In Deep Shift: Navigating Change, Loss, and Business Growth with Valerie Gangas

Alex Husner  
Welcome to Alex & Annie: The real women of vacation rentals. I'm Alex and I'm Annie, and we are joined today with a long time friend Valerie Gengas, who is the CEO of juniper holiday at home. Valerie, it's so good to see

Valerie Gangas  
you. Thanks. It's so fun for all three of us to be together.

Annie Holcombe  
This is so crazy, and I wasn't actually able to be with you guys the last time that you came on, so this is a treat for me to be able to interview you and ask you lots of questions. But before we get started, why don't you tell us a little bit about you, your background and how you came to own juniper.

Valerie Gangas  
Yes, so I have Juniper holiday and home. We're operating in southwest Michigan, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Naples, Florida, and Park City, Utah. It started about four years ago with me buying 14 homes between southwest Michigan and Vail. I had no intention of like working with the public. I thought I was just going to have my own portfolio of homes. I've always liked interior design and really just wanted to buy homes make them beautiful, and then decided that I would rent them out. And so I went down that path around covid. Prior to that, I'd been living in the Bay Area, buying homes and converting the garages into ADUs additional dwelling units. There's not enough housing in the Bay Area, so I, you know, took that route, and that was very difficult, and then covid hit, and I just wanted to get out of California. So that's when I pivoted and got these homes with my old business partner and a group of investors, and then what happened was people started contacting me wanting to buy my homes, especially especially in southwest Michigan, because so many people wanted to get out of the city. They weren't going to offices. They wanted more space. And people started making me offers I couldn't refuse, and after the second or third house that I sold, they all wanted me to also stay on as their property manager, that's when I decided to go whole hog and just start juniper and start working with the public. And that was about, I think that was like two and a half years ago, because, actually, Alex, I was trying to figure out the dates when I met you in Georgia. That was in May, and I think I know it's in

Alex Husner  
February, because you went to two keystones.

Valerie Gangas  
Okay, so that was in February, right? I think I had, I had sold two homes. So I had two home owners at that point, and that was at the beginning, and I had no member. I had no idea what I was doing, like, at all. I didn't even know this was an industry, right? I didn't know a thing. So that was, that's how I can, like, keep track of the timeline, and now we've grown it into, you know, a decent company, and it, I have a great team, and it, um, it just all started unfolding.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, it's been super fun to watch your journey, even more fun to become your friend in that journey, I would say.

Annie Holcombe  
But like, the first people I met, it was like, eight,

Alex Husner  
yeah, yeah. And I'll never forget walking into that Keystone retreat. And it's kind of like being on the real world. You have no idea who's going to be there. When you walk in, and I'm dragging my suitcase, and when I open the door, there's a bunch of people in the room, and you're the first person I saw. And I was like, I know her. And it was because you had started posting on LinkedIn, and I noticed your posts, and we were friends, and, you know, in a couple seconds, we realized, you know who each other was, but it's, it's been really fun to watch your journey. I think because you, I think you just inherently, as a your personality, you are extremely curious and open minded and want to take advice and listen to people. And obviously that's worked, you know, quite well for the business and what you've you've established so far. But beyond vacation rentals, though. I mean, you've had a career in a lot of different fields, right? I mean, in restaurants, in different meditation and personal development type things maybe tell us a little bit about that, because I think that kind of is a good layout for what we're going to talk about here in a little

