Redefining Island Hospitality: Natajia Miller’s Story of Resilience

Speaker 1 Here is something most people never talk about. Half of young people will face psychosexual challenges at some point.

Speaker 1 Mojo gives you a private, science-backed way to work through them without shame and without awkward conversations. Mojo is the world's first AI sex and relationship therapist.

Speaker 1 It turns 50 plus years of sexology research into short, guided sessions you can do anytime. Women use it for pain during sex, low desire, or trouble-reaching orgasm.

Speaker 1 Men use it for erection issues, performance anxiety, rapid ejaculation, and low libido. These things are far more common than people admit.
What I like is how simple it is.

Speaker 1 The AI therapist gives you small practical steps that reduce anxiety, build confidence, and help you communicate better.

Speaker 1 It is judgment-free and easy to stick with, and it already has more than 1 million members in over 150 countries.

Speaker 1 Head to mojo.so/slash slash mick unplugged for your seven-day free trial and start feeling the difference.

Speaker 2 Every chase card holder experiences more savings on food, drinks, and merch at some of the biggest sports and music events.

Speaker 2 Enjoying great views from prime seats, and relaxing in exclusive lounges at top sports and music venues. Reserve your spot in advance and make more of Every Chase experience.

Speaker 2 Tap the banner to learn more. Benefits available only to eligible Chase card holders.
Terms, conditions, restrictions, and limitations apply.

Speaker 2 Deposit and credit card products provided by JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA member FDIC.

Speaker 1 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today, I'm honored to be chatting with one of my friends.

Speaker 1 From the quiet Bahamian K to global travel dreams, she's turned turquoise tides into a thriving brand. She's preserving heritage, empowering locals, and redefining island luxury.

Speaker 1 Bold, she's a visionary. She is unstoppable.
She is my friend, Natasha Miller.

Speaker 3 You're listening to Mick Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation.

Speaker 3 Mick takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because and becoming unstoppable. I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place.
Let's get unplugged.

Speaker 1 Natasha, how are you doing today, dear?

Speaker 4 Awesome. Happy to be here with you.

Speaker 1 I am honored to have you on. You know, I love asking all my guests right out of the gate about their because,

Speaker 1 that deeper purpose that they have, that fuel that's creating their legacy. So if I were to ask you, what's your because?

Speaker 1 What is it today?

Speaker 4 Today, my because

Speaker 4 is because I can't let my mom have blood, sweat, and tears paved the way for me for me to drop the ball ball now.

Speaker 4 My because

Speaker 4 is

Speaker 4 because my team has been so loyal to me, I can only be loyal to them by giving them what they need for their families as well as what they deserve as human beings on the job.

Speaker 4 My because is because I have a little cousin who looks up to me and I need to continue to be that role model that she so believes in. So when she believes in me, it makes me believe in myself.

Speaker 4 And that's that's my because.

Speaker 1 That's amazing. And I want want to start with what you said about your mom and the blood, sweat, and tears.
Talk to the viewers about

Speaker 1 the resort, the history, and just everything that you and your family have been through to make this the number one destination in the Bahamas.

Speaker 4 Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 4 So it all started with an island girl's dream. My mom.
worked her way up from sweeping floors at a local yacht club to managing the place.

Speaker 4 And while she she was there, everybody had her as the unofficial concierge. Nikki, I want to get married.
Can you help me? Nikki, I need to go fishing. Who can I go with? Nikki, I need a golf cart.

Speaker 4 Can you get one for me? So that basically birthed three N's, which is the travel concierge arm of our business. Because my grandmother said, Nikki, everybody's asking you for this stuff for free.

Speaker 4 Do you realize that people get paid? for this.

Speaker 4 So that birthed three N's. Three N's is Nellie, my grandmother, Nicole, my mom, and me, Natasia.

Speaker 4 And when she, when you know, when you're an entrepreneur, when you start getting that fire and that fuel for entrepreneurship, it really makes you start to think big.

Speaker 4 So she always had a dream to build a resort.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 being an island girl with no college degree, of course, family members were like, Nikki, why you don't go open one little ice cream store?

Speaker 4 You should just do a little... just do a little clothing store that ain't for you you know big dreams are not for small island girls right?

Speaker 4 So she didn't listen, so she went to the banks. And we have about six banks in the Bahamas.
Every single bank echoed exactly what the family said. Miss, I don't know about this, miss.

