Justin McCloud

Founder, Mountain Haven Vacation Rentals. Blowing Rock, NC. Fly fishing. Vols.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

My wife and I bought an Airbnb in Blowing Rock in 2022 while I was still in corporate America. I left in 2024. I have plenty of thoughts on that chapter, but I’ll save them. The short version is that I was done.

We bought two more homes after that. All three are extremely high performers.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

I was there. Loudest I’ve ever heard Neyland

[Josh Ward @Josh_Ward]

22 years ago today: @JamesWilhoit25 finds redemption with a 50-yard field goal in the final minute to help Tennessee beat Florida 30-28.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

Great cleaners are the lifeblood of a short-term rental business. Everything else is downstream of a house that is actually ready.

I am curious what other operators look for when they hire.

For me it is three things. Dependability. Real experience, meaning this is not someone who left another job last week and decided to start cleaning. And attention to detail. Guests notice the last five percent, and so do reviews.

What is on your list?

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

I will be at VRMA in Nashville. If you are running a similar shop, I'd love to meet you!

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

My wife and I bought an Airbnb in Blowing Rock in 2022 while I was still in corporate America. I left in 2024. I have plenty of thoughts on that chapter, but I’ll save them. The short version is that I was done.

We bought two more homes after that. All three are extremely high performers.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

I am going to use this account as an operator: what we are seeing, what is working, and what we would do differently.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

The business is growing faster than we expected. There is a market in the High Country for a small, selective manager that actually walks the house.

We walk every property. We open every cabinet and drawer. Then we put a specific list in front of the owner, from a bathroom that needs to be renovated to new furniture in the living room to replacing the spatulas. We do not take every house. We require a real commitment to invest in the property before it goes live.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

North Carolina does not make that easy. There was a lot of red tape, and I had to partner with a BIC until I can serve as BIC myself. I was fortunate to find a good partner. The firm license came through in July 2026.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

That owner-operator experience is what we bring to property management. It resonates because we have sat on their side of the table. We are not transactional.

In early 2026 we went all in. I got my real estate license, completed the hours to go from provisional broker to broker, and filed for the firm license. I did not want to affiliate with someone else’s brokerage. I wanted to own the client relationships.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

We like hosting, and it turned out we were good at the operating side too. We realized that we had skills from the corporate years that actually translated. Decided to go all in early 2026. Got my real estate license, finished the 90 hours to go from provisional to broker, then filed for the firm license. Didn’t want to affiliate with someone else. Wanted to own the client relationships.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

@sweatystartup Really helpful info, ty.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

My basketball coach #gbo #govols

[Jon Root @JonnyRoot_]

“I wish at [my player’s] age, I would’ve gone much deeper into a relationship with Jesus Christ… To me, the most important thing is to God with all my heart, soul, & mind.”
- Tennessee HC Rick Barnes

(via @TreyWallace)

[Tennessee Basketball @Vol_Hoops]

we're at the door. and we're knocking.

let's go get em

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

Tearjerker

[Will Compton @_willcompton]

I’m starting to hate being a dad because of how much I cry now

Great advertisement here by Disney

Get the tissues ready

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

Proud #traddad here

[Dr Danish @operationdanish]

We now have evidence that gentle parenting doesn’t work.

Here’s an uncomfortable truth about parenting no one wants to say out loud:

The data is not kind to gentle parenting.

According to teenagers, strict curfews. strict bedtimes, screen limits, device drop off times, dedicated homework blocks, and sleepover restrictions IMPROVE higher relationship quality.

And yes, parenting difficulty goes up.

Of course it does. Leadership is harder than appeasement.

For the past decade we have been sold a watered down, Instagram friendly version of “gentle parenting” that often collapses into boundary avoidance, endless negotiation and emotional processing without enforcement. Parents terrified of saying no because they do not want to rupture connection.

But connection without authority is not connection. It is dependency.

When parents impose structure, the relationship improves.

Teenagers report better parent child relationship quality in homes with curfews and rules. Younger kids report better relationships in homes with screen limits and bedtimes. Even device drop off times correlate positively.

Why?

Because structure is not cruelty. Structure is love made visible.

A bedtime says: your brain matters more than your entertainment.

A screen limit says: your dopamine system is not fully developed and I will guard it until it is.

A curfew says: your safety matters more than your social standing.

That is not authoritarianism. That is caring.

Boundaries create friction. Friction creates growth. The parent absorbs the short term discomfort so the child does not pay the long term cost.

Children do not experience well calibrated limits as rejection. They experience them as stability. The human brain craves predictability. Predictability reduces anxiety. Reduced anxiety strengthens attachment.

That is why relationship quality goes up.

Notice something else in the data. The strongest effects are around time structure. Bedtime. Homework. Devices. Outside play. These are environmental constraints. They scaffold executive function.

The winning formula is not tyranny.

It is high warmth plus high structure.

The modern failure mode is high warmth plus low structure. That is just abdication of responsibility wrapped in empathy.

Children need leadership, not negotiation. They need adults who can tolerate their anger. They need boundaries that do not move every time emotions spike. They need someone whose prefrontal cortex is fully myelinated.

The harder path produces the stronger bond.

Because when a child feels that someone is strong enough to hold the line, they relax. And relaxed nervous systems build durable relationships.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

@trentjhughes Medishare for catastrophic coverage. Funds in HSA for everything else.

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

@janetjenkins52 You serious Clark?

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

Seamaster

[The Global Watch Club @GlobalWatchClub]

Seamaster or Blackbay? 👇😎

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

@shawngorham Just gained one

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

@StudentRentPro In Hoc No Joke

[Justin McCloud @McCloudJustin]

Yikes, Quicksilver was so cool in middle school... along with Structure, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle obviously

[Morning Brew ☕️ @MorningBrew]

Pour one out for the mid-2000s suburban millennial