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With over 35 years of combined experience in vacation rentals, Alex Husner and Annie Holcombe bring you the award-winning Alex & Annie Vacation Rental Podcast—your go-to source for expert insights, industry trends, and inspiring success stories.
Each episode dives deep into the real stories behind vacation rental industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators, uncovering the strategies, pivotal decisions, and “A-HA” moments that shaped their success.
Whether you're a vacation rental property manager, short-term rental host, investor, or travel industry professional, this podcast delivers actionable takeaways to help you grow your business and stay ahead in the $100 billion vacation rental industry.
Tune in and discover what it takes to build a thriving vacation rental business from the experts who’ve done it!
A seasoned vacation rental marketing expert with over 15 years of industry experience, Alex has played a key role as CMO in two enterprise vacation rental management companies in the United States, Condo-World and Casago. In early 2024, Alex left the corporate world to pursue her own initiatives as CEO/Founder of Directly Alex, a consultancy firm specializing in marketing and business growth strategies for vacation rental management companies and technology providers. Alex previously served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce & CVB and is a past Board Member of VRMA (Vacation Rental Managers Association).
Annie Holcombe has spent over three decades inside the hospitality and vacation rental industry; long enough to have worked nearly every seat at the table.
She started at the front desk in 1992 and worked her way up to VP-level leadership, with stops at Expedia Group and Marriott Bonvoy and several Channel Managers along the way. That trajectory means she's seen the industry from the property level up through the platforms and brands that shape it, operations, distribution, partnerships, and the politics in between. Few consultants in this space have sat on that many sides of the table.
In mid 2026, she took that experience and built Annie & Co., a consultancy for property managers and technology companies who are past the point of generic advice and ready for strategies built on how the industry actually works, not how it's supposed to work on paper.
What sets her apart isn't just the years, it's the pattern recognition that comes from them. She's watched the same growth bottlenecks, the same partnership pitfalls, and the same missed opportunities play out across dozens of companies and market cycles.
And then there's the network. Three decades of relationships across OTAs, brands, property management companies, and technology platforms means Annie isn't just offering advice, she's offering access. The rooms her clients are trying to get into, she's often already standing in.
She's not here to recycle conventional wisdom. She's here to open doors.
Accurate and timely owner payouts are the bedrock of trust in vacation rental management. Discover how a laser focus on trust accounting for owner disbursements builds owner confidence, minimizes disputes, and solidifies long-term relationships. Thi…
In today’s vacation rental landscape, accessibility is too often an afterthought. Many properties labeled as "accessible" fall short of meeting the real needs of travelers with disabilities and countless families are left without safe, comfort…
For many short-term rental operators, getting listed on Airbnb or VRBO feels like a win. But in an increasingly competitive landscape, getting listed alone doesn’t guarantee performance. As guest expectations evolve and technology becomes more…
