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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, listeners, welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:04] Annette: I’m Annette Grant. And together we’re–

[00:00:06] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:07] Sarah: Let’s start this episode like we do every week, and that is sharing one of you, our amazing, dedicated listeners, who’s using our hashtag on Instagram, #STRShareSunday. On Sunday, we’ll share you on our Instagram channel, and we’ll share you also here on the podcast. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

[00:00:24] Annette: This week we’re sharing @thevermontaframe. Again, that’s @thevermontaframe, and it is hosted by Monique and Jason. And I just want to give a little shout out because we have our live event coming up, and I had the pleasure, Sarah also had the pleasure of meeting Monique live and in person at a short-term rental event recently. 

So if you haven’t got your ticket, buy your ticket so you can meet all the hosts from all over the country. But let’s talk about their A-frame. One thing that I love about, just in general, their feed is there are so many photos of people enjoying the space. I think sometimes we have all these photos that we took during the photo shoots of getting the listing up and running, but really being able to envision yourself in the space is really, really important. 

And I think that they’ve done an amazing job of not only showing people in the property, but also the landscapes around the property. So inside, outside, enjoying everything that the property has to offer. Some cool things too. They are pet friendly, so there are a lot of pets throughout the photos, which, if you’re a dog lover, you’re like, yes, I definitely want to take my pup there. 

One thing we want to note, they offer dog shampoo. So pet shampoo. If you take your pup on the hike with you, you can wash them down after. And then a lot of exterior photos because it is an A-frame. I feel like there’s a lot of people that that’s an exciting thing for them to do is stay in the A-frame. And so she’s just done a great job of doing a lot of carousel pics, reels, and then also just video of everything. So I love it. I want to stay. And by the way, I love the exterior color of The Vermont.

[00:02:11] Sarah: It’s so precious. It’s so cute.

[00:02:13] Annette: Check it out. Give them the love. Also, the other thing I want to highlight is their highlights. There are so many of them, and they’ve got it dialed in there, so I can go and check out all the things in their area. Well done. Check them out. I’m 19 times super host and premier host. 

[00:02:32] Sarah: Crushing it.

[00:02:33] Annette: Thank you.

[00:02:34] Sarah: All right. We’re going to have a special episode today. We’ve been told by many of you listening, by our coaches, by our members in our membership that y’all are curious about behind the scenes of Thanks for Visiting. Not just behind the scenes of our business for our property management, but also what we do for Thanks for Visiting. What is a day in a life like? 

Well, we recently hired our first full-time employee. Her name is Colleen Prochaska. She worked on our property management side for the past year and a half. We have absolutely been stunned by how much this woman can handle, how much creativity she has, how much patience she has. And Annette and I just kept saying it’d be so great to have Colleen on the team. 

And so because of all your support of Thanks for Visiting, we are able to do that and bring her on as our officer of operations. And so she is really just managing the day-to-day of Thanks for Visiting and all the content creation we’re doing. And so we’re going to ask Colleen what it’s like because we asked her to leave her full-time job at a Hilton hotel. Who did we think we were? Let’s find out. All right, Colleen Prochaska, welcome to the show.

[00:03:48] Colleen: Thank you. Thank you so much.

[00:03:51] Annette: All right, Sarah, I’m going to have you do a small bio for Colleen, and then we’re going to let her take it away.

[00:03:56] Sarah: Well, from my perspective, let me tell you what happened when I met Colleen, and it’ll include her bio. And then Colleen, if you can fill in the blanks there. But it was summer of 2021, and I get an email with a resume attached from this woman, and it has that she is currently a hotel general manager, and I’m like, what is this?

[00:04:19] Annette: I have some color in the story here. Sarah literally is like, Annette, I think I’m getting pranked. I think I’m getting pranked right now. Someone is sending me a resume that is too good to be true. I’m totally getting punked. And I’m like, no. First of all, I don’t think people sit around with fake resumes for– well, maybe they do, but that’s my feedback for the little part of the–

[00:04:37] Sarah: That is very true. And truly, Colleen, I was very close to just archiving your email because I was looking for an inspector, and I almost archived your email. But I did read her resume, and she had a storied history in both Hilton and Marriott brands as a general manager in the sales department as well, I believe. And we hopped in a call, and I remember trying to take the interview seriously, but I couldn’t help but ask her like, why are you applying for this job? Because it was so part-time and very entry level. 

So with that, Colleen, why don’t you share with us– take us beyond, previous to that point. Share with us your storied history in hospitality, why hospitality. And then take us all the way up to that moment that you decided to apply to work at our property management company.

[00:05:34] Colleen: Absolutely. I don’t have a thing that I can point to as far as working in hotels. I’ve wanted to work in a hotel my entire life. So since I was a little kid, we check into hotels, I’m exploring them. I want to look everywhere, go behind the front desk, know every single thing that’s going on. So started working literally at the front desk of a hotel.

 I went to school for just a broad business management, started working at the front desk of the hotel. Started loving those opportunities to make a guest super happy. Those connections are really what– it was just exciting that you can make a call that’ll change someone’s entire stay.

 Um, I was looking at the sales team, and their schedule was a little nicer, and they could move a little bit more mountains. And I was like, wait, now, I want to work on the sales team. So then I started lobbying, give me all your admin work. I’ll do whatever. Until I earned a spot on the sales team, which was awesome.

