Turning Train Cars into Dream Stays: Creating a Brand Where All Belong with Amy Corbett
In this episode of Booked Solid, Amy Corbett reveals how she’s transforming quirky spaces like vintage train cars and grain bins, into sought-after escapes. Discover how her brand, All Belong Co., is redefining what it means to be a host by creating inclusive, unforgettable experiences that go beyond the ordinary. From harnessing niche communities to building direct bookings that aren’t dependent on Airbnb, Amy’s journey is all about breaking the mold and making guests feel truly at home. If you’re ready to take your STR game to the next level with bold, one-of-a-kind stays, this episode is for you! Summary and Highlights 🎤 Meet Amy — Founder of All Belong Amy is the founder of All Belong, a distinctive accommodation brand inspired by her personal experiences and her family’s journey. She has transformed her life and business by focusing on creating a space where everyone feels like they truly belong, despite being different. From her daughter’s battle with alopecia to offering one-of-a-kind stays like a 1950s train caboose and a grain bin lodge, Amy is not just about providing a place to stay—she’s about creating a community. Her vision goes beyond booking platforms like Airbnb, aiming for direct bookings and personal connections. 🧠 What You Can Learn From Amy Building a Brand from a Personal Story 🏠 Tapping into Niche Markets 🚂✈️ Leveraging Local Networks for Direct Bookings 🌍 Manifesting Success and Consistency 💭 Networking for Growth 🤝 Her Book Recommendation 📚Amy recommends “The Gap and The Gain” by Dan Sullivan. This book teaches the powerful concept of measuring progress not by where you fall short (the “gap”) but by how far you’ve come (the “gain”). For Amy, this book has inspired a daily habit of reflecting on three wins every day, keeping her mindset positive and focused on growth. 🌐 Connect with Amy Corbett 🌐 Follow All Belong Co Transcript Amy: This is something I think all of us as hosts, if we’re not doing it, we should be doing it. So, you know, a lot of things are, sometimes it’s just throwing spaghetti on the wall and just try things. And one of the things that right now I’m trying is that leveraging the skills of other people to help us get more visibility and get our brand more out there. Amy: So I would say going after direct bookings can take a number of different paths and. I’m reaching out. I’m not thinking I have all of the answers to get them, but I wanna be, be wise and see if the other people that are out there to, to help me with this, if they can help me. Gil: Hey folks, welcome back to Book Solid. The podcast where we interview top operators in short-term rental industry to share their secrets on how their book solid. On today’s show, I have Amy Corbett. I met Amy at Level Up Your Listing, and she has an amazing story. I had so much fun interviewing her. I think you guys will really enjoy this episode as we kind of walk through how she has progressed in her short term rental journey, some of the projects that she is digging into, and how she approaches direct bookings and SDR marketing in general. Gil: I think. You guys will get a lot of value out of this. Her story is just amazing. The properties that she’s building out are unlike what I typically hear. So it’s amazing just how she thinks through some of these projects and some of the more unconventional ways on how she even found some of these. Gil: So I think you guys will really enjoy this. So let’s bring her in. Gil: Hey Amy, welcome to the show. Amy: Thanks so much, Gil. It’s great to be with you. Gil: Yeah. I met you last week at the Level Up your listing, uh, summit or conference, and I immediately knew that I wanted to have you on the show to talk about many different things. We’ll, I won’t spoil it right now, but you have some pretty unique properties that I want you to. To talk to me about what’s, what’s going on in there. Gil: Um, so it was a huge pleasure to meet you last week. Was it last week? Maybe two weeks now. Uh, a few weeks back. Amy: Yes, Gil: it’s great to record with you now. Um, maybe to kind of kick us off, do you mind introducing yourself to, to our listeners? Amy: sure. Yep. So my name’s Amy Corbett. Um, my business name is Lanco. We have 45 properties in our collective. Um, only four of those are my personal ones. So we’re managing for a lot of homeowners and around 25 of those are in the Lynchburg, Virginia area. Um, we just picked up 13. Two hours down the road in Hot Springs, Virginia. Amy: And then we’ve got a few that are like sprinkled throughout the country. So, you know, one outside of Memphis, one in Ohio on a lake, and just kind of some, um, standalone places. Gil: That’s amazing. And how, how long have you been hosting now? Amy: We officially started as a business, um, January 1st, 2019. Gil: Wow. Okay. Okay. So you, you got in right before the, the big pandemic waves then. Amy: we did. Yes. And you know, that was so scary because we all thought everything was gonna, you know, collapse for us. It ended up being Gil: opposite. Amy: Yeah, exactly. Gil: Yeah. That, that’s funny. Where, yeah. I think a lot of folks, um, I think a lot of folks got in like 2020 right? When things started to pick up. But I do remember very early on the folks that were investing prior to that, um, they weren’t sure whether or not they could even rent out their place because Airbnb was pulling listings off or bookings down. Gil: Um. Because they didn’t know whether