Today we’d like to introduce you to Alpa Patel.
Alpa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in a small village in India and my family immigrated to the US for a better future for their children in 1991 when I was ten years old. My parents settled in Texas where they worked in an economy motel which is where I grew up. I graduated from Univ. of Texas with a degree in IT and worked in a startup. Fast forward 15 years and I was able to marry my passion for Architecture & Design with technology to realize my mission, which was to make hospitality design accessible and affordable for economy/budget hoteliers across the country and around the world.
Four years ago, I found myself in a job I absolutely hated selling printing services, so I founded my company, Spaceez after doing some soul searching and discovered that I love architecture and design and technology. I wanted to marry my love for design with technology and I found a problem which I was committed to solve. Especially being a South Asian woman, I faced numerous obstacles and challenges from my family to go down this path of entrepreneurship. I stayed true to my vision, passion and was determined to realize it so now, we’re three years into the business and I’m marching ahead.
My parent’s business was being impacted negatively by Airbnb. I wanted to help them but there was no access to affordable and innovative hospitality design. So, I founded my company with the mission to help economy hoteliers become more relevant in the market by incorporating great design so they can maximize their revenues and give a great guest experience. At Spaceez, we help hoteliers plan, design, build, renovate, project manage and finance their projects
It does get lonely at times as the startup founder and it takes everything from you so work-life balance is a challenge but utilizing effective time management tactics have helped me balance my personal life. Having launched my startup has taught me one of the most important lessons in life – that is to believe in yourself and follow your heart. Without that, I don’t think we can live our best life.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This journey has been anything but a smooth road. It has been filled with ups and downs and I have faced obstacles after obstacles. Some of the struggles were getting support from my family as being a South Asian woman, they felt I should be looking for a nice man to get married to, settle down and have children. Supporting myself while trying to launch this startup has been one the hardest thing I’ve done and most rewarding at the same time. I believe the biggest walls we have to climb are the ones in our minds.
At one point, I felt the obstacles were impossible to overcome. I was sitting at my desk at work doing the most mindless work that was making no impact in the world. However, I felt perhaps, I’m not meant to pursue my dream. I wrote the check to close down my company, put it in an envelope, placed a stamp on it and was ready to put it in the mail. Then I realized how much I hated my job and how unhappy I was so I ripped apart the check and told myself I’m taking this plunge. I’m not giving up and if I fail, it will be the biggest learning experience.
Spaceez – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Spaceez is a hospitality design, build, renovation and procurement platform. We are a bunch of passionate creatives, project managers, technologists and innovators who want to make hospitality design accessible and affordable to hoteliers. Our team thrives on clever ideas and challenging the conventional – we are in the relentless pursuit of excellence, dedicated to exceeding your business and brand potential by producing innovative design that delivers a great experience. We love to make things super beautiful.What sets us apart is that we truly care to help. We are committed to helping our clients with affordable design solutions that will help them grow their business and become more relevant in the marketplace.
We make it simple and easy to plan, design, build, renovate, procure and finance hospitality build and renovation projects with an end-to-end solution on our platform. Our project managers and coordinators, our chiefs of client happiness work closely with each of our clients throughout the entire process in an easy, simple, and transparent way to help them reduce costs and ensure the success of the project by completing it on time and on budget. We are most proud of the work we do. It makes a real impact in the lives of the budget and economy hoteliers whose business is being so negatively impacted by Airbnb and other competitors in the market.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I look most fondly on the moment I decided to launch my company. That’s where I feel I have been most truthful with myself.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5270 California Ave
Suite 100
Irvine, CA 92617 - Email: hello@spaceez.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceez/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hellospaceez
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