Transcript: Episode 219: Holiday Gift Guide

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[00:00:00] Susan Barry: This is Top Floor episode 219. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/219.

[00:00:13] Narrator: Welcome to Top Floor with Susan Barry. This weekly podcast ride up to the top floor features tangible tips and excellent stories from the experts and characters who elevate hospitality. And now your host and elevator operator, Susan Barry.

[00:00:32] Susan Barry: Welcome to the first-ever Top Floor Holiday Gift Guide. This year, we put together a list of our favorite gifts for hoteliers, travelers, and the hospitality-obsessed people in your life. I talked with the founders behind a few standout items, and you are about to hear those conversations. So if you're looking for fun, thoughtful, travel-friendly gifts, this guide has you covered. Let's jump in. First up is Michael Albert, the creator of Hotel Humor, which is a brand new merch shop filled with inside jokes, department-specific gear, and generally hospitality-themed gifts that your coworkers will actually want. From site visits are my cardio to a classic hotel. Your dad hat, Michael, has created the first one-stop shop for people who live and breathe hotels. Here is our chat. Michael Albert, what inspired you to start Hotel Humor? 

[00:01:37] Michael Albert: Well, I've been in the industry for my entire career, and unfortunately, this summer I actually lost my job. I know, right? And my wife and I are constantly looking for our next business idea. This is sort of our hobby on long car rides and when we're traveling the world and we've gone down the entrepreneurial route before we started a chocolate business way back in the day. Yeah. Marcy was a culinary school dropout. We like to say, so she had this chocolate recipe and it's called Marcy's morsels. It still sort of exists. Anyway, after I got laid off, I was like, “What am I gonna do? I wanted to take some time to reset.” I started to lean very heavily into AI and started building some tools for independent hotels using AI. And then, through some of our long car ride discussions, we were like, “Why isn't there a merchandise shop that celebrates hospitality? Why isn't there a place that hotel teams can go and buy gifts for their coworkers or vendors can go and buy things for their prospects?” I did some searching. I looked around on the internet and I couldn't find anything, and I was like, “Okay, this is a real project that I can actually produce and ship and get behind.” So we came up with the humor angle because we thought that humor is really important in our lives and in hospitality because it's so chaotic. The URL was available, hotelhumor.com. It was strong and memorable and we decided to have an angle of comedy humor to break from the chaos. And then I just started designing sayings inside terminology, lingo, things that really insiders would only get and things that teams would appreciate. And from concept to launch, it was about three weeks. 

[00:02:03] Susan Barry: You did? Oh, wow. Well, I'm gonna get you to tell me about the products in a second, but I think we should take a step back first and hear about your career. So, if Marcy was a culinary school dropout, were you a culinary school graduate? Or tell me what your story is. 

[00:03:52] Michael Albert: No. Yeah, yeah, of course. I was on the hotel side. We actually met in college, so I studied hotel management. I worked in operations from my early on, front desk, reservations, housekeeping. I worked for Radisson. I was able to open a Courtyard Marriott in Providence, which is where I went to college.

[00:04:13] Susan Barry: So you guys went to J&W? 

[00:04:14] Michael Albert: We did. JW. Yep. I moved back home to the New Jersey, New York area. I grew up in New York, got transferred to the Marriott, Newark Airport. I worked at the front office there. I worked for Hyatt in the city at the Grand High, New York in housekeeping. And then, I spent five years at a housing company selling large group blocks for huge citywide conventions. And then I started working for Ace Hotels about 14 years ago at their hotel in New York as the reservations manager. And as the company grew, I sort of raised my hand because I started getting very involved and interested on the technology side. So, as the company really needed someone to open hotels, install all the technology, PMS CRM, make all the connections, and I worked on that for a lot of years for Ace as they were growing. And my job at ACE changed two or three times while I was there. At the very end, I was in charge of digital marketing, digital guest experience, and all the integrations and systems as well as distribution for the entire group. 

[00:05:22] Susan Barry: Wow. So if someone were to buy you something from your shop, what would the most appropriate slogan or thing be?

