Alex and Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals

In today’s episode, Alex and Annie are joined by Christina Thoreson, who with her husband Thor, built Chattanooga Vacation Rentals into a sizable and well-run outfit in Tennessee prior to selling in 2022.  Christina recalls their early struggles including not knowing how to run housekeeping and maintenance, and struggling to figure out the legal and operational aspects of the business. Christina a...

In today’s episode, Alex and Annie sit down with Graham Donoghue, the CEO of Sykes Holidays Cottages Group. When Graham was brought on Sykes, the brand was lacking a narrative and a story. They were large and profitable but departments were siloed with no real rallying cry to drive the company forward. Today, Sykes has 25 brands in its portfolio and 24,000 properties under management in the UK and...

In today’s episode, Alex and Annie sit down with Steve Trover, the Founder, and CEO of Better Talent. Knowing a person makes connecting their talents with the right jobs easier. Interestingly, Steve is also the one who brought together Annie and her current role today at Homes & Villas by Marriott International.  Steve talks about the people stack and how optimizing human capital has a profoun...

In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome Steve Milo and Miriam Ramsey, the Founder/CEO and Regional Business Development Director of Vtrips respectively. They discuss the latest trends observed from the IMN Conference, the latest headlines from Vacasa, the new purpose-built cabins of Vtrips, fighting for smarter legislation, and organizing people in the collaborative committee of the Vacation Re...

Elevate a Vacation Guest’s Experience In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome Mike Flaskey, Former CEO of Diamond Resorts International and Founder of Mike Flaskey Entertainment, as he gives his second public interview since leading the sale of Diamond Resorts to Hilton Grand Vacations in June 2021. COVID profoundly affected Diamond but innovation allowed them to rebound quickly. Mike shares ho...

Build Strong Relationships In The Vacation Rental Community In this special edition of Alex & Annie, Got2Go announces the “Mystery Guest” that has been hired to lead the company as Chief Commercial Officer. Jim Barsch needs little introduction; this experienced vacation rental technology veteran brings years of experience and a wealth of knowledge to the Got2Go team. Got2Go CEO Craig Musumeci...

In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome Ben Coleman and Rebecca Ballart , Revenue Management Consultants for Rev & Research . They share the trends they observe in today's market, with the most notable being shrinking lead times. They discuss how to communicate with homeowners, manage CEO-level expectations, and organize the portfolio according to lead time. With more competition and s...

VALUES AND ETHICS ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF SUCCESS In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome Steve Schwab, CEO of Casago . He shares his unintentional entry into the vacation rental industry and how working with the local community is at the core of his success. Steve also talks about Casago University, the company’s in-house training institution, and how this empowers local heroes because their su...

On today’s episode, we’re featuring our recent panel at DESTICON, a virtual conference that brought together tourism and hospitality professionals from the DMO (Destination marketing organization) space.  In our session, we discussed how professional managers can work with their DMOs and CVBs to promote responsible tourism. (DMO = designated marketing organization and CVB = convention visitor’s bu...

THE KEY TO A GREAT TEAM IS AUTHENTICITY In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome  Alex Zemianek, the Founder and CEO of JZ Vacation Rentals. He shares how trial after trial left him broke and almost broken. However, when he allowed himself to be vulnerable with his team, they rallied behind him during their darkest days. Alex says that it was through an authentic relationship with the people who...

IMPROVE YOUR GUEST EXPERIENCE WITH SEAMLESS TECHNOLOGY In today’s episode, Alex and Annie welcome Thomas Schaper, the Head of Product at DACK Inc. Thomas shares his experience in creating DACK as an app that improves the guest experience and makes vacations easier. He also discusses details about DACK’s model from how it was named to how it works. Find out more about Thomas and DACK in this latest...

Luca Zambello joins us for today's episode to share the journey of creating Jurny, the industry's first MOS (management operating system). With roots in property management, Luca shares how he changed software 5 times - then finally realized, he wanted to create a solution to empower property managers to more efficiently run their businesses...and that he wanted to be a technology compan...