And then from there it’s like, yeah, being a sales admin’s fun, but a director of sales is super cool. They get to go out for lunches. They’re going to need to buy people special gifts. This is so awesome. So I became a director of sales. And it’s awesome. And there’s always that spot in my heart for sales, but when you’re looking at the GM seat, you’re like, wait a second. That person is deciding everything. They are making every decision for the hotel. 

And I liked that it started and stopped with them. And I could see the GMs that I had make a decision, and I could see what that decision did for the business. So I was like, no, I want that job. So I told my GM, hey, I want to be the GM of this hotel when you move on. How is that going to happen? So then I started that process, and I actually became the GM of the hotel where I was originally a front desk agent. So pretty cool. Then I moved around with hotel. So I’ve been a hotel GM for 10 years total.

 I found you, Sarah, on Instagram, um, with one of your properties that was viral, and I started actually following that property, and then found your guys’ Instagram and found you. Obviously, fangirled nonstop. And I was like, I want to be these people. This is so cool. I had an interest in short-term rentals, and I thought that it was almost like a way that you could marry hospitality, which I was obsessed with, but actually be your own business.

 So yeah, you had posted basically a job for that type of work. And I was like, let me just toss it out there and see, um, if I could, number one, manage both, but then number two, if she’d even have a conversation with me, thinking if I could at least chat with you about something, maybe there’d be a spot for me in your world. And I actually interviewed with you, I don’t know if you remember, inside a guest room. I took my laptop into a guest room.

[00:08:03] Sarah: Oh yes, I do remember that. Yes.

[00:08:05] Colleen: And the lighting was terrible. And I’m like, don’t think I’m horrible employee, but I’m here, $800 a week. So this is basically my home. So yeah, that’s how I ended where I ended up where I am with you.

[00:08:17] Sarah: Well, and let’s take the listeners even further, because listeners, we want you to understand why this episode would be of value to you. And it goes beyond just putting something out there and going after it because I think that’s one of Colleen’s most awesome things about her, is she just puts it out there and then goes and gets it.

So first of all, I actually ended up hiring someone else for the job, to be honest with everyone, and Colleen knows this. I offered the job to someone else who had, I thought, more bandwidth to give me Monday through Friday, 9-5. I was nervous that she was running an entire hotel, and I wanted to make sure I had someone to focus on our rentals, but I couldn’t help but be curious about why Colleen would want to work with me.

And so I remember giving you maybe a shift, Colleen, isn’t that– an evening shift in guest services. So that person that I hired full-time, she actually ended up moving on to another opportunity and Colleen stepped into the 9-5 role because I saw that Colleen could juggle a lot of responsibilities.

She was fantastic with the guests. And then Annette and I met with Colleen because we’re building out a new product within Thanks for Visiting for beginning hosts. And I said, Annette, we have to involve Colleen in this because she is truly guest-facing, really using all the channels, and our property management software, and all the things more often than I am these days.

Let’s get Colleen involved. And so Annette and I went to Cincinnati. We like to immerse ourselves in a beautiful space. We went to a beautiful hotel, invited Colleen for the day, and we really got to work on creating this new product, which we will be launching hopefully later this year.

But in that day, I could just tell there was a lot of great synergy between Annette, Colleen, and myself. And long story short, I hopped on a Zoom call with Colleen late at night, like we often do, and I asked her, I was like, what would it take for you to leave your really comfy corporate job and come work with Annette and me at Thanks for Visiting? And so, Colleen, when we asked you that, what was going through your mind?

[00:10:16] Colleen: So many things. I don’t know if you remember, I’m very rarely speechless. I have something to say all the time, and I don’t think I said anything for five minutes, and I was just standing there. I was shocked but excited. It’s funny because going back, initially when you said that I probably didn’t have the bandwidth, at that time in my life, I probably didn’t.

So it ended up working out the way that it did. I was running an incredibly busy hotel at the time. I think I would’ve figured it out, but I have no idea how I would’ve juggled all of that. So then obviously our relationship grew as that position grew. And I don’t know if you remember, one of the first things that I asked was, could I still work for the property management side?

 Because I love talking to guests so much, and I love that side of it, and I didn’t want to miss out on that. But as far as what was going on in my mind, I was pumped out of my mind to be a part of Thanks for Visiting. So I was like, it’s an almighty yes, I think is what I said.

[00:11:16] Annette: Awesome. Obviously, let the listeners know a little bit, Colleen. There is so much synergy between hotels and short-term rentals. With all of your years in the hotel and now a few years in short-term rentals, give us some behind the scenes. What are some of the blaring differences? This is completely different and is night and day, and it never crosses the line there. What are some of the things that stick out to you being on–

[00:11:50] Colleen: Night and day differences are going to be your staff size, of course, and also the concept of shifts. So I was just talking to somebody about this the other day. In the short-term rental world, you have to be so on your game and so dialed in because it’s just you, where if at 10 o’clock at night the guests arrives at a hotel and their TV doesn’t work, number one, I have a maintenance guy that’s on staff, so I can just run up and fix it.

Number two, I’ve got 200 other guest rooms I can choose from just to pop them into. It’s so funny because in short-term rentals, the expectation is still there of top of tier hospitality, but you don’t have that support system to make mountains move like you do at hotels.

So you really have to make sure that you are very proactive in the short-term rental world, where hotels, I hate to say this, they are proactive, but we don’t check 150 TVs and 150 guest rooms every single day, where at a short-term rental, no, you probably do. You probably check every TV at your space, every turn.

