The Big Break Show Podcast

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**The Big Break Show Podcast**

Your go-to podcast for real estate investing, business acquisitions, mindset, and lifestyle. Get expert tips, actionable strategies, and inspiring stories every week.

Latest Episodes:

#105 The HR Expert Behind Tim Bratz: Why Your Top Performers Leave | Scott Hanis Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

Most operators do not lose their business to the market. They lose it to a team that

was never set up to win. In this episode Rafa sits down with Scott Hanis, co-founder of

Fortitude HR Solutions and the man Tim Bratz brought in to build the structure behind

his company. Scott has scaled organizations, run HR for over a thousand employees, and

spent years fixing the exact team problems that quietly stall real estate operators.

Rafa gets honest about blowing up his entire virtual team, and Scott breaks down why

that almost always traces back to the leader, not the people. They get into the first

hire you should actually make, how to know when you can afford it, why culture and

values are worthless until you live them out loud, and the two lines from this episode

that will stick with you. People live up or down to your expectations. What you permit

is what you promote.

If you are trying to grow past doing everything yourself, this is the conversation that

shows you where it really breaks and how to fix it.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro

0:50 - Who Scott is and what Fortitude HR does

5:06 - How Tim Bratz convinced him to go all in

9:03 - Why he walked away from a corporate HR salary

11:52 - The first hire every operator should actually make

15:04 - When you can really afford to hire full time

19:29 - Rafa: why I blew up my entire team

21:41 - What culture and values really mean

27:03 - Mission and vision, and why most people skip it

29:51 - The three solutions rule

33:38 - People live up or down to your expectations

39:10 - Setting expectations in your personal life

47:05 - How faith shapes hiring and firing

51:25 - How to actually become a better leader

54:52 - What you permit is what you promote

56:34 - How AI is changing HR and where it gets dangerous

1:01:43 - Where to find Scott

CONNECT WITH SCOTT

Fortitude HR Solutions: https://fortitudehrsolutions.com

🎙 The Big Break Show with Rafa Loza every Thursday.

Real operators. Real numbers. No fluff.

📲 Instagram: @itsrafaloza | STR specialist.

just a note please add this tmoving forward for podcast description:
Tools I use to run my rentals:
Hospitable: hospitable.com/partners/rafael - 15% OFF in your first 3 months!

HelloHost: hellohost.com/partners/rafael

Wondering how and where to start your STR journey?

🔗 Join the community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about

🔔 New episodes every week! subscribe so you don't miss them.

#107 AI Agents That Runs Your Entire Airbnb Business with Jan Sahagun (Trellis, Y Combinator) Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

Most people think running an Airbnb is passive. You list it, go to the beach, and the

money shows up. Anyone who actually does it knows the real job is the coordination. The

messages that never stop, the maintenance that has to get scheduled, the vendor who has

to be found and called, and the ten different tools that somehow have to talk to each

other.

In this episode Rafa sits down with Jan Sahagun, co-founder of Trellis, a Y Combinator

company building autonomous AI agents for short-term rentals. Trellis is not another

chatbot. It sits on top of the tools you already use, pulls all your operations into

one place, and runs AI agents that actually do the work. The agent talks to your guest,

figures out the problem, and if nobody on your team can fix it, it picks up the phone,

calls an outside contractor, and gets it scheduled. You just approve it.

Jan went from professional ice hockey in Europe to building one of the most talked about

AI companies in the short-term rental space. He and Rafa get into how you keep an AI

agent from going rogue, how much work it really takes to train it on your business, the

first thing smart operators should automate, and why you cannot just vibe code a real

software business. If you own or manage rentals, this is the conversation that shows you

where the next few years are going.

CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro

2:06 - Meet Jan and what Trellis actually is

3:20 - From pro hockey to short-term rentals

5:51 - Why he built an AI that runs the business itself

8:03 - What happens when you plug your rentals in

15:39 - The agent that actually calls your vendors and staff

17:14 - How they keep the AI from going rogue

19:37 - How much work it takes to train it

22:44 - The first thing smart operators automate

23:38 - Zero to 3,000 listings in under three months

38:12 - What AI will replace and what it won't

50:40 - Why you cannot vibe code a real software business

56:09 - Jan's story: a broken ankle that changed everything

59:26 - Where to find Jan and try Trellis

TRY TRELLIS

Website: https://trellistech.com

Connect with Jan on LinkedIn: Jan Sahagun

Apps that i use for my Airbnb Business:

Hospitable: https://hospitable.com/partners/rafael

HelloHost: https://hellohost.com/partners/rafael

If you want to apply AI in your business to save time and earn more..

Join the community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about

Follow Rafa on Instagram: @itsrafaloza

The Big Break Show drops new episodes every Thursday. Follow the show so you never miss one.

