August 18, 2026

#198 ​​​​How Traci Capraro Built a Short-Term Rental Portfolio From One Tax Appointment

Traci Capraro was sitting in her CPA’s office doing her annual taxes when she heard the sentence that changed her life: “Oh boy, you’re going to owe a lot of money this year.” Today she’s the founder of Take a TraCation, she manages six properties across the Carolinas, and that dreaded tax bill is the reason she owns a short-term rental portfolio at all.

Her tech company had gone public. Shares she’d collected that were worth nothing suddenly counted as ordinary income the moment they vested, and the only way to pay the tax was to sell them.

“That was a hard pill for me to swallow,” she told me. “I didn’t want to sell shares to pay the government.”

So she asked a better question: how do we avoid this next year?

The CPA conversation that started a short-term rental portfolio

Her CPA gave her three options. Have a baby, start a business, or buy a second home.

Traci was 47 and single. As she put it, the baby-making machine was closed. She was a W-2 employee who liked her biweekly paycheck, so a business felt like a stretch.

But she grew up on the Jersey Shore and had always pictured retiring at the beach. So she bought an oceanfront condo in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, and rented it when she wasn’t using it.

Traci didn’t just receive information. She acted on it inside the same tax year.

So let me ask you this. When your accountant or your own data tells you something uncomfortable, do you ask what it means, or do you ask what you’re going to do about it? That habit is the difference between a nice idea and a real short-term rental portfolio.

(Before you build a strategy around tax treatment, read IRS Publication 925 and take it to your own CPA.)

Her first deal was a failed BRRRR, and she’ll tell you exactly why

Traci toured five condos with her mom and made an offer on her favorite. Best views. Best location. It also needed a ton of work.

“I went on emotion,” she said. “I was not prepared.”

She was pulling subcontractors out of the parking lot on demo weekend, and the renovation ran long and cost more than she planned.

Then came the thing she never asked about: HOA special assessments. The monthly fees looked wonderfully low compared to other Myrtle Beach condos, because the association assessed owners four times a year instead.

Storms rolled through. Insurance climbed. Values stalled. There was no equity to pull, and she’s still carrying a rate around 8.6%.

But watch what she did with it.

What her second deal taught her about growing a short-term rental portfolio

She made five offers before one got accepted.

Five. Because she was finally running numbers instead of falling in love. She budgeted better, refinanced at twelve months, and pulled about $40,000 out to move into the next deal.

So let me lovingly nudge you here. If your first property underperformed, the problem usually isn’t the property. It’s the order of operations. Traci fell in love first and ran numbers second, and the market charged her for it.

What’s the one number that makes you walk away, and do you know it before you tour?

Diversifying a short-term rental portfolio across beach and mountains

Traci’s second purchase wasn’t random. She was worried about coastal seasonality, so she bought intentionally in the North Carolina mountains, where the seasons run exactly opposite. That first year, the cabin’s winter revenue helped pay beach expenses.

She had rules, too. It had to be drivable from Charlotte, and it had to be a market she genuinely knew. “I didn’t want to be in a market that I was unfamiliar with,” she said, because guests always ask for local recommendations.

A diversified portfolio isn’t about collecting doors. It’s about making sure one storm or one slow season can’t take down your whole business.

How an Instagram renovation diary became a co-hosting business

Traci was posting her renovation on Instagram, mostly because she didn’t know how else to promote a rental.

A former colleague saw it. She owned a property near Pawleys Island, wasn’t happy with her management company, and asked Traci to show her how she ran things.

On that call, the friend saw the systems: a property management platform, Turno for turnovers, PriceLabs for pricing, all automated. She stopped asking for a tutorial and asked Traci to just do it for her.

“One of the smartest things I ever did was invest in a coaching program,” Traci said, “because that coaching program taught me how to create the foundation, technology, and operations.”

That friend is still her client, with all five-star reviews.

Read that again. Traci never pitched. Her operations did the selling. If you’re weighing another purchase against managing for someone else, my breakdown of short-term rental ownership versus co-hosting walks through both.

Choosing owners who protect your Superhost status

Traci has one property right now that isn’t performing, with owners who won’t invest what it needs. She’s considering parting ways, which is hard when every property feels like proof you’re building something. But her Superhost status is on the line.

Mike Michalowicz calls this pumpkin planning: pulling clients who are no longer a fit out of your business, so you can go find the right-fit client.