Speaker 4 You say a resort and it's not even on the beach? No, no, no, no, no. If I let me give you some advice, go try open one little shack on the beach or something like that and sell hot dog or conk.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 she had everybody, and in those, for some people, it comes from a really, it comes from a good place. It comes from a place of, I want to protect you, I want to protect your finances.

Speaker 4 And I'm just so proud because she persevered in that. She was using the money from three ends.
She'd take $50, go buy some wood. Take another $50, go buy some nails.

Speaker 4 Take another $50 and pay somebody to put the nails in the wood. So the resort was built one by one by one.

Speaker 4 And even until now, so thank God he has given us the grace to be able to finish seven villas, completely bootstrapped, completed our cafe just about three years ago, finally put in a pool five years ago.

Speaker 4 So it has been a work in progress. And I had been watching her from afar because I lived in Dubai for a while.
I lived in China for a while.

Speaker 4 And actually, while I was in China, She called me and she's like, Tasha, I'm so tired. I need you to come home.

Speaker 2 I can't do this by myself anymore.

Speaker 4 So I'm in China, you know, and they're telling me, Natasia,

Speaker 4 we want to do your offer letter again. We want to extend your contract.
You write the terms. I'm like, Natasia writes terms for contract

Speaker 4 or goes to tired mom. And I chose tired mom.
And six months later. Six months later, COVID broke out.

Speaker 4 So I would have been stuck in China in COVID if I had been greedy, you know, with my room upgrade to a suite and double salary and everything. So

Speaker 4 that's the history in the nutshell. And that's why my because is so strong because it's not like this was handed to her and she handed it to me.
No, she worked for this.

Speaker 4 She ate, she had me eaten noodles in college for this. She skipped meals for this.
She spent her last for this, you know. Her friends went out.

Speaker 4 She couldn't go because she had to use that $25 to buy the nails that she needed. So I have to make sure that that is preserved

Speaker 4 because she did too much for me to just let the ball fall out of my hands now.

Speaker 1 No, that's that's beautiful. So, I got the history of the resort, but let's talk about you.

Speaker 1 So, I know how you got there, but let's talk about you before you were there, one of the most brilliant minds that I know.

Speaker 1 Let's talk about you know some of the things that you were doing before you decided to say, okay, mom, here I come.

Speaker 4 So, um, I have always been a person that's like, I always want more. So even while I was in college, I'm in college.
I'm getting two bachelors.

Speaker 4 I'm getting, you know, I'm the president of the Caribbean Student Association. I'm the vice president of the Model United Nations.
So always go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Speaker 4 And that led me to becoming an international student mentor in college, which opened my eyes to. the world outside of my one by two mile island in Staniel Key.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 4 So I got to experience so many different cultures. I had one of my students was from from Greece and had another from Iran, another from Germany, another from Saudi Arabia, a lot of from Sri Lanka.

Speaker 4 So meeting and interacting and

Speaker 4 finding out about all of their cultures just gave me this culture itch that could not be scratched.

Speaker 4 went to university, got my NBA, stayed in the U.S. for a year because fun fact audience, when you're an international student, you get one year to work in the U.S.

Speaker 4 And most of us have an American dream. So we pray to God that we get that visa extended.

Speaker 4 But in my case, I was working in the front office, so immigration was like, You mean to tell me that in the 50 states of the United States of America, you can't find a front office agent? And no.

Speaker 4 So I had to come back home, and I came back home, and I literally Googled Mick: places where Bahamians can get a working visa.

Speaker 4 And I applied every day, 100 jobs a day.

Speaker 1 AG1 is the daily health drink that combines your multivitamin, pre- and probiotics, superfoods, and antioxidants into one simple green scoop.

Speaker 1 It is one of the easiest things you can do to support your body every day. For me, AG1 became part of my morning routine fast.
I make it right before I sit down to plan my day.

Speaker 1 One scoop, cold water, shake, done. What I love is how easy it has made consistency.
I'm on the road, in the studio, running events, managing teams. Routines get thrown off.

Speaker 1 This is the one thing I can keep steady. AG1 Next Gen has more vitamins and minerals than ever before, and it is clinically shown to fill common nutrient gaps.

Speaker 1 The pre- and probiotics help support gut health and digestion, and it supports a healthy immune system in a season where life gets busy and schedules get chaotic.

Speaker 1 I also like that AG1 gives me options, original, berry, tropical, and my go-to, citrus. And if you have been following me long enough, you know I do not recommend something unless I use it.

