Meet Kevin Copeland of iTrip Vacations

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Copeland.

Hi Kevin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Most of my corporate career was in the recruiting and training of Series 6 & 7 Financial Advisers. Director of Training for AIG & Regional Development Director at Thrivent. When my son sat for the Series 7 a few years ago – It didn’t go well. He told me then that he didn’t even want to be in that business. I realized at that point – I didn’t want to be either!

As a family, we vetted several franchise opportunities. Ultimately working with a franchise consultant from Houston, TX – He helped us find iTrip Vacations, which oddly enough, is headquartered in Nashville. iTrip was looking for someone to purchase and launch a brand new market here. I was looking for an encore career. So we wrote a check and got started.

My wife Kelly and son Milam have both contributed early on, but currently, it is mostly me in the daily operations – along with a great team of employees!

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?
I knew we didn’t want to open “Kevin & Kelly’s property management company”. We definitely wanted a track to run on and that is why iTrip was so attractive. A proven system with world-class software to support the business.

The struggles have (of course) been all things 2020. We launched on March 4, 2019. Then one year later, on March 3, 2020, our home and office were completely destroyed by an F3 tornado. (Kelly’s company office in East Nashville was also destroyed). For the next six weeks, we lived and rand iTrip out of a hotel room.

During this time, we first heard the word COVID. Over the next four months or so – We refunded almost $400,000 in revenue to guests as we watched Nashville shut down.

The rebound and rebuild have been a long road for us and for our property owner partners.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
iTrip Vacations is one of the top seven short-term rental property management companies in the US. One of the top 20 in the world. We have franchises in over 80 destination cities around the country and manage over 4,000 luxury homes.

We have arguably the most robust marketing platform in the business and easily the most strategic software in the industry. Fully integrated with dozens of booking platforms including Airbnb, VRBO, FlipKey, Travelocity, Expedia, and Booking.com.

Working with iTrip as an investor (property owner) or a guest – You will find Five-Star professionalism with local ownership and responsiveness in every market.

Locally, in Nashville, we have grown to several dozen properties under management.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I draw a lot of strength from the association of other iTrip Franchisees. We all communicate with each other on business issues, best practices, and overall support for one another. Our intranet should be its own podcast!

Contact Info:

• Website: westnashville.itrip.co/book
• Instagram: iTrip_Nashville

Image Credits
www.abodephotoco.com Emily Green Photographer