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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 99: Lets Do It All Again
Have you ever wondered what it really takes to turn your fishing lodge dream into reality? Willie and Krista Pawlowsky pull back the curtain on their latest adventure - purchasing and launching Two Rivers Lodge in northwestern Ontario in under 60 days.
The couple shares their journey from vision to execution with remarkable candour. After stepping away from Nordic Point Lodge, they weren't planning another venture so soon. But when opportunity knocks, passionate entrepreneurs answer - especially when that opportunity connects two legendary fisheries. Situated at the confluence of the English and Winnipeg Rivers, Two Rivers Lodge creates a unique connection between Lake of the Woods and Lac Seul, offering access to some of Canada's most productive waters.
Willie methodically walks listeners through each critical step: defining your vision (a family-oriented experience with manageable scale), finding the right property (often through industry connections), establishing a business structure (they partnered with longtime friends Adam and Denise), creating a brand identity, and implementing effective marketing strategies. The practical advice shines with authenticity as they speak from experience, having launched three successful lodge businesses.
Perhaps most reassuring is their firm belief that lodge ownership isn't reserved for the wealthy elite. "You do not have to be somebody with $5 million in the bank to start a lodge," Willie emphasizes. Starting small, leveraging entrepreneur support programs, and growing organically makes this dream accessible to passionate individuals willing to put in the work. Their story even includes an engineering feat - rescuing a sunken barge by building a makeshift dam around it - demonstrating the problem-solving creativity that lodge ownership demands.
life can't keep me down and he's that's true I can't, I'm not, I'm not that guy, I'm not. I'm not the guy who's gonna sit and wait for it to come to me. I'm gonna chase the puck in the corner and drill you up against the glass.
Speaker 3:Every time, every time this week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. On this episode, willie takes the wheel and he and his amazing wife and partner, krista, talk about something very near and dear to my heart how to start a lodge business. Which begs the question can you? On this show, willie and Krista talk about how to jump right into starting a lodge business and what they have learned on their second go-round. They talk about some of the challenges and fears they faced and how they found solutions to move forward. So, folks, if owning a lodge is a thought that has ever crossed your mind, I ask you to ask yourself why not? I know there are some passionate people out there who will become lodge owners. The question is is it you? The question is is it you? Here's Willie and Krista's conversation about how to start a lodge business.
Speaker 1:Hello folks and welcome to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North, willie the oil man here. I'm shooting this one here with a guest today, a special guest. Stevie has got the itching to go fishing, so he's prepared for his season with the boys and, yeah, I figured I'd grab the mic today and hit one out of the park for you folks. So welcome back. Diaries, family and to everybody, I've missed you. I know Stevie's been letting everybody know here what's been going on, but I've had some throat issues over the last month or so. Over the last month or so, yeah, I actually went to the doctor and for the first time in my life believe it or not, because all I do is like to talk someone told me just to shut up and don't say anything and it'll fix my problem. And that's physically what my doctor told me. He said you've been talking too much, you have too much on the go, you need to stop talking and speak like a baby. So I wasn't allowed to podcast my. We're back in the saddle, baby, yeah. So welcome back. I apologize for being gone.
Speaker 1:It's a beautiful day here in northwestern Ontario. We're sitting in the Kenora office of the Diaries operation here In the Great White North Actually, it's the Great Smoky North right now. We have a lot of forest fires up here and dangerously close to the Kenora Falcon Lake White Shell Park to the north up now by the Paw in Manitoba. It's been pretty devastating, so certainly a little smoky around here. Yeah, we need some rain. Anybody in central USA or southern Ontario that's been getting pounded with rain that we know of, please send some our way. We can use it, folks, please. Just if my voice starts to crack a bit, like I say, I'm just getting over this laryngitis, the Johnny Cash syndrome I had there, so just bear with me. I'll have to take some drinks today and lubricate my throat a bit. It sounds horrible, but yeah. So I'm sitting here at my home and I have our next guest here with me my beautiful wife, business partner, life partner, mother of my children and the person who will one day put on my diapers, krista Polowski. Everybody.
Speaker 2:Hello listeners.
Speaker 1:That was up for an intro, honey.
Speaker 2:It's awesome, awesome and true.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, yeah, so, like I say, we've been gone for a bit. It's kind of springtime is like a busy time of the year for me and Krista. We do like like we have so many kids, so there's like we have kids that are going to proms and getting ready for that. I got nieces getting ready for graduation. I got another kid that's halfway across Canada right now and one that's actually flying on Sunday to go to Toronto with her class for five days Lexi, and yeah, so on top of that, on top of that, it's our. We own a business called Sunset Limousine and we transport people all over to. You know, we do work with the M&R, the firefighters, rick Payne there and his gentleman over in, rick Payne what an awesome guy, eh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they've kept us very busy so far this spring.