[00:05:33] Michael Albert: That's a great question. I think for me it's the hat that says hotelier on it. That's like the classic dad hat and it's simple, and that's probably the one that would be best. 

[00:05:43] Susan Barry: So talk through a few of your options. I have to admit that I bought a t-shirt. I bought the one that says ADR and RevPAR and STR and MLOS, minimum length of stay, which I love. 

[00:06:02] Michael Albert: Yeah. Yeah. I think right now actually the best seller is site visits are my cardio which is really speaking to a lot of my sales and marketing friends. And you know that saying is a fun one and I think I have it on mugs and water bottles and everything, but that one is going fest. The hotelier hat is really classic and people are liking that one. I have some free stuff too. I have two bingo cards. Of course, we launched in and around budget season, so I have a budget season bingo card that's really fun that you can download for free. There's a revenue meeting bingo card as well.

[00:06:34] Susan Barry: Nice. Amazing. Well, put links to those in the show notes for sure. 

[00:06:42] Michael Albert: Great. Awesome. 

[00:06:43] Susan Barry: So, do you think you have any competitors? 

[00:06:46] Michael Albert: I don't think so. There's some Etsy shops out there and I was inspired by other industries. There are other industries that sort of do this. I think the lawyers of the world have some sort of like funny jargon that they sell and the medical and nurse industry has some stuff too. So, my competitors, I think are people on Etsy that are maybe putting funny sayings about the hotel industry. But there's nothing that's like one-stop shop I represent. I try and represent all departments. You can see on the website there you can sort by actual hotel department, find things that make sense. So like there's no one doing what we're doing. 

[00:07:23] Susan Barry: What are some of the things that you're doing to get the word out? 

[00:07:26] Michael Albert: So LinkedIn is a big push for us. We also have our cartoon podcast that helped launch the shop. So there's that. My background is in digital marketing and customer acquisition, so I have everything wired up to start doing some paid acquisition tomorrow if I wanted to. I'm starting very slow. But we have sent some stuff to some friends and family. We're getting some other people are finding it organically and buying it online. I'm trying to reach out personally to every one of these people that buy something for the personal touch, and I'm just hoping that we can get some traction online and people notice it and find it fun and we're gonna start organic and then move on to paid when we're ready.

[00:08:07] Susan Barry: Excellent. Well, I think you should do a top-floor capsule collection and make some merch specific to our show, but we'll talk about that after. If you could give something from your shop to anyone in the industry, who would you give it to and what would you give them? 

[00:08:18] Michael Albert: Definitely. I would give my wife a hat that says, KPI don't care because that was her design and her idea, and I haven't made it yet. 

[00:08:42] Susan Barry: Nice. 

[00:08:43] Michael Albert: So this will be our secret, which our secret, she'll be getting one soon. 

[00:08:46] Susan Barry: Oh, excellent. Well, Merry Christmas, Marcy. Michael, thank you so much for being here. And for folks who don't wanna wait until they can scroll down to the show notes, where can they find your stuff?

[00:09:01] Michael Albert: Hotelhumor.com. That's where it's at. Go there. You can shop the entire line. We also have an extraordinarily entertaining and funny glossary of terms for the hotel industry. I went and put everything that's real, but the definitions are funny and a little humor on all of them. I also have a section of old school terms that don't exist anymore. That's also fun.

[00:09:22] Susan Barry: Oh, that's so cool. 

[00:09:25] Michael Albert: Yeah. Yeah. So just go to the website. We're also on Instagram, hotelhumorhq. I'm on TikTok, Hotel Humor as well, and we have a LinkedIn page for Hotel Humor. We're trying to be broad on distribution. 

[00:09:38] Susan Barry: Excellent. Well, thanks so much for being here. 

[00:09:40] Michael Albert: Of course. Thanks for having me. 