Speaker 1 This one is part of my day every day. AG1 has the best offer ever.

Speaker 1 If you head to drinkag1.com/slash MIC, you will receive the welcome kit, a morning person hat, a bottle of vitamin D3 plus K2, an AG1 flavor sampler, and you will get to try their new sleep supplement AGZ for free, which has been a game changer for my nightly routine.

Speaker 1 That is drinkag1.com/slash MIC for $126 in free gifts for new subscribers.

Speaker 1 True or false, incognito mode makes you invisible on the internet. The answer is false.

Speaker 1 Most people have no idea, but your browsing history can still be monitored and even recorded unless you use ExpressVPN.

Speaker 1 Look, there are times when I'm researching guests, projects, companies, or digging into sensitive prep for the the podcast, I don't need my internet provider keeping tabs on what I'm looking up.

Speaker 1 And that is why I actually use ExpressVPN. It protects me from all the third parties who can still see every website I visit.

Speaker 1 My ISP, my mobile network, even whoever controls the Wi-Fi if I'm traveling.

Speaker 1 ExpressVPN reroutes 100% of your traffic through secure, encrypted servers so those third parties cannot see your browsing history. Plan started just $3.49 a month.
It hides your IP address.

Speaker 1 It works on all devices. And it's unbelievably easy to use.
I open the app, tap one button, and I'm protected. And this matters to me.
I live online. I research online.
I run businesses online.

Speaker 1 Privacy is non-negotiable. ExpressVPN is the tool I trust.
Secure your online data today by visiting expressvpn.com/slash MIC.

Speaker 1 That's E-X-P-R-E-S-S-VP-N dot com slash MIC to find out how you can get up to four extra months. Expressvpn.com slash Mick.

Speaker 4 In every

Speaker 4 Australia, Europe, Asia, all over.

Speaker 4 And then I get an email to go from Dubai. I thought it was spam.
I deleted it like, haha, you thought you were going to get me. You didn't.

Speaker 4 Long story short.

Speaker 4 It was

Speaker 4 Dubai and I went to Dubai and I stayed there for three years.

Speaker 4 And I always say that that, that is the most transformational experience ever and it's not because of the glitz the glamour the gold in your coffee the you know the tallest building the biggest mall it's because culturally it's like it's it's as cosmopolitan as it gets the hotel that I worked at has 67 different nationalities so I would have like a German on my right the Filipino on my left.

Speaker 4 I'm checking in a Russian. I go down to have lunch with a Sri Lankan and then I go home to my roommate who's from Kenya.

Speaker 4 So it just really really opened my eyes and even made me more grateful because I remember speaking to somebody from

Speaker 4 Iran and I was just so excited. It was my first time going back home since I went there.
And I was just like, oh, I'm so excited to go home. I'm dancing around the office.
I'm so excited.

Speaker 4 And he's like, well, at least you have a home to go to. you know, and it makes you grateful because, you know, there are some things that people take for granted.

Speaker 4 And one of those things was having a home to go to.

Speaker 4 so so yeah dubai was amazing and i didn't stop there i went to china and i was thinking that just like my dubai experience everybody would speak english it would be super easy but i didn't read the fine print because i did not go to beijing or hong kong i went to yin shuan ningsha

Speaker 4 which is like very rural so it it took me out of my like i said i was go get her yeah natasia can do it all and that humbled me because i'm like can you help me get lunch?

Speaker 4 Can you help me get a cell phone? Can you help me go to the doctor? Can you help me buy this online?

Speaker 4 So it really took that independent, I can do whatever I want and put it back into the box of humble island girl, remembering that you can't do it all.

Speaker 4 You need a community of people to help you, to support you. And I think that has also influenced my leadership into today.
So that is the journey of the life of Natasha Mick in a nutshell.

Speaker 1 I love it, Taysia. I love it.
I love it. I love it.
So now you're back at the family business and it's a lot of vision, right? And it's starting to become reality.

Speaker 1 But mom needs you. Mom needs you to

Speaker 1 not get it over the hump, but to say, I got it. I can do it.
Let me run with it. Let me make things happen.

Speaker 1 So when you get back home, And the resort business is real, what are the first couple of things that you did to put your stamp, to put Tasia on the resort?

Speaker 4 Oh, great question.

Speaker 4 So before I could even think about putting Tasia on the resort, I had to get COVID out of it because when I came back,

Speaker 4 when I came back, Mick, it was like, I literally...

