Unlocked Podcast
Virginia Ivy is a hospitality pioneer. From opening a music venue in a dead part of Memphis to starting her current vacation rental business in the Arkansas Ozarks, she has earned ‘first mover status’ many times over. She is now an integral part of a tourism oriented community and expanding into related businesses, but through it all she understands the best way to superb guest experience is to focus on the...
Megan Carda of Lifestyle Properties used her passion for her local community to build a network of connected businesses that opened the doors to Oregon's Wine Country. Not only does this create a rich guest experience, it drives business to the community and puts Megan lightyears ahead of the competition.
Graham Donoghue is CEO of Sykes Cottages, arguably the largest profitable vacation rental management company in the world. He brings a unique perspective to our industry, having presided over some of the largest digital-led businesses across the UK. In this mega-episode Matt and Graham tackle how to build a team, how to wield data, how to buy and sell vacation rental...
Michelle Ruber of Shift Vacation Rentals has not only built a thriving vacation rental business with her own properties, she has turned passion for her community into a way to give back and enhance guest experience. The result is a kind of first-mover status that carves a deep moat around her business and earns social capital in the eyes of neighbors & employees.
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In this very special season finale episode of Unlocked with Matt Landau, our sponsor, Sean Miller of Point Central turns the microphone around on Matt and and asks the questions we've been waiting nearly sixty episodes to answer.
Everything from Matt's management past to his Vacation Rental Show future is revealed, along with a great deal of thinking and action items about...
Everything from Matt's management past to his Vacation Rental Show future is revealed, along with a great deal of thinking and action items about...
Evelyn Badia is a New York City based, five-star, Airbnb superhost. Through her online community and podcast she helps people become better hosts and use those hosting skills to build better financial futures.
Evelyn and Matt have a history of banter when it comes to professionalism and the vacation rental industry and in this final episode of season 7, they dive into a...
Travelnet Solutions Co-founder and CEO Ryan Bailey has been working since the early days of the internet to provide technology solutions for the hospitality industry. Their property management software Track has twice been named the software of the future by the VRMB Keystone awards.
In this episode, Matt sits down with Ryan to talk about building enterprise platforms, the...
Theo Kracke is a true vacation rental advocacy avenger. Fed up with unfair regulations in his home town of Santa Barbara, he sued the city and spent a great deal of his time and money to create precedent setting law that benefits owners and managers up and down the California coast. In Phoenix at the recent Streamline conference, Matt sat down with Theo to get his story.
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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...
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...
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...
But as a disclaimer and...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
@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...
@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...
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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
The theme of the season: Unglamorous!
Running a vacation rental company is not sexy. It's...
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.
@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...
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...
This episode is brought to you by Point Central, the leaders in smart home automation, and...
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!
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!
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
Here Goes Nothin'
Retreats, workshops, and discussions that spark creative leaps in your business.
Upcoming Retreats
Matt's first Here Goes Nothin' retreat is slated for THIS NEW YEARS Dec 26-30 (cohort 1) and Dec 30-Jan 3 (cohort 2).
This retreat is all about creativity as an advanced leadership technique and is open to anyone exploring more creative risks in business (and life!)
Simply reach out to [email protected] with a bit about your current goals to learn more...