Shownotes
Building a Support Network for Growth: "We finally got to a place where we have a trusted team, and, that's helped so much. And I think that that kind of gave us the, sigh of relief to say, okay. We can do this now. We we have the right people." - Maura Giannobile
We’re beyond excited to bring you the latest updates from our recent episode featuring the wonderful Maura Giannobile—a powerhouse entrepreneur, interior design visionary, and the driving force behind The Everwoods Cabins and soon, Everwoods Interiors.
Here's what you'll learn.
Maura’s Big Leap: From Overwhelm to Growth Not long ago, Maura recalls a time when managing her design business, launching multiple luxury cabins, and juggling family life felt too overwhelming. But with strategic changes—namely, building a team she could trust and learning the art of letting go—Maura and her husband Tony have turned chaos into a thriving, scalable business.
Intertwining Brands for Success Maura didn’t set out to create two businesses that feed each other, but that’s exactly what happened. Guests who loved their stay at The Everwoods Cabins are now seeking her interior design expertise for their own homes, making referrals organic and powerful.
Big News: Everwoods Interiors is Coming! At the end of this month, Maura is rebranding her design firm as Everwoods Interiors, expanding her offerings to include virtual design services for Airbnb hosts nationwide. This new direction aims to answer a major market need—helping hosts make their short-term rentals shine and stand out.
Taking Guest Experience to the Next Level It isn’t just about a beautiful space. The Everwoods Cabins now offer curated guest experiences like personal chefs, in-cabin spa services, and specialty tours. Not only have these upgrades delighted guests, but they have also set Maura’s business apart in a rapidly growing vacation rental market.
What’s Next? Maura has more cabins underway, new property plans for couples’ retreats, and even a potential software venture in the works aimed at helping other hosts better market to their guests. Growth is certainly the theme of Maura’s journey!
This episode is brought to you by PureTax, LLC. Tax preparation services without the pressure. When all you need is to get your tax return done, take the stress out of tax season by working with a firm that has simplified the process and the pricing. Find out more about how we started.
Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs:
- Scaling means letting go of perfection, but never your vision.
- Building an outstanding team is essential for sanity and success.
- Don’t be afraid to pivot or rebrand to meet the needs of your evolving market.
- Small touches and curated experiences deliver big differentiation for your business.
Want to Learn More or Stay at an Everwoods Cabin? Check out the beautifully designed cabins in Hocking Hills at theeverwoods.com.com—and keep an eye out for the launch of EverwoodsInteriors.com!
Empowering Moments
04:37 Teamwork Builds Brand Success
09:00 Rebranding as Everwoods Interiors
12:25 Blueprint Staging & Installation Guide
14:36 Function Over Fashion in Rentals
16:26 Expert Advice for Vacation Homeowners
20:22 "New Private Cabin Retreat"
25:54 Backup Team Enables Stress-Free Expansion
26:46 Property Sale and 1031 Exchange Pivot
30:39 Unique Services Highlight Property Appeal
35:49 Luxury Vacation Add-Ons Available
37:39 Cabin Rental Software Innovation
Running a business doesn’t have to run your life.
Without a business partner who holds you accountable, it’s easy to be so busy ‘doing’ business that you don’t have the right strategy to grow your business.
Stop letting your business run you. At Harper & Co CPA Plus, we know that you want to be empowered to build the lifestyle you envision. In order to do that you need a clear path to follow for success
Our clients enjoy a proactive partnership with us. Schedule a consultation with us today.
Download our free guide - Entrepreneurial Success Formula: How to Avoid Managing Your Business From Your Bank Account.
Glenn Harper, CPA, is the Owner and Managing Partner of Harper & Company CPAs Plus, a top 10 Managing Partner in the country (Accounting Today's 2022 MP Elite). His firm won the 2021 Luca Award for Firm of the Year.
An entrepreneur and speaker, Glenn transformed his firm into an advisory-focused practice, doubling revenue and profit in two years. He teaches entrepreneurs to build financial and operational excellence, speaks nationwide to CPA firm owners about running their businesses like entrepreneurs, and consults with firms across the country. Glenn enjoys golfing, fishing, hiking, cooking, and spending time with his family.
Julie Smith, MBA, is a serial entrepreneur in the public accounting space. She is the Founder of EmpowerCPA™, Founder of PureTax, LLC, COO for Harper & Company CPAs Plus, and Co-host of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast.
Named CPA.com's 2021 Innovative Practitioner of Year, Julie led Harper & Company's transition to an advisory-focused firm, doubling revenue and profit in two years. She now empowers other CPA firm owners nationwide through consulting and speaking, teaching them how to run their businesses like entrepreneurs. Julie lives in Columbus, OH with her family and enjoys travel, coaching basketball, sporting events, and the occasional shopping spree.
Copyright 2025 Glenn Harper
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Transcripts
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Empowering Entrepreneurs podcast. I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie Smith [:Julie Smith.
Glenn Harper [:What's going on, Julie?
Julie Smith [:You know, I'm really excited today for this episode. We Why?
Glenn Harper [:What's going on?
Julie Smith [:We don't normally get someone in studio, and it's been a long time, but it is fun to interact in that that situation.
Glenn Harper [:Have some real person. It's kind of exciting.
Maura Giannobile [:I feel
Julie Smith [:like they're gonna reveal her. Like, it's just us, and then
Maura Giannobile [:they reveal it.
Glenn Harper [:Oh, okay. Well, it's over here. It's over here. Well, we're excited. Tax season's over. Summertime's we jumped right into summer from spring. Rain has fallen. Sun's shining.