Speaker 4 came back end of 2019 and you know covet started 2020 so you know i'm getting i just arrived just started leading and i'm getting these calls hi i'm gonna have to cancel.

Speaker 4 Hi, I'm sorry, I won't be able to come in December anymore. And I'm watching the bank account drift downward, you know, for all of the refunds that we're giving

Speaker 4 until it reached, you know, like about 10,000 and I still had about 15,000 in refunds to give back.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 that was my introduction to Embrace Resort. And so I'm talking to mom and I'm like, okay, mom, what's the occupancy average? I don't know.
Okay, that's fine. I get it.

Speaker 4 So, mom, tell me, what is like the ADR? What's the average daily rate? So I can freak, I don't know.

Speaker 4 Okay, mom, can you log into your QuickBooks so I can see?

Speaker 1 She was like, QuickBooks?

Speaker 4 Quick? What?

Speaker 4 The books aren't quick. They're on the shelf.
What are you talking about, right?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 4 So I'm like, mom, how do you, how do you know what expenses you have? How do you know your, you know, your accounts payable, your receivable?

Speaker 4 She said, there's a box in the corner that I keep all of my receipts and my stuff in and i'm like great

Speaker 4 pandemic

Speaker 4 refunds requested a box of receipts so

Speaker 4 mick i literally there is nothing that my master's degree could teach me in cash flow management yeah that could help me in this moment but i went online i learned about cash projections cash flow because you know at that time there was a lot of online free resources and i sucked it all up i was in class four hours a day.

Speaker 4 And, you know, in addition to that, so there is the business aspect of, you know, having to, I have to give my guests their money back.

Speaker 4 So we had to take out a small loan to do that because at the end of the day, you trusted me with your money. I have to make sure that in situations like this, I return that.

Speaker 4 So that was first priority. Second priority was Natasha does not work alone.
Neither does her mom. I have, you know, a housekeeper that has a family to feed on another island.

Speaker 4 I have maintenance person that has to send money to Haiti you know I have all of these people that are also depending on me so in that time that was a crash course in leadership that I didn't even know that I needed so when the pandemic happened of course like I said no money no money coming in because the country is closed down but I still have these I think at the time it was probably like 10 people that are looking to me to guide them and to help them and to figure out what we're going to do from here so we started off, you know, paying them half salary.

Speaker 4 When that ran out, we went to one week's worth of salary. When that went out, we went to, here's a bag of chicken, here's a bag of rice, here's, you know, some cereal, milk, eggs.

Speaker 4 Um, and we did that for as long as we could. And that has

Speaker 4 having done that, because there were so many hotels that just closed, right?

Speaker 4 Hey, there, and that was another thing in the Bahamas. I think there were two to three other boutique resorts that they just couldn't handle it anymore.

Speaker 4 Um, they, and I'm watching that and seeing that on the news, and I'm there, like, done, done, done.

Speaker 4 But at the same time, the people that watched us as we, you know, gave them our last, as we had meetings every week, even if we just met to play dominoes or Uno, just to try to keep the spirits up.

Speaker 4 Hey, guys, I can't give you your full salary, but I can invite you over and cook barbecue chicken chicken and peas and rice and macaroni so you have dinner tonight.

Speaker 4 So

Speaker 4 out of the

Speaker 4 everything, I don't even know what word to use for the chaos of COVID, the bond with the team, not only between like leadership and team, but between each other, because we came through that experience together.

Speaker 4 It built a resilience and built a loyalty that I could not pay for. I could not, you know, give incentives enough for.

Speaker 4 I could not give enough bonuses to get the level of loyalty and we're in this together and do it it takes attitude that I have now for those people who have come through COVID with us and remained.

Speaker 4 And after that, then I put my stamp of Dubai on it. That's what my resort operations supervisor tells me.

Speaker 4 She's like, Natisha, you just brought Dubai to the property because I've always had like a high service,

Speaker 4 I'm a service fanatic, like fanatic. So I've always had that in Dubai, just, you know, tripled whatever I thought that I had before.
So I am very meticulous.

Speaker 4 Even if I walk into a restaurant, I'm like, let me see how long they take.

Speaker 4 If you, if you are, you know, giving me a coffee and you smile and you remember my order and you repeat it to me and, you know, you have that interaction,

Speaker 4 I will tip you $20 for a $7 coffee, you know? So I think that what I brought to it is an understanding that service excellence is not just a fake smile.

