Behind the Success of Every Small Business is a Family, with Lauren Madewell

Alex Husner  00:06

Welcome to Alex and Annie, the real women of vacation rentals. I'm Alex. And I'm Annie. And we are joined today by Lauren Madewell, who is the C Chief Operating Officer for antebellum cabin rentals and a great friend of ours and just so excited to have you here, Lauren. So welcome.

lauren madewell  00:24

I'm so excited to be here and happy Halloween, y'all. Yeah.

Alex Husner  00:30

We're not sure if that's really you behind your get up. If you're not watching, or if you're just listening, you gotta tune into our YouTube channel to see now who are you as just a little understand,

lauren madewell  00:42

I am Orville Peck. Like a country singer, and he always wears this mask. Like if you tried to Google Orville Peckor you will not find him just face out. He's always wearing this mask. Different color fringe and stuff. And like I put the braids on just so I could drink but like normally he has it like down. Oh, wow. It's yeah, he's a spectacle. I love it.

Alex Husner  01:05

So you actually braided it? Yeah,

lauren madewell  01:07

it's thin. But I braided it off to the side. I learned early in the night at my halloween party that it was going to be hard to drink my cocktails with the fringe. Yeah, it's

Annie Holcombe  01:18

like that singer that singer Ciara that always wears those, like bangs that hangs you can't see. So nobody knows what she looks like.

lauren madewell  01:25

CIA Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. See?

Annie Holcombe  01:27

I see. Yeah, that's it well, Lauren, thank you so much for joining us. For those events. Those people that don't know you, which I dare expect. There's very few people that know you don't know you at this point. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself.

lauren madewell  01:42

Okie dokie and I'm going to like actively take off this beautiful face

lauren madewell  01:49

show. Okay, so here she is.

lauren madewell  01:55

I am the Chief Operating Officer of my family's business over in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee or offices in gap or Pigeon Forge. Our cabins are between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and severe VUL. We are 28 years family owned and operated. Dads, the owner, sister is my right hand man, we are his succession plan. And we're so happy that our family business has a succession plan so that we can continue to stay family owned and operated for the next you know, 28 years hopefully, we've seen a lot of the, you know, the Smoky Mountains is was pretty famous for just the amount of cabinet rental companies and, and the amount of them being family owned and operated. And up until the past couple of years. It's been that way for generations and a lot a lot of companies sold which was good for them. They didn't have six succession plans. And you know, I'm happy that the owners of these cabins have have have somewhere to be and it's but yeah, I'm we love being family owned and operated. We're going to be this way for a while and we're teaming up with the others like Tom Goodwin over at Mountain Laurel chalets, and we've got Shawn spezial, Brian Spezia over aunt bug's Cabin Rentals. And there's Yeah, several more that were just were like, Hey, we're gonna stay family owned and operated. We got to stick through this thing together. We've got to be pals here, less competitors and more allies. And and, yeah,

Alex Husner  03:18

that's huge. Yeah. In our market, just being able to work with our close group of constituents. And just having that community I think really makes a big difference and just being able to bounce ideas off of each other that making sure it's not just if something's going wrong, or business is slowing down, is it you? Or is it the market? And just having that support is great. So that's, that's awesome to hear.

lauren madewell  03:41

Oh, for sure. Like if I'm having a weird homeowner experience or weird guest experience, but one of those ones where like you think you've seen it and heard it all a minute. Yeah. I have no problem shooting a text off to somebody being like, here's my situation. What do you think of that? This is how I want to handle it. Would you do the same? Like it's so nice. Yeah,

Alex Husner  03:59

yeah. So I met you for the first time. I'd say probably five years ago, I think it was that I was up in the mountains and trying to find some new partners up there for us to work with. And I'll never forget when I met you, I don't I don't know why. But I guess I do know why. Because clearly, you've just stayed kind of present in my mind. And I'm so glad that you've circled back into my orbit now. But I remember I just there's something about you that I thought she's really cool. Like I I want to I want to know her more. But I never saw you for years after that. I went to your office and I met you and your dad and your dad was just incredible. And I hadn't seen you for several years. But then at the Women's Conference this past December, like oh my gosh, there she is. And it's just been great this last year, I think, the Women's Conference, it seems like that's kind of what that was the springboard that really catapulted you into the publicity of the vacation rental industry. And everybody else had the same feelings that I did that they're like, I want to know more about her. She's really right. Ah, gosh,

lauren madewell  05:01

that's so sweet. And that feeling was totally mutual. Alex, I felt the same way that you, you crossed my mind a number of times. But yeah, not being on LinkedIn. Yeah, they're swimming in the abyss of things. But yes, I'm so glad that we've come back into each other's orbit and just kind of continue to become closer friends, I love it. So Greatful.

Annie Holcombe  05:21

So, you've been on quite a number of podcasts, I think you've actually done almost as many podcasts as Alex and I have recorded you've been on. Everybody wants to do everybody wants to talk to you. But I think one of the things that I jokingly said You are my spirit animal, because you're just the things that you talk about. And you talked a lot about, especially on Amber's episode is just leading with love and loving people and, and just connecting with people on kind of a level, that's not the business level, it's just really about getting to know the person. And so I think that one of the things that I just adore about you is that you put yourself out there vulnerability, you know, every bit of it, you're not worried about what people are saying, or, you know, maybe you are, I mean, I think we all do that to some degree. But you've made yourself very vulnerable. And, and one of the things that I just love is that you're very creative, and you're curious, and you want to know more, and you want to share, and you've got all these great ideas. And so, you know, I know we could kind of we can jump all over the place. But I wanted to kind of talk to you about, you said that you went to school to be an air traffic controller. And that is a very odd transition from air traffic controller to vacation rental diva, which I will I'm going to call you that. And with the with the curiosity, curiosity and the creativity, like I would never put somebody who's a who's who's driven to let you know, numbers and the facts and what everything is on our radar screen like that seems so opposite of anybody that would be kind of where you are now. So I think you found your comfort zone within vacation rental. So can you tell us a little bit about how you came to deciding that maybe what you thought your path was going to be and what it is now, like, what was that transition? Like? Or what was what was your aha moment that you said, I cannot do air traffic control,

lauren madewell  07:01

like, oh, air traffic control school was just a horrible idea.

