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Ilyanna Flores-Alvarez

@byilyanna

2.2K

followers

664

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traveler • creator • hospitality marketer
working with luxury stays + destinations
founder @casasocialco 🐚
[email protected]

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30 was a year of insane transformation.

Making the conscious and unshakable decision that it was time to take my business seriously.

Resigning from my full-time social media + content job at a tourism board (that I loved!).

Working with dream properties in Arizona, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama.

And not only taking the physical action to get closer to my goals + the life I wanted to for myself, but also becoming the person that could handle it.

Releasing limiting beliefs, having the damn audacity, knowing what alignment feels like, trusting my gut when a potential opportunity feels off, trusting my gut when it feels like a resounding yes, having faith that what’s to come is better than what’s been, opening myself up to possibility and abundance, and believing to my core, that anything is possible. Knowing that if someone else has it — be it the knowledge, skills, lifestyle, income, etc. — I can too.

Between travel, work, building Casa Social, and everything in between, this was the busiest year of my life. And it didn’t come without the growing pains, sacrifices, doubt, and exhaustion. But the work was worth it. One year ago, I could have never, in my wildest imagination, expected to be where I’m at now.

Consider this is a testament to how much our lives can really change in just twelve months. How day to day or month or month, you question whether you’re really making progress, but when you look back on the year timespan, you see the unbelievable transformation that’s occurred. 🤍

Let’s see what’s to come next in this 31st year around the sun! 🎉 by @byilyanna

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2 days ago

Over the last 1.5 years, building @casasocialco has been a series of slow investments to get to the next level. To that first exchange project, first paid project, retainer clients, etc.

Content creation can be a hobby. Or it can be a business. And I knew I wanted to be in this for the long haul as I was growing it alongside my then full-time job tourism board social media job — which meant investing the time, energy, and financial resources required to make it happen.

Here are six ways in the last 1.5 years I invested in myself + this business:

1️⃣ I went on a content creator retreat in Greece led by someone who was already a leader in the hotel & airbnb content space (s/o @toptierstay) and was surrounded by other creatives with similar goals, outlooks, and ambitions.

2️⃣ I did soooo much free work, holy askdhkals. This was to build my portfolio specifically with the type of properties and clients I KNEW I wanted to work with in the future & treated every exchange stay like a paid job.

3️⃣ This strategy call got me thinking about the actual business + revenue streams of content creation and social marketing. Coaching calls with the right people are catalysts for the trajectory of your business.

4️⃣ At the very start, I used my own money to stay in a hotel that represented the type of boutique stays I wanted to work with in the future + captured as much content as possible to add to my portfolio + post on my socials. This investment led to my first airbnb collab in Sedona and an exchange stay with a top Arizona wellness resort.

5️⃣ I invested in better gear when the timing called for it, like a drone to offer unique perspectives + a service not everyone could provide, as well as a second iPhone specifically for my work shoots to separate work/life.

6️⃣ Once I went full-time into this I felt like my attention was split in a million different directions. What was the best use of my new found time and attention? What was going to provide the most ROI? What brought me the most joy? What next right step did I need to take and what are all the things I could give myself permission to cut out? This clarity call was a game changer. by @byilyanna

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a month ago

You can only connect the dots looking backward. And it’s insane to reflect and see all of the seemingly unrelated experiences, interests, passions, and parts of your life that felt so separate from one another were in fact held together by a common thread. 🎥

When I was 13 filming videos of rides at Disneyland, it was to relive the experience after I got home. To transport myself back to the Happiest Place on Earth through video.

When I was 19 capturing content of my experience living in China, it was to record the memories of my first time ever visiting and living in a foreign country.

When I was 22 filming life in Yangon, Myanmar, it was to show people what it was like to explore a country that was way under the radar when it came to travel and tourism, let alone living in as a foreigner.

Who could have expected an industry like the one we’re experiencing now — social media, travel and hospitality content, vertical short form video — would come to exist? That people would make entire careers out of filming destinations, hotels, travel experiences, etc?!

I couldn’t have known at 13, 19, or even 22 that destination and hospitality content marketing was something I wanted to do professionally, but how I loved capturing travel content for myself. 🥹

At 30, it only makes sense that my past experiences and apparently lifelong interests and passions brought me to where I am today. Filming travel and tourism content, capturing the essence of stays around the world, and founding my own content business. We’ve come a long way from filming videos at Disneyland seventeen years ago, but with how much opportunity, abundance, and possibility there is in this space, I also know this is only the beginning. 🤍

Looking back, what’s the common thread throughout your own life? by @byilyanna

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a month ago

Growing up entrepreneurship wasn’t even in my vocabulary or realm of possibility. Being a business owner was for rich people, smart people, and those with a higher leg up in the world.