Speaker 4 It's about how that person feels in your presence. It's about caring.

Speaker 4 Service comes from caring.

Speaker 4 We had a guest that came. She was a divorcee.

Speaker 4 She let us know, you know, because we were, you know, on arrival, we want to get to know you. Hey, you're here.
You're solo traveling. Girl power, but what are you doing here? Oh, I just got divorced.

Speaker 4 You know, I just wanted to get away. So every day, the team, without Natasha saying, guys, please check on her.
You know, she's divorced. The team is going to her room, knocking on the door.

Speaker 4 Hey, how are you doing? Hey, I'm going for, I'm going to this thing tonight. Do you want to come? Hey, did you grab

Speaker 4 etc. Just checking in with her, taking care of her.
Hey, you should definitely try this. Hey, you should do this tour.
Hey, have you seen the swimming pigs? And by the time she left,

Speaker 4 she admitted to us that she was actually clinically depressed after the divorce. And she came here basically like on her last string.

Speaker 4 And after those interactions and seeing that people care, she said that it was better than the therapy that she had had. So, this is service.

Speaker 4 Of course, you know, we can give you a cold towel and all the things, but caring.

Speaker 4 When people come in for their anniversaries, we're excited like it's our aunt's anniversary, you know, because marriage is beautiful because we, some of us know what it's like to be married.

Speaker 4 When people come and their kid is celebrating a birthday, some of us have kids, so it's like it's a due unto others on steroids.

Speaker 4 Because if I am at a resort, I and I'm either going through something negative like a divorce or going through something beautiful like a 10-year anniversary I want to be I want to feel like I'm seen feel like I'm heard feel like I'm cared for feel like you're in it with me and I think that that's what that's what makes that's what that's the touch that

Speaker 4 my experience as well as the team's experience I can't take full credit for it but that's what makes us different and that's what I'm most proud of is at the end of the day, when people come to embrace, they always say, I feel like I visited an aunt.

Speaker 4 And it's not because, you know, the pots and pans are out. It's because you feel like somebody cares about you at this place.
So oftentimes when guests are leaving, they're hugging us.

Speaker 4 They're, you know, hey, I'll send you back

Speaker 4 because we create relationships. And that's something that I also think that the world is.
losing out on as the years go by is true relationship, true human connection.

Speaker 4 So we are definitely going to continue to be the catalyst for that, for sure.

Speaker 1 CHIIME is changing the way people bank. Fee-free and smarter banking built just for you.
And I will tell you straight up, my younger self would have benefited from this.

Speaker 1 I used to get crushed by old school banks with overdraft fees and monthly fees. CHIIME flips all of that on its head.
QIIME isn't just another banking app.

Speaker 1 They unlock smarter banking for everyday people with products like MyPay, giving you access to up to $500 of your paycheck anytime, and getting paid up to two days early with direct deposits.

Speaker 1 Some banks still can't do that. Forget overdraft fees, minimum balances, and monthly fees.

Speaker 1 Chime makes your everyday spending work harder with real rewards, credit building, and savings up to 3.5% APY.

Speaker 1 And their new QIIME card helps you build credit with your own money while earning cash back. No annual fees, no interest, no strings attached.

Speaker 1 For me, switching took minutes, and it felt like upgrading my entire financial routine. Chime is not just smarter banking.
It is the most rewarding way to bank.

Speaker 1 Join the millions who are already banking fee-free today.

Speaker 1 It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com/slash MIC.
That's chime.com/slash MCC.

Speaker 5 Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services, secure Chime Visa credit card, and my paid line of credit provided by the Bancor Bank NA or StrideBank NA.

Speaker 5 My pay eligibility requirements apply and credit limit ranges $20 to $500. Optional services and products may have fees or charges.
See chime.com slash fees info.

Speaker 5 Advertised annual percentage yield with Chime Plus status only. Otherwise, 1.00% APY applies.
No min balance required.

Speaker 5 Chime Card on Time Payment History may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary.
See chime.com for details and applicable terms.

Speaker 6 This episode is brought to you by Toyota. This winter, explore California in a brand new Toyota hybrid.

Speaker 6 Test drive the stylish all-hybrid Camry, the adventure-ready RAV4 hybrid, or the rugged Tacoma hybrid at your local Toyota dealer.