Annie Holcombe  07:08

But you don't discourage people from trying it right, you

lauren madewell  07:11

know, still need that. I don't even think you need to go to school anymore. That was so serious. People who graduated like with my class and stuff, they kind of fell through the cracks. And it took them years to find a position with an air traffic controller. So like beforehand, it was kind of just like it was a street test, like you come in off the street and take this test. And

Annie Holcombe  07:34

really, like,

lauren madewell  07:35

Yeah, I'm being so serious. And so while same again, when. And that's when I kind of came into play. And there was I lived just like 40 minutes from the Atlanta airport. And so there was like an Atlanta center, like control center. And a lot of the kids I went to school with their parents were controllers, and it takes a very certain type of personality to be a controller. And all these parents were just telling me and Mallory, we had it, we had it. We should go to school for that. There were two schools in the country. I think one was in Florida and one was in Georgia. So we went because in Georgia, if you make a certain if you have a certain GPA your tuition is paid for. So we went and you know, you make really good money controlling so it seemed easy, but I hated it. I'm not like a numbers person. Like we joke that I'm facts and Mallory's feelings Mallory loves numbers, she would wake up on Saturday mornings and do math and eat cereal.

Annie Holcombe  08:32

Definitly, not my cup of tea. Yeah.

lauren madewell  08:37

It really was no segue between air traffic controlling and the cabin rental business. So it was like, maybe my second to last year of, of schooling, when my dad's cousin who started Auntie balance Cabin Rentals passed away and left it to him in the will. And he was balancing both his job that he'd been with a 20 something years in Georgia, and going to Tennessee and making sure that everybody is taken care of and the business is running smoothly. And, you know, no, nobody gets lost in that transition. And he fell in love with it, and decided to do that full time. So he moved up there. And my mom stayed in Georgia to keep residency so that we could have our tuition paid for. And I knew before I even graduated that I had really no interest in doing that, because it's really, really, really tough. It's really analytical. It's really black and white. And, and you have 1000s of lives in your hands at any given moment. So I was just like, Dad, I love you. Thank you so much for putting me through school. I don't I don't want to do this. And he was like, no problem, babe. I just I want you to be happy. So right out of college, I moved in up to Tennessee to live with my dad. And we just jumped into the business together.

Alex Husner  09:53

And that was a surprise right that the business was left to your dad and in the will a

lauren madewell  09:57

total surprise. I'm crazy. We found out some time later that she had talked to a couple other family members to see if they had any interest in and taking over the business. Should anything happen to her. She wanted to have her will set up. And they all largely said no, but she was really close with us. I think she respected and admired my dad a lot and had full faith that at the very least he would take care of her people. Yeah, what happened to the business, he would take care of her people. But he fell in love with the business and started making friends within the industry pretty quick. Like Shawn Spezio over at Aunt Bugs Cabin Rentals, their thick as thieves, and yeah, Scott Rice, who is now with itTrips, but I think he was with Cabin Fever at the time. They're all best buddies, and they embraced him. And pretty quickly, like, when my dad described it, it was very competitive back then, and he didn't share any secret sauces, or scratch back. But that's not the type of debt guy my dad is. That's not the type of person that I am. And so he made some friends pretty, pretty quickly and put them in place for me. But there No, there was no segue or transition. It was

Alex Husner  11:06

just here's a business.

lauren madewell  11:10

And I'm so grateful for it. It's such it's such a blessing, like I think of, I think my aunt Shannon, I call her my aunt's my dad's cousin all the time, and are cemeteries actually kind of across the street from the family business. So we just go powwow and say, hey to her, because we just feel like she set my family up. And I'm so grateful for it.

Alex Husner  11:30

Yeah, absolutely. So in your market, you mentioned that some companies have been thought in recent years. And I think that's the case probably everywhere, but what how has that changed the market for the Smokies? I mean, like Vacasa and other ones, have they come into that market? Much?

lauren madewell  11:46

It's still kind of remains to be seen, I think, I think we'll, we're right on the verge of feeling the effects of what those homeowners think of that. And what those guests think of that. Um, I have brought on multiple properties who they were with a mom and pop soul to? Is it okay to say who they sold to? Do you think? Yeah, yeah, sure. And pretty quickly, communication became so difficult, she was never speaking to the same person there seemed to there was minimal communication, not a whole lot of transparency, a lot of new charges showing up on their statements. And it was a very difficult transition. And she just thought, you know, I, I think I deserve a little bit better than this. I know, I had better now I had this, surely, there's got to be better out there. And she did a little research to find out who had been around a while, who has a decent Google reviews, and she had a conversation with multiple other companies, which I always encourage, if I'm speaking to a potential homeowner, I always encourage them to do their due diligence and speak to other companies and make sure they find the right fit for them. Because yeah, ultimately what I care about, like I'm playing the long game, I want happy homeowners who Yeah, industry and they don't just sell and skip this leave, you know, I want the happy homeowners to remain happy. So I want them finding the best company for them. And I actually have a checklist of of things that when they're doing their due diligence, they should ask other cabin rental companies, things so that they know like, if you're paying monthly maintenance fees, are you also paying trip charges? And what is your trip charge? And it's things like that to make sure that they're well taken care of. So that like maybe a company is offering an 85/15 split. But when at the end of the month, when you get that statement, and you have all these charges, what are you what percentage are you actually paying? Right?