[00:09:43] Susan Barry: Next, you will hear from my friend Megan Grant Pederson, the founder of Cherish Tours and all-women travel company specializing in meaningful small group adventures around the world. Whether it is Tanzania, Scandinavia, Costa Rica, or Mexico City, cherish trips, make unforgettable gifts for the women in your life or for yourself. Here's Megan. I am here with Megan Grant Pederson. You will have heard from her in episode 94 when she told us her entire life story and everything about her company, Cherish Tours, and then episode 100 talks about my trip with Cherish when my sister Kat Meek and I went to Alaska. But she is here today to talk about all of this amazing stuff she has coming up for 2026 trips and exciting things. Megan, before we hear about your schedule for next year, tell us what inspired you to start this company and how you got here. 

[00:10:51] Megan Grant Pederson: It's been an amazing road and thank you so much for having me, Susan. I really appreciate it. Cherish is turning five in 2026, so that's a huge milestone for us. We've really had great success in hosting women all over the world on trips, including you and your sister to Alaska. And we started with the intention to bring women together to support other women through travel. And that came from my own travel experience of having been to more than 45 countries now. 

[00:11:25] Susan Barry: Oh, wow. So last time we talked, it was 35, so you went to 10 countries. That’s amazing.

[00:11:30] Megan Grant Pederson: I've made progress. So, it's just been an incredible experience like learning different ways to travel. And when I was traveling before I started Cherish, I think I was doing it similarly to others where I went to check off a site list. I wanted to see all the things. And now I travel a bit slower and with a bit more intention. And that's what I'm trying to invite others to do through Cherish is to both see the highlights, but also get to know culture and get immersed in a place. 

[00:11:31] Susan Barry: That's amazing. Well, my Cherish trip remains one of my top five life experiences. I know people listening are going to wanna hear how they can add something like this to their top five. So talk a little bit about where you're going next year. 

[00:12:26] Megan Grant Pederson: That's such a huge compliment, Susan. Thank you so much. I'm so glad we could create something like that for you and your sister to have that experience together. And I'd love to have more people join us in doing similar things, add that to their top five, like you said. And so next year we're starting our year in Tanzania. We're doing a Tanzania Safari. Yes, it's a bucket list experience, but ours is extra special because we directly support local women as well as a portion of the trip goes to support women in attending secondary school. And then after that, we're heading to Costa Rica in April, which is our very first destination that we launched back in 2021 and remains one of our most popular trips still today, and then in May, we're heading to Utah to go glamping. We always like to include a domestic trip every year that's more accessible for people. And then in June, we're heading to Scandinavia, to Denmark in Norway to experience the midnight sun. It's a really special place for me because my husband is from Denmark and his mother, actually, my mother-in-law, co-hosts a portion of the trip to really get to see the experience from a local's perspective.

[00:13:50] Susan Barry: Oh, that is so cool. 

[00:13:52] Megan Grant Pederson: It's very special. And then, our last trip that we've launched so far for 2026 is our newest destination, which is Mexico City in July.

[00:14:03] Susan Barry: My favorite city. 

[00:14:04] Megan Grant Pederson: It's amazing. It's such an incredible city filled with culture, great food, amazing drinks, nightlife, everything that you could possibly want, and we mix it all into one trip with a food tour, market tour, cooking class, all these incredible experiences that you can have the best time while in Mexico City.

[00:14:27] Susan Barry: That is one of the most amazing places, and I can only imagine doing it with a group of like-minded women would be so much fun getting to make new friends, but also seriously just going to Mexico City is like my absolute favorite. I would move there tomorrow if I could. I love it there. 

[00:14:45] Megan Grant Pederson: I was there over the summer and had the best time, and I'm super excited to bring people back to experience just the magic of the city. And then, in 2026, we should be launching a few additional trips for the end of the year. So stay tuned for that. And then the biggest thing that I don't think a lot of people know about Cherish, because it's kind of been hidden in the background up until this point, is our private tours. So we offer a fully customized option to travel with us so that if anyone can't make one of our trips or would prefer to go to one of our destinations on their own time with their own people. We can fully customize a trip for you based on the dates you wanna go, how long you wanna go, some of your preferences around the things you wanna see or experience. So we are able to do that for any point in 2026. And we are open for bookings now for those private tours as well. 

