Core Issues with Corey Andrew
Corey Andrew is a contributing writer for Instinct Magazine, Grit Daily and Friday co-host of Rob Shuter's Top 20 iHeartradio podcast "Naughty but Nice with Rob." A renaissance man, Corey is also a seasoned stand up comedian, advertising creative and recording artist. This diverse background inspires points of view on a range of topics, especially Corey's favorites: social issues and entertainment. On the Facebook Live show "Core Issues," Corey shares stories of politics, pop culture and every day people doing news-worthy things. His growing audience loves to engage, comment and watch his on-camera interviews with stars on and off the red carpet, including Billy Porter and the cast of 'Pose,' Tiffany Haddish, Elizabeth Banks and the cast of Charlie's Angels (2019), Sharon Gless, Bianca Del Rio, Gloria Reuben, James Roday, Shangela, Laverne Cox and more. Audiences can now listen on-the-go as 'Core Issues with Corey Andrew' brings a thoughtful, comedic and fresh new perspective to the podcast world!
Core Issues with Corey Andrew
Redefining LGBTQ Travel — A Conversation with Misterbandb Founder, Matthieu Jost
Misterb&b, like many great start-up concepts, was born out of necessity. Founder and entrepreneur Matthieu Jost sat down with me for an interview and revealed the upsetting homophobic incident that spurred the idea for his company.
In a nutshell, a few years back, Jost and his partner applied as guests at a short-term rental in Barcelona during a trip to Spain. However, they were quickly turned down after the owner realized they were gay.
They found new lodging in the Catalan capital, but the experience was still painful and disappointing. It got him thinking about what he could do to ensure LGBTQ travelers could find welcoming accommodations all around the world despite their sexual orientation.
The ordeal led him to carve out a long-overdue category in the travel industry with his brand emerging as one of the top travel resources for the LGBTQ community.
Have a listen to my discussion with Matthieu/ Read the interview at Instinct Magazine and book your next great Gaycation through Misterbandb!
I'm joined today by Matthew Jost, CEO and founder of Mr. B&B, a brand committed to creating a more safe and accepting LGBTQ travel experience. What began as Matthew's little idea now boasts over 310,000 hosts in over 135 countries. Matthew, welcome to Core Issues. Hi, Andrew. Welcome. Yes, thank you so much for being here. Now, I want to just jump right in because what's really important for people to realize, with so many corporations out there who try to get the gay dollars with Without actually supporting the gay community, it's important to let listeners know that Mr. B&B is owned by you, a gay man who is also the CEO. And the idea for Mr. B&B came about after a trip you took to Barcelona in 2014. So could you briefly share what happened on that trip?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, sure. So everything started from my own personal experience. I was traveling a few years ago to Barcelona with my partner. And upon arrival, we booked a private room at that time. We love to connect with locals. And upon arrival, it was super clear that the host didn't feel uncomfortable about hosting two gay guys. She even asked us, are you going to sleep together in the same bed in the room just next to mine. And so, yeah, it was super unpleasant and very uncomfortable. And so we decided to leave and on our way back to the airport, I told my partner that I didn't want to live such a bad experience for me, neither for my community. And this is how we decided to create Mr. B&B.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. That's an amazing story and so frustrating because I think many people have experienced that before and just didn't really know what to do at the time. So I'm glad you had an epiphany to create a company to help the situation. But it's also important to call out too, all the companies that every time there's a gay pride, like in June, they all throw the rainbows up in the air. And then by July 1st, they're all gone. So it's good that there's an actual company that is for the community year round. Now, Mr. B&B provides an opportunity for LGBTQ travelers to earn money from their space. And I was curious to know, do the hosts interact with the people who rent their units? Do hosts become tour guides or are they just sort of private owners who leave and let the people rent their properties. How does it work exactly?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, sure. So, you know, currently 65% of our guests are traveling solo. So they are using Mr. BNB because they would love to connect with locals and not feel alone when they are traveling. And over the years, we have realized that because hosts and guests are sharing the same community, we realized that the the hosts are delivering a higher level of hospitality to the guests. So they are really, um, helping the guests, uh, before for their trip. And also when they are, when they are at destination. So they are taking them out. Uh, most of them are taking them out, uh, for, for some excursion or guided tours for sure. Uh, but also we realized that, um, a lot of them, uh, became friends after that trip. So it's really, um, It's really our purpose about connecting the LGBTQ community while traveling. And this is what makes us super proud about the company and Mr. BNB.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, it's important to call out that you're not just a place to book travel. The website has resources for things to do in a community and how to hook up with other like-minded people to do different activities in different cities you go to. So that's a really important thing to call out. And I know one of your key pillars also is providing a safe environment in your short-term rentals for the LGBT community. So at this point, you're the largest gay hotelier in the world with, as I mentioned, over 310,000 hosts in over 135 countries. So how do you find the properties that you list? And as you offer them as safe spaces, you have a trust and safety department. So what role does that play in and making sure the places you find are safe for the community.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, so everyone, every member of the LGBTQ community can miss their place, even allies. We have a lot of straight women that are using Mr. BNB to host because they can feel safe. So this is safety is super important for us. So we have developed a specific team that is handling safety at Mr. BNB. But also we have also developed a lot of different algorithms that data science algorithms that help us to really detect any fraudulent listing. And we are doing a lot of, um, ID verification. So, uh, if you book with us, you need to verify your ID. So for some people it's adding, uh, for sure, certain friction, but this is really key because, um, we, we really, um, want our community to be, uh, to be, uh, super safe while they are traveling. So, uh, um, we, we are doing a lot, uh, around that also. And we, We detect some bad review on some listing. We are taking the listing immediately off the platforms so we can do some investigation. But there's a lot of different measure of trust and safety on Mr.
