Bombshell Business Podcast With Amber Hurdle

Cue: “This Girl is On Fire,” and THEN start this episode!  Alex Husner, along with her partner in crime and our guest on episode 148, have taken the Vacation Rental Industry by storm! One of the many things I love about this Bombshell is she always operates in a spirit of continuous improvement and never settles, while taking others along with her as she elevates. Committing to and announcing the Alex & Annie Podcast at VRMA International 2021, she and Annie took a leap of faith that paid off, and are now coming back to VRMA 2022 hosting its first ever red carpet event for the “Homerunners” premier. She also was appointed as the Board Chair of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce/CVB, was recently appointed as CMO of Casago, a national VR brand, after achieving remarkable success as her beloved former local brand, Condo World, and was also recently appointed to the Vacation Rental Management Association's (VRMA) national board of directors.  But no need to widen any door frames to get Alex’s head thr

Most people would describe Annie Holcombe as experienced, supportive and about as genuine as they come. This unassuming rock star came into my world, and let’s just say neither of us let the other go! We, along with her podcasting partner in Crime, Alex Husner, became fast friends, all fully committed to being women who support other women, while still cheering on the guys, too, of course!   That’s why it’s been incredibly overwhelming for me to have a front row seat to her personal journey throughout the past year, watching how as her personal growth evolved, so did her personal power.    Since launching the Alex & Annie Podcast, Annie increasingly dismissed where her comfort zone even was, which skyrotted her as a vacation rental authority and the podcast was featured as a Top 30 Hospitality Podcasts by the Global Hospitality Institute having been on air for less than a year!!!   Join us as we have a transparent conversation about what it takes to go inward in order to shine your brightest outwardly. The we

Robin Craigen, CEO of Moving Mountains, is the perfect example of my branding philosophy that breaks brand success into three parts: personal brands, employer brands and business brands.  You see, when leaders leverage their personal brands to uphold their company’s employer brand through communication, engagement and infusing the company’s culture into every aspect of operations, customers then enjoy a strengthened business brand experience, true to the heart and soul of the organization. It takes all three pieces working together for a company to find longstanding success. A true leader in his industry and community, Robin figured this out along the way, and now enjoys all of the benefits that come with an intentional focus in these key areas. Robin and his super star wife, Heather, have the best backstory that led them to where they are today: the leading luxury vacation rental management company in Colorado. (Just Google them and plenty of articles will say this for them.) I’m happy to rock the mic wit

In this episode I get to interview four key players on the Better Talent team, an outsourced talent acquisition team for the vacation rental industry who finds full-time, part-time, on-call, seasonal and contract workers to round out their customers’ people stacks and offers ongoing talent strategy and support through an easy, affordable, subscription-based model. Tune in as Steve Trover, Adam Tully, Stephanie Rounds and Corrie Baguio walk you through what best practices they use to attract talent on behalf of their customers. Of course, I asked all of the questions so YOU know what a first-class recruiting experience looks like so you can pull out the parts that are realistic for you to implement in your own hiring efforts. I also really dug into the importance of culture, and how each of them contribute to the Better Talent culture, so you can see what that looks like through the lens of both senior leaders and team members. Finally, I ask them to share the success factors the companies who routinely get th

Our guest today is Natalie Palmer, who runs a boutique vacation rental management company, is actively growing her real estate portfolio, and hosts No Vacancy The Podcast, where she shares weekly hosting advice. She works diligently to help set up hosts for success, and loves sharing relatable hosting content. She lives in Southern California and manages her mountain listings remotely, while staying home with her two kids under two. (Yes, you read that right!) Natalie shows how niching down in any industry can launch an entire career that you can design to work around your lifestyle simply by creating spaces you want to be in.  Connect with Natalie Palmer Instagram: https://instagram.com/__nataliepalmer Podcast: https://www.hostwithnatalie.com/podcast The Vacation Rental Industry Take Over Week We are showcasing some of my friends and a couple new friends between The Book Direct Show and the VRMA International Conference, so Bombshells can learn from some of the most innovative, flexible and authentic busin

Our guest today, Ryan Luke, CEO of Luke Capital Group, exploded onto the Short Term Rental scene and acquired a controlling portfolio of over $80m in under three years. He believes his previous jobs and failing businesses helped change his mindset and actions which have led to this result. He also firmly believes the product or service doesn’t matter, that business is business, and there are some core principles that great success rests on.  Tune in to find out what he focused on to find this level of success in this episode! Connect with Ryan Luke LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlukeuk/ All of the Links: www.linktr.ee/officialryanluke The Vacation Rental Industry Take Over Week We are showcasing some of my friends and a couple new friends between The Book Direct Show and the VRMA International Conference, so Bombshells can learn from some of the most innovative, flexible and authentic business people out there! From mindset to business modeling, culture, employer branding, marketing, leadership,