Speaker 1:He right with all the fires. But Rick is, if you guys think back, and we're going to have him on the show again. But Rick is the very humble, modest gentleman who is the head dispatch coordinator for this area, so he's the one sending out the fleet to control these fires and he's an intricate part of their wheel and of their wheel. But, yeah, we're going to have Ricky on here again, but he's been kind of keeping us up to date. That's been busy stuff. So that's something we've been up to. We've been finishing up the schoolwork with the vans and then we get into the season and it's time to shuttle around the fishermen and ecotourism guests that like to come and and visit northwestern Ontario. And Krista that is you, yes, that's Krista is the. She is the kingpin in that comment yes.
Speaker 2:So in saying that, there's a lot of cottagers that come to Kenora um over the summer. So we do the transport from usually the Winnipeg airport, winnipeg or Thunder Bay airport to here, and then the fishermen, we transport them from usually Winnipeg or International Falls to all of the lodges around Northwestern Ontario.
Speaker 1:So you're taking, so we're picking up the guests that are going fishing and we're transporting them either to the shuttle, like to a float plane base, or to the airport, or to the camp, private camp lodge, wherever they're going for their summer holidays. That's what you're doing, correct, and we're. It's busy this time of year for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very busy.
Speaker 1:Everyone's slamming right now.
Speaker 2:Travel agencies are using us. There's yeah.
Speaker 1:EN and CP. We do a lot of work with them, so Chris is busy this time of year Anyway. So that's kind of what we've been up to here in the spring and everyone knows, you know, we kind of back in March we decided to step away from Nordic Point Lodge and they have a great facility there and they're moving forward and things are going amazing there and we wished them all the best in their future and we were supposed to have a relaxed summer. I think I told everybody on here I was going to, you know, get my shoulder surgery done and I was going to be my wife's employee for the first time ever. It was going to be lovely. I was just going to be my wife's employee for the first time ever. It was going to be lovely.
Speaker 1:I was just going to drive her little shuttle vans around and yeah, but then I think you know life can't keep me down, honey, that's true, it can't. I'm not that guy. I'm not the guy who's going to sit and wait for it to come to me. I'm going to chase the puck in the corner and drill you up against the glass every time. Every time I'm going to be Brad Marchand against the Toronto Maple Leafs Every time, and I hate him, but at the same time, when he plays for Team Canada, I love him for that reason. So we Well, we'll just let the cat out of the bag we bought another fishing lodge and so March 1st we actually signed the papers on Mother's Day, so that was the 11th of May this year. So my promise to not do anything but was two months and ten days, and then I broke my promise, right, honey.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time.
Speaker 1:So we are now the owners of Two Rivers Lodge, which sits 50 minutes to the north of Kenora, which is a nice, close drive. For us. It is a fly-into or boat-into, so we have a landing that is really safe, big, flat, nice spot to park your car, and then we have a shuttle boat that picks you up and it's a 20-minute boat ride up to our cabins, and or you can fly in from Kenora Winnipeg via float plane. Yeah, so crazy idea. I know it sounds nuts, but it's the right opportunity for us and we are super excited, eh, babe.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Brings us back to exactly where we started.
Speaker 1:I know I hated not having a lodge. I hated it, even though it was two months and 10 days. Four hours, 11 minutes. I hated it. I hated it.
Speaker 1:So what we're going to talk about today, folks, on this episode, is how do you, how does John Doe on the end of this you know podcast, if you know if he's sitting there and he wants to make a life change? You know Mr Nitzwicky, our amazing leader here and host. You know he his story right of just one day being sick of his job and just saying, screw it, I want to own a fishing lodge. I can figure it out financially. I might bankrupt myself, but at least I'm going to try doing something. And I have a lot of respect for that.
Speaker 1:And Steve, because, as we've both said, there's not many of these places that aren't passed down by family or taken by corporate entities that have a lot of money. It takes a lot of gas and a lot of nuts to put everything on the line again and do it. And Steve did that. And he did it twice in his life, and with that business and then with his tin-locking business prior to, and I respect him a lot for that, but anyway. So, yes, we are going to teach you how to start your own lodge, folks. That's the episode today. Hey, honey.
Speaker 2:Go team, go team.
Speaker 1:Go team. So how do you start your own launch? You say you know everybody, hey, honey, everyone thinks it's hard. You know it's hard work, it's a hard process, would you say it is.
Speaker 2:It is hard work.
Speaker 1:But I think it's if you have the dedication and if you know where to start, it's not that bad Like so. This is our third time doing this. Now We've had Lake of the Woods, fishing Adventures, we created Nordic Point and now Two Rivers Lodge, and the first thing we needed to do was decide what we wanted to do. What do we want to do? What do we want in our next experience? So before we you know, we really weren't looking for any properties we had to decide as a team me and Krista what we wanted. What did we decide we wanted for a lodge? What style of lodge do we want?
