Riding the Waves of Change with Valerie Gangas, CEO of Juniper Holiday & Home and Author of "In Deep Shift"

Alex: 0:00

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Intro: 0:57

Welcome to Alex and Annie, the real women of vacation rentals. With more than 35 years combined industry experience, Alex Hussner and Annie Holcomb have teamed up to connect the dots between inspiration and opportunity, seeking to find the one story, idea, strategy or decision that led to their guests big aha moment. Join them as they highlight the real stories behind the people and brands that have built vacation rentals into the $100 billion industry. It is today and now it's time to get real and have some fun with your hosts, Alex and Annie.

Alex: 1:33

Welcome to Alex and Annie, the real women of vacation rentals. I'm Alex and I'm Val, and this episode is part of a new series that we're calling Alex and Friends. And today, Valerie Gangas, who is the CEO and founder of Juniper Holiday and Home, is my friend and she truly is a great friend of mine, so this is an honor and a pleasure to have you on the show, Valerie. Welcome.

Valerie: 1:56

Thanks, and I'm super excited about this new adventure for you.

Alex: 2:01

Yes, this is going to be fun.

Valerie: 2:02

This is going to be fun.

Alex: 2:05

This conversation has been certainly a long time coming and I know my life has been changed for the better since I met you. Back in February we met at the Keystone Retreats with Matt Landau and since then have become friends and have gotten to be in person at several of these events and just have enjoyed learning about you and seeing your business grow. But for our audience that may not know you, can you give a little bit of your background and experience and kind of what led you to where you are today?

Valerie: 2:37

Sure. So I grew up in the restaurant business and bar business. That's what my dad did Typical Greek immigrant story. Everyone, actually all the women and men in my family have all been in the restaurant and bar business. So I kind of didn't know anything else but that. And I started working in restaurants when I was 15 and then eventually ran one of my father's restaurants. So I've always been in hospitality. I feel like I've lived it like even in our house we always made sure to have the freezer packed with food in case guests came over and large dinner parties and lots of tents outside with parties. It was like hospitality was kind of at the center of my life with my parents. So, yeah, I ran one of his restaurants for 15 years and then we ended up selling all the stores and after that I took a two year break and worked for a non-for-profit called the David Lynch Foundation. Those two years I worked directly with Oprah Winfrey at her studios in Chicago. She was interested in bringing Transcendental Meditation to her company in New York, chicago and Los Angeles. So we did in fact bring the program in. We brought it into a major medical school and then I started speaking at different corporations around Chicago and then eventually the country. That was really fun. That was a nice break from hospitality, but eventually I wanted to get back into hospitality. I didn't know what that was going to look like. So I started doing real estate working with a real estate developer and during COVID we partnered and started a vacation rental company. At first we bought 14 homes for ourselves, 11 in Southwest Michigan and three in Vail. I learned the business myself, put everything on the OTAs, created a little website, got myself a housekeeper and a maintenance guy and just learned it. And then, organically, people in the neighborhood started asking us if we could manage their homes. And yeah, we grew up pretty quick. Last year I had 12 homes and this year I have over 60.

Alex: 5:03

Oh my gosh, that's amazing growth and a very short amount of time.

Valerie: 5:07

And really it was organic. I mean, I don't even know. Sometimes I'm like how did I get here?

Alex: 5:12

Yeah Well, we want to know, or I want to know, how you did get there. But I think, before we kind of dive into that, a couple of things that stood out that you just said about your experience in the restaurant business. There have been so many people I've met, just even recently, that have said that some of the best workers that they have in their company also come from a background in restaurants and I think that, just to your point, it truly speaks to the hospitality that you learn and dealing with the public and creating that experience for them and what that looks like. And I think that's really interesting how you transition that into the vacation rental side. How do you say at the meditation, the trans Transcendental?

Valerie: 5:54

Meditation.

Alex: 5:55

Transcendental Meditation. Definitely want to put that on the back burner as one of our conversations for today, because I have a lot of questions on that. But let's stay on vacation rentals just for right now. As you've grown from the 12 to the 60, what does that look like I mean, it's not just you anymore, right? Like do you have a team behind you? And like, how have you grown to be able to handle that influx in properties?

