How We Use Nutrition & Wellness Programming To Serve Our Guests - Sid Garza-Hillman, Stanford Inn

Sid: My wife and I moved out of L.A. just to sort of get out of L.A. And we had no real plan. My wife's a graphic designer, so she's a little mobile. But I was making my living as an actor. So we thought, let's just roll the dice and come on up here. I was not into wellness. My bachelor's degree is in philosophy. I was doing music and acting like this. And so I started kind of just bartending. It was a vegetarian resort, and I was already a plant-based vegan when I moved up. And so I started working there and bartending. And within six weeks, they asked me to be the restaurant manager. So that was where I started. And it wasn't for a couple of years where I started talking to a lot of people about nutrition, I was very well versed in nutrition. At this point, I've been reading for years, ever since I got rid of my asthma, you know, so I was 22. And I just started reading book after book. So I went back to school and became a nutritionist. I just went to Joan and Jeff [the owners of the Stanford Inn.] And I was like, Listen, if I do this, It's just something that I could possibly teach here. And they said, totally, they've always been very supportive of my work, the books, and it's all I want to say like outside of the end, but not really outside of it. And so I did, I got to be a certified nutritionist, I started doing nutrition classes, then I learned how to hone my cooking skills there. started teaching cooking classes, then I became a certified breathwork instructor, and now I teach breathwork, and I became a trail ultra runner, all this is all unfolding. So they asked me to sort of be the wellness programs director in 2012. So that was, you know, 12 years ago. So yeah, of the 17 years 12, I have been overseeing the wellness center.

Josiah: Amazing. So Wellness Programs Director, what does that mean? What do you do?

Sid: besides teaching the individual things I told you, I am in charge of like, we have a retreat starting tomorrow. So I'm the one in touch with the attendees of the retreat, I craft the itineraries, I came up with a bunch of our vacation packages, which are basically private, again, this cool interpersonal, we have private retreats. So you could book your stay anytime and tack on one of our packages, let's say it's a cooking package, nutrition package, yoga package, or a creative package with Joan Stanford. And I craft that itinerary with them. And they come, and it's these all-inclusive meals, inclusive dinner, inclusive, and they have an itinerary. And it's this very, usually a couple or three or four friends. And they do this very private thing. I don't know of anywhere else in the world. I'm sure there are, but there's not a lot of places that offer that kind of thing. And it is super cool. So we have a hiking one, we've got a vibrant family one, we have an immune boost one, you know, all these kinds of things, they tack it on. And they have this very, very personal retreat experience.

Josiah: So you could run this at some sort of wellness center as a standalone thing. What's unique or special that you see in running this out of the inn? Is there something about the hospitality property that creates an interesting platform for this?

Sid: I think so. Again, this was born out of my being there already. So it wasn't like I was, I'm going to be a wellness program, where am I going to land? You know, I was already there. And then it was like it evolved from my being there. I do think that the Stanford Inn has a, it's a very, I know unique is overused, but it really, really is. There's nowhere like it in the world. It's got its own little thing. And even locals go really like they can't believe it's this, this like pocket, it looks different. You know, when you drive in, it's just like this thing of they do a really good job, Jeff and Jonah have a very, very good aesthetic, they know exactly how to kind of craft this homey rustic, but elegant, but not snooty. And this very cool thing. So, having the Wellness Center in that context is very cool. Because guess when they're not in classes, relax, they walk through our organic farm, they go into the pool, they get on a canoe in the river. So when they're not in the wellness space per se, they can also get a cosmopolitan at the bar. So there's like this kind of width and breadth of experience there that makes people stay memorable and one of a kind, and they keep coming back because it's a very different experience for most people.

Josiah: Well, I found it definitely worked on me because when I went there, I went there because I thought it was really cool hospitality property. And to be honest, I think nutritionally, I was a little bit kind of apathetic. And then I started to learn a little bit more about you, your work, and what Jeff and Joan are doing. And there's something about just relaxing and feeling the care of hospitality that you all provide. that allows you to almost just be more receptive to ideas. And I think one of the things that really stands out is one of the first roles that you had, you mentioned becoming manager of the restaurant six weeks after starting there. I wonder if you could speak a little bit about how you thought about the food and beverage offerings of the property and how you use that as a platform for providing what you do.