So that was a huge, huge difference. Another difference I would say is maybe the– at a Hilton, yes, there’s different brands of Hiltons or whatever, but the system is pretty cookie cutter, where at a short-term rental, you may have to talk to a guest 3, 4, 5 times throughout their experience because they want to know how something works, or where a restaurant is, or whatever.

It really feels more like you truly are hosting somebody in the short-term rental world. At a hotel, it definitely feels a little bit more transactional. So how much a guest talks to you, which is awesome, in the short-term rental world, it’s so different from hotels, um, where it’s just very black and white, I would say. 

[00:13:35] Annette: What do you feel about a guest’s understanding pricing, and dynamic pricing, and fees, the difference between hotels and short-term rentals?

[00:13:48] Colleen: That’s such a good question. I would say that guests do probably not understand the difference in the sense that a hotel’s pricing, the price that it is, somewhere in there, all of those fees are in the same sauce in a hotel where it’s just not cut out and listed the way that it is in a short-term rental world. There might be more questioning of fees and things like that in the Airbnb world as well as– in a hotel, well, they’ll just pull out their app with all these different OTAs and all these different channels.

Or they’ll book a hotel tonight somewhere else for cheaper, or do whatever they’re going to do and just– there’s so many other options. So as far as marketing yourself or pricing yourself appropriately, it’s so much more important to me in the short-term rental world because the options are different. You know what I’m saying? 

So as far as your super house status, and your ratings, and all those things, all of that goes into account in your pricing, I would say, in the short-term rental world, where in a hotel, it’s more set and forget. If the guest doesn’t like it– and also the guest will haggle with you at the front desk anyway, so it’s like– you know what I mean? You have your system, and you roll with it, and you’re comfortable with it. It’s not as dire.

[00:15:03] Sarah: Going back to Colleen in 2021 when you were working that one shift and we started training you in terms of making sure– while you had less experience. Our listeners are no stranger to me admitting that I’m a control freak, but what would you say to someone who’s listening right now, who’s also new themselves in the short-term rental world, what surprised you as you were learning about short-term rentals that you wish you knew before you started training, before you got started?

[00:15:32] Colleen: What did I wish I knew before? This is a good question too. My approach to it is going to be so much different because I do come from a hotel hospitality standpoint. So I remember my first shift, Sarah, because I remember you said, oh, watch a couple shifts, see the flow of how we respond or whatever.

And I remember the first booking request that came in, which we have instant book on. So booking request is here, we got to figure out can this guest stay with us or not. It was this intense experience of reading their reviews, and where are they coming from, and why are they coming to town?

At a hotel, you would never ask anybody any of those. I would never ask somebody checking in to a hotel, why are you coming to town? Never. So I remember getting that booking request, and I was hanging out with somebody, and I remember saying, I’m going to accept it. And when I finally hit accept, I was on pins and needles.

Like, was that a good accepting? Was it not? Of course, now I realize that’s awesome. That’s life all day long. You’re getting book requests or whatever. But the whole concept of that, in a short-term rental world, you’re asking the host and the person you’re hosting, are you guys a good fit for each other? In a hotel, it’s like, just hook them, book them. Heads and beds. So yeah.

[00:16:42] Sarah: Yeah. What do you think about that, Colleen? Do you think we’re too into the whole matching process in short-term rentals because of the sensationalism of media, and parties, and short-term rentals, and that sort of thing, or do you think in your experience now, two years down the road, that it’s a good thing and that it’s a good practice to have?

[00:17:01] Colleen: I think it is the absolute correct practice to have, the matching, because it truly– people who are staying in an Airbnb do want a specific experience. They are booking for a specific reason, and they are usually wanting a home that has charm, or specific coffee setups. The number of people that will write ahead of time to just check which coffee makers you have and what options you have, from a hotel standpoint, it’s crazy. 

You offer them drip coffee and tell them to have a nice day, but these people want to know, is this going to work for me, for my needs? And I think that if you think about it from a hospitality standpoint, you do want to make sure you’re matched up appropriately because the last thing you would ever want is for someone to come to your space and it not be perfect for them. And that’s okay if it’s not. You know what I mean? We ran out and got a coffee maker, somebody who just wanted drip coffee the other day, so we’re– 

[00:17:56] Sarah: That’s right. 

[00:17:57] Colleen: We’re cool hosts too. 

[00:17:58] Sarah: We offered Keurigs, and French presses, and a Chemex, and this guest just wanted a drip, Mr. Coffee, so we went out and got it.

[00:18:04] Annette: I’m here for that though. Got to keep it easy. Easy breezy.

[00:18:08] Colleen: Easy breezy.

[00:18:09] Annette: We’ve stayed a lot of places, and I yell, I’m like, this has too. I just want to coffee pot. Make it easy for me. I’m like the grandma, which I love grandmas. So if there’s grandmas out there, I’m with you on this.

[00:18:20] Colleen: Yes.

[00:18:21] Annette: Colleen, let’s–

[00:18:22] Colleen: If that’s their version of home.

[00:18:23] Annette: Yes. 

[00:18:23] Sarah: Their version of home.

[00:18:24] Colleen: Yeah.

[00:18:25] Annette: There you go. Boom.

[00:18:27] Sarah: That is a quote. 

[00:18:28] Annette: I love that.