Valerie: 6:22

Okay. So I wasn't interested in working with the public at all and I don't think I really understood what this business was. I just thought we were going to have investment properties for our own portfolio and that I would design them the way that I wanted, I would run them the way that I wanted and with this background in hospitality, like I feel like customer service is just you know like who I am. I just knew I wanted things done a certain way and so I did them, because they were for myself, for my own homes, and I just put these like processes in place for myself. But then I saw like wow, this is really working. And the first client that came to me wanted to buy one of our homes and then keep us on as their property managers and I was like I don't know if I want to start selling these houses. But he made me an offer like I just could not refuse. It was over the top. I started working with him and his family and I was like, wait, I learned this whole business. I can do this. Once I made the switch in my mind that yes, in fact I would take clients and I would go down this road. Then it was like I had a new mindset. I sold all the houses, kept the property management contracts in place, and then I was like you are creating a business, you're going to have employees, things are going to work a certain way, you're going to find a mentor and they're going to teach you how to do things and you're going to do this right. So it was like a mind shift. It was like these are no longer your personal homes, like now you are responsible for people's super expensive homes. You're going to do it and you're going to do it. Right At the top of that list was creating a brand. That was so important to me. Really, this goes back I think everything goes back to our childhoods and I have always wanted to own hotels. I wanted a hotel with a restaurant and a lounge. There was something about this overnight experience, my obsession with hotels, that piece of the hospitality business so I thought this was a happy medium. Yeah, once I decided there was no turning back.

Alex: 8:42

So you sold all the properties that you own, so you don't own any of them anymore. Okay, wow, yeah, that's a really interesting turn because I've met several people, and most that are coming into this industry knew that they, similar to you, they bought properties during COVID, they were managing their own, and now they're just realizing, like I can actually just manage for other people and still make a very good living on doing that, keep my own properties and maybe buy more, but it doesn't have to be that I'm buying everything that I manage. So I don't know that I've talked to anybody that's gone in the direction that you have of. You got rid of that inventory, you became a full-blown property manager and when I say that I mean you have really we had a very short amount of time amassed an incredible amount of information and connections within the industry that I mean I think you've been at every event since COVID and it's hard to find anybody that doesn't know you, which I've been in this for 14 years now and I think in a couple years you really just kind of jumped right to the beginning and are part of really important conversations and that obviously shows your dedication to wanting to be part of this and I love what you said about trying to find a mentor and understanding that you know what you don't know and that it's gonna be easier to get to where you want to go if you have somebody that's leading the way.

Valerie: 10:04

Yeah, I again I made up my mind. I was like I have to learn everything I possibly can. And I looked around this group of amazing individuals and I was like I'm gonna find the biggest, baddest people that I can talk to and ask questions. And I wasn't shy because I was like I have to learn, like how I can't learn in isolation, like I have to talk to people that have done this and have done it well and just like literally ask for help. And it's just like anyone that asks me for help, I never say no, I will take a phone call, a Zoom call, give them information, like I just think that we're a group of people it's probably why we're in hospitality that like to help people.

Alex: 10:51

Yeah, absolutely.

Valerie: 10:53

I mean, it comes naturally, I think, to all of us.

Alex: 10:56

Right, yeah, and we all love to connect. So I mean, the value of those relationships is what keeps most of us in this industry. I get asked that all the time of, like gosh, you've been in it for so long like, do you just love vacation rentals? And I do, I love hospitality but I think a lot of it is it's the relationships that you form and it's the people that you've met and the things that you've been able to accomplish together. That that's what makes that's what also makes it really special. And at the end of the day, when you realize that you're marketing or you're selling something that is making somebody on the other side, those guests and those memories it's something that they wouldn't have if you weren't part of that moment in time for them. So how you make that memorable is definitely something that we all think about and how that relates back to guest experience. But I do wanna touch on because we were just recently I had you on a panel in Orlando at VRMA and I know when I told you the subject, the subject of the topic, you seemed a little hesitant about what we were gonna talk about. So the topic was Cathedral Thinking and how Cathedral Thinking applies to Vacation Metals. And I remember you said to me Alex, we're drinking wine right now and I don't know why you're talking about cathedrals and ancient Romans. This makes no sense.

Valerie: 12:13

That was hilarious. You were like let me tell you about the ancient Romans. I wasn't like what we're at a party right now.

Alex: 12:21

It was very off-brand, I mean, I guess you could say, for what we typically talk about. But at the same time I've really just kind of dove in headfirst into this topic and really bringing it back to what I feel is very important within the industry. That's not being talked about enough. And what you just touched on is the brand, and I think everybody talks about building a brand but very few companies really are because they're very much focused on homeowner marketing, building out their portfolios, and that's very important. But homeowners are going to be a small amount of people that you actually touch in this process. The guests is where you can really the guest audience that you have is where you can really scale that and get to much larger masses, and that's where brands are built. Brands are built by the guests that you serve. I truly believe that the homeowners, your employees, your culture is all part of that. But in scaling a brand it definitely comes down to the guests. We are going to be doing a different version of that panel at the upcoming women's conference and thank goodness you said yes to coming back to dive into this topic. But tell us one thing that you've done and that has been part of the cathedral thinking mindset of something that you've put in place for the business that, and cathedral thinking for the majority of people who wouldn't know and I didn't know prior to learning this within the last couple of months cathedral thinking basically means the things that you put in place now that you may not ever see the fruits of. So when ancient Roman days, when these generations were building these magnificent cities, they knew that what they were building they would not necessarily get to see, but that the future generations would get to benefit from. And while that's a lot longer term than most of us are thinking in vacation rentals, it's, I think you have to be a little bit more aggressive and push the limit to get to where it really needs to be, because most of us are thinking very much short term in the moment how to get a booking immediately, and if that means just going to Verbon Air B&B and cutting your rates, let's do it. We need the booking and that's, again, not how brands are built. So let's hear an example of something that you've put in place that was using that mindset of a long-term strategy in what we live in, the short-term world.