[00:15:44] Susan Barry: Why do you think that one of these trips would make a great holiday gift? 

[00:15:49] Megan Grant Pederson: So I think travel in general is an amazing gift to give to people because it's something that will continue to give back to those people who experience it for years to come. It's a memory that's being created and rather than a tangible item, so it never loses its value. It memories are something that you can hold onto for a really, really long time, and it means so much to the person who gets to take that experience to receive it as a gift, especially if there's someone meaningful in your life, a best friend, a sister, your mom, someone that you really want to have these quality memories and experiences that you can cherish together for years. It's amazing to gift it to one of them, so that you go together. So all of a sudden, you create a memory not only with like-minded women, but also with someone who means something to you. 

[00:16:49] Susan Barry: I was talking to someone. The episode of the show that came out this week is about basically how do you put together experiences for people who have it all? And this absolutely hits that nail on the head. It's holiday shopping time, obviously, and so many people are so hard to shop for because they don't have stuff that they need or they're waiting for. People just get what they want. You can press a button and have it to your house in two days. So I think the idea of giving a trip or a portion of a trip or whatever the case may be is such a lovely one. So say somebody's listening to this and they're like, “Heck yeah, man, let's go to Tanzania.” What should they do? 

[00:17:33] Megan Grant Pederson: Yeah, so I will actually say two quick things about that is one, we, for all of our trips, Tanzania and all of the others that I spoke about, we only require a $500 deposit. So if they're ready to book right now, they can just go log on and make that five-hundred-dollar deposit directly from our website. Choose your room preference and go ahead and get booked. And then we offer payment plans. So, it makes it easy for people to secure their spot and pay a little bit at a time. And then the other thing, speaking of gift giving, is we allow for contribution pages. So if you put your deposit down for your trip and you'd like to share your trip with your friends and family on your wishlist for the holidays, you can share your contribution page so that they can go ahead and pay towards your trip.

[00:18:26] Susan Barry: Oh, wow. That's really cool. I don't think  I've seen that before.

[00:18:29] Megan Grant Pederson: Yeah, so it's really, really easy. Once you put down your deposit and your spots set up, you can email us or log into our booking platform and create your contribution page. That will give you a unique URL that you can then just share out.

[00:18:44] Susan Barry: Oh, that's really cool. I think one of the things that is sometimes a stumbling block for folks who hear about these types of trips is they don't have anyone to go with. Like, I was lucky my sister was able to join us at the last minute when I was going, but I know for a fact that had she not gone, I still would've had an amazing time just based on the fact that I'm still in touch with most of the people who are on the trip with me.

[00:19:08] Megan Grant Pederson: Yes, a hundred percent. I think it's important to say that more than 75% of the women who join us tend to come by themselves. And by the time that they finish the trip, they have new friends, just like you mentioned, and they stay in contact. And we have group chats for all of our trips. And honestly, most of them are still active. Even if it's only a few times a year where someone's saying Happy birthday, or “Oh look, I just did this really incredible thing.” People are still sharing memories with each other and staying in contact and building these relationships with the people they met on their trip.

[00:19:46] Susan Barry: In my case, one of the women that was on my trip, I know has been on other trips with you, but we also started talking about both of us having this quest to go to all 50 states and she had barely been to any, and now she has far surpassed me. She's almost done with her quest, so congratulations, Monica. Well done. If you could give one of your trips to anyone, a real person, a fictional person. Who would you love to have join a Cherish trip? 

[00:20:22] Megan Grant Pederson: Oh, goodness. Yeah. Honestly, I've been raised and what I like to do is to give things to people who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to do so. So that's been something that's very ingrained in my life and why Cherish really does support women on our trips in the places that we visit because I want to build women's economy and things like that. So, I very much so admire people like Sarah Blakely who love travel and advocate for it, but they can afford it themselves. And as much as it would be a huge, amazing thing for Cherish to have someone like Sarah Blakely on our trip, I think if next year I could give a trip to someone, it would be someone who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to. So, honestly, maybe my virtual assistant or somebody like that who hasn't been very many places and really would love and have such an impact and have memories truly that they would hold onto for a lifetime by taking one of our trips. 