Alex Husner  13:38

Yeah, you know, what the actual the gross revenue is, at the end of the day, or the net revenue is at the end of the day that you're gonna get? That's a great point.

lauren madewell  13:45

Yeah, so I'm really trying to educate homeowners, as much as I'm trying to educate, like, start the education process along with you guys. If we're not Airbnb, you know, trying to educate homeowners to make sure that they're taking care of themselves and then to like, maybe they don't go with me, maybe they go with a higher percentage, but if they ever get unhappy down the line, they're gonna remember my conversation, they're gonna help them out and kind of have perspective on my commission split and, and minimal fees at the end of the month. So yeah, I've just on boarded them. Probably going into the summer, and I'll be totally vulnerable about this as well. I was so excited to swoop in, make them so happy, get them bookings, everything is awesome. And I've really struggled with these properties. They're just a little further out than all the others. I've actually made a post about it.

Annie Holcombe  14:35

Was that the one that we talked about on LinkedIn that was out in the middle of nowhere, and we talked about like doing parking at events or whatever we could get for that.

lauren madewell  14:44

Yes. Yeah. Like try to get them some free coffees in town or something like that. Yeah, exactly. And it got a little bit better. We just staged photos a little differently. I took a lot of notes from people and applied that towards that property and it did help we got a flurry of bookings immediately. So good job, everybody. But it has since plateaued and just not getting good feedback. So, so I'm not the superhero. I was hoping to be with that. But they have my cell phone number, right? So back and forth, I'm accessible. They fully trust us. They don't have to worry about their statements at the end of the month. So I know she's happy. And she'll be patient with me. And then I might have to have the conversation with her. Like, I really thought I could do better. You guys deserve better. You deserve to make more money. I want to help you find a property management company who maybe has other properties out in that area.

Alex Husner  15:37

Right to leverage against Yeah, exactly.

lauren madewell  15:42

I haven't heard from anybody with the trips, which I think is good. I think that's a good. Yeah, like Miriam over at Jackson Mountain Home, like they're holding it down. I don't think they really skipped a beat with Bing, like Mom and Pop actors within the industry. But that that change remains to be seen. And it's more so what I'm struggling with is, is or this the people who bought properties, they live in California, New York, or even overseas, and they have their properties on Airbnb, right? Yeah. And I'm the ones i The people I liked, like I had good conversations with them. And I'm genuinely sad. They, they didn't stay on my program. I kept their names and numbers, and I've been following up with them to just see how they're doing. And they're kind of getting a little panicky, just to break even. Yeah, yeah. So I'm just I'm making sure that they're taking care of and maybe I can get them over to my program eventually, just so that they don't have to worry about anything anymore. If they it could be it could be passive income if they wanted it to be.

Alex Husner  16:49

But I think you you and Mallory were mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article this summer or Bloomberg? Yeah, there's a great article. Yeah. And that's, there's so many, you know, I think you're the topic of that was all these homeowners that are coming in as an investment homeowners from across the country, that are looking at this as a passive income stream. And as a lot of the new Airbnb media is trying to show vacation rentals is clearly are realizing that that's not the case. And I think to your point next year is gonna be interesting for a lot of them. If, you know, hopefully, we don't see a severe downturn or severe change in demand for vacation rentals, but I think overall, if they were used to 2021 2022 rates there might not be getting quite that much. And if they're really close on how much that they are able to need to, you know, get from that rental property to be able to maintain their mortgage, this could be a downfall for the area.

lauren madewell  17:48

Yeah, I'm and I, I'm like, a little bit worried about that. But we're such a destination market and and there's so many of us, like who are ready to I will buy an investment property if the if right, prices go down, my sister will I know a lot of the real estate agents are as well, which is a little self serving, but I know they're ready to swoop in and buy theirs. And then I have like a whole pipeline of people who have been like, hey, when keep your ear to the ground when the prices go down like holler, let me know I'm gonna buy and put it on your program. So I have a whole pipeline of people who are ready to swoop in. So I'm I'm not too, too worried about how that will change things for us. But I do feel bad for those people who didn't do enough research Annie, right didn't do.

Annie Holcombe  18:36

And I love it. And we've we've had lots of conversations on LinkedIn with people about you know just about that about people buying in kind of at the height of the market and being I don't want to say led astray, but they're not given. They're not given good data to make good decisions on and so then it also it becomes the, you know, the problem of the property manager to sort of navigate those conversations that can be pretty uncomfortable because again, people were buying at the height of the market. And you had you bought at the height of the market and we were seeing 2021 occupancy that would be or demand that would be a completely different conversation to have. So I'm curious, then my husband's family's from South Carolina, right, just across the mountains into South Carolina. And so they come to Gatlinburg several times a year. I've been  you know, half a dozen times with the family and just over the years just watching it grow grow. And I know that I actually worked with Aunt Bugs and I worked with Eagle I think it's Eagle properties. It's Eagle ridge and there's something else it's like Zach, Zach something is the guy that I work with that I can't remember his last name, but we had them and there was one other group that was in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area, and just kind of seeing their inventory like explode. I mean literally like some of them were doubling and it wasn't they were they were buying companies it was just a matter of like all of these all this inventory was coming their way but there were so many new homes being built in the market. So you guys are one of the markets that saw tremendous growth of like new build. So how do you think that that's affected how you guys are approaching? You know, one, you said that you you're working with other managers in the in the in the region, which is great because a lot of markets are very heads are still very siloed. Everybody wants to hide their hide their data and not talk, but you're talking to others. And I think that with that kind of growth, I mean, it's not sustainable to think that they can continue to grow at that pace, because the demand is not going to continue to grow at that at that rate. So how have you guys approached it and thought, you know, for next year, like, what are you going to do? Are you going to add more marketing? Or are you going to add more channels? Like, what are you going to do to kind of diversify how you bring in reservations?

