Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / From Psychology to STR Leader: Anna Morris on Hosting in Scotland

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From Psychology to STR Leader: Anna Morris on Hosting in Scotland · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

• 0:00
  Welcome to the House Planet Playbook, your go to guide for
• 0:03
  mastering short term rentals. In this special series, we're
• 0:06
  sitting down with 30 of the world's top property managers to
• 0:10
  uncover what really drives success in the vacation rental
• 0:13
  industry. You'll hear their stories, learn
• 0:16
  the key lessons they've picked up along the way, and discover
• 0:18
  the game changing tech they use to deliver five star guest
• 0:22
  experiences. If you're serious about growing
• 0:25
  your STR business, you're in the right place.
• 0:28
  We've also developed an ebook featuring the stories of every
• 0:32
  manager in this series and you can download it for free.
• 0:35
  Head to host Planet dot Club to find out more.
• 0:38
  In today's episode, we're chatting to Anna Calder Erkat
• 0:41
  Morris from Edinburgh in Scotland.
• 0:43
  Stand by for a deep dive into psychology, the challenges of
• 0:47
  dealing with draconian legislation, and how
• 0:50
  communication is key with both owners and guests.
• 0:59
  This special series is brought to you by Hostplanet and
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  trusted by hosts worldwide. With Hospitable, you can
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• 1:20
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  you time, reduce stress, and maximize your earnings.
• 1:33
  Anna, thank you for being part of the House Planet Playbook.
• 1:36
  Let's start with you. What's the name of your company,
• 1:39
  Where are you located, and how many rentals do you manage?
• 1:43
  Thank you. Thank you very much for having
• 1:44
  me. First of all.
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  So my company is called Adore Scotland and I do have the
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  Edinburgh dress as well. So there's two platforms.
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  We are located in Scotland and the Edinburgh dress, obviously
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  Edinburgh and Adore Scotland throughout the whole of Scotland
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  on the two platforms. We've got about 120 listings
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  between them so. So tell us, how long have you
• 2:11
  been going and how did you first get involved in short term
• 2:15
  rentals? Yeah, so I've been going a wee
• 2:18
  while pre Airbnb, which is strange in itself.
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  So it was about 2006 and I had a completely different career at
• 2:29
  that point in psychology. And I was sort of in between
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  jobs and a bit bored and wanting to do something different.
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  And we had a sort of family apartment in Edinburgh that I'd
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  stayed in, stayed in as a student and, and my, my mum and
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  myself had sort of refurbished it and we were going to let it
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  out long term. And then we thought I was just
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  sort of thinking, you know, there's maybe something I could
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  do here. I have a background as well in
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  hospitality. I've worked in hotels and
• 3:00
  tourism attractions as well. And I really like that side of
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  things, welcoming, welcoming guests.
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  Why don't we try run this as a kind of like we, you know, self
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  catering, I guess. And there were people doing that
• 3:12
  in Edinburgh at the time. It's always been a city that's
• 3:15
  had that, especially in the summer months.
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  So I thought, yeah, let's let's do it.
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  It's a beautiful apartment, really high spec, really nice.
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  We can get some guests, but no idea what I was doing not there
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  wasn't a lot of people doing it at that time.
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  There were some agencies and I thought I do want to do I want
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  to do online booking and so I built a website and plugged in
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  there was there was actually an off the shelf booking system at
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  that time. It was amazing.
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  It was called fella renters and it was brilliant.
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  Used that and then started to take bookings 2006, our first
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  set of guests were new Year. So that was a real learning
• 3:59
  curve and and then we just take to bookings.
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  The big, big OTA's didn't really exist in such a big way in those
• 4:08
  days. So it was about direct bookings,
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  although I did start to use some of them.
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  And then obviously industry change.
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  But yeah, it was a slightly different landscape then.
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  And yeah, it was great. And then what happened was got
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  started to look for other properties.
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  They thought I could maybe make a career at this, actually earn
• 4:32
  a living out of it. And another chap who had some
• 4:36
  properties in Edinburgh said would you like to manage my
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  apartment? So I did.