#106 Why Owning More Airbnbs Is a Trap with Blake Carter Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

Blake Anthony Carter is back on The Big Break Show for round two, and this one is a full playbook. He breaks down why he sold his co-living business to go all-in on short-term rentals, how he scaled his management company to around 90 quality units, and the exact systems that let it run without him. If you want to co-host, manage, or buy STRs, this is the episode to take notes on.
We get into the real numbers: how a management company actually sells, the sliding scale he uses to fire bad clients, the minimum revenue he needs to say yes, and how he wins deals with agents by giving away free help. Then we go deep on the stuff most operators skip: building a VA team, using AI for guest messaging, and running the whole business on EOS.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Welcome back, Blake (second time on the show)
1:05 What changed in 3 years, and why he sold the co-living business
1:33 Going all-in on short-term rentals
4:36 How he actually sold the company (the earn-out model)
7:12 Why you structure a sale with an earn-out
8:34 What a co-living or co-hosting company really sells for
9:50 Arbitrage, then co-host, then buy: the right order to start
10:47 How to actually get co-hosting clients (agents and BiggerPockets)
13:55 Referral fees and winning agents with free consulting
15:32 The furniture talk: why cheap clients quit in 4 months
19:40 How to fire bad clients using a 1 to 5 sliding scale
24:30 The minimum revenue rule: $70K or it is not worth it
26:02 The underwriting stack: Rabbu, AirDNA, and PriceLabs
27:53 The pitch to homeowners: cashflow, flexibility, and the STR tax loophole
34:15 Should you buy a management company? Best, not biggest
36:35 Building the team: local ops, QC, maintenance, and VAs
38:43 Using AI for guest messaging (HelloHost and Hospitable)
42:06 The experiential hotel: a stadium-seating pool, weddings, and full buyouts
47:08 EOS explained: how to actually run your business
50:28 When you should implement EOS
55:10 What is next for Blake: 120 units and $10M in bookings
58:06 The takeaway: run EOS even as a short-term rental operator
Here's my Tool stack i use for my STR Business:
Hospitable (Get your 15% Discount on your first 30 Days!) : hospitable.com/partners/rafael
HelloHost (AI guest communication): https://www.hellohostai.com/rafa
If you're wondering how I scaled my 7 figure business through Systems and AI Operations, Join my Skool community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about
Connect with Blake: Blake Anthony Carter on all platforms (his free Skool is linked in his Instagram).
Subscribe to The Big Break Show for more real conversations with operators who are actually doing the deals. New Episodes every Thursday!

#105 How To Buy Multifamily Real Estate Without Partners or Investors with Trevor West Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

Trevor B West is a multifamily real estate investor, faith-based entrepreneur, and one of the most in-demand event emcees in the real estate mastermind world. Before real estate, he spent his career as an Air Force special-forces intelligence analyst, building target packages alongside teams like SEAL Team Six and Delta Force. A snapped leg on a rugby field and twenty thousand dollars in debt forced a reset that pushed him into investing. Seven years later he owns more than 80 multifamily units across 17 buildings in Ohio, and he owns almost all of them outright, with no syndication and no partners. He now teaches the playbook on his YouTube channel, Trevor B West (@bettertrevor on Instagram).

In this episode, Rafa and Trevor break down:

Why multifamily is getting crushed in 2026, and the contrarian way he positioned to BUY the distress instead of becoming it. Over $160 billion in multifamily loans come due this year, and the operators sitting on five-year syndication debt are the ones being forced to sell.

Price over location. Why his mentor threw out "location, location, location" and replaced it with "price, price, price," and how buying far below market gives you room to survive every mistake.

Why he owns 100% of his portfolio with no partners and no investors to bail out when the loan resets, and the honest case for when a partnership is actually worth it.

The $940K deal. How he bought a 28-unit portfolio for $940,000, renovated it, and refinanced at $1.9 million, building a million dollars of equity with the BRRRR method (buy, renovate, refinance, repeat) in 14 months.

The shiny-object trap that quietly cost him tens of thousands in dead earnest money, and why picking one strategy and putting his blinders on changed everything.

Why a single property replaced the entire retirement he would have earned from 20 years in the military, and the mindset shift that comes with owning your first door.

How an intelligence analyst vets a deal like a target package, so he never wires money into a trap.

Why he turned the whole business over to God, and the one verse (Psalm 37:23) that has guided every move for two years.

