How A Management Company Can Help Grow Your Business

Okay. Welcome to the Boostly Podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the trainings, and most importantly, the confidence on how you can go out there and get more direct bookings. Today we're going to be talking about the Smokies in the usa. We're going to be talking about what to do when considering investing, owning cabins and generally short term rental. So certainly one, if you're one of our American listeners and just if you're based anywhere else in the world, there'll be tips and tricks on what you can do as a short term rental host. So this is the behind the Host podcast and today we're going behind the Host with Leslie Ann Morris. Leslie Ann Morris owns a portfolio of companies and today we're talking about Josh's Cabin, which is the kind of management and short term rental side of a business she is in. Hospitable Hosts. And for those of you who don't know what Hospitable Host is, go to Amazon, punch in Hospitable Hosts two and you can purchase the book which was released within the last 24 hours. And it's a major shout out to one of Team Boostly members, which is Jody Sterling. So as I record this, we're actually going live on Facebook. If you're listening to this on the podcast, the book will have been out for a little while by the time you hear this. But do go and check it out. It's got stories from amazing hosts all over the world and we're going to be talking about that today. So welcome along. Leslie, thank you for being here.

Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

So first question is, would you mind giving yourself an introduction to yourself, your companies and anything else you'd like to share?

Sure. Well, I'm here, based in Tennessee. I'm in Nashville today in my black and white condo. But yeah, I am the owner and founder of Josh's Cabins. It's a company located in eastern Tennessee, all in the Smoky Mountains, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg. I also own Invest in the Smoky Mountains, which is property acquisition. We can help you buy or sell a cabin and then we can manage it for you. That's the businesses. But it just all grew out of my own portfolio. I was buying cabins when I was working in commercial banking. I was living in Los Angeles and I just kind of was over the grind and so I thought, what else is out there? What more can I do? And there's a lot more to the story. You know, I had clients in banking that had done something similar that kind of coached and mentored me. And I got to a point where I felt financially ready to start buying real estate. So I built this portfolio, I think it was when I got to five cabins all in the Smoky Mountains and it was just going gangbusters and it was really demanding of my time. And so I said, what can I do here? I want to, you know, I don't really want to hire a property management company. I love hosting. I want to stay involved in this. So what does that look like for me? And out of that thought, all of these companies were built amazing.

And you know, there's something which we see time and time again that people kind of fall into hospitality. But you mentioned something there which is quite interesting and for people listening that that will resonate with them, which is I didn't want to hire a property management company. What was the reason behind that and why did you go, do you know what, I'm going to do it myself instead? Because as you mentioned there, you've got, or we mentioned just before we went live, you've got 11 units and you're looking after 17 doors overall. What was it that attracted you to the management side of things and why, why do it yourself?

Well, I'm like, I'm writing a book on passive investing and short term rentals. So I'm really a big proponent of do not self manage because it's so much work and you might end up creating a company to just disclaimer. But I felt like I heard so many bad things about the property management industry, so many bad things about local companies that they, you know, they don't understand real estate ownership, they don't understand investor mindset. They're literally just trying to get bodies in beds and you lose that connection with the guest. That's first and foremost the biggest thing, you know, other thing is that they had their pricing structure in a way that really just took a lot out of your pocket. And honestly it's because they're being compensated, I think fairly for the work they're doing, which is really hard work. But so what I wanted to do was I wanted to create a company that kind of addressed all of the negatives that I was seeing and was a company people would want to do business with. So we have our pricing really streamlined, easy to understand, we don't nickel and dime owners. And then on the guest side, same thing, we don't charge a million and one booking fees and we try to be really fair and communicate quickly like any of the Lack I saw in other companies, I make sure ours doesn't have that. So that's kind of, you know, where I, where I was at with that.

And what did you find was the difference between the ones that you own directly versus the ones that you manage? Particularly there's going to be people out there considering starting a management company or doing it themselves. What was some of the challenges, I guess when it came down to and the difference in perception between owning and managing.

