Alex and Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals
With more than 35 years of combined experience in vacation rentals, Alex Husner and Annie Holcombe have teamed up to connect the dots between inspiration and opportunity, seeking to find the one story, idea, strategy or decision that led to their guests big A-HA moment. Join them, as they highlight the REAL stories behind the people and brands that have built vacation rentals into the 100 BILLION dollar industry it is today.
Episodes
The vacation rental industry has changed dramatically over the years.
The technology is smarter, distribution is broader, competition is stronger, and AI is reshaping how operators work. But some of the most important parts of the business have not changed at all.
In this special reshare, Alex & Annie step into the guest seats with Tim Rosolio of Expedia Group’s Powering Travel Podcast for a conversation about what thoughtf...
When an owner asks for more detail, questions why something was handled differently, or wonders why they were not told about an incident sooner, the question is usually about more than the immediate issue.
They want to know their property is in good hands.
In Episode 3 of Pour Decisions: When Stays Go Sideways, presented by Safely, Alex and Annie are joined by Amanda Martins and Rachel Alday for a candid conversation about the moment...
Vacation rental search is changing fast.
Organic traffic is declining, AI Overviews are taking up more space in Google, and travelers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to research where to stay.
For property managers, that creates a new challenge: how do you stay visible when the way people search is no longer as straightforward as ranking on page one of Google?
In this episode, Alex & Annie are joined ...
What makes a vacation rental business attractive to a buyer?
Door count may get attention, but it does not tell the full story. Sustainable growth, clean financials, a trusted local brand, strong employees, and direct booking performance can all influence how a business is evaluated.
In this episode, Alex & Annie sit down with Igor Simkin, CEO of Monarch Collective, for a candid look at what owners should understand before explor...
In this third episode of First of the Month Wrangle, presented by Lasoh, we are joined by Orlie Benjamin, Founder and CEO of Lasoh, and Patti Ziegler, Orlie’s longtime mentor and former leader at Scotts Miracle-Gro.
Before building Lasoh, Orlie worked with Patti across direct-to-consumer marketing, brand building, innovation, and partnerships. That experience shaped how she thinks about customer relationships, distribution, an...
Nearly 300 episodes in, the Alex & Annie Podcast is entering one of its most exciting chapters yet.
In this special mid-year episode, Alex & Annie are joined by Jinnie Randolph, who has been working behind the scenes to help shape the show’s content, partnerships, strategy, and future growth.
Jinnie shares her journey through vacation rental marketing, technology, and operations, along with the full-circle story of how ...
What does it take to build a vacation rental company that can grow, evolve, and remain successful for nearly seven decades?
In this episode, Alex & Annie sit down with Rick Elliott and Brandon Cox of Elliott Realty to explore the people, systems, leadership decisions, and business fundamentals behind the company’s longevity.
Elliott Realty has been part of the Myrtle Beach vacation rental industry since 1959. Ov...
Advocacy often stays on the back burner until a regulation directly threatens the business.
For Tyann Marcink Hammond, that moment came when vacation rentals in parts of Missouri were reclassified from residential to commercial properties, causing some tax bills to rise dramatically.
In this episode, Tyann returns to share how that experience pulled her deeper into vacation rental advocacy and showed her why operators need to get inv...
Direct booking has been part of the vacation rental conversation for years, but one challenge remains hard to solve.
Travelers are not always searching that way.
In this episode, Alex & Annie sit down with Eric Goldreyer, CEO and founder of Savvy, to talk about why direct booking has struggled to become a consumer habit and what needs to change for travelers to find, trust, and use it more easily.
Eric shares how Savvy evolved fro...
Revenue strategy always starts with a plan, but the market does not always follow it.
A major event may not pace the way it did last year, certain property types may start falling behind, owners may get nervous about open dates, and new channel updates can quickly add more complexity to an already busy season.
In this episode of Revenue Reality Check, presented by Beyond, Alex & Annie are joined once again by Julie Brinkman, CEO ...
In this episode of Alex & Annie: The Real Women of Vacation Rentals, we are joined by Bob Milne, President and COO of First Chair Destinations.
Bob has spent decades in the vacation rental industry, with leadership experience across Steamboat Resorts, Wyndham Vacation Rentals, Vacasa, Casago, and now First Chair Destinations. His career has taken him from building a local vacation rental company in Colorado to helping lead large...
AI is changing the way travelers search, compare, and book vacation rentals. But what does that mean for direct bookings, local brands, and the websites operators have spent years building?
In this episode, Alex and Annie are joined by Richard Vaughton of Yes Consulting and Mark Simpson of Boostly for The Great AI Debate. After taking this conversation to the stage at the Host Planet Roadshow in London, Richard and Mark continue the...
Welcome to the second episode of Pour Decisions: When Stays Go Sideways, presented by Safely.
In this episode, Alex and Annie are joined again by Amanda Martins, VP of Business Development at Safely, for another round of real guest stories, summer stay surprises, and practical takeaways for short-term rental operators.
This conversation is all about “vacation brain” and the strange, messy, and sometimes costly decisions g...
In this episode, we are joined by Ed Ulmer, CEO of Barefoot, for a conversation about trust accounting, vacation rental technology, and what operators need from their systems as their businesses become more complex.
Ed shares how his background in tourism, destination marketing, real estate, and software all shaped the way he looks at vacation rental management today. For him, the industry has always come back to one core idea...
The vacation rental industry has gone through major waves of change over the last two decades, and AI is quickly becoming one of the biggest shifts yet.
In this episode, we are joined by John Suzuki, Chief Technology Evangelist at Staylist, for a conversation about the evolution of vacation rental technology, the pace of innovation, and what this next chapter could mean for property managers.
John brings a long-term perspective on ho...
In this second episode of First of the Month Wrangle, presented by Lasoh, Alex & Annie are joined again by Orlie Benjamin, Founder and CEO of Lasoh, to continue the conversation around vacation rental marketing and what it takes to make it more effective, more personal, and more guest-centered.
This time, the conversation focuses on a simple but important question: can we stop marketing properties and start marketing to people?
F...
In this episode, we are joined by James Smith, CEO of InvitedHome, for a conversation about focused growth, luxury vacation rental operations, and what it takes to build a more sustainable business in high-end destinations.
James shares how InvitedHome evolved from a broader multi-market vacation rental company into a luxury brand focused on ski markets. After operating across different types of destinations, the company made the de...
In this episode, we are joined by Paul Wohlford and Amanda Szubert of Call Center Solutions to talk about staffing, guest services, AI, and the growing need for reliable support in vacation rental operations.
Paul and Amanda share how Call Center Solutions grew out of a real hospitality staffing challenge and how their nearshore team in Montego Bay, Jamaica now supports vacation rental and hotel companies with reservations, outbound...
Many vacation rental operators are working to grow direct bookings, but the real opportunity is not just driving more traffic to their website. It is understanding what happens once guests get there.
In this episode, we are joined by Chris Walker, Owner of Luxury Homes of Hilton Head and CEO of Direct Booking Tools.
Chris shares what he has learned from nearly two decades in property management and how his experience as an operator l...
In this episode, we welcome back Mike Flaskey, President and Chief Operating Officer of Marriott Vacations Worldwide.
Mike shares what brought him back to the industry, what his new role looks like, and how Marriott Vacations Worldwide is approaching loyalty, customer experience, owner engagement, and long-term value.
The conversation looks at the timeshare and vacation club model through a hospitality lens, including how major brand...
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