Mikel Hubbard

MIDWEST VALUES. For Mikel Hubbard, the co-founder and COO of The Host Co., his entrepreneurial journey is rooted in his Midwest charm and a relentless drive for innovation. Growing up in rural Illinois, Mikel learned early on the value of hard work and humility. “When you grow up in the Midwest, hard work is very much what you’re born and bred to do,” he recalls. This grounding has been a constant through his varied career, spanning television, real estate, and now technology.

Mikel’s childhood in the 1980s was marked by his academic and street smarts, which helped him navigate the often harsh attitudes toward gay culture in his small town. “As long as you are who you are and not afraid of them, they’re not going to be afraid of you,” Mikel reflects. “They want to like you just as much as you want to like them. They just sometimes don’t know how to deal with that.” Eager to escape the constraints of rural life, Mikel moved to Chicago for university, a decision that was as much about finding himself as it was about education.

Initially, Mikel attended the University of Illinois in Chicago, but his passion for television soon led him to Columbia College to study TV production. “The city made me not want to go to school,” Mikel admits. “I just wanted to have a life and a job.” His determination paid off when he landed an internship with HGTV, propelling him into a career that would take him to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Mikel’s time in television was marked by his love for reality TV, a genre he felt represented the real, less glamorous people of the world. “I wanted to put all these people on TV not to exploit them, but to show that we are all so different, and people can be so interesting and so funny,” he says.

His favorite project, Big Easy Brides, exemplified this ethos, combining his passion for storytelling with the vibrant culture of New Orleans. “It was like just playtime silly with one of my best friends in New Orleans,” Mikel recalls. “It was the most ridiculous, wild time. I just couldn’t believe it was my life.”

The shift away from reality TV in 2017 pushed Mikel to explore new avenues. Seeing the decline of reality TV’s popularity, he seized an opportunity in house-flipping with an HGTV talent he had worked with for years. This pivot led to the founding of Times Eight, Inc., a real estate investment, property management, and design firm. Mikel’s knack for seeing the potential in undervalued properties turned into a successful venture, transforming homes into Airbnb’s.

Mikel’s latest endeavor, The Host Co., is a natural progression from Times Eight, venturing into the tech world to enhance short-term rentals. The Host Co. offers a platform for hosts to add instant amenities like mini-bars, room service, and concierge services. “I thought, there should be a way to sell stuff, besides the nightly rate,” Mikel explains. “Hotels are making money on room service, on the concierge, on the minibar. But when you have an Airbnb, the second somebody checks in, you’re losing money.”

ALWAYS REINVENTING. Despite his lack of tech background, Mikel’s determination and innovative thinking have driven The Host Co.’s success. An initial experiment in Joshua Tree demonstrated the concept’s viability. “We were like, okay, this has legs,” Mikel says. The company now boasts 9,000 stores nationwide. “I could never imagine I would be a startup co-founder, but that’s always been my trajectory in life—constantly having to reinvent and figure things out again.”

Reflecting on his journey so far, Mikel has found his LGBTQIA+ identity to be more of an asset than a hurdle. “Gays have good taste, so trust your instincts,” he quips. To new founders, he underscores the importance of patience and perseverance in achieving success. “Nothing’s gonna happen for that time you’re planting seeds. That seed’s gonna grow, but it’s gonna take time. Ultimately, I believe you have to bet on yourself.”