Sid: This is a tough subject because it's a restaurant and our goal with the Stanford, and it's, I'm sure your listeners, maybe they don't know, they don't know. It's the only vegan resort in North America. And so it's one of only probably five or six in the whole world, which is a hundred percent. We appear on lists, top 10 vegan resorts in the world. Six of them won't be vegan. They'll have vegan offerings. So usually it's just a few that are actually a hundred percent. And we are one of those. But we appeal and we serve 95% of our guests are not vegan or vegetarian. Many have never been to a vegan restaurant in their lives. They know we're vegan and they come and they have a great time. They like the food. But that drives us to craft a menu that is accessible, that sometimes vegans are our harshest critics and not in a good way. I don't mean like fun. I'm like, ha, you're making, I always joke when I give talks, I'm like, you're making me not want to be vegan anyways. And so I did a talk in North Carolina and the emcee had this shirt that he, that he had and said, not one of those vegans. I was like, that's so paradise. And then I said, where can I buy that? He goes, I made it myself. I go, sure you did anyway. And so we have this kind of a thing and it's the menu evolves. So we were trying to push a whole plant version of vegan because Beyond Burger is vegan and scotch is vegan and Coca-Cola is vegan. So we're trying to do a whole plant healthier version, while at the same time not being a health retreat. We are a resort that has a wellness center, but it also has a full bar and we got this restaurant people eat. So we're towing the line of presenting food that is environmentally the friendliest period on the earth period, whole plants you can't beat in terms of what we're eating, unless you're in the wild. And so that's what that is. And then these experiences in a mainstreaming sort of way. So the restaurant, we try to do a good job just making people have a good time. I'm not sure that the restaurant makes people go home and go, I'm going to because they go, well, that's a restaurant. I can't do that. It's got a chef in there. I get people who go, if I had a chef in there, I'd eat this way. I go, yeah, me too. You know what I mean? Like that's kind of every restaurant you go to Italian restaurants. Like, yeah, you'd eat this way. If you had a chef in your kitchen shirt. So that's what that is at the same time that they can enjoy a meal without meat or dairy. And they walk out and they go, I feel full, but I'm not weighed down. This is really nice. That starts the little switch in their brain kind of turning on.

Josiah: I think just kind of one comment to that, one of the interesting things as a repeat guest, what's really interesting is kind of coming into the restaurant, you're going through this bookshop, where you kind of if you're waiting for your table, or there's all these books, there's your books, others, if you become interested in this, you can kind of learn more and you buy these books. So there's an educational component. But going back to the challenge of that you described, what were some of the hardest parts there? Because I imagine coming up with the menu becomes challenging if you're kind of filtering it through all these criteria. Tell me a little bit more about what was hard about or what is hard about offering what you do through the restaurant.

Sid: Yeah, and first and foremost, you know, Jeff is really the executive chef, like it's been his kind of thing. I mean, we go back and forth and toss out ideas and things like that, but he really drives that menu. It was vegetarian when I started. So, the hardest struggle we had out of the shoot was transitioning from vegetarian to vegan. I was vegan by the time I got there. Jeff and Joan were too. It was a few years. I started in 2006 and it wasn't until 2011 that we became 100% vegan. We had transitioned the dinner to vegan, but the breakfast still had eggs and cheese. That was the hardest part because people, there's addiction there and people are used to their half and half and their coffee. And they, so that was the sort of like, we're going to do this six months. We were sort of like leading, we got some blowback, but then we got some people who were super happy. And I think on balance it evened out. Okay. But that was definitely the, hardest part of like, how do you and I remember Jeff saying, if we're going to do the breakfast vegan, let's expand the menu, let's really offer more things than most restaurants offer in terms of selection. And we did, and it's very varied breakfast menu. And so people dig it. 95% or more of our guests aren't vegan or vegetarian, they all come in for breakfast is included with a room, they dig it. And if they really want meat, they go into town and have meat that night or whatever that they really like it.

Josiah: Do you recall that moment when you stopped serving eggs, and you started these other offerings?

Sid: What was that like? There wasn't a moment because what we did is we just stopped buying them. And then we had a bunch and we just sort of started serving them until they were out. And we gave people the heads up like, hey, this is going to happen. Two funny things happened. One, there was a woman local who would come in every week for a scone. Then she found out we had become vegan, didn't come in, wouldn't even try, wouldn't even try the new scone on principle. That's how pissed off she was, excuse my language. And then the second was a guy who came in and he had the hollandaise sauce on our portobello pennage. We also have on the floor team anyways. He goes, he goes, this hollandaise is so good. There's no way when you go vegan, you're going to be able to match this. And we already had, it was already vegan. And that was when we thought, which is very cool. And we've evolved the menu since then. And we've done changes that that are in healthier, but again, not out there, but that people like better. And it's so we've kind of minimized the use of oil over time. We don't really talk about it. We've just kind of done that in a way that doesn't go present as a health food restaurant. We call the cuisine now Planet Healthy. That's our Planet Healthy cuisine for your body and mind. It's kind of our tagline here of like, we're trying to do this. We want you to have fun while you're here, experience some cool things, go to the beach, get on trails. It's all one package. Maybe take a class or two while you're here for fun.

