Stewarding Homes, Trust, and Legacy in Hospitality with Tom Goodwin
Tom Goodwin, second-generation Steward and CEO of Mountain Laurel Chalets, joins The Bliss Business Podcast to explain hospitality stewardship: why his family-owned vacation rental company treats homes and guests as relationships, not inventory, and how that mindset built a 59 percent repeat booking rate.
Hospitality is not simply about managing reservations. It's about hospitality stewardship, caring for homes, honoring trust, and creating experiences that bring families back year after year.
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome Tom Goodwin, second-generation Steward and CEO of Mountain Laurel Chalets, a family-owned vacation rental company serving Gatlinburg since 1972. "We manage those homes in a way that honors the owner, and it prepares a place for the guests to have an exceptional vacation experience," Tom told hosts Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa.
In this episode, we explore:
• Why stewardship creates stronger hospitality brands
• How family-owned companies preserve trust through generations
• What is lost when homes are treated like portfolio assets
• Why repeat guests are a reflection of care, not algorithms
• How leaders balance tradition with the need to evolve
• What hospitality can teach every business about connection
You Cannot Add Empathy After the Fact
Tom says the company exists "to change lives," and that calling shapes every operational decision. When companies build efficient systems first and try to add empathy later, he warns, "it's a lot more difficult to engineer that. It's a reverse engineering... You can build systems around [empathy] a lot easier than you can inject empathy into already established systems."
Repeat Guests Are Built Through Listening
Mountain Laurel Chalets books 59 percent of its stays from returning guests, down to small details like registering a traveling dog's name and treat preferences. "You can't be empathetic unless you listen," Tom said. "You follow the conversation, not your agenda."
A Small Gesture Can Last a Lifetime
Tom shared the story of Tammy, a second-time guest diagnosed with ALS who wanted to see the mountains and a bear one more time. He brought her the company's bear mascot, Ralph. "She held that bear the rest of her trip," Tom said, "and she held that bear every day for the rest of her life." Mountain Laurel Chalets later sold bears in her honor to raise funds for an ALS foundation.
Stewardship Is the Opposite of Consumption
Asked what's at risk as private equity and portfolio operators reshape the vacation rental industry, Tom drew a sharp distinction: "We don't consume properties, we steward properties... I think the heart of stewardship is love, and it's care and concern of others... I think it's good business, and I think profit flows from that."
That same instinct, building real relationships instead of managing every touchpoint like a transaction, is what Zero Company helps growing brands translate into their own marketing and audience connection.
Tom's advice for any leader hiring in a tight market: screen for character first. Skills can be taught; the heart behind the work is much harder to build from scratch.
Key Takeaways
• (2:14-4:45) Why Mountain Laurel Chalets manages homes, not portfolios
• (7:37-9:08) Hospitality as a calling: “we exist to change lives.”
• (11:06-13:21) Why empathy has to be foundational, not injected after systems are built
• (16:13-17:33) How a 59 percent repeat booking rate gets built, one detail at a time
• (18:44-20:06) The team’s 20+ year average tenure and why it strengthens guest trust
• (21:49-25:27) The story of Tammy, the bear mascot Ralph, and the ALS Foundation fundraiser
• (25:50-28:12) How Tom screens job applicants for heart, not just skill
• (32:44-37:08) What’s at risk as private equity reshapes vacation rentals, and why Tom steers clear of it
FAQ
What does hospitality stewardship mean at Mountain Laurel Chalets?
Tom Goodwin describes stewardship as receiving something that isn’t yours, a home, a vacation, an employee’s time, and returning it better than you found it. The company manages homes, not portfolios, and treats owners and guests as relationships rather than inventory.
How does Mountain Laurel Chalets get a 59 percent repeat booking rate?
By listening before the stay begins and keeping a history of each guest’s past visits, celebrations, and preferences, down to registering a traveling dog’s name and treat preferences, so every return trip feels personal.
Why does Tom Goodwin say you can’t add empathy to a business after the fact?
Because systems built for efficiency first are hard to retrofit with care. Mountain Laurel Chalets was founded on empathy, so its operational systems were built to support that foundation rather than replace it.
Learn more about Tom Goodwin and Mountain Laurel Chalets at mtnlaurelchalets.com and on LinkedIn, or explore more Featured Guest Series conversations on The Bliss Business Podcast.
🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa
🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta
Steward & CEO
Mountain Laurel Chalets has been family-owned since 1972 — the original vacation rental company in Gatlinburg and the longest-running family-owned vacation rental company in Tennessee. Tom became the second-generation steward in 2012, but his relationship with MLC began thirty years earlier when he married Susan, daughter of founders Ralph and Dot Egli. That front-row seat to real home management shaped everything about how he leads today.
In a market now crowded with portfolio operators who have never signed a mortgage or felt the weight of someone handing them the keys to their investment, Tom and his team have lived that responsibility for decades. MLC does not manage portfolios — they manage homes. There is a difference, and homeowners can feel it.
MLC's leadership team averages 25 years of service. Their direct booking rate is 80%. Half their guests are repeat visitors. These are not metrics they engineered — they are the result of 53 years of showing up the same way every time. MLC has been recognized as a Comparent Market Leader three consecutive years — 2024, 2025, and 2026 — placing them in the top 1% of all vacation rental management companies in the United States.
For homeowners in the Smoky Mountains looking for a management partner who understands what their home means — not just what it earns — Tom Goodwin and Mountain Laurel Chalets are ready to have that conversation.