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  And then before we knew a developer who was developing 5
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  star apartments in Edinburgh, they were the first of their
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  kind. And by that time, I, I was
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  working with another lady, Anne Marie.
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  So there's the two of us and we sort of branded the business and
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  we decided our niche was going to be that higher end even at
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  that point and called herself the emergence and took on these
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  luxury apartments graded 5 star and just went for it.
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  And then we sort of grew the portfolio since then, but we've
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  always maintained quite I've because it's that higher end and
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  because also our brand values are very much about that
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  connection with our owners and about the connection with the
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  guests. We've remained a sort of
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  boutique kind of smallish agency, if that makes sense.
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  So yeah. Fantastic, what a journey.
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  Tell me, what are the transferable skills from your
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  psychology career to short term rentals?
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  Yeah, it's a really interesting question.
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  Well, it's actually there. There's a lot.
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  So there's leadership, peace, there's, you know, working with
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  teams, understanding teams, understanding people,
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  understanding the public, emotional intelligence.
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  It's really important. And I mean, it's been massive
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  and it's actually only recently sort of post COVID almost that
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  I've, I've started to reflect a bit on that and, and really
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  start to think what are the skills that I can bring in.
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  And although I know I've been using various skills throughout
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  the years, we have really thought how can we bring this a
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  bit more into our brands in terms of having it shine through
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  a bit more. Although our core values are
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  there. It's all about connection, the
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  human connection, hospitality. But I felt that actually we can
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  do a bit more with that and use it to very much be part of our
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  though it's, it's integral to our brand.
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  I want to sort of showcase it a bit more.
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  And I'm thinking a little bit more about how we can combine
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  that sort of emotional intelligence side with the
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  branding. And we're actually rebranding as
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  we speak a little bit. So that's still to come.
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  But but yeah, there's a lot of transferable skills there.
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  I really do believe. And and also it's not something
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  you tire of. I never really psychology is
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  it's so interesting. You know, you're always trying
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  to think well, why, you know, especially you're working with
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  your owners, for example, you're thinking, you have to understand
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  what it is they want, what's, what's the journey for them.
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  You know, every, every communication we have with an
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  owner or a guest will take you tailor it.
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  You're thinking about, you know, you're not just sending you, you
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  know, for us, it hasn't worked in the past when we've done
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  blanket communication, for example, doesn't work with our
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  owners, doesn't fly with them. You need to have that real
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  collaboration and they need to feel that you understand them
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  and you know, it's, it's so it's at that level really where
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  you're, you have that relationship and it's really
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  important and trust as well building a building.
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  And for the owners, obviously it's that you, you're going to
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  do what you say you do. So you're going to have good
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  guests, you're going to get them a good revenue, you're going to
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  look after their property, but you're also listening to them
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  and understanding what it is they want from their property.
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  So not all of our owners want high footfall, not of our, all
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  of our owners are looking for that.
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  So we we, you know, communicate with them and find out what it
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  is they want and what type of guests potentially just in terms
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  of are they wanting families? Are they wanting longer stays?
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  You know, it's, it's that kind of thing.
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  So it's yeah. Talk to us about scaling them
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  because interestingly, you started, like you said, before
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  Airbnb, before the OTAs. So how have you gone from just
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  that one family property to now more than 100?
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  So that's a really interesting question and I often think I'd
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  actually dwell on it quite a bit because I've deliberately not
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  scaled at the pace of some other people have.
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  I haven't wanted to know. That might seem strange, but for
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  me it's if we get the right properties, you know, we can
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  really make them work for the owner and for us.
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  So how we've scaled is we have we also act as like a guest in
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  mini OCA. We take bookings for other
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  people. So not all the properties on our
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  portfolio, we don't, you know, they're not just it's not just a
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  management piece or it's we, we will list properties on behalf
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  of other people. So that's how we've scaled and
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  we can do that. That also means going scaling
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  across Scotland for us as well. And we often look for properties
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  where the owners already do. You know, if it's, I mean,
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  Scotland's little, it's still got still places quite far away
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  from where I'm based, Edinburgh. So if you're talking about
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  islands, you know, we're not going to, we're not going to
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  manage the property there. We're not going to do any, you
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  know, organize any cleans or have a property manager
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  organizing cleans. And so it's about getting the
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  property so the owners know what sort of product and what their
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  guests are looking for and then we'll market it for them.