Here’s the honest part I loved. Traci hasn’t actually had the breakup yet. She used ChatGPT to script a professional conversation, and the owners talked her into three more months. She hung up thinking, that didn’t go how I thought it would.

Every operator I know has had that call. The fix isn’t better wording. It’s deciding your walk-away line before you dial, and saying it out loud to someone else first. Boundaries you haven’t rehearsed tend to evaporate under pressure.

The cleaning systems holding this short-term rental portfolio together

Cleaning is where Traci has the least visibility and the most exposure, and she treats it accordingly.

She hires by referral only, then interviews with situations rather than resumes: What do you do if you arrive at 11 and the guest hasn’t checked out? What if the sheets are destroyed?

Everything runs through Turno, photos get uploaded, and she keeps a backup. Because as she put it, you don’t want to be on an airplane trying to Facebook message a cleaner to get to your property in the next thirty minutes.

Turnovers are the most controllable part of this business. Leave them undialed and you’ll feel it every changeover.

What your kids see while you build a short-term rental portfolio

A few weeks before we recorded, Traci asked her 16-year-old what he wanted to do after high school. He told her he wants to get into real estate and do what she does. She’s putting him to work this summer as her social media intern.

That’s the part nobody puts on a spreadsheet. Your kids are watching you absorb an 8.6% mistake and keep going anyway.

Traci credits her father with the best advice she’s ever received: every day is an interview. Her story is proof that it isn’t too late, and that a rough first deal isn’t a verdict on your ability.

If you’re building your own short-term rental portfolio and you’re tired of piecing it together alone, come sit with us inside the STR Sisterhood. There’s a seat for you.

You can find Traci on Instagram at @takeatracation or at TakeATraCation.com.

Click here now to listen to the full podcast.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY POINTS:

Golden Nuggets:

• “Having a diversified portfolio is a way to protect ourselves from risk.”
• “One of the smartest things I ever did was invest in a coaching program because that coaching program taught me how to create the foundation, technology, and operations.”
• “If I had to start over again, I would do co-hosting in a heartbeat.”
• “Pumpkin planning is you pulling clients out of your business that are no longer a fit that may be costing you effort, energy, resources, so that you can go and find a right fit client for you.”
• “Look in the mirror and be your biggest cheerleader instead of your biggest critic.”

Connect With Our Guest:

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/takeatracation/

Website : https://takeatracation.com/

Full Episode Transcript:

Stacey: Today we’re joined by Traci Capraro, and we’re going to have a fun conversation about your short-term rental journey. Traci, thank you so much for being here.

Traci: Thanks, Stacey, for having me. I’m really excited. It’s going to be so fun.

Stacey: I would love for you to kick us off. Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Traci: I am Traci Capraro. I identify by being a single parent with two teenage boys, because that in itself is exhausting and a full-time job. But I’m actually a sales leader in tech, and I’ve been doing that kind of my whole career and have loved it. My journey started just a few short years ago. I think I’ve been doing this now for only three years. Currently I’m the founder of Take a TraCation, and it’s my co-hosting business. I manage six short-term rental properties across the Carolinas, from the beach to the mountains. And I’m excited to someday hopefully take my side gig and make it my full-time gig.

Stacey: I love it. I was able to do that within about eighteen months of starting back in the day, so I can speak from experience. It absolutely can happen when you have a plan in place. I love that you already have that vision for yourself.

Traci: Thank you.

Stacey: Take us back to when you first started. I understand there was a tax appointment that changed everything. What happened, and why was that such a turning point in your life?

Traci: Yeah, it was pivotal for me. I had been working in tech for many years, and fortunately for me, our tech company went public. All of those shares I had been collecting that were worthless were now all of a sudden worth something very valuable. And when I was in my CPA’s office just doing my annual taxes, she said, “Oh boy, you’re going to owe a lot of money this year.” I didn’t quite understand how that worked. But as soon as those shares vest when you’re public, it counts as ordinary income. The only way I was going to be able to pay the taxes was to sell the shares to cover it. That was a hard pill for me to swallow. I did not want to sell shares to pay the government.

So I said to her, “Look, how can we avoid doing this next year? Because shares are going to continue to grow and vest.” And she said, “Well, you have three options. You can either have a baby, you can start a business, or you can buy a second home.”

I was forty-seven and single. So baby was out of the question. The baby-making machine is closed. And I really had never thought about what a second business would look like. I was a W-2 employee. I like my biweekly paycheck. So that was out for me at the time.

