We recently connected with AJ Martinez and have shared our conversation below.
AJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
1. The Luxury Outdoors 2. Tiny Homes
Sol & Santosha, which translates to “Sun & Contentment” has been designed around Martinez & DeNuccio’s love for the outdoors. After tracking one of the largest growing verticals globally and seeing the real estate market reach a historic inflection point, they began to develop their model around several key data points:
1. One of the largest markets in the world (hospitality), finished at $4.79 billion in 2023 and growing to proj. $12.1 billion by 2030 (source: verified market research)
2. The Short term rental (STR) market that sits within the above finished at $86 billion in 2020 and is growing to a proj. $113 billion by 2028 (source: Grand View Research, 2021)
3. The Glamping STR market finished at $2.35B in 2021 and expected to grow to $6B by 2030 (source: grand view research)
a. 60% of leisure travelers in North America, reported glamping the past two years, making glamping the most trending travel
activity among Millennials and Gen Z.
b. Occupancy rate for traditional travel decreased to 44% in 2020 and 53% in 2021. Today, the millennial generation has passed that of their predecessors known as “baby boomers”, becoming the largest
generation ever recorded. However, the millennial generation looks a little different: travel is just as common as eating, technological advancements enter the market daily and social media has allowed individuals to develop a public personality.
However, this social media change has provided public exposure to new products, locations, and exploration more than ever. The ”phone eats first” tagline of this generation has provided restaurants, brands, and travel destinations alike at a global level to explode with popularity. Sol & Santosha aims to play right into that. While the hospitality and short term rental markets have kept strong in their growth course, the Covid pandemic has increased the segment of travel known as “Glamping”. Millennials, families, and group travelers alike have taken to short term rentals in the outdoors in an effort to get out of the overly crowded, overly expensive, and tight density of city/suburban areas
on top of a new corporate development that now allows many people to “work from home”. The one thing we know of the millennial generation and further younger generations beneath them is that the sacrifice of comfort and connectivity (internet, phones, computers, etc.) is a hard request.
In the short term rental residential real estate market, Airbnb was first, VRBO came into the market pertaining to slightly higher end houses / markets, and newer high end niche platforms like Avantstay have taken to the highest end of the STR consumers market in the hottest locations.
Sol & Santosha has designed its hospitality focus with respect to all of the above and taken a similar approach in the largest growing STR niche that is glamping and longevity. Camping destinations of the world and camping rental platforms like Hipcamp have begun to be taken over by the newer glamping organizations and properties like Autocamp, where people can experience the outdoors, still have access to communal amenities for relaxation like hot tubs, pools, indoor facilities and more and not sacrifice their comfort nor connectivity.
Their market focus in the luxury outdoors, including state parks, national parks, and county owned land oftentimes host some of the most breathtaking destinations to unplug in; right in our backyards. With an increase in mental health in today’s world, we are two founders that have always found an improvement in mental clarity with travel to nature, open spaces, and relaxation and we want to provide travelers with an opportunity to experience the outdoors, kick their feet up to relax and also experience those unique outlets in a unique and eclectic way: tiny homes.
Sol & Santosha aims to be the highest end of the glamping market, featuring a unit that is second to none in tiny homes. Experience a unit that has the luxury of a million dollar home in the tight warmth of a small tiny home space. Roof top decks, enclosed bed rooms, full amenity kitchens and living room spaces are just a small piece of what these unique high end luxury units provide. Communal amenities of pools, game rooms, huge communal grill areas are all something the best hospitality
properties hold.
As if attacking the largest growing short term rental market segment (glamping) and deploying the highest end luxury unit to each property (tiny homes), Sol & Santosha takes one final leap that makes their presence exceptional. S&S founder AJ Martinez, a creative executive producer owns DayTrip productions, an organization that brings concepts to reality in producing commercial content for some of the largest brands in the world: Nike, Patagonia, Lululemon, Jordan and more. His world centers around the audience, the emotion and the experience that these brands want to evoke with their viewers. For that reason, Sol & Santosha has not only built their design off the hospitality and short term rental thesis, but activelydesigns the highest end of commercially shot experiential events and retreats, wherein they bring in top tier chefs, facilitators (fitness professionals, yoga instructors, etc), and a full production team to host unique experiential retreats that allow people to find community, exploration and a personal growth amidst the busy lives they live.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
AJ Martinez owns Daytrip Productions, a creative production agency that he runs day in and day out, but Sol & Santosha is his passion. Martinez has always loved the world of bringing other people’s creative concepts, dreams and visions to life and for a decade has been helping global brands such as Nike, Netflix, Lululemon, and beyond to tell their brand stories. Martinez is known for the true execution of these brand’s image, helping them curate or define their creative and producing everything related to live action production through finished product edit and beyond. Understanding this process has allowed me to be more equipped to write my own script, tell my own story, and ultimately start my own company, Sol & Santosha! It’s my time now to tell my story and put it on the big screen!
Co-Founder Luke DeNuccio began his executive foundation in the software industry, building and expanding high performance sales teams and leading his first firm through an acquisition in 2018. After consulting for top firms like IBM, Deloitte, PwC, Accenture, Capgemini, Optum and others, DeNuccio started Luca Ventures, a consulting firm focused on the infrastructure build out and speed of growth for businesses of all kinds. Since 2019, DeNuccio has been an executive equity partner for 5 businesses, successfully exiting two of them including his most recent sale of GVB Biopharma in 2022 to publicly listed 22nd Century Group (Nasdaq: XXII).
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Down this journey, most of the trials and tribulations we have faced have come from a changing landscape of regulations and required permitting for short term rental properties. From government license requirements to market fluctuations, oversaturation of the STR market has changed the landscape of permitting and rental restrictions. For example, in California you can no longer short term rent a unit that is not foundationally built and permitted (ie. no non permanent units) unless you obtain a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). While we have been through the ringer, we are happy to say we are one of only 10 properties in Joshua Tree, CA that has secured a Conditional Use Permit, allowing us to offer non permanent rentalable units like TinyHomes. We have thankfully put together a team and advisory board of county officials, lifetime real estate agents and the like to allow for efficient growth as we begin opening our next two property locations: Sieverville, TN & Sonoma County, CA!
How’d you meet your business partner?
Luke and AJ met in college at Colorado Boulder when AJ was visiting from UCSB, both living the classic college lifestyle. They quickly became close friends after years of gatherings and adventures, eventually finding themselves in Los Angeles, where they lived together for nearly four years before COVID hit. After the pandemic, they went their separate ways but reconnected in San Diego, living together for a few more years.
While balancing friendship and business had led to challenges in their previous ventures, their strong relationship, built on open line of communication and shared goals, ultimately set the foundation for Sol & Santosha. As joint founders and longtime friends, they’ve found immense joy in working together, knowing they can rely on one another at every level of business. This trust has made their partnership more resilient, strengthening their business through both good times and tough challenges.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.solandsantosha.com
- Instagram: @solandsantosha
Image Credits
Sol & Santosha LLC