Episode 4 Managing From Four Hours Away: What 20 Years of Getting It Right Looks Like

Tom Goodwin sits down with Paula Elliott, owner of Goldilocks Haven in Chalet Village — one of Gatlinburg's most storied vacation communities — for a conversation about what professional self-management actually looks like over the long haul.

Paula bought her three-bedroom cabin in 2004 with her late husband, spent nine years learning the ropes with a management company, and has been self-managing from Indiana ever since. What she's built over 20 years isn't passive income — it's a system built on trust, relationships, proactive communication, and genuine care for guests, neighbors, and the community she's been part of for decades.

In this episode, Tom and Paula talk through the infrastructure every long-distance owner needs, why setting expectations with guests prevents middle-of-the-night calls, how to think about the local workforce with the respect they deserve, and what it really means to be a good neighbor in a market that's changed dramatically since 2004.

Paula also shares her honest take on the wave of new investors entering the Smokies — and what she wishes someone had told her from day one.

If you own a cabin in the Smokies and you're doing it yourself, or thinking about it, this conversation is one you'll want to hear more than once.