Good Monday morning!

Have you ever read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch?

If not, I highly recommend it. It’s one of those books that’s absolutely packed with little nuggets of wisdom that stick with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

And there’s one lesson in particular that I’ve thought about many, many times over the years:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people.”

I LOVE this quote.

Because, boy oh boy, are there some brick walls in the STR world right now.

Remember the good old days of 2020 and 2021, when it sometimes seemed like any idiot with a house and an Airbnb account could make money?

Yeah. Those days are gone.

Today, owners and operators are figuring out how to compete in a much more crowded marketplace. How to control expenses when everything costs more. How to find—and KEEP—good cleaners, maintenance people and staff. How to increase occupancy without racing to the bottom on price. How to keep up with changing technology. How to work with a challenging HOA. How to navigate a township considering new regulations, fees or restrictions.

And our partners & local suppliers have their own brick walls: finding customers (STR owners), standing out from competitors, managing costs, hiring great people and adapting as the STR industry itself changes.

Business in the Poconos isn't getting easier. It's getting harder.

But maybe that's not entirely a bad thing.

Because the brick walls have a way of separating the people who are simply in the business from the people who are committed to getting better at the business.

So when you hit your next brick wall, what are you going to do?

Learn something. Join one of our webinars. Dig into the resources we've created. Learn from people who have already solved the problem you're facing.

Meet someone. Come to an in-person networking event. Ask another owner how they handle something. Introduce yourself to a supplier. Talk to a property manager. Some of the best solutions don't come from Google—they come from someone saying, "Oh! I dealt with that last year. Here's what worked for me."

Look for solutions within our own community. We have partners and local suppliers who solve problems for STR owners every single day—from operations and technology to maintenance, guest services and everything in between. And don't forget about our Local Community Partner Perks! Those guest discounts can help set your property apart, give your guests another reason to choose YOU, and send business to the local attractions, restaurants and businesses that make the Poconos such a great place to visit. That's a win-win-win.

Get in the room. Our annual Poconos STR Conference is coming up April 1, 2027. We're building it around exactly these kinds of challenges: better operations, smarter marketing, stronger businesses, useful technology, advocacy, and learning from people who are doing this successfully every day.

Ask for help. This one can be surprisingly difficult. You don't have to know everything. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of being part of an association is having an entire community of people you can turn to when you DON'T know something.

And when necessary, push back. Sometimes the brick wall isn't a business challenge. Sometimes it's a regulation, fee, restriction or policy that threatens your ability to operate. That's when we organize, educate, advocate and—when necessary—fight.

Here's the thing about Randy Pausch's brick wall:

He never said getting over it would be easy.

The wall is SUPPOSED to be hard.

That's what makes the other side worth getting to.

So whatever brick wall you're staring at right now—occupancy, staffing, profitability, regulations, your HOA, technology, or something else entirely—don't automatically assume it's telling you to stop.

Maybe it's asking you a question:

How badly do you want to get to the other side?

Have a great week!

~Rebecca

P.S. And if one of your brick walls is something the Poconos VRO could help you climb, tell us! Our webinars, resources, partners, local suppliers, networking events and annual conference exist because we're all going to get a lot farther if we don't try to scale these walls alone.