“I Was Drinking a Lot—and Getting Nothing from It” — Ben Wolff on Cutting Ties with Coping and Going All In on Vision

Cut The Tie Podcast with Ben Wolff

What if the biggest tie holding you back isn’t your job, your routine, or your comfort zone—but a habit you thought was helping you cope? In this honest and energizing episode, Thomas Helfrich talks with Ben Wolff, a former McKinsey consultant who walked away from the predictable path to build one of the most unique hotel brands in America.

Ben is now the founder behind Onera and Buya, two wildly creative hotel concepts that merge outdoor hospitality, storytelling, and marketing in a way few have done before. But his journey didn’t just require business savvy—it demanded personal reinvention, including getting sober and redefining what success really means.

About Ben Wolff:

Ben Wolff is a hotel developer, operator, and marketer known for creating immersive, story-driven hospitality experiences. He is the founder of Oasi, a marketing and revenue management company, and the visionary behind Onera, a luxury treehouse-style hotel brand in Texas Hill Country, and Buya, a tropical resort concept launching in South Florida.

In this episode, Thomas and Ben discuss:

• Building brands people want to photograph
  Ben breaks down the marketing principles behind his viral, highly “Instagrammable” hotel experiences that make people say “wow.”
• How to hit 80% direct bookings through storytelling
  He shares the content strategy that helps his hotels bypass OTAs and capture guests directly, driving profitability and loyalty.
• The real risk of choosing the wrong partners
  From early mistakes to current success, Ben outlines how critical it is to only work with A-players—and why urgency is a non-negotiable value.

Key Takeaways:

• Sobriety created space for real transformation
  Once Ben stopped drinking, he gained the clarity and control to build something meaningful and sustainable.
• Marketing is storytelling—and emotion matters
  Visual experiences and emotional resonance beat generic messaging every time in the hospitality space.
• Your team determines your trajectory
  The wrong hires drain momentum. The right ones accelerate growth and create alignment.

Connect with Ben Wolff:

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/
🌐 Website: https://www.stayonera.com/
🌐 Oasi: https://stayoasi.com/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich:

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutthetie
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: [email protected]
🚀 InstantlyRelevant.com: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

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