Podcast Episodes

Today we’re diving into a topic that continues to grow in importance for vacation and short-term rental managers: guest screening and property protection. Leo Walton is co-founder of Superhog, a company that has streamlined the process for managers to easily confirm the identity of their guests and protect against fraud, damage and crime. The key to providing a good guest experience when it comes to processes like screening and other security measures is to set expectations early and bring them...

Fresh off a major announcement that Hostfully successfully raised $4M in funding, Margot is part of only 2% of venture funded companies led by female founders. Margot credits her success to her ability to lead with transparency and authenticity that is rarely seen in the VC world. Mom of 3 beautiful children, she talks to us about how she balances a very busy work and home life and the challenges this has created along the way of building Hostfully into one of the most successful property manage...

It's the 1st of the Month! Tune in for our short and SUITE bonus episode series where we discuss news, upcoming events. trends, and anything of interest in the world of vacation and short term rentals. We're at the VRMA Executive Summit this week in Palm Beach, Florida, moderated by the one-and-only Simon Lehmann. We have some BIG news to share today, so stay tuned to the end...you don't want to miss this announcement from Simon Lehmann and AJL Atelier. CONTACT SIMON LEHMANN LinkedIn AJL Ateli...

In this insightful and candid interview with Hostaway CEO, Marcus Räder takes us on an eye-opening journey of what companies really learn as they attempt to grow with investment capital. Marcus joins us today as another member of "The Blondies", and while the three of us together look we could also be members of the Brady Bunch, we dive into some seriously impactful topics that are applicable to any business looking to scale and grow. Marcus shares how companies can only learn by doing the wron...

Tracy Johnstone is one of those leaders who if you are lucky enough to encounter on your career journey, will aspire you to become so much more than you ever thought possible. As a female who rose to the top of the ranks of corporate McDonald's in the 1990’s, Tracy shares how she built her confidence and found her voice in a male dominated boardroom. She recalls, “There’s lots of seats at the table… I just learned early on, which ones I wanted. Just being on the team wasn’t enough for me, at som...

Tune in for today's episode with Boostly CEO Mark Simpson, joining us from across the pond to chat about the importance of building a book direct strategy. The Pandemic showed the short term rental industry how dangerous it can be to rely on only 1 or 2 platforms for bookings, especially when you don't have control of these platforms. There's a heavy price associated with playing by someone else's rules and as the old adage goes, "don't build your house on someone else's land." Smart marketers ...

Tune in for Part 2 of our episode with Ed St. Onge, President of Flip.to and Founder of the first ever channel management software for hotels, EZ Yield. On last week's episode, Ed took us through the early days of channel and yield management and how the technology his team build became the foundation of an industry. On today's episode, Ed shares his story of Flip.to and how they are transforming the guest journey to drive more direct bookings, grow profits, and enhance the quality of the conve...

It's the 1st of the Month! Tune in for our short and SUITE bonus episode series where look at booking pace and discussing upcoming events. trends, and anything of interest in the world of vacation and short term rentals! CONTACT ALEX & ANNIE AlexandAnniePodcast.com LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram Alex Husner - Linkedin Annie Holcombe - Linkedin Podcast Sponsored by Condo-World and Lexicon Travel

This is Part 1 of a special 2 part series with Ed St. Onge, President of Flip.to (and the OG of Channel Management). Why are there 2 episodes? Because 1 just wasn't enough! Ed takes us on a journey that is nothing short of astounding, starting from his early days as the President of EZ Yield, the very first ever channel manager for hotels that he sold to Travel Click (then later acquired by Amadeus). The technology EZ Yield built in the early 2000's laid the bricks for future channel and rate ma...

Tune in for this special episode where we speak with VRMA President, Miller Hawkins, about the recent Spring Forum in Chicago. Advocacy was top of mind at this event, as vacation rental managers came together to find a way to protect the industry from the infringement of short term rental laws that are spreading like wildfire. While local governments are enacting these laws to prevent the problems that come from the "bad apples" that have accompanied the surge in popularity of short term rentals...

Tune in for today's episode with David Krauss, CEO and Co-Founder of Rent Responsibly, the organization that has helped thousands of managers from coast to coast as they deal with the influx of short term rental laws that are infringing on the industry. In most cases, short term rental laws are enacted by municipalities to combat issues created by the new wave of individual hosts that can now easily rent properties on Airbnb and Vrbo. Disruptive guests and hosts that don't pay taxes are among th...

Ali Cammelletti joins us today to discuss all things related to leadership and resilience in the workplace. Ali has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including several years with Navis where she worked with resort and lodging companies around the world to drive revenue and increase sales agent performance. Ali now owns her own consulting company, Spark Your Mindset, and specializes in leadership coaching with business leaders in all industries. While vacation rentals...

