No More Average — How to Make Your Project Stand Out in a Crowded Global Market

2 days ago
5 min read

Is it just me or does everything feel average lately?

I’ve been seeing so many projects and new funds popping up from hotels, real estate developments, tech platforms, etc. If you look at them all individually, I guess they seem impressive. But I was starting to feel uninspired and honestly apathetic about every “opportunity” that came across my desk.

I had to stop and think about why I haven’t felt excited about a project in a long time.

So I decided to read the book "Unreasonable Hospitality" the other day and hit me that this is a worldwide epidemic across industries. While it’s prominent in F&B and hospitality and development, I see it every day in my work with project developers, fund managers and investors.

Average business plans. Average branding. Average events in average venues. And yes, that applies to average “luxury” as well.

Whatever your niche is, it's all the same language, the same numbers, the same renderings and the same project concepts being recycled and rebranded as the next “visionary” thing.

And yet, what gets me the most is the fact that every single average concept somehow has the audacity to brand themselves as “visionary.”

And we’re supposed to call this progress?!

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the way we’ve defined “visionary” and “disruptive” is broken.

It doesn’t just mean making everything a bigger, flashier or more expensive project.

Speaking for myself, but the moments I remember most in life were rarely the most expensive ones. The most exceptional, unforgettable experiences usually came from something far simpler, a feeling you can’t quite articulate, but you know you’ll carry with you for years.

So what does this all mean.

Let me break down what it means to be absolutely, unapologetically unorthodox in your business and what it takes to stand out in a crowded global market:

Three Simple Ways You Can Immediately Stop Being "Average":

Design

Most projects are designed to be acceptable. Using neutral palettes, safe materials and having a trendy, but forgettable brand.

Exceptional design asks:

What story does this space tell?
What emotion does someone feel when they walk in?
What details will they photograph without being asked?

Exceptional design is:

A mural in every room representing a piece of the region's history.
A scent custom-blended for the property.
Materials sourced from a specific village with a story behind them.
A lobby that feels like stepping into a different world.

Execution

It's easy to have a vision and perfect renderings. But it's incredibly rare to have flawless execution and prove you can actually deliver the feeling and dream you’re promising.

It means you need:

A feasibility study that goes deeper than “luxury tourism is growing.”
Knowing your exact guest persona, not just “affluent travelers.”
Obsessing over lighting, scent, sound, not because it’s trendy, but because it will impact every check-in experience.

Energy

This is the part no one talks about. You can't model your energy in your excel spreadsheet or make bullet points in your pitch deck.

Energy shows up in the smallest ways.

In how prepared you are. In how deeply you answer questions. In whether you light up when you talk about the project, or just recite numbers.

Sometimes I think people are afraid of this level of intensity. They’re afraid to be too excited or too opinionated.

But being exceptional requires people to be highly emotional and you should find yourself caring more than feels rational. And that's the point!!

People can tell when you care. And more importantly, people can surely feel when your team around you doesn't.

Some of My Favorite "Exceptional" Hospitality Experiences Around the World

Palmyra, Syria 2025 🇸🇾

While travelling across Syria last September, we stopped at the ruins of Palmyra. It was the middle of the day, and we had been on the road for hours to get there. The ruins sit in the middle of nowhere, in an almost abandoned town in a country that has been in conflict for over a decade.

At one point, half joking and half exhausted, I said to my friends, “What’s a girl gotta do to get a coffee around here?”

A local Bedouin man who barely spoke English overheard me and asked, “You want coffee?”

I laughed and said, “No, no, I’m just joking. There’s no restaurants around here.”

He looked at us, got on his horse (literally like something out of a movie) and said, “I’ll be back.”

He rode home, made coffee, and returned with a full Arabic coffee and tea set, complete with dates, so we could sit and enjoy it while exploring the ruins. I don’t remember many of the historical facts from that day. But I surely remember how deeply hospitable the people of Syria were.

And from that moment on, I felt a genuine desire to support them in rebuilding in any way I could.

Cairo, Egypt 2022 🇪🇬

A few years earlier, while travelling Egypt, my friend and I were guided into a carpet shop that looked like every other carpet shop we had passed that week. No disrespect, but I had absolutely no intention of buying a carpet that day. We stepped in just to look, more out of politeness than interest.

Within minutes, the shop owner smiled, laughed, and said, “No pressure. Pull up a chair.”

So we did.

He proceeded to bring us tea. Definitely not because we looked like serious buyers or were committed to anything, but just because that’s what you do.

We ended up sitting there for what must have been over an hour. He told us about his life. About the generations before him leading the business. About how he could tell where a carpet came from just by touching it. And he made us laugh so hard unfolding carpet after carpet with dramatic flair that by the time we left, collectively, we had bought six carpets.

Six....I didn't even need one.

Why does this all matter?

Because it pays to be completely, unapologetically intentional in everything you do.

Whether you are in hospitality or not, everyone is in the customer service business. I don’t care if you’re building hotels, raising a fund, launching an AI startup, developing infrastructure, or selling software, you are serving and interacting with someone on a daily basis, investors, potential partners, guests or clients.

You need to remember, it's an extremely crowded market out there. Everyone now has access to the same tools, the same market reports, the same templates and the same AI. So if you’re relying on being 'good' or 'professional' or 'competitive', you’re already behind.

I hope this inspires you to...

Be so over-the-top people remember you.

Be so unorthodox people talk about you behind your back.

Be so beyond unreasonably hospitable that people come back, and bring others with them.

Or I guess you'll just always be known as 'average'?

Incase we haven’t met yet, my name is Rachel, founder and Director of The Ocean Edition. We work at the intersection of private capital and emerging travel, tourism and hospitality. If you want to connect and see how we can work together, contact me at: rachel@theoceanedition.com. 🌴