[00:18:29] Colleen: Put it on t-shirt.

[00:18:31] Sarah: Let’s do it. 

[00:18:32] Annette: I want to talk about one of the places that I think that you especially shine. There’s two things that are almost like second nature to you, Colleen, which one is just the answer is yes, for the guest, taking care of the guest no matter what and fix the– it’s, yes, let’s just figure it out. 

Do you think that is specifically from hotels and hospitality, or is that mixed in with a little bit of just you and your style of hospitality? Because I ran into some general managers at restaurants, at hotels, and I don’t think it’s second nature to them to be solution-based and, yes, let’s figure it out. Have you always been like that since the start of your career, or is that something learned over time of like, let’s lead with yes and figure this out for the guest?

[00:19:21] Colleen: I would say that in general, in my personal passion in life, yes, I love being able to make someone happy and being able to do something for someone. With that said, I’ve had tons of very great leaders in my life, and also bad leaders that you learn from as well.

 And when you are in a driver’s seat, even as a front desk agent and you feel empowered to do something, somebody’s having an unfortunate experience, and you can order them a pizza, and you can watch that day change, for me personally, I don’t know how it wouldn’t fill you up and why you wouldn’t just become solution-based.

So if they’re not that way, they should try it out because it’s fine on that side. And also, as I’ve grown in my career, you can see the revenue benefit of being solution-based. You can see the review benefit. So obviously, it helps every plate that you have. But just being a kind person is really where the solution-based thing comes from.

[00:20:15] Annette: You segued for me. You didn’t even know this. That was going to be my second strong suit of yours especially, is being able to zoom out and holistically look at revenue. Let’s talk about your expertise in that, what you’ve brought to stay while hosting–I think that you just shine in that, and I believe a lot of that is you being responsible for the bottom line at a lot of the hotels that you’ve worked at.

Walk us through how you’ve taken your revenue management from a hotel and now really made that your shining spot in short-term rentals. I think that our listeners, that’s one thing I really want them to learn from you. I mean, that is a skillset. People in hotels, that’s their full-time job, is revenue management.

And us as hosts are required to be the designer, the guest services, the inspector, the cleaner, the maintenance, and the revenue manager. So how can you help our listeners learn from your storied career in revenue management? How can you help them today with how you’re using that in the business?

[00:21:19] Colleen: The gist of it is that revenue cures any mistake that’s made. So the leaner that you are from a– and this is true in hotels, but true in any facet of your life, the more money that you have, the better everything goes. So when you’re running a hotel and you have all these expenses and you have this and this and this, yes, you can keep cutting and cutting and cutting, but at some point, I’m like, wait a second.

If we increase our rate or we increase our occupancy, one of the two, or both, if you’re feeling really froggy, then everything just gets better from there. So where I spent most of my career, yes, we had a full-time revenue manager dedicated to our property, but the GM had the final say in what we were going to do.

 Revenue management, I know no one wants to hear this, it is an educated guess. If I had a crystal ball, that’d be [Inaudible], but that’s not the case. You have to look at trends. You have to look at history. You have to make a call, and you have to be willing to take some risk in order to see what sticks. As Sarah says, throw it on the wall and see what sticks.

We’re taking a risk right now in our property management business with weekend rates, and there’s some weekends where you’re so excited by Wednesday, and then like right now, we have a property that is vacant this weekend, and I’m sweating. So that’s the way it goes. But ultimately, I guess my advice would be that, yes, you understand that it’s not a perfect science, but you can perfect it in that you can keep good records. You can check in often. You can know where all of your properties are standing rate wise.

You can know what your occupancy looks like. You need to look at your booking windows. And all those things all feel very heavy and intimidating, but it’s not. It’s just a matter of spending some time. Just like you spend time practicing your towel fold, you spend time learning your booking window. It’s all the same. It’s just a different flow. And I think so many people are like, oh, but I’m just not wired that way. Well, nobody is. It is just practice. That’s it. And then you just– I will say, I do have a knack for forecasting. I don’t know why that is. That’s probably just–

[00:23:23] Annette: Well, you have a lot of reps in. You have a lot of reps in.

[00:23:25] Colleen: Yeah, that’s a good point. Yeah. 

[00:23:28] Annette: Let’s share, though, data over drama. What was it? Two or three weeks ago, you were sweating out a property that you felt, when we’re using the key terms, you really felt like revenue was down. Correct?

[00:23:42] Colleen: Yes. I was positive revenue was off. 

[00:23:45] Annette: So Colleen was absolutely positive revenue was down, feeling it in her gut, like, this sucks. This is terrible. Why is revenue down? But let’s talk to our listeners about what happened when we researched the actual numbers and how they can use that to help them too. Talk through that exact property.

[00:24:04] Colleen: Yeah, so that exact property, and this is not one that– which I give all the properties the utmost respect, but this one isn’t owned by the property management company. So there always feels that extra layer of responsibility because you’re reporting to an owner in this case. So I was already on pins and needles. And April was such a great month. Occupancy, in my opinion, for April for our market was through the roof. It was 74% occupancy. I remember it. And it felt like every single day we had a booking. 

Then May hits, and I had started a new strategy with pricing because I thought 74% occupancy is great, but we probably– this is a bigger house. It’s an expensive turn. I just thought we could probably get more money and sell it as a bigger house and do less turns, and I just was– whatever.