Tune in on the 1st of the month for this short and SUITE bonus episode series! In this month's episode we discuss: Changes to booking pace - what happened in March? Annie's trip to Myrtle Beach and HSMAI Event Is Annie really moving to Myrtle Beach?! Or is it April Fool's Day :) Our Fireside Chat (& lunch) with VRMA President Miller Hawkins Importance of aligning local and national trade associations within a destination Alex admits to committing the cardinal sin of vacation planning for ...

As one of Greg Fisher’s partners recently said, “There’s a difference between an Owner and a Founder; and Greg is a Founder.” Greg joins us today to share his entrepreneurial journey and how he grew TripShock into one of the largest online tour & activity marketplaces in the country. When Greg launched TripShock back in 2009, he faced significant headwinds as he battled to get the platform up and running. Most water sports and attractions were still managed by pen and paper during this time, so ...

Tune in to this inspiring episode as Jen Ford shares highlights of an impressive career and the pivotal decisions that helped her build confidence, discover her passions and ultimately, lay a solid runway for future growth opportunities. As Jen reveals, it's all in your mindset! Jen is a seasoned executive with a background in e-commerce, retail, travel, and technology. During her career, Jen has worked in both public and private companies, from start-up to Fortune 100. She has led successful t...

Today we are joined by Pete DiMaio for a very special episode! Pete is Vice President of Travel Boom Marketing, the hotel industry's leading marketing agency and on this episode he joins us to share the Top 5 Things Vacation Rentals Can Learn from Hotels. We recently joined Pete on his show The Hotel Marketing Podcast to share what hotels can learn from vacation rentals. This was a fun switch-a-roo episode and it is packed with helpful information! Pete details the following tips: #1: The On-P...

Lino Maldonado is recognized as one of the industry's most innovative players, known for his collaborative spirit and uncanny ability to see opportunity where most see road blocks. Lino's career includes 23 years with Wyndham Vacation Rentals as VP of Operations, where he managed a staff of 1200 employees and a budget in excess of $500M. Utilizing his wealth of knowledge and experience as an operator, Lino joined BeHome247 in 2019 to lead the charge and development of cutting-edge smart home tec...

On today's episode we are joined by Jennifer Barbee, CEO of Destination Innovate and a dynamic leader who has worked with over 400 hospitality and destination brands. She has been credited with many innovative firsts in the industry; including the first personalized destination website, tapped to lead digital account strategy for the first inbound travel campaign for the US Department of Commerce and the first destination campaign to be used as a Facebook Business Case study. She is a contributo...

Tune in on the 1st day of the month for these short and SUITE bonus episodes with Alex & Annie! In this month's episode we discuss: Booking pace and changes to traveler sentiment Alex shares her experience participating at GNEX Conference in Vegas Big news of a major award! Listener spotlights Preview of March's upcoming episodes and topics Watch on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/u_dxzheyOaU CONTACT ALEX & ANNIE AlexandAnniePodcast.com LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram Alex Husner - Linkedi...

In today’s episode we are joined with Vered Raviv Schwarz, President/COO of the property management platform Guesty. We had the pleasure of meeting Vered at the Women’s Conference at the end of 2021, and got to listen to her speak about being a female entrepreneur in a male dominated tech world. An advocate for women in business and technology, Vered shares with us stories from her career that led her to understand that you can truly do anything you put your mind to, and that with the right amou...

Jim DeVos is the type of business leader and entrepreneur that any employee who takes pride in their job would love to work for. Jim's career started in the airline industry with Piedmont Airlines, where he honed the skill of team building, opening up 3 hubs and 70 new markets. He then went on to work as an advertising exec for 17 years, and got to witness the the tail end of the Mad Men era of agency life and the days when 3 martini lunches were the norm. Jim's experience in sales and marketin...

In this episode we are joined by iTrip CEO Steve Caron, an industry veteran whose tour of duty began in the Air Force as a special operations night instructor. When Steve departed the service, he went on to use his computer science degree as lead technologist for Abbott Resorts, the largest vacation rental company on the Gulf Coast at the time. Abbott was eventually sold to Resort Quest, the first company to attempt becoming a national vacation rental brand. Founded by hotel execs, Resort Quest ...

Wake up, wake up, wake up... it's the 1st of the Month! On this new bonus series, we'll look back on the previous month and look ahead to the next, examining booking trends, pacing and anything timely and newsworthy within travel and vacation rentals. Tune in on the 1st day of the month for these short and SUITE bonus episodes with Alex & Annie! CONTACT ALEX & ANNIE AlexandAnniePodcast.com LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram Alex Husner - Linkedin Annie Holcombe - Linkedin Podcast Sponsored by Cond...

On today's episode we're joined by Julie George, author of the best selling book Million Dollar Host and a renowned leader, speaker and consultant on how to build a business on the backbone of the sharing economy. Recognized as an Airbnb expert, Julie grew her portfolio from 1 unit to 130 in less than 3 years, generating over $8M in revenue prior to selling the business. She now consults and mentors others short term rental hosts seeking to grow their own million dollar businesses. *Special of...