Glenn Harper [:Birds are singing. So it's a good time to be alive.
Julie Smith [:And we're still here.
Glenn Harper [:We're still here.
Julie Smith [:We were just talking about the last time we had this guest in studio. Time flies.
Glenn Harper [:December of twenty twenty two, which is many moons ago. Well, here we are. Well, we wanna welcome again Amara Giannobile, a fellow entrepreneur who is the driving force behind the Home and Haven company and Everwood cabins. She has helped many clients achieve their success of staying not only in a amazing experience in a cabin, but also designing their perfect dream home interior. So welcome again to the show. Mara, good to see you.
Maura Giannobile [:Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me back.
Glenn Harper [:I said
Julie Smith [:Alright. You must you must have been good. So I I saw Mara. It's like we had this time apart podcast, you know, had another house. She helped me with another house. We went to her cabin, did the podcast. Then we had this little bit of time apart, and then all of a sudden, I was like, Maura, not only do I need your help for my interior design again, but I wanna stay at your cabin again. And wait, why haven't you I emailed all the people.
Julie Smith [:I'm like, why hasn't she been back on the podcast? She's done so many things in this, what I thought was a shorter amount of time, but here we are.
Maura Giannobile [:Here we are. And you're one of actually many people that have experienced, like, all of our companies. So we've done interior design work together. You guys have stayed at our cabins. And And it's funny because a lot
Julie Smith [:of people who first stay
Maura Giannobile [:at our cabins will then also reach out for, you know, design help in their own homes and things like that. So the companies are starting to kind of intertwine as we as we go through the years here.
Julie Smith [:Was that the plan?
Maura Giannobile [:No. But it's been it's been very nice. They it's a I have a built in referral program. Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:Everybody, you've got great style and anybody with even not an eye like I don't have, but I can say, wow, that looks really nice. I wouldn't know how to do it, but that's why you bring yourself along to the door.
Maura Giannobile [:When I've seen your basement design. You you have a great eye.
Glenn Harper [:It's impressive. It's impressive. I know it. I know it. Well, you know, it's the funny thing about, entrepreneurs. One of the things we when we first started on this journey of doing this this this podcast is that, you know, just the trials and tribulations, the struggles of an entrepreneur and what they go through in phases. And without doubt, you are doing exactly most entrepreneurs do. It's never enough.
Glenn Harper [:You're like, well, I'm not busy enough because I remember specifically last time, you're like, how am I gonna do all this? And here you are, you're like 10 x ed it on everything. So here we go again. So why don't you talk us a little about how you got to that point of going, I think I'm gonna just keep going.
Maura Giannobile [:Sure. Yeah. I was we were very overwhelmed the last time we were here. We were still kind of green too. So so I had have my interior design business for a few years at that point and was starting to get settled in. We are still really green to the Airbnb business, the short term rental business. And we kind of, you get to a point where you settle in with that. So we found the right people to help us.
Maura Giannobile [:We're not going down there multiple times a week anymore. That was brutal. Everything was. Yeah. And and Tony still, even now, is in medical sales. I know a few years ago, you guys were a little bit surprised that he was still doing that. He is still doing that to this day, but that was where we said, you know, this is too much. We did have multiple full time jobs that we were trying to fit into, you know, each week, and and it was too much.
Maura Giannobile [:So
Glenn Harper [:Don't forget the kids.
Maura Giannobile [:Don't forget the kids. Yeah. Right. Yes. So, we have we've definitely settled in. Some weeks are crazy still, and and I think that's just the life of an entrepreneur. But we have a a team of help, that has really transformed, what we've been able to do and the way we've been able to scale the business. So
Glenn Harper [:So question then is, at some point, you're like, man, we are so busy. This is crazy. And then you're like, well, we gotta get more busier and do more things. Well, talk me through how you marketed that between the two of you to figure out what you had to give up or what you had to go acquire to be able to go find the time to go do that.
Maura Giannobile [:Sure. We we had to give up some control. And as an entrepreneur, that's always that's difficult. I view myself as somewhat of a control freak.
Glenn Harper [:No way. No. No.
Maura Giannobile [:I think Tony is too, even if he doesn't wanna admit it. We know how to do, things within our brand correctly, and that has always been really hard for us to ensure that the other people that are involved in our brand are also going to do those things, the way that we would like for them to, and that reflects our brand appropriately. It took it took a really long time, to get a team together, especially, like, for our Airbnb business just because, the market's a little bit different. The Hocking Hills is a very rural area. Mhmm. It's hard to find good help, but we, through trial and error, we found some really great people. Most notably, we have a handyman that is on property at our places, like, at least once a week, and we trust him so much, and he's been such an asset to our business. That means Tony doesn't have to go down to, you know, tighten doorknobs and things where, you know, you can't get those hours back.
Maura Giannobile [:And it's just been very helpful to have have someone like that.
Glenn Harper [:So on so on giving up the control and letting somebody else do the thing, whatever the thing is, what level of acceptance of, like, you would do it at, like, boom, %. What did you have to lower that to and still be, okay, that's that's good enough? It doesn't have to be a hundred. Is it 95? Was it 80? Was it 50?
Maura Giannobile [:I'm still trying to get there.
Julie Smith [:I just So, you know, we talk about this daily, like, okay, Julie, that was 80 someone gave 80%. Like, that's perfect. You know? For. Right. And then I'm like, 80%? Like, that's that's practically failing in my department. Right? And that's how I
Maura Giannobile [:feel. Fine.
Julie Smith [:Yes. You know? So it's it's a constant conversation.