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  So that's how we've we've scaled there.
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  Talk to us about Edinburgh then, because we all know it for the
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  Edinburgh Festival and then of course you've got New Year as
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  well, but I imagine it's quite a year round destination.
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  Yeah, yeah, Edinburgh very much is a year round destination.
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  You know you've got your quieter months tend to be just after New
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  Year, but then you get your rugby.
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  So it is, it very much is a year round destination.
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  It's still seasonal, you can still see that and it's still
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  reflected in owners income. But yeah, we have guests coming
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  all year. There's so much on in Edinburgh,
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  so it's a great place to visit. And there's also a lot on just
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  within touching distance of Edinburgh.
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  So you don't need to go far to get some beautiful beaches or
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  beautiful hills or locks or water sports.
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  You know, it's a great location, a great central basin.
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  A lot of our guests, we get a lot of people from the States,
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  they might come, stay in Edinburgh and then move further
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  north, go up to the Highlands or so it it, it lends itself to
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  that kind of space, part of Scotland where people come in
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  and then they go and visit other parts as well.
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  So yeah. We've heard a lot about the
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  regulation issues, the licensing issues in Scotland and in
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  Edinburgh specifically. How have you dealt with that and
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  what are the main challenges that you've been facing as a
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  result? Yeah.
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  So, yeah, I mean, it's no secret to everyone in the industry that
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  Scotland's gone in, brought in some quite, I guess, draconian
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  or disproportionate licensing, shall we say.
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  So when I heard initially that the licensing was coming in as
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  an agency, we actually thought, yeah, that could be a good thing
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  for us. It's going to just make sure
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  we're not, you know, we're not having to encourage our owners
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  to get safety certs because we've always done that.
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  We've always asked for safety certs and had that level.
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  You know, we've gone for that being that professional side of
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  things where you have to have XY and Z to come onto our books.
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  So, so owners might say, oh, do I have to we're licensing
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  obviously. Yeah, you can't, you can't get a
• 12:16
  license unless you have that. So we were relatively optimistic
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  about it, but it's because it's, I won't go into massive detail
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  because it's quite complex, but it's the planning element that's
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  made it very, very difficult. So owners are getting licenses
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  and they're expensive, but they're getting them.
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  But because the planning they didn't, they're not Gran
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  fathered anyone. So that means that unless you've
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  been operating for 10 years and, and, and over, it can be a
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  struggle for people, particularly in Edinburgh,
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  because they've got the short term control zone.
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  But I do believe the, you know, the Scottish Government got
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  themselves in quite a a fankle about it all.
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  And how I've dealt with it is I, I became involved initially in
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  the sort of a fight I I wanted, I couldn't just stand back.
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  So we a few years ago we raised money to take in the council to
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  court. So we raised over £300,000, a
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  group of us, some other amazing people in the industry and of
• 13:17
  course spearheaded by SSC. If you want a Campbell, great,
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  you know, determined, well, Fiona's super determined and
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  everyone in the team's at that time really right.
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  We're not going to not going to take this line down.
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  So so we've just been out there and we won.
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  We won again, that was various aspects for licensing, not
• 13:37
  planning. It's complicated, but Edinburgh
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  Council hasn't backed down and it's still an ongoing issue.
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  You know, it's still difficult for owners in in Edinburgh and
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  self catering, you know, short term rights are still being shut
• 13:56
  down unfortunately if they don't have that planning.
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  So yeah, that was the main way I dealt with it was to just get on
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  involved and advocate the sector.
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  And I'm still still doing that. Still, it's it's an educational
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  piece as well, because I don't think the public have understood
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  really what's happening. You know, we've had such,
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  there's been such a negative press against short term let's
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  and unfortunately they've got into that a bit, but it's
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  obviously much more a nuanced argument.
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  And yeah, so if I think it's it's an educational thing.
