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Unlocked by Matt Landau


Jan 8, 2020

This is probably the most unexpected podcast we've ever published. It features a couple, Emily and Jesse Cole, who epitomize a lot of vacation rental hosts using Airbnb to build a real estate portfolio. But that's the end of where the Cole's are normal. They also own a baseball team. Where the *MALE* cheerleaders dance on dugouts, kids find signed baseballs hidden like easter eggs, and tickets ($18) include food and drink. The stadium is sold out far into the future. It is one of the most outrageous sports entertainment and hospitality stories you will ever hear. Just so you have an idea, Jesse wears a full yellow tuxedo. All the time. 

I wanted to change it up a bit this season. I didn’t just want to interview one kind of vacation rental stakeholder: that’s why we’ve got managers, owners, vendors, thought-leaders...etc. But I also thought it would be cool to feature a kind of vacation rental professional that is less noticeable by the VRM-industry yet arguably more impactful on the global markets: that is Lifestylists who use sites like Airbnb to make a real living. And perhaps unsurprisingly, their aspirational storylines are equally if not more zany and unexpected than the ones we’ve featured thus far. Jesse and Emily Cole are husband and wife, they’re co-owners of a few vacation rentals on Tybee Island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, and they’re also co-owners of a baseball team called the Savannah Bananas.

For the Coles, the industry that we know as vacation rentals are merely one pillar in their crazy, happy and fun-filled life. Our interview in their home has a bit of sound trouble but the stories and the ideas will keep you glued to the airpod or speaker or whatever.

If you want to innovate like Jesse and Emily, consider a demo with our friends at PointCentral (free HVAC Analytics included from this landing page): https://www.pointcentral.com/vrmb/

Here are some links and people mentioned in the episode:

The Savannah Bananas: https://thesavannahbananas.com

Little Tybee Island: https://visittybee.com

Jesse and Emily's vacation rental properties:

https://airbnb.com/h/bluebanana

https://airbnb.com/h/breezybanana