Born to teen parents in Tucson, Arizona, they were learning about life at the same time I was growing up. Doing what they thought was right and passing their perspectives & findings down. The importance of going to college (even if you have to go into debt for it), having a stable job with a steady income and benefits, and succumbing to the status quo of finding a husband, having kids, and living the rest of your life the way we were all taught to.

It wasn’t until I moved to China at 19 years old, my first time out of the US, that I discovered there are other, waaaayyyy better ways to live. That the American dream had become the American scam. And in the decade that followed, living and traveling to 25+ countries, I realized how important it is to question the systems around us, to take societal expectations and throw them in the trash then light it on fire, and be open to seeing the true possibility of what life has to offer.

This journey in entrepreneurship is fkinggggg scaarrrryyyyy. Not for the risk averse, not for those that crave stability and certainty and that’s something I had to make peace with before the transition into my own thing. But absolutely worth it to know the reward is freedom you can never get in a 9-5 and a version of life that exists outside of the one society tried to sell us on.

And with insane levels of audacity, grit, and straight up passion, something that’s 100% achievable for anyone.

#hotelcreator #airbnbcreator #socialmediamanger #hospitalitymarketing by @byilyanna

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2 months ago

Ahhh these past few months have been an absolute whirlwind between…

Hotel & airbnb content shoots in Mexico, Panama, Sedona, and Costa Rica

Launching & selling out a creative retreat for later this year in Bocas del Toro

Wrapping up projects for @tempetourism, like our creator appreciation event, and finally making the decision that after 3+ years of leading all things social media, content creation, and influencer partnerships, June will officially mark my last month with the organization 🤍

Strategizing the full time transition to my own hospitality social marketing + content business

So many exciting things gone, even more exciting things ahead. Happening all over at @casasocialco. 🥹 by @byilyanna

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4 months ago

Applications are officially OPEN for the Casa Social Creator House in Bocas del Toro, Panama! 🌴

APPLY VIA THE LINK IN OUR BIO.

In our bio link you’ll also find the full details of the creative retreat, FAQ, prices and rooming options, and the retreat itinerary.

Still have questions? Drop them in the comments below. x

#contentcreatorretreat #creativeretreat #creatorretreat #hotelcreator #airbnbcreator taken in Bocas del Toro, Panama by @byilyanna

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6 months ago

The universe meets you at your level of audacity.

Welcome to Casa Social, a social-first content and marketing studio for luxury stays. Based in Phoenix, available everywhere. 🌴

Our specialties?

— Short-form, vertical videography
— Social-optimized photography
— Drone visuals
— Social media strategy & management (limited spots)

Now booking content projects for 2026. 🎥

#hospitalitymarketing #hotelcontent #airbnbcontent #hotelcreator airbnbcreator by @byilyanna

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9 months ago

Go to @taratsa.athens for rooftop views of the Acropolis, Parthenon, and Athens from above 🥹

#athens #greece #visitgreece #athensrestaurants taken in Athens, Greece by @byilyanna

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10 months ago

Under the Cretan sun 🇬🇷 taken in Crete, Greece by @byilyanna

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a year ago

if there’s one place you visit in morocco outside of marrakech, please let it be the sahara desert! 🐪

it takes a minute to get to, but the journey is so worth it. it’s such a surreal feeling to finally experience for yourself a place that once seemed so far, isolated, and almost mystical. to see with your own eyes the sand dunes stretch out for what feels like forever. coming here was undoubtedly the highlight of my entire 12 day morocco trip with @gadventures.

here are six experiences to put on your sahara desert itinerary:

👉🏼 stay in an desert camp overnight and wake up surrounded by red sand dunes

👉🏼 gather around the fire, listen to traditional music, dance, play the instruments if they offer

👉🏼 go on a camel ride, especially during sunset

👉🏼 try medfouna! also known as “berber pizza”, this is traditional dish specific to the sahara region that’s cooked in the sand

👉🏼 stand or sit to go sand boarding on the dunes

👉🏼 sign up for a 4x4 adventure to visit spots nearby like a date farm, nomad family, old mine

BONUS:
👉🏼 climb to the top of one of the sand dunes, lay down, and watch the stars

👉🏼 rent quads/atvs to go riding in the dunes

save this for your morocco travel to do list! 🇲🇦

📍 merzouga, morocco

#morocco #merzouga #saharadesert #visitmorocco #africa #northafrica #travelcreator #destinationmarketing #tourismcreator #gadventures taken in Sahara Desert, Morocco by @byilyanna

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2 years ago

real life round up for march as a travel/ hospitality creator + tourism board social media manager 🎞️

📍 so many morocco moments with @gadventures
📍 @hellotravelcon in @visittucson
📍 the final spring training game of the season
📍 catching up on content shoots around the city

#destinationmarketing #travelcreator #hospitalitycreator #tourismcreator by @byilyanna

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2 years ago

how is this real life 🥹

#morocco #merzouga #visitmorocco #travelcreator #tourismcreator #saharadesert taken in Sahara Desert, Morocco by @byilyanna

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2 years ago