Hosting With Heart

Sydneysider and Mum to four boys, Simone Mathews can only be described as a design, renovating and entrepreneurial dynamo.

Before her foray into interior design, property ownership and accommodation management, Simone travelled widely and spent time working in the real estate and corporate sectors, including a senior role with Danish firm Velux Skylights, Windows and Blinds. On the side, she was building & renovating properties for both herself and clients.

A conventional career path was however not to be and, with her builder husband Ben and family in tow, in late 2015 Simone took the plunge and purchased a classic Australian farmhouse in the seaside village of Gerringong, about 1 hr south of Sydney.

Over the course of the next year, the house was painstakingly renovated and her first wildly successful accommodation venture, Soul of Gerringong, was born.

This also led way to Simone's now thriving interior design and education consultancy for holiday property owners (or 'HPO's' as she affectionately calls them), Soul Home, being established.

As I'm sure you'll agree, this is a woman who has a mountain of experience and expertise to share.

 About 5 years ago, partners in life and business Adrian Hua and Charles Holland gave up their corporate jobs and city lives in Singapore to explore the prospect of living and working in regional Australia.

When they chanced upon the then for sale Dudley Hotel in Victoria's Hepburn Springs back in April 2017, they immediately fell in love with the house and soon after, found themselves packing their bags and settling down in the vibrant Daylesford region.

Almost a year ago, having identified that the original house no longer suited their growing businesses needs, they made the brave decision to purchase a new property and relocate the hotel. What ensued was a meticulous , months-long renovation and design process, leading them to re-open The Dudley's doors in a brand new location earlier this year.

Then, without a lot of warning, along came Covid-19 and this dynamic duo made the conscious decision to shut up shop temporarily, only weeks after reopening.

So where to now for The Dudley? Jen discusses this, and much more, in this value-packed episode with two of the industries most knowledgeable professionals.

With a background in tax and accounting, native Tasmanian Sam Lyndon decided to join her husband Michael's building company, Elysium Builders, in the role of Business Manager a few years back, furthering her love of all things property related.

What followed was the establishment of her first short-term rental property, Boho Cottage in White Beach in Tasmania's south, followed by Sarah's Cottage in the seaside hamlet of Stieglitz in Eastern Tasmania.

Having become hooked on the challenges and joys that property hosting brings, Sam has decided to take the plunge into full time short-term rental management, and plans to extend her stable to 55 properties within the next 12 months, under the umbrella of her new business name 'Storied Homes'.

She is currently in the throes of establishing a new website and fine tuning her marketing and acquisition strategy to achieve this ambitious goal in the wake of Covid-19 later this year.

In this episode, she discusses all of this and more with Jen.

In this episode, Jen interviews Canberra-based STR host Belinda Neame following the loss of her permanent job and the decision to close her short-term rental property down temporarily in the wake of COVID-19.

Belinda discusses everything from managing her mental health on a day by day basis to cultivating a sense of hope and optimism by making the most of forced downtime and planning for the future.

In this episode, Jen discusses the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on her short-term accommodation business, as well as discussing strategies for moving forward and staying positive about the future of the short-term rental industry.

Emily Osmond is a marketing educator who through her online program, The Modern Marketing Collective, curated events, and her podcast “The Emily Osmond Show”, helps women to market themselves easily and authentically online and make more money doing the work they love.

Emily has a Master of Communications, with a thesis on social media, and after growing up England, then moving to regional Victoria, she is now based in inner northern Melbourne.

In this value-packed episode, Emily discusses how to get the most out of the ever-changing platform that is proving an absolutely essential tool for marketing any short-term rental property or business today.

Annie Brereton and her jack-of-all-trades husband Shane run Salvage Merchants, an innovative business based in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs offering a comprehensive renovation and styling service to hosts, accommodation managers and property owners alike, working predominantly with salvaged materials.

In 2019, Annie and Shane purchased an historic church in the small hamlet of Lexton, in Victoria's western district, and have just spent several months transforming it into their first incredibly iconic Airbnb property, 'Grayling's Gift'.

In this first episode of season 2, host Jen Clark welcomes everyone back by discussing all of the recent happenings in her own short-term rental business, Clark-Will Short Stays, as well as unveiling a new business name and some other big wins.

She then presents her top 10 tips for securing those coveted but often elusive (particularly for those of us in regional areas!) mid-week bookings, with the aim of increasing both your occupancy rate and revenue.

In this final episode of season 1, host Jen Clark is once again interviewed by her partner Kirstie Innes-Will about her reflections on the first seven episodes of Hosting With Heart, recent happenings and (rather ambitious) plans for 2020 and beyond for Clark-Will Short Stays, Jen's own short-term accommodation business, and a taste of what's in store for podcast subscribers in season 2. A LOT to look forward to!

Narelle McKay relocated from Black Rock, in south-eastern Melbourne to the Macedon Ranges in the mid 2010's. Along with operating a small marketing, promotions and advertising business from home, a couple of years ago she commenced supplementing her income by working as a contract residential housekeeper.

In more recent times, she's turned her attention to short-term rental housekeeping and has since amassed a wealth of experience and insight into what factors really contribute to achieving and maintaining both 5 star guest reviews and, by implication, the coveted superhost status.

She currently works as 'head housekeeper' for Jen's short term accommodation business, Clark-Will Short Stays, and in this relaxed yet frank discussion, reflects on the do's and don'ts of truly exceptional housekeeping.