[00:20:25] Susan Barry: It's such a hard question. Oh, that's such a nice answer. Well, Megan, where can people find you? 

[00:21:43] Megan Grant Pederson: Absolutely, they can find me anywhere online. At this point, our website is gocherishtour.com. We're also on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We actually are now streaming a couple of things on YouTube as well. But the best place to see our upcoming trips and to make sure that you can secure your spot on any of our trips for 2026 is on our website at gocherishtours.com. 

[00:22:09] Susan Barry: Awesome. Thank you so much. This is such a good Christmas gift. 

[00:22:13] Megan Grant Pederson: Yes, thank you, Susan, and I hope someone will take advantage of it.

[00:22:17] Susan Barry: Finally, I am joined by Jim Higley from Puffer Hug, the creators of cozy wearables, scarves, and travel accessories designed to wrap people in warmth and kindness. There are 418 scarf travel blankets and signature hug designs. Make excellent gifts for frequent travelers or anyone who needs a little extra comfort this season. Here's Jim. I am here with Jim Higley from Puffer Hug. Puffer Hug is the coolest product. I was lucky enough to have one sent to me. I'm not going to describe it because I don't wanna steal Jim's thunder, but once you hear what this is, I will then jump in and tell you why you love it and you should get it. But first, Jim. Tell us your life story, or at least the story of how you got to the business that you're in now. 

[00:23:15] Jim Higley: Well, like most people, Susan, I got to where I am through a circuitous route that I never planned on following. But in short, I had a 23-year career in commercial real estate around the United States that was detoured at one point with a cancer journey that I had 20 years ago. That took a year or so to navigate through, came out on the other side. And for personal side, I also ended up a single dad raising three kids by myself. So a lot happened about 20 years ago, but it gave me a chance to really reset kind of my priorities, which were my kids. I spent almost 10 years at home raising them. And actually founded a dad blog when blogging was just kicking off, 15, 20 years ago. And I think I was the first dad blogger in the country and had the number one dad blog for several years. 

[00:24:18] Susan Barry: Oh, wow. Do you still write it? 

[00:24:19] Jim Higley: I don't write it, but I do have a personal website that all my stories are on but it kind of got me, I guess most importantly, it got me into the world of making a difference in my life and in other people that led to some involvement with a bunch of charities which also led to meeting my business partner, Giorgio Georgio, who he and I have been working together for 8, 9 years now and we both have a passion for truly making an impact in the world and doing something, leaving some kind of legacy. And that led us to Puffer Hug. 

[00:25:02] Susan Barry: Okay, so should we describe it first or should we talk about where the idea came from first?

[00:25:10] Jim Higley: I'll give you the nutshell. We like to say we're in the business of making cozy things, cozy things that make people feel good. Our Puffer Hug products are a reminder that kindness really matters. And even the smallest act of kindness, be it in what you do or in a gift you give, or in a product such as Puffer, can make a big difference in the world. Our goal is to wrap the world in kindness. One hug at a time. 

[00:25:40] Susan Barry: So physically, how does that play out in the product, which I am actually wearing on my lap right now? 

[00:25:48] Jim Higley: Wonderful. Well, that might lead to the beginning of Puffer Hug and where Puffer Hug was born. It was January 2020, Giorgio and I were meeting with one of my dearest friends, Meredith Sinclair, who's a fashion influencer, a Today Show contributor on a regular basis. And we wanted to explore like an apparel line. We were very interested in getting into like apparel, accessories. We were with Meredith in her home in Los Angeles and we were brainstorming all these ideas and Giorgio said to Meredith, “Why don't you go into your closet and pull out anything that might inspire us? Things from your travels, things from your past.” And she brought out this and that, and this and that. But then she came out kinda laughing and she said, “Oh my gosh, I forgot about this.” And she came out wearing a green fleece, clearly handmade scarf that had pockets in it, and she said, “My gosh, my boys and I made this many years ago when they were little and they were gifts for their grandparents for Christmas that they called the hug.”

