2025 Sessions

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

8:00 AM - 8:45 AM: Mentorship Session with Sue Jones, Kate Kirschner and Michelle Marquis

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM: VRWS Opening Breakfast

9:00 AM - 9:45 AM: Breaking The Hard Rules: Redefining Strength in Women's Leadership with Shelley Brown

9:45 AM - 10:00 AM: Welcome and Housekeeping with April Burns

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Tuesday, August 19, 2025

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM VRWS Registration Open
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM Welcome Reception in Francis Marion Hotel Lobby

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Carolina Poinsette Colonial Pinkney Gold
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM VRWS Registration (Second Floor)
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM VRWS Opening Breakfast and Breaking The Hard Rules: Redefining Strength in Women's Leadership with Shelley Brown
10:15 AM - 11:00 AM From Broom Closet to Boardroom: The Power of Scaling Without a Playbook- A Fireside Chat with Kimberly White Direct vs OTA: What Today’s Smart Vacation Rental Website Needs to Compete (and Convert) with Annie Holcombe and Alex Husner Beyond Service: What It Really Takes to Lead with Hospitality Today with April Burns Mentorship, Momentum, and the Modern Woman in Hospitality Tech with Corie Fabian What I Eat in a Day Part 2: Utilizing Nutrition and Exercise in a Chaotic Life with Tiffany Edwards
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM Everything is a Phase (Patriarchy, Please Take Note) with Julie Brinkman Fixing the Funnel: Why Short-Term Rental Marketing is Stuck—And What Comes Next with Amber Knight Hobbspitality CARE Values with Rachele Hobbs and Bethany Hobbs Smith Beyond the Bottom Line: Empowering Property Managers Through Protection and Purpose with Cindi Lee and Shannon MacPeek Google Launched An Entirely New Search Engine With AI at its Core That Will Change So Much in Our Lives with Dr. Marie Haynes
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM VRWS Lunch, What Feminism Looks Like at 17-Years-Old with Kate Sprenkle and When the Wind Changes: Turning Loss into Leadership with Angie Leone
1:45 PM - 2:30 PM Thriving with Multi-Generational Teams - Panel Moderated by Deborah Allen and Sue Jones with Kim Balsama, Mazzy Eckel, Heleena Sideris, and Monica Thibodeau Women Do It Better: Intuition, Emotion & Direct Booking Domination with Vanessa Humes, Kara Kacmarcik, and Jill McGee Co-Opetition Coalition: Turning Competitors into Collaborators in Hospitality with Kerrie Racicot Operational Excellence: The Standards Behind the Stays: How Operational Excellence Becomes Brand Power with Ashley Ching Summer 2025 Vacation Rental Industry Performance with Melanie Brown
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM VRWS Afternoon Tea Break
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM Leading Whole: Breaking Rules, Building Legacy with Shelley Brown KPIs with Purpose: Connecting Guest Feedback to Operational Excellence, and the Bottom Line with Natalia Holshouser and Kelsey Liversidge Panel: The Proverbial Glass Ceiling: Claiming Your Space moderated by Sue Jones Scale Smarter, not Harder with Cassie Fields Bad Stays and Bourbon Chasers: Your Worst Guest Stories with with Amanda Martins
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM Shelf Help: Building Company Culture One Book at a Time with Rachel Alday in Laurens
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM How to Matter in a Market That Pretends You Don’t with Jenn Barbee

Thursday, August 21, 2025

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Lowcountry Breakfast

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM: In Deep Shift: How to Turn Life’s Hardest Moments into Your Greatest Breakthroughs with Valerie Gangas

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Steadfast Through Storms: Leading with Resilience in the Vacation Rental Industry with Vered Raviv Schwarz

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Carolina Poinsette Colonial Pinkney Gold
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Low Country Breakfast, In Deep Shift: How to Turn Life’s Hardest Moments into Your Greatest Breakthroughs with Valerie Gangas; Steadfast Through Storms: Leading with Resilience in the Vacation Rental Industry with Vered Raviv Schwarz
9:45 AM - 10:30 AM Shifting Sands: How Beach Erosion Will Reshape Coastal Communities with Amy Hinote and Tony Bartelme The Hospitality Advantage: The Biggest Marketing Mistake Great Hosts Are Making & How To Fix It with Jodi Bourne Cool Under Pressure: Midlife, Menopause, and Managing It All with Claiborne Yarbrough Empathy Is a Power Skill: Leading with Heart in a Results-Driven Industry with Becca Madigan Hospitality by Design.The Best Tool in Your Toolbox. with Jessica Duce
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM In-Case-You-Stayed-Out-Too-Late-and-Missed-Breakfast Break
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Finding Joy and Purpose in a World That is Radically Changing Because of AI with Dr. Marie Haynes Serving Authentically: Vision, Resilience, and the Power of Memorable Stays with Karen Piscitelli Stop Measuring Performance—Start Driving It: The Right Metrics Don’t Just Reflect Growth; They Fuel It with Monique DeLorenzo, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, and Sasha Lawler Win Your Time Back: Practical Ways of Implementing AI into Your Daily Workflows The Power Pivot: Redefining Leadership After a Career Change with Kelly McNeil
11:45 AM - 1:40 PM VRWS Pioneer Award Lunch and Martha Beck Keynote: Beyond Anxiety
1:45 PM - 2:30 PM Martha Beck Fireside Chat with Amy Hinote The Art of the Ask: Winning Owners Without the Hard Sell with Jodi Cleer, Jeanne Dailey and Heather Van Wie The Soul of Hospitality: Stories That Shaped Us with Tiffany Edwards , Kirsten King , Koryn Okey and Kerrie Racicot ROI Accelerator: Understanding Which Metrics Matter For Evaluating & Improving Marketing Performance with Mia Cole Hot Features, Cold Feet: Tech Romance and the Road to Regret with Dawn Yeskulsky
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM Ice Cream Break and Book Signing with Martha Beck
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM Brand Like a Lady. Close Like a Killer. with Jenn Barbee Bad News Isn’t the End - It’s the Turning Point with Kathleen Fitzpatrick Built on Hospitality: How Women Leaders Turned Heart into Brand Power with Jeanne Dailey and Rachele Hobbs Now Hiring! From Entry to Executive - Building Careers through Revenue Management with Clair Abplanalp and Becca Madigan Know Yourself, Grow Yourself with Deborah Allen and Sue Jones
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Closing Keynote with Monica Lewinsky