And I said, you know, I grew up on the Jersey Shore. I love the beach. I’ve envisioned that I would retire at the beach someday. So I said, why don’t I go get a little beach property and rent it while I’m not using it? And then someday when I’m ready to retire, I can move into it. So voila, I went and found a beach condo, I put an offer in, and next thing you know, here I am. It was a very pivotal tax appointment.

Stacey: I love that so much. What beach did you end up with?

Traci: I bought my first oceanfront condo in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, which I’m sure you’re aware of. It’s just south of Myrtle Beach. It’s a little sleepy beach town. Lots of retirees there, which I like about it. I vacation down there quite a bit and absolutely love that area.

Stacey: I manage two beach homes in Murrells Inlet, and it is a totally different vibe. You drive twenty miles north and it’s almost like being in a different world. It’s a great place.

So I’m curious. Before that conversation with your CPA, had you ever imagined yourself owning investment properties or building a business in real estate?

Traci: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And I still can’t believe I am where I am today. But I felt like if I was going to not have to write a check to the government every year, I was going to have to buy a property every year. I was going to have to somehow use this as a tool to lower my taxable income.

And the more that I studied it, the more I realized, oh, there are actually people who are doing this for a living. They’re making money and they’re quitting their jobs. All I did was listen to a couple of your podcasts, some BiggerPockets podcasts, and I’m like, there are people out here actually doing this. And I was like, well, if they can do it, why can’t I do it? So just educating myself and understanding all the different possibilities.

When I first started, I was like, I just want to own my own property. I don’t want to do anything else for anybody. Well, the money runs out at some point. So I was like, now I’ve got to make some more money so I can go buy another property. So co-hosting just seemed like a really nice adjacent role. That’s how I’m kind of building my business. I want it to be a combination of both. I want to be diversified in both areas.

Stacey: Amen. I love that. And we both know from investing in real estate, having a diversified portfolio is a way to protect ourselves from risk, right? I discovered very early on when I had purchased so many properties in a singular market, and candidly also in a handful of buildings within that singular market, hey, wait a minute, I’m exposed. I’m out in traffic, as my husband’s former boss used to say. So I really was looking to eventually mitigate that risk and go into some secondary locations for that very reason.

Traci: Yeah, I thought the same thing with my second property. I was worried about the seasonality at the beach and I was like, how am I going to pay for this thing in the winter? So I was very intentional about my second property being in the mountains, because the seasons are exactly opposite. I was super grateful for that in the first year. Our winter term did really well at the cabin, and I was able to help pay for some of the expenses at the beach.

Stacey: So you initially had this vision of, okay, if I’m going to buy a property, I want to buy a property in a place I would want to go visit and maybe eventually retire. Let’s talk about the mountains. How did you determine where your mountain location was going to be, and how did you determine that it was the right thing for you?

Traci: Lifestyle asset was important to me. I wanted to be able to visit with my family and take free vacations. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I wanted to be drivable, so that I could go with my family or go in an emergency or whatever the case may be. Beaches are three hours from here. Mountains are two hours from here.

And the mountain community that I’ve visited in the past is a big college area. I’ve been there for college football games. So I knew the area. I knew I would enjoy it. I’ve stayed and I’ve rented cabins in different areas, so I knew kind of exactly where I wanted to be. That was important to me because a lot of my guests say, give me your local recommendations. I didn’t want to be in a market that I was unfamiliar with. I wanted to be able to tell people, hey, this is where I go with my family, this is what I enjoy doing.

Stacey: And secondarily, if you’re in a market where you don’t know those local recommendations — oh darn, I have to go on vacation and explore the local recommendations. Market research, I like to call it.

Traci: Amen to that.

Stacey: Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but your first investment was a BRRRR. Is that right?

Traci: It was a failed one, for a few reasons. Let me share. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know how to properly analyze a property. I went on emotion. I went with my mom, we looked at five condos, and I put an offer in on one because it was my favorite. It had the best views, it had the best location, and it needed a lot of work.

So I had to learn real quickly, like, this needs a lot of work, so how can I maximize this opportunity? I may not have made the best offer because I didn’t crunch the numbers. I renovated it based on renovations that had been done on another unit in the building. I said, if I renovate it like this, I think it’ll be worth this, and then I can go ahead and refinance and take the cash out and go do another property. That was my goal. That’s what I had learned on various podcasts.

