“I’ve got the talent of finding talent”
Her family has been in the hospitality trade since the early 17th century – and yet Birgit Kolb-Binder took a number of detours before finding her way into the industry. But that is what has made her successful. Today, she runs several hotels with an unmistakable signature. As vice president of the Dehoga (German Hotel and Restaurant Association) in Lower Saxony, she has steered the industry through difficult times.
“I admit I tend to dominate things a bit”, says Birgit Kolb-Binder about herself – both self-confident and self-critical. “It runs in the family. My father also liked to take the lead.“ In the 1960s he (with whom she shares many personal traits) followed his brother from Cologne to the island of Juist to profit from the flourishing tourist trade up here on the North Sea coast. But it soon became obvious that the island was too small for two Kolbs. So her father opened a small hotel on the island of Langeoog, just before his daughter Birgit was born. “I had a fantastic childhood”, she says looking back. “I always loved the island”. She and her sister had a well-sheltered upbringing but grew up in freedom on the car-free island. During the holiday season – from Easter to October in those days – the family literally closed ranks: every additional bedroom that could be vacated for guests meant more turnover. The children didn’t mind, they lived on the beach in the summer anyway.
“I had the best summer of my life when I was 16. I spent the holidays with a friend, sailing from one island to the next to take part in all the regattas, sleeping in the harbours or at the eastern tip of the island. My father was fairly laid back about it and had asked his colleagues all over the place to keep an eye on us.“ A leading figure who puts confidence and trust in others. Something still shapes Birgit Kolb-Binder’s approach to this day. The parents even allowed their daughter to leave home for far-distant Berlin while she was still under-age. The island had got too small for her, particularly in winter. She was interested in politics and philosophy and was keen to finish school with good marks. Furthermore: “At the age of 17, I met my future husband – the love of my life. He spent the summer on the island as a seasonal worker. After Christmas I was off to Berlin.“ She attended the Clay-Oberschule, the city’s first sixth-form college. There were 1,200 students at the school – which in those days was approximately the entire population of Langeoog. Young Birgit loved the culture and urban lifestyle.
"Get me a place of my own!"
Birgit Kolb-Binder is always quick to come to decisions – she was back then too. She trained in a tax office, went on to gain specialist qualifications and started taking responsibility. She changed firms in an attempt to reduce the overtime, but ended up with less independence. The self-proclaimed leading figure found this hard to take. “I called my dad and said: I’m coming home. Get me a place of my own. Anything will do.” Joining her father? Not an option! After making this announcement in September, by 1 January she took over the well-established Café Leiß. She and her husband did everything themselves, from renovating the premises to serving the customers. She was 22, he was 37. “On the day we opened, we were both standing behind the counter. He turned to me and asked: “Hang on a minute, have you ever actually sold as much as a cup of coffee? My answer: No. Have you?“
The laid back approach of her parents had included having the daughters help out now and then without them having a permanent role in the business. Even so, Birgit Kolb-Binder never doubted and never doubts that she’ll be successful. “My training gave me a head for figures. I invested a lot back then to profit from it later on. You can’t make something from nothing.” At times she also needed to convince the banks. When she inherited her father’s hotel at an early stage in the proceedings, her love of design was triggered by the investment backlog.
“I always had an eye for lovely things. When I see a building, no matter how poorly constructed or how derelict it may be, I can see the potential at first glance.” A skill that she has acquired over the years. That she had to acquire. “My approach is conceived today, done tomorrow.” A strength that Kolb-Binder also sees as a weakness. Or at least a challenge. “Life is probably easier if you don’t do it like that.” But perhaps she would then have never opened the first retro-design hotel on the East Frisian islands.
Helped by Dieter Thomas Heck (German TV entertainer)
It is 2007. On the island of Langeoog, it’s the same as everywhere else: you can’t get the staff if you don’t offer them accommodation. Birgit Kolb-Binder takes a practical approach and buys property. “I’ve meanwhile got more rooms for the staff than for the guests”, she says today. She also rents accommodation out to other firms. Back then she found an ideal apartment block. The problem was that it only came as part of an all-in package with a hotel that dated back to the 1970s. Even so, she went ahead. “After signing the deeds, I thought: why on earth did you buy that? It’s even on the wrong side of the island!” She needed a concept, so she retreated for a while. “The staff know all about that. I call it ‘going into seclusion’. I won’t take any calls, I need to withdraw totally into myself. And eventually, no-one wants to get in touch anyway”, she adds, obviously amused. Why? “Once I’d got my retro concept, I was totally focussed on it with all my senses. Like Dieter Thomas Heck in a continuous loop on television”. She planned it all meticulously, pored over wallpaper books, designed furniture. Her reward for all these months was that the retro-design hotel triggered a huge echo in the media and was even featured in the national
furnishing magazines. “I must admit I’m a little bit proud. Design is meanwhile my hobby“, she says modestly, having taught herself all she needed to know.
