We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Ruber. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.
Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I believe that a lot of what it take to be successful is believing in yourself and your mission. It’s surprising how many people will doubt you, your ideas, and plant thoughts of failure. It’s easy not to try and to give into the fear. There will be times, especially the times when money gets involved, where you really start to sweat. My advice is to re-find that drive, that belief and focus on that.
Michelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My business is hospitality, specifically larger vacation rentals. How I got into this business really stemmed from two things. I was working for another company where I had to travel lots and we often would look for vacation rentals as opposed to hotels so that we could have kitchens, living rooms, laundry etc. At that same time I was planning my wedding in Portland, Oregon and realized we didn’t have any larger vacation rentals in town. We wanted our out of town friends and family to all stay together. So the seed was planted to create this business.
My husband and I were already in the design and build business of houses. So we had the experience needed to remodel the locations we found. We purchased houses in commercial zones, that were falling down, really pretty gross places and then put in the hard work of rehabbing them. I am proud of having the vision with the houses and not listening to all of the people who thought we were nuts. Lots of sweat equity, long exhausting days, but also such a fun and amazing process of seeing the changes in our hard work at the end of each day.
After 10 + years of running them we are now super proud of our giving back mission. We host monthly refugee dinners where a local refugee family cooks a meal from their country of origin. We invite 30+ people to the meal, which we host at one of our rentals. We all eat together and the family shares their story. It is a way for the refugee family to meet locals, feel seen, feel proud. All of the money we raise that evening goes directly to the family. These evenings are beautiful heart warming and successful on so many levels.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Of course Covid was a time when the world had to pivot and so did we. We ran our business as a hotel, so nightly bookings. Then the world stopped traveling, and we had no idea what to do. We listed our spaces as monthly furnished rentals, hoping maybe someone would need it. We were surprised when almost immediately they were booked. We hadn’t thought about how many people who were in transition when covid hit, how they would still need longer term housing.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I am often surprised at how important the face to face contact makes a huge difference. Our guests love meeting us and hearing the stories of our bicycle themed rentals (My husband and I met bicycle touring). When we meet our guests, they always take the time to leave reviews. That interaction, face to face, makes such a connection and difference.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.shiftvacationrentals.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiftvacationrentals/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShiftVacationRentals/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-ruber-17b44927/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@michelleruber7493
Image Credits
SARAH ARNOFF YEOMAN