We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amber Mcclain Shaw a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amber, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

I don’t take many vacations, at least not during the traditional times most people vacation. My business is hosting and managing a premium vacation rental, so my job is to ensure our guests have a great vacation.

Over time, I’ve learned to enjoy shorter trips during the off-season, getting the most relaxation out of a shorter time away. When I do visit a hotel or another vacation rental, I am always on the look-out for great amenities I can add to my business.

My husband and I run this business together. It’s a bit like running a small hotel. We do everything a whole staff of people do in a hotel: repair, maintenance, remodeling, customer interaction, bookings and website hosting, scheduling and supervising a cleaning crew, making sure our amenities match what is in demand, that our laundry is clean, and the house stocked with everything from toilet paper to sharp knives. We regularly update furniture, artwork, board games, wineglasses, mattresses, linens and landscaping. I recommend restaurants or in-home catering for special events.

We feel we add a more personal touch than a management company would. We’ve had guests send us photos and even share that there was an engagement on our deck. I love the flexibility and variety in this job, and I love hearing praise from our guests who have had a memorable vacation with family and friends.

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.

I did not set out to run a vacation rental business. Economic circumstances led us into the market, and it’s become an important part of our family business for many years. Running this business is flexible so I can pursue my creative endeavors of writing, photography, art-making, and cooking.

We learned this business over time, starting out when hosting platforms were new and there were few local regulations. We use the property ourselves for family events, so we know what our guests need and want. We carefully schedule maintenance and remodeling around our bookings, constantly improving the property and ensuring it looks great while serving the needs of our guests.

Over time, we have honed in on our ideal guests and how to market to them. We specialize in providing a perfect place for multi-generation family vacations. We like our guests to be able to imagine that this is their house for the time they are here. This means we keep signage and personal items to a minimum, allowing the house and its surroundings to shine. We’ve made our check-in and check-out procedures very simple and easy for guests, and put systems in place so the house runs well without interrupting our guests’ vacations.

When not working on this business, I spend time writing and creating. I’ve published two books of stories about raising three boys, and I’m working on a novel.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Owning our own business has meant lots of pivots. Some have been driven by economic forces, Covid, and changing local regulations. As vacation rentals have become more widespread in our area, more and more rules, licenses and taxes have been put in place. It’s one of the hardest things about the business (along with a few cranky neighbors).

Some pivots have been caused by our family’s changing needs. When my sons were in middle and high school, we rented the house to college students during the school year, and short-term vacation rentals during the summer. My sons got very good at helping us move. We transitioned from college rental to vacation rental over a weekend, moving an entire household into the empty house: beds, furniture, dishes, silverware, art, rugs, TVs, linens and towels, kitchen appliances, lamps, everything. And then, just before the school year started, we moved it all back out again so the college kids could move back in.

Once my sons were older and we wanted to use the house occasionally for ourselves, we made the leap to all-year short-term vacation rentals. During Covid, we made another pivot. Forced to cancel and refund months of bookings, we moved in to the house with two of our sons who were suddenly home from college. We enjoyed spending more time at the house, so much so that we’ve pivoted again to blocking out more time at the house for ourselves. It’s nice to know that we can be flexible and pivot again when we need to.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

In this business, the best way to stand out and grow clientele is to have something unique about your property, get consistent five-star reviews, and have a professional process for client interactions and maintenance.

I leave flowers with a note of appreciation for returning guests. We respond to any guest concerns or problems as soon as possible.

I do my best to pay attention to every detail when I check the house before the next guest arrives. I check everything. I make sure the inside of the refrigerator is clean and that the silverware is organized in the drawer.

Even a single hair in a sink can mean a review complaining about cleanliness.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vrbo.com/248331 www.ambershawauthor.com

Image Credits

All photographs by Amber McClain Shaw