DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
065 | Going Against the Grain with Hotel Impossible Designer Blanche Garcia
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Blanche is a certified Interior Designer with over 18 years of experience in residential and commercial design and is the owner of B. Garcia Designs based in Montclair, New Jersey. She is also a principal designer featured in the popular Travel Channel reality series, Hotel Impossible.
Blanche is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) as well as a “Green Design” LEED Accredited Professional through the United States Green Building Commission.
In This Episode, Blanche Talks About …
- How she found her love of construction while volunteering at the age of 12 for nonprofit building projects around the country with her mother.
- Setting goals, then taking deliberate action to achieve them. And she shares one of her early career goals – to be on TV – and how that ultimately manifested in her life.
- Her first television appearance back in 2011 as a contestant in season 6 of the interior design reality competition series Design Star on HGTV.
- Being approached to do an episode of a new hotel design show … now known as Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible … and how that single show morphed into a role as principal designer where she helps tackle the job of revamping hotels along with host, Anthony Melchiorri.
- The differences between a decorator and a designer, and she shares several simple things hotels can do to improve the design of the properties, that don’t cost a lot of money.
- Some of the mistakes that hoteliers make, and what you can do to avoid them.
If you’ve seen Blanche on Hotel Impossible or visited her website, then you know she’s extremely talented. However, what I didn’t realize until we connected is how authentic she is. Whether you read her blog or social media posts, or watch her “how to” videos or on TV, you get the same, real person, and she’s a riot.
Resources & Links
Blanche Garcia
B. Garcia Designs
B. Garcia Designs
551 Valley Rd. #170
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
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341 | One Big Happy: Travel survey reveals how hotels can attract families
Rainer Jenss of Nyack, New York, founded the Family Travel Association seven years ago to help parents and caregivers introduce children to the world through travel, whether that’s a yearlong trip around the world that Jenss and his family took or a weekend getaway to a nearby destination. To help the travel industry gauge what parents want when they take their kids on vacation, FTA conducts an annual study. The U.S. Family Travel Survey 2021 reveals the shift in mindset the COVID-19 pandemic has created in families planning a trip over the next 12 months. Hoteliers use can use the information to generate business and boost their strategies to recover and sustain business now and other the coming months.
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340 | New Glass Ceiling: Industry leaders work to shatter barriers for women hotel owners and investors
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