So I showed up and I was literally getting subcontractors from the parking lot on the weekend that I was doing demo. I had no idea what I was doing. Found my flooring guy, found my plumber, was asking neighbors, was asking my realtor, just anybody. Because I wanted to do as much as I could myself to keep costs down. And I also wanted to take advantage of a few of the tax loopholes, right? The short-term rental loophole was one that I wanted to take advantage of. So I wanted to do as much work as I could myself and then use subcontractors who were working kind of fewer hours than I was.

It took longer than I thought and took more money than I thought. And then one thing that I didn’t investigate when working with HOAs and condos: assessments. Although the HOA fees were very low — and I was like, oh, they’re so much lower than some of the other condos in Myrtle Beach — instead their philosophy is, we’ll just assess our homeowners four times a year. I never asked questions about those assessments.

It was real hard to break even in that first twelve months. It was real hard. And when I went to refinance eighteen months later, the property values just weren’t increasing, mostly because of the storms that have come through. The insurance rates had gone up. Assessments and HOAs. It’s just hard for people to want to buy there right now. So I wasn’t able to refinance. I wasn’t able to pull cash out. I still haven’t lowered my rate. I think my rate is something outrageous, like eight point six percent.

Stacey: Oh my goodness. Wow. Super painful.

Traci: But I learned a lot. I went on emotion. I was not prepared. I did not have a good schedule in place. I just learned a lot. And I was able to take all of those learnings to my next investment property, where I had to make five offers before I got one accepted, because I was working on the numbers like I knew.

Stacey: It could not be an emotional purchase.

Traci: I just had to keep making offers until the right one landed. And then I was more prepared for the renovation. I knew how to plan better. I budgeted better. And I was finally able to refinance that property after twelve months and pull about forty thousand dollars out that I was able to move to another property. So although I still haven’t completed my BRRRR on the first property, I completed the BRRRR on the second one. And I’m learning every time so that I can be more successful on the next property.

Stacey: I love that. And for anyone listening or watching who’s like, why do they keep talking about BRRRR — it’s buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat. We’re not talking about being cold here.

Okay, so you’ve got a beach property, you’ve got a mountain property, and you’re pulling money out of the mountain property and looking at your next investment. When did co-hosting enter the picture for you?

Traci: I think it was after the very first property. I had been posting my renovation on Instagram. And then I was posting all the open dates and all the reviews. I was just posting like crazy because I didn’t know how to even promote a short-term rental.

And I had a friend reach out who I had worked with previously at the same company that had IPO’d — lots of people working there with lots of cash they need to do something with. Anyway, she reached out to me and said, “Hey, I actually have a property near yours in Pawleys Island. I don’t love my property management company. I don’t have any flexibility. I don’t like their cleaning staff. I don’t like the rates they’re going with. I think I want to manage it on my own. Can you show me what you do?”

So I scheduled a Zoom meeting with her and I walked her through what I do. And fortunately for me, I think one of the smartest things I ever did was invest in a coaching program, because that coaching program taught me how to create the foundation and the technology and the operations.

She saw all the technology I was using: property management system, Turno for my cleaning, PriceLabs for my pricing and market analysis. When she saw that stuff I was using and had it all automated, she was like, “Can you just do it for me? You already have it all set up.”

And I was like, you’re right. It would be very easy for me to just plug and play another property. And she was a friend, so I said, all right, I guess I could try this. She’ll go easy on me while we’re together. And yeah, she’s still my client. We have all five-star reviews at her property, which I’m so proud of. And she’s so excited. That gave me the confidence to say, you know what, I can do this. I’m doing it for myself. I’m doing it for her. Why can’t I do it for other homeowners?

Stacey: Absolutely. And I will tell you, I think that co-hosting is such a smart option. I’m a licensed property manager in the state of South Carolina. I also do co-hosting in other markets. If I had to start over again, I would do co-hosting in a heartbeat.

Like you, I had folks coming to me saying, hey, your properties are booked and mine aren’t, will you manage my property? And at the time, I didn’t really know anything about co-hosting. I thought I had to go get a property management license, and that’s what I did. But what I discovered along the way is that property management is a very cash-intensive business. Very cash-intensive. So again, if I had to do it over, I would simply co-host from the get-go, because it saves you so much of that financial burden. Good on you for going that co-hosting option.

Traci: Thanks. I love it too.

Stacey: So I’m curious. As you were starting out with your first co-hosting client, and as you’ve grown, have you ever had a moment where you’re thinking, wait, what am I doing? Is this right? I’m totally overwhelmed. Have you had those moments?

Traci: Every day. So I’m so proud to say that I’m betting on myself. I’ve taken money out of the market, I’ve put it into my properties. I’m taking big risks, but they’re calculated now. Big calculated risks. But I bet on myself.

And so there are days where I’m like, what am I getting myself into? Am I sure that I’m ready for this? And I’m like, look at how far I’ve come. I have to just remember, I made this bet, this investment in myself, and I’m going to figure it out. There’s no problem that’s come my way that I haven’t figured out. Some have been mistakes that I’ve made. Some are costly, right? But that’s part of the education, so that in the future I don’t make those same mistakes and I can be a better host, I can be a better investor. So I just think about how far I’ve come and know that I can overcome whatever happens.

Stacey: I love that. And so many folks, when they think about what their goals are, what their futures are, what they want, they’re putting this lens on what do I know now, what do I see as possible now. I would venture to say, correct me if I’m wrong, if you would have looked at yourself ten years in the past, would last-decade Traci ever think you would be where you are today?

Traci: No. Absolutely not.

Stacey: And so if you’re listening or watching and feeling like you have limiting beliefs — you have big dreams, but you don’t think that those dreams can come true — kick that to the curb, my friends. Because I guarantee you, when you bet on yourself, when you invest in education, when you have systems in place, you can do whatever you set your mind to.

Traci: I think now’s a great time, because there’s so much available. There’s so much to learn. There’s so much free content. There are so many great coaches like yourself who are willing to share your experiences. There’s so much technology and smart technology. The stuff that comes out on some of these platforms, I’m like, that’s a great idea, I should have thought of that myself. Now’s the great time to get into this business and make it a lot easier. I couldn’t imagine having to do this ten years ago without the advances that we have today. It’s pretty exciting.

Stacey: It is. I want to ask you, as you are expanding your co-hosting business, what have you found to be most helpful in having conversations with potential clients, or sourcing those conversations to begin with? Do you have anything that has been a game changer for you?

Traci: For me, it’s been referrals. My current owners are my biggest fans. So I get most of my new business from them, their recommendations, which is great. I also use the Facebook groups in the area to find people who are looking for help.

I have been more selective about the conversations I’m having. I have one property right now that’s not doing great. The owners don’t want to put in the investment that I think the property needs. And I’m considering parting ways, which is really hard, because I feel like I’m in this growth mode, but now I want to offload a property. But my Superhost status is really important. And if I continue to get negative reviews because the property is just not maintained to my standards — so now I’m being more selective about who I work with. I want to ask them questions about what’s important to them, how invested they are in their own property, what things they have done to keep their property looking the way it is. So I’ve learned to definitely be more selective in that area.

Stacey: I think that’s so important. Mike Michalowicz, who obviously is a very well-versed author, wrote The Pumpkin Plan. And pumpkin planning is you pulling clients out of your business that are no longer a fit, that may be costing you effort, energy, resources, so that you can go and find a right-fit client for you.

I’ve talked with so many folks who make the same mistake. I made the same mistake, where I’ve had owners come on and I kind of have a gut feeling from the start that this is not a good fit. But especially early on, you’re eager to grow your business. You’re thinking, oh, this will change. And so you say yes anyway. So I love the highlight of setting boundaries, of being more selective about who you’re working with, because ultimately it will protect you over time.

Traci: Absolutely. I think it’s been a good learning experience for me. I haven’t actually broken up with them yet. In fact, my first conversation didn’t go as I planned. I had even used ChatGPT to help frame the conversation so that it would be professional. And it failed miserably. The homeowners enrolled me and said, “We’re going to do this and we’re going to do that, give us three months.” And I was like, okay, great, no problem. You know, I want to say yes to everybody. I want to make all my owners happy. And I hung up and thought, that did not go how I thought.

So I’m learning now even how to have the breakup call, because I’m sure it’s not going to be the first time I have to break up with an owner, or with a cleaner, or with anybody on our team.

Stacey: Speaking of cleaners, I’m a huge proponent of making sure your cleaning operations are dialed in. What have you found to be most helpful with managing cleaners, and are you still doing this from afar?

Traci: I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m originally from New Jersey.

Stacey: I’m like, wow, okay. That is menopause brain. If you’re listening or watching and you don’t think menopause brain is real, it is. That’s a very good example of it right there.

Traci: We should add that to our bio too. Currently in menopause.

Stacey: So you’re still doing this from afar. Cleaning from afar.

Traci: I think communication is most important. When I look for my cleaners, first of all, I look for referrals only. And I question my cleaners. I ask them a variety of questions like, hey, what happens if you get to my property and the guest hasn’t checked out yet and it’s eleven? What do you do? I want to know real situational things and how they’re going to handle them. Hey, what happens if you get to my property and the sheets are destroyed? What are we doing? So I can get an understanding of what their philosophy is.

And then they’re hooked into my systems. Everything has to go through Turno. I don’t want to have to be checking in on them, making sure that they’re there. The pictures have to be uploaded. I follow all the rules to a T to make sure that I’m clear with how the property was handled.

And I’ve had situations, Stacey, as I’m sure you have. Cleaner didn’t show up. Cleaner didn’t do a good job. Those are painful, painful moments that are really hard to sometimes prohibit from happening every time. So for me, I just learned recently that you’ve got to have a backup. Because in my situation, you don’t want to be on an airplane trying to Facebook message a cleaner to show up at your property in the next thirty minutes because your guest is like, what do we do?

Stacey: You’ve got to have systems, backups, things like that in place.

Traci: I think it’s probably one of the hardest things that I deal with. It gives me the most consternation, because I have the least amount of control and the least amount of visibility on that piece. That’s why it’s really important, when you find somebody that you trust and they do a good job, that you empower them to make decisions, get things done, and just keep open lines of communication.

And for me, it’s the telephone. Too much texting back and forth between me and my cleaner about a situation, a lot can be misconstrued. So I do like when my cleaner calls me. I’ll take their call. We’ll talk through what the challenges are and we’ll figure it out.

Stacey: It’s funny. A lot of people have put so much time, effort, and energy into building the most beautiful, decked-out properties. And they don’t put very much effort or energy into making sure that their cleaners and their systems supporting their turnovers are dialed in. To me, it’s one of the most controllable things we can do in our short-term rental businesses, but also one of the scariest, because when we don’t have it dialed in, we just have that sick feeling in the pit of our stomach kind of waiting for something to happen.

Traci: Yes. And it will happen at the moment you least expect it. So you have to have contingency plans in place for sure.

Stacey: Amen to that. I want to go back to that original tax appointment with your CPA. How did becoming an investor and having this co-hosting business change the way that you think about money, wealth, and your future?

Traci: I think that anything is possible now. If I can do this and build this, I’m like, what else can I do? When I thought about it originally, I was like, I’ll try to buy one property every year because I’m going to need the tax savings. But now I’m realizing there’s tax savings in other ways. I just bought a business vehicle last year and wrote that off. That was exciting.

Stacey: What’d you get?

Traci: Well, I had to get a six-thousand-pound vehicle. I got a Tahoe. But it was great for my renovation, because I was borrowing cars. I was like, Mom, can I borrow your SUV? I’ve got to go to HomeGoods and buy a bunch of plants for my property. So now I use it for my business, which is amazing.

I just don’t think I realized all the opportunity that this could have afforded me. The conversations that I’m having with people, the connections that I’m making, the things that I’m learning. It has kind of transformed me into someone that I didn’t think existed, and it makes me super proud.

Stacey: Absolutely. One of the things that I always encourage folks to do is be your biggest cheerleader. Look in the mirror and be your biggest cheerleader instead of your biggest critic. Because when you are constantly pushing yourself, saying you’ve got this, you’re smart, you can do anything, you’re the most beautiful today that you’ll ever be — when we say positive things to ourselves, our mind begins to remember those. Our mind is literally a data center, right? Our subconscious brain will remember what we tell it. It has no logic. So if we’re telling ourselves positive things, it’s going to start naturally and organically behaving that way.

On the flip side, if you’re telling yourself negative thoughts, constantly belittling yourself, putting yourself down, what do you think comes to fruition? Exactly that. How did you learn to stay so positive about yourself?

Traci: I have done a lot of reading in my life. When people say, what do you read? I don’t read fiction. I only read nonfiction, and I read a lot of business books, because I’ve been in business my whole career. And a lot of that is personal development, self-development. It kind of soaks in after a while.

I’m a big podcast listener. I do a lot of walking. So I’m constantly consuming positive stuff. I stopped watching the news. I used to watch the nightly news and the morning news. I stopped all that because it was so negative. So now I try to fill my head with positive things.