Today’s guest is someone I’ve had the privilege to get to know over the past year, and as a brand connoisseur have developed a deep respect for her unapologetically authentic personal brand. What I’ve learned about her is that she has found her way to pursue both her passion and her vocation, as different as they may be, while overcoming limiting beliefs to successfully define and position her value within her industries. Importantly for me, anyway, I have fallen in love with her deep intention in all areas of her life, while nurturing the connections she makes along the way. About Sarah Franzen Sarah Franzen, Director of Revenue Management and Analytics at Natural Retreats, a luxury vacation rental management company, is the recipient of the inaugural “Vacation Rental Revenue Manager of the Year” award, presented at the DARM conference in 2021. Methodical, yet a creative strategic thinker and doer, Sarah is a seasoned professional with dynamic experience and education in sales, business, marketing, revenu

What a joy it was to chat with Jeff Madoff, who has his fingerprints all over brands such as Ralph Lauren, Victoria’s Secret, Radio City Music Hall, and the Harvard School for Public Health. He also had the opportunity to pull from his many years teaching as a professor to hone his message into easily absorbed ideas for his book and his podcast, both named Creative Careers. He talks about the value of experimenting with different forms of expression and remaining curious as you pursue various forms of education – be it reading a book, attending a play or experiencing visual or performance art. From a deep place of experience, Jeff shares how to run your ideas like your business and turn your ideas into a living. He also shares sage advice to not lose the trust of your customers – which is critical today more than ever! Jeff says that creativity is the ability to see relationships between ideas, which I absolutely agree with! As someone who was raised (and put through private school) by a drummer and a culina

I cannot believe I’ve been in business for TEN YEARS! Apparently, I become a busy gal in October. After all, it’s my birthday month! It’s also the month that I tend to…well…birth things! 

In this episode, epic event emcee, professional speaker, former Home Shopping Network personality and CEO of a multi-apparel company, and my sweet friend, Carolyn Strauss, shares how to harvest the best outcomes from your sphere of influence. She believes that everything is about being helpful, and the more help you offer, the more money you make. While there really is a ton of genuine advice in this episode about sales, positioning and knowing your value, this is really you being a fly on the wall as my dear friend and I real talk about our experiences as speakers, as (single) women in business who are sometimes considered “too much” and so much more. I think women will relate and men will see a different perspective that is helpful.  About Carloyn Strauss Carolyn Strauss is a former CEO of a multi-million dollar apparel company featured on the Home Shopping Network, one of the top professional female emcees in the world, and a sought after professional speaker having earned her CSP. She is the author of fiv

Our guest on this episode took the consumer electronics brand, Belkin, from $400 million to one billion dollars in annual revenue in only four years. As the president of Kenmore Craftsman Diehard for Sears Holding he transformed these iconic American brands by launching Kenmore and Diehard exclusively on Amazon with Kenmore becoming the first major appliance to be sold on Amazon. He is the former president of the Disney Stores Worldwide…and so much more! As someone who has seen just a few economic cycles while running major brands, I could not think of a better guide for us all than my friend, Tom Park, who offers specific and sage advice, especially for middle and lower middle market companies, as we continue to move towards increasingly uncertain times.  We also talk about consumer product trends, managing expenses, focusing on the customer experience, building infrastructure to get ahead of the curve, employee retention, creating a culture of accountability to achieve budget, the importance of market s

Today our guest is going to teach us one of my favorite things: how to lead with curiosity. She will reveal how recognizing that failures are part of the process and will actually unlock more success. And it’s also a special guest because she is a very, very close friend of mine who knows my secrets, my dreams, my insecurities and even the successes I don’t publicly share. Tiffany Napper, the Holistic Business Coach, is a blessing to me and I know you are going to adore her, too. In this episode Tiffany is going to ask you to start acting more like a scientist and get really curious with their next goal or project.  She challenges you to ask five questions as you look at a future challenge and notice how it unlocks new paths for success. Tune in so you can hear her unpack the deeper context to each of the questions: 1-What did you learn? 2-How much of that was within your control? 3-What could or would you do differently next time? 4-Is that valuable information to you moving forward? 5-Where would we be w

In this episode I tap into my guest, friend and colleague Jill Schiefelbein’s expertise on the importance of personalization, customization, and agency or choice in consumer communication. Together we discuss how synthetic media and artificial intelligence is the new frontier of business communication improving sales, decision making, and relationship building.  If you desire better brand loyalty, increased sales and faster decision making, then this episode is one to take in! It will either make you eager to dive into more tech-focused communication channels or even simply rethink how you can leverage personalization in a more compelling way with your existing communication. Tune in on your favorite listening app, go to AmberHurdle.com/podcastS and look for episode 137 or check it out on YouTube.  Oh, and share this episode, too, please! You can be so hipster about knowing about this emerging technology in the future!  About Jill Schiefelbein Jill Schiefelbein is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, a

High Emotional intelligence (EQ)  is directly related to your ability to lead and connect with others. In this episode my friend and colleague, Kathleen Riessen, shows us how EQ can actually help us with our strategic planning, a critical component of a successful business.  People with higher EQs sell more, earn more and lead more joyful lives. Together we cover the three key principles of EQ: vision, a focus on intention over mechanism and accountability.  Tune in on your favorite listening app, on the website or on YouTube! About Kathleen Riessen Kathleen Riessen is a sought-after business advisor focused on teaching emotional intelligence to small and mid-sized service-based businesses. Using her background as a former Certified Public Accountant, owner of seven service-based businesses and master trainer in emotional intelligence, Kathleen created the 10 principles to building an emotionally intelligent company. Now she teaches them to executives and their teams all over the world. Connect with Kathl