Speaker 6 Every new Toyota comes with Toyota Care, an exclusive hybrid battery warranty, and Toyota's legendary quality and reliability. Toyota, let's go places.

Speaker 6 See your local Toyota dealer for hybrid battery warranty details.

Speaker 1 No, that's wonderful. And you answered a question I was going to ask, even though I knew I wanted you to tell the viewers, what makes Embrace Resorts different? And you nailed it.

Speaker 1 Because we feel you. You know what I mean? Like, we truly feel you.

Speaker 1 And when, when people are spending money and time for a resort, like a lot of times that might be the one vacation that they do in three, four, five years, right?

Speaker 1 And I think a lot of establishments and hospitality miss that, right? Everybody doesn't go on a big vacation every year, right?

Speaker 1 Some, some people, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing to leave the country, to fly somewhere to a destination destination and to spend a week, you know, doing something. Like people save for that.

Speaker 1 People, you know,

Speaker 1 put

Speaker 1 their life, their hopes and dreams into that a lot of times.

Speaker 1 And I think that Embrace Resorts does an amazing job of making people, one, be seen, like you said, but two, making sure that they're felt and that Embrace fills them back.

Speaker 1 Talk to us about how many

Speaker 1 repeat visitors that you get, because to me, that says a lot about any establishment, right?

Speaker 1 Everybody can go somewhere one time, but when you have people coming two, three, four, and five times, and that tells me who you are.

Speaker 1 So, talk to us about how many repeat visitors you get to the resort. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 4 So, our repeat numbers are between 40 to 50 percent.

Speaker 4 And again,

Speaker 4 it's a beautiful resort, and the area is beautiful, the clearest water you've ever seen.

Speaker 4 But when the guests come back, they come back to see Dexie, they come back to visit Gabby, they come back to see Taysa. Like, we have one guest that has been coming to embrace since we had one villa.

Speaker 4 One villa and sand. I'm talking no pool, no cafe,

Speaker 4 barely an office. There was one villa and she has been coming.
Amy, her name is Amy. She has been coming from one villa up until now.

Speaker 4 She brings her kids, she brings her husband, his husband brings his family, and it's just a beautiful thing to see.

Speaker 4 And I was talking to Amy about, you know, the next level of embrace and asking her, like, you know, you've, if nobody knows embrace like you do, so you've seen us go from one villa to seven villas, ten rooms, cafe, everything.

Speaker 4 Why do you keep coming back here? Because when we had one villa, you didn't come back for the pool. And we had two villas, you didn't come back for the cafe because it didn't exist.

Speaker 4 So what keeps you coming back here instead of going somewhere else? And she helped helped me to coin what is now our, I guess, tag, taglines, which is peace, privacy, and personalized service.

Speaker 4 She works in marketing, fun fact. So

Speaker 1 peace.

Speaker 4 Like she said that when she comes to Embrace, it feels like an oasis. It feels like, you know, on the island, there's a yacht club, there's local bars, et cetera.

Speaker 4 But when you're here, you're home is how she described it. So Embrace is all about creating peace for people, number one, because you don't have to think.

Speaker 4 Let us do the thinking for you. You know, you want all your meals planned out? We got you.
Oh, but I'm vegan. We still got you.

Speaker 4 It sucks for you because you won't be able to try the conch, but otherwise, we've got you. You know? And then the privacy, because a lot of people gave us flap for not being beachfront.

Speaker 4 A lot of people. Oh, how could you? You're in the Bahamas, da-da-da-da.
But not being beachfront.

Speaker 4 The place that we're at, Staniel Key, is a one by two mile island.

Speaker 4 You can jog around the entire island in less than two hours getting to the beach is like nothing it's like it's a couple of steps away but with that what that does is it creates privacy because now if I'm a beachfront property everybody wants to be at the beach and everybody wants to da da da da but because we are tucked away when you're I've had guests say is there anybody else on property and I'm like yeah we're at 80 occupancy she's like it just feels like I'm here by myself you know so it's that privacy especially since it's not like hotel rooms, it's villas, individual villas.

Speaker 4 So peace and privacy are the number one things. And that personalized service, like I said, and you mentioned something as well about people, like this being their only opportunity to come.

Speaker 4 Last story. We had a German mother son.
They came. And then, you know, we treat them like everybody else, right? Hi, da, da, da, da.

Speaker 4 And then the son was about 16, about 15, 16. So, you know, he's a young man.
Maybe he doesn't want to be with his mom all the time. So we would like, come, let's take you on an island tour.

