Jeremy:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Future Hospitality Podcast. I’m your host, Jeremy Wells. Joined today by cohost Dustin Myers. We’re partners at Longitude, a hospitality branding and design group at Future Hospitality. Our goal is to interview the brightest minds in the industry, gathering insights, ideas, and inspiration to share with you. If you enjoy the podcast, please be sure to leave us a review. Thank you for your support.

In today’s episode, we talk with Julie Purpura, owner of Avenir, a full-service hospitality design studio based in Chicago. Julie and her team have designed projects such as Cyrus Hotel, Trilogy Hotel, and many other exciting hotel brands throughout the us. During our chat, we learned about the early days of her design career, discuss the ideal blend of design and brand and how Julie has filled her studio with exceptional talent. Well, let’s go ahead and dive in.

Dustin:
Julie, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.

Julie:
Of course. Thanks for having me.

Dustin:
Yeah, we’re looking forward to it. I’d come across you and your work through Dave, who’s a mutual friend of ours, and as I was looking through your portfolio, just really, really thoughtful stuff, really inspiring and was excited to reach out to you and learn more.

Julie:
Thank you. Well, I’m honored you got in touch.

Dustin:
Awesome. Well, maybe for starters, just tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

Julie:
Yeah, so I am the owner of Avenir Creative. We are a full-service hospitality interior design firm. We’ve been around for about nine years now. We’re a team of 12 designers, and prior to that I had worked at larger hospitality design firms, and right now we are designing hotels, restaurants, multifamily, retail, those type projects. So anything hospitality.

Dustin:
Very cool. What led you into the hospitality design aspect of the business?

Julie:
Well, I wanted a cool job and I wanted to design beautiful spaces, and when I graduated from college with my design degree, I went to school in South Carolina. There wasn’t much for finding a job, but I did find a design job in healthcare, and I did that for one year and it was the most boring thing I’d ever done in my life. So I decided that I was going to move to the closest big city Chicago, and I was going to take a chance and just try and find a hospitality job. When I got here and I did, I found a job designing nightclubs and strip clubs, so my grandmother wasn’t very excited about that.

Jeremy:
There you go.

Julie:
Yeah.

Jeremy:
What was your first job in the hospitality space that you were really excited to dive into? Lemme back up two questions. What was your first hospitality job you were excited about? And then what was one, maybe you don’t have to name names, but what was one that maybe was more just getting you into it even though it wasn’t particularly exciting, it was just in the industry and you were learning?

Julie:
So the one that I was most excited about, and I’m surprised by this, but it was when I was working at Simeone Deary Design Group, there was this new project that started, and it was in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, and it was like a ranch. I thought it was so fun to try and do something different. It was also the first time where my bosses really trusted me with owning certain parts of the project, and I think that was why I was most excited as well, and just getting to travel out there, do site visits. Growing up in the south on a farm with my grandparents on the weekends, it was really nice to go back and explore the land and nature and that sort of thing. And I worked on that project for three years, and I believe it’s still being worked on when I talked to my friends who are still working there.
So that was the most fun. Also, it was the first time I ever specified a bear rug, like a literal bear head, and I would taxidermy and taxidermy squirrels and really interesting, weird things like that. And then I would say what was my least favorite? I didn’t really like when I first started with hospitality, working on ballrooms and pre-function spaces because ballrooms require custom carpet, and that is one of the most challenging things that I’ve ever, and continue even now, is one of the most challenging things to work on in this industry, I think is getting the perfect carpet pattern for a ballroom.

Jeremy:
Yeah, I would imagine that’s challenging. What was your time at s and I always mess up the name pronunciation. It’s Simeone Deary, right?

Julie:
S Dairy.

Jeremy:
Simone Dairy. There we go.

Julie:
Yeah. And I believe
They’re KTGY now.
Yeah.

Jeremy:
Oh, interesting. Okay. What was your time there and what do you think you walked away with from your time there? As far as lessons learned and just experienced,

Julie:
They taught me so much. I worked there for six years, and they taught me how to pay super close attention to detail. They taught me how to manage. They taught me all the things. It was such a great foundation. I’m really thankful for my time there. And even now as a business owner, I’m often thinking about what would they do, what would they do at Simeone Deary? And even Lisa and Gina are still good friends and mentors to me, so they’ve been really awesome to stay connected with and continue to learn from.

Jeremy:
It seems like there’s a lot of people that have come, designers that have come from that agency, and I think if I’m correct, you had other relationships too. You’ve kept, and I think was Dave Abbott, was he from there as well, or was he just connected elsewhere?