Maura Giannobile [:We have these go rounds where, you know, we'll go down there once every now and again, and our cleaners do a great job. Every now and again, they'll miss something little. It's not big. It's they do a fantastic job. But, you know, they'll leave, like, the fire pit tongs up on the deck, and I'm like, well, why would they be on on the deck? They should be down at the fire pit. But these are things that the guests don't care. That's okay. And I have to let go of that, and I have learned to let go of that.
Maura Giannobile [:I still, it's a head scratcher, like, for me because I think I'm a perfectionist, and I I wonder how things get missed. But we're all human, and I think that that's what I always remind myself. And and so I have I've let go a little bit, and things have gone perfectly smoothly. We've never, you know, had a complaint.
Glenn Harper [:That you know of.
Maura Giannobile [:That that we know of. Yes. So so yeah.
Glenn Harper [:We call that in the business OCD. We're just a a because and it's not that it's we just know how we would like it to be and what our expectations
Julie Smith [:Well, I think she said something really important for entrepreneurs. It's about the brand you're creating and the only person that takes ownership and accountability of that brand in general are the owners.
Maura Giannobile [:Mhmm.
Julie Smith [:And so it's really hard to let that control go because your your brand is your it's everything you have.
Glenn Harper [:Right. They're representing you. Right?
Julie Smith [:Yeah. And so I think if, you know, again, we'll strive to see what that percentage is that's acceptable inside a brand.
Maura Giannobile [:But We are lucky. The people the team that we've found down there takes
Julie Smith [:a lot of
Maura Giannobile [:pride in our homes. Obviously, they don't do not belong to them, but I do think that they have a sense of belonging when they are working in our homes. We, you know, we have merchandise. Like, we have hats and shirts and things, and they wear those things when they're, you know, working on our properties. And I think it helps them to feel like this is, you know, this is where I belong to, and, I take pride in that. So
Julie Smith [:That's building a team and creating a culture that There it is. They wanna be a part of. Right? Right.
Glenn Harper [:Well, that that's just Giannobile a good leader and set those expectations. And, again, they gotta feel like they have a little skin in the game Mhmm. Whatever that is, just pride or whatever to to deliver what you're looking for, and then you gotta let them know it. Right? Because if you don't, they they have no idea. Absolutely. That's the hardest part.
Julie Smith [:But I think we have to take a backtrack a little bit. Is well, you had you were opening your second cabin, I think, when you were here last. So you had one. Yes. Was very overwhelming. You're about to do number two. And you were still were doing your interior design, and Tony was still doing medical sales. So what what does your full picture look like now?
Maura Giannobile [:Okay. So we currently have we have since launched a third cabin, and we have a fourth that's launching this summer.
Glenn Harper [:Oh.
Maura Giannobile [:Yes. My design business has continued to be very successful. I'm very busy still, but I am pivoting, and I'm going to be rebranding my design business, actually at the end of this month. And this is not a secret, but I am going to be changing the name of my interior design business, to the Everwoods Interiors, which is a bit fitting as our cabinet business is called the Everwoods Cabins. And I will be expanding, my business to offer Airbnb design to other Airbnb hosts nationwide. It's a virtual design service. I do everything from within my office, but there is a huge market for it. There are not a lot of people that are offering interior design services to other short term rental vacation vacation rental hosts, and there is a huge need.
Maura Giannobile [:There are just a lot of people who don't know what they're doing design wise, in that sector or over here Maura residentially either.
Glenn Harper [:Tang a poster up, you're fine. No.
Maura Giannobile [:But I, have been approached many times, for helping others with their Airbnbs. And, I was a little hesitant. It's it didn't feel like it was my specialty. But after doing three of them ourselves and kind of seeing, what goes into it, I feel like I have a really good grasp on that.
Glenn Harper [:So I got a crazy question. So when you do an air this Airbnb thing, are you looking for the Southern Ohio vibe in Pocking Hills? Are you like the beach vibe? Are you the leak bass? Like, you're going
Julie Smith [:to go home. Doing
Maura Giannobile [:anything and everything. I will do beach homes. I will do mountain homes. I will do Alright. So Desert I used them. Springs.
Glenn Harper [:You know? Natural of understanding the local and you just you can just see it and just know it.
Maura Giannobile [:Absolutely.
Glenn Harper [:That's a that's a skill set. That's a superpower.
Julie Smith [:We both don't have that.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. I I know when I see it, but I wouldn't
Julie Smith [:have do you so I the first question that arises is, like, you know, what I'm used to is, like, interacting with someone coming through the home and getting this vision. And then, sure, I can buy whatever you want me to buy. But then it's really the pulling it to like, you know, I'm like, you want that bowl to go where, and how do you drape that out of it? Like, so how are you gonna be able to get that touch
Maura Giannobile [:with going It's a good question. Yeah. So, I have a mentor that I have been working with, and she has a blueprint, essentially, for how to go about the perfect start to finish Airbnb design. One of the most important things is, from the client, I have to get them to get a have you heard of a Matterport? It's basically a three d walk through of the home, which also allows me to have all of the dimensions of every single space so that I know that those aren't going to be incorrect. So I'm buying the right size of furnishings and the appropriate amount of, you know, items for each space.
Glenn Harper [:So the tech guy, I mean, is like, well, what is that what is that thing? How do they do that? They just walk through with a camera or something? What is it?
Maura Giannobile [:Yeah. And it's actually something that a lot of real estate agents use, in order to sometimes, if you'll be on, like, realtor.com and you see a home that has a three d tour, oftentimes, they're using, like, a Matterport. It's kind of like a bird's eye view where you can kind of see each room, and, it's sort of almost fully rendered where, you're seeing where the stairwells are and where the doors are. And Is
Glenn Harper [:this a video or it's a an architectural plan of some sort?