And you made me think of something when you said something earlier, Stacey. One of the most pivotal moments around what I’m doing and how important it is and how proud of myself I am happened just a few weeks ago. I asked my teenage son — he’s sixteen, he’s a sophomore, and we’re starting to think about college — I’m like, have you really thought about what you want to do? He’s never really been sure. And he told me that he wants to get into real estate and he wants to do what I do.

Stacey: I have goosebumps for you.

Traci: I’m so proud of him. Not because he’s doing what I’m doing, but because I feel like I’m putting out a positive image of what you can do, how you can work hard and build your own dream. And he’s seeing that and he’s starting to want to do something just like that for himself. I’m really proud of him.

Stacey: I want to talk about that, because that’s not something we talk about enough. Both of my kids now as adults work for me. I’ve learned a lot as a mom. But I will tell you, when my youngest was in college, he studied small business management. And his junior year, prior to going into college, he had said the same thing to me: I’m interested in buying my first investment property. So he’s been saving up for years.

When he was a junior in college, he had to have a fake business for his class project for the entire semester. And he chose vacation rental management for his class project. So it kind of evolved from there.

But what we’re doing as women, working in our business day in, day out, it can feel like, oh my gosh, it’s a lot, and maybe I’m not spending the time with my kiddos that I intended. I will tell you, when you involve your kids in conversation around what you’re doing and why you’re doing it — even just conversation with someone else, you might be having dinner and they might be overhearing it — it matters. It matters because they’re witnessing your transformation and your growth. And they’re like, if mom can do that, I can do that.

Traci: I love that. And I involve them more than just the conversation. They come to every new property that I invest in. There’s usually some Wayfair furniture boxes somewhere, and they’re over there with the tools trying to assemble things.

And actually, I wanted to thank you. I listened to a podcast that you did recently with a woman who I think has like one hundred and fifteen properties. I wasn’t going to listen to it, because that is not my goal, but I can always take something from a conversation. And one of the things she talked about were interns.

I was like, man, I could really use an intern. I have been stressing over my social media strategy. I don’t have time to do it. I don’t really have the money to pay a company to do it. And then I thought, I have a son that’s home for the summer that’s looking for a part-time job. And he does way more social media than I do. And he said he kind of wants to be in this real estate industry. So why don’t I make him my intern? So I’m putting him on a project to work on my summer social media strategy and execute it. And I cannot wait.

Stacey: That is awesome. I’m actually having my first intern next summer. I had someone reach out to me and ask for an internship for next summer. It’s great, because it’s also giving me the time to work with her professor to make sure that, as someone leading an intern, which I’ve never done before, how can I best set her up for success through this project.

I love that you’re doing that with your son. As a mom, mom to mom, I will give you a snippet of what I have learned. My kiddos are awesome, and to your point, they know so much more about social media than I could ever dream about. One of the hardest things for me has been drawing the line between mom and boss. I have found that there are things that I may have a different viewpoint on, or that maybe frustrate me. And with a different team member that is not my child, I have no issue being professional. Hey, X, Y, and Z, we can’t have this happen again, here’s why, here’s what I need to know. When it’s your kid, it’s my heart racing. It’s so difficult to not jump into, dude, what do you think you’re doing? Why are you doing that? So I’m trying to catch myself before it comes out of my mouth and really making a focused effort to keep mom mode out of it. It’s been harder than I expected, for sure.

Traci: I can imagine that. You have to put your owner hat on and take your mom hat off.

Stacey: Logistically and theoretically, I have no issue with that. I would advise myself and anybody else, that’s the right approach. Actually in the day to day, it can be more difficult than you imagine.

Okay, Traci, I want to move to the lightning round. I’m just going to ask you to answer these questions with the first thing that comes to mind. Here’s the first one. Where’s your favorite place to vacation?

Traci: Well, you already know this. It’s Italy. I want to see more of it. Can’t wait.

Stacey: Before pressing record, we were both sharing with each other how much we love Italy. I’m curious, what was your favorite part of Italy when you visited?

Traci: There are so many great pockets for different reasons. I loved Positano because it’s just that picturesque town on the water. The food, the people, the culture, the walking, the colors. I absolutely loved it.

Stacey: I loved Mount Etna in Sicily, which was like two days before it erupted the last time. So I was glad I was out of there, by the way. But that was stunning. Absolutely stunning. And then Florence, Tuscany was just so awesome.

Traci: So gorgeous. When you go back, I’ll offer to carry your luggage, and vice versa.

Stacey: Sounds good. Next question. What’s one place you’ve never been that you want to visit?