Josiah: Well, it's also a very delicious menu. So the food is great as well. In addition to all the benefits that you mentioned, you referenced some of the offerings that you provide through the end. It's a wide range of programming that you have. I'm kind of curious, what have you found works and doesn't work in terms of programming in a hotel or hospitality context? Is there anything that you said, like, we can't do this here?

Sid: In the wellness arena or just in general?

Josiah: Yeah, because you mentioned everything from hiking to classes and all this. It seems like you offer so much. Is there anything that doesn't work in this context?

Sid: It all kind of, I mean, anything that doesn't or didn't work, we just didn't have. Meditation classes don't seem to be as popular as I've been doing more breathwork. It just depends on kind of what people are reading about. We have the normal stuff that people would think, but see when it gets into like gardening classes. cooking classes, Jones creative play shops, those are things that people go, wait, what? And that makes them go, I'm going to try that thing. That's kind of cool. And so a lot of it is ebb and flow, depending on what people are into in general, but it all is kind of cool. What we offer is it's a very mushroom walks, there's stuff that we're doing. And we're kind of the story of the county, I have to say.

Josiah: I want to get up there again soon because it's mushroom season and I want to experience those. I'm curious - right now, what are the most popular programs? I'm curious what people are into right now.

Sid: I have a retreat starting tomorrow, which is two cooking, two nutrition, and then my small steps stress management thing. That's part of that thing. I have a nutrition and cooking class next week. Sometimes I'm cooking classes seven days a week. Sometimes right now I'm in the slower season, so it's a little bit less, but they all kind of in Jones scattered creative play shops. There's nothing that's like, this is the most I would say if I had to say mostly it's cooking. It's just because there's the food thing. Our classes are crafted for one thing. well, multiple things, but one main thing, which is, how do I take this home? Really is our goal. I don't do cooking classes of like, here's the dainty chef thing that you'll never make at home because you're too busy with a job. This is taking, whether they go 100% plant-based or not, I'm not in a conversion therapy, and I don't even ask them if they are. I will say that I want to remove the roadblock that this is hard to do because it's not. I've raised three children with my wife, 100% plant-based since birth. She was 100% plant-based for, well, two pregnancies with one's twins. And so it's not harder to do. It's just not. So we want to remove that roadblock. In my nutrition classes, I want to remove that roadblock. Joan's Creative Play workshops. She's an art therapist, but these are not art therapy sessions. These are getting in play and being a kid again. And then you can take this home and remove the roadblock of like, what if it's not good? That's what she worked people through to have that experience going on a hike, going on a trail run, you know, gardening class. How do you do it at home? That's what this is. This is how you do it at home. I live in an apartment. they'll tell you how to do it with little beds inside of your apartment. We do that at home. We make it so you can do it at home.

Josiah: I imagine that has to be incredibly rewarding and meaningful. And I was going to ask about, okay, what does it look like to give people skills at home? What I'm hearing from what you're saying is you're thinking ahead. What are the potential barriers? Or I have these constraints here in a city apartment that I don't have in a spacious countryside place. So it sounds like you're thinking in advance of what are my program participants going to be challenged by? And how do I get ahead of that?

Sid: My whole coaching career is based on stress management in the context of people who are super busy. I have clients who go, I'll start with you once things calm down. I go, no, no, no, now's the perfect time because if you can negotiate stress management techniques in the midst of your crazy schedule right now, then you've nailed it no matter what. So we do foresee this. We know people don't live in Mendocino. They don't live in a place that has a bunch of space and a garden and they have time to do it. They live in a city. Most of them, they live and they come up here and they're super busy. And we go, can we, can you pop little holes in your existence to bring in these kinds of things that are grounding and they're connecting and they're reconnecting, and they're healthy, and you're still living your life. You're still doing your busy job, et cetera, et cetera. So my coaching is called small stepping for that reason. I call it, stealing moments. I train clients how to steal moments, how to take little moments of planting a little herb pot, and that makes a difference: slow breathing, a little bit of meditation, some healthy cooking most of the time, going out with your friends, I don't care. And so those kinds of things, and we just kind of have some artwork at home that you just scribble and doodle for fun, just to kind of get you journaling, all those kinds of things. And so it's again, removing those roadblocks, I can't do it, I'm too busy is we go, yes, you can. And here's how you do it without changing anything substantially.