Maura Giannobile [:You can actually get it in either form for me. I'm just gonna need it almost in, like, the blueprint form where I'm getting, like, an overhead view, so that I'm able to essentially have a blueprint to what the what the design is going to need each each room. Mhmm. And then to Julie's question in terms of, telling people where, you know, where everything's going to go and make sure that that's perfectly correct. I have a staging planner where, it's gonna tell you exactly where everything goes, but I also will be, on a FaceTime with the host or if they've hired a property manager to do this for them, during that final install to ensure that everything, looks perfect.
Glenn Harper [:Move it two inches to the left.
Maura Giannobile [:Yes. That'll Wow. Yeah. I know. It sounds a little monotonous, but it's not smart.
Julie Smith [:I think it sounds really interesting because especially as you go kind of bigger go home, it's like you're going to be immersed into so many different places and things and vibes. And, I mean, I think it sounds so interesting.
Glenn Harper [:It's not gonna be you're not gonna be bored. No. So here's a crazy question. So, you know, as a as a dude, I'm a a functional guy. I want it to be functional. But chicks like it to be, you know, how does it look? How do you blend the two together? Is I mean, is that something you had to learn how to do, or it just came natural to you? Or what do you lean heavily toward more? Is it the function or the form?
Maura Giannobile [:Well, it has to be both, and especially when you're talking about an Airbnb vacation rental, because people are very hard on things when they're on vacation. And if it's not functional, I always say buy nice or buy thrice. You will buy it three different times if you don't buy something nice the first time. So we want it to be beautiful and aesthetic because that's what draws people to wanna stay at a certain property. But, also, you can't have furniture that's gonna fall apart and, and things like that. Right? So, you want them to function for the vacation guest that's that's coming to stay. It has to be sturdy, good quality items, which I do in my residential design business too. I'm not cheaping out and buying, you know, things that aren't gonna last people a long time.
Maura Giannobile [:But it's two different types of, of client. Right? Someone who a residential, client is going to live differently than your vacation rental guest is going to live in a place that they're staying for, you know, two or three nights, or a week. They tend to be a lot harder on items. So you are oftentimes, there are certain pieces I'm definitely going for function over fashion, in that, sector. And, I mean, there are times when I'm also going, for function over fashion, in residential too. Of course, remodels, everything needs to be functional. When I'm when I'm setting up and laying out a kitchen, it needs to be functional for the homeowner. So so function is always top of my brain, but, it's amplified when you're working on on an Airbnb because, you know, it has to stand up to, you know, potentially eight kids that are gonna be in your in your rental with just one or two sets of of parents.
Glenn Harper [:Paying attention.
Maura Giannobile [:It's a lot.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. So I I think this I I was just thinking this is probably the hardest thing you have to do with the owner if you're dealing direct with them is they want it to look like the house that they wanna go use on occasion as a vacation, although use it occasionally, right, generally. But at the same time, it's really not about that. It's about designing it for the guests, and you probably have to talk them off the ledge of, like, I know you think that's gonna look awesome and you want it that way, but that is not gonna work
Maura Giannobile [:for all these guests. Is that is that a hard conversation? It is and it isn't. I've had to I had to have that conversation with myself so many times that I know that, it's a bit of a battle. Yes. I wanna have, an ivory couch in my short term rentals. Right? Because it looks beautiful. But is an ivory couch does that make sense when there's going to be
Glenn Harper [:Mud.
Maura Giannobile [:Eight kids coming in from hiking in the Hocking Hills in April when it rained for the past two straight weeks? It's a terrible idea. So, I can give all of my clients some real life experiences. And even where I went wrong with some of our first cabins, some things that just functionally have not worked out. And, like, for beach clients, there are things that won't work out because of the sand and the salty air and things like that. There's fabrics that just won't work. So I know all of these things, and sometimes, you know, the owners of these homes, they don't know these things, and that's why they're hiring me.
Glenn Harper [:Seems like you gotta, like, click a switch when you're, like, okay. I'm, like, mountains, Rockies. Okay. Here, I gotta go think this, though.
Maura Giannobile [:No air conditioners in the in the mountains. Right?
Glenn Harper [:Lack of water. Yeah.
Maura Giannobile [:Yeah. It's all things that you have to
Glenn Harper [:And do you have, like, like, obviously again, I'm just making joke, but you probably have chunks in your brain that are dedicated to this that you could tap in to pull it up. But do you have, like, standardized plans so you don't have to remember everything? Do you have just, like, a, like, this is the themes we look for? It's all up there.
Maura Giannobile [:It's all up here. Here. So that
Glenn Harper [:means you're always gonna be involved.
Maura Giannobile [:Yes. I'll always be involved. I do have specific items that I can use, like large scale furnishings that I know are super high quality. They're functional. They're gonna last. And I have all of those basically saved. So I don't know if this is what you're asking, but I do have certain items that I can use over and over again, and they're not going to look the same in everybody's homes. I'm not just replicating ever in in each new home that I go to.
Maura Giannobile [:But I have some, like, tried and true tried and true items that that work for But I vast majority of people.
Julie Smith [:But I think that's what people want. Right? Because you've tried and true them, and you've been like, that one didn't work, but this one has worked four times over.
Glenn Harper [:Well, I think that's what I mean. Like, you have, like, a kinda call your base template for each each region or type, and then you can bolt on from there based on how things go. Right?
Maura Giannobile [:Absolutely. Yeah. So that
Glenn Harper [:that's what I was looking for. Like, you gotta go start from scratch and go, what do I do? And you gotta tap into here. That would seem exhausting to try to, like, switch gears on every design.