[00:26:57] Susan Barry: Oh, that's so cool. 

[00:26:58] Jim Higley: They made these fleece scarves with pockets that grandma and grandpa can put on, put their hands in the pockets and wrap themselves as hugs from the kids. And when we heard that, we all just kind of looked at each other and we said, there's something to this. And I remember we just talked about, the world needs hugs. The world needs love. And again, Susan, this was two months before COVID lockdown even. So it was in some ways kind of, I don't know, it was meant to be, it was meant to be that this brand, and these products came from that. So we spent the next year developing the first puffer hug, which we call the original puff rug which was a pretty simple inspired rendition of Meredith's fleece scarf. It was a Puffer product with scarves. It actually got the attention of Oprah's team and was on one of her lists, and so, 

[00:27:57] Susan Barry: Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're on my show when you've already been on Oprah's list, what are you doing slumming?.

[00:28:05] Jim Higley: I guess it all proves a point that kindness is contagious. And the world is ready for anything that helps embrace the idea that a little bit of love, a little bit of kindness, goes a long way. Be it something as simple as an act of kindness to others or an act of kindness to yourself, which you're doing right now wearing one of our newer products which is called the 418, which is kind of a newer version of the original Puffer Hug. That's how it all started. 

[00:28:39] Susan Barry: So this is so awesome because it's like a hybrid between a scarf and a vest. And we'll link to it in the show notes so that people can check it out for themselves. But I love this for like, weird days when the seasons are changing and it starts out cold and then gets warmer throughout the day or whatever. It's like that little extra layer of warmth and it really is warm. So it's a scarf that wraps around, but you can button it up the front like a vest, and it has pockets and there is something hidden in the pocket.

[00:29:14] Jim Higley: Well, again, in our commitment to constantly find ways to remind people about our mission of connecting the world with high kindness, one hug at a time. In the left pocket, if you were to put your hand in the left pocket, you will find a little red charm. It's a heart. And I think it says hug it out on the little tag too, it uses a key chain. But honestly, I actually came up with this idea because I wanted something, you know those rabbit feets when you were kids? 

[00:29:50] Susan Barry: Yes, like the lucky rabbit's foot. 

[00:29:52] Jim Higley: Yeah. They're like good luck. And that was kind of the inspiration in my head of like, what could we do to leave a rabbit put type element in there. And we came up with just a heart, again, you can either keep it in there just to touch it yourself and just remember I'm gonna be okay. I'm okay. Things are fine. You can give it away. You can put it on a purse. I know charms are really popular, right? But again, it was just a small act of kindness from us to a recipient. 

[00:30:23] Susan Barry: Well, I think it's pretty obvious that this product would make a great holiday gift for anyone, but I wonder if you agree with me that it's particularly good for travel?

[00:30:36] Jim Higley: It's awesome for travel. I've had the joy of traveling a lot myself, and it's fantastic on an airplane. I can't tell you how many ways I love it. For starters, the pockets are just great. I'm not overly cautious about germs. I travel a lot with Giorgio, and he's very concerned about touching things. But with the pocket, it not only keeps you warm and you can unbutton it or unbutton it, but the pockets are just fantastic because it's a place to put your cell phone, your reading glasses, or your tissue, whatever, so you don't have to use the pocket on the seat in front of you. And it's super convenient. Obviously, it rolls up and compresses pretty tightly to put in your overhead or your carry-on bag. It's wonderful for most places that you're traveling because again, you might be traveling to an area that is moderately colder than where you're coming from, or it has chilly mornings. And so I think it's a great travel accessory. 

[00:31:44] Susan Barry: Yes, it also folds up nicely and can make a good little pillow if you need it. And I love that there's the hidden pocket so you could pop your passport in there and nobody would ever know that it's there. 