Valerie: 14:41

So again going back to my childhood, my dad started off with a franchise. It was called Yankee Doodle Dandy. They were like fast food places in Chicago.

Alex: 14:50

Oh, wow, okay, I don't know that.

Valerie: 14:52

I had that, like my childhood was filled with this branding of this franchise. To this day everybody in Chicago knows Yankee Doodle Dandy. It lived on and then they rolled into higher end restaurants called Bailey's. Someone yesterday just wrote me because they found this thing on Facebook about people talking about like the vibe at Bailey's and how they loved it. Like the name lives on. So again, I was raised in a way that, like you stay consistent, you stay on brand, you create like an energy around whatever business you're doing and like you pour yourself into that. It was important the way things looked, our consistency with our food, our wait staff, the way they were dressed, like every single thing mattered, and so that's how I've been trained, like how to think about business. So when it came to Juniper, I knew that I wanted a certain look. I knew that I wanted a certain energy in the business Everything from our marketing to the website, to my staff. I wanted it to be consistent in this vision of mine. I wanted it poured into every single thing we did, even down to the original houses that we bought. I had a designer come in and make the homes look really beautiful, pick the same photographer for every single house. There was a consistency that started from the beginning and now I can see the ripple effect because people are like oh, juniper, like we didn't do a ton of advertising, we flew under the radar. It was word of mouth, but I could feel the energy rippling out into this area. And now I mean now people are like I'm gonna work with Juniper. Yeah yeah, I know all that stuff added up, but really it just started as a vision. And again back to my love of hotels. Like I always looked to, like the Ritz Carlton, I love the one and only brand. There's certain brands.

Alex: 16:55

Yes, yeah, Pamela.

Valerie: 16:57

They're gonna live on forever. Like that is like the star to look at. So I guess this is where it all came from in my mind and yeah, if I'm gonna do something, I want it to live on and I wanna be proud of it.

Alex: 17:12

Absolutely. I did not know the story about your dad and the franchise restaurant in Chicago, so that's super interesting and definitely gives me more perspective on how you've built what you have built. And I think that's really important for everybody to think about, because I mean, how many franchise restaurant brands are there? Thousands, right, but they've still all made a brand for themselves and they have there isn't just restaurantcom that's taken all the food and put it into one place, and so I think, as an industry, we don't need to look at ourselves as nope, there's no way we're gonna beat Airbnb. Yes, yes, we can. I mean, there is definitely a way.

Valerie: 17:47

It's just different when you look at one and only. They don't have that many resorts. I think they have like 14 resorts, but, like when I think of them, I'm like that's the best, like that is. Oh my gosh, if I could be one and only. And the town that I grew up in, outside of Chicago, was the home of McDonald's. So, my neighbors were the head of advertising or like the vice president, like everyone was McDonald's. My prom was at McDonald's, you know the corporation was there. So I kind of grew up also in the neighborhood with my friends, parents that worked for McDonald's, like knowing about branding, cause everything was McDonald's, like you were never gonna forget those golden arches.

Alex: 18:30

Yeah, yeah.

Valerie: 18:31

So I mean, I don't know, I think it's just baked into my soul at this point to work that way.

Alex: 18:36

Yep, I think so, and I would agree for myself as well, and that's we definitely have similar ways that we're looking at branding. And I remember when I, before I had met you, I started seeing your posts on LinkedIn and, as you know, we became friends and I thought, gosh, when you're talking about things that are really interesting, and I think your posts were really well written and they were very much they were all on brand but, like you were, your messaging was always very consistent and you could be talking about different topics within Vacation, rentals or business or you know whatever it was you were talking about, but your voice was always very consistent and I think that's where it comes down to the messaging and branding that, like you said, I mean you had 12 properties. That's grown to 60, that doesn't happen by chance. That is your brand. I mean that your brand is your reputation and your name should precede you before you walk into a room, whether you're a company or a person, and that's that's what's happened, right? I mean, like now, homeowners are asking who manages your property and they refer back to you and then guests do the same thing, and that's what really creates a viral experience of building a business, and I think you've done an incredible job in that, and it's that's a short amount of time, it is the most amazing part.