Julie:
No, Dave went to a design firm called Gettys. I think he worked at a design firm. Yeah,

Jeremy:
Getty. That’s right. Yeah.

Julie:
But when he was a multi-line rep, I know that he visited Simeone Deary- and a bunch of other firms.

Jeremy:
We’ve met several people. One of the design teams we worked with on The Ozarker one of our properties came from that group as well. It seems like there’s a lot of talent that grew there and then went off and started their own thing.

Julie:
Right? You’ve got to be a really hardworking person to work there. I think if you can work there, you can do whatever you want. The standards are really high, is a great place.

Dustin:
As a fellow business owner, I understand how you gain experience and start to dream up. What do you really want to do? And then you said that you went out on your own started, and a lot of times in those early days, it’s just kind of taking whatever will pay the bills and then kind of cultivating the types of projects that you want to do and the stuff that you’re really excited about. What were those early days and what was the project that a lot of times there’s a project that will just boost you to a new level and kind of get you on the map. Did you have an experience like that?

Julie:
I did. Well, the early days, I was so excited to have a design firm, and every morning I remember saying it felt like Christmas morning now, not so much. But back then when I was more naive, so worked on smaller projects, and then I had met Michael Kitchen from a per hotel group, I believe, while I was working at Simeone Deary. And we always stayed in touch, and he reached out for a smaller project. He knew that I could handle it with my s-maller team, and they were all very supportive and I’m very thankful to have worked with them. And we worked on the Cyrus Hotel. It’s located in Topeka, Kansas. Very popular

Dustin:
Place,

Julie:
And it was really great. We put a lot of time into this project, and I would say that’s one where I guess put us on the map just because we were finalists for the HD Awards and the Gold Key Awards, things like that. And it was very validating at that time to feel like, oh my gosh, we’re doing a great job. Other people see that we are as well. And to keep continuing.

Jeremy:
Julie, remind me again, when did you start your agency?

Julie:
In 2016.

Jeremy:
Okay.

Julie:
Day after I got fired.

Jeremy:
Great. Good timing. Yeah.

Julie:
Yeah.

Jeremy:
So what were the early year, looking back, you always have the better perspective than you did when you were in the moment, but looking back, what were some of the mistakes you made? What were some of the successes you had as far as not just on the client building your client list and just growing the business, but also from a team and a culture perspective and just surrounding yourself with great people? What were some lessons you learned and how did you approach that?

Julie:
Sure. I would say something that I learned, and it might not be the case now, but at that time in 2016, it was hard to find contract workers to pay hourly who were super motivated and dedicated to work for you. So that was really challenging in the beginning. So I was able to save up enough money where I could began to hire full-time staff and full-time staff is like we were more of a team. We saw each other every day, and that really helped with the design process. And I would say another thing is if in finding clients, if you sense crazy, then they’re probably crazy, and they always were. So I think it’s like I could spot crazy a lot easier, and I try and avoid working with those type people just so I can have a better company culture. And there’s less drama in the office. If I’m really frustrated with a client or if they’re being ridiculous, I’m probably going to be pretty frustrated and I don’t want, I want a really chill, happy work environment where we can all enjoy going to the office,

Jeremy:
For sure. Yeah, having mutual understanding and alignment from an agency and client side is very important. I’m curious, you mentioned better being able to see those red flags. I think anyone listening probably knows what those red flags could be, but I’m curious, what are some, I guess you could call ’em green flags early in discussions with a potential client where you’re kind of looking for these hallmarks of this is going to be a good client, I think, and what are some of those things you see?

Julie:
I think the biggest one is, I mean, you could just tell right away and how motivated someone is and how much they appreciate design, and they’re talking about the details, and it’s more of a love for them with a project more so than anything else. And if they understand, oh, to get a great product, design costs a lot, the fee is worth it, and they’re in agreement with our design fee and they understand how much work it takes to get things done. But ultimately, just good people, motivated people, kind people, that’s who we want to work with because we’ll work even harder for someone if they’re nice and they pay our invoices,

Dustin:
We’ll do everything.

Julie:
We’ll do it all and go above and beyond.

Dustin:
Yeah, absolutely. So one thing we had talked about was just the difference in a full service design agency and how there’s a lot of different groups out there that do things differently, but what does it mean to you to be a full service design agency?

Julie:
I believe it has to do with being familiar with all the design phases of a project and being familiar with how to work with a brand and carrying that project all the way through, understanding what’s required for a concept phase and presenting that and what’s accomplished. Then moving forward to schematic design, understanding those requirements, those tasks, and how much work it is and detail goes into it for it to be approved by ownership and for the brand to approve it. The brands are really tough, so it’s like we could present to ownership if a brand wasn’t involved, we could present to ownership basically, whatever the heck we wanted to convey our design, and we could probably leave some things out and they get worked out later on. But with working with brands, it’s like, no, this needs to be figured out by the end of this phase and by the end of this phase, that sort of thing. So just understanding all of those details is what the difference is, I think.

