Lessons Learned: How Two Besties became Moteliers and Created a Beloved Brand

From the INSIDE: Prince Edward County Series

Canadian entrepreneurs April Brown and Sarah Sklash are the founders of The June Motel, taking a motel in Prince Edward County and creating a brand they’ve replicated twice over. Nine years later, Brown reflects on the growth of their business and lessons learned since 2017.

Moteliers and besties April Brown and Sarah Sklash are greeting summer 2026 with many accolades: nine years since they opened the first June Motel, eight newly renovated rooms on offer and a sunny outlook for the future.

These Ontario entrepreneurs have survived and thrived, currently with three motels in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, Sauble Beach and Beaver Valley. By the North heard from co-owner April Brown on how they’ve evolved as business owners since 2017:

What were your biggest fears when you opened The June Motel in Prince Edward County nine years ago?

That no one would come. When we bought the motel, Prince Edward County was growing as a destination, but it wasn't “The County” as people know it today. We had a vision for a completely different kind of motel experience, but there was no guarantee anyone else would see what we saw.

My other big fear was we would run out of money before we opened. We had $250,000 to renovate 16 rooms, do landscaping, create the Lobby Bar, and keep up with the mortgage payments. Looking back, it seems impossible.

How has social media helped or been a challenge as you grew your brand?

We launched in 2017 at a moment when Instagram was becoming a powerful tool for brands. We knew we didn't have a big marketing budget, so we focused on creating spaces people would naturally want to photograph and share. The pink doors, statement wallpaper, neon signs, rosé at check-in, those moments became our marketing. Guests were telling our story for us, and that was incredibly powerful.

Today, we're much more focused on capturing the experience of staying at the motels: slowing down, spending time with friends, sitting by a bonfire, enjoying a glass of wine, and embracing the good life. We’re still very much a small business. People often see the Netflix show or our growth and assume we're a large hospitality company, but we're still just three boutique motels with a small team and a modest marketing budget. We rely heavily on organic content, and reaching audiences organically has become much more difficult than it was nine years ago. We still believe authenticity wins and content that performs best is what reflects what it's like to be here.

What did you learn during the pandemic and post-pandemic about your business?

The biggest lesson was how fragile business can be. When COVID hit, we suddenly found ourselves refunding hundreds of thousands of dollars in reservations. It was a scary moment because so much of our cash flow disappeared overnight.

It taught us the importance of building a stronger financial foundation. We learned that growth can't always come at the expense of stability.

What unexpected challenges have you experienced in the growth of your business?

One of the biggest surprises has been how difficult it is to scale while maintaining the level of detail and care that defines the guest experience.

When we opened Sauble Beach, we thought we had all the systems and processes in place. It wasn't until we were operating multiple properties that we realized how much work was still needed behind the scenes. Building the infrastructure, team, and systems allows the experience to remain consistent across every property. The last five years have been focused on strengthening the foundation of the business, so we're prepared for whatever comes next.

How have you balanced your business partnership with changes in your personal lives?

We always envisioned our business as a lifestyle business. We wanted to build something that supported the lives we wanted to live, not the other way around. Entrepreneurship can be all-consuming at times, but we've worked hard to evolve the business alongside our personal lives.

Sarah now splits her time between Canada and Europe, which has encouraged us to build a strong central team that can operate remotely. For me, as a mom of two young kids, it's been important to align our growth plans with my personal capacity and priorities.One of the greatest gifts of entrepreneurship is the ability to intentionally design your life.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women, what advice would you pass on?

If we can do it, you can do it. We definitely had moments of naivety when we bought our first motel, but sometimes that's a gift. If you knew every obstacle ahead of time, you might never start.

Our advice is that you don't have to do everything yourself. Surround yourself with talented people: find a great lawyer, accountant, photographer, designer, mentor, or business partner. Build a community of experts.The strongest businesses aren't built by one person. They're built by people who know how to ask for help and bring great people along for the journey.

What do you wish someone had told you when you opened the doors to The June Motel?

That there would be endless opportunities, partnerships, projects, and ideas coming our way—and that not all of them would be worth pursuing. It’s easy to get distracted by the next exciting thing. We’ve learned the importance of staying focused on what truly lights us up and what we're best at.

Reimagining overlooked motels and creating beautiful places where people can gather, connect, and live the good life. Whenever we've stayed close to that mission, good things have followed.

After nine years, what makes you smile about your business?

Seeing guests truly living the good life. Whether it's a group of friends sharing a bottle of wine by the pool, a couple reconnecting over a weekend away, or strangers becoming friends around a bonfire, those are the moments that make me smile.

We intentionally design our spaces to encourage connection, relaxation, and fun. When we walk through a property and see those moments happening naturally, it reminds us exactly why we started this business nine years ago. We’re not just renting rooms. We're creating places where people can make memories, celebrate milestones, and enjoy life a little more.