Speaker 2:Family. We want a family-orientated lodge. We want something manageable, something breathtaking something smaller too like bad ways.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, absolutely our last place was huge, like any of you guests that had visited there you would have known, but like anybody who hadn't, it was Insanely big and way too many cabins for us and we would rerun in 20-hour days for no reason. So we just decided you know this one, let's step it back.
Speaker 2:All about family. We wanted it to be about family. We wanted to do it with ourselves and our close friends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we want to. Yeah, exactly. So we want to keep it a family-run lodge, a family-orientated business structure. We didn't want to make it a corporate Canada or a corporate America venue. We will have an elite-level service, just like you always have. You'll have elite food and elite fishing and elite boats and guides and cabins, but that's not the experience. What we want that experience directed at is your family or your group of people enjoying that family-run experience, always being pushed around you. You know Steve's old motto and we've stole it off him and he allowed me to steal it, but we've actually started putting it. It's on the front page of our website, honey, what is it?
Speaker 1:Come as friends, leave as family, that's right, that's right, and it's going to be right on the main sign when you pull up to our dock. And we truly believe that and we always have. So that was the first thing you need to do is, yourself, know what you want, your vision. Know your vision, correct, correct, exactly. You know what Little Johnny that used to guide for me, his vision always, I remember, since Maynard Lake and T2 guiding with him. Little Johnny has always wanted to have his own outpost. That's his thing and he'll have it one day. But you know it'll come and I just you have to know your vision, you have to know. So that's where we start.
Speaker 1:So me and Kristen, you know, we always sit here in the evenings and we're watching our shows, or 90 Days, fiance and hockey and foot whatever. We're watching this shit we watch and we're always talking about this stuff. So that's us knowing, that's us knowing. So one day the phone rings and it's an individual that a long time ago we'd reached out to and just said, hey, this is who we are, give us a call and they have some very unique properties. We were actually just looking to talk to them to kind of tell us our story and we kind of have some relations business-wise, so some unique ones. So we were just kind of looking to chat and we really hit it off with these people and, you know, after we hung up the phone we kind of started being intrigued by the conversation going. You know, like maybe there's something here Kind of lit a little bit of a fire in my belly again.
Speaker 2:And the wheels were spinning.
Speaker 1:And the wheels were spinning. So what we did was we didn't do nothing. We actually got another phone call from the same family a month later and you know, they wanted to talk to us some more and get to know us. And we actually met the people and, uh, by that time I was hooked. I know the plan, I know the lodge, um, I know it's history, I know what it's capable of. It's been closed for five years. But I know, uh, if there's anybody that can bring it back, it's me. But I know if there's anybody that can bring it back, it's me, and I'm excited for it, I'm super excited for it.
Speaker 1:So we decided to just to make them an offer, a random offer. And so this is the second part you need to do, folks, is you know what you want to do? Let's say in the background you know I want a fishing outpost, we're going to use that model of Johnny's. And then, all of a sudden, you know, so you're looking, you're looking online. You can get a realtor, you can look at Kijiji, you can look on Marketplace, facebook, you can talk to fishing guides, you can talk to local outfitters here. Ask everybody I ask everybody all the time what's for sale. What's on the market Right? Ask anybody those questions and when you do, you're going to find those diamonds in the rough.
Speaker 2:You'll never know, unless you ask.
Speaker 1:Right, rainbow Point Lodge was a diamond in the rough before we turned it to Nordic and it was a beautiful campground. Bob and Gail had such a beautiful place there for 40 years but we were so fortunate to find it and stumbling across those little tiny pebbles, and so this is one of those diamonds in the rough and it's a gem, this property Beautiful. It was started by a gentleman, so the old lodge name used to be T2 Lodge when it was created and it was Bill Kozak that incorporated that lodge, built it up and then a family the Hens took over. They ran it for a few years until COVID and then, just with COVID, I guess there was some unforeseen issues with COVID and it closed its doors and it was T2 Island Lodge at the time. So we, amazing place, great place. I actually used to work there as a, as a contract guy that's why I've told you guys about it before.
Speaker 1:When I first started guiding, kind of where I cut my teeth and uh, so we, we, we, we really want that property, we really wanted it Right and we knew it. You know, we, we knew we had the people on the phone they wanted to make a deal and so we, you know we made this deal. We have the vision. You know we're moving forward and we started the company. You know we decided that we actually sorry one step back here. We decided to go in with partners and I didn't want to go in with partners Uh, in the essence of other businesses that I've been involved in in the past, but this was different.
