Meet Rose
The homeschooling mom of 6 who turned her family’s tragedy into a success story by starting her own vacation rental business.
80%
Direct Bookings
Co-author
Top-Rated Hospitality Book
40%
Repeat Guests
“I got the phone call people have nightmares about...”
He was on the business track; working long & stressful hours in the oil & gas industry.Â
While she was on the mom track making little humans and homeschooling.
Life was hectic. But it was the life they loved, the life they wanted, and the life they’d always planned for.Â
Until one day that perfect plan came crashing down…
- “He was on his way to an oil & gas conference when he got hit head-on by another vehicle driving down a two-lane country road.”
“I didn’t want to be a widow”
A cracked sternum pushing back into his heart
Multiple broken ribs
And concussion so severe, he’d forgotten who he was…
- “I had to go to the hospital that was an hour away. But I was sitting there with 4 children, pregnant with baby #5 on the way, and on the phone with the hospital that wouldn't even tell me whether Brian was dead or alive. All I kept thinking was…I don’t want to be a widow.”
It took Rose’s husband several months to recover from his injuries. Not wanting to go back to his old job, they discussed several different options.
But all of them meant more time away from home and less time with his family.
- “I knew we needed to pivot. And do it fast…”
“He showed me this little cabin on a lake…”
Until one day when Brian showed her a photo of a property for sale on 19-acres with 2 lakes and a little cabin. And he wanted to buy it…
- “I was upset. Because when you’re that pregnant with baby #5, there is NOTHING you want to think about other than getting that baby out of your body. So him randomly coming to me with some new massive project…it was just a no for me.”
“What do you mean we have a property?”
Not long after giving birth to their 5th child, Rose & her husband were at a Christmas party when they’re real estate agent walked up to her…
- “She said hey we’re closing on your property next week! And I said…excuse me, what? We didn’t’ buy a property. What are you talking about?”
It was at that moment Rose found out Brian had purchased the 19-acre property without her knowing.
“I had a choice to make…”
Rose was shocked. Brian had never done something like this before…
- “I found out it’s actually really common for people who suffer from severe brain injuries to experience changes in their mood and act irrationally.”
But the reality was they now were the owners of this property. And Rose had a decision to make…
She knew nothing about vacation rentals or running a business. But Rose did know one thing…
She doesn’t do anything halfway.
So she rolled up her sleeves and dove head first into learning everything she possibly could about short term rentals.
“It needed a total gut job…”
Rose dove head first into learning everything she possibly could about short-term rentals.
- “I bought every book that I could find on vacation rentals and listened to every podcast. I literally sat at soccer practices with a highlighter taking notes. Like I just knew, I was just gonna do this.”
She put together a business plan and pitched it to several banks, of which all 3 offered loans.
From there, they hired a contractor to completely renovate the cabin. And before she knew it, the Tipka’s had opened their very first vacation rental.
She had doubts, but Rose knew they had more than just a property…
“I wanted to own a real brand…”
Rose & Brian fell in love with hospitality. And they decided to build a 2nd vacation rental property. A much larger 4 bedroom property that could sleep 12.
They called it “Mt. Pleasant Lodge”.
And it made A LOT more money than their 1st property.
- “That’s when it hit us…large family homes for large family getaways. And that’s how our niche was born.”
It was their biggest vacation rental home yet, totaling 6 bedrooms that could house up to 20 guests.Â
They called it “The Cottage at Maple Pond”.
“I was exhausted trying to do everything…”
The Tipka’s had 3 vacation rental properties, happy guests, and booked calendars. And still, Rose found herself overwhelmed, working more than she ever had before…
- “I was trying to market all of the properties separately. Each one had it’s own Facebook page, it’s own Instagram page, so I was doing double duty and it was just so much work.”
That’s when she stumbled across Mark Simpson who changed the way she thought about hosting…
- “Successful companies have a brand identity. They’re selling an experience, not just the individual pieces of merchandise.”
“Rose knew she needed a direct booking website…”
There was no question Boostly websites had the professional look and feel Rose was after….but was it worth the cost?
Still not convinced, she decided to try building one herself first. But quickly learned she didn’t have the technical skills…
“The reality is everything costs money. The question you gotta ask yourself is how much is your time worth? I did the DIY method and in the end, it was just a huge waste of time. My guests didn’t trust it, so they just went back to book through Airbnb.”
“I wasn’t embarrassed anymore…”
So she hired Boostly to create her direct booking website for her. And when she saw it for the first time, a feeling of relief washed over her…
- “I had this image in my head of how I wanted it to look. And when I saw it for the first time I just felt this wave of relief. Not just because it looked the way I wanted it to, but because Boostly delivered on their brand promise.”
Rose’s Website: yourfamilysplace.com
“The results spoke for themselves…”
Less than a year after Rose’s new Boostly website went live…
- 80% of their bookings were direct.
- 40% of those reservations were repeat guests.
- They’re adding to their brand with a 4th vacation rental property.
- “Just 1 of those repeat bookings covered the entire start up cost of our Boostly website.”
She even landed a book deal…
“I still get to be home raising my children…
Although it was the worst moment of her life, Rose & Brian often joke about how they wouldn’t be where they are today if he hadn’t been in that accident…
- “Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Everything is great, then nothing is great. And the reality is life is both of those things.”
Thanks to her hard work, and a Boostly website, Rose can do things today she would’ve never been able to before…
Like a big family vacation to London…
- “I get to take my whole family to London/Paris for the Hospitable Host book launch event. Because we have our own company and we can do things on our own terms, we have the freedom of flexibility to go on this big vacation that we never could have afforded back then. It feels like this vacation is a treat. A dessert for all the hard work we’ve been doing.”
But the thing she cherishes the most is the freedom to be with her family…
“There’s a difference between successful and unsuccessful STR businesses...”
If there’s one piece of advice Rose could give anyone who was in a similar spot she was…it’s don’t get stuck in research mode. Otherwise you’ll just be living in analysis paralysis.Â
You have to take action…
- “You don’t just wake up one day and have a direct booking game. It takes education, planning, putting the right systems in place, and then taking real steps forward.”