Valerie: 19:52

It's been one of the longest years of my life Because, as we know, like, anyone that goes into this industry is like wow, you must have a screw loose. This is very hard, I would think. I think it's harder than the restaurant and bar business it's. It's a lot of moving pieces and you're dealing with a product that's really expensive and you know you have a client's home it's $3 million, like you better take care of that. It's a lot of pressure. It's not someone coming in for a burger and a beer and leaving that night. So this is different. But one of my favorite quotes is like how a person does anything is how they do everything, and I think-.

Alex: 20:27

Oh, absolutely yeah.

Valerie: 20:29

That's your brand too, like if you are authentic and you pour your vision into your brand and then you stay consistent and you're kind to people and like this is who you are. Whether it's the gal pouring you coffee in the morning or you know your manager, it doesn't matter. It's this consistency of like. This is the brand, this is I represent the brand. I care about what people think of me as far as good character and honesty and all those things and it all matters. It all gets baked into the product.

Alex: 21:03

Yeah, and I believe that 100% as well. And I think it's interesting when you see somebody who, in their career or at work, they might seem that they are super organized and they've got everything together, and then you look in their car or you go to their house and it's a complete mess and a disaster, and how you do everything is how you do anything, and it's unusual that you can be able to be truly successful for the longterm if you are succeeding in one area but not in another area. And the core principles of if you know that things need to be neat and tidy and well organized in general to make your business succeed, If you're not applying that to your home life and your personal life, something is in misalignment there, right?

Valerie: 21:43

Oh my God, 100%. Someone needs to write a book about that. Like if your personal life is in the toilet and you are not. None of us are perfect, right? Right, of course, but you have to have some self-awareness and say like I need to work on this and I need to get better because it all matters, it's all connected, like your personal life cannot be a disaster, and then you're gonna walk into work and shine. It just doesn't work that way. You can't hide the pieces of yourself.

Alex: 22:14

Yeah no, I totally agree. So I think this is actually a good time to transition. If you're watching on YouTube, this is Valerie's book, it's called In Deep Shift, and also, if you're watching on YouTube, it is Friday, it is 5.30. So, yes, we are enjoying a glass of wine as we have this conversation. It's been a long day.

Valerie: 22:34

I think this should be part of your gig, like for every Even, if it's like that in the morning.

Alex: 22:39

Hoda and Kathy right. They drink wine every morning. I definitely could not drink wine in the morning, but maybe I'll just record at night. That'll be my thing, not? I wear sunglasses at night, I record podcasts at night. Why not? So this book? When I met you at Keystone Retreats back in February, you were telling me how you were an author and I thought that's cool. And you hand me this book. I'm like, whoa okay, you're not just like an author that you've just got this like self-published book, you are a legit author and it's called In Deep Shift. It says riding the waves of change to find peace, fulfillment and freedom. And after we got home from the retreat, I'm an audio gal, so I got it on audio and I was so excited to realize that it was you reading the audio book, so that immediately made it a million times better. I've actually never actually no, besides Amber Hurdle, she did audio on her books too but besides you two, I've never listened to an audio book that I knew the author that was reading the book. But it's a really cool experience.

Valerie: 23:41

That's hard to do. That too, I'm sure Amber will tell you. It's like a studio for three days with a producer and you're reading and they're like stop, stop, Because you don't realize. Like reading a book out loud, like that it's mentally kind of challenging.

Alex: 23:58

I can only imagine. Yeah, I mean, I got. Yeah, it's. Yeah, I can only imagine. But you did an incredible job and I think the way that you speak generally, you have an inflection in your voice that is very authentic and you're a great storyteller, so it makes sense that you would also be an author. But tell us about this book To me. I believe in signs and I believe that you and I met at a unique time and in my career and in my life, that just the book was important to me and continues to be. But tell us a little bit about the book and why you wrote it and just kind of what it's about. And then I'm happy to jump in and share some of my thoughts that I've gotten written down, Because I went back and I realized into it this week ahead of this episode, and now, knowing you more than I, certainly more than I did when I first listened to it, I'm like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense now.

