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- Founder, VRMB
Today's episode features Barry Shimelfarb, who is a short-term rental operator, an executive coach to tech leaders in Silicon Valley, and a father of two.
In this episode, Barry opens up about one of the most difficult times in his life and how this has shaped his guest philosophy, the way he manages his businesses, and the way he tries to make the best use of every single day.
In addition, Barry shares how he...
- Founder, VRMB
This is a Quick Tips episode of Unlocked, where Matt shares actionable wisdom from VRMB Communities.
"Moments of engagement” is one way of thinking about those special interactions in which you win over guests, turning them from stranger to friend (and reviewer/repeat/referral booker). Moments of engagement are interactions that connect us: the openings for lines of communication and meaningful relationships...
- Founder, VRMB
This week Matt speaks with Eddie Gray, the housekeeping and laundry manager for Newman-Dailey Resort Properties. With 17 years in the business, Eddie has amassed wisdom that can benefit every vacation rental business. Best practices, checklists, delegating, software, employees, covid...Eddie covers it all.
This episode is brought to you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway...
- Founder, VRMB
Today's Unlocked podcast episode featuring Steve Hafner (co-founder and CEO of KAYAK) is perhaps my proudest interview of all time.
As you'll hear in the introduction, I was quite nervous beforehand for a confluence of reasons...
From the recording studio I rented for the occasion, to the personal nature of the topics I wanted to discuss, to Steve's famed pointed status in tech and travel...
A lot of pressure...
- Founder, VRMB
This is a Quick Tips episode of Unlocked, where Matt shares actionable wisdom from VRMB Communities.
Have you ever come across a product whose presentation is so on point in that it subliminally sucked you in and persuaded you to buy? Finca Victoria is a farmhouse style B&B on the small island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, and every vacation rental professional can take something away from their website...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode Matt sits down with Andrew McConnell of Rented.com for some must-listen industry analysis and...a few 'twerks'.
This episode is brought to you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and automations platform.
I asked @AMcConnell to share his most startling discoveries from nearly 10 years of vacation rental startup grinding. This...
- Founder, VRMB
Today's episode features Maria Schuh, owner of Mistiso's Place in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. In this episode, Maria talks about ways that effectively allow her to navigate the threats that seem to hold a lot of VR owners back and how dancing influences the way she goes about life.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with OwnerRez, a property management software that covers small homeowners and...
- Founder, VRMB
This is a Quick Tips episode of Unlocked, where Matt shares actionable wisdom from VRMB Communities.
Most vacation rental professionals tend to over-work because they wear many hats. Over-working is not sustainable...it will eventually burn you from the inside out. In this episode VRMB Communities discusses the solution: a forced break!
- Founder, VRMB
For our first in-person recording since early 2020, Matt sat down with Julie Brinkman of Beyond at the recent VRMA Connect event in Sandestin Florida. Julie is part of a new wave of CEOs entering the vacation rental industry with perspectives that benefit us all.
This episode is brought to you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, the best in class property care and...
- Founder, VRMB
@Sherry Woodhouse and Darrel Looney are two of my all-time favorite vacation rental marketing heroes. They curate their stunning Villa Mais Oui in Jamaica from their home in Central Illinois. A true remote Limited Edition business. It has not been easy for them: but when you hear WHY they do this, a clear and inspirational picture of our industry starts to emerge.
Here are some of the powerful lessons that...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode, Matt reflects on Season Six and shares thoughts from our guests that come together to create a framework for configuring your vacation rental Magic Zone.
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode, two of the industry's top thought leaders reminisce on their friendly rivarly and come together with insights meant to push the whole industry forward.
This episode is brought you by PointCentral: https://www.pointcentral.com/vrmb/ the leaders in smart home automation, and Breezeway, https://www.breezeway.io/vrmbthe best in class property care and automations platform.
Join VRMB Communities...
- Founder, VRMB
As part of our divergent thinking series, Matt sits down this week with Bob Pease, President of the Brewer's Association. The extraordinary success of the craft beer industry in the last several decades provides real insight into how vacation rental professionals can band together to achieve a host of goals.
- Founder, VRMB
Today's episode features Ruth Manfredi, owner of Cinque Terre Vacation Rentals in Italy. In this episode, Ruth and Matt talk about a shift toward creativity, authenticity, and originality within the VR industry. You will hear Ruth her passion and excitement while she shares her stories and experiences which involves more than just the VR industry.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with OwnerRez...
- Founder, VRMB
As a way to offset some of the unprecedented hype our vacation rental sector is experiencing, Season 7 of the Unlocked Podcast is going against the grain...pulling back the curtain...taking off the rose-colored glasses...and revealing HOW the vacation rental SAUSAGE is made.
The theme of the season: Unglamorous!
Running a vacation rental company is not sexy. It's unpredictable, messy, and incredibly hard...
- Founder, VRMB
Lane is the CEO of Cleancio, vacation rental cleaning on demand. Is among the top subject matter experts in the vacation rental sector. She started off with a problem like a lot of us: figuring out a consistent cleaning solution to her and her husband’s vacation rental properties.
But unlike a lot of us, that problem turned into an opportunity for Rocio, as she went way down the housekeeping rabbit hole, peeling...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode, Matt sits down with Michelle Hodges of Meyer Vacation Rentals to discuss building on the legacy of a family enterprise and finding creative solutions to the massive staffing problems of a seasonal business.