lauren madewell  20:37

We're going to add more channels. We will be working with Whimstay before too long, and I'd really like to work with hopper. But we've hit some roadblocks with that. And then that'll put us at four VRBO. Airbnb, Hopper, Whimstay. Oh, five, Smokymountains.com. They do great for us. Um, we will we're not, we're not actually looking to scale. Um, okay. So I, you know, I just like, I'm not looking, I don't know, like, these are the things I'm asking myself all the time, what is our GamePlan for the next year, and really, me and my sister are kind of on the same page. And I think my dad is there to just like, refine our systems and processes. Just continue to create the best culture within the business continue to take our customer service next level, so that the the guests loyalty is there, the homeowner loyalty is there, they don't even want to consider selling. We're like at 120 properties right now, we're actually going to shave off a few. And we would always just cap it at 150 to keep quality control and operations and relationships tight and stuff. But like, I feel like there was a note that I took on, Alex and Annie, I think it was your interview with Steve, I think. And I just remember taking this note because at a point I was worried about scaling when we were hemorrhaging cabins to sales, and the people were doing Airbnb and I was like, Oh my God, how are we going to? How are we going to keep up when all these companies are buying and in getting huge? And you guys were like actually like, it's I can't remember how you put it but like you can make more money with right with this property. Yeah, I never forgot that. And I remember coming into work and Mallory and dad were like, we just listened to Alex and Annie's podcasts. And they were met, they took that the same note that same line. And so we were like, Okay, well, you know, we'll just, we'll buckle down, we will kind of control our spending and we'll just work on being the best property management company in the Smokies, whatever that needs to mean. But we're not too worried about scaling right now.

Alex Husner  22:46

I yeah, I

lauren madewell  22:48

I was having a good conversation with bugs and Scott rice and my sister over dinner in Vegas one night where like, I do see it becoming a concern at one point, because these are and these are just, I'm spitballing here, like this is a market where a lot of people who have stayed with us for years are like, I want to retire here. So we're going to buy a property and we're not going to come retire here. A lot of people say that, so I'm just like, oh my god, is that gonna be like,

Alex Husner  23:16

Yeah, we're gonna come from

lauren madewell  23:20

off the market. And then what if they become, you know, not in my backyard people? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So like, that's something I'm a little concerned about. So I'm like, okay, so when do we start scaling to?

Alex Husner  23:32

Yeah, and I think it's a really good point. I think it's more of not necessarily scaling and the fact that you want to grow by tons and tons more inventory, but I think really what the loop there is, many people that want to come down, they want to retire and Gatlinburg we're seeing the same thing in Myrtle Beach, and a lot of our guests have ended up moving to the beach. And the same concerns that you said that some of them when they get here, they become that, you know, neighbor that wants to be actively involved in city council and change things that there's no tourism and you have to remind them that's the reason they moved here is because of people like them that you know, we can have those great restaurants because we have to be able to keep them happy. But they have to remind people that but the other thing is, I think, you know, we haven't seen that hasn't hurt our our reservations necessarily, because we have such a when I say we I'm speaking of Condo World, bringing more guests into the fold and just getting more new guests. I think that's really the secret sauce there. I think for you guys. That's like, you know, focusing on improving making little tweaks to operations and culture, that's huge I mean that solidifies and protects you. And then just opening up to make sure that you've you've got a new way to get more new guests that are continuously coming in feeding into the funnel. Yes, that's a good position to be in. And I think you guys can very well do both of those initiatives.

lauren madewell  24:50

I think so and like just on a very simple level. Mallory and I are going to just we're just going to keep cranking out videos, and we're going to just yeah, stay more present on On tick tock to start, like attracting Gen Z, you know, who's the next wave of Booker's. And like, we see that being our future of just getting out ahead of people on a creative level, we have our social media with our marketing company. And it's a little, it's a little vanilla in my  opinion but it converts. I've had meetings with them where I tried to push creativity and the creativity does not convert. They've proven it to me. So I'm like,

Alex Husner  25:27

Oh, Really, wow. Y'all just keep doing you

lauren madewell  25:29

know, they were like, tick tock, they've pushed us to just kind of do tick tock in our very own way and went to an awesome class with Marco and John and Conrad. And they kind of taught us a little bit about Gen Z and tick tock, and I'm like, okay, me and Mal are actually actually onto something here. And the goofier, the weirder, the sillier, the more fun, the better. And like, just learn that Gen Z. They don't like traditional advertising and branding. And so like, we don't have to, it doesn't have to be a sales pitch or anything like that. It could just be a hilarious video that maybe they remember down the line. And they were like, Oh, what was it? Yeah, and they remember us or something. So that's it, its simple. But that's how we're gonna get out ahead of millennials and Gen Z and stuff. And just

Alex Husner  26:15

Yeah, I was on a panel in Vegas, and they asked about tick tock and if that was something that any of us used and, you know, previously, in my role at condo world, we have not gotten into tick tock and we made that decision. Because if you look at the demographics, age wise, you have to be 25 to rent a Condo World accommodations. So most of the is that same for you guys do, I would think that you guys, your Oh,

lauren madewell  26:39

the majority, vast majority are 21 There are a few program that are either really big or really nice. And we do 25.