Maura Giannobile [:It's fun.
Julie Smith [:So I wanna know about that. We're talking a lot about this design, but I wanna go to the cabins. So you're about to launch your second cabin when we did it this last time. What was that one? Was that the a The a frame. A frame. And how's that went? Obviously, wildly great.
Maura Giannobile [:It's great. It's it's funny because the a frame is busier than the lodge. So our first cabin that we launched was the lodge, and then the second was the a frame. They have two totally different looks, interior wise. The lodge is, you know, all white on the inside and bright and airy, and, the a frame is more of that, like, rustic cabin feel, but still with a modern twist. The a frame is booked almost a % of, of the time. At a lower nightly rate, it sleeps less people. It's just got a little bit of a different vibe.
Maura Giannobile [:The lodge is a little bit more of, like, that boutique luxury stay. All we consider all of our cabins to be luxury stays, but, it really has that that wow factor when you walk in, with the big wall of windows. And, it's a higher price point. So we are not necessarily a % booked every single month. We are, I think, I believe, six months out of the year. But it's been great. It's nice. They're like a yin and a yang, both on the same property there.
Maura Giannobile [:A lot of times, we have people who book them together, family reunions or, like, yoga retreats. And then people tend to gather over in the lodge just because it's a little bit more open. But we kind of love that we have, like, two cabins that are both really high end, but they have a very different look. So, something that suits, you know, both people, both types of people.
Julie Smith [:So what's the third one?
Maura Giannobile [:The third one is a couple's cabin. It just sleeps two guests. It's called the Alpine. We bought this one. It was existing. So we did not build it.
Glenn Harper [:On the same property?
Julie Smith [:It's not
Maura Giannobile [:on the same property. It's about ten minutes away, and it's on 11 acres, which is opportunity for us to, continue to build. So we are almost finished building our fourth cabin, which will be next door to the Alpine, but also private. It's 11 acres, so they're not on top of each other. We don't ever want that to be the case. It'll also be a a couple's cabin, so it'll just sleep two guests. A little bit of a different vibe, for the fourth one. We sort of have gone with this black exterior for all of our cabins.
Maura Giannobile [:This is gonna be much more like a Scandinavian feel. We saw a market for it. There aren't really any cabins down in the Hocking Hills that have that vibe yet. So we're gonna bring it to the area and see how it goes.
Julie Smith [:Well, I see those out in the mountains though where it's, like, all glass and, like, the bet. Like, it's very, like, simple, but, like, you feel like you're immersed into wherever you are.
Glenn Harper [:Connected with the nature. Yeah.
Maura Giannobile [:For sure. Yeah. And we have probably our biggest window yet on all of our we have really big windows on all of our cabins, but this fourth cabin will have the largest window of all of them. And without giving away too much, we actually have, on social media, have not shown a single photo of the build process. It's just gonna be a surprise when we're ready to launch it.
Glenn Harper [:The build up.
Julie Smith [:Yes. Is there is there a fifth in the works on that property?
Glenn Harper [:I'm sure they're all gonna start with a 11 acres. You should probably have seven or eight cabins on there. It'd be awesome.
Maura Giannobile [:This this land is a little bit more open. It's not as wooded, as we would like for it to be. So we're gonna do some hefty landscaping, and then we will see if it makes sense to have a fifth, but we don't ever want anything to feel crammed. We don't want people to feel like they don't have a private, space to stay in when they're staying with us.
Glenn Harper [:Is Tony gonna drive the excavator and the dozer to move the dirt?
Maura Giannobile [:Yeah. We actually he does. He wants to so bad. He, right now, we have, like, these rolling hills and the, the weeds are kind of starting to get high, and he's talking about, oh, should I get a brush hog? Like, we could actually just hire somebody to do it one time, and we probably wouldn't need it again until this fall. So I don't think we need to buy one.
Glenn Harper [:You know what's funny is when you, inevitably, when you are doing something that you love, there's the there's the hard work and the, you know, the anxiety and doing all the things. And then you're gonna find these couple things that are like, oh my god. That sounds like so much fun.
Maura Giannobile [:Right? Oh my gosh.
Glenn Harper [:He has gotta be like, I get to get some equipment and move some dirt. Like, he's the happiest guy in the world. And you can bring a little bit of a spin on that to just do something fun with it, and it may will change the whole perspective probably.
Julie Smith [:But I think, I mean, financially, Mara is probably correct.
Glenn Harper [:This has nothing to do with the money.
Maura Giannobile [:I think I'm right, but it really doesn't. We yeah. He ended up getting a four wheeler and all of these things to attach to the back of the four wheeler to spray down weeds. And, we actually have, like, this there's a little bit of, like, a low lying creek, which when it rains a bunch, it turns into, like, a swampy area. And we found out there's beavers back there, and he's very excited about that. And he's gonna try to, you know, figure out how he can go about potentially
Glenn Harper [:Building some dams.
Maura Giannobile [:Them, building yeah. Seeing seeing what he's gonna
Julie Smith [:So when when does this fourth one launch? Do we know?
Maura Giannobile [:We don't have an exact date for it. We do think that the build itself will be done in June, And then it generally takes us about four to six weeks from the time that the build is completed to get it fully furnished.
Julie Smith [:Right in time for the fall.
Maura Giannobile [:The hot tub set to get all the string lights up, to get the door lock on. There's just so many little things afterwards. But, yeah, it'll be perfect and ready for fall.
