We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eva Slattery a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eva, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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.

I had been in the mortgage industry for 13 years and doing creative side hustles for 5 years. I made graphics for clothing with my cricut machine, I did themed photoshoots out of my garage, I sewed hundreds of custom face masks during covid, I made bolo ties. In 2019 I knew I was going to receive some inheritance from my grandparents so I started thinking about how I could utilize it to escape the corporate world. A friend and I talked about opening a clothing boutique, maybe there would also be a bar inside. But retail shops seemed to be on the decline so I icksnayed that plan. I was going to start a place called the Pre Game, a place that a group of girlfriends could go to and get glammed up and drink cocktails and take photos before a night out. I’m 38 and some of the best part of my 20s (and 30s) was getting ready to go out with my girlfriends. In the end, I decided that a rental property that could sleep a large group would be the best avenue. I also figured it would need a water source, lake, hot tub, pool, to really draw folks. I toured a few lake properties but the price tags were too high. Late Feb 2020, just before covid, I went to Nashville to check out the Dive Motel because I loved their set up. I was confident in the plan, I just needed a property. Then my sister suggested our late grandparents house which my uncle had been trying to sell for the last 2 years. That was it. I started renovating in Oct 2020, officially quit my mortgage job June 2021 and had my first renters that fall. Even though the house is an hour from the cities and there are no nearby businesses, I was confident that if I made it cool enough and could get the pool up and running that folks would come. It wouldn’t just be a place to sleep, it would be a place to play dress up with all sorts of unpredictable props and outfits.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I aim to provide a one stop shop for slumber parties and photoshoots. I provide lots of random stuff and spaces and then it’s like a choose your own adventure for the guests. I love seeing how people use the house. I have sourced almost everything in Grandpa’s Pool House from facebook marketplace and thrift stores. It’s like a never ending art project and I am always trying to improve the space. I am most proud that folks have traveled from all over the country (and Canada) to take photos and party at GPH.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Instagram has been my marketing MVP. From the start, I rented the house directly to the guest through my website rather than go through Airbnb. The reason being, I knew once folks started staying there they would share fun photos and that would get the word out. So I could avoid 3rd party fees by utilizing free guest marketing :) Also, it’s better to organically get folks who like what you’re doing through IG. When I first started I did a few 5 oclock news stories and I got so many angry folks in the comment section. Mad because the house wasn’t 70s enough or it was too sexy or I charged too much or they hate Stanchfield. It wasn’t discouraging though because I knew they weren’t my audience. I hear that tiktok is important too and my old ass is trying to catch up with that game. I do have a business page on Facebook but I post very minimal to there because that audience also tends to be older and get mored worked up about sexy content.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

My first introduction to making money with a creative side hustle was when I purchased a Cricut laser cutting machine. I recommend all small businesses own one. You can pick the machine up for $200 and make custom anything. So I gained confidence with selling custom shirts with that. And basically with all my side hustles, even though they aren’t the same as short term rental ownership, they gave me the confidence that I can create a design aesthetic that people want. In whatever the medium is, I want to create things that are unpredictable, kitschy, vintage, sexy, funny.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.grandpaspoolhouse.com/main
• Instagram: grandpaspoolhouse
• Facebook: Grandpa’s Pool House

Image Credits
@nylonsaddle @lemonpeelphoto