Valerie: 24:52

So yeah, I believe that everybody is going to have a deep shift in their life. Some, some. Sometimes it could happen two or three times, but really there's like one big kahuna. And for me it was when my mom died. I completely lost my mind. She was my best friend, she was my lifeline, and when she died, after a 14 year battle with stage four breast cancer, it's like I just I couldn't make it. I was drowning, I became suicidal, I was, I gave up. I was like so destroyed. I had never, ever, known pain like that. I was always a really happy person, I could handle a lot, I was a sensitive person. But I don't know, somehow when you're young you kind of blow through it. But it took me down and then through, like a friend of a friend, they suggested that I learn to meditate. I also wasn't sleeping, I mean, the whole thing was just like a disaster. So I learned to meditate. In one meditation the form that I learned, like you're actually taught how to meditate and in one meditation I went from suicidal to like a state of ecstasy. My entire reality shifted. And two weeks later I'm working with Oprah Winfrey, I have a new life, I'm thriving like all this cool stuff is happening to me and so I feel like I received a miracle. And from that point on these I call them gifts, gifts of intuition and authenticity and all these cool things that I felt that I had as a child and as a teenager kind of like blossomed out of me and I started really following my gut and truly acting upon thoughts and ideas that I had, and it really opened a whole new world for myself. And then I began like speaking about all these concepts and it was a real game changer for me. But what I found was there was a lot of other people in the world that were having the same experiences as me knowing things, feeling really sensitive in the world, maybe like wanting to change careers, groups of friends moving there but they felt kind of paralyzed because unless you're talking to other people that really understand this concept, it can be very confusing and overwhelming. You feel kind of isolated. So after years of talking about it, I just decided well, I'm gonna write about it so I can reach other people and at least they'll know that there's another person in the world that gets it.

Alex: 27:36

Yeah, absolutely, and I think you and I have talked about this offline that people need your light and it is yeah. And for you, I mean you've had a lot of tragedy. I mean not just your mom, but your brother passed away, and I think you said nine family members within a certain amount of time had passed away. I mean that's an incredible amount of grief to deal with, but as you explained in the book, I mean your mom dying was probably the hardest, but that was the first. And then that gave you, because you were able to get through this. It gave you a different perspective on the other deaths that happened. As terrible as that is, but I mean it changed your perspective, I think, and also that your perspective you are so positive as a human being and just as I've shared today, I mean like meeting you was a very important part that I feel like we were kind of destined to become friends, but I know that it was gonna happen one way or another. But I know that there are many people in your life that would say that would also agree with that, that you sharing your story and being vulnerable has helped other people be able to get through something challenging, but then also realize that we're all put on this planet to serve a purpose and sometimes, if that purpose is sharing a difficult experience, then if it helps somebody else, that's the fulfillment that helps you get through the original pain of what that situation was.

Valerie: 29:09

Totally. And as far as the vacation rental industry, it's very clear to me that this is the path God, the universe, whatever, put us on so we can touch all these people. It's not about like, yeah, I got this business and I got these employees and I'm like making some money. No, you're like literally creating magic in all of these people's lives. It's a big deal and I think, okay, maybe we weren't given the path of curing cancer or something, but this is another path that we've been given to bring light into people's lives. And that's how I looked at my job. Yeah, it's actually a huge gift, and so it does bring me a lot of happiness, especially when I think about it that way, and sometimes I have to remind myself that's what's happening when I wanna like punch someone in the head. But you know, it's okay, this is the path that you've been given. Bring the light.

Alex: 30:04

Yeah, well, and it's interesting too. When we were at Keystone, one of the activities that we did there was we. They dumped Legos out on tables in front of us.

Valerie: 30:14

How horrified were you when they came.

Alex: 30:17

Oh, you know, I almost ran for the door. I'm like I am not. I'm not good at games, let's be honest. Like I'm just I'm not a game kind of person, like I'm not into Legos but who knew I actually that was my favorite part of the retreat and I've told many people this that I was so surprised. And another Valerie that was at the retreat and also has become a great friend is Valerie Hawkins, and both me and Valerie Hawkins, both when they dropped the Legos, I think both of us went about as white as my dresses that I'm wearing right now and I thought I'm not gonna be able to build something that is at all resembling what they're asking us. And basically what they were asking was to build something that resembled your next big leap. And the next big leap is a kind of a cornerstone foundation of these, this first iteration of Keystone retreats, of you know figuring out something personally, professionally, that you want to tackle, and working on it within this group atmosphere to get different perspectives. Because you know we all were with our families, we're with our spouses, our friends, and we've told everybody what we wanna do and we're getting, you know, similar. You know we're getting their thoughts on things, but they all know us so well that it's you know. Sometimes it can be you need a different perspective, and I think that's what Keystone retreats is for a lot of people, which is wonderful. But so we did this exercise and we had to build what that big leap looked like in Legos, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to perfectly depict I couldn't believe it what I had in my mind, that I didn't even know that I had in my mind, and that's the power of it was pretty extraordinary. Well it's. That's the power of creativity too, you know, and that's one of the things, going back to the cathedral thinking, like one of the components of cathedral thinking is creativity, and sometimes you don't know how creative you are or what's truly inside of you, until you have an output that you don't. Typically I don't play with Legos, I'm not a. My design and my ability to oversee from a marketing perspective is oversight. I'm not the actual designer, I'm not the pen to the paper in a lot of cases, so for me that was just kind of crazy doing that. But that exercise was huge and I think when I read your book after being at the retreat, I'm like gosh was there and I know what. This was not the case, but it's almost like your book was exactly about a lot related to that exercise of like what is that next big leap? And like being able to say you're going to go for it even if you don't know if it's going to work or not. I mean that's a huge part of it. Yeah, I mean you're going to burn the bridges and you're going to do it and that's what you definitely did in COVID to say, okay, I'm actually going to sell the properties and now I'm going to go manage and get more. I mean that's a big life change. A huge life change.