Speaker 1:So there's been a gentleman out there who's we don't talk about him very much on here, but we should have more of it. He's the background stud in our operation. His name was Adam Brow and Adam was. He was like my. You know, kyle McMahon was kind of my other, my other fire there for a long time, but Adam kind of was with me right from the start. You know he bought my old Lake of the Woods Fishing Adventures. He bought the company off me and Krista Yep, him and his wife, and they wanted to do the same thing. You know they slowly wanted to build and have a guiding outfit and work it into a lodge and they've been doing it. You know they've been running that other company and so we brought them in. We wanted to family, family, family.
Speaker 2:They have the same vision, him and his wife Denise. They have the same vision.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so our 50% partners at our lodge are Adam and Denise Brough. Everybody welcomed them to the Diaries family. Yay, yay, they're amazing humans they are. We'll be talking about them a little more here. And we've got to get Adam on here. Adam's a top shelf guy. He's actually catfish fishing today up on the Red River in Winnipeg, just outside of Winnipeg, I think. He said yesterday he caught 60 catfish and I think over. I think 40 of them were like of whatever the master class Freaking, ridiculous. Like Adam's a stick and a half on the water. He's a great human. Anybody who wants to come to Two Rivers Lodge, he is the man to guide. Yes, he's a. Yeah, he's the man.
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Speaker 1:So that was, I guess, the next, you know. The next thing was you know how do you want to do your business? You know, like, how do you want to do you want to run a sole proprietorship by yourself? Do you want? Is it just a one-man cabin operation? You know, is that outpost just that? Is that outpost an American plan, where you have to feed them and guide them? Is that outpost style, just somewhere where you'd fly in and drop them off like a Wayne Clark? Is that outpost style, just somewhere where you'd fly in and drop them off like a Wayne Clark? You know, like the king of the flying north there, wayne Clark? Is it an operation like that? It all depends on what your operation is.
Speaker 1:So now you've found your niche, you've got your business, you've got your angles of where you want to go and you know we've got a partner. So if you didn't have a partner, you would have just skipped that step. And then so the next thing we needed to do was establish a name. Right, establish a business, establish a company. So we reached out to a lawyer. Uh, we had a handful of names picked out. We gave them a handful of names and said come back to us with which ones are available. And they did, and I think there was only one, I think it was just two, I think Two Rivers Lodge was the only one. That's the one we all wanted.
Speaker 2:That's when we came up with it.
Speaker 1:Collectively, that was the deal. So this lodge, sorry, this lodge Collectively, that was the deal. So this lodge, sorry, this lodge. This area where the lodge sits is on an island called Titu Island, sits on Titu Lake and there's two rivers that come in from the backside, from the north. One is the English River. That flows down from Laksuil so up where I used to be up, by Pearl Falls and Near Falls. That's where the start of that river is. It flows down past Maynard Lake Lodge and so on and so forth and then spits out into Titu Lake on the east side of our island. On the west side of our island is where the lake now dumps into the Winnipeg River and then, farther south, it comes from Menakee, out of Lake of the Woods, up to us. So we're connected to some heavy bodies. We're actually one of the only bodies of water that's connected to Lac Sewell and Lake of the Woods. That's incredible, huge. Those two fisheries are insane and we're stuck right in the middle of those two fisheries.
Speaker 2:That's where the two rivers came in.
Speaker 1:Correct the place of two rivers. I think that's what T2 meant back then. That's what T2 Lake means, I think, is we'd always heard that and Adam told me that was the place where two rivers meet In some native tongue. I'm not sure To use my ignorance, I'm just not educated in it. I don't know. But yeah, so that's how we got the name. So, yeah, so we had their name. We had our incorporation. A lawyer set it up. It was.
Speaker 1:You know it's not much, folks. It all depends what you want to do with your company. You can split your shares, you can do different things in a partnership. There's tons of things. Your lawyer will go over that with you, but it was like $2,500, something like that. You know it's not much, right. So now you have that company, you have that protection of an incorporation or a limited company behind you and to move forward. So you have your property already. You know you found your business At the same time you create your business. You know at the same time you create your business, you create your name. You know you got to do all your work with CRA and get your key. So there's a business key that you'll get and you got to set all that up with CRA and all those are all steps that I didn't know. All free, no money involved there.
Speaker 2:And then Do you have to design your brand, your brand, your logo?
Speaker 1:Oh yes, well yeah, I guess you've got to design a brand.
Speaker 2:The kids did that.
Speaker 1:Well, denise and the kids and you, we didn't really. It was different this time.
