February 17, 2026
#172 How to Design Your Life and Business Through Short-Term Rentals
What would your life look like if you actually designed it on purpose? I’m talking about the nitty-gritty details, girlfriend. How you spend your mornings, who you choose to work with, and exactly where you pour your creative energy.
Most people let life happen to them, but as short-term rental entrepreneurs, we have the unique opportunity to build a business that serves our life, not the other way around.
Recently, I had a powerful conversation with Erica Egner, a certified Airbnb stylist and designer who transitioned from a burnt-out graphic designer to a thriving entrepreneur.
Her journey is a masterclass in intentionality. If you have ever felt like your business is dictating your schedule instead of supporting your freedom, it is time to look at what is actually happening inside your operation.
Designing Your Life from the Big Picture Backward
Erica and her husband met in college as design majors. Like many of us, they did the “normal” thing first: commuting, spending eight-plus hours at work, and dropping their baby off at daycare. They realized very quickly that they were already feeling burnt out. Instead of just complaining about it, they decided to apply their design skills to their own lives.
They started with the big picture. If they could pick anything, what would their lives look like? For them, the answer was quality time, autonomy, and the freedom to travel. Once they had that vision, they worked backward to ensure every decision they made aligned with those goals. This shift alone can save you years of heading in the wrong direction.
Lessons from a Scruffy 1970s A-Frame
The leap into short-term rentals started with a quirky, scruffy 1970s A-frame cabin near Mount Baker in Washington. It was a property that looked like the set of a horror movie, but Erica saw the potential. She and her husband spent sixteen months renovating it themselves.
Through that process, Erica learned that she was obsessed with the transformation. But more importantly, she fell in love with the hospitality aspect. Creating a space that guests described as “healing” after a personal loss made her realize that we aren’t just renting rooms. We are delivering pieces of a lifelong memory for our guests. When your business aligns with your passion for service, the work feels less like a grind and more like a calling.
Protecting Your Boundaries as You Scale
As Erica moved into co-hosting, she hit a common hurdle: the “people-pleaser” trap. Many women in the STR sisterhood feel the need to be friends with everyone and respond to owners and guests 24/7. Erica realized that her time with her family was being sacrificed for unnecessary communication.
Now, she is intentionally keeping her co-hosting portfolio small and boutique. By setting firm boundaries, she is better at her job and has the space to continue her design career. Remember, your goal is predictability and freedom, not chaos. If you scale chaos, you will eventually burn out and disappoint your clients.
Stop Figuring It Out Alone
One of the biggest takeaways from Erica’s journey is the power of “knowledge hacking.” Instead of trying to figure out every system and interior design principle from scratch, she plugged into mentors and communities. This took away the overwhelming feeling of “I give up” and kept her moving forward.
You can accelerate your growth by looking for people who are a few steps ahead of where you want to be. Whether it is mastering the mechanics of working with a certified Airbnb stylist or building robust operational systems, don’t operate on an island. Lady, it is time to step up and align your daily actions with your biggest vision.
Click here now to listen to the full podcast.
HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY POINTS:
[00:18] A short introduction about our guest Erica Egner, how she got started into the world of short-term rental, and how it has changed her life
[03:02] Erica explains how shared values around time, freedom, and family guided major life and career decisions with her partner
[06:43] Erica describes how patience, research, and shared values guided conversations around starting in short-term rentals
[12:06] How reframing the short-term rental as an easy family escape helped Erica’s husband embrace the idea
[13:28] Erica reflects on how applying design fundamentals in a real-world renovation revealed a natural shift toward interior design
[17:34] How foundational design training shaped the way Erica approaches interior design in short-term rentals
[18:39] Erica describes how methodical pacing and hands-on involvement defined her co-hosting growth and journey
[23:29] Erica explains how proximity, standards, and fit now guide her co-hosting client decisions
[25:11] Erica shares how learning to set boundaries became essential to protecting her time and energy, and
[28:15] How designing Erica’s own short-term rental revealed a clear and natural entry point into the interior design world
[32:47] How learning from others helped Erica avoid overwhelm and keep moving forward instead of giving up
[35:31] Erica outlines how timing, self-awareness, and life stage have shaped how she integrates work she loves with family life
[37:21] Erica reflects on how intentional daily actions, not luck, are what ultimately shaped the life she and her partner built
[41:07] The lightning round
Golden Nuggets:
- “I am learning about how to have boundaries for myself, and also just that having those boundaries really makes you better at doing your job, and so you have to have them.”
- “Each of us can accelerate our growth, whether it is growing our businesses or just growing our knowledge and expanding opportunities by knowledge hacking.”
- “If you have a goal, and that’s what you’re working for, and every single decision you make is wondering if that’s in alignment with this goal, then it’s not luck. You’re doing the right thing.”
- “When we have our daily actions in alignment with our goals, the things that are important to us, when those are aligned, that is exactly how we reverse engineer what it is that we want.”
Let’s Connect!
Website : https://perennial.style/about
https://perennialstays.rentals/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/perennialstyle_wa
https://www.instagram.com/perennialstays.rentals/
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