SPEAKER_01:BNB. That's wonderful. And I know you also rely on, well, not rely on, but you also invite travelers to leave reviews, right? People can leave an actual review on the site so that people can read their experience.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. All same guests can leave a review. So this is really important for us and for the community. So when you're traveling, you can make the right choice reading the review from the other past guests.
SPEAKER_01:Now, traveling in general has taken a big hit as an industry since the pandemic, of course. And many CEOs I've interviewed, they've stayed afloat because of innovation and adapting their business to accommodate this current crazy sort of pandemic world we're living in. So I'm curious to know, did Mr. B&B have to adapt to anything as well? And what are some of the adjustments you made?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely. COVID has been the worst thing I've ever lived as a CEO at Mr. BNB. But as you know, we are a marketplace, so our expenses are really going up or down depending on our business. So this was super, super key for us during the crisis. We also needed to fire some... So we need to lay off 10% of the staff at Mr. BNB. And yeah, definitely we negotiate a lot of contracts with different companies that were working for Mr. BNB. It was super challenging, but we are still here. And I think we are stronger than before because of what we went through.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think that, you know, so many companies now they've learned how to do things differently. And I think once the pandemic is over, hopefully those things will be wonderful new acclimations for you to even be stronger as a business. When it comes to the short-term rentals that you offer, it seems like there's a range of different types. So like from cozy apartments to private rooms, what are some of the types of short-term rentals we can find on Mr. B&B?
SPEAKER_00:So our primary offering is private rooms. So meaning that you are staying at someone else's place. So it's a, it's a cheap, it's a kind of cheap option when you want to travel budget and connect with the local community. But also we, we have entire place for sure. And more recently we have added a bunch new kind of places like hotels, LGBTQ friendly hotels and villas. So yes, this is the main type of
SPEAKER_01:accommodation. Wow. So when it comes to the hotels, do you have anything specific as you try to vet the hotels or is it the same thing? You rely on the community to tell you if they've had a bad or good experience there and then you will list a hotel?
SPEAKER_00:I would say both. So we have curated thousands and thousands of hotels that have actively signed LGBTQ charter on LGBTQ association like IJLTA or that are doing a lot of marketing effort towards the LGBTQ community. Yes. And also we are taking some recommendations from the community. So yes, the idea is really to vet offering. So there are no bad surprises at the
SPEAKER_01:reception. Yes, that's really important. So again, to stress the importance of you being a gay-owned establishment, and it's notable to say that you are involved in giving back to the community with a range of LGBTQ issues and causes, this is important. So I commend you on that. So thank you for that. And I'm curious to know what are some of the ways, however, in which you do that? So you're involved in a lot of Charity. What are some of the, maybe a couple of your favorites you're involved with that are for the good of the community?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, so since inception, this has been really key for the company to give back to our community. So every year, through an initiative we have launched, it's called Mr. For Good. We are financing different kinds of NGOs. I would say that the last example was an NGO that is working to help LGBTQ refugees, like in Afghanistan, the last past month. So we finance this NGO that helps some LGBTQ refugees to escape Afghanistan when the Taliban take power there. So yes, we are trying to help a lot of NGOs. So when you book with Mr. BNB, you're also participating in helping to make this possible. world a better world for our community. So this is really important also.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, that's excellent. And when it comes to people wanting to be a host or traveling, I guess it's just going to the website to take a look at how your website allows people to search for properties. But again, if you can just share, how does a person become a host if they're interested in listing their property or becoming a host with Mr. B&B?
SPEAKER_00:So it's super easy to become a host on Mr. BNB. You just have to sign up on the website and enter your property details. So it's a super short form, like two to three minutes to add some photo. And then you are immediately online and your property is bookable.
SPEAKER_01:Wonderful. Well, I guess lastly, I would just ask you, of course, after expanding to over 135 countries, that's a pretty big deal. So I wonder what's next. What's the next future vision for Mr. BNB?
SPEAKER_00:I would say that the future vision is to continue and strengthen our DNA, which is connection and travel. So we are working on adding a new feature to help all travelers to find a travel companion when they are traveling. As I said, a lot of them are traveling alone, so you will be able to share your travel debt and then to be able to be contacted with other travelers that are willing to share your trip. even share the trip cost with you, or even to be contacted by locals that will be happy to take you on a guided tour when you are at destination. So connection is really the way we envision the future of Mr. B&B. Wow. I
SPEAKER_01:love that. And I will just end with telling you, I was thinking the whole time we were talking, I was like, I have to tell Matthew about my idea that they should make sure that like, you know, travel guides, tour guides can be listed maybe on the site because I went to Brazil in 2020 right before COVID or as COVID was happening. And, uh, Not only did I find a tour guide, I searched for a gay tour guide because that was very specific to take me to where the gay community was throughout Rio during Carnival. So it made all the difference in my trip. So it'd be great to have that kind of listing on your website. So I'm glad you're working on that.
SPEAKER_00:Definitely. And also we have a lot of interview of hosts, local hosts that are giving their best trip. So if you want to stay 24 hours or 48 hours in a specific city, you can connect on our blog and find all this interview with insider tips. So this is super interesting for your next travel. Awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much, Matthew Jha, CEO of Mr. BNB. And I really appreciate your time today and giving us insight into how your wonderful platform for LGBTQ travel works. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Andrew, for having me. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to Core Issues with me, Corey Andrew. For future episodes, please subscribe to this podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. You can follow me at Corey Andrew and follow the Core Issues Facebook page at Core Issues Media.