Alex Husner  26:46

Like that's, that's good. And I think that that'll help you ever there for sure. But my takeaway was, you know, video is everything, for sure. And then that should be everybody's focus for 2023 and beyond. But taking that same approach of Tik Tok and using that kind of video within Instagram and Facebook, because let's be honest, I mean, people aren't stopping to look at a carousel of images anymore, like they used to, you know, on video is boring, because we're used to whether you use Tiktok or not, we're used to that sort of stimulation. And that's what catches people's eyes. So I'm really want to hear how this goes for you guys actually using that content on the platform. But you'll have to keep us updated on that, because I think you could be a great first success story is I don't think there's not a whole lot in our industry that are doing it or doing it well and seeing a huge benefit yet.

lauren madewell  27:35

Yeah, I'm gonna kind of document how that process goes so that I can just have some sort of like outside awareness of it not in the middle of doing it, like I want to document it. And yeah, I'll share that insight as I go along. And just kind of maybe there was a very popular video and and not so popular video and just trying to break down why. Yeah, yeah. And then share that share that as well. Um,

Annie Holcombe  27:59

well, Bubba the Bear. I mean, Bubba the bear he's like everything. I love him. And I like know that at some point, you're going to have this whole other tear where Beauregard the bear you and I had this conversation about the different bears like what didn't even like Beauregard spoke to this like upper crust type of rentals. And so I think like because you just you just you get out there and like you said, your curiosity and your creativity just kind of oozes out of you like every day, like I know you're gonna do some amazing stuff with it. I have laughed my butt off every time that I've watched your videos, they're just so entertaining and to the point that like, that's what makes people engage they want quick, fun. And if you look at like you think about Superbowl commercials the ones that people that resonate with people are the ones that either so pull at your heartstrings and make you cry or they're the ones that make you laugh for days and like you this path of laughing that you just got everybody laughing and I know I shared one of yours out and it was just like it was shared like left and right this is the greatest thing ever and I think what you did you hit on something everybody was looking for some new way to speak to the guest and you found something that was easily done quick got the message across and that you know that guests whether they were 21 or 81 they were going to watch it and they were going to be entertained by it. So I learned a lot you first stepping out there.

Alex Husner  29:20

Why don't you tell us a little bit about that video because not everybody's seen it. Oh,

lauren madewell  29:24

okay, so um it's our checkout video and so I'd already I'd already made a check in video that was pretty much a hit and our guests were loving it and so I'm just it was like all maybe 50 seconds long and it was just reminding people that like as much as we try to be perfect we're not going to be perfect things might go wrong at your cabin. That's totally okay, we're here for you. Let us know we'll come get it taken care of so that you can have the best vacation ever. Just getting ahead of the guests to to kind of set ourselves apart from Airbnb. We are professional. We are here to take care of you. You're not out on your own when you're there. And then too Who's to prevent them from just leaving the negative feedback in a review, you know, and if we can, if we can get in front of our guests, like literally meet them and take care of them, I even if they had a problem, I think we have the chance to turn them into a repeat guest more than if they just had an okay time, you know, or, or a good time and never came across us. Like, I know, we can impress them. So I had already made the the check in video, and it was just me talking to the camera and being goofy a little bit. So I knew I needed to make a checkout video. And so I'd already bought the bear suit. For other videos that I have in the pipeline that I

Alex Husner  30:39

can't wait to for other reasons.

lauren madewell  30:43

You're gonna need it. Me and Mallory and the reservations team, we were just spitballing the possibilities of what this this checkout video could be like. And Mallory got on a roll and like so when I was when I'm talking about like, you might have seen me rummaging through your trash or you know, scurrying my cubs to and fro that's all Mallory and we were just laughing and having a great time. And she was like, Let's go shoot this checkout video. Now we had a few hours left on our shift. Let's go shoot it right now. And she was like, and you should wear your bear suit. And I was like, Oh my God, that's a fantastic idea. And so I'm just at a cabin, going through the checkout list, in a bear suit with a cute little song in the background. And I, you know, tried to make it funny wherever I could, I mean, the bear suit was funny enough. And it has been a total hit with our guests. They absolutely love it. And then when I shared it on LinkedIn, LinkedIn just went wild. Which has been so encouraging to, to know that I need to make more like that. But the purpose of it was like, you hear a lot of people complaining, especially with Airbnb, that about the cleaning lists, and all the crazy stuff that they have to do with the cleaning list. I don't have a cleaning list. It's more of like a cabin preservation list. It's like change the thermostat, just put the trash in a bear proof container, put the lid back on top of the hot tub. Please don't leave stinky dishes in the sink. And so like I really wanted to show and illustrate this is not a cleaning list. It's very simple. It takes no time at all. So I wanted to act it out. And doing it in a goofy bear suit keeps their attention.

Alex Husner  32:20

Oh definitely was when you hit the nail on the head for sure.

lauren madewell  32:23

And then to not like my marketing companies like hey, not everybody likes to read their content, write it or watch it. So I'm like, Oh, I'm more than happy to run with that. I've always had a camera growing up and I always make goofy videos. There's still a YouTube account out there somewhere that is horrifying, I'm sure. But I've always, always made videos. And so we're just having a blast and Mallory and I actually sat down with a couple espresso martinis one night at Vegas before the SimCity soiree with Marriott. And probably came up with 15 More video it is that we're so excited to share with everybody. And there will be a mix of like our guests Cetus or guests have access to this. And this is just Property Management con content. Right,

Alex Husner  33:08

right. Yeah, a lot. A lot of really good ideas come over a couple of espresso martinis. I do know that. Annie and I can testify to that for

Annie Holcombe  33:16

sure. Yeah. It's a two drink minimum for good idea.

Alex Husner  33:22

not maximum. minimum,

Annie Holcombe  33:23

minimum. Yeah, yeah. Okay, go no, go ahead.