Kolb-Binder’s signature can be seen meanwhile in all her establishments. She usually opts for a maritime theme. “But not just blue-and-white with sailing boats”. She gets lots of ideas from her travels around the world. A passion she inherited from her mother. She remembers spending eight weeks with her as a youngster travelling through Asia with the Eastern Oriental Express. “It’s not that I go searching for ideas. The ideas simply find me.” She has noticed that other people are also impressed by things that had a lasting impression on her. Does so much creative self-confidence also have room for external advice? “Sure, sometimes I also work with architects. After all, other people have great ideas too!”
Genius by profession
Birgit Kolb-Binder learned to delegate responsibility early on. “Many employees have been with me for decades. My senior staff run the hotels on their own, I don’t get involved. The members of the “advisory board” who come from the various management teams deal with everything as equals. Trust and freedom – despite her inclination to dominate, this is something the boss takes for granted, because “I’ve got the talent of finding talent. They’re all especially talented people”. People with the will and ability to take responsibility, who love the guests unconditionally.
“Our job is to make the guests happy. That means knowing in advance what they’re going to want”, is what she says to all company trainees. Birgit Kolb-Binder didn’t learn it, she grew up with it. When she started school, the teacher asked what her father did for a living. She couldn’t answer. “I simply didn’t know. I thought a hotel was a home and the guests belonged to the family.” Her father declared: “I’m a genius, I can do it all.” Hotelier, entertainer, pastoral worker and craftsman. Working day and night for the guests. “People have underestimated what our industry does for far too long”, says Kolb-Binder and still gets annoyed about it today. She felt this keenly on the island, as a younger mother and also when she started getting actively involved with the Dehoga.
Things didn’t really start to change until the Covid-19 lockdown. As vice president of the Dehoga in Lower Saxony, she acted as the voice of the industry and saw how people started to change their minds, from local politicians to the state government. They realised they needed the tourism industry on board to deal with the situation. The pandemic triggered a digitalisation boost, but the industry is now facing the next major transformation: it has to deal with the changing holiday habits of new generations, as well as the staffing problems that affect the whole of Europe. The solution? “Digitalisation. Guests do as much as possible themselves, processes are planned to need less staff. Motel One, for example, is doing a really good job.”
New beginning on the mainland
“I don’t see my job as work. It’s just my life.“ Birgit Kolb-Binder has no intention of retiring any time soon. Of course, all the necessary provisions are in place. Until then, she enjoys working from home. “Simply no longer having to get up in the morning, knowing that I have no choice”. A few years ago, the family found a new home in Bad Zwischenahn. Her son runs the 53 Degrees Hotel. She commutes once a week to the Dehoga office in Hannover and often goes to Berlin. She also keeps up with her voluntary work. “I always believed I have to give something back to the place that gives me my livelihood.” Her island visits are tightly scheduled. “I arrive with the ferry at 6:45 am and go through all the hotels. I know I’m coming home when I stand at the back of the boat and the water sparkles. And if I stay for longer, I always end up on the beach at night.” She finds relaxation when she goes snorkelling on holiday – or every day in the kitchen. “I love being a good host. Covid-19 made that all too clear for me. It was dreadful without guests. And without the pub. Where else can you meet new people?” So she started cooking. Needless to say that she taught herself. She regularly invites friends to join her for a meal at her large table. “Before they arrive, I’ll spend hours chopping and preparing, it’s totally relaxing.” She’ll reach for her phone to check a couple of spontaneous ideas, then she gets on with it. When Birgit Kolb-Binder suddenly realises how much she misses her guests, she’ll pop round to the 53 Degrees Hotel. “Just for the fun of it, I get behind the bar. For no more than ten minutes or half an hour, then I’ll go away again”, she says with a laugh. You can see how much fun it is from the impish sparkle in her eyes. She’s simply the born host.