Glenn Harper [:The, again, I'm just grinning because as the as an entrepreneurial journey goes, it's like if you either grow or you die, that's a rule. I mean, that just has to happen.
Julie Smith [:I mean, when you were here last time, you guys were like, I don't think we can do anything.
Glenn Harper [:You were you were tapped out.
Julie Smith [:You And
Glenn Harper [:then here we are.
Julie Smith [:And I remember you saying you guys have thought about selling your plans.
Maura Giannobile [:Mhmm.
Julie Smith [:Where where is that at?
Maura Giannobile [:So we do sell the plans for our lodge, which, we actually had an influencer stay at the lodge, just after we launched. And we had so so many people reach out to us after that wanting the plans. We started taking down all of their email addresses, and, we had the plans created in a format that we could actually turn around and sell them. And I think we've we've sold about 10 sets of plans, through our website. It's just on our website where you can actually go to book our cabins. So that's been nice. Like, every now and then, one of those orders comes through and
Glenn Harper [:Another revenue stream?
Maura Giannobile [:Yeah. This is great. Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:Well, you know, so we back to the thing of what did you have to give up so you could then expand other than trusting some other people. What else had to happen? Like, your mindset, like, financially, like, what are the things that you had to check off to go, okay, we can go do this now.
Maura Giannobile [:Mhmm. We had to have, we had a lot of hard conversations about how overwhelming things were becoming and that we we would like to continue expanding the cabin business, but were we mentally and physically able to do that? And the answer at the time that we had that conversation, or the first time that we had the conversation was no. We we don't feel like that we have the mental capacity to do that. So we knew some things had to change, and that's where, like, in talking about finding the right people, sometimes that just takes time. Right? And and we finally got to a place where we have a trusted team, and, that's helped so much. And I think that that kind of gave us the, sigh of relief to say, okay. We can do this now. We we have the right people.
Maura Giannobile [:We have backups to the right people. And now we can breathe knowing that if something goes wrong, we don't have to drop everything and drive down there, you know, on a Saturday night at at 10PM if if the septic starts stinking at one of the cabins and it's because somebody clogged a toilet and they didn't realize you know, just these things happen. But we have people that will go take care of the all of those things for us, and it saves us a three hour round trip. Right? So so we the team really was the key to feeling like we could expand. We also did I mean, we had to give up things in order to, continue on to purchase this third cabin. We actually, sold one of our long term rentals here. We were in a situation where the tenants were turning over after they had been there for about six years. The whole place was going to need remodeled.
Maura Giannobile [:We had just gotten our Franklin County property tax assessment where our property taxes were gonna go up in such a huge way. And this particular home was just not in a place where we could, really maximize rents to a place where we would be making much money on it. So we felt like there was something better we could do with that money. So we we sold that property and rolled it into a ten thirty one exchange, which I don't know I'm sure you guys are familiar with, in order to purchase this third property and the land, which will pay debt dividends to us, and it will multiply the amount of money we could have made just holding on to that long term rental. So I think that that was a place where we had to feel comfortable kind of pivoting and saying, okay. We started this journey a long time ago with just the long term rentals, but this has been a it's a stepping stone to get us to this next level, you know, something that's a bit more lucrative, and it's kind of like where our brand is headed at this point.
Glenn Harper [:Does that those decisions, were those the two of you came up with? Did you hire an adviser to help you with that and give you choices, or did you come up with it on your own?
Maura Giannobile [:We we came up with it on our own. We've seen, we've seen and heard of a lot of different it was the first time that we've ever done a ten thirty one exchange, but we had heard of, you know, a lot of other, friends within the business, utilizing that. So we said, you know what? I think it's time. It was it kinda worked out timing perfectly because they were moving out in August. This property was for sale. We were able to close in September on the new property. You know, we had an intermediary, obviously, who helped us through that, and it all worked out great.
Glenn Harper [:How about that? Mhmm.
Julie Smith [:So do does your team have the capacity as, you know, your brand grows to be able to take on, you know, all the cabins? Maybe. I'm not
Maura Giannobile [:sure yet. You know, I think even though we'll have been hosting for four years this August, we do still, feel like we are learning every day. I don't wanna say that we're going to I think this I said this the last time that I don't wanna tell you that we're gonna continue to expanding to where we have ten, twelve, you know, 15 cabins because I don't know if that's what's on the horizon. But we are certainly more open to it than we were before just in knowing that we have, we have a really good operation in place now, and we feel that we probably could, if the opportunity presented itself.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. Once you get the process set up, the system is plug and play. This is how much you can handle. Right?
Maura Giannobile [:When you
Julie Smith [:guys have done so much to evolve your rentals, like, when we went there the first time, it was great. We had a big family thing. But then the second time we went, we kind of went with friends, and I was celebrating my 20 birthday again. And you were like, we can get a chef and you can get groceries delivered. There was even pizza to live like, you had all these things. Sauna. Yeah. As an a sauna.
Julie Smith [:It just felt like, although we had been there, it was a completely different experience.
Maura Giannobile [:I'm really glad that you brought that up because I wouldn't have thought to bring it up today, but that has been, that has been huge for us. We it's it's simple things that have set our properties apart from others. And it was just as simple as reaching out to a few local vendors. Essentially, we're offering, like, a full guest experience now. So we offer shuttle service, you know, if you want to do a winery tour or a brewery tour tour while you're staying, a network of person personal chefs, to come to the cabin for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They also will, meal prep for you. Like, they can actually come to the cabin before you stay, do all your meal prep, leave everything in containers so that you're set to go for the weekend, provide you with trail provisions, things like that. And then, you know, we have in cabin spa services as well.
Maura Giannobile [:And you'd be well, maybe you wouldn't be surprised because you you kinda saw it firsthand. But how many people reach out to us and say, this is amazing that you offer this. There's, like, no one else that's really doing that, and that's why we chose to stay at your property. What we just had to make sure was that all of these people that we were inviting to become part of our team were vetted and, working at the highest level each and every time. So we actually use the personal chefs ourselves first. You know? And we use the in cabin massage ourselves. We have not used the brewery or the winery tour, guy, but we've met him, and he's fantastic, and he comes very highly recommended. So, these are all things that we have needed to do to pivot our business because the Hocking Hills is, like, growing at a super rapid rate right now, and they are they are things that set us apart.
Maura Giannobile [:And then the saunas, of course, we aren't the only ones that have them. They have been an absolute pain in the ass.
Glenn Harper [:Oh, boy.
Julie Smith [:It's I can imagine.
Maura Giannobile [:People don't know how to work them. Right. And they aren't, like, they aren't the strongest. You know, they're in those barrels, so they're they're just they're not made for, like, the vacation rental. They're made to be in a person's backyard
Glenn Harper [:Correct.
Maura Giannobile [:Not a vacation rental. They're not, like, commercial grade. So we've had issues with them, but, you know, it's a really good add on. They look really cool. They're out in the you know, with the trees and the backdrop and things like that. And it's images like that that draw people to come stay. They they, you know, you paint that picture for them, and they're like, wow. That looks really cool.
Maura Giannobile [:I wanna come stay there.
Glenn Harper [:You definitely hired a good interior designer to figure all that out. I think I think we got a note on that. Yes.
Julie Smith [:Well, no. I just think, you know, as busy entrepreneurs, you when you go to get away, not only do you wanna unplug necessarily, like, I don't wanna just have to check my email every two minutes to make sure I'm staying on top of it.
Maura Giannobile [:But I know that you do while you go away.
Glenn Harper [:It's impossible not to.
Julie Smith [:But you're looking for that, like, I don't have to think about it. Like, we're all at decision fatigue as entrepreneurs. And when you go to your your cabins, the value in that is, here's the list of people for this. Here's the list of people for this. Here's the list of people for this. And you even said, I'm happy to reach out to them if you want me to. You know? And it's like, well, I, you know, I can handle that part. But I just think Some people can't.
Julie Smith [:I'm sure.
Glenn Harper [:It's crazy.
Julie Smith [:But I just think that's what people are looking for at this point. Like, it's just you wanna when you go to that particular region, like, you wanna unplug, you wanna be present, and maybe you don't wanna have to think about, you know, what you're going to cook or what your where your meal comes from because, quite frankly, you're in the middle of nowhere. It's not like living here where there are Kroger's every two miles. Right?
Maura Giannobile [:Absolutely.
Julie Smith [:And so I I think I think that pivot is huge.
Maura Giannobile [:Yeah. Our goal has kind of been to, say we're not just an Airbnb. We're almost marrying the Airbnb and the hotel experience where you're getting something in between where you have this this space that's a whole lot cooler than a hotel, but you have, like, the luxuries of what you could have at a hotel. Right? So you feel like you're not just out there on your own. Like, let's throw in another frozen pizza tonight, which there's nothing wrong with that because we do we do that when we when we travel and when we're in Airbnbs, regularly. But, yeah, to have the option of of the personal chef is Did
Julie Smith [:just an experience. Yeah.
Glenn Harper [:Did you have some sort of epiphany? Again, there's this it's some people just have the I don't know if it's called the genius or they just can foresee what's gonna happen and go, That's what people need. Like, when you first started it, it wasn't gonna be like that. Right? And then what did you see? Is it something you're like, rentals the rate isn't I don't have enough, my days under rental are not enough. What do I gotta do to differentiate myself? What is like, what what was the process to go, I gotta do something which is radically different than everybody else?
Maura Giannobile [:Sure.
Glenn Harper [:Because that's something you gotta be a disruptor. Right? So, you know, as an entrepreneur, that's a common theme. Right? So how did you when did you have that, oh my gosh, this is what I need to be doing?
Maura Giannobile [:So at the end of last fall is always our busiest season. So we get through fall. We're a % booked at all of our cabins for through from September through November. Then come December, your books kind of fall apart. Right? We noticed this past year that our average average nightly rate was a whole lot lower than it was in years past. And I simply believe that that's due to the market saturation that's happening down in the Hawking Hills because there's just so many places to choose from. So I had told Tony, and this was after we had already implemented the saunas. That was one thing I just felt, was a differentiator.
Maura Giannobile [:But I said, I think there's some other things that we can do that don't involve necessarily a huge investment on our end. There's things that are free. They're free to us. We we just have to find the right people to help us, continue, you know, to build. And it wasn't you know, the saunas were a huge financial investment. This was just vetting the proper people, so it it was it was free. I mean, it it took some time. Right? But it was great to get to know these people who are able to help our business, and we're totally hands off.
Maura Giannobile [:They they book through a separate website if they want the personal chef for the in cabin massage or facial. The cork and tap is the name of the, the wine excursions. It's all done through their platforms then. So it's really no no skin off our back. We're just facilitating. And, starting next month, we'll also be adding, a photographer who can take family photos or, you know, if you're coming with all your girlfriends, she will come to the property, to any of our properties and do professional photos, which I think is kind of awesome. Just if a family's there for the weekend, they can you know, they have the the woods as their backdrop and take their family photos for the year.
Glenn Harper [:Dudes would never think of that. We'd be thinking, well, get some chainsaws, a log splitter, get hike in the woods, maybe do some deer hunting down there. You you guys have got these How
Maura Giannobile [:about some shooting?
Glenn Harper [:All that. Yeah. People do that sometimes down there. Yeah.
Maura Giannobile [:It's a really it's a huge it's a huge liability when there's guests staying at the other cabin and they're hiking behind there.
Glenn Harper [:Who knew after you proper safety that somebody would still be upset? But it happens sometimes. So I I don't know who would do such a thing.
Maura Giannobile [:I don't either. I
Glenn Harper [:The kids loved it.
Maura Giannobile [:Luckily, it doesn't happen very often.
Glenn Harper [:No. But some idiots, it's not in the disclaimer anywhere. But, you know No.
Maura Giannobile [:It's not in the rental agreement, like, six times.
Glenn Harper [:Who reads that? Let's be honest.
Maura Giannobile [:No. I can tell you almost no one. So you guys aren't alone.
Glenn Harper [:Yeah. Well, that was, unintended consequence. But, yeah, there's it was all safe for sure. That's good. But no. So, again, it's the it's great to, you know, any parting things you wanna talk about Wait. Wait. We have
Julie Smith [:to talk about what's what else does the future hold?
Glenn Harper [:Oh. Oh.
Julie Smith [:Maura and Tony are not happy with where they're
Glenn Harper [:at. Look at the vibe today is way different than before. They were just like, we are just done.
Julie Smith [:And here she's like,
Glenn Harper [:I got all this going.
Maura Giannobile [:We're, well, Tony I wanna say Tony's not involved, but he is. He he's he's so involved. He does all the financial stuff for the cabins, and he he always says I'm just the cheap labor. Right? But actually, me and a me and a girlfriend who, she also has a cabin down in the Hawking Hills, we've gotten together over the course of the last year or two and just recognized that there's a need in the market, for more software, efficiencies within, some of these these platforms that we have to use in order to run our business. Of course, we you know, people have to be able to book online and things like this. So we saw a giant gap in the market for being able to, essentially market to all of the people that are staying within your cabin rather than, just the person who books. So when somebody books, you tend to just get, you you know, their email address, and you have no idea who else is staying at at your place, which is a little bit of a scary thought. But now, we are we are creating something, that will really change that, and it will allow us to market back to all of the people that are are staying, within our our places.
Maura Giannobile [:And, we can you know, we'll be able to sell that to anybody internationally as well. But I won't say too much about that. She is leading the charge on that. She has sort of asked me to come in, as a as a salesperson, as somebody who, you know, both runs an Airbnb, as well as understands the need in the market for this and is, you know, savvy with sales as well. So kind of marrying the two and seeing where that goes. So maybe the next time I come in, I'll have a lot more to say about that.
Julie Smith [:That's what I I feel like we needed to know that. So in two years, we come back. We know you're on your ninth cabin.
Glenn Harper [:Data. Data. Data.
Julie Smith [:You have how many people in your interior design business that's helping to run your international Yes. Design services. Yeah. And then, you know, you're gonna be a huge software developer, and we'll wait for the next hook for the next time.
Maura Giannobile [:Yes. I will not be the software developer. I always say I'm technologically, like, just I have no idea what's going on, but I will definitely sell the crap out of that.
Glenn Harper [:Find the people get the you can sell the product if you believe in it. And then you're not only a user, but you can definitely represent to sell
Maura Giannobile [:it. Right.
Glenn Harper [:Well, that's exciting. Well, you know, I guess it's, we definitely this is fits the profile of our typical entrepreneurial guest.
Julie Smith [:I don't even have to ask the big question that I always ask.
Glenn Harper [:No. We already know these things. Never stopping. But, again, the the pivots, the epiphanies, the, have to, you know, give up control, all the things that an entrepreneur has to be to get to that next level, to break through that ceiling to get there. Like, you're demonstrating all of them, so well done.
Maura Giannobile [:Thank you.
Glenn Harper [:You know, tell Tony you should buy the bulldozer.
Julie Smith [:I Tell Tony we want him in here next time.
Glenn Harper [:He needs the bulldozer.
Maura Giannobile [:He asked if he should should come today, and I said no. We would have loved it.
Glenn Harper [:I thought he was the face of the company. What's going on here?
Maura Giannobile [:Well, his face right now, he just had nasal surgery last week. So we just got his cast off yesterday. So his nose is, like, twice the size that it usually is. So knowing that we are being video recorded today, he probably would have dipped out right when we got. No. That's We could have put him over there. Yeah.
Julie Smith [:I could have just pinged in every now and then.
Maura Giannobile [:Next time.
Glenn Harper [:Maura, it's definitely a pleasure having you on. Thanks for taking time to come over and talk about all the things. And, hopefully, our guests will find some nuggets out of that. And it's appreciate you having having you here again. I'm Keep it.
Julie Smith [:First, we need to have her give her plug for the cabins. And if she's got a new website, what does that look like? How can we
Glenn Harper [:find you? Here? I keep I I thought we already did that, but that's okay. Hit us.
Maura Giannobile [:Well, I appreciate that. We own the Everwoods Cabins, in the Hocking Hills. It's just www.theeverwoods.com. My business will be changing names to the Everwoods Interiors, so that should be pretty easy, for everybody to remember if they know the Everwoods cabins. And my website will be as such, the everwoodsinteriors.com.
Julie Smith [:That
Maura Giannobile [:will be launching on the thirtieth of this month.
Glenn Harper [:And don't forget, she's not too busy to take care of you. She'll do a great job and loves a good project. Alright. Well, thanks again. I'm
Julie Smith [:Glenn Harper. Julie Smith.