Alex Husner  33:28

I just I wanted to know more about sending gifts, you've made such a focus. Or it seems like you have a culture within your company, and just kind of what your your personal journey has been to that point and layering. And also, I know you went to Matt lindows Keystone retreats. And I'm sure you learned a lot from that. But tell us a little bit about culture. As I know, that was there wasn't that was a big topic of conversation at the retreat. But tell us a little bit about what's going on that side of the business.

lauren madewell  33:57

Gosh, I think we have something pretty special going on. So a lot of our people, our employees have been with Auntie Belham since my dad's cousin owned it since she started it. So we have oh, wow. But people have been there for like 20 years, 15 years, 10 years, long, long time. But beyond that, we all of us managers are pretty much on the same page of this. And this. This goes in pretty much all departments. It's big time for reservations, but also maintenance and inspectors and stuff. We're not necessarily hiring based on experience. We're hiring based on this so goofy vibes, like no does this person get our humor? Yeah, who do we enjoy spending time with them? Yeah, are they goofy? Are we going to have to kind of mind our P's and Q's around them like you we click are they on T Bell? Um so like when we have a new hire and after some time has gone by and mean the managers are talking like, you know, they're a fit when they're like they AR they are so anti Dellums Yeah. So that's huge. We hire based on who we feel like we could love and have a genuine friendship with and be family with, because then we can train them on to do anything. You know, like, right, that's the awesome thing about our industry is, and this is I'm not talking about marketing, because that's a whole nother animal, but like, you could be trained to do the job and you can do the job well, right. So hands on, and just, you know, conversational and, and so we just, we hire based on on the person and we know we can we can train them. And so from the get baseline, we're creating culture. And then a lot of the girls in the reservations department are friends outside of work and hang out. So So that's, that's awesome. They got their own thing going on. But we, we so we've always had a naturally pretty good culture, but like this year, we have really just tried to expand on that. And so like we'll do, we'll do fun Fridays, where I'll just bring in stuff for smoothies or some fruit tray or just what whatever the girls are feeling will bring in something for Friday's just to snack on and have a good day. Or we'll do like we did mocktail Monday's, which I think was like out of where we just brought in like seltzer waters, and juices and fruits and stuff and made up these fancy mocktails. And so we just tried to have more fun. One of the girls the other day, it was 10 days from Halloween, and she came in fully dressed as a witch. And I was like, Yes, I support this, everybody, whatever. Let's just, let's just have fun here. Um, and, and, you know, they all know if they have a good idea, pitch it. And you can either come to me or you can come to your manager, or I set up suggestion boxes and the reservations department and the maintenance department. They were if they feel like being anonymous, or maybe they have to just vent something, or I'm the only person who has access to the boxes, they know it's me reading it, but that's helped to, to keep them involved with creating the culture and, and reinforcing positivity and just making things better. They're the eyes and ears, the reservations department, they're picking up on patterns, they know what's going to work, I want their feedback into making us the best company possible. So it's total open door policy. And, um, once you kind of get that momentum going, it just feeds off of itself. And it's been an awesome, fun, hilarious year for allof us.

Alex Husner  37:42

 Yeah, I love that. I love that.

lauren madewell  37:44

And then next I'm gonna move on to the maintenance department and just kind of that's a more complicated department to kind of nail down a culture on because they're so they're so busy, and they just want to get their work done.

Alex Husner  37:59

Right, exactly. Yeah.

lauren madewell  38:03

Split it eight and hours together in office. So I don't know that but I'm trying to figure out what all how to how to breed. I don't know more culture in the maintenance department. Next. I don't know what that means for me yet. Because like yeah, to this day, and I shared this on LinkedIn, I put a I put a suggestion box in the maintenance department. And like, basically, the only feedback I've gotten so far is more Styrofoam cups. Which just like Okay, interesting. You went all right, but sorry, guys, I'm not getting you styrofoam cups? That is not great.

Annie Holcombe  38:38

The maintenance guys are necessarily going to be you know, your tree hugger and green time, guys. But yeah, there's probably I don't know, I think of all the hotels and resorts and, and management companies. I work for the maintenance guys. Probably because they are out there by themselves. They're probably the most creative like some of the funnest people. If you can get them all together. I bet you could have so much fun with them if you kind of get them engaged. But I did want to ask because I know that you guys did like a pumpkin carving contest. Oh, yeah. You who won?

lauren madewell  39:11

Oh, my God. That's a great question. I was. I love that you asked it. I was like saving that for for when I went into the office today to ask it'll be my first day back since firmer, I'll say. Tell me in person. So I could see all the pumpkins and heck, I wanted to vote myself and maybe my penny will be the defining difference. But I don't know. I wouldn't be dang shocked if it was not Dolly Parton though.

Annie Holcombe  39:33

Yeah, they were. There were some super cute ones. And I love that you're you're fostering a culture. And I think, you know, I just personally recently went through a job hunt and used Steve Trover at Better Talent. And they reached out to me about the position and I initially was like, No, and they're like, No, you're perfect for like, we've done all the research like you're perfect for this. Like, you know, we've done your predictive index. We know your personality, like you're perfect for this. And I really wasn't sure about it, and then I finally did it too. Got it was absolutely perfect. So I, you know, I got the role, and I'm super excited about it. But that was one of the things that I think that companies are going towards is really understanding is not so much about the skill set. It's really about your, the personal attributes that you bring to the team, and are they going to mesh well with everybody else, because you can have somebody who's just the smartest person in the room, but if their personality doesn't get across there, they either can't lead or they're not going to be able to be a good contributor to any of the processes that you're trying to do.

lauren madewell  40:29

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. That's a good point.

