Today we’d like to introduce you to Aubrey Carlson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My life began on a farm in Illinois that had been in the family for 4 generations. I grew up in a small town, playing sports and being a troublemaker, but I always dreamed of something bigger. I then went on attend the University of Maryland and was accepted to the Navy ROTC Program at George Washington University. Upon graduation, I was sent down to Pensacola, FL to begin my career as a Naval Aviator. I completed flight school in 2015, then moved to San Diego, and have been here ever since. I flew Navy helicopters off aircraft carriers and warships all over the world. I traveled across the Pacific Ocean and back two times, landed the MH-60R on a flight deck at night hundreds of times, shot a HELLFIRE, .50 CAL, M240, chaffs, flares, and dropped torpedoes off of my helicopter. I always had a deep love for aviation and the Navy, but at the same time, as I got older, I craved more from myself. It was my goal in 2020 to never write a resume and work for myself the day I separated from the Navy. I started down the entrepreneur path while I was still in the military by starting a granola business, a food blog, and hosting some pop-up dinners. I realized that wasn’t the best fit for me and started to invest in real estate. As my passion for real estate investing grew, so did my passion for interior design and creating unique experiences through vacation rentals. I accidentally fell into interior design through our first home remodel, but when I realized I could throw all of my creative energy into creating gorgeous, sustainable, and functional spaces, I went all in. Since 2020, we (my fiancé Brad and I) launched 5 vacation rentals of our own and started to design and manage properties for other owners. We started a short-term rental management and interior design business focused on creating beautiful spaces with sustainable practices at the core. We plan to grow this business while we work on many other things that fire us up like turning my family farm in Illinois from conventional to regenerative. I just got out of the military less than 2 months ago after 10.5 years of service, so my new life is just beginning, and I am so excited to do it on my terms!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been some bumps. My dad passed away in 2021 from a tough battle with cancer, then my grandma right after, while I was working full-time in the military and had my own business on the side. The pressure of that and just starting my real estate investing journey while living in a fixer-upper crushed me for a while. Getting through all of that at and coming out the end stronger, I know I can handle anything.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I founded a short-term rental management and interior design business that specializes in optimizing properties to be the in the top 5% of the market. I have always been an environmentalist and needed to incorporate that into any business I start, and the short-term rental market is very much lacking sustainable options. Two of our rentals are carbon neutral through renewable energy, and we revitalized our small plot of land in Ocean Beach by planting 5 trees and hundreds of plants using no chemicals or fertilizers. The rainwater now soaks into the land versus running off into the street – a complete 180 of when we bought it with dead dirt and zero plants. With our short-term rental management company we do not use single use plastics, we only use recycled paper or bamboo products for our supplies, and organic coffee and teas (using local as much as possible). We stock our kitchens with non-toxic cookware and our bedrooms with sustainable linens. We run our business how we live our lives by focusing on health and wellness and protecting the environment. Outside of the sustainability part, we are known for creating stunning spaces for our Airbnbs (short-term rentals) that are focused on the guest experience.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The grind and perseverance it has taken to get here. Being able to leave the military and work for myself has been a tough road, with long days and nights for 3 years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.saltandskylodgingco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saltandskylodgingco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saltandskylodgingcollc/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aubrey-carlson-a9a807178/
Image Credits
Chelsea Loren
Brittanee Taylor