There's a big difference. So we, you know, our marketing is that we are going to manage your cabin like we own it and we do, but it, but it is hard when it's not yours. You can't just quickly make changes. You can't, you know, say, oh, we hate this couch, you need to throw it away and get a new couch or whatever because it's not our cabin. So that's one of the big things. There's a lot. It's a litigious business. I will say that it's a new company. You know, I own 11 and so there's only six that I don't own. We just started this honestly and are scaling, scaling rapidly, but being picky about who we partner with. For one, I don't want to work with somebody that owns a cabin who doesn't want to make it an awesome experience for the guest. For example, if there's something in there, you know, like, I don't know, it could be anything. Like, I had a, I have a cabin and they fixed this, but I have a cabin I managed that had one of those windows that kind of lost its seal and it's real foggy and it's blocking the view out the window and it's like an expensive window. So if they weren't willing to fix that, that would just be like as soon as the guest walks into the property, they're like, what the heck? Like this seems like it would be such an easy thing for them to fix where I would jump in. If it were my cabin, I'd fix it right away. You might not have that control over other people's properties. In that case, we did fix it as fast as we could.

But you know, I'm so glad you've mentioned that because it is not necessarily about the number. It's about the people who really want to have hospitality at the heart of what we do. Short term rental and at the end of the day, that's what gives us reviews, that's what gives us repeat bookings, that's what gives us the income and Gives the owners the income. So by working with the ones who are more interested in, in producing that result, you, you know, it makes everyone's lives so much easier, doesn't it? Which is cool. So one of the things we mentioned before we went live was that you've got an awesome website. Normally we don't read out the, the website straight away, but your website, which is leslie and morris.com, is that correct?

Yes, yes.

And so, yeah, for anybody listening, if you want to see an example of a very good website which isn't towards you, the guests, this is more towards, you know, you as an individual and your portfolio of companies. But the great thing is about lesley and morris.com is it really shows what you do and, and is a great sort of business card overall. And for anybody listening who goes, well, I want to become the expert in a particular area or niche or, you know, sort of thing. Then, then please go and check out her website for inspiration for, you know, on what you could do and how you can market yourself as being the, what I'd call the key person of influence within a local market. Can you talk us through then how it's structured? You said you've got a bunch of companies, so you've got. Josh's Cabin is the management company, is that correct?

Yeah, there's a bunch of little companies. You want me to go through all.

Of them or just the ones which you want to share today about?

Okay.

Particularly the, the investment.

Avon Company. No, I'm just kidding.

There'll be people listening who go, do you know what? I'd love to invest in the Smokies. I just don't know how. So feel free to take us through, through how it works.

Sure. Yeah, I, well, I got legally licensed and insured, probably been a couple of years now as a, as a real estate agent. So in the state of Tennessee, you have to have a real estate agent license in order to get the vacation lodging license. So it's a whole like series of licenses. So I had done that first. So then I was able to add another income stream by doing my own deals. So when I buy a cabin, I am the agent on the deal. Now today, fast forward. I've created Invest in the Smoky Mountains. So Invest in the smoky mountains.com if you're interested. That one is for property acquisition. It's for buyers. You know, we'll take listings as well and sell cabins, but primarily we're focused on buyers. We do a lot of coaching. Personally, I have my own coaching business that's separate from that Where I'm doing short term rental coaching, coaching on, you know, where to buy, what to buy and, you know, all the knowledge that I've gained as an investor over the years. I also had a long career in commercial real estate lending. So I know the lending like the back of my hand. That's the most important thing when you're getting into the deal. So that business grew out of really a demand from like my friends and family that wanted to kind of copy me and buy a cabin. And then there's Josh's Cabins, which is the property management arm for those companies. So it's kind of all together, it's all me, but with separate team members.