So I tried to push this rate, and I felt like occupancy was flushed down the toilet. I was like, what is going on here? It’s hard when you make a call like that on a bigger house. There wasn’t a lot of triage I could do at that point. Well, numbers run, and I was right. The occupancy was down. We were at 50% occupancy compared to 74 the month before. So significantly less people, but we had actually made almost four grand more than the previous month because of the rate. So it was crazy.

[00:25:24] Annette: That is crazy. That is where the numbers– I know that we’re so conditioned when we see things online. I’m at 90% occupancy, 98% occupancy. And it’s like, wait a second. Is that that cool? You have an actual month that was at 50% and you were up $4,000? I would rather take that $4,000 than the 24% more occupancy.

So volume is vanity. Profit is sanity. So knowing your numbers and staying in your lane when it comes to your spreadsheet, your numbers is really, really important. You don’t know what anybody else’s expenses are. You don’t know what their overall revenue is, and so it is hard to put blinders on, but you have to.

Because if Colleen was just sitting here in a normal conversation saying, oh my gosh, our occupancy’s only at 50%, it’s down 24%, we would immediately think revenue was down significantly, and it was the exact opposite. So I just want to applaud that of like, okay, yes, you were sweating it for a second. 

You mentioned something there too. You pushed the rate. When you pushed the rate, and you increased the rate, that experiment that you ran, was it a percentage? I know you said sometimes you’ve just to work on it and take some risks. What was your calculated risk there?

[00:26:46] Colleen: So I had made a decision that I was going to increase rates at every property in our area by 20% on the weekend. And the reason for that is because we are sold out every single weekend. And old GM hotel, somebody’s both seen, oh, my property ran 94% occupancy last month. Age old thing. Okay, well, you need to increase your rate.

Nobody should be running 94% occupancy. That’s crazy. Well, I was thinking to myself, when I’m doing these dance parties, because we’re sold out on the weekend, like, hello, we need to be pushing the rate higher. So I increased the rate by 20%. Well, we were still full. So I was like, wait a second. Let me try. So I bumped it to 25% for May, which, again, it’s risky, but it was calculated. 

We knew of some events that were going on in the city. It wasn’t just waving a wand. You still have to be logical about it. So we increased by 25% of the 20% increase. So just an additional bump. And yeah, it worked. And I actually compared it with some other software, and we killed it for May, so it was just awesome. 

[00:27:56] Sarah: Yeah, our Q2 was fantastic.

[00:27:58] Annette: Wait, I think you just told me you were nervous about this weekend. Was this the first one weekend night?

[00:28:05] Sarah: Colleen, she always sends me just offhanded comments. She’s like, also don’t fire me because we’re not booked.

[00:28:11] Annette: Doomsday. No, I know.

[00:28:13] Colleen: Don’t fire me.

[00:28:14] Annette: No. I actually think most hosts out there, if we could get everyone raising their hands right now, if you have open weekends, you are freaking out. Like, wait a second, what’s wrong with me? Why am I not booked? So the last thing I want to talk about pricing and occupancy with you, Colleen, because I do think it’s also one of your sweet spots, is what do you do when you know you’ve pushed the rates? I know there’s some discounting, there’s some specials, there’s some stuff that you do also to make the listing more approachable. So what are some of those tactics that you use also?

[00:28:46] Colleen: So you can always run a promotion on Airbnb, which will highlight your listing. It’ll slash the pricing. And one thing that I think people get tripped up on with that is that it’s like just taking the rate down, but it takes a percentage of your ADR, so you’re not– I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s not a true– when people see that, it’s not a true 25% off your rate. That’s not real.

It’s off of your average rate. So I think people are sometimes afraid to use that feature because they don’t fully understand what’s going on. The other thing is– I do this sometimes where I’m like, don’t fire me. I do this sometimes, is adjust our minimum requirements because sometimes the minimum, say, won’t necessarily make sense. This week in particular, if you’re in a beach town, you’re probably killing it this week with the 4th of July being midweek.

But for our market, and I’ve made note of this because 4th of July is on a Tuesday, which means it’s going to be on a Wednesday next year. This is going to be the same thing next year. We need to probably plan better. You might want to shift some of your items where that might link up better with what people’s time off will be. So this is going to be a soft weekend for us because nobody’s doing anything this weekend. They probably took Monday, Wednesday. So nobody’s doing anything this weekend.

[00:30:02] Sarah: But I also give Colleen credit too. Our guests aren’t doing anything, but then Colleen immediately switches her operational brain, and she’s already giving our cleaning team the go ahead to go a little deeper, spend a little more time with our turns. Same with our inspectors. How can we love up on our guests? 

The way your brain works, Colleen, it’s not even just 10 steps ahead. It’s just like 10 steps to the left and right, and that is awesome, especially where I need someone who can help me think in every single direction. You do that. Is that learned, or is that just a skillset you’ve had your whole life?

[00:30:45] Colleen: Another good question. I probably had some skillset like that, but you worked in a hotel, Sarah, so you know you got time to lean, you got time to clean, all that stuff of people are always in your face. At a hotel, you’re open 365 days a year. Same as you. So we have to get it in where we can. So if we have a slow period, then yeah, let’s polish some glasses. As I told the ladies today, let’s high dust, because we’re not churning and burning right now. So let’s make sure that when this space is rented, that it’s perfect for the guests because we have the opportunity to take a breath.

[00:31:20] Annette: Wait, you just taught me something. I mean, I can understand what high dust is, but is that a hotel term, to high dust?

