Direct Booking Simplified Podcast – EP12 – Growing Multiple Entrepreneurial paths with Stephanie Figueros

Podcast Summary

Stephanie’s career trajectory reflects a remarkable evolution from nursing to real estate investment, entrepreneurship, and remote workforce management. Her journey began with a shift from nursing to real estate, driven by a desire for greater autonomy and fulfillment. Inspired by YouTube videos, she ventured into short-term rentals, ultimately establishing her own real estate portfolio across multiple states. Recently, she transitioned to working as a full-time real estate agent specializing in short-term rentals, demonstrating her commitment to this niche market.

In addition to her real estate ventures, Stephanie founded Bravo Virtual Assistance, a Philippines-based agency providing virtual assistants tailored for the real estate and short-term rental sectors. She emphasizes the importance of coaching both VAs and clients on effective leadership, focusing on providing context for tasks rather than just instructions. Through her agency, Stephanie aims to empower VAs as integral team members, fostering their growth and autonomy over time.

Stephanie’s approach to leadership and team-building offers valuable insights for remote workforce management. By prioritizing compatibility between clients and VAs and emphasizing empowerment, she creates a dynamic environment where VAs can thrive. Her story highlights the potential for combining diverse experiences to create innovative business models, suggesting avenues for further exploration, such as writing or podcasting, to share her expertise with a wider audience.

Essential Highlights

Stephanie has had a fascinating career journey going from being a nurse to becoming a real estate investor, short-term rental host, entrepreneur, real estate agent focused on short-term rentals, and founder of a virtual assistant (VA) agency called Bravo Virtual Assistance. Here are a few key points:

• Stephanie got into real estate investing and short-term rentals after feeling unfulfilled as a nurse and wanting more autonomy. She was drawn to the short-term rental space through watching YouTube videos.
• In addition to her own real estate portfolio across multiple states, Stephanie recently started working full-time as a short-term rental focused real estate agent with Savvy Realty/Savvy STR Agents.
• Her VA agency Bravo Virtual Assistance is based in the Philippines and specializes in providing real estate/short-term rental virtual assistants. She emphasizes the importance of training and coaching both the VAs and clients on being good leaders.
• Stephanie stresses giving VAs context on the “why” behind tasks, not just instructions, to enable them to be thinkers not just doers. She aims to empower and challenge her VAs.
• She recommends compatibility assessments like DISC to match client personalities with appropriate VAs for different roles. Overall, she sees VAs as true team members whose autonomy and responsibilities can grow over time with empowerment.

Stephanie seems to have leveraged her diverse experiences to carve out a unique niche combining short-term rentals, real estate, and remote workforce management.

Transcription

 Like, the truth is that, um, your team member, whoever they are, whether it’s in person, virtual, they’re only going to take 80 percent off of your plate, realistically. They’ll never take 100 percent because there’s still that 20 percent that requires you to actually manage and, you know, be a supportive role.

And that’s kind of how it progresses. In the beginning, you are the teacher, you are the trainer, you are the manager. And eventually when they get a little bit more autonomy and confidence and you’re empowering them, you’re becoming more of like a support for them, but they’re the ones that have to be responsible for a certain task.

Otherwise, if something doesn’t go well, uh, they’re the ones having to kind of fix it, not you.  So that’s just like, kind of like the progress and then it makes them better because, um, That pride in your work type of thing that you want your team members to have separate from you. 

Folks, welcome back to direct booking simplified. We break down the tactics and strategies to win in direct bookings. Today we have Stephanie for girls. She’s a STR host herself. She’s a real estate agent. She has an eight VA agency to help hosts scale their portfolio. And she’s this public speaker. On today’s podcast, she’ll walk through her entire journey of how she got to where she is today and some tips on how to do in more direct bookings.

So let’s bring her in. Hey Steph, welcome to the show. 

Thanks for having me, Miguel. 

Yeah, it’s really good. It’s really good to have you on the show. I, we’d spent so many phone conversations more recently. I was like, ah, it’s really good to have you on.  

Thanks for Nick. I’m happy to be here. Like I love everything that you’re doing.

So I’m really, really excited. Oh 

my God. And I’m, I bet you it was hard to, to even find time from, from, from your busy day, given like all the things that you’re swimming in right now. 

Ah, yes. But anything for you, Gail. So,  

well, why don’t we start off with a kind of an intro on kind of who you are and all the things that Stephanie does. 

Sure. So, um, I’m a former registered nurse. It’s actually something I don’t talk about that often anymore. Um, but turned into real estate investor, um, short term rental host, um, entrepreneur now, um, short term rental agent, uh, business owner, and  I’m also public speaker, so, um, I have properties in California, Texas, Tennessee, and Florida, primarily in the short term rental space.

And, um, I, it’s been, it’s been a very, very awesome. Crazy nonlinear road to get to where we are now. So 

I can’t imagine a linear road for that type of, you have a portfolio of a life.  

No kidding. And it’s crazy. Cause we’re, we’re doing a lot of, um, changes actually in our portfolio, uh, me and my partners. So it’s like, there’s a lot of new and exciting things to come.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I forgot that you, you actually, you were a nurse not that long ago. It feels like maybe, maybe less than five years, right? 

Yeah. Yeah. Um, it’s, uh, I’m technically still licensed. I actually just renewed my license in December, but I don’t practice anymore, but I’m going to keep it pretty much forever just, just because I did that.

So, um, truly this is like a second career for me and everything I’ve ever learned about life and business is, gets translated through nursing first in my brain, then to real estate and business. So 

that’s interesting. What was it?  Tell me the kind of origin story. How did you get started from being a nurse practitioner all the way to getting that first STR and now now all the things that you have right now?

Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I actually almost became a nurse practitioner, but I, I stayed with, uh, just having my, BSN or my registered nurse license, um, and degree, but basically in the hospital setting, I just was not really happy. Like I didn’t feel like I was living up to my max potential. And I’m one where, um, I’m a Capricorn.

So that should probably say a lot about me. Uh, we’re very ambitious people. And so. Uh, I just, I didn’t like being told what to do. Like  part of me was like a great straight A student. And the other part of me was like, wants to do rebellious and just like create my own destiny. So I fit into the mold well, but I also was like, I don’t know, like, no, I don’t want to be in the mold, but sure.

I’ll do it anyway. So long story short. I was actually trying to leave the hospital setting to go work from home as a nurse until I figured out really what I could do. So I thought side hustle would be a great start almost in e commerce. Um, but COVID actually really kicked me like over the edge because it was so bad in the hospital and I was already planning to make my transition out of it.

It’s just kind of put the nail into the coffin. Like, This isn’t going to be where I am at for the next, you know, a couple of eons. So  I better figure it out. And, um, real estate was something that was always, um, I’ve heard about, but it just never really resonated until, um, my partner actually just started sending me a bunch of YouTube videos on real estate.

