In this bold and thought-provoking episode, Heather sits down with Humphrey Bowles, the founder of Truvi and who has adopted the term "digital sharecropping" within the short-term rental industry. Together, they explore the illusion of entrepreneurship in the short-term rental world - especially when you build your business entirely on platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com.

Humphrey shares the powerful analogy behind digital sharecropping and breaks down what it really means to build a business you don’t own. If you’ve ever questioned who really controls your guest relationships, your reviews, or even your ability to operate, this episode will hit home.

From psychological burnout to platform dependency, from trust to true entrepreneurship, this is a conversation that every host and manager needs to hear.
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🧠 What You’ll Learn:

• What digital sharecropping is - and why so many hosts are stuck in it
  
  
• The psychological cost of depending entirely on OTAs
  
  
• Why "you keep the glitter, while they take the gold"
  
  
• What it really means to be an entrepreneur in today’s STR industry
  
  
• Actionable ways to reclaim your guest data and build a direct booking pipeline
  
  
• How platforms have turned hospitality professionals into pseudo-employees
  
  
• Why "gaming the algorithm" isn’t a sustainable strategy - and what to do instead
  
  
• The real value of trust, ownership, and long-term brand building
  
  

🔑 Key Quotes:

“You create all the value, you serve all the customers, but you don’t own the relationships. That’s not a business. That’s a job.”

“The first step is to stop calling yourself an Airbnb Host. Start saying: I run a hospitality business.”

“If Airbnb disappeared tomorrow, what would you still own? That’s the question we all need to ask.”
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🛠️ Resources & Links:

• Truvi: Trust & Risk Management for STRs
  
  
• Follow Humphrey on LinkedIn
  

• Recommended viewing: The Entrepreneurial Illusion with Humphrey Bowles
  
  

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