─────────────────────────────────────
TIMESTAMPS
─────────────────────────────────────
0:00 - Intro
2:08 - Meet Trevor B West
3:19 - From Air Force intelligence analyst to 80+ units
7:11 - $20K in debt, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and the first deal
10:38 - The shiny-object trap that cost him tens of thousands
16:27 - Why multifamily is getting crushed in 2026 (and why he chose it)
18:54 - Price over location: the rule that beats the market
20:10 - The syndication trap and the 2026 maturity wall
23:17 - The $940K, 28-unit deal that built $1M in equity
26:35 - The real numbers: cash flow, equity, and $200 per door
32:01 - Why he owns 100% with no partners
39:11 - Leverage and delegation without losing control
42:05 - Rich Dad Poor Dad and why timing decides who it changes
43:20 - Faith, focus, and turning the business over to God
51:13 - Psalm 37:23: God cannot bless steps you never take
53:40 - How one property replaced a 20-year pension
56:44 - His big break: the feather, the hammer, and the train
60:25 - Where to find Trevor

🎙 The Big Break Show with Rafa Loza every Thursday.
Real operators. Real numbers. No fluff.

📲 Instagram: @itsrafaloza | STR specialist.
Wondering how and where to start your STR journey?

🔗 Join the community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about

🔔 New episodes every week! subscribe so you don't miss them.

#104 How He Bought 600 Rentals Before Turning 27 ft. Donato Callahan Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

Donato Callahan is a real estate investor, software founder, and capital strategist who acquired nearly 600 units in commercial real estate before the age of 27. He graduated high school valedictorian and was recruited out of Boise State by the Department of Defense as a geospatial analyst, then walked away from a secure intelligence career to go all in on real estate. He house hacked his way in, lost money on his very first deal, and turned that failure into a 172-unit syndication just months later. Today he is the co-founder and CEO of Bright Investor (@donato_callahan), a deal-analysis platform built for investors and property managers, and the CFO of Timberview Capital, where he is helping scale the firm to 100 million dollars in annual capital. He is the proof that a few focused years can outrun a 40-year career.
In this episode, Rafa and Donato break down:
The 2-year sprint versus the 17-year sentence. Why a short window of extreme, isolating effort buys a life most people never touch, and how a coworker who "mentally prepared to do another 17 years" became the warning that pushed Donato out the door.
The failed 96-unit deal that built his entire career. How walking away from a "war zone" building in St. Louis and eating the loss on contractors got him invited into the room that handed him his first 172-unit deal.
Why being in the right room beats being the most talented person in it. The poolside conversation in Joshua Tree that turned into a CFO seat at Timberview, and why proximity to the right people creates opportunities that raw skill never will.
The exact first-deal playbook for a total beginner. House hack a two to four unit, get as close to zero out of pocket as possible, then trade sweat equity for someone else's capital on a 10 to 50 unit. The simple path most people overcomplicate into never starting.
How a teenager's NVIDIA bet led him to real estate. He picked the one stock that printed, watched COVID erase half of it overnight, and decided he needed assets he could actually control.
Syndication explained like you are five. What a general partner and a limited partner really do, how the splits are structured, and how someone with energy but no money partners with someone who has money but no time.
Inside Bright Investor, the software he built from his own pain points. How it surfaces on and off market deals, pulls sale and rent comps line by line, runs ten strategies side by side, and generates a lender-ready report, and why an investor who actually buys real estate builds a sharper tool than a banker ever could.
─────────────────────────────────────
CONNECT WITH DONATO
─────────────────────────────────────
Website: https://donatocallahan.com
Instagram: @donato_callahan
Software: https://brightinvestor.com (14-day free trial)
🎙 The Big Break Show with Rafa Loza every Thursday.
Real operators. Real numbers. No fluff.
📲 Instagram: @itsrafaloza | STR specialist.
Wondering how and where to start your STR journey?
🔗 Join the community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about
🔔 New episodes every week! subscribe so you don't miss them.

#103 The content strategy nobody talks about ft. Danny Mabley Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

