Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Husner.
Hi Alex , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
This is for Alex & Annie – The Real Women of Vacation Rentals (Alex Husner and Annie Holcombe)
Alex & Annie began as a conversation between two women who had built their careers in the vacation rental industry and felt there was room for a different kind of industry platform—one that was candid, approachable and focused as much on the people behind the businesses as the businesses themselves.
When we launched the Alex & Annie podcast, we did not have a large production team or a master plan to build a media company. We simply wanted to create the kinds of conversations we wished existed when we were earlier in our careers: honest discussions about leadership, marketing, growth, technology, career transitions and the realities of building a business in a rapidly changing industry.
What started as a passion project steadily grew into something much larger. Through consistent weekly episodes, industry events, live roundtables and conversations with executives, entrepreneurs and emerging leaders, Alex & Annie developed a highly engaged audience and became recognized as one of the leading podcasts in the vacation rental and hospitality space. The show now ranks among the top 3% of podcasts globally and has helped create meaningful business relationships, partnerships and opportunities throughout the industry.
Today, Alex & Annie is evolving beyond a podcast under our parent company, Aha Moments Media. We are expanding into original programming, branded media, internal podcasting and thought-leadership platforms that help companies and leaders share their stories in a more authentic and meaningful way.
The most rewarding part of the journey has been realizing that the qualities we once worried made us different—our willingness to be vulnerable, ask direct questions and bring personality into professional conversations—are exactly what allowed the platform to grow. What began with two microphones and a shared belief in the power of honest conversation has become a community, a business and the foundation for an entirely new chapter.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road. Like many businesses that begin as passion projects, Alex & Annie grew before we had fully built the structure around it. For several years, we were producing the podcast while also managing demanding full-time careers, consulting work, families and constant travel. Staying consistent required a great deal of discipline, especially during seasons when the business was growing faster than our available time.
One of our biggest challenges was learning how to turn something people loved into a sustainable business. Audience growth and industry recognition do not automatically translate into revenue. We had to learn sponsorship sales, pricing, production, contracts and partnership management largely through experience. There were times when we underestimated the value of what we had built, said yes to too much or invested significant time into opportunities that did not ultimately move the business forward.
We have also had to navigate the transition from being friends and co-hosts to becoming true business partners. That has required honest conversations about roles, responsibilities, compensation and what each of us wants the company to become. Those conversations are not always easy, but they have made both the business and our partnership stronger.
Another challenge has been trusting ourselves enough to evolve. The podcast began with a relatively simple mission, but the opportunity has become much larger than we originally imagined. Recognizing that growth meant making difficult decisions, including stepping away from other professional opportunities and becoming more intentional about where we focus our energy.
The road has included plenty of trial and error, but that has also been one of its greatest gifts. Every challenge has forced us to become clearer about our value, our vision and the kind of company we want to build. We are still learning, but we now understand that the difficult seasons were not signs that we were on the wrong path. They were part of becoming capable of handling where the path was leading us.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At its core, Alex & Annie creates honest, engaging conversations about the people, ideas and challenges shaping the vacation rental and hospitality industry. Through our podcast, live roundtables, industry events and original programming, we bring together entrepreneurs, executives and emerging leaders to talk openly about business growth, marketing, leadership, technology and the realities behind building successful companies.
We have become known for going beyond polished talking points. We ask the questions people are genuinely curious about, create space for guests to share the lessons behind their success and make complex business topics feel approachable and relevant. Our conversations are strategic, but they are also personal, candid and often a lot of fun. We believe people connect with stories and personalities—not corporate messaging—and that belief influences everything we create.
What sets us apart is the combination of our professional experience and the dynamic between us. We have each spent decades working inside the vacation rental industry, so we understand the businesses, the terminology and the challenges our audience faces. At the same time, we bring different strengths and perspectives to the conversation. We are comfortable disagreeing, asking direct questions and admitting when we are still figuring something out ourselves. That authenticity has helped us build a community that trusts us.
We are especially proud that something we started independently, without a traditional media background or a large team behind us, has grown into a podcast ranked among the top 3% globally and one of the most recognized shows in our industry. Even more meaningful are the relationships and opportunities it has created. We have watched conversations from the show lead to new partnerships, career opportunities, business growth and genuine friendships for both our guests and listeners.
Today, through our parent company, Aha Moments Media, we are expanding that work beyond the original podcast. We are developing branded programming, internal podcasts and thought-leadership platforms that help companies and leaders communicate with greater authenticity. Ultimately, we specialize in helping people tell stories worth listening to—and creating conversations that continue to make an impact long after the microphones are turned off.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
We believe the vacation rental industry will change more in the next five to ten years than it has during the previous twenty. The biggest shift will be in how travelers discover, evaluate and book accommodations. Google and the major online travel agencies will remain important, but they will no longer be the only front doors to travel. Increasingly, travelers will ask AI platforms to recommend destinations, compare properties and eventually complete much of the booking process for them.
That shift will make brand more important, not less. When technology can instantly surface hundreds of similar options, companies will need a clear identity, a strong reputation and a distinctive guest experience to be recommended—and remembered. Direct bookings will become less about offering a discount and more about creating enough trust and loyalty that travelers intentionally seek out a particular company. The businesses that invest in their own audience, content, customer relationships and first-party data will have a meaningful advantage.
We also expect the industry to become considerably more professional and performance-driven. For a long time, growth was measured largely by the number of properties a company managed. In the future, the strongest operators will be judged by profitability, owner retention, guest loyalty, operational efficiency and the strength of their brand. Consolidation will continue, but we do not believe scale alone will determine who wins. Smaller and regional operators can remain extremely competitive when they combine local expertise with disciplined strategy and the right technology.
Artificial intelligence will automate much of the repetitive work involved in pricing, marketing, guest communication and operations. However, we believe that will make the human side of hospitality even more valuable. Technology can make a business faster and more efficient, but it cannot fully replace empathy, creativity, local knowledge or the feeling that someone genuinely cares about a guest’s experience. The most successful companies will use AI to support their people rather than trying to remove people from the equation entirely.
We also see a major change coming in how companies communicate. Traditional corporate marketing is losing influence as customers and employees look for real voices, recognizable leaders and greater transparency. Podcasts, video, founder-led content and other forms of owned media will become essential tools for building trust. This is a significant part of the opportunity we see for Aha Moments Media: helping companies become media brands in their own right rather than depending entirely on outside platforms to tell their stories.
Ultimately, we see the industry moving toward a model that is more technologically advanced but also more personal. The companies that thrive will not necessarily be the biggest or the ones using the most tools. They will be the ones that understand who they serve, operate sustainably, build genuine trust and use technology without losing the humanity that makes travel meaningful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alexandanniepodcast.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandanniepodcast/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexandanniepodcast
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alexandanniepodcast
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDiSTUvfCrrgnNQwifonhjQ