Valerie: 33:00

I feel like at this point I've just become that person. Like when I quit at Harpo Studios. It's because I knew in my mind 100% I wanted to write my first book. It didn't make sense, I wasn't going to make any money. I sold everything I owned and I quit my job and I moved to a farm in Iowa and I just knew to do it. But when I told everybody and when I quit my job and stuff, everybody was like are you insane? But when you connect to your intuition like that, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks, cause you know and looking it was like the best decision I ever made. So the only time I feel like I get in trouble is when I don't listen to my knowing. So I think when you start connecting to that, you will make big leaps. You will do things that are like you'll surprise yourself and that is when life gets really interesting, because you have the balls to like burn the boats. I'm gonna go for it, because you're already tapped into that energy that really makes the earth spin and you're getting the information and then you just gotta listen to it. It's like I almost felt like I stopped thinking for a long time because I was getting the information and I'd be like, okay, I'm gonna do it. Even if it didn't make sense, it always turned out cool.

Alex: 34:26

Yeah, and so I'm definitely a huge believer in recognizing signs. They become obvious if you they become obvious, yeah, if you are, if you're in the mindset to be able to, you have to be able to see them, and you can't be, you know, if you're stuck in a negative place, it's. Sometimes that can be a challenging thing, but I think you and I look at spirituality in a very similar manner. But as you're seeing signs and you start going in one direction, sometimes you can find out and this is a part of your book that you wake up and you realize that everything you thought was wrong and that, but everything prior to that point you could have been thinking that you were following signs, but then okay, so hypothetical situation you wake up and you realize everything you thought was wrong, and now you realize you're in this big shift. And what does that look like? I mean, what do you do next when you've realized that what you thought was not correct?

Valerie: 35:22

Yeah. So when I learned that first day, when I learned to meditate, when I opened my eyes, I looked at my teacher and I said everything I thought I knew was wrong, like it's just wrong, I call it opposite land and that like went. Super confusion steps in because your reality is shattered, like you're so connected with this false narrative and then it's shattered, never to return, like you can't go backwards, like once you see something and you know something, there's no going back, like that's over. So that's when things get really difficult, because you're confused, you have to relearn how to live. It's like it's a whole new ballgame. But on the other side of that uncomfortable period of time, that's where the magic lies, because then you have a new life, then you're taking chances, then you're meeting really cool people. Doors start opening when you never saw the doors before. Right, the doors are perception. So that is my favorite part of this whole sequence of events, because you gotta get through that hump and there is help out there. There's other people that have gone down that road before you. They can explain it to you. And then you just kind of start playing with the signs and playing with like chances in your life and you start seeing like, oh, I followed my gut and that really worked out and I met that really cool person. And then they like offered me a job and it's just like boom, boom, boom, it keeps going.

Alex: 36:56

Well, and it's about you realize that you can bet on yourself and you start seeing those signs. Yeah, you don't have to have it all figured out. I guess that's kind of the main thing is you can bet on yourself to know you're going to figure it out. But I definitely understand your perspective that you talk about in the book of like. When something like this happens and I know for me for sure, I think you have for me I think there's gonna be probably a few big shifts in my life. I know one of those was when Roy passed away, my former boss at Condor World, and oh God, I always get teared up on it After that year following his death. I learned so much in that year about myself and then just the past and the future that not in a bad way. But you do. You look at yourself differently. You look at other relationships you've had differently and sometimes you wake up and you're like, wow, like I feel so much. Either I don't care as much about things that used to bother me or I care way more about things that in the opposite direction and it is like that is truly a sign of the big shift, yeah, yeah.

Valerie: 38:04

Yeah, there's no marks to this and, from my understanding of what you've told me about him, like he showed you true love not romantic love, but like just human to human love, respect. He was really someone to look up to and like what a gift that you had this person in your life. How could that not change you, right? Yeah. But then you felt the pain of his loss and then like, then it really begins, because that pain makes you go inward, because again you start thinking everything I thought I knew was wrong is my reality just got shattered. Yeah, yeah, and so it takes those breaks, those like that pain sometimes to really open up your eyes. And then, if you have a new life and yes, it can happen two, three, four, five times in a lifetime, but it's usually something that really shakes the foundation.