That's cool, that's cool. And you know what, it's nice to speak somebody who's, you know, got this separated out as you go. Well, this is what this business is for. This is what this is for. And it's something which when I came into this I didn't know. I mean I was a retail manager. I fell into short term rental, as many of us do. And, and it's one of the things where I didn't realize it's important to actually have different businesses or different business structures depending on what that company does. So we've got ones where we lease properties, we do rental arbitrage, but then we've got a company which manages and that takes care of the day to day operations. And when you get into this business, you start to realize that if you've got the right structure of your company, which is very dedicated to doing one thing, like you say, Josh's Cabins is the management company, you've got your acquisitions company. It just makes things so much easier and more tax efficient in many cases, doesn't it?

Yeah.

One of the things that I want to come on to is more kind of the operations. And because people listening are going to be involved in short term rentals themselves, they're going to be interested in how you do some of the operations. But before we do, I'd love to ask a little bit more background around yourself, which is what was it about? Why, why the Smokies? I mean there's many places obviously why the Smokies? Why is it that you wanted to look at the Smokies is the place that you're forming your business around? And then two, is there anything else? Transferable skills? You mentioned the real estate and you've always been around this. What transferable skills would you say was most important to being successful in short term rentals?

Well, it's in the book, you have to get Hospitable Host, Volume two.

I like that it is in the.

Book, though I won't reveal it all so that you'll have a fun chance reading it. But no, I was so I was in commercial real estate lending and that really did lend itself to the beginning of this. But also I was a world traveler. I traveled to 45 countries within 15 years and I stayed in a lot of cabins. I'm from very rural California, Northern California, north of San Francisco. Back, you know where you think you're in Oregon, but you're not quite. That's where I'm from. There's a lot of cabins there. You know, I just grew up with this love and affinity for cabins. And honestly, I was turned onto the Smoky Mountains based on the high occupancy that we enjoy. You know, I had my first year in, it was like 88% occupancy. And everybody was like, no, no, no, that's too high. You're gonna figure out why when you're replacing flooring. So that turned me on to it. Just the avatar for the type of traveler that we get booking the cabins I really love. I've tested a couple of other markets, didn't enjoy those markets as much. And so I just kind of went all in. In the Smoky Mountains. That's in a nutshell.

No, no, it's cool. That's cool. And it's important to pick a market which has got high occupancy ultimately. And having that experience of cabins growing up as well is, is so important, isn't it? That's interesting that you mentioned about the high occupancy flooring. What is, what happens then? So if you've got too higher occupancy, you're needing to replace the. I guess it's wooden, wooden cabin flooring, isn't it? So.

Well, that example. My, my. Yeah, a lot of my cabins don't have like actual flooring. Some of them do because they look like cabins, but they aren't like true log cabins. They have like wood siding and then, you know, some have like actual flooring. But no. So I, I spoke on this in Miami at a short term rental conference just recently. And the whole discussion is around that equation, that formula, if you will, on your occupancy versus your adr. So you know, you can have a really high occupancy and a little bit lower adr, so you're making less money, but your people are in there all the time. Or you can have a lower occupancy and a higher ADR average daily rate for those of you that aren't aware and see how that juxtaposition changes where that like gray area is the amount of work you may or may not have to be putting back in based on that additional wear and tear. So you're making the same amount of money essentially, or maybe even a little bit more money by having that lower occupancy or the higher occupancy. You guess it depends on your situation. But if you're able to reduce the occupancy and raise the rate, why wouldn't you do that? You're going to make the same amount of money but have people in there less, less amounts of time and you know, it just is less, less usage of the items within the property and the property itself. That's essentially the discussion. So what is that equation? How do you find it? How do you balance it? That's like the million dollar question.

Quick break from the podcast to let you know that the two boostly books that we brought out, the book Direct Playbook and the book Direct Blueprint, are two of the top rated and the best selling in the hospitality category on Amazon for just two pounds. You can grab both of those books right now. The foundations and the structures that you need to put in place is in the blueprint. And then for 101 marketing tactics, that is in the Playbook. So go and grab a copy on Amazon now just type in Book Direct Playbook or the book Direct Blueprint and we'll see you on the other side.

