over the course of decades. Can you share some of the people that have helped lift you up along the way? Absolutely. There are so many people that come to mind that have shaped my might success and helped me become who I am.
00:38:40
Speaker
um First and foremost, of course, is is my mother, who I spoke about how she really gave me the courage to pursue my dreams and supported me. um The second, of course, is my loving husband, Gaurav Agarwal. I met him very early on in my career when I was still an analyst at Charter's Lodging and he's seen me through um so many long nights, so many multiple travels flying across the country, um even after ah we had our two children.
00:39:13
Speaker
really helping raise them while I was out so much pursuing my dreams and also supported me to really give me that confidence, but also that financial security that you talked about when i made when we made the decision for me to launch Bristlecone, giving me that confidence that we can do this, we'll be good.
00:39:34
Speaker
um And the the last person, of course, other than ah people I've mentioned, like Mark Ibera, would be Rob Klein. He is the co-founder of Charters Lodging. I spent 12 years there, and I was able to really be put into roles ahead of my time ah because of his recognition, belief, and support.
00:39:59
Speaker
We've remained very close friends and I really consider him a mentor and very close friend. ah That's really helped shape my career. Today's conversation has truly been such a pleasure. I think what you're doing in the hospitality space is unique and I think it just brings a whole new lens to to hear the real estate side behind it. It just makes it so that when you're walking around a city or you go to a hotel next,
00:40:24
Speaker
just thinking about how did this business plan come to life? Where did these numbers come from? What are those high touch value points that somebody really dove in on? I just think it brings a whole new way of seeing these spaces, buildings, locations in a whole new light. So thank you for sharing all of this with us, Anjali. And I'd like to close each conversation with the same question, which is really the core of what we're doing here at Lady of Record, which is, what is your vision for the future of women's financial security?
00:40:56
Speaker
I'm going to start by sharing a little bit about how I grew up. I grew up in a conservative society where women were traditionally not always given ah freedom to work, much less choose a career in hospitality that required shift work,
00:41:13
Speaker
um And as I was mentioning earlier, my mother um thought very differently about all of this. She was certainly ahead of our time. And she enrolled me in an elementary school that really ingrained in me um this value that women need to be independent and women need to stand on their own two feet.
00:41:32
Speaker
And so she supported me in pursuing ah career in hospitality, which is what I was really passionate about, despite pushback from all sorts of other people and societal pressures. And i was really able to break that glass ceiling in my family.
00:41:49
Speaker
And so I believe that this concept of financial independence should be rooted and fundamental to how girls are raised, because it really shaped my aspirations and ambitions right from the start.
00:42:03
Speaker
And it helped me dream big and gave me the courage to pursue my dreams. So my vision is to empower girls from all backgrounds to become confident leaders and own their success and in turn their financial independence.
00:42:20
Speaker
Anjali, thank you so much. This conversation has been a true pleasure. Thank you. Georgie, I'm so, so honored to have been a part of it. I'm really, really humbled to be here. And thank you for having me.