Speaker 2:Julie and Denise did that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think they pretty much put this one together and it was good. Our logo's really sharp, really cool. Everybody can go on. Tworiverslodgenet because fishing has nets, everybody. My partner, adam. We were trying to go tworiverslodgecomca and he said tworiverslodgenet because it's fishing, and he is absolutely right. Tworiverslodgenet because it's fishing, and he is absolutely right. So T-W-O, not two, the number TwoRiversLodgenet. Go check it out, folks. Yeah, so we kind of collectively, everybody threw in their ideas and blah, blah, blah. We all had the same concept, I think.
Speaker 1:But Denise and Julia, adam's wife, kind of pounded this logo out and then we sent it over to our good friend Timmy Dawson, there over at Campus Crew. Let's give him a shout out Woo, woo, woo. I can't even. I lost my voice. I can't even Woo, woo. So yeah, timmy Dawson here, here, what an awesome guy he makes all that, all the swag for the fish of canada show, all those amazing hoodies that angie, pete and the boys are selling over there, um, go check them out. They're uh, the quality and the craftsmanship of his product is second to none. It's the fit is incredible, it's unbelievable. Every piece, every piece, it's amazing. So, anyways, timmy digitized us a logo, created us. He gave us a couple versions actually too, so then we can put it in some different ways and areas, and that was wonderful. So we had that now, you know now. So now we're starting to brand.
Speaker 1:You know I actually did an episode of power branding. That's kind of a specialty thing of mine, you know. Know, we created that brand and if you're very loud, you don't have to be, you can, you can obviously. Just, you know, you can market how you want and network how you need and. But I'm very loud and I'm very proud of our stuff and I I make sure you know my one of my first calls was to our friend Jamie Bruce. You know, making sure Bruce, he was on board with us, picking him up as a sponsor next year. Jamie Bruce, these podcasts, the TV shows that I've filmed at my lodges and the sponsorship work, that and the Jamie Bruces and the Brian Gussies, those guys, man, so many people see your name. You know my logo has been at the Bassmaster Classic and it's been to several events all over the southern United States, which is my target market.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So that, yeah, you know, like, you don't have to go as heavy as that. You know that's obviously some of its money, a lot of its connections, and it takes time to meet those people. But at the same time, you know you can market in different ways on Facebook Marketplace and Facebook. Instagram is a big one, right, and you know your website promotions through Google. You know, learn how to use Google a bit and hit those target things. You know you don't need to pay somebody $2,000 a month to tell you what you already know, like I did, and to continue to pay. You know you learn those things. Right, pay the money to teach. That's how I say it. Now, one thing I've learned in the last two places is, if you need to educate yourself somewhere, pay the money to do it and make sure it's done properly, right? The couple things that I've learned, hey, babe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, it's important, man. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's advice of ours as lodge owners. Just make sure you're. If you need help with something, we always asked we weren't afraid to that but educate yourself with training too. We can do that as well. So, and there was a couple of areas where we had to do that Yep, yeah, so you're, you know, you're kind of, your business is there, you're, you know.
Speaker 1:Now you've got a frame model of what you're going to do. I guess you know, in the background you're always. You got to, you got to think of how you're going to, how are you going to, how is your camp going to look to guests, you know, and I step back and I physically do this, like I step back and Krista thinks I'm crazy, but I'll be like, okay, I'm a guest getting off, you're a guest getting off the plane, krista, and you walk down and I grab your bags and take them to your cabin and show you your beautiful cabin and give you a little speech. And you know this is a what's up around camp, right, and you know, show you a layout and where the lodge is, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 2:And this is daily.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you.
Speaker 2:But this is why we're successful. You play that back every day.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's important to do that Role, play that guest coming to you and see what you need in your lodge, what's your flow like? You know like what's I know right now like our place. So when you come off the docks right Like, is your steps too high, are they too flat, is there broken boards? Is there landscaping that needs done? Right now that I just took over a new camp, that's what I'm looking at A lot of. I think a lot of people would look back and they'd go, okay, well, this over here needs fixed and this needs fixed now.
Speaker 1:But if you think about it from a guest perspective, you're going to know what they need done first. Obviously, you got to have a generator going or power to it. You need fuel of some source of some kind. You know you need those things. Yes, but I'm talking about the visual aspect of your camp. What is it going to look like? And that's important because I can see already. I can see the flowers on the deck and the lodge right, and I could see guests having a beer out there, right, and that's important. That's a vision you know and I've had that. We've always had that.
Speaker 2:Yep absolutely.
Speaker 1:So now you got your vision, you know of your property, now you have the money to do it. You have the things to do. Money is one thing too, folks. So just to let everyone know, there is a million options out there. You do not have to be somebody with $5 million in the bank to go and start a lodge. Everyone might think you do, but you don't. I'm not going to say how much I've put into my places to get them going, but, like you can definitely do it on a reasonable salary and start out small, you don't have to start out big. You know you can. Obviously, investors is a way to go. I've done that route and that was you know. It was an amazing experience, but it's a way that you could go as well.