You know, I really like that. And bringing people's attention to that formula again, there's going to be lots of people who are just getting started in short term rentals who may not be thinking they might just be looking at occupancy because everyone goes, hey, what's your occupancy rate? Oh, mine's 90%, mine's 100. And I'm like, well, you're too cheap then. You need to, you need to be increasing your rate because ultimately that the amount of work, the amount of wear and tear, all that stuff you just mentioned is just so important to consider. And ultimately I see it a lot at the moment. I mean, as we record this, we're recording this in the middle of March, there's a lot of competition, there's a lot of some saturation in some markets where a lot of people are just lowering their price, just lowering, lowering it, lowering it. And I'm just thinking at what stage do you get where, yes, your occupancy might still be 80%, but, you know, ultimately, are you still making money? And when you come to replace those carpets, those sofas, those tables, you know, like, it's got to pay for that stuff as well. So, so important to keep your average daily rate so high. So I feel we've got to know sort of a bit about yourself and the way your company is structured. Let's talk more about Josh's cabinet and some of the tools and tech that you use within there. What would you say has been the most useful tools and tech that you've used within that management company, which has really helped to generate the success beyond Pricing High Beyond.

They are amazing. I did not learn that. I mean, I basically am the type of person and some of you be like, oh, you're crazy person, or oh, I resonate with you, but I'm the type of person that will make a decision and then just like dive in head first. So I made the decision to buy the cabin and I was like, I'm just gonna throw it on Airbnb and if it makes its mortgage cool. That was like, even though I was doing commercial real estate, underwriting, cap rate, all the things in this, in this setting, I was like, ah, you know, I can afford the mortgage out of my. Out of my own paycheck. Like, it's all good, whatever. I have the school cabin now. That quickly changed. Like within just a month or two months, I was like, oh, I only had it at 180 night every night of the week, and it's like fully booked for months. What. What am I doing wrong here? And I just started learning and researching and found them amazing tools. So that is a dynamic pricing. It is one of the dynamic pricing companies. I've met some of the CEOs of the other companies I like beyond because their customization is greater than other companies. Even though they do charge more. It's a more premium product. I make more money with them. I've done kind of a trial side by side, so that one is huge. So that is literally plugging into all your calendars, into your direct booking site, and it's giving you that nightly rate. And it's giving you customization where you can say, okay, if it's so many days before and it hasn't booked, drop the price by X percent. So you get rid of those manual actions around revenue management. And for a long time, I was able to have in house revenue management, just myself doing it. And now, you know, I have a team at Beyond. I've grown Large enough to have, you know, their lighthouse structure or whatever. And then the other big one was I was using iCal links, which I'm sure a lot of, a lot of your listeners use, which is just, you know, a really easy technology where you're spitting out, you know, the calendar link for VRBO and the calendar link for, for Airbnb and your cross sharing so that you don't get a double booking. But I have and I've had messes with that. It's not foolproof technology, it can get hiccups. So I went to a property management system a fully like, you know, bolt on, you can bolt on a ton of stuff to this one system. And I use owner Res & Ownerres is one of the more affordable options. But it is like self. I did hire an engineer from there to help me set it up because I kind of went live with like a ton of listings at once. But you can definitely learn and do it yourself. And that tool took over, got rid of ICAL completely and went to an API technology more familiar what I was with in the banking world in regards to payment files where you lose the idiot. It's. It's idiot proof basically. So you lose that and it's like just awesome technology. It also allows you to add, you know, if you're managing for others, you have like an owner portal and owner statements and it just really like frees you up and it automates emails to guests. It's literally everything in one software. So those I would say were like the two biggest ones that we did right.