Alex Husner  40:32

That one of our favorite lines, you can teach skill, but you can't teach will. I think that's exactly like what you were just talking about Lauren? But yeah, I think that's a great way, that's a great way to look at it. I mean, we spend so much of our time at work. I mean, the majority of our lives are spent at work. So you want to be around people that you enjoy, you know, I mean, that's that's just kind of like a simple, no brainer, but at the same time, I think it gets a lot of companies overlook it. They're looking at the resume and do they check these boxes, but how much experience do they have? I think, you know, as far as you know, your marketing or not marketing, your reservations and your frontline staff, you can teach them those things. So I'm glad that you mentioned that that gets a great point.

lauren madewell  41:11

Yeah, that's my family. Like, yeah, I tell them I like especially our reservations manager, Kathy got, I love her so much at the end of the shift every day. It's a big hug. I love you. It's like telling my mom by at the end of the day, you know, and when they when anybody goes on vacation, we miss them, you know? We are so excited to have him back. That's that's our family.

Annie Holcombe  41:30

Yeah, that's wonderful. That's so what do you um, so we're getting sort of close to like, you know, end and I think Alex and I say this all the time, but I really feel like you and your personality and our personalities, we could talk forever. So we need to plan like a girls weekend to come up to Gatlinburg and hang out we're gonna hang out and maybe do we'll do Alex and Annie live from from anti balance, Kevin, that

Alex Husner  41:49

would be amazing. What, what do you what do you see

Annie Holcombe  41:54

as you know, we talked off off camera about, you know, your yours very pivotable pivotal. Can you speak this morning? Are you getting out there and really just finding your groove. And one of the things that both Alex and I experienced very parallel to each other as a similar is that the more we put ourselves out there, the more opportunity that came to us. And they were they were those great opportunities that were the right opportunities at the right time to get us to the next level kind of those type of things. And so we saw you experience that. And we're so proud of you and so grateful to have crossed paths with you. And as you said earlier, just to be in each other's orbit. What do you think was your maybe your biggest accomplishment for this year? And then like moving into 2023? What are you looking most forward to? Not only for Auntie Bellhams, but for Lauren, personally? Oh, big question.

Alex Husner  42:41

Yeah.

Annie Holcombe  42:44

Earlier this year, and you want all of it.

lauren madewell  42:48

greatest accomplishment? Um, maybe that bear video? Yeah. I just learned so much about our own community from the feedback I got from that. And the feedback I'm getting from the guests and that like, I'm, we're onto something here. We need to keep making more videos, which was reinforced by that tic toc session that we went to so like, yeah. I feel like I've had a lot this year, um, or getting invited to the Keystone retreat. God, I feel that felt like . Yeah, yeah. That felt like an accomplishment. Like, I just I couldn't believe my name. Even got thrown out there for that. And can you

Alex Husner  43:27

tell us a little bit about that, too? I'm just I'm curious more about what that experience was because I know it from the feedback I've heard from people like changed their lives.

Annie Holcombe  43:36

Yeah, Alex had serious FOMO so we gotta get

Alex Husner  43:41

oh my gosh, I'm glad I did that. Because I got back from DARM which is that was the one I was gonna go to. I had COVID. So I would have felt terrible if I was a super spreader that

lauren madewell  43:51

Oh, no, um, gosh, that's a big thing to unpack, Alex? Oh, it was, it was well, first off, it was the first time property managers are getting together for an event to discuss the industry in our own markets and ourselves, personally without vendors. So it was all so organic and so fruitful because nothing was a sales pitch in there. And no offense to anybody. There were no angles. It wasn't like, here's how you do this. And but through us, you know, exactly. Yeah, there were no vendors. So it was just, it was it. Matt really did his best to try and keep everybody like all unique markets so that we didn't feel like competitors so that we could share secret sauce or feel good about sharing, like we all had to sign an NDA, sharing anything and knowing Wow, leave there and it was a true a true community that was built I teared up so many times but I'm a huge softy like Mike with Casago. I love him. I love him so much like you know, we just clicked like this and and It was just, oh, that's so hard to explain it was it was it was just magical. And we learn from each other, we taught each other things, we pushed each other. So like I said, I wanted to be more involved with my community. And I got a lot of push on that. What does that mean? Who was your community? What are your plans, Even? Like, what could you What are you doing? What haven't you done, just pushing each other to be better for for the, for the long term for the history for the future of our our industry, like nothing is selfish. And like I said, everything was just so organic, and we all feel a part of something big. And we know. Like, VRMA was really special this year, like the energy was special. The people were excited. It was something to behold. But like, we know that if we want to continue pushing for progress within the industry, it can't just be events just like that. Right. Yeah. we need something bigger pushing us forward for our own best interests as property managers. Yeah. And maybe that's all over the place. It the whole thing. Thing was all over the place in a very, very good way. Matt did , great. Steve did great. I was so grateful for the chance to meet both of them. And, yeah.

Alex Husner  46:22

I love it. I mean, I think it really it plays into your year that you've had, and I'm sure going into that you're probably a little bit like, I don't know exactly what I'm gonna get into. Hopefully this goes well, and not as scary. Because you don't you no one knew who was going to be at your cohort. Right. So, and I remember Yeah, like that. That was that was that would have been if I had been able to make it. That was something I was kind of concerned about is like, who am I going to be around next five days? But yeah, I think they did an incredible job. I think the the feedback I've heard from everybody was that it was just, it was game changing for them. So very glad that you went and did that.

lauren madewell  46:59

Oh, me too. Me too. And that was yeah, there was there was like no context for that you didn't know who you were, and you knew what you would be fed. And you didn't know anything else. But I'm just saying yes, this year, like, yeah, it comes my way. Even if it's a demo with a vendor company that I might not plan on using, I say yes to it, so I can get to know that learn. Yeah, and maybe I can recommend them down the line. But I want to and then I can get to meet them at the events and stuff. But I've just been saying yes. And that was a big part of it. And I trust. I trust Matt wholeheartedly, Matt and Steve, wholeheartedly. anywhere they go, I will follow them. Right, exactly.

