AGA Member Spotlight: Kevin Ferguson & Jigar Adhvaryu, Founders of Starlight Haven
Kevin Ferguson
Before co-founding Starlight Haven, Kevin served as an Entrepreneur in Residence, helping the world’s leading companies co-create high impact ventures. Before that, he worked in business development, corporate strategy and global product management in the electric vehicle industry. Prior to that, Kevin managed project teams as an electrical engineer at multinational oil and gas companies.
A life-long outdoorsman, Kevin developed a respect for the outdoors as a boy scout. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout, acquiring numerous awards along the journey including the 50-Miler Award for hiking over 50 miles at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Kevin has a BS in Electrical Engineering, summa cum laude, from Alabama A&M University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was elected Student Body President. Kevin is also a Schwarzman Scholar, earning a Master of Global Affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China
Jigar Adhvaryu
Jigar has spent his career developing business management and leadership skills. Over the tenure of his career, Jigar has turned around a struggling gas plant, led an engineering team, and served as project manager on a variety of operations initiatives. Having successfully led many teams and being surrounded by family members in the hospitality industry, Jigar scratched the entrepreneurial itch, co-founding Starlight Haven.
Jigar enjoys camping, backpacking and hiking, and has camped or backpacked at various National or State parks including Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, and Channel Islands. Jigar has a BA in Physics and Environmental Science, Cum Laude, from Willamette University, BS in Environmental Engineering from Columbia University, MS in Civil Environmental Engineering from University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Rice University.
Q: Tell us a bit more about why you started a company in the glamping industry.
We started Starlight Haven due to our shared appreciation and respect for the outdoors. Kevin, an Eagle Scout, has been passionate about the outdoors since his early years. And Jigar, a son of immigrants, introduced his family to the great outdoors and kindled his love for nature, taking his family to visit several national parks. Our team views our company as an avenue to create unique experiences that demonstrate the benefits and joy of spending time outside. We understand that the outdoors can be intimidating for people who didn’t grow up with experiences like ours, and we wanted to create a more accessible and comfortable way for others to embrace nature.
Our desire to build a business and pursue entrepreneurship also played a significant role in starting Starlight Haven. In a previous life, we worked together at an energy company and promised each other that we would one day go off on our own and embark on the entrepreneurial pilgrimage together. We both come from entrepreneurial families, so the drive to create something of our own has always been part of our DNA. Our team believes inherent in the American dream is the notion of entrepreneurship and having more control over one’s destiny.
Finally, we like to believe that we are uniquely positioned to enter the glamping industry due to our backgrounds and skill sets. We both have engineering and construction backgrounds - Kevin an electrical engineer, and Jigar an environmental engineer - greatly aid the development and cycle at our glamping sites. Furthermore, Jigar’s family has ties in the hospitality industry, while Kevin’s family has ties in broader real estate, and construction. This combination of expertise and resources have provided us with invaluable insights and resources to establish our business.
Ultimately, our complementary skills and shared passion for the outdoors make us the perfect team to run a glamping venture. We thoroughly enjoy working together and feel fortunate to be able to bring our shared vision to life, providing an opportunity for more people to appreciate the beauty and benefits of nature through glamping.
Q: Tell us a bit about your glamping business and where it is today? Where do you see your business in the future, what’s on the horizon?
Our team founded Starlight Haven a little over two years ago with the sole purpose to make the outdoors more accessible so that everyone can enjoy nature regardless of their experience or background. We are creating a brand and outdoor experience that can serve as a gateway to the outdoors, where guests can connect with nature in comfort and create meaningful moments with themselves, family, friends, and colleagues. Our team often describes Starlight Haven as a brand and experience for both the non-outdoorsy type and avid outdoors enthusiasts.
Today, we operate a seven-unit location in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where our primary accommodation-type is treehouses. Our team has two development projects in the works— an expansion project at our Hot Springs location and a ground-up development in Northeast Alabama on Weiss Lake. Once fully developed, the Hot Springs project will consist of a communal clubhouse and 21 accommodations, including a mix of geo-domes, safari-style tents, and treehouses. The Northeast Alabama project will feature 15 accommodations with a mix of A-frame cabins, geo-domes, and safari-style tents.
Our team is eager to welcome guests to both properties due to the amazing locations. The Hot Springs property is eight minutes from Hot Springs National Park and downtown Hot Springs. And our Northeast Alabama property boasts over 1,500 feet of lake frontage on Weiss Lake and is only minutes away from Little River Canyon, one of the largest canyons east of the Mississippi River. In addition to our unique accommodations, we also offer a variety of experiences to our guests, such as guided nature walks, outdoor mixology classes, and spa services.
Our ambition is to take Starlight Haven across the country. We are currently working on putting together a third project in the Texas Hill Country. We’re excited about the future and committed to providing our guests with an unforgettable experience that deepens their connection with nature and fosters lifelong memories.
Q: What are you most excited about within the glamping industry moving forward and your glamping business specifically?
When describing our industry, we like to use a baseball analogy: The glamping industry in the US is still in the 1st or 2nd inning. This is incredibly exciting, as it means there’s still so much potential for growth and innovation. Unlike many mature industries, where leading brands and businesses can feel faceless, the glamping industry is refreshingly personal and accessible.
One of the aspects we find most thrilling is the level of connection and support within the industry. Whether you’re thinking about starting a glamping business or already operating a few tents, it’s fantastic to be able to email or call just about any glamping business founder or CEO and have a meaningful 30- or 45-minute conversation. This access is available to all who choose to pursue it, fostering a sense of community and collaboration.
Our team is particularly excited about the development and growth of both brands and independent operators across the industry. As more entrepreneurs grow their businesses, we’ll see increased awareness and demand for glamping experiences, which benefits everyone involved. We are eager to continue growing our own business and contribute to the momentum that’s already been built within the industry.
Moreover, our team is passionate about helping others. As we’ve navigated challenges the past few years, we’ve gained insights that we are always happy to share with others in similar positions. It’s an incredible opportunity to be a part of an industry that is still blossoming.
Q: Do you have any advice for those that are just starting out?
We always give folks who are just starting out two pieces of advice.
First, embrace a ‘scrappy’ mindset. When you embark on a new project, you’ll inevitably encounter numerous stakeholders, from financing partners and regulatory authorities to members of the local community where your project is based. Navigating through these relationships, at times, can be challenging, especially considering the lack of education or miseducation about our industry.
There are countless potential landmines to be aware of, and to overcome these barriers, one needs to be incredibly scrappy. This means being resourceful and determined to always find a creative solution to the problem you encounter. Alongside this scrappy mindset is healthy dose of delusional optimism. Believe in yourself and your project, even when the odds seem stacked against you. This combination of scrappiness and unwavering optimism will help you persevere and succeed in the face of adversity.
Second, just get started, move fast, but be nimble. There is so much learning by doing that it’s best to get started and iterate along the way. Our projects have evolved with multiple updates to projections, design, and even the role we, as operators, envisioned playing at the onset. Being thoughtful but nimble, willing to question original decisions, and accounting for new data and learnings have served us well.
Q: Anything else you would like us to know about you, your business or your journey?
We are always willing to help where we can and connect with operators or aspiring operators.
Feel free to reach out to Kevin at kevin@visitstarlight.com or Jigar at jigar@visitstarlight.com