And I was like, I thought about it more, um, you know, cause I wasn’t set on one thing or another. But I was like, all right, this actually makes a lot of sense. Uh, I’ll learn everything I can about real estate. And then that’s kind of how this happened or started.  

What was, uh, who are you following back then on the YouTube? 

I don’t even know. I honestly was a lot of bigger pockets YouTube. I never had to look at one exact person. I honestly had a lot of shiny object syndrome. Um, but I just, short term mentals kept standing out to me. And I just was like, if other people are doing this successfully, why can’t I? So I actually almost, I actually almost got talked out of short term rentals too.

Um, but ended up coming full circle doing it anyways, because I was just really stubborn about it. 

You said, uh, something that hit, hit me that I didn’t realize to now about the rebellious side of things. I, I, I would say that almost. Every single STR host is rebellious in some, some degree.  

I believe it. I really do.

Like no one, no one in their sane mind would want to, would do what we do and put ourselves through everything that we do and grow our portfolio. But like,  I think that rebellious side is like.  Is the one that like, is that itch that we can stop scratching or not?  

Yes, that’s a great way to say it. It’s an itch.

Like, you know, it’s there and you’re just kind of ignoring it. And I think finally  I just was like, no, we’re going to, we’re going to go ahead and, or take the leap of faith to, to figure it out. 

Yeah, I think I started as well too on the YouTube side of like, I was watching a lot of YouTube videos. I was actually probably the person sending the videos to others.

Like my, I was trying to get my wife, wife convinced she did not want to get into short term rental. She’s like, Oh, Gail, this is another thing that you want to do. Another side hustle that you want to do. And I think it was,  the Robinsons that really like, like help boil it down to something tangible that helped her get through it.

Uh, I remember like driving down to LA from San Francisco and she’s stuck in a car for five hours. So let’s put on a YouTube or let’s put it on a podcast. And that’s how I was able to like draw her in. Otherwise there’s no way she’ll, she’ll listen to that stuff.  

Oh, interesting. I guess I’m, I’m very fortunate cause my, my partner,  I’m definitely the, the spear for sure between the two of us, but, um, he’s very supportive kind of, but I, I realize like  he has to kind of sometimes like direct me on like, what’s the real priority here because I have a tendency to, to want to do, to want to do it all right, but you can’t do everything.

Um, You can do anything, but you can’t do everything kind of thing. Yeah, 

yeah, yeah.  I believe it.  I think my wife’s definitely, she’s a believer now. Like now, now that our portfolio is a lot bigger, we’re surrounded by like, a lot of our friends are now hosts of themselves. Like we live in the SDR world. So she’s definitely like embraced it a lot more than, than I would say a few years back.

So we’ve come, we’ve definitely come full circle.  

Wow. That’s amazing. That’s cool. I love hearing that because you go way further with a partner than you will by yourself. Truly. 

Yeah, definitely. So you, on top of all the things that you’ve done, you’ve now, you’re now an agent.  So actually the first 

thing I, no one knows that, but I’ve actually been an agent for a couple, a while.

That was the first thing I ever did to get into real estate was get my license. Because at the time I was like, that just sounds like the logical thing to do. Even then, even though I didn’t know any, like you don’t have to be. To invest you don’t need to have your license. I knew that but because I came from such a different world Just like how we go to school to learn stuff.

I legit was like I was okay taking the real, like the course just to get the knowledge, whether or not I decided to move forward with getting the license. And then I ended up getting the license and just doing my own deals and close family and friends. But, um, this past year I’ve decided to go pretty much full time into, to being a short term rental specific agent in Southern California.

So, um, that’s been pretty exciting to, to be able to be a part of, especially for, for other investors.  

What’s the, what’s the agency called or what’s the broker called? 

Savvy Realty or Savvy Esther Agents. So, um, it’s, it’s growing too. Um, they’re based in North Carolina with Tyler Kuhn.  And there’s like, we’re all over the place, but it’s, it’s a really cool team.

And the fact that we all live and eat, breathe short term rentals, 

um, 

I’ve never been part of like a team side before, even though we’re all very independent. Uh, but it’s, it’s a really good environment. And plus, to be honest, it puts you much closer to, to deals. So whether they are in me being all over the place,  I it’s, it’s nice to be able to, to talk to other, other opinions from the agent standpoint, being like a colleague of theirs on the West coast and getting insights for them, like on the other side of the country.

So 

yeah.  I bet you guys share clients as well too, because  we, a lot of hosts that get to a point where like, ah, let’s, let’s try a different market out. Let’s see how this one is. And you start to, you start to explore different things. So having a team that’s in multiple markets definitely helps.  

Yep. We, I actually won.

Um, one client that I’m working with, they’re from the Bay area. Um, they just bought in, uh, South Carolina and now they’re like, okay, we’re ready to buy in Southern California. And I’m like, amazing, amazing. Amazing. It was just like a handoff, uh,  from, from one agent to another within the brokerage. So I thought that was, that’s pretty cool.

It was really cool to see. 

Do you, uh,  do you have any folks in the Northern California or even Central California?  

We actually just got a Northern California agent. I, he’s like literally one day new or so. I just, um, I personally haven’t talked to him just yet, but he was, he got introduced to the team this past, like. 

I think within the last 24 to 48 hours. So we’re, we’re growing. 

Nice.  So, so, so Cal is, it’s too far for me to, to, to want to like drive down and have a local place. But my wife and I we’ve always wanted a local STR. Like, so we have our, we have ours and like our smokies and other markets right now, but we’ve always wanted one in California.

And we almost explored like Joshua tree. But like, if we’re going to do Joshua tree, like it’s not going to make sense for us. We’re not going to be able to like, we’re going to have to fly there most of the time or take the whole family out and drive. So like, let’s try to find something a bit closer and we’re pretty close to getting one in Oakhurst.

Um, 

Ooh. Okay. I’m familiar with that market. 

Yeah. I wonder which one it 

is because I’ve talked to quite a few agents. I actually do cover up. That’s my border is Oakhurst. So, so you, do you 

serve Oakhurst? Do you serve Hurst? I do, 

I do serve Oakhurst still. I don’t know if that’s gonna last though. Um, just because if we get a Central California agent, then I like, I’m like they can have that area.

But right now I’m actually covering up to Madera County, which is where Oakhurst is. So, yeah, actually might know the agent you’re talking to, um, depending on who it is. But, um, I haven’t talked to him in 

a while. I think the agent I was talking to was John, but we haven’t talked to him. We haven’t talked to him in a while now.

Okay. Well, let me know. Cause I actually talked to, um, a couple of clients and there is one specific listing that, um, is very interesting. So we can always talk offline on that one. 