Away. Amazing. And just to summarize, I mean for, for people listening that beyond pricing, which one of the best dynamic pricing tools out there, certainly people can go and check that out. You've got the ICAL link. So especially like you say, if you're getting started with short term rental, you're soon going to find that you want to be in a number of different places at any one time. So being able to put your calendars linked using the ICAL technology, easy to do. If you used to go on Airbnb now and type in iCal, that'll tell you all about how you can share the ICAL from one to another. And then of course most people then upgrade to property management systems such as Owner as yourself and ownerz is just amazing. There's lots of property management systems out there, but Owner as is one that's worked for yourself and has just allowed things to be streamlined and simple. So thank you for sharing those tech with us. What would you say Is the formula to getting good reviews? Why do people come and stay in your cabins and what is some of the things that you're doing to ensure a good.

Review? Guest experience, 5 star reviews all the way. I mean, I think it's kind of like a game now. Like most of the travelers, they know that you want a five star review. So some of them will try to leverage to get money back or whatever. Don't fall for that. Bad reviews can be buried quickly. But just make sure you address things in bad reviews. But yeah, 5 star reviews are really easy as long as the place is really clean and you communicate really well. Those are your two things up front, on the front end to get them to book. They're looking at your photos and they're looking at your reviews. So it's an emotional online shopping decision. I had a guest call me, literally left a voicemail and was like, can you mail some literature? We don't mail literature. Everything is on the Internet. You're booking off the Internet. We barely talk to guests. We have it really automated and streamlined. But in order to not talk on the phone to a guest, you have to communicate like that, like within minutes. In most cases we're responding back and that always comes out in the review. They always talk about how, you know, if they did have an issue. They always talk about, oh, we had something small happen. But by that point they're just like, they're flabbergasted with how quickly we respond, even if it's the middle of the night. So definitely, definitely the communication is probably the key. If it's dirty, that can really, really hurt you. You know, we've had some oversights too. Even there's human people cleaning these places, they're not going to be perfect. So somebody might get moving too quickly and miss something every now and then. But for the most part, like our reviews are talking about communication and how clean the place.

Is. I'm so glad you've, you've mentioned that. And you know also that like you say, there will be things that happen from time to time and often that's how a company responds to those things. Not, not that there's been something in the first place. Obviously in a perfect world, if we're all, all if we had robots cleaning the place and they never missed anything, obviously it'd be easier. But yeah, and those two, which again, that is the top things, isn't it? Cleaning and communication just so important. So again, thank you for the share. So let's talk about the book Hospitable Hosts too, which is for those on the Facebook Live has just been released in the last 24 hours. If you go to Amazon, put in hospital Hosts, then you'll find it. Or if you go to hospitablehosts.com it'll also be on there as well. How did it feel writing your own chapter in what is shortly about to be a best selling book? And what is your chapter about? Just a sneak, sneak.

Preview. Yeah, it felt amazing. Well, it was funny. The way I met Jody Sterling was from Madison Rifkin at Mount Check out Mount y'. All. This this young woman is doing amazing things to help you get more rental income from the property you already own. There's your teaser on Mount But I met her at vrma, which is in Vegas Vacation Rental Management Association Conference just back in October and was telling her about my book and she was like, you need to meet this woman. So me going into the call with Jody Sterling, I thought I was talking to Jodi about my book and she's like, oh, you have a book? And I was like, wait, you have a book? She's like, you need to be in the book. So that's kind of how that went down. But my chapter in the book is probably really different than everyone else's chapter. I rewound it all the way to like, I have this love for Monopoly. That's all I'll say. Read the book. And I have this love for cabins, which you've learned. And so I talk about those two things that led me down this path to becoming who I am right now in this moment. And I talk a lot about what it means for me on the hospitable host side and like, where am I headed? That's kind of the chapter. It's got a large theme around passive investing. Like why to be a passive investor. Unless you are so passionate about hospitality and you want to be either creating, you know, your own company like me and going full time in this, in this dream world, or you want to, you know, keep your old job, keep your quality of life, not be waking up to answer your phone at 2am a.m because a water alarm is going off. That's in the book. Check it out. Then you probably want to be a passive investor. And so I go into what that looks like a little bit more. It's kind of like I almost wrote this chapter in the book as like a pre, a prequel for like my book. But it's really, it's not just a plug for my book. It's really how it's my strategy, it's my process. It's how I'm like living in the short term rental world. It's, it's my like what am I trying to say? It's my mindset on it, on it all. It's that's in the.