Speaker 1:um a bank there's help out there there's lots of help, there's lots of agencies that help in Canada, like there's places that they want young entrepreneurs to thrive, you know they want them to grow, they don't want people to struggle, you know. And there's places that do that out there, you know. So get online in whatever area you're in, and you can start Googling that business stuff. Like family too, family always helps, right. You know those kind of things, you know. Maybe not even financially, but with help. I know us like our last two places wouldn't have survived without our family, and neither will this one.
Speaker 2:We're very fortunate.
Speaker 1:You know it was like I say you know, May 11th, we're taking over this lodge and we actually have guests coming at the end of June. Now it's crazy Right Under 60 days we got a lodge running, operating, and nobody would ever think you could do that. But, like I'm saying these steps, that I'm telling you folks, really, if you just step back and take them one at a time and don't, you cannot OCD over the issue at the time. I do it and it's a problem, it slows me down and it keeps me up at night. But if you just flow through it and I've learned this and flow through what the guest requirements are, needs, it'll all come together. So you know, obviously your cabins have to be cleaned and everything's got to be gone through. Any renovations you need to do, you're going to do them. You know we're cooking ahead like that them. You know we're cooking ahead like that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, getting guests there, how do you do that? You know, if you're a new lodge owner now, you got the place, you got the business, I got a partner. I don't, I've got. I need people. How do I get the people here? Well, like I said, those guys like the Jamie Bruces and the Gussies and the you know and investing in shows like this that we can talk about your place consistently, or just giving us a call. Anybody out there listening that owns a lodge? You know the easiest way to market give me a call or send me an email. Okay, my email to everybody now. Super simple, everybody, and it'll stay this one for 20 years. I apologize for having to change it the last six months, but it's will at tworiverslodgenet, will at tworiverslodgenet. Send me an email and I'll get you on the show and that's the easiest one-hour promotion you could have.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:There's so many ways. Facebook Marketplace is huge. That's the easiest one hour promotion you could have, absolutely. There's so many ways. Facebook marketplace is huge, instagram is huge, the shows are big and it on your clientele it depends on. But there's, I know a guy like Wayne Clark. He he feeds off that stuff Right and he does so good down there and word of mouth Don't be quiet about it.
Speaker 2:Word of mouth yeah, don't. Yes, like Don't be quiet about it.
Speaker 1:Word of mouth yeah, don't. Yes, like don't keep your place a secret, be very proud of it, wear your swag. I know Krista. It's actually ridiculous. She wears Sunset, limo and Two Rivers Lodge swag everywhere she goes, or other investments. Right, like, everything she wears has our logos on it. It's important.
Speaker 2:People see that and they ask Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And you tell Absolutely the old, you know the old, mailing things out might be a little much. Email lists are huge. Right, if you can combine a, you know, a small overtime, you know as you, that's one thing as you collect your clients. So if you're at a show in Minneapolis, a fishing show, and you have your booth, okay, you're there for the first time and the guests are rolling by and you're talking to them, but they keep going, or one or two book and then the rest.
Speaker 1:How do you, if you only get one or two bookings but you let 150 people walk away? That's no good. You got to get their information right. So you think of ways to get it. So Krista would have a fishing rod or a sweater or a jacket from Nordic Point, I think it was at the time and she would have a little box and some piece of paper and a pencil or business cards and a pencil, and you had to fill out. Not fill out, all you did was put give me your name, phone number, email, and then you're entered in the draw to win this jacket, fishing rod, whatever it is, and everybody's going to do it because it's a chance at a fishing rod.
Speaker 2:And as they were doing that, I'd say, can I just add you to my email list? And they'd be like, yeah, yeah, of course, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Right and it's simple right. Simple sales tactics like that guys can keep you. It'll help your business grow incredibly fast. There's so many things to do. Like TV was huge for marketing and growth. When your clients start calling, you know, answer the phone. If it doesn't matter, if it's 11 o'clock at night, I answer the phone. You have to answer the phone. This is part of the gig in any travel tourism business. It's not a must. Customer has to be number one all the time. It's not Monday to Friday, nine to five.
Speaker 2:Absolutely not.
