Meet Philip Kennard — Founder and CEO of Futurestay. Growing up, Philip loved video games.  And for Philip, video games were about so much more than the playing experience…he loved the art, the logic, and the business behind creating worlds.  This love sparked his entrepreneurial spirit and led him to work in game development for Sega, one of the world’s leading game design companies, and, eventually, would lead to the founding of FutureStay. In this conversation, Philip and I explore the...

Meet Annie Holcombe, a seasoned hospitality industry expert with a passion for vacation rentals and an impressive track record at major travel tech companies. Annie's journey in the vacation rental industry is nothing short of inspiring. Starting from property management, she moved on to pivotal roles at Expedia and Homes and Villas by Marriott, gaining invaluable insights into the world of travel and hospitality. In this episode, Annie dives into the current state of the industry,...

Meet Yvonna and Darren Grandfield, a dynamic duo who’ve turned their passion for real estate into a thriving business of unique and stunning short-term rentals. Growing up, Yvonna and Darren never imagined they’d one day be the proud owners of a collection of charming properties, but a chance encounter at an Ace Hardware store set them on a path they couldn’t have anticipated — who’d a thought they’d date, start a business, and then ultimately get married and have kids together?!   In this...

Meet Josh Luttrell, the innovative entrepreneur behind Home Theme Orlando, a company transforming vacation rentals into immersive themed experiences. As a kid, Josh dreamed of being a basketball player, but life had other plans. However, he took his competitive spirit and he channeled it into real estate, eventually carving out a niche in Orlando's short -term rental market by creating uniquely themed homes. From Marvel superheroes to Disney princesses, Josh's properties are designed to...

In this episode of "Behind the Stays," we bring you a special and urgent conversation with a guest who's no stranger to the show, Elam King — we featured his story on Episode 180 of the podcast.   Elam's story is nothing short of remarkable. Growing up in the Amish community, he transitioned into a successful hospitality entrepreneur, building an impressive portfolio of short-term rentals. However, just a few days ago, Elam faced a devastating blow—Airbnb kicked him off their platform,...

Meet Cody Watson, the entrepreneur behind Explorely, a groundbreaking platform poised to revolutionize outdoor travel planning and experiences.  Growing up, Cody dreamed of being an inventor. And while he didn't end up creating the next big gadget, he did channel that inventive spirit into the entrepreneurial world, ultimately founding Explorely — a platform designed to be the Kayak.com for outdoor travel. Explorely simplifies the often fragmented process of finding and booking RV rentals,...

 Meet Tyler Jordan, the co-founder of Nova Haus —a ground-breaking hospitality brand that's redefining luxury stays for larger groups and corporate retreats.  Tyler and his business partner, Martin Papp, are on a mission to create the ultimate group getaway experience. Think luxury villas equipped with everything from gyms and saunas to podcast recording studios and content creation rooms, all set in breathtaking locations like Costa Rica. In our conversation, Tyler shares the fascinating...

Meet Alex Alioto, Co-Founder and Head of Growth at Whimstay, the Hotel Tonight for Vacation Rentals. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Alex had dreamed of being a wide receiver for the 49ers — he was the kind of kid you’d find walking around the grocery store sporting a helmet and a jersey even when it wasn’t game day. While his dreams of playing in the NFL never came to fruition, Alex did wind up playing in another arena — he studied theatre at the University of Michigan and spent...

Meet Justin and Rebecca Rush, the creators of the River Rock Cabin on the Toccoa River in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Justin and Rebecca are real estate photographers who had always dreamed of one day building their very own Airbnb…long after they had built their primary dream home, of course.  One day Justin got a text from one of his clients about a piece of land that was for sale along the Toccoa River.  Justin assumed the call was a request to go take pictures of the lot, but his client asked...

Mike Hicks, the founder of Wander Chatt, a collection of unique stays across Chattanooga, TN and beyond. Mike started his entrepreneurial journey at just 19 years old after dropping out of college to learn how to work for himself. Mike got a job with a real estate developer helping to clear lots and doing an array of labor-intensive construction tasks.  Mike worked long hard days for this developer but after work Mike and the rest of the crew would be invited out to go fishing. And it was...

Meet Brian Meyer and Selly Butler — the founders of FLOHOM a new hospitality start-up that offers stunning, on-the-water stays in marinas across the mid-Atlantic. Selly is a serial entrepreneur whose latest venture is in the marina business. One day Selly received a call from an enthusiastic entrepreneur who asked to place Oysters in his marina as part of a water purification and protection nonprofit that he was running.  This enthusiastic entrepreneur?  Well, yes, it was Brian Meyer. And...

Meet Mark Lumpkin from STR Cribs — the leading one-stop-shop for renovating, designing, and fully-furnishing a short-term rental. Mark is an innovative entrepreneur who has worked on nearly 600 renovations transforming run-of-the-mill homes into bespoke, scroll-stopping stays.  In this conversation, Mark and I discuss  How thematic short-term rentals can be a great way to compete against unique stays when your STR is a condo or single-family home Why more hospitality entrepreneurs should...