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. When we’re, when we’re ready to expand into, into home base, then I’ll definitely reach out to you.  Um, talk to me a bit about kind of your, Your, your VA business as well too.

Um, I obviously need to know that very intimately because I wouldn’t have been able to scale all of my efforts and all the things that I do myself personally without your help, but definitely for like the listeners, like what, what are you doing with all things VA. 

Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for asking. So, um, so Bravo virtual assistance.

Um, I’m the founder of it. And, um, we’re based in the Philippines. I’m actually Filipino. Um, though I don’t speak the language, which is really funny because they all speak Tagalog and I’m just, and I don’t, so they speak English around me. Um, born and raised here. Uh, but it’s, it’s really cool because, um, it’s. 

I, I know, like for me, I have three full time VAs and I’ve, I’ve gone through a lot of the, the routes that most people have where they needed help yesterday. So,  um, kind of fast forward now, a few years later, having a virtual assistants, I’ve always had people ask me, Hey, could you just like find and train my VA for me and then just like hand them off?

So I actually remember telling, um, one of my VAs, my head VA, like about like, you know, that’s something that I’ve always wanted to be able to do. And long behold, um, she had an internal training academy. And so we basically, Are teaming up to, to bridge the gap because I see a lot of, uh, friends, colleagues, however you call it, that are like on the struggle bus.

And it’s, it pains me because  I’m like, I’ve been there and it’s like, you can’t do this by yourself. But, um, and then I also see, um, you know, an opportunity for, for other VAs that don’t have that, like, they’re very coachable, very trainable and they just need opportunities. And so it’s just like, it’s really cool because it’s not just one person being helped.

It’s multiple people being helped. Um, so to be honest, like that, that lights me up because it’s, it’s really cool to see the development and what we’re doing and how it’s impacting other people on both sides of the world, basically. So, um, we’re really right now doubling down on kind of like, what is the biggest niche?

So we do real estate specific.  is what we pretty much do. We do have like a one off, which is a medical scribe for a physician  because I think he found me because of my nursing background through a Facebook group. So it’s actually quite interesting, but, um, we do have medical scribes too. It’s just, we don’t really advertise it.

It just kind of came, came up and he’s been pretty happy with his medical scribe. So, um, but yeah, It’s really cool. And it’s actually gotten me much better, um, in my own business, because there’s things that we’re doing for other clients just in general, that I’m like, we should also do that for, for me,  but I, I wouldn’t have thought that if I didn’t, you know, it’s a lot of collaboration, there’s a huge operations behind it too.

Cause it’s not just like, there’s a lot of coaching and training. I actually did one for the client side yesterday, which I’m like. I’m going to do again. Um, I think we’re going to do these once a month just for the clients, because how good the client is, to be honest, impacts the success of the, of their VAs.

So it’s just basically learning how to be a leader, which most people don’t really get training in that way. But I have had leadership roles in my past, past career. So for me, it’s like, it’s not very, it’s very obvious, but for not every, for people who.  Um, haven’t had that experience with managing and stuff.

It’s, it’s not as obvious, so I think it’s really cool. I like to see the impact part of it. 

Yeah, yeah, not related. I don’t want to like,  take this the wrong way, but like, it reminds me a lot when I was, when I got a puppy myself and I went to puppy kindergarten. The puppy kindergarten was actually not for the puppy.

It was  as the, as a puppy dad. And it was about me teaching me how to be a good parent. So in like, in many ways, like I think I missed out on the course yesterday because I had family duties, but I wanted to take it. Yeah, we’ll do, I’ll definitely catch the next one, but I completely agree with you that how well your VA does really does depend on how you are as a leader and how you delegate.

And how do you actually like set people up for success? So like, I think what you’re doing,  not only on like the, the VA sourcing side of things, but also on really like educating folks is, Super duper important.  

Yeah. Yeah. I’ve, I’ve, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, um, early on. This was before the agency part of it.

Um, and it’s, I’ve realized really, and this is no different than in person. And I think a lot of people don’t see that kind of like overlap. Like you don’t, you’re regardless if they’re virtual or not. These are your people. So it’s, it’s no different if you had a person in your passenger seat, that was your assistant.

You have to basically treat them the same way you would with somebody, uh, over a zoom call. So, um, it’s very, it’s a very cool, it’s insightful. I I’ve actually had some one on ones, um, with other, with other clients who just needed that little bit of extra help. And, uh, when I started to kind of from a, from a different standpoint, like Are you doing this?

And they’re like, well, no. And I’m like, and they’re like, Oh, but that sounds like a great idea.  So it’s very, very, it’s not even complicated. It’s just. We don’t, we don’t think about these things, uh, in the thick of it.  

Would you, uh, ever start a podcast yourself on how to become a good VA leader?  

You know what?

I’ve really thought about, uh, like I’ve thought about a lot of things and one of them is a podcast and I don’t know what it would be about, but I do want to do something on the VA side of things. I’ve thought about actually maybe writing a book about it.  I actually read a book before I hired my first VA, and there’s not a lot of them.

There really isn’t. So I’m like, maybe I should do that, but I definitely want to do more content of some sort just to educate more people. Cause, um, there’s like, I’m actually going to be doing two presentations on virtual assistants in July. Um, and so I’m, I’m excited because I don’t, I’ve, I’ve only ever seen one, um, and I’ve been to many conferences, like one that was about VAs.

So I’m really hoping to be able to fill that gap in for a lot of people. Um, so I’m excited cause I don’t see that really being hit on. So I’m like, all right, I can be that person. 

I definitely think you should like either one, like even the, like the short form, like Instagram content, I would definitely like.

I would definitely follow and enjoy the content of being how to become a better leader and If you decide to do a podcast, I think that that would be really good to like, even bringing both sides to like getting the perspective from like the VA side and also like season operators that have like done really well because you can go pretty deep.

Like what systems do you use? What process do you use? Like what types of VAs could you do? Like, there’s just so much. depth in that world that me a few months back, like I was like, okay, I knew, I know I need someone, but like, how do I make the most out of this, this, this, this new, this new resource that I have, like it’s a lot of manual learning. 

It’s a lot of, um,  re like redirecting. Um, I think I’ve started with the same team. I’ve like started over quote unquote, more than once just to kind of rehash, you know, systems and that. And there’s also, um, a hierarchy that people don’t think about, like an organizational chart, because it’s one thing to have one VA where it’s just you and them, and you’re promoted now as, just manager.

What happens when you have multiple VAs and you’re like, okay, so how do I divvy up the tasks? And then you really have to think about strengths and weaknesses of each VA.  And kind of like just putting that together is, it’s, no one taught me how to do that, but, um, I have figured it out, not just by myself, but actually collaborating with my VAs, um, too.

