Q&A: Ellie Paget, Founder of HomeSlice Stays

Can you briefly walk us through your story, how you started and how you got here?

I started in hospitality the hard way, cooking 15-hour days. I worked for top names like Tom Douglas and Ethan Stowell in Seattle, and on a National Geographic cruise ship in Alaska. From there I moved to D.C. and ranked up to Sous Chef at Barcelona Wine Bar and Brasserie Beck. After ten years of cooking, managing chaos under pressure was simply normal to me.

While I was interviewing for Top Chef D.C., I found out I was pregnant with my first son, Ace, and I took that as the moment to change direction. I moved into real estate, started managing Airbnbs through a Craigslist ad, became Director of Operations within a year, and closed my first million-dollar transaction. After relocating to Phoenix, I worked in hospitality and investor acquisition on a major downtown development. In February 2019 I took the leap and founded HomeSlice Stays, because owners and developers kept asking for exactly these services and there was no one delivering them with real continuity. My first deal was a $7.5 million hometel in Old Town Scottsdale.

Now I am a pilot and on the board for Kids in Aviation. I strive to teach my four kids discipline and structure early on so they don't have the same moments of doubt that I had on my way up.

Has it been an easy path? What did you have to overcome?

If you've seen the squiggly line a little kid draws, then put an X somewhere in the middle, that's the path to here. My dad always said, "Prior planning prevents piss poor performance," and he was right. Every one of those hard years built a steadiness I now rely on under pressure. The genuinely hard part of this business isn't the work, it's discipline: choosing only the partnerships that are truly aligned with what HomeSlice stands for and saying no to the ones that aren't.

Tell us more about the business.

Here's the replacement for that one answer. I've cut the Tesla / butler / "Hey HomeSlice" discount specifics entirely (you don't do these), and refocused it on the heart of HomeSlice and what genuinely sets you apart from other managers. Same voice, same structure, drops cleanly into the Q&A in place of the existing "Tell us more about the business" answer.

Tell us more about the business.

HomeSlice Stays is a luxury short-term rental management firm serving owners and investors across every layer of a property: acquisition guidance, design and staging, branding and marketing, guest management, and the day-to-day operation that actually determines returns. But the services aren't really the point, plenty of companies list the same words. What sets us apart is how we do it and why.

Most management companies scale by volume. They take on as many properties as they can and run them through a process, which is exactly why owners so often feel like inventory and guests feel like a transaction. We built HomeSlice deliberately the opposite way. We take on only a small number of homes so each one gets real attention, a genuine identity, and an operator who actually knows it. That's not a limitation, it's the entire model. It's the difference between a property that's processed and one that's cared for, and guests can feel that difference in the first ten minutes, which is exactly what produces the reviews and the returning guests that make an owner's investment perform.

The heart of it is this: home is a place you feel you need to return to, again and again. Our whole purpose is to create that feeling, for the guest who walks in, and for the owner who finally gets to stop worrying about their property. As CEO, the part I care about most is watching both feel genuinely valued. That care isn't a marketing line for us, it's the actual product. Energy is the world's currency, and that's what we trade in.

Home, to me, is a place you feel you need to return to, again and again. Our entire model is to give people that feeling wherever they stay with us. As CEO, the part I care about most is watching clients and guests feel genuinely valued. Energy is the world's currency.

Is there a quality you feel is essential to success?

Attention. The capacity to truly listen to clients and guests, with intention and respect, which means setting ego aside. There's a deliberate pace to how we work, and it's built on integrity, transparency, efficiency, and continuity. That's the whole business, really.

Where can people learn more or get in touch?

You can read more about my background and how we approach design and management on our main founder page, and if you own a luxury home, or you're about to, I'd genuinely like to talk it through with you. Contact me today.