[00:31:56] Jim Higley: Yeah. I don't know if you know this, but we also have a travel blanket on Puffer Hug. We came out with that about a year ago, and so if you want more than just the scarf that you're wearing, we actually have a compact pillow that unzips and opens up into a full-size blanket that you can top, you can pin around your neck.

[00:32:18] Susan Barry: Oh, awesome. That is so cool. I haven't seen that one yet, but now I obviously know what I'm getting people for Christmas. 

[00:32:26] Jim Higley: Yeah, travel is a big part of the market we've been fortunate to reach. 

[00:32:32] Susan Barry: So aside from obviously me and Oprah, if you could give your product to anyone real, imagined, fictional or historical, who would you give it to? 

[00:32:46] Jim Higley: Anyone I could give it to. My goodness. Honestly, I don't know if this would count, but I'd give it to my mother who passed away 50 years ago. And she ties directly into this brand. When she passed away, I was a young kid. I was 14 at the time. After she passed away, my dad and I were going through her things, just trying to figure out what to do. And I was going through her purse with my dad and pulling out various things. And Susan, I found in her purse a little poem that she had typed on a piece of paper. It was her typewriter 'cause I recognized the characters. And it was a poem about kindness and the importance of just the acts of kindness in your life. And I remember as a young kid, who had just lost his mother, thinking, this is the roadmap, this was meant it. And because I never knew she had it, it was tucked way in the back of her wallet. And I still have it. It's on frame next to my bed. And in many ways, that was the inspiration for our mission of sharing kindness and love and goodness around the world. So there are many people I probably should list as recipients of it, but my mom would be at the top of the list.

[00:34:19] Susan Barry: That's awesome. Well, sharing kindness is more than just words on your website. You all make an effort to make an impact in many different ways. Can you talk a little bit about your sort of social impact efforts? 

[00:34:35] Jim Higley: Yeah, thanks for asking. I mean, at the end of the day, spreading kindness is certainly important, but tangibly, we believe so strongly in opening doors for kids around the globe. My business partner Giorgio came from Cyprus from a very humble beginning and his path to many good things in his life came through education and doors of being of it became his passport to improving his life and his family's life. So we believe strongly in kids and we support kids' mental health, wellness and education programs. And throughout the globe, we support some wonderful programs for kids in Kenya, their art programs, but their programs that help them better understand their environment and hopefully give them the ability to be employed as they get older in their own area. We provide support for No Kids Hungry. We support children's mental health programs at Boston Children's Hospital and Lurie Children's Hospital here in Chicago. And we're about to embark on some new activities with an organization that provides mental health services for free for kids all around the country, throughout the United States. So we give back a good portion of what we take in. And again, we do this because this is our passion, this is the legacy we hope to lead. 

[00:36:10] Susan Barry: Well, that really just eliminated any excuse anyone has to not buy a puffer hug for someone for the holidays. So, where can our listeners find the products and find you?

[00:36:26] Jim Higley: We're at pufferhug.com. P-u-f-f-e-r-h-u-g.com. 

[00:36:33] Susan Barry: Excellent. Well, thank you so much, Jim. It's been a pleasure getting to know you and to learn about your company. 

[00:36:40] Jim Higley: Thanks so much. I hope everyone has a great holiday and safe travels to all of you who are embarking somewhere adventurous. 

[00:36:48] Susan Barry: That wraps up our many conversations with a few of the brilliant founders featured in this year's holiday gift guide. If you wanna check out the full list, including links to every product we talked about here, plus many more, head to topfloorpodcast.com/episode/219. I hope that you discovered something fun, thoughtful, or cozy for the hospitality lover in your life. Happy holidays and I will see you on the next episode of Top Floor.

Thanks for listening. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/219. Jonathan Albano is our editor, producer, and all-around genius. He even wrote and performed our theme song with vocals by Cameron Albano. You can subscribe to Top Floor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and your rating or review will go a long way in helping us give you more of what you like.

[00:38:00] Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Top Floor podcast at www.topfloorpodcast.com. Have a hospitality marketing question? Reach us at 850-404-9630 to be featured in a future episode.