So, uh, people kind of forget that they don’t have to know everything about it. Um, you know, you want to work with your, it’s no different than, um, like I’ve had great bosses and I’ve had not so great bosses, And the one, the one that I, like, I would follow him anywhere, if he would move to a different hospital, I’m like, sign me up.

And I really, I literally told him before I left to basically quit nursing. When I have people that are, like, working with me and under me, I’m going to be just like you. And, like, that’s the boss I want to be. And I literally emulate him. With my, with my team, because, uh, and I, I feel like they’ve even said to me, and it literally could make me cry, they’re just like, they want to do good work, because I really do take care of them, and I empower them, and I challenge them, and I give them the space.

To grow within the role and make it better and not a lot of people will figure that out until  a lot later um Versus right off the bat. There’s a lot of like I can’t let this go and then have some friction between whose whose role is that kind of thing? So 

yeah, 

yeah lots of you’re totally correct.

There’s a lot to deep to to dive into for that 

Yeah, I agree. I think like for me what’s worked out really well is like And you talked about this. I saw your recap email, but just like starting really small on something, but also giving them the autonomy to try to figure it out on their own is really helped me because I’m giving them all the things I know that they’ll need, but I want them to explore what’s the best way to approach it.

So they’re writing their own SLPs. I’m not like giving them Like these are the 10 steps that you have to do and do exactly this way. Like I found that like one, it takes a lot of time for mine, but also it robs them from like trying to figure it out on their own and really try to find out what they’re really good at and how to leverage themselves more effectively. 

Right. And, and they want to do a great job too. And it’s funny because if you keep them in a cookie cutter that you think is the only way it actually limits you in your business. So giving, I’ve learned to give just parameters, basically like basic parameters, because if you don’t do those, like there’s two types of, um, ones I, like leader types, I see, I usually see micromanagers.

And I see lousy fair managers on the other, um, which are both extremes. Um, for those of you who don’t know what like a lousy fair type of leader is, basically they just kind of give them like, do this, figure it out. And  then they’re off to the races to figure it out. But then when they get like the.

Result that leader’s like, wait, that’s not what I wanted. And it’s because you didn’t really help them figure or at least guide them. So that happens to be the most unproductive, um,  like type with that type of management. Um, productivity is the lowest with that one. And then micromanagers, everyone’s just like, it’s just not a good environment, working environment to be in.

So I like the transformative, um, which I, that’s what I focus on emulating the transformative.  That sounds 

like, that sounds like a chapter title in your, in your book.  

You know what? I remember learning this stuff literally like into grade school. And I actually like had to train, do some leadership management training online, just myself to kind of like, all right, I got to show it better for this team because  you know, they’ll show it better if I show up for them.

So they actually keep me on track. Quite frankly, they structured me  to do better.  

Terrible 

as that sounds. Cause I’m the one that’s supposed to be doing it, but nope. When they show up, I’m like, I guess I’d be, I better be working too.  

I mean, that’s, that’s what you mean. Like it’s, it is a team. Like there’s not like, you’re not delegating all your stuff away and saying like, okay, take all this stuff off my plate.

It’s when you, I think you do it really well. They become part of your team. And I think that’s, that’s when you, you know, you’ve hit, you’ve hit a home run with your team. 

Oh yeah. And it’s always a work in progress. It’s not perfect. Like the truth is that, um, your team member, whoever they are, whether it’s in person, virtual, they’re only going to take 80 percent off of your plate.

Realistically, they’ll never take a hundred percent because there’s still that 20 percent that requires you to actually manage and, you know, be a supportive role. And that’s kind of how. It progresses in the beginning, you are the teacher, you are the trainer, you are the manager, and eventually when they get a little bit more autonomy and confidence and you’re empowering them, you’re becoming more of like a support for them, but they’re the ones that have to Be responsible for a certain task.

Otherwise, if something doesn’t go well, uh, they’re the ones having to kind of fix it, not you.  So that’s this just like, kind of like the progress and then it makes them better because, um, that pride in your work type of thing that you want your team members to have separate from you. So.  

One like thing I found really effective is whenever I’m starting something new with one of my VAs is to write out a brief.

And I think the most important part of that brief and that brief ends up becoming like evolves into like the SOP and then everything. Um, but the most important part of the brief is the why, like, why am I asking you to do this thing? Because if you don’t give your VAs the, the why. They’ll do the tasks, they’ll do what they think is the right things to do, but they wouldn’t know whether or not like they’ve achieved what you were looking out to, to actually like, what’s the outcome that you’re looking for? 

You’re so right. And I’m so glad you brought that up because, um, I’ve told people that like, you have to give them the context of why they’re doing what they’re doing. I’m actually the same way. Like if I’m doing something, just tell me what the real goal is behind this. That way, You know, cause there’s a lot of other variables besides the task.

Right. So, um, giving them like the point of what they’re, why they’re doing, what they’re doing, most people don’t think about that, to be quite honest in the beginning, cause they’re just too focused on just like, because what you’re doing is you’re evolving them from. Just a doer to really a thinker. And that’s what you want, but it does kind of, doesn’t start that way off the bat for the most part.

You got to have to really get them to really get what the mission is and the point is, um, and then give them the space and freedom to. To contribute towards it. And I’ve, you’re that’s, I’m glad to hear that. So bravo. 

I mean, well, for me, I, I, I, from, I come from the corporate world. So like I’ve been building products for a very long time and I’ve built out teams and I think like, me being a manager in the corporate world has really helped me in really being a good VA leader.

And there’s still a ton, like I still have a lot to learn, and I will definitely follow all the content that you provide. Um, but I think like those managerial skills that you, you learn from that your w two job definitely applies here. 

Absolutely. Like, it really is no different. It actually, I was telling somebody that I was talking to, um, he had kind of identified as like the lousy, fair type of leader.

And he was, there’s like no wonder he wasn’t satisfied with his VA. No wonder his VA wasn’t performing to the degree he wanted to. Um, cause I asked him, it’s a very simple question. Like, have you ever been  position ever for a role where you had to supervise people. And he was like, no, I did it. And I’m like, that’s okay.

You know, there’s, it’s just a learning curve. I asked somebody else same question. Um, cause we were just kind of talking and he said, yeah, I’ve, I’ve done that before. And I’m like, perfect. You have one of the best advantages that whatever it is that you did, cause. The buck falls with you kind of thing.

It’s not actually your, your VA. It’s, it’s you as the business owner until you’re a start, you know, once you have somebody in the middle between you, like that’s the manager, or maybe that VA upgrades to being the manager of the next VA then for the meantime, though. You’re, you are the buck where it stops.

