Book Title:
Smart Partners: Building Successful Relationships in Business and Life
Website URL:
http://www.BurbaHayes.com
and Amazon https://www.amazon.com/
Social Media Links:
Twitter: @BurbaHayes
Facebook: BurbaHayes
What is your book about?
Smart Partners outlines the methods and thinking we’ve used to achieve financial success while also keeping our personal partnership alive and interesting. Drawing on our unique experiences both personally and professionally, we present principles for building, sustaining, and growing not merely serviceable relationships in business and life, but true partnerships.
What inspired you to write your book?
Most people want partners in their personal lives, and many businesses start with some form of partnership structure. Yet so many personal and professional partnerships disintegrate, sometimes quickly. That’s one reason why our own partnership seems so amazing, even miraculous, to people who know us. “How do you do it?” they constantly ask. “How have you spent so many years living and working together 24/7 without killing each other?” We began to think about how we have managed to stay together so long, and then we started writing our thoughts down on paper.
How did you come to do what you’re doing today?
Our company, Burba Hotel Network, has been producing conferences for the hotel investment industry for more than 16 years. Jim has been working in hospitality for his entire 30+ year career. He was also helping UCLA organize real estate conferences through their extension program. At some point, we decided to form a company that produced events that would be set up to give back to the hotel industry. And that’s what we did. Our events have contributed more than USD$15 million to humanitarian causes and education programs, Invest Four More Real Estate Scholarship Program, research, and scholarships for hospitality students. We like giving back to the communities in which we live and work.
Can you describe a typical day in your life?
We don’t have a really typical day. Since we produce ten annual events around the world, there is always someone coming or going to places such as London, Singapore, or Mumbai. When we are working on events at home in the U.S., a typical day involves recruiting speakers, sponsors, and delegates for our conferences and working out venue logistics.
What do you most enjoy about what you do?
We’re entrepreneurs, so we get to control our own destinies to some extent. That has allowed us to take on projects and explore new ideas more than we would have had the chance to with a typical corporate job. As life and business partners, we are able to help each other reach his full potential and go along for the ride too, and that is really exciting.
Are there any people and/or books that have inspired you along your journey?
A colleague of ours, Ed Fuller, came out with his book You Can’t Lead With Your Feet on the Desk a couple of years ago. He talks about how you have to get out there and work with people to be successful. You have to show that you care. Ed contributed his thoughts to our book, and we are very appreciative of that.
Jim included a quote in Smart Partners by Alan Ashley-Pitt, “You have two choices in your life,” Pitt writes, “you can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no one else but you can be.” These words hang on Jim’s office wall today.
Can you share some business tips for our readers?
Bob has a saying that kind of sums up our key to success: “Take what you’re given, make the most of it, do the right thing, then give some back.” We feel that one has to figure out what they are all about, what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t do. Next, you have to go all in with what you have chosen to do, based on what you have learned about yourself. Success takes hard work, and you can’t quit. Above all else, we believe that a person has to preserve his or her integrity. Do the right thing and you can’t go wrong. Lastly, it’s important to give something back. No one succeeds in business without others helping you along the way, so pass something along to the people coming up behind you.
Can you share something that people may be surprised to learn about you?
Bob is a Scottish Feudal Baron, the Baron of Delgaty. Jim was recently appointed a “Global Scot” by the First Minister, charged with helping to promote Scotland here in the United States. We both love Scotland, and may be doing more work there in the near future.
What’s next for you?
We will continue to produce hotel investment conferences, and we now have a second company, Burba Hayes, which is producing entertainment. We just wrapped shooting the film Walking Out, starring Matt Bomer and Josh Wiggins. A musical we produced on Broadway, Disaster!, is heading to London soon for a couple of concerts, and we’re developing a reality TV show. And of course we are out there promoting Smart Partners.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Partnerships are a big deal—not just specific partnerships, but the very idea of partnership. That’s why, from the very inception of a relationship, partners should proceed slowly, cautiously, thoughtfully, going “all in,” and doing whatever they can to keep the relationship vibrant and healthy. They should honor their relationship at every turn, and with all their strength. Smart Partners was a four-year project for us. It was a labor of love, really. We hope the book helps everyone become a smart partner.