Valerie Gangas  
bit. Yeah. So I grew up in a family that we owned restaurants. My dad started with a franchise. It was called Yankee Doodle Dandy. There was 42 of them in the Midwest. And so I grew up. Up, you know, going to work with him. He always put me to work putting together to go boxes. I learned how to work the line, like to make cheeseburgers. And, I mean, it was basically like a McDonald's. So that started. My first memories of going to work with him are, like, around four or five years old. So, you know, kind of being a part, feeling like I was a part of it, you know, even at that young age. And so that was the first job. And then as I got older, I really wanted to work for a larger Restaurant Group. So at 15 years old, I worked for a company called Lettuce Entertain You. They have a lot of restaurants in Chicago. They've branched out of the city, but they own like corner bakery and maggianos and stuff like that. So my first job at 15 was at corner bakery because I just wanted to see how a corporate Restaurant Group operated. Because at that point, my dad had these higher end restaurants called Bailey's, but, you know, we stopped, he stopped at four of them. So I was like, Well, how can I? Because I wanted to go in that direction. And I really was like, well, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it big, like I'm having these thoughts at like, 1314, 15 years old, so working for Lettuce Entertain You. I wanted to, like, see, how can you own 500 restaurants? What does that look like? And realized, after working there for a year, I was like, I'm not really made for, like, corporate anything. So that that job, and then I worked at the Mercantile Exchange in Chicago. It's basically like, I don't know, the stock exchange called brefco. Um, I didn't go to college right away. I took a year off. My parents were not very happy about that, but I just wanted to be an adult and work. And I got a an apartment in the city, in Lincoln Park, and so did that for a year, and then eventually went back to college, started working for my dad, and he really taught me the restaurant business. By the time I was done, I knew I could run multiple restaurants. I did all the hiring, all the scheduling. I just I ran the whole front of the house so that that really set me up to be successful in hospitality. Um, after we sold all the restaurants, I pivoted, and that's when I started working for the David Lynch foundation. I took two years off to do, um, more non for profit type work, and I worked at Oprah Winfrey's studio in Chicago. She had brought in transcendental meditation to all of her Studios, New York, Los Angeles, and then her main studio, Chicago. So I started working there. Led all the meditations. I was basically on hand to talk to people before they learned to meditate and after they learned to meditate, because there was, like, big changes in their lives when they started meditating so and then that's when I also started doing a ton of public speaking. I started speaking all over the country, actually, and going into different corporations, law firms. We were at a medical school in Chicago, just into more work type environments. And then after that, I wrote my first book, took a year off, then I went and got into real estate development, and then, of course, juniper, so yeah, it's been, it's been a lifetime, except for that two years of working for the Foundation, which kind of piggybacked off my love of spirituality and Religious Studies and all that, everything else has been either real estate or hospitality or a combination of both.

Annie Holcombe  
So you and I have connected over the years in some of this religious and philosophical conversations. I mean, some of it's tongue in cheek, some of it's deep. And I just started reading your book in deep shift. And I will say that as I started it, I felt myself going through these things that you were talking about. And so I had, had had these, like, these moments of, like crying and then like laughing, and it's, it's, it's a really, so far, it's a really wonderful book. I'm not finished. I'm taking it like little bits at a time, but really, I think you're going to be talking at the women's conference next week about this book and and I'd love to hear more about how this came to be. And you know, taking the task to write a book is no easy feat, and we've talked to other people that have written it. It's at a really it's a really big undertaking. It's a really big commitment. But what was it about your life and all these experiences that you felt like I've got to put this down in writing, and led you to write deep in decent, deep shift, I'm gonna say it wrong.

Valerie Gangas  
Yeah. Yeah, it was really the first book, enlightenment is sexy, that I felt like I have to write, I have to write a book, because I kept having these experiences where I was meeting all these different people, specifically women, and they felt kind of lost. They felt not seen. They were having maybe different spiritual experiences or thoughts of living a more unconventional life, maybe not the status quo, and they felt alone in their journey. And I mean, I felt like I was built not to follow the herd. I've always felt like an individual, so I had a pretty clear path on the way this could be done, and so I had to write that first book, and the subtitle was like every woman's guide on how to live a magical life. Because I think if you chart your own path, and you listen to your intuition, and you can make decisions that are coming from within. I think that leads to a really unbelievable journey, and I had to get it on paper. So that was the first book. Then by the time the second book came around, which was some time later after the first book, The first book, I had lost my mom. That was really the game changer for me. That was my breakdown and breakthrough moment in my life. But since that first book in between the first book and the second book, I had lost all of my grandparents, all of my aunts and uncles, my brother died, my favorite cousin who was like a second mom to me, died like everyone started dying around me, and it was so heavy and just so much pain and just, I don't know, it just wouldn't stop. So I had also grown from that. So there was a big shift from the first book to the second book, and that's when I realized, like, I am not alone. All of us are going to go through really heavy times, whether it's a cancer diagnosis, you get divorced, you know, you lose someone you love, you lose your business, whatever the case may be, this is going to happen to all of us, and it really is an opportunity for a new life and so to write it down. And anyone that could pick up, anyone that would pick up the book, would be like, Wow, this girl can really understand what I'm going through and and that's what I just wanted for the reader.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, and I will say the audio version is excellent, too, which that's not always easy for people to be able to do. Actually, I haven't read the book physically. I've listened to it, I would say, from beginning to end twice. And then sometimes I go back and I just listen to parts that I've bookmarked, because it's super powerful. And I remember when I met you, I mean, kind of just what you described, like I was very much in a transitionary point in my life, and then another one, and you were there along with Sue Jones and and some others. I mean, Annie for sure, too, but there was some, there was definitely synergy, and just kind of the universe that I felt that the the information that you were sharing with me and the perspective you were sharing with me was just so needed at that time. But, you know, thinking back to how much you had to go through and that adversity, do you feel like when you like or, I guess maybe the better question is, how did you realize that by helping others, that was going to help you move out of that, you know, period of grief, because that was a lot of grief you experienced in a lot of time.