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  And I also believe I was at a round table and Scottish
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  Parliament a few weeks ago and we were discussing with MPs
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  there a little bit about what's happening and, and one of the
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  MPs actually, but I didn't vote for this.
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  You know, they didn't, they didn't really realise they were
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  looking to control numbers. They didn't, they weren't
• 14:47
  looking to ban it or defect. If that's not so I think there's
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  just been some misunderstanding about the sector, about the
• 14:56
  industry, about what, you know, unintended consequences of, you
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  know, rolling out policy unfortunately.
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  And these things are like steam trains.
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  I think once they get going, it's really hard to turn them
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  back, even if you're like, well, and because the planning element
• 15:11
  was involved, it's it's created this difficulty.
• 15:15
  So yeah, I mean, hopefully things can can change, you know,
• 15:20
  because no one wants self catering.
• 15:22
  So important short term life sector are so important to
• 15:24
  places like Scotland, you know, throughout in rural, rural areas
• 15:29
  rely on these cottages and and I know there's there's talk of
• 15:35
  over tourism in certain areas in Europe and Scotland.
• 15:39
  So it's a very, very complicated debate, I think.
• 15:44
  What would your message be to the lawmakers now in Scotland
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  and how was the licensing issue affected Edinburgh, particularly
• 15:54
  around festival time? Yeah.
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  So my message would be really listen to the the professionals
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  on the ground, really listen to Fiona, really listen to the SC,
• 16:05
  the STA Scottish Tourism Alliance as well.
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  These are professionals who have been involved in the industry
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  for years and understand, they really do understand what
• 16:15
  they're talking about. Try and listen, try and work
• 16:19
  with the sector. Try and understand that, you
• 16:22
  know, I mean, a lot of people in this sector are not in it to
• 16:26
  make lots of money. They're in it because they're
• 16:28
  hospitality providers or they're self catering property with
• 16:32
  their pension or, you know, don't tar us all with the same
• 16:35
  brush. We're not party flat, but
• 16:37
  really, really listen. So now's now's the time that
• 16:40
  they have to there's solution has been put forward on the
• 16:43
  table. So I would say really listen and
• 16:47
  engage and and and and collaborate fully.
• 16:54
  And then how has the situation affected major events like the
• 16:58
  Festival Fringe? So it has.
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  It's been pretty well. It's affected the festival in a
• 17:07
  quite spectacular way. I would say.
• 17:09
  Prices have skyrocketed, so really have skyrocketed.
• 17:14
  And, and again, you know, we have our crystal ball, but this
• 17:19
  is what us as you know, the industry, we were saying this
• 17:21
  would happen. You reduce the supply.
• 17:25
  And you know, our industry is vital in the festival time.
• 17:30
  So many performers would come and stay in properties.
• 17:33
  But even at the higher end, you know, if your family's coming
• 17:36
  and they're staying for 2-3 weeks, they don't want to stay
• 17:39
  in a hotel for two or three weeks necessarily.
• 17:41
  They want to stay in, in an apartment near, near, you know,
• 17:47
  their show, the shows that they might go into or the book
• 17:49
  festival or whatever is they're going to.
• 17:50
  So prices have skyrocketed, but the other thing that's happened,
• 17:54
  which is really, again, it's a worrying unintended consequence.
• 17:59
  The black market is really kicking off and it's, it's TER,
• 18:02
  it's actually, it's really worrying, you know, so there's
• 18:05
  the Facebook pages that you see people are advertising the
• 18:07
  properties they've got. They, they don't have a license.
• 18:12
  They don't, therefore they don't presumably have the safety
• 18:16
  certs. So it's, it's just, it's almost
• 18:19
  like it's done the opposite to what it was intended to do.
• 18:22
  So it was supposed to be about health and safety and keeping
• 18:24
  the public safe. It's actually making that worse.
• 18:28
  And, and, and these I guess as well that, I mean, that's that
• 18:32
  that's the scary side of it actually.
