Suncoast Hosts Serves As 'Walking Yellow Pages' In Venice: Owner

Sarasota FL

07 September, 2021

4:11 PM

Description

VENICE, FL — Both Celeste Tobey and Rebecca McConnell know firsthand the difficulties of moving to a new state with few connections and they want to make that transition easier for other new Venice residents. In recent years the friends and co-owners of Suncoast Hosts both — separately — relocated from the Chicago area to Sarasota County. "You have to recreate a whole life here down to a plumber, a seamstress, whatever," McConnell said. "Where's the best pizza place?" Tired of the cold weather up north and looking for a change, both women found their way to Venice with their families. McConnell moved to Florida in 2018, while Tobey relocated in June 2020 after both she and her husband lost their fathers within a short period. "It was kind of a wake-up call," Tobey said. "It was a now-or-never thing. And I was working at a cancer center up there. I saw people losing their lives daily and fighting for their lives daily. We just wanted to live our lives to the fullest. That was so important to us. We both quit our full-time jobs to be here, and we had no jobs lined up." She was excited for the nicer weather, the year-round outdoor activities and the family adventure. To meet locals and learn about their new city, Tobey joined Facebook groups for Venice residents. Hoping to make some new friends, one day in January she posted an invite for other women who might want to play some pickleball. McConnell responded to her post. "Sure enough, she came out and we hit it off as soon as we started talking," Tobey said. "Within an hour or two, her and her husband were hanging out at our house. We had a lot in common." McConnell added, "When we moved here, too, we didn't know anybody. We're not related to anyone here. When you move like this as an adult, it's so hard to put yourself out there to make new friends." They bonded over their status as Chicago transplants in Southwest Florida. It wasn't long before they decided they wanted to go into business together and began "spit balling ideas," McConnell said. Their conversation kept returning to their own experiences as newcomers to Venice. "We kept talking about this idea of how we can help people network and get acclimated," she said. A military brat, she moved around a lot in her youth, she added. "When you transfer to a new base, there's always some little welcome procedure. The mothers, the women in the community, they help you acclimate to the new lifestyle. Here, there's none of that. You have to figure it out on your own." Their company, Suncoast Hosts, evolved from these conversations. Their business connects newcomers to the area with local businesses, services and other important information. They greet them at their homes with a beach bag filled with business cards, flyers and coupons. "Venice tends to be known as a little bit of an older community. It's not always ideal for them to go on Google to find a good pizza place," Tobey said. "Rebecca and I are kind of going old school. We're like the walking Yellow Pages. I can't imagine my grandparents getting on Google right now. I just can't." McConnell added, "It's kind of old school meets new school. We don't know everyone and everything. We have to google some stuff ourselves. So, we're vetting businesses, curating this network for folks, and then putting it in the bag and greeting people to be that welcoming face…We're trying to do that legwork for them to make the transition a little easier." They also share additional information about Venice businesses and happenings through their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. Down the road, they hope to host their own in-person events for networking and socializing. For now, they're focusing on growing their business connections. And newcomers to the community offer many opportunities to small businesses. More than 80 percent of new homeowners will use the first business that makes contact with them, according to the Suncoast Hosts website. And customers that make a cross-country move spend more in their first six months than the average customer spends in three years as they recreate their networks and build their lives in a new city. "We're not just trying to help residents. We're helping local businesses, as well," McConnell said. "We're trying to promote people who are here and who live in our community."