While Jonathan Wicks lived in Chicago in the 2010s, he had a lake house in Northern Illinois that he rented short-term. At the time, the busy CEO owned a national company that cleaned homes in bank foreclosure, and because he couldn’t service his rental on his own, he hired residential cleaners to clean his vacation rental, do the laundry, restock supplies, and other routine property care.
He loved hosting guests, but he quickly learned that residential cleaners were skilled at cleaning yet not necessarily experts at professionally laundering linens and towels or strategically restocking a vacation rental with toilet paper and other necessities.
“As I was hosting, I was in a continual state of like, ‘I wish there was a company that did all of these things,’ but I didn’t think it was going to be me who would start that company,” he said.
In early 2020, Jonathan sold his business and was looking for a new venture. He came up with an idea while staying in a short-term rental in Scottsdale, Arizona, during the Phoenix Open golf tournament in early February of that year.
“The host thanked me for staying and said, ‘You know, we’ve actually got 30 properties if you’d ever want to stay with us again. Here’s my email address and phone number,’ and I said, ‘Hey, you know, I actually just came up with this idea for a service company in that space. I’d love to just chat.’”
That host and his 30 properties eventually became the first client for Jonathan’s new turnover servicing company, Well & Good Property Services.
Innovative short-term rental business concept
Unlike a property management company, Well & Good provides no hosting or listing services. Rather, the company takes care of everything inside the short-term rental in between guests. The company serves both independent hosts who don’t have time for cleaning, changing linens, and restocking their vacation rentals, as well as larger property management companies.
“I said, I’m not leaving Arizona until this client is my first client, and I’m launching the company in Arizona,” Jonathan recounted.
Having a client with 30 properties from the outset was one motivating factor for choosing Arizona as the company’s headquarters.
But Jonathan had also been wanting to move somewhere with milder winters, and Arizona offered plenty of sunshine.
By August 2020, Jonathan had left Chicago, moved to Scottsdale, and officially launched Well & Good with three other founding employees: Hilda Martell, a former cleaner who is now Phoenix market lead; Nick Coats, director of operations; and Jack Paton, national client lead.
Since launching in August 2020, Well & Good has expanded to three more markets: Flagstaff, Arizona; Houston, Texas; and Boise, Idaho. The company now services about 500 properties nationwide and has more than 20 full-time employees and 100 contractors.
Serve well and do good for guests, clients, team, and community
The name Well & Good comes from the phrase serve well and do good. Jonathan credits the company’s prosperity to its core values and providing a workplace where employees are set up for success.
“I love working with folks to both better our organization and individual lives,” he said. “I work to surround myself with people who provide different perspectives but all through the same goal of excellence.
“There is nothing better than investing in those that want to create, learn and grow, and that is what we have at Well & Good.
“We’re doing something that hasn’t yet been done in this industry (a full-scale independent turnover services provider), and that requires a team committed to solutions and finding a better way. That’s the vision I want to cast to our team, and I’m inspired by so many of the folks in our organization who have not only grasped the vision, they have added to it.”
Hilda, a co-founder of the company, is one of those employees who has both inspired and been inspired by Jonathan.
When she met Jonathan two years ago, she was working as a cleaner for another company and was looking for “bigger things.”
“I had never met anyone that was so excited about the industry and all that came with it,” she said. “I jumped on board on Day One, and two years later, I have to say I cannot be more proud to be a part of it all.”
“I had been in the industry as a cleaner for years before meeting Jonathan, but he gave me the opportunity to grow and do so much more here at Well & Good,” she said. “Jonathan gave me the confidence, strength, and tools – along with a team of professionals – to completely set me up for success.”
Hilda is now the market leader for the Phoenix-Scottsdale market.
The workplace that Jonathan has created has allowed his employees to reach stability, professionalism, and financial freedom, she said.
“Jonathan cares about his employees all across the board, and people not only see that, but also feel it,” she said. “He takes the time to make people feel comfortable and welcomed.”
Amid high inflation, Jonathan provided food boxes for employees struggling to provide for their families. He also gave a 3% wage increase for several months to help cover the spike in gas prices.
“We are lucky to have him as our leader,” she said.
Core values that bring good into the short-term rental industry and community
He and the three founding employees developed the core values collaboratively and continue to revise them each year.
Core values:
- We insist on effective communication
- We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen
- We utilize tech that helps our people, we do not have people solely help our tech
- We emphasize respect and reward efficiency
- Proper preparation is mandatory
- We are professionals with a standard of excellence – always
- We believe in positive problem solving
- We will not take advantage of those in our reach, and we ask that those in our reach do not take advantage of our company
“Our core values are the bedrock of what we do,” Jonathan said. “At each meeting we start the conversation with the core value of the week, and we have contests that align with company goals that reinforce those core values.”
For instance, one of the company’s core values is, we are professionals with a standard of excellence – always. To reinforce that value, the company held a pillow drive to replace old, worn-out pillows with new pillows at client properties.
The core values help to create a win-win situation for everyone, from Well & Good employees and clients to the greater community. They are committed to being a force of good within the markets that it services – and not just in contributing to the local economy by creating jobs and paying local taxes.
Adding value to the local community
The company also gets involved in nonprofit and community organizations to help those in need, and they donate gently used blankets, sheets, and towels to local shelters and community groups, Jonathan said.
For example, Well & Good makes monetary and in-kind donations to Love Society and the Phoenix Dream Center in Phoenix. Both organizations assist women and children transition out of abusive situations by providing housing and day-to-day necessities.
Well & Good often acquires high-quality linens and towels from properties that can’t be used in vacation rentals because they aren’t part of the company’s standardized linen program. The company donates those items, as well as cosmetics, to these groups.
Team members from Well & Good also assist in holding events and perform packing and prep work for women and children who will be served by these organizations, Jonathan said.
He recently joined the board of the Arizonans for Responsible Tourism to increase the representation of various short-term rental community stakeholder voices on the board. As a representative of a servicing company, he offers a different perspective from those who are exclusively hosts.
“It’s crucial to have a servicer’s perspective on key issues such as health, safety, and the overall wellbeing of the properties and professionals that service them,” he said.
The board role also gives him a microphone for spreading the word about all of the good things that short-term rentals bring to a community.
“We feel it is important to let local leaders and candidates know that their advocacy for tourism and the local community via a responsible short-term rental industry doesn’t go unnoticed,” He said. “There is a lot of noise in their ears, and we want them to know that the majority of folks appreciate the benefits of our industry.”
In fact, short-term rentals are an age-old way to showcase a community to visitors, he said.
“You’re inviting people into your home and sharing your culture and community with them,” he said. “That’s the goal of the industry: to give guests a local experience.”
“The words ‘either’ and ‘or’ have been used way too much,” Jonathan said. “I don’t believe it’s either we have communities or we have short-term rentals. You can have community and short-term rentals; they can and do coexist.”
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