Valerie Gangas  
It must just be who I am. I feel like, if I learn something, I want to teach others, I feel like I'm on the planet to help others. I always say, like, my favorite quote, one of my favorite quotes is Ram Dass, who said we're all just walking each other home. So I really believe that, you know, like, I love the people around me, and I would do anything for them. So if I have anything to say or write that could help someone like That's motivation enough for me and to experience that level of pain and come out the other side and really shine. I was like, I have to talk about this, because this I'm not the only one that this is happening to. I think it's an opportunity for all of us. So I think we learn from each other. Yeah,

Annie Holcombe  
agreed. I think it's so important to be well, it takes a lot to be vulnerable and recognize that vulnerability, but to share it in the way that you do. And I think that that's that's a gift that you have. And. I know that Alex and I are both very grateful that you know we've met you and you've been able to share that gift with us. So when you wrote this book, or both the books, you know, and I guess Are we, are you going to talk about both of them next week, or just the in deep shift?

Valerie Gangas  
Well, the talk is really around the themes and in deep shift, but part of the story is writing that first book. But, yeah, it's a small snippet of it. It'll be more in deep shift.

Annie Holcombe  
Yeah. So what did you, what do you what do you like? What was your big takeaway from writing it? But was it? Is it more? Was it more than just the catharsis of getting it all down and like going through the process like you're getting through your grief and again being vulnerable about it, or did you learn something else about yourself in that process?

Valerie Gangas  
The vulnerability is probably number one on the list. I just decided at one point, like I wasn't going to hide who I was ever anymore, I spent, like my childhood feeling like I couldn't really show people who I was because I was having, you know, like psychic things going on and just like different spiritual experiences. I only told my mom because I thought, like, are you crazy? Or people are going to judge you? They're not going to understand you. And so after all this pain and really having a complete breakdown after my mom died, I just decided, like, No, I'm gonna I'm gonna move through the world, and I'm gonna be authentic. I'm gonna write what I think. I'm gonna be vulnerable. I'm gonna take chances in life and love and education and every aspect of my life, and it was a game changer. I think it's the key to happiness. There's no in in pretending to be someone you're not or or not sharing your gifts with the world. I mean, I think again, that's why we're here.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, yeah. And I think people reach that conclusion at different phases of their life, life, whether it's something tragic that happens, that spurs that change, or it's just the midlife crisis, or, you know, I mean, like, there's a variety of things, whether they're, you know, incredibly terrible to, you know, mildly terrible. But everybody gets to that point. And I think, you know, at some to some point it does just come with time and age, because at some point something terrible is going to happen to all of us. As terrible as that sounds, you know, you're gonna, you're gonna lose a job, you're gonna lose a parent, you're gonna lose a friend. And, you know, those are often, like, kind of the the linchpins of when something different changes in your life. But, you

Valerie Gangas  
know, around like 35 ish to be like 50 ish at the most. Like, it's usually that time period where those major changes start happening, and then that is, like when the shift really hits. Like that is transformed as a human being,

Alex Husner  
yeah, yeah. Well, and, I mean, you know, I know for myself, personally, like the things that I write about now on LinkedIn, and just stories that I share of vulnerability, to be honest, are things that I would have never written 510, years ago. Because it's like, at that point I was trying to show that I was so strong and like, you know, woman, cmo leader, and like, you don't say stuff like that. And looking back, I'm like, gosh, like, I was trying so hard to seem a certain way, but you know, now I've realized you need to share your story, because somebody else is going to be is going to be helped by you being honest and authentic about what has happened to you and how you felt at certain times. And it's okay to know that, like, I really, I was trying to be something, and I was that, but it's okay to look back and know like I'm being much more authentic with myself now, of like, you know, I still don't have everything figured out. Nobody does, but you don't have to pretend like you