[00:31:28] Colleen: Yeah. Yes.

[00:31:29] Sarah: Get up high.

[00:31:31] Colleen: Listen, anytime you’re at a hotel, I mean, don’t but get up on the bed and go like this. 

[00:31:35] Annette: I’m not getting on chairs looking for high dust.

[00:31:38] Colleen: Yes. Well, somebody is. They’ll bring it to you in their hands. So yes, it’s best just to get up there, high dust, edge your corners, baseboards. Yes.

[00:31:49] Sarah: Baseboards are my love language.

[00:31:50] Colleen: Get in there.

[00:31:51] Annette: Yeah.

[00:31:52] Sarah: We’ve been told, Colleen, by a lot of our HBMM members, so that is our Thanks for Visiting mastermind membership, and by listeners, what have you, Annette and I are truly perplexed every time of like, people want to know more behind the scenes of Thanks for Visiting, not as it relates to our rentals or to our short-term rental strategy education, but truly behind the scenes with our personal lives, or behind the scenes of Thanks for Visiting. 

So you’ve now been with us for several months, plus you had a behind the scenes view when you were just the product management company. What was most shocking to you when you got a behind-the-scenes peak into Thanks for Visiting, the education and the edutainment that Annette and I do? What was most shocking for you?

 Most shocking, I don’t know if you guys remember my first, I came up for a soft day, and it was you guys filming a podcast, sitting in a room watching you guys truly just sit here and have a conversation about– you are certainly educating the masses but also doing this in real life. 

So take the Hosting Hotline for example, someone calls in, they ask a question, and then you two really volley it back and forth on what really is the best thing to offer this guest, or the best solution. And just watching it happen in real time is so cool. I know you guys probably don’t get it, but from a fan girl standpoint, you’re like, so this is how the magic happens right here? You guys just bounce back and forth on what’s the best sheet? That’s so cool.

[00:33:24] Annette: It’s very magical.

[00:33:26] Colleen: It’s magical. Yeah. And then also getting more inside your actual membership and the resources in there, as far– I tell it to people all the time. If you could imagine going into a group that has truly this many like-minded, intelligent people that are driven, I mean, you don’t get those types of opportunities to be in a room with people like that very often that are walking your same walk, talking your same talk.

That’s pretty unique, and I think it’s special. So you can go in there, and I am in that Facebook group, and I learn something every single day. And I think that as far as what is most surprising and impressive that you guys have been able to find, create this community of actual, intelligent, excited hosts, it’s just cool. I’m just thrilled to be a part of it.

[00:34:20] Annette: Yeah. And I want to say something too about that, listeners. Whether it’s inside our community, or coming to our live event, if you have not connected with other hosts, please find somebody. I know Airbnb has a ton of local community groups that you can become a part of. You might have a meetup in your town.

Rent Responsibly has meetups. Obviously, the revenue is amazing, hosting the guests, but that has been one of the greatest gifts, is to connect with all of the hosts across the country that are, like Colleen just said, amazing. Their properties are amazing. The product that they supply the guests is amazing.

And more importantly, they are amazing, amazing humans. Sarah and I, every day, we consider ourselves so lucky that we get to connect with them inside of our group and lead them, and then they lead us also. But yeah, I think what you just said too, Colleen, is that there is something to learn every single day.

Like, what in the world? If you think you have it all figured out, you do not, because– that’s the one thing I love about the members in our membership. They will be very, very honest with us that like, yeah, I thought I already knew everything, but then I joined, and I realized I didn’t know anything. And so I also want to offer that, that things change every day, and there’s so much more to learn because so many hosts have so many like amazing things that they are doing.

[00:35:40] Sarah: A lot of creativity in there. Colleen, what are you most excited about when it comes to Thanks for Visiting, knowing what our initiatives are and what we want to do with the brand and the communities? What are you most looking forward to in the next six months to a year with Thanks for Visiting?

[00:35:56] Colleen: Well, certainly, I cannot wait for the live event in September, Columbus. So I’m excited for that. I’m excited to meet a bunch of people in person that we’re chatting with and emailing with every day. And then as far as big picture for Thanks for Visiting, I think I’m most excited for all of the different hosts that Thanks for Visiting is going to be able to serve with the products that they’re providing.

In Thanks for Visiting, there is something for everybody, no matter which stage of their journey they’re in, to be able to continue to serve, and ultimately, this company is still very much so in it on the property management side. So they will continue to be able to keep serving. It’s education that will just grow and grow and grow and flourish. It’s exciting to be a part of something that is serving so many and can pivot to serve more as they need to which is cool.

[00:36:51] Annette: Love it.

[00:36:52] Sarah: How are you feeling now that you’re two, three months outside of being a GM, which is your entire career, was working in a hotel? You mentioned $800 a week. Annette and I, we work really hard, and when we do– listeners, we do ping Colleen at night and on the weekends if we need to. 

We do try to respect her time, but share with us, and be completely honest, Colleen. We promise we won’t do anything after the record button is pressed, but be honest about that change in your career. When you said your whole life, you wanted to be a general manager, and now you’re essentially with an online company that’s a startup.

[00:37:26] Annette: Very small. And you’re working from home. No front desk.

[00:37:28] Sarah: No front desk. And you’re still juggling the short-term rental side, the management side, and the content creation side, and our membership. You really take care of our members inside of our membership. What is that like?