• 18:34
  And scams too. You see them on, you know,
• 18:37
  people saying their advertising properties that they're, they
• 18:39
  just don't exist. So yeah, I don't think it's a
• 18:42
  particularly great, you know, it's not in terms of Scotland as
• 18:48
  a, you know, a destination and and somewhere to come to.
• 18:51
  I don't think it doesn't feel like it's a great advertisement,
• 18:56
  really. It's it's not, it's not a good,
• 18:58
  it's not a good advert for legislation.
• 19:00
  That's, that's, that's for sure. Going back to hosting then and
• 19:07
  delivering a great guest experience.
• 19:08
  What would your top tips be for delivering a great guest
• 19:12
  experience? Yeah.
• 19:14
  So for me, I think try and be as personal as you can.
• 19:20
  Really every guest is different and whether you're using AI, I
• 19:26
  know that, you know, there's amazing AI models out there that
• 19:28
  you can use or whether you're speaking to them one-on-one, try
• 19:31
  and deliver that service to that particular guest once.
• 19:33
  So ask them what they're interested in, if they're
• 19:35
  interested in, you know, going to museums and it's about
• 19:38
  telling them where they are, you know, where they can go if they
• 19:41
  like, you know, going to restaurants supporting that.
• 19:45
  So, yeah, we know there's great. So restaurant, it's about that
• 19:47
  personal service. And I think answering emails,
• 19:52
  answering communication really quickly is really, really
• 19:55
  important. You can't actually put a value
• 19:58
  on that if people are sitting waiting for responses, yeah,
• 20:01
  especially if they're in the property and they need to need
• 20:04
  some support. But even in the run up to the
• 20:06
  stay good quick communication, I think it's very important.
• 20:10
  And in fact, I would also say, you know, get the basics right.
• 20:16
  I stayed in an apartment recently abroad and we were
• 20:20
  there for business and there was two of us and we were given one
• 20:24
  set of keys. And I was like, it was, it was a
• 20:28
  three, might be in a bit. It was a two or three bed
• 20:30
  apartment. But I asked for another set and
• 20:33
  I was told we had to pay for that.
• 20:35
  And I just thought this is, this is not, this is not hospitality.
• 20:40
  This is not, you know, there's something fundamentally wrong
• 20:42
  here. So yeah, just get the basics
• 20:45
  right. Give people keys.
• 20:46
  If there's 22 bedrooms, give them two sets of keys.
• 20:49
  You've got to assume might be, even if they're a family, they
• 20:52
  might have older kids going off and doing their own thing and,
• 20:54
  you know, they don't want mum and dad just holding the keys.
• 20:57
  So yeah, I just, I think that kind of thing, comfortable beds,
• 21:01
  getting your beds comfortable and making sure the apartment
• 21:05
  has, you know, it's warm. But this act, that's how
• 21:08
  hospitality piece is really, really important.
• 21:11
  So. Yeah.
• 21:13
  And what are your top tips for keeping owners happy?
• 21:17
  I think I go back to what I was saying a bit earlier is find out
• 21:22
  what it is the owner really wants.
• 21:24
  So for some it's the revenue, revenue only, but for others
• 21:28
  it's not that. And it's trying to understand
• 21:30
  your owner and then communicating with them in a way
• 21:34
  that conveys that you understand them and understand what they
• 21:37
  want. So if that is about making sure
• 21:40
  occupancy or if that is about making sure that they're getting
• 21:43
  enough bookings or if it is actually just making sure that
• 21:47
  it's washing its face, whatever it is that they they want, it's
• 21:50
  it's finding that out. But also it's about having a
• 21:54
  good relationship with owners and a good collaboration.
• 21:56
  And if you can't get that, then work with people as well, you
• 22:03
  know, genuinely, if you can have a place where you're, you're
• 22:06
  happy with each other or, you know, there's something not
• 22:10
  quite right there. Yeah.
• 22:12
  So yeah, I would say work people who you feel you can work with
• 22:15
  on both, both sides, you know? When you look back over the
• 22:20
  nearly 20 years and what's been the biggest lesson learned in
• 22:25
  the industry? So for me, I mean, there's so
• 22:30
  many lessons, but it's just a really simple one.