Danny Mabley is a content strategist and creator coach with over 450,000 combined followers across platforms. He started in content over a decade ago, and when his daughter was born, pivoted to consulting. His first major client was in the short-term rental and real estate investing space, which led to a coaching and strategy practice that now works with investors, coaches, and business owners. He runs Return on Content (@ReturnonContent), where the focus is results, not just views.
In this episode, Rafa and Danny break down:
The 0-5-10-15 second framework. What has to happen in every window to stop the scroll, build emotional connection, and open a curiosity loop before anyone decides to stay.
Why skip rate is now the most important metric on Instagram and how to actually move it in your favor without expensive production.
The outlier testing method. How to shoot 20 videos in 5 different styles, identify the one that does 5-10x, and replicate the formula until growth compounds.
Why your iPhone outperforms an expensive camera on Instagram in 2026. One of Danny's clients doubled her average views just by switching to a phone and the Edits app.
What to look for when hiring a content strategist and the red flags that tell you are walking into a content farm with a payment plan and no real coaching.
Why AI cannot write hooks. Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini all fail at the most
important 5 seconds of your video, and why that is good news for anyone willing to put in real work.
The difference between a growth season and a sell season, and why mixing them quietly kills both.
─────────────────────────────────────
TIMESTAMPS
─────────────────────────────────────
0:00 - Intro
1:26 - Meet Danny Mabley
6:04 - Why variety content now beats niche content
10:28 - The 0-5-10-15 second framework
15:16 - The most underrated investment for creators
16:36 - Growth season vs. sell season: never mix them
20:01 - Outlier testing: how to find your 5-10x video
21:45 - Skip rate: the number one metric right now
29:13 - The Edits app algorithm boost and how long it lasts
31:30 - Why structure beats production quality every time
32:32 - How to hire the right content strategist
36:19 - What real growth actually costs in 2026
43:31 - The command growth strategy
45:23 - iPhone vs. expensive camera: a real client case study
51:23 - TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are not the same game
54:39 - Why AI cannot write hooks
57:28 - Why AI content will hurt your brand long-term
1:00:41 - Danny's final advice: just start
1:05:13 - Where to find Danny
🎙 The Big Break Show with Rafa Loza every Thursday.
Real operators. Real numbers. No fluff.
📲 Instagram: @itsrafaloza | STR specialist.
Wondering how and where to start your STR journey?
🔗 Join the community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about
🔔 New episodes every week! subscribe so you don't miss them.

#102 The 5X Booking Framework Most STR Hosts Miss Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

If your short-term rental revenue still lives and dies on Airbnb, this episode is the clearest roadmap to changing that. Rafa Loza sits down with Mark Simpson — founder of Boostly, creator of a WordPress direct booking framework that converts at 5x the industry average, and the force behind Boostly Connect — to break down exactly how STR hosts are using AI and PMS integration to build their own marketing machines. Direct bookings, vacation rental automation, and the tools that make it all work without a VA team are all on the table.
📌 01:06 — 18 autonomous AI agents running his business
11:15 — Boostly Connect build (18 months in the making)
20:58 — CRM + PMS integration for automated marketing
43:21 — FIFA World Cup STR opportunity strategy
40:55 — "Vibe coding" for niche landing pages
1:00:58 — "Icarus" — his personal AI chief of staff
🎙 The Big Break Show with Rafa Loza every Thursday.
Real operators. Real numbers. No fluff.
📲 Instagram: @itsrafaloza | STR specialist.
Wondering how and where to start your STR journey?
🔗 Join the community: https://www.skool.com/the-airbnb-blueprint-rafaloza/about
🔔 New episodes every week! subscribe so you don't miss them.

#101 Going Solo: 2025 Year End STR Update Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

Giving you all a end of year Short Term Rental market update. Also, big news. I'm taking the podcast solo!

#53 Overcoming Addiction: A Journey to a New Path in Real Estate w/ Nick Bastianelli (Part 1) Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we have the privilege of speaking with Nick Bastianelli, a seasoned real estate consultant and advisor who specializes in luxury and new construction listings and sales. But what makes this episode truly special is the fact that Nick also shares his personal story of overcoming addiction and rebuilding his life.

Nick opens up about his family's struggles and his addiction problems, and how he was able to overcome them to become sober in his 20s. He also tells us about how he started a CrossFit gym at the age of 23, and how his past struggles have helped him handle challenges and uncomfortable situations in life.

This is a truly inspiring and moving story that we are sure will resonate with many of our listeners. Tune in to hear Nick's story, and stay tuned for Part 2 of this episode, where we will discuss his expertise in real estate. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, we hope that Nick's story will serve as a source of inspiration and hope.

New episode every Wednesday!

#TheBigBreakShow #RealEstate #Podcast #NickBastianelli

Links:
Connect with Nick Bastianelli!
Instagram: @nickbastianelli
Facebook: @nickbastianelli
Tiktok: @nickbastianelli
LinkTree: @nickbastianelli
www.bastianelli.team
For Audio Podcast, Subscribe and Listen to The Big Break Show HERE:

Connect with Rafa Loza on Social Media:

If you’re interested in Rafa’s Course, check the link to his STR Academy Application:

Stride Academy

Connect with Jesse Vasquez:

The Ultimate Guide to Finding & Buying STR’s, let’s run your analytics:

https://calendly.com/airventurehosting

MASTERMINDS/ GROUPS:

#2 It’s all about Short Term Rentals, the know-how, and what’s coming in 2022 Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

In this video we explain short term rentals and how we utilize this amazing strategy to quit our nine to five. Join us as we dive into the types of short term rental strategies and how you can use them to start your investing journey.
For Audio Podcast, Subscribe and Listen to The Big Break Show HERE:

Connect with Rafa Loza on Social Media:

If you’re interested in Rafa’s Course, check the link to his STR Academy Application: