From Flight Hostess to Vacation Rental Business Consulting:
In the Journey series we tackle the stories of the leaders of the Short Term Industry, this series is presented by Turbosuite and hosted by Flo. In today’s journey we present you Lisa Roads, who went from wanting to be a Flight Hostess to Vacation Rental Business Consulting.
Lisa was born into a military family in Hannover, and as a result, her childhood was defined by frequent moves and travels. Due to this upbringing, her initial career aspiration was to become an air hostess.
Lisa’s professional journey began with several roles. She started out as a commercial manager for a few years, then moved on to the public sector and served in the civil service at the Ministry of Defense. After that, she became a diplomat in Saudi Arabia. Finally, she returned to the private sector by assuming the position of commercial director in the telecommunications industry.
After some time, she realized that while she was creating value, it was for other businesses. This realization sparked her desire to start her own venture.
She refers to herself as a connector, understanding the importance of forging relationships with people and recognizing the opportunities they can bring. Flo points out that as artificial intelligence advances and eliminates jobs that lack social connections, she is ahead of her time.
Her father, who started a business after retiring from the military, instilled many of Lisa’s entrepreneurial skills in her. At the age of 22, Lisa ventured into the property business, following her father’s advice to invest in this industry. She has always sought profitable investment opportunities and identified areas with future potential. This led her to invest in Cyprus.
As an astute entrepreneur, Lisa noticed a gap in the market. She observed a lack of services catering to the needs of property investors. To address this, she established a comprehensive service in Cyprus, specializing in marketing and renting properties.
At the time, there was no technology available for property management and related tasks, presenting significant challenges for Lisa.
Managing people emerged as the biggest obstacle while building her business. The satellite nature of her operations required extensive commitment to team training, systems, and processes. Additionally, agility was crucial due to the constant influx of tenants throughout the year. Managing payments and cash flows in Cyprus posed yet another hurdle as the bank she worked with went under.
Before the pandemic, Lisa sensed that things were changing. Consequently, she transitioned the Cyprus property business to a new owner and took a six-month hiatus to reinvest in herself. During this time, she prepared, developed new skills, and embarked on her next venture: online coaching and consulting to help others scale and manage their own property management companies, mirroring her own success.
Lisa joined nine other female leaders to write a book about entrepreneurship,which quickly rose to the top spot in three business categories. It offers insights into the challenges that often go unnoticed from an external perspective.
Starting her own business allowed Lisa to break free from the constraints of a regular job. Her primary focus now is adding value to businesses and generating profits. She is determined to tackle the endeavors she had previously been unable to pursue.
Overall, Lisa’s journey encompasses key aspects of revenue management, including strategic investment, market analysis, technology utilization, adaptability, and financial performance management. By effectively incorporating revenue management principles into her business approach, Lisa was able to drive revenue growth, optimize profitability, and achieve success in the property industry.
Watch the full interview here. Did you miss our first Journey? Find it here.