• 22:33
  Like don't take things personally when you're dealing
• 22:35
  with the public. You know, it really is.
• 22:36
  It's having that and that rhino skin, I used to call it, you
• 22:40
  know, getting that big skin. You know, you can't please
• 22:44
  everyone. You're trying, you know, you
• 22:45
  genuinely try your best. As long as you know you're
• 22:47
  trying to provide the best service you can, you won't
• 22:50
  always get it right. And don't take it personally,
• 22:53
  even if some guests will make it personal.
• 22:55
  You don't know, get really upset and you know you're dealing with
• 22:59
  or, or owners dealing with owners.
• 23:02
  So it's, it's that TRA and it's easier said than done, but for
• 23:06
  me, I think that is something I've managed to do a little bit.
• 23:09
  It's just, and also take take time out as well, time out from
• 23:14
  the business. Just put it somewhere and go out
• 23:17
  for a walk or, you know, try and do something different and not
• 23:21
  focus ruminate about things because you can easily do that.
• 23:26
  And what do you love most about your work?
• 23:29
  I love the connection with people, meeting people.
• 23:34
  Now I'm not, so I don't meet so many guests now from the the way
• 23:38
  how I work now. Obviously it's more about
• 23:40
  meeting people in the industry where I'm meeting and still meet
• 23:44
  owners, but I'm meeting amazing entrepreneurs and fellow people
• 23:49
  in our sector. We've got so many amazing minds
• 23:52
  and companies that you deal with, whether it's tech
• 23:56
  companies, whether it's, you know, cleaning, whether it's
• 23:58
  people dealing with a bag baggage drop off.
• 24:01
  We're, we're a very vibrant sector and I love that.
• 24:04
  And I love that every day there's something new, you know,
• 24:08
  whether it be developments in AI or in APMS or whether, you know,
• 24:13
  so you're always learning. I mean, I never, I never sit
• 24:16
  back and go I, I know it all and you just, that's impossible, I
• 24:20
  think. OK.
• 24:22
  Then Anna, we've got a few more quick fire questions now.
• 24:26
  So which PMS do you use? Bixster, Scottish based company.
• 24:33
  Keeping it local, which dynamic pricing tool do you use?
• 24:37
  Air DNA, they're they, they're integrated into Bixster since we
• 24:40
  use them. OK, lovely.
• 24:42
  Which piece of tech couldn't you live without?
• 24:46
  I'm going to be boring and saying PMSI mean is that OK?
• 24:49
  It can really work without that. Absolutely fine.
• 24:54
  Ideally pets, yes or no? So for me it's a yes, I love my
• 25:00
  dogs, but I do understand why some owners don't want them and
• 25:04
  so that's fine, fine by me. Another one, ideally hot tub,
• 25:08
  yes or no? Yeah, well, I can't.
• 25:10
  No for me personally, really don't like them actually.
• 25:14
  We don't have that many on our books, but we do have the odd
• 25:17
  ones. So yes, some guests absolutely
• 25:19
  love them, and in certain settings, yes, they're amazing
• 25:22
  for guests, but no for me. Quite a few of these are a yes
• 25:26
  and no answer. Actually, that's what we that's
• 25:28
  what we found to do in these episodes.
• 25:31
  Self check in or a personal welcome?
• 25:34
  I'm going to say personal welcome.
• 25:36
  But you see, this is the thing. Some guests, some guests prefer
• 25:39
  the self check in. So, but yeah, I think personal
• 25:45
  welcome, yeah. A telephone call or an AI
• 25:49
  response? Telephone call.
• 25:52
  And what's been your most memorable hosting moment?
• 25:56
  Oh gosh, got so many. I think some of them are the
• 26:04
  most when they were the most difficult ones.
• 26:06
  We've had difficult and this was going way back when I think and
• 26:09
  again, still learning. So 18, you know, whenever we we
• 26:15
  were meeting guests, we had to get obviously our security
• 26:17
  deposit. We didn't have we had to
• 26:20
  sometimes we we could take it via PayPal, but sometimes we had
• 26:23
  to take it via, you know, actual cash.