Annie Holcombe  47:39

They're definitely great. They're great leaders for our industry. And I think that they're always trying to be a little like a step ahead of everybody to help guide and like break that doorway down for everybody to step into it. But with that, I've gotten to know Matt just through the homeowners thing, and I knew of him but didn't know him. And I think he's and Steve the same way just to very caring, compassionate. And to me, that just speaks to me whenever you lead with your heart. Like I just speaks to me. So you're leading with love thing is just it's everything to me. I love it so much.

Alex Husner  48:10

You do very, very thoughtful, I think is just kind of the tone of it. You know? Yeah.

lauren madewell  48:15

They're their hearts. Um, I do want to circle back to the second part of your question. I don't know if we're running out of time or not. What's my No,

Alex Husner  48:22

no, we're good. Yeah, sorry. That's our fault.

lauren madewell  48:25

No, gosh, like, you could talk for days. But uh, so I feel like that we've we've done a good job with kind of setting up a culture that can continue to build on itself with or without my active presence. I feel good about that. I will always continue to make videos but like for 2023 I'm putting this out there because I don't yet know what it means for me. I don't have yet have my path carved out and I'm always open for feedback and I might be reaching out for for some guidance on this. But like, I do need to get more involved with my community. I want to start going to city council meetings. I need to start joining associations and stuff. I need to start like it was Tiffany Edwards is is that the Okay, so she did like a bit on lobbying and I took so so many notes from that and that's some heavy hitting stuff. But I got I got some seeds for growth and basically like I if anything, if anything strange were to come into my mind market which like the Smoky Mountain market feels invincible. Like when you hear all these other markets going through tough times with regulations and stuff. My market feels invincible because the town was literally built on tourism, almost 100 everything on that, but there's no way that can be the case. And so I don't want to get into a position of reacting I'd rather be in a position of informing and I think that starts now. And so I just need to be more present within the community and even just forming connections with like Mom and Pop pizza shops and and ice cream shops and anybody whose mom and pop in town, just starting conversations with them, seeing what we can get them involved in like, and making sure they understand the importance of professionally managed Cabin Rentals versus Airbnb. And just if anything weird starts to swirl within the industry, all the mom and pop is that we're together, we're a community, we're helping each other out. But and yeah, just going to the city council meetings, keeping my ears to the ground. I'm trying to get more involved with associations, which like, we have to get past I've reached out to some people, but we have to get past like October here, which is just a nutty time here. And once we do that, I hope I can start forming the right connections. But I don't I don't know what that means for me. But I need to get more involved with the market proper the industry and maybe do more informing than reacting. And

Alex Husner  50:52

yeah, and I think just just having that as your goal, you're going to succeed at that for sure one, because you're clearly first of all people will welcome your presence there. But I think I know in your area that you've got Gatlinburg, Chamber of Commerce and CVB, and Pigeon Forge has its own as well, right. Yeah. And that's you and I have had these conversations offline, too. It's like that's, that's definitely where I started my, you know, initiation to just become more well known in the area and build those relationships. And I would imagine in your area, that would be a good start for you there. I mean, that's where a lot of decisions are made and where you'll connect with businesses in one kind of setting or more consistent setting across different verticals in your area.

lauren madewell  51:31

Yeah, and there's still a lot of hotels involved with those associations. So like, we need a bigger, a big voice for property management companies and a brand big friendly voice, you can see this overlying anything, and I don't see it. We're apples and oranges. I don't see us as anybody who needs to fight and I hope to do a good job with it. So I'll probably be giving your brain a lot honestly Alex.

Alex Husner  51:54

Yeah, no, absolutely. Anytime. Yeah. And I think you can own the voice of that, you know, your the industry in your area, if you can do that, that will be huge payoff for you personally, and then also for the business and just your area. So we wish you very a lot of luck on that. So we're about at time. So I think we're going to we'll have to do a part two, maybe later or earlier in 2023. Yeah, get an update on Tiktok. And update. Yeah. Update on your civic involvement and just see how the rest of the years going. But thank you so much for coming on today. Lauren we really appreciate it.

lauren madewell  52:29

Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm always happy to see all your smiling faces. You guys are just the best. Thank you so much. And congratulations on your new roles. I would like so pumped for you guys true.

Annie Holcombe  52:41

Thank you so much crazy how the world is kind of all all like just provides at the same time, but we're really excited. But But Lauren, you're gonna do amazing things. And I know that Alex and I both are cheering you on from from a little distance. We hope to get to see you soon. I do want to get my husband up to get a good long weekend in the in the mountains, and we'll for sure be calling you for that. But if anybody wants to get in touch with you, what's the best way to reach to?

lauren madewell  53:06

Oh, I'm Lauren L-a-u-r- e- n at Auntie Bella homes.com au n TIEBELHA m s.com. Or Lauren maidwell on LinkedIn. And then if I need to give you my cell phone that way, I'll give you my cell phone that way always down to Connect. I am here for everybody. Connections community. Yeah,

Annie Holcombe  53:30

well, we're will write that on the back of a bathroom door in some bars.

Alex Husner  53:37

New friends will include your email and also a link to your LinkedIn profile in the show notes. And if anybody's not watching, or if you're just listening, go over to YouTube to watch because you'll get to see Lauren's Halloween costume that she had on at the beginning of the show. But thank you so much again, Lauren. And thank you everybody for listening. If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a review or send us a message you can go to Alex and Annie podcast.com. We'd love to hear from you. And until next time, thank you.