[00:37:43] Colleen: It’s an adjustment. I will say that I have had seasons of being a GM where you’re so– it’s all the same cliche stuff. It’s the beginning of the year, you’re going to crush every goal, your IFO is going to be through the roof, you’re going to have the best service and all–

[00:38:00] Annette: I don’t even– what’s IFO?

[00:38:03] Colleen: Income from operations. Your bottom line.

[00:38:06] Annette: I’m like UFO?

[00:38:06] Colleen: Stuff you put in the bank. 

[00:38:07] Annette: I don’t know what IFO is.

[00:38:09] Colleen: The majority of my career was with the same company. And they are very IFO-driven, and they are very service-driven, and scores. They developed me into what I am. But anyways, at a hotel, as much as it sucked sometimes, you weren’t really in control of your day, it was always exciting. And there was a ton of human contact. So you talk to people all day long. As a matter of fact, you’d get in your car, and you would drive home in silence.

You wouldn’t even turn the radio on because you’re so done talking to people. So I was worried that, would I get lonely? Would I get bored? Would I get whatever? But what I’m finding is that I’m actually incredibly passionate about this work, which is– I guess I’d have to answer this question like in nine months because I’m still in out of body right now of how my–

I love what I’m doing right now. I also do something new every single day. Obviously, you guys are just two people. I know sometimes you guys make up names, and we’re at a water cooler or whatever, but in general, the team that I get to work with every day is awesome. And on top of that, it’s such a different community as far as– in the group or other people that I’m, communicating with, it’s just such a different type of person that I’m talking to every day.

 So I would say that side of the tank is still full. But yeah, no, there’s times where an ex-employee or somebody I used to work with will text me some drama, and I’m like, give it. Give me every drop. Don’t leave anything out. Whatever. Um, but yeah, I’m very fulfilled where I am right now, though.

[00:39:39] Annette: No, actually, I think that’s good point to talk to hosts about, because I know a lot of hosts, their goal is to become a full-time host and grow their portfolio and potentially quit. If they do have a full-time job, quit that full-time job. That was a huge transition for me when I went from going to an office every day to just my short-term rentals.

I think that’s probably why I linked arms with Sarah and have not let her go. So hosts, again, it is going to be a transition for you because going to the office, maybe having that corporate salary, having those certain things that you’ve been doing for so long, it is going to rock your boat. And again, I think that’s why, again, Sarah and I have linked arms and then created even more of a bigger community because we’re like, oh my gosh, there’s other hosts that are out there that are lonely. 

And I do just want to bring that up of like, if you’re doing real estate investing, it’s a different lifestyle. Hosting is a different lifestyle, and we would not be good podcast hosts or good leaders if we weren’t honest with listeners that this dream that you might have to only be a real estate investor, to only be a host, it is going to come with its own set of challenges. It’s going to come with you being the CEO and having to maybe do all the jobs or choose your team that will do the jobs.

But there is definitely a transition in all of it, because also hosting is a choose your own adventure. So that can be fun, but it is a rollercoaster of like, do I know what I’m doing? Do I not know what I’m doing? What is the income going to be? What is the seasonality?

So there is definitely some risk involved and some major life changes, whether you’re coming to work with us, Colleen, or a host out there is choosing to go all in on their hosting business. We just need to let you know that it’s going to be a big change, but we are here for you. Obviously, you can listen to us all the time. You can watch our YouTube. You can join us in our membership. But that is why Sarah and I do what we do also, because we want to be there for you on your hosting journey.

[00:41:33] Sarah: And I want to ask you, Colleen– I mean, I myself am a go-getter. If I say I’m going to do something, I pretty much dig my heels in, and I do it. Even if I end up hating it halfway through, I’m like, no. Said I’m going to do it. Got to finish this. So any host out there right now, or someone who wants to host but maybe isn’t quite ready to buy a property and they still want to be in this industry, what advice do you have for them on how to reach out to a company or to a human who they’re admiring or who they want to do what they’re doing? What advice do you have for them to just take that first step, send out that resume, pitch them your pitch? What do you have to say to that host out there or someone who’s interested in the industry?

[00:42:12] Colleen: I would just remind that person that what you’re selling is yourself and what you have to offer. The most anybody can ever tell you is no. Some people might say it nice than other, but ultimately, you have to shoot your shot. Nobody is going to knock on your door at your house and say, hey, you want to be a whatever, for me?

The only other thing I would recommend is, and I’m sure if any of my family members listen to this, they’ll roll their eyes because they agree, but never stop talking about it. I never stop talking about– in that case, I told everybody my master plan to be Sarah Karakaian’s right hand, whatever she needs. From the day I sent that email, that was my plan, and I was never going to let it go. Then when I decided, oh, I want to buy a property, every person I know knows that I want to get a property. I never stop talking about it. So I would advise people the same thing.

[00:43:09] Annette: Yeah. Let’s tell people too, your grand plan, your whole reaching out to Sarah to help with inspecting, to helping Thanks for Visiting, let’s tell everybody your overarching goal here is to buy short-term rental properties. I mean, you’re a homeowner now for you and your boys, but that is the grand plan for you.

That is why you are educating yourself. And that’s also what I think is super admirable, is you’re not just like, hey, I need to go all the way in, and find this property, and buy it, and do the thing. You’re like, wait, what’s the next step that I can take in that dream? So I think if you could share that a little bit too with the listeners, what is your dream there on the short-term rental ownership side?