Speaker 4 Oh, did you see the nurse sharks at the yacht club? So we were just interacting with him. It's something that we normally do.

Speaker 4 At the end of their trip, you know, I always ask, you came here all the way from Germany. You know, we appreciate you choosing Embrace because I understand that she could have stayed anywhere.

Speaker 4 To come from Germany to Staniel Key and stay with us, it's an honor. And she explained to me that

Speaker 4 she had to save money for three years to do this for her son because her son was dying and this was his dying wish i can't make these stories up mick i literally like eyes started watering i've been interacting with this young man all week long not knowing she said that he had to have there was no doctor in germany that could perform the surgery that needed to be performed.

Speaker 4 So he had to go to another place.

Speaker 4 Anyway, long story short, his dying wish, because the doctors doctors gave him like an x amount of months to live his dying wish was to come to the icumas and she said when she saw the story about my mom and you know her resilience she understood because she grew up on farmland in germany so this is not like you know

Speaker 4 a person that lives in the downtown munich she came from a farm and she she said she just wanted to bring her son and our story stuck with her which is why she chose embrace and she said this vacation she thought she did it for her son but she did it for herself you know and how amazing the time is.

Speaker 4 I'm getting chills thinking about it, but

Speaker 4 this is what I live for. All of my becausees, put this at the top.

Speaker 4 Those stories, because, you know, I used to honestly, I used to always compare myself, ourselves, to the big hotels right, the Atlantis, the Ritzes, the Hyatts.

Speaker 4 And I used to look down on us like, oh, nobody wants to come at our little resort. Oh, we don't have a lap pool.
Oh, we don't have chandeliers and marble floors.

Speaker 4 Oh, we don't have a Louis Fuitton store. Woe is me, you know, just really, really looking down on us like, who do you think you are?

Speaker 4 People don't want to stay here, you know, then you have that negative self-talk that's telling you like everything that it could possibly say.

Speaker 4 And one, like, after just sitting with myself and listening to the guest feedback in my head, instead of listening to what we're not, because we're not marble floors and we're not chandeliers, but we are barefoot luxury.

Speaker 4 The luxury of self with that you can't buy. I can put a chandelier in all my rooms and they would be super cute, I'm sure.

Speaker 4 But would I prefer to have a chandelier in every room or to have stories of divorcees that are on the verge of, you know, suicide and people that are on the verge of death, people that have came to spread their parents' ashes, that they choose this as their safe place to come?

Speaker 4 Yes, and keep the chandeliers and the marble floors. I will take that every day of the week and every month of the week.
So I am honored and humbled that

Speaker 4 we have the time to hear stories because you can't imagine how many people pass through the 500-room hotels that may have similar stories.

Speaker 4 But because it's so, because I know I worked in Dubai, I was doing 120 check-ins a day. I don't have time to find out who's on their dying bed and who's divorced.

Speaker 4 I just need to get to the next person. So, what I used to think was a negative thing, us being so small and not posh, is actually what makes us amazing.
Because we have time for your stories.

Speaker 4 We only have seven rooms. How many check-ins can we do in a day, right?

Speaker 4 We have time to sit with you by the pool. We have time to remember that you like your coffee with almond milk and a

Speaker 4 splash of vanilla. So there you go.
Yeah. So I'm proud now.

Speaker 1 I love it. I love it.
Well, Taja, I know how busy you are. I'm going to get you out of here on my quick five, my rapid fire.

Speaker 1 Go get them. You ready? Ready.

Speaker 1 All right, number one, your favorite Bahamian dish to serve your guest on their first night.

Speaker 4 Ooh, it has to be conk. It starts with conk.
Everything revolves around conk. So if it's dinner, let's put some crack conk on there, you know, lightly fried.

Speaker 4 That's what we call crack, but it tastes like crack, so that's also the reason. Lightly fried, crack conk.

Speaker 4 I would do conch and rice because I just love conch, but let's not. Let's do peas and rice because it's traditional.
Baked macaroni and cheese because, you know what, why not two starches, right?

Speaker 4 You're in the Bahamas and it's one of my favorite things. And then we'd, of course, add a salad, coleslaw, coleslaw, with nice sugar and honey and everything in there.

Speaker 4 It's as close to salad as we're going to get.

Speaker 4 And then for dessert, guava duff. The most delicious, succulent, saucy.
Sorry, I think I'm dribbling a little bit here. Mick, why did you do this to me?