Alex: 38:57

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, it makes a lot of sense. So, on the meditation part, I'm very interested in this and I remember sharing with you I think we were at NWVRP and Reno and we had a conversation about this, about meditation, and I'm curious because I think there's probably plenty of people listening to this that are also in that boat that I am that I've tried to meditate. I definitely have not been able to successfully stick with anything, but what did that process look like for you? Because you said that once you got into this new form of meditation, that that was like a game changer for you. So what did that look like? I mean, would you have any tips?

Valerie: 39:34

for how to do this. It was like my heart and my mind cracked open. My creativity like everything was like unbelievable I don't know. There was so much more inside of me that I couldn't even see before. And when I got really quiet with this form of meditation, like it just all started coming out. It's pretty interesting because I obviously have a ton of friends that meditate, but like watching Matt Landau, who does Transcendental Meditation now it's called TM I'm like just sitting back and just watching it all flow out of him, because that's what happens when you get in touch with who you really are. So other forms of meditation, like I know a lot of people that do like Buddhist meditations. They do mindfulness or guided meditations. The one that I do it's a mantra-based meditation, so it's like a sound that you follow. It makes it really easy. I think I've worked with thousands of people now that have learned Everyone can do it. It's I don't know, it's super easy. So I like easy, I don't like complicated, so it just worked for me instantly.

Alex: 40:45

What's an actual tip, though? Like if I were going to start this weekend, what's the first thing that I do?

Valerie: 40:53

Yeah, so again, this form of meditation is taught. It's taught over four days. It's like an hour and a half each day.

Alex: 41:00

So there's like courses on this or yeah.

Valerie: 41:02

Like you'll have an actual teacher, Like every TM teacher in the whole world has been taught exactly the same. So you go to TMorg that's their website and then you just find a teacher near you and you just sign up and you just learn and then you know how to meditate forever. I mean, it's as easy as brushing your teeth. It's just like no big deal.

Alex: 41:21

Yeah, yeah, well, I'm definitely going to check that out.

Valerie: 41:24

So appreciate you. I always tell people this this is what I do, this is what came to me. So I said yes, but, like, maybe that's not right for you. Maybe yoga is right for your mindfulness. It doesn't really matter what it is. It's something that takes you beyond your mind, you know, quiet's your thoughts and, like, takes you deep into your soul, because that's where, like, the good stuff is. It's opposite land. It's not in the noise, it's not through talking, it's through silence. It brings you inward and then you like unlock this magic inside of you.

Alex: 41:57

Yeah, yeah, and I know for myself personally, even without meditating, there are certain things that I do that I know I'm like, if I need to think about something, like I go for a run at this outdoor park that's in Myrtle Beach. It's like it's actually kind of feels like you're in the mountains, like it's in the woods and it's very peaceful, and it takes me about an hour and a half and like that's I'll go there with something that I want to think about and I've got my music on. But it's like when you just have that time totally by yourself, like there's something about that that gives you that.

Valerie: 42:27

Runners talk about it all the time. Runners get in the bed they're going behind. We should ask David and Gaudi about it. They ran that?

Intro: 42:34

Oh, for sure yeah.

Valerie: 42:36

Yeah, they go beyond the mind and then you're in the zone, right. So that's when, like, well, I think people get like super addicted, probably to running, not only for the health benefits, but because they're probably transcending. It's like you would in meditation. So, yeah, it doesn't. As long as you can get there, then you should do whatever it is that takes you there.

Alex: 42:58

Yeah, absolutely, I believe in that very much. I know just in the last year or so that I've been working from home. One thing that I loved about driving to the office was just even the time in the car. I mean, sometimes it's the time in the car by yourself that you know that's uninterrupted time for every single day you're going to have it, and it's that consistency of being alone with your thoughts.

Valerie: 43:20

It's the opposite of what we're taught. It's in the slowing down, it's in the quiet that you really gain more. So it's really. It's just always think of it as the opposite. It's not being on your computer all day and constantly talking. It's like leaning back and just like being quiet, being within your body, and that's when, like, everything starts bubbling up. It's the opposite yeah yeah, so it's kind of I don't know. I think it's really cool.

Alex: 43:48

Oh, I just do so. One question that I had after reading or listening to the book back again was you talk about like there are people that are shifters, so in big shift, but there are people that there are. Inherently they're shifters and there's certain characteristics that are defined them to that so that they love their personal time, they have a connection to animals, they have different issues with bright lights and loud music. There's only three of them, I think you had like 17, but what were some of the other ones that were?