According to this week’s guest, burnout is a two-way street, meaning it is incumbent upon business leaders to make sure their employees are mentally healthy and happy. It’s within a leader’s purview to ensure their culture and environment is NOT a leading driver of potential burnout. That’s why I’m excited to share my interview with my friend and colleague, author and speaker Janice Litvin, who helps us take a realistic hard look at our organizations and lives in terms of how we impact our teams, our families, and ourselves.  About Janice Litvin Janice Litvin, Burnout Speaker, is on a mission to help leaders and teams banish burnout in their organizations. What makes Janice unique is her twenty years of experience in recruiting, ten years in IT, and her study of psychology. Her book, Banish Burnout Toolkit teaches readers how to change the way they react to stress. She is the president of National Speakers Association (Northern CA) and member of Welcoa, MPI, and SHRM. Connect with Janci Litvin Website: http

As we continue to move into season 7 of the podcast I am sticking with the theme of interviewing my incredibly smart, talented friends. This week’s guest? She’s bringing her SUPERFAN formula! Everyone has the power to create superfans: loyal, enthusiastic customer advocates. In this episode my friend and Nashville neighbor, Brittany Hodak, shares her memorable, five-part framework that teaches actionable steps businesses must take to turn customers into superfans.  Here’s a sneak peak at her “superfan” framework: S: Start with your story. U: Understand your customer story.  (“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care” – President Theodore Roosevelt.) P: Personalize. (Super fans are created at the intersection of your story and your customer stories in a way that’s memorable and meaningful to them.) E: Exceed expectations.  R: Repeat  So whether you are a larger business or a soloproneur, by using this framework you can go from commodity provider to a category of one in the minds of

In this episode of the Bombshell Business Podcast I chat with one of my girl crushes, the brilliant, crazy smart Dr Mary Kelly CSP, CPAE, PHD, CDR US Navy (ret), an in demand professional speaker and leadership economist who shares how executives and business leaders can be more thoughtful about their organizational and talent strategy by understanding economic market forces. Together we discuss: Strategies for flexible leadership  How leaders can guide their teams step-by-step through the constant change we are experiencing  The importance of Highly Visible Leaders and much more! Tune in on your favorite listening app, check out the show notes at AmberHurdle.com/podcastS or watch it on YouTube. About Mary Kelly CSP, CPAE, PHD, CDR US Navy (ret) Mary improves productivity and profit growth for medical groups.  As a corporate strategist, Mary works with medical teams to make the right decisions to grow their practices. Mary is a Naval Academy graduate who served 21 years on active duty in intelligence

It’s the 6-year anniversary of the Bombshell Business Podcast this week! Here are six things I’ve learned from the past year of podcast that I want to share with you! #1: You make it totally worth making this podcast happen. My peers hear me talk about my audience and some of them have been inspired to start their own just because of the relationship they can build with listeners like you. They see how much I treasure you. Truly. #2: There are things out of my control and there are things within my control. I thought I knew this before, but I feel like in the past year I have learned the art of letting go. Want to experience more about growing through the hard stuff? Check out Pauline Nguyen’s episode.  Personal Development Cannot Happen Without Personal Disruption with Pauline Nguyen (120) #3: Focus, focus, focus. (Simplify to amplify.) In business, having a core focus is imperative. With the world being so wonky right now it is harder than ever to find and keep that focus, but I’ve been trying! My episod

Do you want to build resilience, increase self awareness and improve your understanding of others? -Today more than ever I believe the entire world could benefit from all of these things.  Well it’s a good thing this week I was lucky enough to have Robin Hills on today’s episode of the Bombshell Business Podcast. We discuss defining emotional intelligence and how hard it is to work with emotions and that they are not fluffy, but rather hard to work with! Robin explains the importance of identifying your individual feelings and using that data to inform what you are going to do next. You can then use that data to interact with your team, and show them much needed empathy. Part of this journey includes strengthening your self awareness by using feedback and failures as your guide, and remembering to do what feels right. Later in the episode we focus on strengthening leadership skills by recognizing our impact on others. We need to remember that people are the sum of their past and present experiences, honor

I don’t know about you, but there are times where leadership feels pretty heavy. We have a lot on us and the world seems to become an increasingly strange place to navigate, let alone lead.  That’s why I was especially grateful for my conversation with Mark Moncheck. In this episode of The Bombshell Business Podcast Mark walks us through how to come from a place of “abundant leadership.”  He then encourages us to understand the difference between being and doing, and how “doing” from a “state of being” is the most powerful form of leadership.  After all, what is your legacy in the business that you are running? Throughout the episode, Mark challenges us to consider our impact on the world, our employees, and our communities. Then he walks us through how to pursue actual visioning of the future as he challenges us to define what we want our lives to stand for. Tune in to consider how “abundant leadership” is different from other forms of leadership and get a heaping dose of Mark’s positive and powerful pr