So that’s really cool. Cause you do have, if that’s the case, then to me, I’m like, you’re like 75 percent of the way there,  like, you can’t take that experience. Like that’s goal to have, because it’s truly what it almost looks like is that corporate structure, but just like a little bit different than what it is.

And you send out a, you send out a questionnaire when you’re onboarding a new host or a customer of yours. Do you include that question now? I remember I saw like, have you been, have you had VAs before? Do you include also, have you been a manager before? 

Um, I don’t think we have that specific question, but we’ve honestly refined that questionnaire.

Like we just refined it like yesterday to actually include for, um, whoever is the prospect like  perspective client to also take a DISC personality test.  Just because at the end of the day, what I’ve realized and I’ve learned. It doesn’t make equal, no training. It just means a shorter learning curve, but really what it comes down to is compatibility.

Um, if that is, if that fits there, like it, it takes away like at least 75 percent of anything that could come up later, because both of you can, you know, you guys are on the same wavelength kind of thing, because you’re going to get into bumps and, you know, along the road, but if you’re already not a good fit to begin with, You’ll never get past something very simple without there being like a friction.

So 

that’s something 

we just added is for the clients to better know themselves ahead of time. 

Yeah. I I’ve taken a desk  test. Maybe I should probably within a year.  I haven’t, I haven’t cross referenced it with the VAs I hired and whether or not I’m on the right side of the circle with them.  

Interesting.

Hey, you know what? It’s funny. Cause. Um, most people don’t really know though, even if they take the test, they’re like, you know, should I go with a clone of myself or should I go with an opposite, uh, personality type? And what I’ve learned, um, having multiple VAs and just going through this is it really depends on the role.

Um, so like you hire for the role, not the task. The task is easy. You can train anybody to do that. You, I mean, all of us here didn’t learn that weren’t born with, You know our businesses so we learned it too Um, but if I if like you and I weren’t resilient people by nature, we would have never gotten this far, you know so there’s a component of that when it comes to Your hires like are they are they born with a certain?

Like bone in their body that will fit your personality type. Um, for the role that they’re in that that’s like, I don’t know. It’s a lot of psychology is what I’ve learned too, with all this. Um, that’s what, that’s what business is, is honestly, it’s, um, it’s a lot of psychology with a little bit of, you know, Numbers sprinkled in there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I, it’s almost like, uh, for folks that are scaling their business, like this whole phase of it is like almost like a precursor to like when your business comes, becomes really successful and you maybe have in-house teams, you’ve already actually gotten a lot of experience of operating and how to become a good operator and have becoming a good leader as well too. 

It’s a lot of, um, reframing, um, because I feel like what gets you from like level zero to level five, it doesn’t, what gets you from, you know, there to there from five to 10 is actually much different because now you’re shifting your focus on just, you know, going from perseverance to like the viability stage of a business. 

You’re also a host too, is that right? 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I’m actually, I guess I’m a host first. That was the first thing I’ve ever done. So 

I’m 

still a host.  

What’s, what’s your portfolio looking like now?  

Uh, right now. So, um, I’m a quantum quality type of gal. So we have six active STRs and we have one. Um, fixer that’s currently being rehabbed that I’m actually debating on what to do with this specific property, because, um, I’m at the phase now because I do this full time, I do need a little bit more stability in my portfolio, whereas in the beginning, um, I could, I didn’t need that much because I still had a lot of support with my W2.

So, um, we’re, we’re going to recalibrate our portfolio. We’re actually going to offload some of those properties out of state and then just relocate them to either. Um, two markets that we’re already in. So, um, but hoping to do more fixing flips and burr projects, um, with both myself and my partner and then, um, 

is it a burster?

Are you going to keep it on? As 

it really depends. Um, I I’m going, I’m buying these with the intention that they there’s multiple exits, um, just because, um,  Diversifying your portfolio is very important. And as much as I love STRs at the end of the day, like the seasonality is a big thing. So to have something a little bit more stable, whether that’s an MTR, maybe even an LTR, I cringe when I say that, right. 

Or even, you know, there’s also this aspect I’m actually considering. Um, but potentially making this property that I have, that’s being fixed right now into a sober living. Um, and I’m not afraid of active, um, stuff. I mean, I do STRs. So for me, um, I’m totally cool, you know, continuing to do things a little bit more complicated.

Like I don’t need LTR passive, um, right now in my, where I’m at. 

Yeah, but I 

do want to change it up. Like that’s kind of how I feel right now is Um changing up that portfolio and then once we refinance out of it and you know Pull our um our cash out then we will redeploy it into another property Which is cool because I never did burrs in the beginning.

I did turnkey properties. So this is a pretty new Thing for me and my partner, but that’s just because we were both able to, to leave our full time W2 jobs to have the time and ability to focus on these other more complicated projects.  

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. With the, with the, the rehab that you’re doing right now, how, how intense is it?

How deep are you getting into the rehab? 

Um, I’d say it’s probably like a medium rehab. Um, my first rehab was like heavy, like gut rehab to the studs and that was never the plan,  which I’ve learned is like, that’s a whole different beast. But I’ve learned a ton. And so it’s, it’s kind of like, I’m adding more stuff to my tool belt because the, the more  we learn how to, to do these. 

that need value ads, the better deals we will get in overall, you know, it’s just longterm wise is just the better plan. So, um, yeah, but I’d say it’s a medium rehab. It’s actually funny because after doing the gut rehab, I’m like, this is easy.  

Yeah. Yeah.  

Quote unquote easy until you find out that you got.

Turn my issues and rats. But anyways, um, yeah, it’s not for the faint of heart.  

I mean, it’s kind of good that you started on the, on the hard side, because now I think you probably understand the cost side of things probably more effectively. So like, if you’re thinking about doing like complete, like taking down, taking down walls, you’ve already have a baseline of what that would, will cost you, um, rather than getting 

better.

Yeah,  I’m getting better, but it was actually, it helps me on being an agent too, because Um, I’m like, well, that’s probably going to cost around like this much. Like, that’s really not as bad of a, as a, of a problem as you think it is. Kind of thing is what I’m noticing that I’m saying to, to clients who get kind of scared with inspection reports.

I’m like, that’s fine. That’s very easy to fix  

or it’s rather, it’s not as complicated.  

Don’t worry about that. Just get a plumber, you know, get some quotes. You know, you’re not the one having to take the wrench and do it. It’s just that uncertainty of how bad is it? And I’m like, well, let the experts tell you.

So, um, I, there’s like a lot of lessons, but I will tell you that first gut. There’s so much, so many things that went wrong with that project. Uh, in the end, it turned out fine. But, um, it scarred me for like a year. Like I literally thought to myself, like, I’m never going to do a rehab again. And then not even like a full year later, we were like, let’s go find a rehab. 

