Ruslan, founder of Away2PA, has built a thriving vacation rental business in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains through patience and determination. What started as a complete unknown has grown to 10 properties and given her the freedom to step away from corporate life.

Can you tell us a little bit about your history?

I came to the U.S. from Russia twenty years ago. I ended up at SUNY Oneonta and graduated in 2006 with a degree in Business and Economics. Like a lot of people who come here, I started from scratch, moving jobs, doing kitchen work, even Burger King for a bit, just trying to figure things out and get my first "real" job.

Were you always in vacation rentals or property management, or is this a second or third career?

Definitely a second career. Eventually, I got into finance and landed on Wall Street, which was a big shift from where I started. I spent over a decade in that world, working in New York, London, and Montenegro. I was still in finance when I got pulled into short-term rentals. A friend of mine had a few properties up in the Pocono Mountains and convinced me to give it a try. Getting that first property wasn’t easy. I fought with the mortgage process and tried to find a perfect first investment for almost a year, but once it was listed, it pulled in about forty grand in the first six months. That kind of result makes you pay attention.

So I leaned into it. I started buying more places, renovating, figuring out what worked, and slowly building a portfolio. It wasn’t fast or glamorous, but it was real. Over time, I realized I was putting more energy into this than my actual job, so I made the switch.

If it’s a later career, what did you do before?

Before short-term rentals, I was in finance for about thirteen years, trading, analyzing, the whole thing. I learned a lot about money management and risk, but I also learned that corporate life just wasn’t for me long-term. I wanted something that was mine, where the results, good or bad, were on me. I was thinking of it as a strategic game with real dollar results.

What do you love about vacation rentals, and what are the challenges?

What I love most is the freedom. I don’t have a boss or a commute. I like the creativity that comes with it too. Every property is a chance to do something different, whether it’s a renovation or a brand-new build. Over time, I’ve gone from fixer-uppers to full-on custom homes, places with indoor pools, movie theaters, water features (rivers, streams, ponds).

The challenges are definitely the regulations. Zoning laws change constantly, and that can really throw you off. There’ve been times when I had to sell properties just because the local rules shifted. And like most hosts, I’ve had my share of frustration with big platforms; they’re essential, but they don’t always treat hosts as partners. Still, that’s part of the business. You adapt, keep building, and move forward.

How do you use OwnerRez to manage your business?

OwnerRez is the backbone of how I run things now. When you’ve got multiple properties and a team involved, you need something that keeps all the moving parts in sync, pricing, messages, team access, all of it. What I like about OwnerRez is that it’s built for real operators, not just casual hosts. It’s flexible, reliable, and it gives me the control I need to manage everything without getting buried in spreadsheets or manual updates. It took me 6 months to understand the basics, but then it got much easier. I'm still learning and discovering new features though.

With patience and hard work, Ruslan has grown Away2PA into a dynamic portfolio. We look forward to seeing Ruslan continue to push her company forward with the help of OwnerRez.