• 26:26
  It's crazy. And because sometimes guests who
• 26:29
  didn't want to you, they were a bit reticent to use, you know,
• 26:33
  online in those days. So and one, one time we turned
• 26:37
  up and the guest, he, he said, I'm not going to give you the
• 26:39
  security posit and don't you know who I am?
• 26:42
  And I, I actually didn't know who he was, but I thought was
• 26:46
  someone famous. And I said, no, I'm really
• 26:49
  sorry. We, we absolutely need this
• 26:52
  security deposit. We, we can't, that's just, you
• 26:55
  know, we can't operate. And he took his, started to take
• 26:58
  his watch off. It was a Rolex.
• 26:59
  They said, I will give you this. I said I'm really sorry, Sir.
• 27:05
  You know, it would just life would just be so much easier for
• 27:07
  both of us if we just processed the secured supposit as per your
• 27:12
  terms and petitions kind of thing.
• 27:13
  So that was quite funny. It was the don't you know who I
• 27:15
  am moment and people actually coming out with that and saying
• 27:18
  that and yeah, but I didn't know who he was so.
• 27:20
  Was it anybody famous? He ran.
• 27:23
  No, he wasn't actually not famous.
• 27:25
  He had like he had we, I mean we have had some famous guests, got
• 27:29
  stories about them, but I probably wouldn't tell him.
• 27:32
  But no, he ran. He ran some big chain in
• 27:35
  Edinburgh, so I didn't. OK, fair enough.
• 27:38
  Did you take the Rolex? No.
• 27:43
  Probably stupidly, I didn't. Yeah.
• 27:45
  Shout out time now Is there an individual in the STR industry
• 27:49
  who's helped you that you'd like to give a shout out to?
• 27:52
  Yeah, yes, definitely. So at the start of the podcast,
• 27:56
  I was talking a little bit about how we started and one of the
• 27:58
  property owners that came to me was chap called Craig Douglas.
• 28:02
  And he he was instrumental and kind of jump starting my career
• 28:08
  in this. I worked with him for quite a
• 28:10
  few years with some of his properties.
• 28:11
  He now runs his own agencies as well.
• 28:14
  So, but we've always collaborated whenever we can.
• 28:20
  And yeah, so definitely, definitely Craig.
• 28:24
  Nice shout out for Craig then questions finished then.
• 28:26
  Ultimate goal for your business. So I like staying kind of small
• 28:34
  ish however I want to. I would like the Adore brand
• 28:38
  senor, the mortiser baby and Adore.
• 28:41
  The Edinburgh address is is our older king one that's been
• 28:45
  around a while. So I'm, I'm really hoping that a
• 28:47
  door beds itself in as being a very much more established brand
• 28:55
  and, you know, especially within Scotland.
• 28:59
  But yeah, so I, I just want to be known to be one of the best.
• 29:03
  What we do, which was take is take on lovely properties,
• 29:07
  carefully curated. We only take properties on that
• 29:10
  we like or we stay in. So we do that filtering.
• 29:13
  We genuinely just won't take anything on.
• 29:16
  And yeah, so just really for the Adore brand to establish itself
• 29:22
  even more than it is now. Fantastic, Anna.
• 29:25
  It's been a real pleasure. Thank you for joining us, and
• 29:28
  thanks for being part of the Host Planet Playbook.
• 29:30
  Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.
• 29:32
  All right, that's it for today's episode.
• 29:34
  My thanks to Anna for sharing her journey and for being part
• 29:37
  of the host planet playbook. Remember, the series is brought
• 29:40
  to you in partnership with Hospitable, the all in one
• 29:44
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• 29:50
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• 30:03
  And here's the good news. House Planet Playbook listeners
• 30:05
  get an exclusive 14 day free trial plus 25% off for the first
• 30:11
  three months. Head to hospitable.com/house
• 30:14
  Planet to claim your offer and start running your rentals on
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  autopilot. For more free education for
• 30:20
  vacation rental hosts, head to House Planet dot Club, where you
• 30:24
  can sign up for our newsletter, listen to our podcasts, and
• 30:28
  download our suite of ebooks. Until next time, happy hosting.