So I think it’s just part of, you know, this being in this space, it like, you’re going to win sometimes and you’re going to lose sometimes, but did you really lose if you kept going? So it’s like,  it’s a lot of shifting, a lot of shifting your mindset. 

Did you end up losing money on that, on that rehab? 

We did, we did.

So I think of it as like, it was truly the best educational investment I could have made. Um, and, and part of it was, it was actually like, uh, long story short, you know, we were doing great until the weather a year ago, just like  we ended up having to do an insurance call. claim in the middle of escrow to, so to save this deal, cause we had to fix everything, even though it was like mother nature that caused these issues.

Um, we didn’t get everything reimbursed back from the insurance company, unfortunately. So, um, it, because of that, and then the added whole time and just, there was a lot of factors that just made it go, like. Not so good. So, uh, there’s just some things you can’t control though. Like I get now why insurance policies have like  

50 pages long  

yes, because I was we were digging like is there anything that talks about snow in here and  So, yeah lots of 

lessons, yeah, yeah um You I saw your post.

I forgot. I think it was like one of the You The Smokies vacation groups. I saw you post your, your direct booking links. Can you talk to me a little bit about, a little bit about some of the tactics that you use to get some of your direct bookings?  

Yeah. Yeah. So, um, it’s a work in progress. I will say it’s, I mean, I’m just glad that it’s seems to be working just cause people do find us.

So, um, honestly, visibility and exposure is the one thing I realized Whether it’s direct bookings or not, but, uh, even more so with direct bookings, because, um, let’s like, you know, you have Airbnb as like the go to platform, but there’s other ways to, to capture, you know, booking. So I like to utilize Facebook groups.

I actually need to renew my, um, Facebook marketplace postings. Cause I’ve done that before and gotten inquiries that way. Um, just for the rentals. Um, I also like to include, um, in my, I have a YouTube video walkthrough for, for I think almost all my properties. And so, um, I’m pretty sure the links in there too.

Um, so that people could book if they find us online, if they look up, um, Like the cabin name and stuff. Um, I do put in my photos, a QR code  so that people can find me. I’m one of those, uh, dangerous, uh, people that live on the edge, I guess when it comes to that stuff, but it’s worked. So I have that. Um, I put in also the name of our company and Sprint, I sprinkle it in my description.

And especially at the very bottom. Um, just because there are some things you have to consider about, you know, you don’t want to get too obviously in trouble. So i’ve had people find me and inquire that way and um, That and then we’re able to get them off, you know platform we give them actually a discount code Um so that they know that like, okay.

Hey, i’m actually getting a better a better deal Um, and then we also have, um, stay five at the properties. So this captures emails, um, like a lot of the properties we do have, um, they’re like, they’ll, the lowest we have is like six, six people in one, in a two bedroom, but we have, uh, most of the properties range between. 

11 people up to 24 guests 

per 

stay. Yeah, that’s, that’s the big one. So  one guest off of an OTA platform that you get versus up to potentially 24 guests. Um, granted, these might not all be adults, right? But,  um, we make it to where we have QR codes within our properties. For our guidebook. And that also includes our direct booking link if they want to book a gun with us later.

So, um, we’re, we’re also pushing now the email marketing because of this day, fi, um, email capturing. Um, that’s still, we have to kind of tweak it a little bit more. We’re still kind of guessing and trialing, I guess you could say things that work with that. Um, so I, it’s funny, I’m actually using examples of the things I get  to be like, all right, let’s just make ours.

Just like, there’s.  But maybe a little different. So  those are the things we’re doing. We’re actually, um, starting to, we created the pages on Facebook for each property, so we’re starting to push more into the social media aspect of it. But there’s so much planning to, to time, like to schedule stuff. And as there’s a lot of planning, I realized at scale that goes into.

Um, the social media marketing side of Yeah. Of prop individual properties versus just one company as a whole. So, yeah. 

So are you starting to break out your portfolio into having each one having a separate, like, brand and Facebook page, or do you have like a portfolio umbrella brand that you’re pushing more?

Well, um, I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of different things and I’m not, I’m not a marketing expert. Um, but I have heard from marketing experts, you could do either one, but I, if they told me the recommendation is to.  Have each property as its own brand because you do have titles for these and you could still have an umbrella for them, too Um kind of like it’s not gonna hurt you to do it because now you’re getting more exposure but it is much more work to keep up with so Those are the things that we’re trying to figure out on like once a week posting, you know how like how often because Uh, every single day might not be the most appropriate for a property.

So there’s a lot of stuff that we’re figuring, but right now we’re just doing the individual properties and then the umbrella brand over it. So I’m kind of doing a lot more work, but if it pays off and builds traction, then I’ll be happy in the end. 

Yeah. Yeah. Are you leveraging some of your VAs or are you so deep into it that you’re doing a lot of discovery first before you can hand it off? 

Um, honestly, I’m handing it to my VAs to do so they’re doing a lot more of the research than me. It’s kind of I’m like, this is the vision. This is the goal and  letting them kind of tell me what they think should be done based off of their own experience, other research, um, cause I simply just don’t have, um, time to do it.

I I’m really, really focusing on best use of my time. So even if they don’t know like completely what to do, I do give them like a lot of time to try to figure it out, um, within reason and stuff. And so they’re the ones actually. Doing the graphics, um, building out it. And I’m, it’s more so just me kind of giving my, my stamp of approval, especially right now, because.

It’s still in the starting points. So I still do have to get involved just so that they’re staying in line with what I, what I want for, for the branding part. Um, but in time I’m going to start, you know, once I, they kind of like, all right, this is the one, then I’ll let them take over and, um, let it like run it on its own, but right now I’m still doing a lot of the checks.

Um, which I think I have to do, right? That’s the managing part. 

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think like posting at least once a week is like almost the, the, not the bare minimum, but the, the amount that you actually do want to do. Some people like we had Allie, if you get on, on, on the call, um, or on a podcast a few weeks back and she talks about like, she does three posts a week and two of the posts are on kind of more like lifestyle images.

Then she’ll do one more. on just the stay in their services. So that’s where they put the discount codes. So they try to mix it up. So they’ll actually do like several variations of a post where they don’t feel like they’re always like spamming their, their feeds, but it also feels like you’re getting good value content as well, too. 

Right. And that I’m glad you mentioned that. Cause like, those are the things that I’ve. Um, I’m like, yeah, we should sprinkle in like, like basically we’re like brainstorming. What is our target audience? What are their pain points? Like literally going down like all those different things and then outlining topics and then knowing how to time it all out.

So, um, it’s a lot of planning. 

Yeah. I have some resources to send you then. Definitely. 

Yes. 

If you haven’t downloaded my guidebook, definitely download that one. Um, that one’s a good one because it has all of the learnings that we’ve had from all of our previous podcast guests and probably we’ll need to update every so often.