Michelle Hodges is the President of Meyer Vacation Rentals on Florida and Alabama’s Gulf Coast. And when she speaks, it’s like generations of vacation rental experience are talking to you...
- Founder, VRMB
@LindaS is one of our vacation rental heroines. She has one of the clearest, fiercest understandings of what she likes: and it just so happens to be what guests are willing to pay good money for: AND what homeowners and desperate to align themselves with.
But here’s the rub: Linda’s expertise is not glamorous: her solutions aren’t cookie-cutter.
So when Great Vacation Retreats, the company Linda helped grow...
Our quest to quantify vacation rental advocacy health continues in Episode 2 with Linda Curry of Arizonans for Responsible Tourism!
Arizona is as good of an environment for short term rentals right now as any we've seen in the United States. (Though, as Matt cautions, we shouldn't assume the score of a destination before really digging into our research.) If we can pinpoint what is working in Arizona, we'll...
- Founder, VRMB
@AlexC is the Founder of Welcome Home Club, a vacation a vacation rental management company in San Antonio, Texas.
He's one of the more survival-oriented managers we’ve interviewed.
His background in the Military and working with Fortune 500 companies, give him a deep understanding of how things work, how things should work, and the conditions for when things fail and how to avoid these conditions with...
- Founder, VRMB
Eric Broughton is the Chief Strategy officer of Inhabit IQ, which owns a number of vacation rental service providers and has frankly not always had the most forthcoming reputation in the vacation rental industry.
In his defense, Eric wasn’t in his position in those early days, he’s relatively new, so this conversation was originally designed to clear up some of the air.
But as you’ll hear, Eric has a very...
- Founder, VRMB
In this special edition, we're airing a favorite episode from the Sarah & T podcast. Sarah and Tim are good friends and their show is a must listen for anyone in the industry. This week, they take a hilarious look at 6 key components to a successful welcome of your guests.
- Founder, VRMB
Our industry talks a lot these days about a departing generation of wisdom. About the operators exiting their businesses and taking all of their knowledge with them. But what you don't hear about is the new minds, the new leaders who will carry the torch and @Amanda.Hoffmann is definately a new leader on the rise. She's building a finance division from scratch at Highgate and she's forging a new path at the...
- Founder, VRMB
This week Matt talks to Stacy Wesson of Cascara Vacation Rentals about the challenges of modernizing and running a family vacation rental business in an era of acquisitions and tech driven hospitality.
@Stacy is one of what I refer to as the new class of vacation rental managers: whose extraordinary planning and focus on what she wants (and fierce avoidance of what she finds toxic) leads to a sustainably...
- Founder, VRMB
Bruce Ikelheimer, a recovering rocket scientist, is currently at THE inflection point of vacation rental growth: profitable with his own 2 properties and now beginning to manage other homes, Bruce is now scaling his business Banjoe Vacations without scaling his workload.
The lessons he is learning as he approaches liftoff are valuable for listeners from all over the industry.
This episode is brought you by...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode, Matt shares his big takeaways from Amy Hinote's Data and Revenue Management Conference in Charleston, South Carolina.
The first, data and revenue management is THE JUICIEST way for vacation rental owners and managers to make more money doing exactly the same job they have always loved. When you make more money, everyone has more fun.
Second, asking whether to use manual OR automation is...
- Founder, VRMB
In this episode, Matt sits down with Jessica Sheedy Black -- a neighborhood advocate and regional leader of the Texas Neighborhood Coalition -- for a sobering look at the other side of the vacation rental advocacy debate.
As a warning Jessica is not a short term rental advocate. So you may be wondering what’s she doing on this podcast? Our big mission of Unlocked is to challenge vacation rental pros to think...
- Founder, VRMB
Ashley Kubiszyn is CEO of River Ridge Rentals in Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone Colorado.
The company has been around for 20 years but Ashley took it over form her mother: conducting a full re-haul on systems and technology, while buttressing the aspects that make them market leaders like specialization, localization, and community involvement.
Most of the questions in this interview are framed...
- Founder, VRMB
Matt Roberts is the CEO of Vacasa, one of the largest vacation rental companies in the world. Matt was previously the CEO at Open Table -- the app that allows you to reserve tables at your favorite restaurants -- but he’s not entirely new to vacation rentals as he was previously on Vacasa’s board: granted a very different vantage point than being CEO.
But as a disclaimer and a testament to the theme of this...
- Founder, VRMB
Sallie Mitchell, formerly of Casa Mar Azul vacation rental in San Pancho, Mexico knows what it's like to plan for a dream, live with the realities of that dream, and ultimately exit the dream in a positive fashion. Onwards to the next chapter.
In this episode Sallie and Matt explore the idea of finding your guest type and catering to them, action items to build an exit strategy and dip into Sallie's fears of an...
Welcome to VRMB!
I’m Matt Landau, the founder of this forum. It was created in 2016 when a group of us wanted a safe space to discuss our growing STR businesses.
Today, you can join our community of 1,000+ creative, thoughtful, and generous members who believe in a better future.
Spotlight
Discover "Unlocked: The Intermission" - a captivating 6-part podcast series featuring the individuals who have shaped Matt Landau's horseradish in the past 6 months.