Traci: I would say Greece. I know you’ve been there. Did you like it?

Stacey: Oh my gosh, I loved it so much. I didn’t expect the cuisine to be as amazing as it was. I’m a food lover. I haven’t met a carb I don’t like. But the food was to die for. So good and so fresh. I expected the food in Italy to be amazing. I didn’t expect the food in Greece to be as amazing. And it was.

Next question. What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you were starting out in the world of short-term rentals?

Traci: Oh man, I didn’t prepare this one. I would say I kind of wish I would have done it sooner. I wish I wouldn’t have waited as long as I did. I wish that I would have done a little bit more research as a younger person. I wish maybe I would have started to do some co-hosting to help build up some of the funds. Obviously I waited till I did because the money was there when I had the money, right? But I’ve learned there are so many other ways to get into this business, with or without money. There are so many different strategies.

I’m even talking to my son, because he asked me, how do you get into this business if you don’t have the money and you don’t have the experience? And I’m like, I don’t know, there are people doing it all the time. So I’m looking forward to talking to him about this and seeing if he could start earlier. I just wish I would have done it sooner.

Stacey: It’s really interesting you say that. A few days ago, I interviewed someone for the podcast who’s twenty-nine. Sharper than sharp, wicked smart, and has so much experience and so much growth ahead of her. And I was like, hold on, time out. First of all, you have to know that at twenty-nine you have a gift that not many twenty-nine-year-olds have, and do what you can to pay it forward to the younger generation. I don’t know about you, but when I was in my twenties, none of my friends were talking about investing in real estate.

Traci: No, no, no. So I agree. I think doing it younger, boy, that would be amazing.

Stacey: Next question. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Traci: The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is, every day is an interview. That was advice I had gotten from a leader a very, very long time ago. And it still holds true. When I think about how I show up every day in my business, how I show up on social media for people that are watching, how I show up to guests — every day is an interview. You’re not guaranteed success. You’re not guaranteed that success tomorrow. You have to work for it every day.

Stacey: That’s great advice. And I’m going to add on to that: work for yourself every day too. It’s so easy to give to other people and to pour into other people, and I’m a huge proponent of that. However, what a lot of people do — and I’m curious if you see this too — is they’ll pour into other people, but they never pour into themselves. So I think, as much as you’re pouring into other people, making sure you’re investing in yourself is truly important. And you said that that was pivotal for you, right?

Traci: Well, I think for me it was just reading. It was reading positive things. It was reading all the things that are possible. It was reading that I’m the only one limiting myself. Having all that positivity, I think, was one of the best investments I’ve ever made in myself.

Stacey: Now I have to ask you. You mentioned the books behind you. If you’re listening to this podcast and not seeing Traci’s bookshelf, I’m going to tell you it’s color-coded. So Traci, do you judge the books you read by the color of the cover?

Traci: I do not. My sister is a designer. When I moved into this office, she said, let’s make these books look a little nicer. So she covered them for me.

Stacey: That’s very kind.

Traci: You should never judge a book by a cover, Stacey. You know that, right?

Stacey: That’s right. Quite literally. All right, last question. What’s one thing and/or person that you’re grateful for today?

Traci: I’m going to say, without being emotional, my father. He passed away a few years ago, but he was the hardest worker I’ve ever known. And he taught me to work hard, how to show up every day. And I can’t believe how important that’s been. When you bet on yourself and there’s nobody else there, when you’re doing it all on your own, how hard you have to work. This is a hard business, as much as I wish it was as passive as everybody calls it. There’s nothing passive about it. So you’ve got to work hard, and I’m grateful that he taught me that. So I know he’s super proud of what I’m doing today.

Stacey: I love that. And you’re right, he is. He’s listening and watching you right now. At least I believe so.

So Traci, if someone wants to find out more about you, or maybe they’re looking for a co-host, where’s the best place to find you online?

Traci: My Instagram handle is Take a TraCation. I would love to hear from you on Instagram. I also have a direct booking site at TakeATraCation.com. And I would love to hear from you.

By the way, this community has been so warm and welcoming, Stacey, both online and on your podcast. So I’m happy to share anything with anyone, any help that they need, because your community has been so supportive to me. So thank you.

Stacey: You are very welcome. I love hearing that. And I’m a big believer that this business is so easy to operate in a silo. When we do it together, we all rise.

Traci: That’s right.

Stacey: Thanks so much for being here.

Traci: Thank you, Stacey.

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