Um, but it just talks about some of the tactics. Like one of the things I learned is I like, if you’re using your Staphy, you have collection of Staphy and you have like hundreds of emails, you can actually build, you look like audiences on Facebook. Based on those. So then Facebook is knowing where these people came from.

Are they families, are they couples, whatever, and they’re building the audience based on people that actually have stayed with you. That that was like, when I heard that, I was like, oh my god. That, that’s a, that’s a definitely a new tactic. 

That’s amazing. Like  you, you’re definitely, I feel like ’cause. 

Marketing and all this stuff was, um, like I’ve, I’ve dug into posts and stuff like that, but I definitely feel like there’s still a big gap and this uncertainty fear that comes with like how to market this for people for non marketer trades, but like, that makes a lot of sense to me. I didn’t, I would have not even thought of that.

So great pro tip on, on you, how to better leverage emails. I didn’t think about that. Dang, great, great idea. 

There’s so many tactics out there. Like I think like the one that you leveraged, I think it probably has one of the, like the most best hitting one is like having you go on and be active on those vacation groups and posting every so often on availability or last minute availability is like, that actually is a really good way because you’re getting.

The middle of funnel, because those are folks that are in those groups are actually looking to travel. Whereas if you did the whole lookalike audience, you’re actually blasting to a bunch of wider group that may not be traveling like right now. So I think like you have to think about the entire funnel and how do you want to hit each one and each one will have their own conversion rates and so on.

Um, but yeah, there, there’s just so much to, to learn and, and really like optimize for. Um, but I think like the folks that really commit the time into it and, It’s consistent about it. They’ll get to that 50, 60 percent within a couple of years. Um, and that’s like, that’s the golden thing. Like you don’t want to be shackled and be locked into having Airbnb be  a hundred percent of your income.

I a hundred percent agree. And that’s, that’s actually one of my biggest goals was for 2024. Um, I have, and I need to be better about tracking. I’ll be very honest, but like, I really want to get just this year, you know, if I got to 40%  Of direct bookings for 2024 like knowing where I’m like where we’ve started at Not knowing how to do any of this and just really figuring it out now.

I’d be really happy with that. So Um, I like I really love the control because i’ve had situations where i’m like, thank goodness. This was not on airbnb  Simply because I got to just, it got to deal directly with the guest, you know, and not have to like fear a little bit on what happens if someone makes a decision for me and I get no say in it, which happens to unfortunately way too many hosts when it’s like, that wasn’t.

Fair.  So, and I think too, there’s like a quality aspect that I just prefer having with direct bookings. Um, cause like we’ll text the guest directly. Um, there’s a little bit more conversation that actually happens for those folks. And I do think there’s that sense that like they get a more quality stay because, um, I don’t know.

I just, I find that a little bit different, um, to be honest. Yeah. 

I feel like direct booking guests are a little bit less entitled because they’re not part of the platform. They know that they can take advantage of being on Airbnb and like Airbnb has their side on things. Um, and, and, and like to your, like to exactly what you said, like the quality of guests and the way that you interact with them, it’s a lot more fluid and like, They know that you want them to have a great stay.

And 

yeah, it’s 

just a lot easier of a conversation.  

Right. Cause I do feel like the guests on Airbnb, sometimes like they say certain things, I’m just like,  do you, are you saying this because like, I feel like they’re set, like, where am I being set up?  

Are you seating a review? 

Yeah, no, I’m not even joking.  I know I’m not the only person that feels that way with seating.

And I’m like,  I see what you’re doing. Um, and I, and I’ve had to like stop it kind of thing. Like, you know, cause they’ll go, you know, one, one thing goes wrong. Everything gets highlighted and you’re like,  of course, of course it’s getting, everything’s raining, right. It rains at pores. And I’m like, but the last guest that checked out was peachy.

Like,  you know what I mean? So  I don’t know,  

but I am thankful for like Airbnb, like none of us that would have gotten started on this journey. If all you could would do was direct and like, there’s no way, like there wouldn’t be an SDR industry that that is today without, without Airbnb. 

I completely agree.

Like I don’t hate Airbnb. I actually really like I want to be friends with Airbnb is like the truth, right?  I don’t want to be anti airbnb because at the end of the day, you know Sometimes like i’m happy that oh this thank god. It’s on airbnb because this like this person like they helped Oh, you know, we don’t think this is a good guest for you guys or something like that.

I’m like, huh, you know, maybe that was meant to be. And if Airbnb didn’t catch that, I could have had more damage to the property. If you know, they had a bad truck record and I just wouldn’t have known the difference. So, 

yeah, I find that VRBO is like a nice, happy medium.  

I actually do like VRBO the quality I find.

Um, and maybe it’s just. I don’t know. I find the quality of guests there are a different caliber. I hate to say it, but it’s, it’s, I see this on,  I’ve seen this, uh, disparate, like discrepancy between BRBO guests and Airbnb guests. 

Yeah, definitely. Definitely.  Um, we went pretty deep in a lot of different topics.

There’s one more thing I want to talk to you about, um, that I’m pretty excited about coming up in, in as a few weeks, a few months. Two months.  

Oh my gosh. It’s like in a month and a half,  

I just, I just, I’m sorry. I was late on snagging my ticket,  but I recently just bought my ticket out. Um, but yeah. Do you mind talking about what you’ve been working on over the last, I don’t know how long you’ve been working on it, but for, for the most recent like focus.

Yes. Yes. So, okay. So we have the third annual S Ternation conference, and this is actually year three, we’ve done this for the past three years, which I’m not going to lie, Gil, when we, Patrick and I first, uh, did this conference, we did it in Vegas. And I don’t know, I guess you put two extremely ambitious people who just feel like we’re going to do it no matter what.

We had so much like  put downs and just questions about whether we could pull it off and, and we’re back for a third one and it’s going to be even better than before. So, um, it’s the Esther Nation 2024 conference in San Diego. Um, it’s really cool because I honestly, like I’m a California girl. So like I have so much pride in the West coast and in California, especially.

So, um, we’re a different breed of people, but we get folks from like all over the country. Like we’ve even gotten like Canadians to Mexican, like from Mexico that will fly over for, um, this two day conference that we host, um, just on everything. Short term rentals, but it’s cool because it’s I noticed that the people in the rooms like this  When they come back year after year, they’re in a such different place.

And it’s cool when I hear that a lot of it was triggered by the stuff that they’ve either heard on stage or because of the people that they’ve met that come to the conference. Like, I’ve not met anybody who has shown up year after year that’s in a worse place than they were the year before. So, um, I’m excited for it too.