It's the 1st of the Month! Tune in as we look back on this incredible year and share our top 5 most downloaded episodes. We also share our predictions for 2023, and our Words of the Year :) Alex just returned from attending Casago University for 2 weeks in Puerto Penasco, MX, and shares her experience learning all about Casago's vacation rental franchise model. Here are our Top 5 Most Do...

Tune in for Part 2 of our Holiday Bonus - our two favorite episodes of this past year! Unlocking $4.9 BILLION Dollars in Military Travel to the Vacation Rental Industry, with Anthony Gantt Anthony Gantt, entrepreneur and recently retired Officer for the United States Marine Corps after 22 years, joins us today to tell a tale of what it truly means to build a purpose-built startup. During his servi...

As we wind down this incredible year, we wanted to share our two favorite episodes from 2022. Narrowing down this list was no easy task! Over the past 12 months, we've had the privilege to interview many of the top leaders in the vacation rental industry and beyond. For part 1, we bring back our episode with Marcus Räder, CEO of Hostaway who shared an insightful perspective on the importance...

Francois Goello who is the founder of Enso Connect joins us today for an interesting tale of how a terrible guest experience led to him founding one of the slickest guest apps on the market. Francois tells us how Enso Connect was built from the guest perspective first - rather than the property first - and how this frame of mind is enabling them to solve communication issues that PMS's (prope...

Pete Dimaio of TravelBoom Marketing is BACK for a three-Pete! This is Pete's 3rd appearance on the show, and today he joins us for a very timely and relevant topic. As we head into 2023 and an economic forecast that is anything but certain, it's more important than ever that business owners and marketers are ready to sharpen their pencils, and know when it's time to push the gas or...

It's the 1st of the Month! Tune in as we recap the previous month and look ahead to the next, discussing  industry trends, pacing, events and more. Simon Lehmann of AJL Consulting joins us each month for "Simon Says", where we discuss the latest hot-button issue facing the vacation rental  and short term rental industry. We re-cap our first month in our new positions with Casago and...

Dennis Goedheid has built a budding empire in Orlando, that has recently spawned into Miami and Aruba. His entrepreneurial  journey began in Belgium, where he learned the fundamentals of marketing and branding which he has applied to his Orlando based vacation rental business. Dennis is as humble as he is successful, and an asset to the vacation rental community. You'll never miss the Casiola...

Lauren Madewell joins us today to share the story of her family's business, Auntie Belham's Cabin Rentals. The company is ran by Lauren and her sister Mallory, along with their Dad, John Madewell, who fell into vacation rentals when a relative passed away and left the business to John in 2008. The family rose to the occasion, and has grown the company into one of the most respected outfi...

John Hildebrand of Hilde Homes joins us today for a discussion on all our favorite topics! John's company is based out of Scottsdale, AZ with properties in Arizona and California and has risen to fame as a Brand Ambassador for Airbnb. Despite having this important role with Airbnb, John's account got suspended last year - a shocking and frustrating mystery that Airbnb couldn't even...

Scott Bunce, COO of Cabins for You joins us today for a look behind the curtain of their innovative enterprise that manages properties in the Smoky Mountains and Georgia mountains, with plans to expand into the Florida Panhandle on the horizon. Scott's extensive background in hotel revenue management has made him a top choice for panels at vacation rental conferences, and in today's epis...

Flash back! On November 2, 2021, we launched the Alex & Annie Podcast with our 1st episode, The A-HA Moment. As we reflect on the past year and so many incredible memories, we thought it was fitting to revisit this episode. Yesterday on our 1st of the Month Bonus Episode, we made 2 major announcements - Alex has taken a new role as CMO for Casago,  and Annie has taken a new role as Director of...

It's the 1st of the Month! Tune in as we recap the previous month and look ahead to the next, discussing  industry trends, pacing, events and more. Simon Lehmann of AJL Consulting joins us each month for "Simon Says", where we discuss the latest hot-button issue facing the vacation rental  and short term rental industry. Simon Says: Alex & Annie's Careers are a Changin&apos...

Tune in for a fun look behind the curtain of this amazing gal that is changing the game for small and large vacation rental operators that want to provide an enhanced experience for their guests! Tyann wears two hats - she operates her own portfolio of properties, and at TouchStay her title is quite literally, the Queen of Guest Experience. Creating a memorable guest experience helps you build you...