Valerie: 44:21

I think it also again it goes back to childhood. Like when you think about how you were when you were younger. Did you feel like you knew things? Some people see ghosts, like they're connected, like the veil is thinner between the two worlds. That sensitivity piece is huge. Like I have a hard time, like walking into a Walmart right, it feels intense to me being in super large groups. I can do it for a while but like eventually, like it grinds on me. Really important, like if you're around the wrong people, if you're around like energy vampires and toxic people toxic for you, like you will walk away from them exhausted. So there are all these hallmarks to being a shifter. And if you can like master that, if you can really use meditation or yoga or running or whatever to like really capture what that can do for you, then it turns into a superpower. If you let it control you, then your life is filled with suffering and I always tell people like you cannot be around the wrong people and if that means you getting divorced, quitting your job, moving, not talking to your family, I don't care. What it is Like cause that will just drain you, especially the sensitive shifter. It's like you, just you cannot do it. You have to have boundaries.

Alex: 45:44

You have to protect your peace at the end of the day, you have to protect your peace. So you can. I think, though, if I'm interpreting this correctly, you don't necessarily have to be somebody that fits all the parameters of being a shifter to have a big shift in your life.

Valerie: 46:00

No, but some people are more prone to it. Like a lot of people will have a big shift in their life or, like you know, a loss or something, and maybe they just like take a different path where they just start drinking all the time or something like that Cause we're all gonna have hard times. But I think the true shifter, like somewhere in that pain, sees the opportunity and knows it's a way out. It's what they've been looking for since they were kids. You know you're different when you're a kid. You just don't know what it is.

Alex: 46:32

Yeah, there's a great book by Ryan Holiday the Obstacle is the way, and that speaks a lot to that of like recognizing, even when things are, you know, physically, theoretically in the way. Sometimes those are the signs of like you have to keep pushing past them. So signs don't always necessarily mean it's showing you. It certainly doesn't mean that it's showing you the easy way out of things. In a lot of cases it's showing you the harder way out. But the repetition of those signs is showing you there's something to this and you need to pay attention to it 100%. Well, val, this was a ton of fun today, and I also learned in listening back to the book that you have another book that I haven't listened to or read, and remind me in the audience the name of that one so that they can look that one up as well.

Valerie: 47:19

That one is Enlightenment is Sexy. That was the book where I quit my job and moved to write. I felt like I had to write it. And then I'm working on a third book about like enlightened hospitality. Oh, wow, what a cool concept that's gonna take me a minute to get through that one.

Alex: 47:35

Yeah, oh, no, well, that's well. I mean now you're as Annie and I always say you can't connect the dots looking forward. It's a Steve Jobs quote. But you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking back. And everything has prepared you for this moment. You are there in the place that you were meant to be for a reason and I think obviously everything that you've learned with those two books now bringing that and putting hospitality spin on it will be really interesting to see. But I'm excited to read that and also read the Enlightenment is Sexy. So I've got a good repertoire to line up between now and when I see you next time. But so I'm gonna see you and everybody else who's going to the Women's Conference and Darm will see you and Nashville in just less than a month. Now how?

Valerie: 48:20

exciting. I know it's gonna be so fun.

Alex: 48:25

What's the best way for anybody to reach out to you?

Valerie: 48:28

Well, the website is Juniper, Holiday and Home. I also have a personal website. It's just ValerieGanguscom, and then I'm active on LinkedIn, so that's a great way to get a hold of me.

Alex: 48:37

Yeah, for sure, we're part of the LinkedIn groupies.

Valerie: 48:40

It has been amazing. What a wonderful group of people again.

Alex: 48:44

It's amazing. I mean, that's probably one of the things that I share the most often about. Things that have helped me in my career over the last decade is LinkedIn. I mean, linkedin is the place where business people do business, but it's not even just business. It's that's where you have these conversations that lead to other things too, and I think it's wonderful. We're all sick and tired of Facebook and everything that goes on there, and there are social media platforms, but for some reason LinkedIn never gets old. But well, val, thank you so much for coming on. This was a fun edition of Alex and Friends, where I'm gonna get to have some other guests on the show on days that Annie is not able to record with us. So thank you for coming on. I know that Annie wished that she could have been here today and of course, she's a dear friend of yours as well and I know she thinks as highly of you as I do. But in the meantime, if anybody wants to get in touch with Annie or I, you can go to alexandanipodcastcom and hope to see everybody at the upcoming Women's Summit and Darm. Until next time. Thanks so much for tuning in everyone.

Valerie: 49:50

Thanks, cheers, cheers.

Alex: 49:52

Ha, ha ha.

Valerie: 50:04

I'm sorry you.