[00:43:50] Colleen: Dream, dream, dream is run property in our favorite vacation destination. So that would be like, you’ve made it. And then, yes, similar to the revenue management, uh, there’s risk in everything, but I’m about calculated risks. So when Sarah said, hey, I don’t know if you’d want to do guest messaging once a week, I thought to myself, no, this will teach me what to expect if I was ever doing this.

And then, hey, what about revenue management? What do you think about our pricing or whatever? Okay. Well, I would love to know how that works in the short-term rental. So I was thrilled that I got to basically get real time training so that when I’m ready to rock, I’m truly ready to rock. And it doesn’t feel like a risk when you finally do it because you have all your ducks in a row and you know what to expect. Not saying that you couldn’t buy a property and figure it out, but why do that when you have the ability to have community to help you along the way?

[00:44:41] Sarah: I love that because so many people can preach just like, buy the property, and some people put themselves in a situation that maybe they’re not ready for, which I’m all here for pushing yourself, and I’m here for getting out of your comfort zone, but I love that you took the path that was best for you, Colleen. 

I saw this quote, and that’s sick of me saying it, but it really stuck out to me, of, if someone invites you on a rocket ship, or offers you a seat on a rocket ship, don’t really care about what seat you’re sitting in. Just get on the rocket ship. Now, I don’t have a crystal ball, and neither does Annette.

We have some plans about where Thanks for Visiting’s going, and where our property management company’s going, and all that good stuff, but Colleen, what I love about you is your list– we had that talk too about when we asked you what it would take to leave your hotel job. Obviously, Marriott and Hilton have a much more predictable future, potentially, than Annette and I do, and Thanks for Visiting.

And so you really just said, get me on this rocket ship. Let me help you fuel it. Let me help you drive it at certain times. And that can be so scary. But my goodness, the rewards are ridiculous, especially where we want to take this. And so I just admire you for that. You’ve got two young children, and Annette and I don’t take knowing that lightly when we invited you onto our rocket ship. 

So any listener out there who is considering a calculated risk, as Colleen said, to really consider it because, Colleen, what is the alternative? Let’s say this doesn’t work out. Let’s say in six months, this isn’t your jam, and you miss the front desk, and you miss–

[00:46:10] Annette: I mean, I think probably go on Indeed right now and get 55 jobs.

[00:46:14] Sarah: Right.

[00:46:15] Colleen: Well, that’s what you guys said to me. You said that to me, Sarah. You said, hey, if you don’t like it, or it doesn’t work, just go get a job at a hotel. And the way that you said it, I was like, I will not go get a job at a hotel. 

[00:46:27] Annette: Yeah. We just said some really– I laugh, like, Indeed, ha ha ha, like it’s not– yeah, we don’t take it lightly, but that’s the alternative too. I think sometimes we get so– I do this. I don’t want to turn the chapter, and sometimes a chapter needs to end, and you need to start a new one. It’s like a book doesn’t have the same freaking chapter the whole way through. Sometimes you got to start a new one, end one, start a new one, end one. It’s like if you don’t ever start a new chapter, you never know what’s going to be written in that. So this one’s going to be a really long chapter, Colleen, so be ready.

[00:46:59] Colleen: It’s going to be a good chapter.

[00:47:00] Sarah: Yeah. Both of you. I’m like, no, we’re not ending chapters anytime soon. We can have volumes or whatever you call it.

[00:47:06] Annette: Trilogies.

[00:47:07] Sarah: Trilogies. I don’t read–

[00:47:08] Annette: Harry Potter. I don’t know. Whatever. 

[00:47:11] Sarah: Fun books.

[00:47:12] Annette: All right. Well, listeners, be prepared. You’re going to see Colleen. You’re going to hear from her on the show. You’re going to see her in the content that we produce. If you have questions for her, reach out to us. We’re happy to answer those. 

But really, we just wanted to give you some visibility of our growing team. And the reason we’re growing our team too is we want to serve you the best that we can, and we need help. So, um, Colleen is here to help us in our mission to uplevel what it means to be a host.

[00:47:41] Sarah: Well, I also just want to kick it back to you. The reason Colleen is here, and the reason we, Annette and I, and Colleen now, can dream is because you tune in every week, because you leave us five-star reviews.

[00:47:52] Annette: Yeah. Leave us a review. Please. Begging.

[00:47:53] Sarah: Because you engage with us on YouTube, and Instagram, and therefore, we can attract really awesome guests, and awesome sponsors, and you come to our conference. So it’s that same economy that we have in the short-term rental world where we all have to be great hosts so guests can really trust staying with us.

Same with Thanks for Visiting and the content. Just thank you for tuning in with us. It is not lost on us. It is all tracked too. So we can say, see, people like this content. So if you want to be a part of our content creation, um, you can always reach out to us at thanksforvisiting.me. You can DM us. We have workshops.

We’ve got our live conference coming up. Be a part of Thanks for Visiting. It is so much more than Annette and myself. It is now Colleen, and her boys, and our coaches, and our members. It is this growing, awesome, breathing thing that is all rooted in leveling up what it means to be a host, and we thank you so much for allowing us to do our thing. With that, I’m Sarah Karakaian.

[00:48:48] Annette: I’m Annette Grant. And together we’re–

[00:48:50] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:48:51] Sarah: We’ll talk to you next time.