Meet The Innkeepers
Lori LeCount and Andy Barber
Lori and Andy are avid travelers. In the last 15 years, they have stayed at over 75 B&B's/inns/small hotels throughout the UK, USA, and Canada. They have taken several long-distance bicycle trips, across Minnesota, around Wisconsin, and in Nova Scotia. Andy has also biked in England, in the Pacific Northwest and around Wyoming. Lori is a two time marathon finisher.
They revel in music, both listening and playing (Andy - mandolin and accordion and Lori - fiddle). They appreciate good food, wine, movies and company.
They are new to British Colombia, having moved recently from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Before becoming a full-time innkeeper, Lori practiced law for 12 years, worked as a paralegal for 10 years and was in professional theatre for 7 years. She is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College and William Mitchell College of Law.
Andy is inn-keeping part-time and continues engineering part-time. Before starting his own engineering consulting company, he was a staff scientist at MTS. He is completing (remotely) his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Minnesota. His undergraduate work was done at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his masters at the University of Minnesota.
Andy's company can be found at www.neosimulation.com
Raine Levi
Raine, our inn manager, is at the heart of Ocean Wilderness Inn's operations. She has been running the inn for 10 years. She knows where everything is, how to fix what's broken and who to call if it can't be fixed. She has a smile as wide as the Strait of Juan de Fuca and an infectious sense of humor.
Current innkeeping philosophy is illustrated by the little story about a Mexican fisherman
A businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied only a little while.
The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."
The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise."
The fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years." "But what then, señor?" The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions, señor? Then what?" The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"
-Author Unknown