Dustin:
Yeah. Yeah. That’s got to help if the client understands, you’re not just doing one little piece of it, but you’re executing a cohesive story and that touches lots of aspects of the project.

Julie:
Absolutely.

Dustin:
Yeah, and

Julie:
That’s another thing to talk about stories.

Dustin:
Yeah, I was going to say, as I look at your portfolio and the body of work, there’s just a very apparent attention to detail and just a really strong identity and story that comes through. I’m curious how you approach design projects to be able to achieve that and kind of the methodology behind your guys’ agency.

Julie:
And I think a lot of firms are like this. We’re here to tell a story of your property, and then it’s also, it helps with the foundation of the design process. So we’re going to, if it’s a new hotel project, we’re going to explore the neighborhood, the history of the land and surroundings, learn as much as we can about the neighborhood and the people, and put a story together based on that. And that carries us throughout all the phases of the design process. And whenever we’re like, oh my God, I don’t even know what to do. We’ve come up with a gazillion ideas, what are we going to do here? And it’s like pull out the concept words, and the answer is always there. It’s always in there. So it’s just a great thing to latch onto when designing a space, and it keeps you excited too.

Jeremy:
Yeah. I’m curious how you would answer this. I get asked this a lot. I don’t know about if you guys get to ask this as well, but on the branding agency side, we get a lot of questions from clients and then just people like developers and investors who are curious about an ideal flow for a project from concept through completion. And the question I get asked a lot is, should we do branding first or design, or should we do it at the same time, or how does that play out? And I’m curious just along the lines of storytelling and how design and branding plays so closely together in that, what have you seen that works, or what have you seen is maybe ideal in your eyes, or, I know I have my own answer, but I’m curious more about how you might answer that.

Julie:
Sure. I think that branding should come first, but it’s something where I would want to be a part of that process and probably put together a concept board based on the research that our team has done, and then work closely with the branding agency to come together for a brand. But I really do think that a brand is, yeah, it should be the first thing because we’ve done it where it’s been reversed and we just want to go back and change things. So it’s more in alignment with the brand that was developed later on, and that’s pretty frustrating. So yeah, the brand for that to come first, I think is most important.

Jeremy:
We’re in complete alignment. I think oftentimes, and I a hundred percent agree, that design and branding need to have a lot of overlap, both in scope of work sometimes and in timeline, just because there’s a lot of discussions we’re having on our side that need to be influenced and should be influenced by what you guys are doing on your side.

Julie:
And you guys are a branding team, right?

Jeremy:
Yeah. Yeah.

Julie:
And then, okay, and then you open up your hotel to do something fun, right? Because you’re passionate about it.

Jeremy:
But even on the hotel we opened the Ozarker Lodge, the branding, it was so blended, the branding and design discussions where it was, you couldn’t even hardly tell the difference between the two because it was so collaborated together, which I think is an ideal scenario for a project. So I love that that’s how you would approach it too. So I think that’s really smart, and I’m glad that you said that. And I think anyone listening take note, spot on, I think

Julie:
Mean. And we’ve worked on projects where the client or the owner just didn’t really care that much about the brand, and it’s obvious and there’s a disconnect and it’s really sad, and you want to cry, but you can’t have to be strong.

Jeremy:
Yeah. That brings up another question too. Working on projects at the scale that you do in the hospitality space and even other categories, oftentimes you’re working with a lot of different stakeholders, whether it be ownership, whether it be the management partner, whether it be the brand itself. If you’re doing a branded property, there’s lots of voices, lots of opinions. How do you wrangle in all those herding cats, so to speak? What are some things that you do to try and help that?

Julie:
Well, I find that it is up to the owner for the brand paying for it. So I try and chat with them, and sometimes they hire people that aren’t in alignment with how we think the project moves forward. And unfortunately, we can’t do anything about it. But what I do try and do, if I think we have a shot at developing a cooler brand, I just meet with the owner and I’m like, dude, we got to get somebody cool in here seriously and try and talk to them one-on-one like that. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I hope I answered, is this a kind of answer?

Jeremy:
That’s

Julie:
Good enough for your question?

Jeremy:
Yeah, no, that’s good. Even on the ownership side, I mean sometimes mean you’ve probably had ownership groups where it’s not just one person and you have three, four different owners involved.