Speaker 1:Those are the slowest times.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's the times where you can sleep. Yeah, yeah, so yeah, there's lots of ways to grow your business and get your clientele. If anyone has any questions about sales or how to grow your clientele, give me a call, give me an email, drop me a line. So now we have clients coming, okay, so now we got 100 clients booked and I'm thinking, okay, now I got to feed them, I got to have swag, I got to have toilet paper. Where do I get all that stuff? Okay, well, so the best option is not to go to the grocery store and spend max dollars at a retail price. Don't do that. I did that before. I did that in my first business, lakewood Fishing. Don't do it. Your profit margin will be way too low. But you'll learn. You'll learn. So you hook up with a company, like a Cisco, you know, and you get in with them and they're. You know they're going to have items on sale in bulk. You got to determine what's good and what's not. So you buy in bulk when you can at a bulk price. When you can't, you hit a place like wholesale or Costco, right For that other, for your fruits and your veggies, and a lot of these places like these Cisco's and whatever the other vendors are frats, foods and whatever they they'll deliver right to your lodge, right, so like they'll bring it right to your back door, just like a fuel truck. You know fuel, all these accounts you have to set up as you go. You know we use Morgan Fuels up here in Kenora and for propane and diesel gas. So which is crazy, crazy thing. Just let me hop in here and tell a crazy story before we go on here. So along with this place, it's an island in the middle of the lake, in the middle of nowhere, and we're run by generators, 40 and 30 kilowatt and they're diesel and we use a lot of diesel. So some camps fly it all in or take some in in the winter, right Snowmobile in it. We don't have that option here because of the heavy currents. We could fly it in but it probably would get more expensive. So a lot of it we barge in. So we have a barge.
Speaker 1:So about three weeks ago, me and Adam and the boys decide to go up and get the barge going. Well, the barge had sunk because it's been five years full of snow and rain and water. It had sunk once, actually about three years ago, and the owner, john Williams, who owns Submarine Lodge. He actually floated it one time. You know the old guy there. He got it up and then before we took the camp over he told us he'd done that. So we kind of planned on it being on bottom. But yes, it was on bottom, so it's sitting in like seven feet of water.
Speaker 1:The front of the barge is just out of the water, so like three feet of it, and it's a 30-foot long barge. It's a huge barge. And so we ended up we had to build a dam around the barge and pump it out. So since it was a little bit out of the water, we were able to. Basically the gist of it is we we took one by one um chunks of wood and used class C clamps and we see, clamp the wood to the side of the boat, the rail, all the way around that was under the water. And then we took Polly and wrapped the boat in Polly, like you would like your house, over your insulation. And then we had strips of plywood that were like two, three feet high or whatever. So we screwed the plywood into the other board that we'd clamped already to the side of the boat barge. So now we physically built a dam. So if you picture it in your eyes, the barge is underwater but we build a pref dam. So if you picture it in your eyes, the barge is underwater but we build a prefab dam to go around it. So yeah, the dam's not secure. You know, there's a little bit of water coming in here and there, but as long as we're faster than the water coming in, we'll gain on it.
Speaker 1:So we had two big four inch pumps going. It took us two days. The first, the first day, we failed. We got three quarters of the way done and we couldn't get it complete so we needed to come in with a bigger pump. So anyway, second day, we got the two bigger four inch going and it was like we pumped it out and it was like three quarters out and then the hull started like it was like making noises, like it was going to twist.
Speaker 1:So what had happened is it sunk in the mud. So the bottom of the barge was compressed and suctioned down into the mud. So while we're pumping water, adam had to get in his boat and put a chain on and suck it up tight and kind of just suck it out, kind of thing Like just get some pressure on it and it would suck out. So we ended up getting the barge off bottom. So Two Rivers Lodge on Facebook. I'm going to post these pictures if anybody wants to go there. But I'll post pictures of our barge float. It was crazy. It was crazy. So, anyway, clint's had to tell that story because it was not the story.
Speaker 2:No, no problem.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so now you know, you got your fuel suppliers, you got your food guys, you got all these people. These people are important. You know Chris Thompson he's our Cisco guy up here. Or Chris Davidson I'm sorry, chris Davidson. Chris, he invited us the other day to go learn, to go sit with some chefs in July and we're going to learn some culinary stuff. I'm not a culinary guy at all, but I need to. I want to know what's going on and when these guys offer these little training ops and take advantage of them. You know, if they offer any help, take advantage of them. You know, noah, we had to. Another service we had is Lodge Vault, the booking system. So it was our booking system. So like your hotel booking system, I guess you know it's virtually the same thing, but it's a Lodge, it's based on Lodge. Is this one, Noah? He's been a guest on our show before. Let's give him a shout out to Noah. Anybody looking for software for the Lodge industry. You're silly not to be calling him because he's second to none.
Speaker 2:And it's incredibly easy to use.
Speaker 1:Yeah, super it is. It's user-friendly and the guy you can get a hold of him at any time. I called the guy last week and he's like answers the phone. I'm like where are you? He's like I'm in Austria. I'm like, oh my God, it set us up. But he answered the phone and he actually worked through setting me up. I was having some revenue account issues on the software and he had to help set me up.