So we’re, we’re, it’s great that you got your ticket too, because, um, that was the super early bird, but, but now we’re in early bird still for like, for, um, a short period of time. Uh, we actually do have a special, um, coming up. Um, you’ll see it roll out, but regardless of what the special is, if you use the keyword Stephanie, you do get 5 percent off and you helped me beat Patrick because we’re actually competing on how many. 

On who, how many codes, um, Stephanie gets and how many codes get used that Patrick has. And then we joke because there’s a lot of codes that, um, didn’t get used, but we’re like, it doesn’t matter. It’s, we just, we want, you know, everyone to have a good time. And, uh, I’m really excited for the speakers too, just because. 

One thing that like, we’ve had Sean Rakajic with Airbnb automated. He’s actually one of the first people, if I had to think about like, who did I know about from the very beginning years ago, he did come up on YouTube a lot. Airbnb automated. I wouldn’t say he was like the one reason or anything, but I would, I would say that he was one of the people that I did watch  on YouTube.

So to have him come again, um, to speak with us, um, he was with us on year one and he’ll be back with us on year three. Um, it’s really cool. Um, Amy Majury, um, she’s has her own private money, um, raising private money conference and she’s all over the place on HGTV. Uh, I’m excited for her because that is something I think everyone needs to have in their skillset is how to raise.

And I’ve personally raised before too. Um, so having her there, um, Jesse Vasquez with MTRs, um, he’ll be also there too. Um, I know him, he’s pretty cool. Um, so we’re like, we’re trying to diversify and not just talk about, you know, like there’s a lot of STR related stuff, right? 

But 

I say those things because in short term rental investors, the one thing I and I’ve talked to actually about this with other investors, it’s, it’s one asset class, but you don’t want that to only be the one thing that you, you do as an investor, and there’s so many facets and skills that unless you are exposed to it, you’ll never know that.

That’s an option to do things differently than what you’ve done before. So, um, I’m excited and I’m really glad you’re coming and you’re going to have such a great time. 

Yeah. I’m excited. I mean, it’s in San Diego. It’s going to be nice weather there. It’s, it’s close enough for me, at least for me, I still have to fly, but it’s, I’m, I’m even considering bringing the, the family out for the week and us staying in San Diego for the week.

Um, and get to enjoy the conference for myself. So I’m definitely,  yeah, I’m definitely excited about it. 

It’s because it’s July 8 and 9, um, for everybody to, and str nation. com is the website for it. But, um, it is right after 4th of July, but I’ll be honest, like, this is the best time to go to San Diego is July, even though, you know, it is the height of summer, 

like, It’ll be warm.

It will be not just, no, you know what, San Diego is actually much cooler than people think, um, it is, with where it’s situated. I love, I love going to San Diego. Any excuse for me to go? I’m just like, sure.  

It’s a very calm place as well too. It’s like you get the SoCal vibes, but also it’s a lot. I find it a little bit calmer than, than the LA area.

A hundred percent. It is. It’s a different breed of people down there. Much more laid back. 

They are laid back. They are laid back. Awesome. Well, Stephanie, I have two last questions for you that I asked all guests. Uh, first one is a mindset question and then the other one’s a takeaway question. So the first one, what is one piece of mindset advice that you would give to anyone that is trying something completely new? 

Oh, I love it. It’s a mindset question because Um, this is, that’s my favorite topic of, of like book I like to read and literally what I’m engrossed in currently. Um,  I would honestly say that you just have to make the decision to do something. Mm-Hmm. Instead of thinking all the ways you can’t do something, um, we kind of get ahead of ourselves before we’ve really decided that it’s gonna happen.

So if you’re like. I really want to buy something in this one market or even buy your very first rental. Forget about how you’re going to fund it. Forget about how you’re going to operate it. Just decide that you’re going to do it and the rest of everything else turns into, okay, so how? How? Because if you don’t decide beforehand, you’re going to keep stopping yourself.

So, and I’ve personally figured this out, um, myself, but I wish someone would have told me that from the beginning. Just decide that you’re going to do it. And then you can worry about the how later, because it’s only going to happen because you’ve decided. Right. 

So 

that’d be the first thing I would say.

Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s a really good advice. I, I have the same kind of mentality. I didn’t realize this until like much later in, in my career. But I’ve always been a person to like, not worry about  how, like, how am I going to actually execute on this, this goal, but actually having the goal and having a really crisp in my mind really helps me motivate me to actually chase after it.

And because if I think about the how. You just squashed it. Like you have no chance of ever meeting that goal because you put in the 20 different roadblocks on how hard it’s going to be. And you’re like, that’s not worth it.  

Great. The conviction has to be there. Like without a shred of a doubt, like this is what I’m going to do.

And then block out any noise and just, then, then you’ll figure out the how later on, because this becomes more of like, all right, game plan time. 

Um, 

so yeah, great. I love that. 

Yeah. It’s both, it’s both the goal and also like the system and the cadence and how to do things. Like, I think those are like the, the two like recipes for, for success.

Like if you don’t have those systems, you’re not consistent on actually like delivering it. You’re going to fall short of that goal. 

Right. Yep. You got to be disciplined about it for sure. 

Yeah. Awesome. Last question.  What’s the one big takeaway that you have for our listeners here today from this conversation? 

Show up. And honestly, that’s like, show up. This applies for everything, guys. We’re talking on the marketing side for direct bookings. Literally. I’m just like, we just got to show up. And if we do that, we’ll hit the goal. Um, when it comes to,  uh, like the real estate side of things, I really do focus on showing up to, to meetups, to, to meetings, getting involved, um, and then showing up for your business, showing up for your team.

Um, really getting your mind right and just half the battle is getting there because once you’re actually, you know, in it, everything falls into place. So just show up in every way possible.  

Nice.  If I ever,  if I ever.  Get you a really big gift. It’s going to be a big neon sign with says like, show up that you put right behind you.

Oh, you know why that would probably go with my, my step Stephanie. I like the alliteration  

like Stephanie show up.  

I’m going to be like, what is that? I’m like, don’t worry about it. It’s not for you. It’s for me.  

Nice. All right, Steph, I’m going to include all your. All of the links to all the things that you do,  I’m going to need like six lines for all the links. 

Probably,  but it was really good to have you on the show. Have you talk about your entire journey from not just becoming a host, but all the different entrepreneurial paths that you’d taken. Like continue to take not all at once necessarily, but be able to kind of like navigate within them that that’s, that was an amazing story.

So I thank you for sharing that. Thank you for also sharing some of the tactics that you use on how do you drive direct bookings. And then also I can’t wait to see you in a few months. 

Yes. Thank you so much, Gil, for having me super happy to be here. Um, and yeah, I hope to see everybody and to, uh, in San Diego in July.

And thanks again for having me. 

Absolutely. Thanks. Bye. 

Bye.