Meet Whitney Hansen, the creator of The Flower Pot, a truly spectacular, one-of-a-kind experiential stay in Burley, Idaho. Whitney has always been entrepreneurial — she owns her own consulting business, she hosts a podcast on investing and financial freedom called The Money Nerds, and is now also a hospitality entrepreneur. After building one of Idaho's only geodesic domes and seeing it perform remarkably well on Airbnb, Whitney began dreaming of what her next build might look like — would it...

Meet Derry Green — the creator and visionary behind The Secret Garden Glamping — the UK's most booked, most wished-listed, and most viewed glamping site with a 2+ year waiting list. Derry has always loved the outdoors – growing up, he and his family were avid campers. Some of his childhood memories involved playing in the woods with his brother and sitting around the campfire telling stories. When Covid hit, Derry and his children were, like most of us, stuck inside a lot.  On one particular...

Meet Boris Mordkovich, who created Lumen Nature Retreat — a luxury waterfront glamping resort nestled in the heart of New Hampshite’s White Mountains — in partnership with his wife Susan. The idea for Lumen was born while Boris and Susan traveled from Boston to Argentina over a 6-month road trip for an extended honeymoon. During this trip, their Toyota Land Cruiser car had a rooftop tent that allowed them to camp at some of the most spectacular places — from bush camping in the middle of the...

Meet Kristie Wolfe — the entrepreneur and builder behind some of the world’s most famous Airbnbs including the Big Idaho Potato Hotel, The Big Island Treehouse, The Hobbit Inn, and several others. Growing up, Kristie always wanted to do her own thing – she convinced her parents to let her drop out of high school because she felt like she could learn more about business outside of the classroom. Kristie is a true creative — she gets an idea in her head and just has to execute it…even if, and...

Meet Nick Purslow, who is both the Co-Founder of Glampitect North America, an incredible educational and consulting resource for setting up a glamping site, and also the co-founder of a new start-up called Posh Outdoors, which supplies owners of iconic properties with high-end glamping units and backend support, at no up-front cost to the landowner, through an attractive revenue share model. Growing up, Nick wanted to be a lawyer — but after graduating from university with a law degree he...

Meet Peter Fabor, an entrepreneur building a portfolio of niche hospitality businesses from marketplaces to industry newsletters.  Peter is a product designer by trade and has spent his career working in and around hospitality and technology companies.  In this conversation, Peter shares hot takes he has on the relevancy (or lack therefor) of hotel brands over the next decade, how he built a marketplace for company off-sites and corporate retreats, why the best hospitality entrepreneurs can...

Meet Louis Thompson —  Founder and CEO of Nomadic Resorts, a consultancy that designs and builds some of the world’s most innovative and unique hotels and homes. Growing up, Louis wanted to be a chef — and while he never pursued his culinary aspirations he did wind up designing some of the world’s most memorable restaurants.  In this conversation, Louis and I discuss how he thinks about designing luxury, unique stays, how he predicts short-term rental collections and hotel brands will partner...

Meet Nitin Sood, Vice President of Innovation at Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy. Nitin and his team launched the first AI-powered search experience of any travel site so I invited him to come on the show to talk about how they built the tool, how folks are engaging with the experience post-launch, and what they’ve got cooking up behind the scenes to improve the product.  Tune in to hear Nitin and I discuss: How Marriott built their Search with AI tool  What they’ve learned since...

Meet Cameron Weeks — a former coast guard rescue swimmer turned hospitality entrepreneur. From a young age, Cameron dreamed of owning his own business — he used to listen to audio books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad with his father in the car when he was in elementary school.   After high school, Cameron enlisted in the coast guard and became a rescue swimmer — yes, like one of those guys who jump out of helicopters to save people stranded in the middle of the ocean.   In this conversation, Cameron...

In just a moment you’ll meet Antonio Bafia, a 23-year-old entrepreneur who dropped out of college to pursue his dream of building hospitality businesses.  Growing up, Antonio was a competitive hockey player — he dreamed of one day playing in the NHL. And while that dream never came to fruition, the discipline he learned playing hockey equipped him wonderfully for the exciting and taxing journey of being an entrepreneur.  In this episode, Antonio and I discuss: how he built a portfolio of...

Meet Bella Linchenko, a muralist, STR investor, and creative finance community builder. Growing up, Bella wanted to be a dog groomer…or an olympic gymnast…or both. And while neither of those dreams panned out, she does get to apply her love of art, form, and problem solving to the work she gets to do each day. In this conversation Bella and I discuss: How murals can elevate the value of your STRWhy Bella started a creative financing community for women real estate investorsWhat she’s learned...

Howdy friends!  In this episode Zach sits down with Ben Wolff, Co-Founder of Onera and Oasi — two of the most innovative brands in the experiential hospitality space.  Ben Wolff is an incredible entrepreneur who has built some of the world's most unique and social-media-famous Airbnbs — if you haven't checked at his work, it's time to change that.  In this episode, Ben announces his latest project, Oasi Hill Country, a $39 million luxury landscape resort that he's building in the Texas Hill...