Chapter. Well, I'm looking forward, I know there's, there's about 40, 44 hosts who are in there and I'm looking forward to reading free. I've bought the book is due to arrive Friday so I'm looking forward to reading through and finding out more.

About and get the first book. There is a volume one it's just hospitable hosts and there's 40 other. So the awesome thing is Jodi has created this collaborative community. So yeah, 84, 80, 84 of us, you know getting together to have a.

Strategy. There it is for those on YouTube or on Facebook, we've got the first book there which are. Mr. Mark Simpson is in both books. He's been greedy but he is in, in both books. So his for boost Lee there is a representation but definitely go and check it out at the end of the day I, I read this first one and I learned a lot from you know, other hosts and I'm looking forward to doing the same with this because there's such a little bite sized chunks that you can easily do before the, you know, once the kids are in bed. You don't need to be reading like War and Peace or anything like that. This really good bite size sort of information, isn't it? So what I'd love to know is is there any lessons that if you could go back to the start of your hospitality journey, what lesson would you share with yourself and what I guess preconceptions has changed over time that you, you thought hospitality or your, your business was going to be like compared to what it is.

Now? Oh gosh, that's so loaded. I mean everybody always asks me on the investing side and so obviously I wish I would have started sooner but you know, I started when I was ready. On the hospitality side, I guess I would rewind and ask myself more questions about where I'm heading with it. I don't think I ever really stopped to take a moment to check in and say are you sure you want to buy another cabin? Are you sure you want to, you know, because we get seven to eight guests per month per property so you're dealing with a lot of people and then you've got people constantly coming in, booking, asking questions. It's just a lot of volume and as you add more units, the volume increases. So I don't, I honestly don't know what I thought I was going to do. That's why I'm so passionate about the book I'm writing about being passive in it, because I was passionate about banking. It was, it was a sad day for me when I left banking. Like, I was excited to leave because I left, you know, a corporate job. Obviously, that was like pat on my back, you know, I did it, I left. But I resonated with that identity of who I was in banking and it was really hard to step out of that and become this, like, you know, now I'm in hospitable hosting and I'm in real estate and it was a hard thing to let go. So just, I would say, you know, maybe I should have thought that through a little bit more about what it meant to scale for me and maybe it was almost like, you know, I do a lot of coaching for women on women's empowerment. That's like a big. That's my big why. And I think, I don't know if that's in the book. I can't recall now, but that's on my website for sure. And, you know, I do a lot of coaching around imposter syndrome, around, you know, you don't. You think you're like, you set this goal, you're going to do it, you're going to achieve it, you're going to do amazing, great things, but deep in the back of your mind, you're like, I'm probably not going to do it. This is just like, fun and it's. I'm getting lucky and it's just like working out and no, I killed it. I'm doing amazing things. So embody that, live that spirit, if you will. So I wish I had just a little bit more of the fire that I have right now to really think about. Where was I.

Headed? If you're struggling on how to get direct bookings and overwhelmed on where to start, then I recommend you go and book in a call with Boostly and our team right now. We can walk you through exactly what we're offering, how we can help you and give you a portfolio of websites that we have worked with that are matching not only your niche, but could be in your location as well. Boostly has helped over 2000 hospitality businesses all over the world increase their direct bookings. And if you are interested, then all you need to do is go to Boostly. B O O S t l y.co.uk call and booking an appointment with one of our sales.

Team. I love that. And it is true, isn't it, that you don't think you can do it until you start doing it and you see evidence and you go, oh, I can, I can actually do what is you're looking to achieve, which is amazing. Further reinforces it and you just go, why didn't I think like this earlier at the start? Which is, is amazing. So towards the end of these, we love to do a couple of quick fire fun questions. Just before we do that, I'd love to know what can we expect from the future? Obviously you've got your book coming out, you're inhospitable host to. What does the business look like, say in a year's.