Speaker 2:Anyway, there it is, the key Answer. Your phone People do Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And he, that's right, absolutely, that's super important. So, yeah, so, absolutely, that's super important. So then, so yeah, so things are coming together. You know, in that aspect, you know you have to set up your payment system. So like, how are people going to pay you? Are they going to pay you with a credit card? If they are, how are you going to take that credit card? Our software has that credit card information so we can just pump it in there. We're thankful enough to have that. That's something you can go online and Google. How do you get those things? Excuse me, I've got to take a drink of water. I'm getting a little dry honey. See, I'm talking too much folks. Doctor says shut up, willie, shut up.
Speaker 2:It wasn't a tough week at all.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so you know, all of these things you got to pull together. We had to do them rapidly this time. Last time I still had to do them rapidly, but at least I had six months. This time I got weeks, but it's doable, you know, and if you're out there listening to this episode and you're like man, I could do this. Like you know, I got 20 or 30 grand and that's all you need to start Get going. Start a little thing, you know. Go and find your dream. And you know there's private people selling. There's lots of people for knowledge. Reach out to Steve too, at the Fish of Canada show. You know Steve here, our host on the show. The guy's got a world of knowledge. He helped me so much in building my second place. I can't thank him. I'm forever in debt to him and you know there's lots of people that'll help you guys. So if you want to do this, take the chance, take a leap of faith.
Speaker 1:Yeah, believe in yourself yeah, because it can be done. Leap of faith yeah, believe in yourself. Yeah, because it can be done. It can be done. I think that's what else we got to talk about, honey, on our show today. We have lots of shouts out, I think we're. So. That's the. You know, that's the gist of how we got going. That's where we're at right now. So we are. We've got all of those things done in the last two weeks that I've just talked to you about. I'm going to talk to you guys every time I'm on here and keep updating you as to where we're at, so the evolution of your knowledge and learning can continue. Right now, we're in the middle of a fire ban, actually.
Speaker 2:Fingers crossed, toes crossed, ears crossed.
Speaker 1:Everything's crossed. We have sprinklers set up on our property from the M&R fire and I need everybody here to cross your fingers and pray that nothing happens to my camp. Last time we checked, we have actually images that the fire was two kilometers away and there's alerts going out today that everyone needs to. It's already evacuated, but anybody in the area needs to be over there as of today, even firefighters. So we will uh, we'll keep you updated on that. Our current situation is that we have everything here ready to go, Company's ready, we have clients booked. All we got to do is we got a few minor maintenance deals up there. We got to get ready. We got to put a new set of docks in and play with some generators, get some water coming around and then but we are all sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to get out.
Speaker 1:What a scary thing fire and it is, though, rick Payne. He told me the one fire took a 20-kilometer run, folks, overnight. Overnight, yeah, 20 kilometers. Just imagine going to bed and 20 kilometers away and waking up and fire at your doorstep like that fast. That's insane. I'm about to play with. We gotta get ricky back on here for an episode. He's. He's super busy right now, but I'm gonna catch him here sometime when he has a couple days off and we're gonna get him on because he has so many stories. He's's great.
Speaker 1:Our new partners yes, two Rivers Lodge, baby, here we go again. Another venture, Folks. I want to say thank you to Lakeside Marines Andrew Johnson you guys got to which, by the way, is a partner in the lodge as a sponsor he's. We would only rep his sponsor, we would only rep his equipment, we would only purchase through him. He is amazing. His customer service is second to none. I'm going to go all the way to Red Lake for any of my equipment and or he'll be here for that. Lakesidemarinecom, check them out, get online fishingcanadacom and check out their giveaways. Um, garvin's always giving away stuff there.
Speaker 2:You know, you can see pete and ang and uh, their handsome faces and uh, yeah well, I'm so proud of you, honey, and I'm so proud of all these ventures and all the support from everybody around. Thank you so much, baby. Thanks for coming on the show today and uh.
Speaker 1:Support from everybody around. Thank you so much, baby. Thanks for coming on the show today and keeping me down to earth and keeping me grounded, and let's do this again. I'm excited.
Speaker 2:Me too Go, team go.
Speaker 1:Awesome TwoRiversLodgenet folks. Thus concludes another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner. Stories of the North.
Speaker 3:I'm a good old boy, never meanin' no harm. I'll be all you ever saw been railin' in the hog since the day I was born, bendin' my rock, rock, stretching my line. Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how, working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Well, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and lived my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah, good as it seems, yeah. Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast.
Speaker 5:That's right. Every Thursday, Ang and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand-new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio.
Speaker 3:Hmm, Now what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?
Speaker 5:Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 4:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golf, from athletes to scientists, to chefs and whoever else will pick up the phone. Wherever you are, our Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 5:Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 6:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 6:After nearly a decade of harvest, use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. That are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast. I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and, under the canopy Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.