Julie:
I mean, there are certain battles that I choose to fight, and if it’s important enough, I will choose it to battle for that. But if it’s just too much and it’s overwhelming, and I know they’re probably just going to stick with who they have, they’ve used them for all the other projects and they’re loyal, then I just accept it and make the best of it.

Jeremy:
Yeah. We’ve had a few of those battles where you, this is your hill to die on and you really push for it. Has there been anything from a design perspective that you’ve just really, really thought you wanted? Your opinion was to move forward with it, but you had to convince people to do it. Was there anything that comes to mind that you had to really fight for?

Julie:
So many things? Of course. I can’t think of anything right now. Oh my God. Yeah. I just see myself standing up being like, no, I’ve done it so many times. Interrupted people. No, don’t do it. I’m sure I’ve done that at Marriott headquarters. I’ve probably do that with every design meeting with a brand involved, to be honest. I’m like, no, we can’t do that. Just like lots of things. Even small, tiny detail things I’m fighting for.

Jeremy:
Yeah, those details make a difference,

Dustin:
For sure.

Julie:
They do. They do.

Dustin:
So you mentioned taking on projects where the owner has a love for it and is deeply invested. I’m curious on your side, when you’re looking for team members to add, what are some of the important traits you’re looking for and what are you kind of trying to build out as a team?

Julie:
Right. I am looking for self-starters. People that are motivated and hardworking. That’s hard to find, but that’s the most important quality where they’re not going to ask a bunch of questions. I mean, that’s fine if they do, but they’re going to Google it first. So yeah. I mean, of course nice people, leaders, but people that are willing to work hard. I don’t want ’em to work a lot of overtime. I just want ’em to work hard while they’re at the office. Yeah.

Dustin:
In this world there’s sometimes some ego, and I think some of that is serving to the project because people really want it to turn out the best they can, but how do you balance? This person is not a pushover, but they’re also able to work on a team. Have you encountered that paradox and any insights there

Julie:
Internally?

Dustin:
Yeah.

Julie:
They just didn’t work at the firm, so it’s kind of like we all just need to be able to work together, and especially at Avenir, just doing what the team thinks is best. And if they can’t work that way, then they’re just not a good fit, and that’s okay. I like different opinions for sure. But if anyone’s aggressive about it, I guess you’d

Dustin:
Say, yeah, that’s a tough balance. You’ve got to know when to fight for what you’re really passionate about, and then you got to know when to surrender and just work well with the

Jeremy:
Team.

Julie:
Right.

Jeremy:
Julie, kind of wrapping it up here, the podcast, future Hospitality. We love to learn from you and gain insights, but at the end of each podcast, we like to ask kind of a future looking forward for each of our guests. What are some things that excite you about the industry as a whole, or maybe just some things that excite you for your firm and where you guys are heading? What are you looking to on the horizon?

Julie:
So we just hired a Genzer. Nice, the best. She’s so cool. And just like that young, youthful, vibrant energy. I can’t wait to see what the next generation, how they infuse their thoughts and beliefs into hospitality and how that changes things. I think it would be something really positive and unique. So I’m excited for that. And also this AI that everybody’s talking about. I mean, it’s amazing. So definitely an AI fan. It’s a great tool for helping us move things forward faster.

Jeremy:
Little did you know that we are actually AI talking to you right now.

Julie:
No way.

Jeremy:
Just kidding.

Julie:
You make me have a British accent.

Jeremy:
No, that’s great. I love it. I think the Gen Z element to what you just mentioned, it’s really exciting and it’s cool how much energy and creativity that that generation is bringing up right now. So totally in agreement with that, and I am excited and curious to see how AI and just technology continues to shift in the industry. There’s so many ways that it can impact the industry, both, I think some for the good and some for the worst, but

Julie:
Hopefully

Jeremy:
We can as an industry and as colleagues and people, just make sure that it’s used for the best use possible. But that’s super exciting. Awesome. Well, I appreciate your time. Of course. How can people find out about your agency and learn more about you?

Julie:
You can visit us at avenircreative.com or visit us on Instagram @AvenirCreative.

Dustin:
Awesome. Yeah, I hope people will check that out. I know they will like what they see. So thanks again, Julie, for joining us. It was a pleasure to

Julie:
Thank you guys.

Julie:
Yes, same for you all.

Dustin:
Alright, see you. Thanks, Julie.

Jeremy:
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode of the Future Hospitality Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s topic and episode, please leave us a review. If you’d like to learn more about Longitude, you can visit longitude branding.com to see our portfolio of design work, read our insights blog and learn more about our team. You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook by searching for longitude branding.

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