Valerie Gangas  
do, I guess. And I mean, when I look I was, I feel like I was exactly the same way. I was always like, no one's gonna mess with me. I'm super strong. Blah, blah, blah, and, and, yes, we are all super strong, but this is a different type of strength. This is like an incredible strength, not like some act. And when I look back and I think about, like, how I was in college or in my 20s, I kind of felt like I was, like, a know it all, and confident and again, that no one's going to mess with me, but like that was just fear, like I didn't even know it was, and that's why age, it's such A great teacher.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, yeah,

Annie Holcombe  
yeah. I'm working on a sub stack right now. And, and I kind of said it, it was like, the clouds parted, you know, it's like, it's that moment when you just go, like, like, the birds are singing, and the angel, you know, it's like, everything just goes, Ah, it's, you know, it opens up. And I hit that, like, over, not in one day. Like, over time I've hit that, and Alex has been along this journey with me and seen it for sure. But I think it's like, you get to that point. And I said to somebody yesterday, was like, you know, is it, is it, is it really wisdom, or is it that, like, you're just give a shit meter just completely breaks, you know, that you're just like, I just want to better, you know? Yeah, and it's like, but you just get, you just get you just get comfortable in your own skin, and you just accept that you're who you're meant to be, and you're with the people that are meant to be with you, and vice versa. And and once you accept that, it's like, all of a sudden, everything just starts to be happier and brighter. And it's, it does it is like the clouds just completely parted and the sun is shining.

Valerie Gangas  
I agree, it like, I feel like life becomes really magical, and cool stuff starts happening to you, and you meet the right people, and there's less thinking and more just like showing up,

Alex Husner  
right? Yeah? And, I mean, I think it's a lot about mindset and understanding there are signs that are shown to you for a reason. I mean, there are actually, there are no coincidences. I mean, whether something happens to you for better or for worse, it's redirection to something else that you're supposed to be doing. But you know, it's for a lot of people. I think it's very hard to understand that in the moment, and either feel like things aren't just, they're not happening to you, they're happening for you. And I think your book speaks a lot to this, of like you just, you have to be aware to notice those signs. Because, my God, Val you and I have talked about this a million times, and Annie you and I also have like, things happen, and I'm like, this is a sign. Like, this is crazy, right?

Valerie Gangas  
And I have to make a mental note. Like, yeah, I just that was such a clear sign, because I'm following signs again. I'm not, like, overthinking anymore. It's like, it's being shown to me, to you, but yeah, you're right. You got to notice it, and you got to trust it. You can't think your bananas. Yeah, it's not going to work. It's like, it starts to become obvious to you, and then it's like, you follow those breadcrumbs through the forest, and I don't know, it's always led me somewhere extraordinary. Yeah,

Alex Husner  
I think it removes the the stress and the weight of having to know everything off your shoulders when you understand that, because it's like you don't have to have everything figured out. I mean, you just have to be, you know, aware and noticing things that are happening or not happening for you, and you pay attention, and it's like things will be things will be answered, whether you're religious, or however you look at this, like what you're seeking to find will come out for the way that it's supposed to be for you.

Valerie Gangas  
Yeah, to think you're in control of everything that you like, you are making this happen and you are controlling the situation, it's like, no, you can't control the universe. You cannot contain the ocean. Yeah, you know, you have some control. I mean, I think you have free will, and you're like, making decisions, but to think that you can really take a hold of every aspect of your life, and I'm going to control this. I mean, that's just a that's just a very stressful way to live your life.

Annie Holcombe  
Yeah, I talk about a lot. I was, I read a lot of Deepak Chopra years ago when I was kind of in my, like, searching. And one of his books, he talked about those signs, and he talked about, like, when you free yourself up to see the signs, it's going to tell you whether you need to go left, right, backwards, forwards, you're going to you're going to notice that. And he's like, but at the end of it, everybody's journey ends in the same path, like you're going to get there. It's just a matter, are you going to get there with an open mind? Are you going to get there fighting it along the way and not enjoy the journey. And I think that that's always something that stuck with me as much as his, his concept of us being born hospitable creatures, and that we're there to fill up the buckets with of other people. So it flows back to us with joy and love and and hospitality and all those things. And I like that. Just those things have stuck with me. And then I met Alex, and she was she would always say, like, that's a sign, that's a sign. And it was like, this is like, multiple times this has happened in my life, so I understand okay, if I see a sign, it's okay to acknowledge it. I don't need to ignore it. It might not be the sign I want at that moment, but I I acknowledge it, and in the energy that I put forth to acknowledge it or to ignore it is what I get rewarded with. And so I really feel like that, that energy that you put out into the universe is what you're getting back and it's, it's very freeing. I think when you accept that