Time? Yeah, well, we're really picky as, as far as Josh's cabins go and, and my own investing strategy. You know, things are tight right now on the investing side with rates and, and, and prices of things. So I'm like doing my underwriting to the penny. So we're, we're not slowing down intentionally but we're just being careful about our next step. And then on the Josh's Cabin side, we are marketing heavily to get more units in, but we are picky. We probably turn away three a week that we don't want to manage and it could be a vast number of reasons why, but we are, I'm looking to partner with owners that are similar mindset to me, that aren't just there to make a dollar, that really believe in the hospitable host movement and what we're doing and, and are becoming members of the family we've created, which is Josh's Cabin. So we want to make sure it's on brand. So, you know, I mean, I had these numbers for how many units I wanted to add and where I wanted to scale to and how quickly, but I kind of threw all that out just recently and said I'm going to be very picky, I'm going to be very intentional and I'm going to slowly move forward to scaling this. It is a boutique property management company. I'm not trying to take over Vacasa. I'm really trying to do something unique and special that really attracts guests and in order to do that, you have to be picky with, with what you, with what you put in. So yeah, that's probably the future there. And then for my property acquisition side, invest in the Smoky Mountains, we are looking to partner with more buyers. I talk to buyers, I do coaching I write a blog for Bigger Pockets on the investing side. What to look for and you know, how to do get a lender. Well, how to talk lender and all the things. But I just recently hired an agent on that side because we are getting more busy and that's the same thing. We are looking to partner with buyers that get it, that want to do the right underwriting, that don't just make emotional decisions, but do let your emotions become involved so that you buy something you love. But that's kind of, that's kind of it. That's. It's an exciting.

Time. It sounds exciting. And thank you for sharing. And I know you mentioned you've got the blog on Bigger Pockets, so you know, well done. That's, that's amazing. And we were lucky enough to have Mark Simpson on, on, on the Bigger Pockets podcast recently and we're going to the conference as well. They're doing the conference every year. So you know, there's some exciting things to look forward to and I'm sure, you know, the amount of information that you're sharing and you know, the, the knowledge, the book and that side of things is, is massive and helping so many people. So, you know, thank you for, for sharing this. So in a moment we're going to share how people can follow you and get in touch and come find out more about services. Before we do, I just want to ask a couple of quick fire fun questions. So, uh, the first question I'd love to ask you is is there any books, podcasts or resources other than hospitable hosts too? Or Rich Dad, Poor Dad? Is there the two we always get mentioned? Or the Rich Dad, Poor dad we get mentioned. What resources would you say to somebody, hey, go and check this out. This really helped me on my journey. It could help you.

Too. Yeah, women. Read this. It's probably backwards.

Right? No, no, no, it's forwards. We, I've mirrored the screen so it's.

Forwards. Oh, good, good. Well, it's three Think and Grow Rich. So if you remember Napoleon Hill. But it's Think and Grow Rich for women. This is Sharon Lecter is the author. I just actually just met her. So this is my autographed copy. Amazing woman. She actually was in the beginning of Rich Dad, Poor dad, like the one that helped Robert Kiyosaki create it all. So she wrote this book, rewrote this book specifically for women. So that's just like good mindset knowledge. It's not going to talk about short term rentals. It's not going to get into like the nuts and bolts of what we're talking about today. But that's a great mindset. Book podcast side. You know, I'm really liking Sean Moore. He has Vodicea, the company Vodicey, where they're helping people get into investing in vacation rentals. But he has a great podcast. I was on his podcast a few months ago now to really talk about, like, women's empowerment and my movement that I have there. And I believe his is called Vacation Revolution. But if you just Google Sean Moore bodice, it's like Vod Odyssey. Yes. Why? Those would be my two recommendations right off. Right off the top of my.

