Hi, Im Jasmine Duwe heres my story.
I have been on facebook groups for years but new to this platform. I wanted to share my story.
About four years ago, I started staying in Airbnbs every 2–3 months locally. I intentionally booked unique spaces with character and potential. I documented each stay and, after checkout, sent hosts a Google Drive with photos I took. Almost every host ended up uploading those photos to their listings.
That led to collaborations, free stays, and invitations to photograph other properties. My end goal was always to be a host, i joined facebook groups and watched from the sidelines.
Then in 2024, everything slowed down my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and I became his full-time caregiver. Life paused. Income dropped. Grief and responsibility took over.
To cope, I poured my spare energy into restoring and branding a 1972 Roadrunner camper. I didn’t want to be a traditional host or charge crazy rates. I wanted meaning. I launched it through Facebook as Sip & Sage Co. booking locals direct. One couple drove over an hour just from videos and photos. Then I had to pause again when my dad got worse, and later when he passed.
After his passing, I stepped away from my full time job corporate life completely. No more corporate.
I booked a local camping Airbnb to decompress and exchanged photos for the stay. The host (AJ in Arcadia, FL if you’re here, you know this is you) paid me $200 the next morning and encouraged me. That moment changed everything.
I went home, booked another Airbnb for portfolio work, filed my LLC, and officially launched my short-term rental photography business in September.
• October: launched my first Airbnb
• November: launched my second Airbnb
• And now my camper is officially on Airbnb
I don’t host like everyone else and I’m okay with that. I believe in purpose over profit. I give free stays. I offer deep discounts. I leave 24-packs of water if needed. I hand-make personalized welcome baskets with guests’ names not generic grocery items. (Theres nothing wrong with grocery items, just explaining)
The first few weeks my first listing wasnt on the map, i called 3-4 times.
The whole time photography was going wild so i never got to actually work on my own photos. I basically was decorating painting moving things around to take photos. I also unlisted both properties for 2 weeks. Man its been crazy.
Currently i have 108 future nights booked. 18 stays between the listings, the camper just 2 bookings as i just started pushing it again.
Yesterday I woke up to Airbnb sponsoring my listing. Multiple people sent me screenshots from Instagram & Facebook which made my heart happy.
I’m sharing this to say a few things, stand out, BRAND your self. Post on socials. Be creative. Dont think you can just list an home in a overpopulated area and your going to get booked. (I do not believe people arent booking vacations, people arent spending money…)
Care about your guests. Serve them well. Be human.
God / the universe returns it every single time.
I’ve received $100 tips, endless referrals, and built a Facebook community of 800+ people simply by leading with heart.
Purpose over profit will always be me.
Also i have seen host say dont make your places personal. Legacy loft one of the condos is extremely personal and its dedicated to my dad. I have got amazing feedback
my one property is guest favorite and i will be a super host in jan.
Thanks for ready,
stay inspired,
Jasmine
