Delivering Intentional Excellence

Hey, welcome to Keynotes. My name's Steve Schwab.

I'm your host Today I'm with JB and Ilona from Casago, Henderson and Las Vegas. Guys, welcome to the show. Thanks for having us, Steve.

J. B. was actually my platoon sergeant in the Army.

And Ilona, you have an amazing background with your athleticism. You were a professional athlete. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

And it was great experience. I changed my life completely for that. And I'm very happy I did that. My skating coaching business is very similar as with the vacation rental business because in both businesses you need to stay organized, disciplined, and attached to details. It's very important in skating to be attached to details.

As I was working As choreographer, and it's very important to, to look at the program on a different perspective, different sides to clean up the program with expression, with head movement, with hands movement, same in property management. Now, when I'm designing homes, I have to be very detail oriented how I want to design it. And it's actually helping me. With my new business, uh, to stay organized, disciplined, and lead my company.

Same way as I lead my skating career, because I was working with the team of coaches and I was leading them to help this young athletes and their parents. So I build my team around me. Same as I'm building my team around me now with my maintenance people and cleaning team and supervisors and designers. So it's very similar for me what I did before and what I'm doing now. And that's why our company is going to be successful.

just exactly right for the judges or whether you're running a complex special operations mission like you did, John. Both of those lend themselves to the idea of making sure that you have a perfectly clean property that is in great condition and you're taking care of that and being the steward of the property for those homeowners. Would you guys agree with that?

a few things. One, she failed to mention that she was a world champion, which I think set her on this path of success because the detail and the commitment you need to become a world champion and then a professional athlete and then a professional coach. That is the, uh, symbol of excellence for what we're doing at Casago now. Her creativity, I think blends very well with my like military regimented system. I think that's why that we, we can look at things and solve problems when they come up.

And give people, homeowners, when they go with us, they see us as real people. And we're not trying to like, hustle this to sell it, or it's just the next house. Like, we have this commitment to excellence with them. And we want to take the homeowner on a journey, and we want to be that steward of their property.

Yeah, to take something off their plate when they're busy doing other things, they want to have these investment properties and they wanted to go well, but it's also of giving the guest experience because I think sometimes, you know, that is miss. Guests go into some other properties and they're like, you know, wow, I'm paying whatever, four or 500 a night for something. And this isn't it. Yeah.

Guests have amazing hospitality is in its own way, serving the homeowner and elevating the homeowner. Like he has to talk to the philosophy of owner centric, which is something that we talk about often in Casago. And what does it mean to you guys and how do you implement it day to day?

Uh, we've had a homeowner that before we took over her home, she never had a five star review. Now that's all she has is five star reviews. You know, one that makes that homeowner feel, feel wonderful that their home, What they bought that their, their hard earned money went into is giving success, giving happiness to somebody else. And I think that's so important when we talk about that owner centric. And this is what we're trying to get to. This is what we want in a premier property.

Discussing that with the homeowner, if that's what you want to have, then we're for you, you know, I like to say in our business and Vegas and Henderson, there's, you know, there's, there's two people that there's the super big company that's maybe turning and burning your place. And then there's the mom and pop shops and we're boutique and we're boutique, but we have the. Power and presence of an international Casago brand. We have the support network. We have the backing.

We have the university. We have just this group of owners, like you call the 65 CEOs that we can call at any time and communicate with each other. Cause we're, we're all in it together. I think that's so important.

You do it in such a kind way, but a very straightforward way, and it's a very special way of being owner centric. And maybe you could tell us a little bit about like some of the philosophies you have around that and what is your approach when you come and meet a new homeowner looking through their property, making sure they're a good fit for, for your company.

Where I come from and how I come here to United States. In my country, Ukraine, when you never look for how to make money. Only certain things, right? Let's say I start my business here as the figure skating coach. The money wasn't on the radar. For me, it was important to help the children to learn the skills. And for me, it was important to work with them and teach them and bring best from them. And then, of course, because I'm, I'm working, it's my job, you get paid for that.

But the pay thing never come. before the result. I think that stay with me and now I'm in a new business. I understand it's our business, but also, it's in me that I'm not thinking about how to make money on that home first. for me is how I can improve that home first, how I can help this homeowner to make this home to make money for both of us. And first of all, first is for homeowner, how I can help them to make this home. Work better how I can improve this home.

That's what is in my mind when I talk to a homeowner

meet them,

And, um, you know, just recently and one of the new homes we picked up the homeowners. You know, I just went and spent a weekend in it, and, you know, nearly in tears at the transformation of their home, and now they see it and feel it, so it's not just a space where people are going to come in and lay their head. It's a place that people want to come and visit, and they feel it, and it's the reason, you know, they purposefully chose to go into a home rather than just staying in a hotel.

You know, obviously more in Vegas, you can stay, you can stay cheap, or you can stay expensive, and Uh, but when people have a need for staying in one of the properties, whether it's a homes or condos, you know, we, we give them that experience and it's a loan is creativity, this transformation of these properties, and I think she uses it from her own personal experience. Where would I want to stay? Yeah. How do I want it to look like? And,

And when you see a property that has been cared for with high intention. You know that you can feel like it's been well cared for. It's a premium experience. I think that's what you guys bring to the homeowners and the guests, through your stewardship of those properties as we're winding down.

How does somebody get a hold of you if they're interested in having you manage the properties in the Las Vegas or Henderson area?