Valerie Gangas  
literally, it's, it's amazing. I feel like you're on like a magical mystery tour, if you can switch over to that. Way of being. And you know, if I feel confused every once in a while about something, I will be like, please give me a sign. And it always comes. And then again, the key is I trust it. It might not be exactly what I want, but even that has died down in me. I don't have like, very definite wants and needs. Now I feel more like, choose your own adventure type thing, like me, what's in front of me, and maybe I'll take this path, or maybe I'll take that. I can't control it, you know, I can't control every single thing that shows up in my life. And I also like, I want to be surprised.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, yeah, there's something nice about being surprised, for sure, in most cases, yeah. I The first book that I read that kind of, well, really changed my life, I would say, was the secret, and that was in 2013 my mom had just had her brain aneurysm, and I was just going through so much mental anguish over the whole situation, and just felt like I was drowning and figuring out her, figuring out all the hospital stuff and what life was going to look like. And somebody at work actually told me about this book, and I remember reading it like it was just, I mean, I couldn't put it down, and I'm like, Oh my God. Like, this makes so much sense. Like, you can literally manifest what you want in your life. And the more that I've thought about over the years is like, you know that it's the abundant mindset is part of it, but it's also you can't just sit there and, you know, manifest that your things are just going to come to you. It's the law of manifestation, but also the law of action. And if you want something like, you also need to be taking the steps to get there, but then trust that the timing is going to happen when it needs to. But that's also something that is like in that journey of, like, just personal development for me, like I've learned, you know, the some of the things come quickly and some take a longer time, but it's the timing is, is it's never wrong, it's always perfect.

Valerie Gangas  
It's never wrong like that. It's making me laugh, because I'm just thinking about different things in my life. Yeah, you're like, I want this to happen, blah, blah, blah, but it's, it's not, it's not on your time, because you're like, you don't even, you can't see the the full picture. It was Steve Jobs That said, like, looking back, that's how you connect the dots, because you can't, you can't really see it. So I think manifesting and, like, the law of detachment, if you can be pretty detached from the final outcome, and stay open like we were talking about. That's, that's some good stuff, right there. I guarantee you cool shit is going to happen

Annie Holcombe  
So next week, Thursday morning, you we get to wake up to you. So very exciting. What else are you looking forward to for the Women's Conference, besides your presentation? I mean, we are all looking forward to

Valerie Gangas  
that. I mean, I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. First of all, that's, like, always exciting. I miss you guys. When I don't see you, I always say, like, I travel more with you and my friends in this, the vacation rental world, than I do, like my friends outside of work, or my family. So

Speaker 2  
Oh, for sure,

Alex Husner  
I see I see the two of you more than I see most of my friends that live in the same town as Manny.

Valerie Gangas  
And I just love the idea of getting all these women together. I I've always been for women, I like to write about women, speak to women. I think we're so incredible. We are such magical beings. It's I like to lift women up and like, I really want them to see how unbelievable they are, because sometimes the world's hard for women. It's, in a way, kind of set up for men. And so I think this, like confidence, and this knowing that you are so special, and you are the the mover of universes like that's gotta come from within. And so I like to, like, drop these seeds around women and talking to them like you. This is who you are, like you are the ones that are, like, pushing the world forward. You bring life into the world like you are. You are Mother Earth, like I can't so I like. I like hanging out with women.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, it's, it's gonna be a lot of fun. And actually, kind of what you just said there, where we've got some our new T shirt line that we're bringing next week that has a quote that is, like, very similar to what you just said there. So definitely make sure that, yeah, now we're super excited about the conference too. And Annie and I, we present on Tuesday morning, doing a presentation about websites and OTAs and what you need to do to compete in 2026 and beyond. So we're excited for that. But everybody next week who's going can see you live in person? I'm sure can get a copy of your book and have you sign it. But for anybody who is not going to be able to go, what's the best way for them to reach out if they want to get to know you more?

Valerie Gangas  
Probably LinkedIn, I am relatively active on there, and I get a lot of direct messages. And I've, I've met a lot of cool people through LinkedIn.

Alex Husner  
Yeah, awesome, cool. Well, if anybody wants to get in touch with Annie and I you can go to alexand Annie podcast.com and until next time, hopefully we see you next week. But otherwise, thanks for tuning in, everybody.

Valerie Gangas  
Thanks, ladies. See ya. You.