How We Beat Lockdown and Built a New Business!
My mom manages, oops... used to manage, holiday lets in Edinburgh, but the hospitality industry is currently on hold. So here's how she changed her business using my talents! :-)
So you think you're out, and they drag you back in! :-)
It's been 20 years that I've been on my own, I didn't want to get pulled back in, but ya know family sometimes needs you and it's important to help.
This photo of me was taken when my mom took on a new holiday rental on The Royal Mile and wanted pictures to help get guests.
Taking some pictures is a small favour, but it lets me spend time with her, so I just tagged along and enjoyed it.
It reminds me of growing up. She always wanted to be a property tycoon and looking at homes has been a family thang.
Here we are having lunch after visiting some properties. That's me in the unofficial green Yankees hat, bought at Century 21 in NYC.
Go Yankees!
If you ask my mom she'll do the, "Woop There It Is" dance! Please don't ask. :-D
We believe in the industry!
Christine and I both know this industry is coming back. The real money is on it being bigger and better. Mobility is in. Work from home (WFH) is the new norm and the market loves to buy low and sell high. Check out the @airBNB IPO if you don't think this market isn't betting on short term holiday lets becoming a key part of the #neweconomy.
How did we end up with a calendar?
She loved the way I shot the flat!
Now, I know her. She's thinking, 'how can I use this?'
She always wants to show off to me. She's always giving me her sales figures and I'm always impressed. I hear she won a sales prize for selling calendars.
She has also forced me to view the shop they used to rent at Fort Kinnaird during Christmas!
How do I find myself here?
So this is me, helping my mom out. I'm a New Yorker who used to be an Edinburger.
My mom tells me that she has an idea for a calendar and that she likes this and that. She tells me what she wants, but I get the impression she doesn't believe that I can do it. I'm listening and I have some ideas too.
It's gonna be easy, and it was.
She doesn't realise (or does she?) that I have been cataloguing photos of Edinburgh since I got here. Why? That's how photographers behave.
How did I make the calendar?
I was in NY on 9/11 and I'll never forget how the city responded. The people came together and made a beeline for the triage centres. How could they help? Since then, I've always had faith that we can rebuild and it'll be better than before.
When the castle reopened I got tickets for me and my brother to visit. I wanted to feel that Edinburgh can rebuild. I wanted to know that I can do this and I wanted to feel connected to people who faced adversity and build a fortress for safety, and a country that inspired them.
That was the first day that Barry and I took photographs I knew that they where good enough for the calendar.
How have our lives changed during lockdown?
Lockdown has messed with our life. One day we're planning to travel the world and enjoy being mobile, the next we are trapped in a New Town flat wondering when we can leave?
Our lockdown story is a good one though. We have a beautiful flat and Virgin provides a good Internet service.
@Fhior, a yummy high-end restaurant opened up their suppliers to home delivery and it's been awesome! They must be one of the success stories in the hospitality industry.
Our lives are kinda the same as in New York, it's just there's a beautiful medieval city on our doorstep.
Here's my first calendar...
What can I see looking East from Edinburgh Castle Walls?
There are so many places to visit and admire as we start our journey from Edinburgh Castle to The Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Set on a volcanic rock, it started it's life centuries ago and plays a major part in the history of Scotland and Edinburgh.
The cover page is something we all agreed on. Edinburgh Castle has a commanding view of the Lothians; it's ideal for watching for enemies on land or sea. It's also ideal for seeing what we built.
How many landmarks do you recognise?