Speaker 4 Um, but yeah, guava dough for dessert, and then conk fritters as the appetizer.

Speaker 1 I love it, I love it.

Speaker 1 When you tell people that they're gonna swim with pigs, what's their first initial reaction?

Speaker 4 Oh my god, yay! Which day? We have people that come here just for them.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, swimming with the pigs.

Speaker 1 It's a tradition. Love it.

Speaker 1 It's a tradition.

Speaker 1 What's the most surprising thing that tourists find out about island life when they get there?

Speaker 4 I think recently the most surprising thing is that island life has so much

Speaker 4 beauty and peace.

Speaker 4 There's a beautiful peace because we don't have traffic.

Speaker 4 There's no police cars. I don't think there's ever been a stabbing on this island since I was born.

Speaker 4 So sometimes we tell the guests, like, if we're walking in, they're like, oh no, I have to lock my door. And we're like, it's all right.
You know, leave it open. They're like, what do you mean?

Speaker 4 It's all right. I'm like, lady, my house has been open for the past six years.

Speaker 4 You know, so they think that really surprises them. That, what, is it really that safe?

Speaker 1 There you go. When it's time to get hype, when it's time to get energized, what's the song that Natasha is going to listen to to get ready?

Speaker 4 Oh, oh my gosh. Let me think, hmm,

Speaker 4 I really like like Caribbean songs. So it depends on what's what's the latest Caribbean song at the time.
Like it could be Soca, it could be reggae.

Speaker 4 I used to do dance home when I was in college, but I got saved. Hallelujah.
You know?

Speaker 1 Amen.

Speaker 4 Amen. Yes.
But I love me sounds soca, Bahamian music, anything Caribbean.

Speaker 1 All right. And then last question.
What's one travel destination that is on your bucket list?

Speaker 4 Australia.

Speaker 4 People want to come to the Bahamas for the pigs. I I want to go to Australia for the kangaroos.
You know, the little Joeys. And then also,

Speaker 4 I love that they have like the Great Barrier Reef, but they also have the city life. So I would want to do like four to six weeks there.

Speaker 1 Okay. Okay.
I dig it. I dig it.
Well, Tasia, again, I appreciate you more than you know. Where can people find and follow you and Embrace Resorts?

Speaker 4 Sure. So I'm on LinkedIn.
So definitely feel free to hit me up there.

Speaker 4 If you need any travel advice as well, well, even if it's not Embrace Resort, but you're thinking about coming to the Bahamas, but you want a more peaceful route, I can definitely help you out with that.

Speaker 4 I'm also on Facebook, Natasia Miller, as well as LinkedIn, Natasia Miller. And if you want to check out the beautiful photos on our Instagram, it's Embrace Staniel Key.

Speaker 4 Also on Facebook, Embrace Staniel Key.

Speaker 1 I love it. Well, dear, I appreciate you more than you know, dear friend of mine.
Just so proud of you, so proud of everything you have going on. You are amazing.

Speaker 1 I can't wait to come down and see you soon.

Speaker 4 Okay. Let me give you your flowers too.
You are amazing. You are wonderful.
You are, you are everything.

Speaker 4 You are such, you are such a beautiful person in the space that you're in and the heart that you have, the things that you do, the opportunities that you provide for people.

Speaker 4 You are the epitome of amazing leadership. And I am very proud of you and proud to be called your friend.

Speaker 1 That means the world to me. I appreciate you.
And to all the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Speaker 3 That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplugged.

Speaker 3 If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen, share it with someone who needs that spark, and leave a review so more people can find their because.

Speaker 3 I'm Rudy Rush, and until next time, stay driven, stay focused, and stay unplugged.

Speaker 7 Save over $200 when you book weekly stays with Verbo this winter.

Speaker 5 If you haven't seen your college besties since, well, college, you need a week to catch up in a snowy cabin.

Speaker 7 Take a week-long vacation and save over $200. Book now at Verbo.com.

Speaker 2 Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know, one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to the big man up north.

Speaker 2 And this year, he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of Mint Mobile's unlimited wireless for $15 a month. Now, you don't even need to wrap it.

Speaker 2 Give it a try at mintmobile.com/slash switch.

Speaker 8 Upfront payment of $45 for a three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only.
Speed slow after 35 gigabytes if network's busy.

Speaker 8 Taxes and fees extra. See Mintmobile.com.