Head. Awesome. I've just found it on there. Yeah. So Vacation Rental Revolution. Yes.

Yeah. It's like a mouthful of rocks.

Vacation. Yeah. All the hours. Thank you for. For that. Share one to check out one that I'll subscribe to. I'm not familiar with that one, so I'll give it a listen. Who would play you or who would you like to play you in a movie about your.

Life? Rachel Leigh.

Cook. Rachel Leigh Cook. There's someone I'm not familiar with. I'm just gonna.

From. She's all that. She's so.

Cute. Oh, yeah, I know who you.

Mean. She's really charismatic and really cute. Like, she's probably way shorter than me because I'm very.

Tall. Awesome.

Awesome. She's in all the Hallmark movies. I have this, like, love of Hallmark movies. Every Christmas I go nuts just a little bit. She would be.

Amazing. So she's one of your favorite actresses in what. What have you seen her.

In? She was in she's all that. She's like a very old movie where they like remodeled. I'm in real estate. They remodeled a nerdy girl and made her.

Life. Ah, I do know it. I remember it.

Now.

Yeah. Cool. I've just seen the. The. Yeah, I've seen it. Amazing. Amazing. And then lastly, what we always love one is, is there a mantra or saying that really resonates with.

You? You asked me that before the call and I said, can I say a cuss.

Word? You can indeed.

Yeah. And also, well, I was just like, this is a mantra, but when I say it, it'll give you an action to take. That's the way my brain works. So it's kick ass and get shit done. So it's a two.

Parter. Nice, Nice. And it's true, isn't it? You do need to literally, we can. We can talk about the stuff, but ultimately is you've literally got to go out there, kick us and then get shit done. At the end of the day, it's so take.

Action. You know, when I. When I can't cuss on a podcast, it's take.

Action. So, yeah, to be fair, it's funny because I always ask that question. People always go, is it all right to cuss on here? It's like, yes. The Bruce Lee podcast. Mark. Mark's terrible for it. So, yeah, we were.

Able. Yeah, I should have thought of.

That. Yeah. So thank you so much. How can we get in touch with you? Where can we find out more.

Information? Yeah, I'm really active on Instagram, so it's instagram.combackslash leslie.and.morris, or my website, as you already mentioned, which is leslieann morris.com and with an e. But from the Instagram, I do have a link tree which kind of links out to just everything that I'm doing. It's a bit of a mess right now, so you kind of have to, like, look at each thing. But yeah, just. I try to just share as much as I can. I heard this thing from a woman just recently, I think, where you think sometimes you want to hold your knowledge close to you because if other people get the knowledge or if other people copy you, that's going to be some detriment to your business. No, it's an abundant mindset. It's an abundant world. Share your ideas, share your knowledge, because in turn, you're going to learn something new from these other folks that you're sharing your knowledge with. Or it could open some sort of door for.

You. That's so true. And ultimately you just remind me of T Harv Eka, the Millionaire Mindset, which is, it is about abundance and to share knowledge. It is just so important. So thank you so much. All of these that we've just mentioned are going to be added to the show notes. So if you listen to this on the podcast, go and just check out the show notes. You'll be able to click the links and go through to Leslie's website and to her Instagram and then obviously onto our link tree. So thank you so much, Leslie, for sharing your story today on behind the Host on the Boostly podcast. Certainly the nuggets I've picked up from it is, you know, take action and just go out and do it. Make sure you've got a stellar page as well for marketing in general and promote, you know, sort of make sure you're promoting the things that you're doing within yourself and your business. And I'll go and check out hospitable hosts, too. You know, it's going to be amazing for, for reading the story. So thank you for, for sharing. Was there anything I missed or any last years before we bring it to a.

Close? No, this has been great. Thank you so.

Much. Thank you very much. So thank you, too. If you're listening to the Brucely podcast or watching on the live, we know there's a lot of places you can put your attention. And I really thank you for putting it with Boostly. That's it from us. We'll see you on the next one. Bye. Bye for now.