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Katherine Read

@iamkatherineread

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Building Dubai’s go-to B2B private community & digital home for the short stay space.
Extraverted introvert 🧘🏻‍♀️
@short_stay_circle

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Five short stay truths.

There’s ALWAYS more happening behind the booking…

And that’s exactly why this industry is so interesting.

Because what looks simple from the outside rarely is.

And anyone working in short stay will know there are about 100 decisions being made behind every guest stay, owner conversation and property.

Some you’ll get right.

Some you’ll learn the hard way.

And some will have you messaging someone in the industry asking, “What are you doing about this?” 😅

That last one is probably more important than we give it credit for.

Because there’s a huge amount of experience sitting across the short-stay industry in Dubai.

And sometimes one conversation with someone who has already dealt with the same challenge can save you a LOT of time.

So… off the back of that…

What would you add as number six? 🤔👇🏻

Shoutout to the FAB @guestreadydubai team for opening their doors to their Bluewaters apartment to film this 🙌🏼 taken in Dubai, UAE by @iamkatherineread

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6 days ago

Calling Dubai’s short-stay decision makers.

If you own, operate or manage short-stay properties in Dubai, this is one date to put in your diary.

On Monday 28th September, we’re bringing the short-stay ecosystem together at The Strand, Palm Jumeirah for the SSC Evening Exhibition.

Three hours in a room filled with business owners, operators, property managers, industry experts and the businesses that can help you scale, operate and grow more strategically.

You’ll meet the people behind the platforms you use, discover businesses you should know, make connections that could genuinely lead somewhere and hear directly from experienced operators and industry experts across two fireside chats.

This is about getting the right people in the same room.

The people making decisions.

The people building businesses.

The people shaping where short stays in this region goes next.

THE ROOM FOR SHORT STAY DECISION MAKERS.

📍 The Strand, Palm Jumeirah
📅 Monday 28th September
🕖 7pm–10pm

If you work in short stays in Dubai, you should be in this room.

Reserve your space now… link in bio. taken in Dubai, UAE by @iamkatherineread

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15 days ago

Growth doesn’t happen in isolation.

For short-stay operators, growing a portfolio is rarely down to one conversation, one channel or one route to market.

It comes from building the right relationships across the wider ecosystem.

And that’s exactly where Short Stay Circle comes in.

We’re connecting the best of Dubai’s short stay operators with fellow industry professionals & approved services, suppliers and products,

Creating stronger routes to introductions, referrals and commercial opportunity.

Because the more connected the ecosystem becomes, the more opportunity there is within it.

If you’re a short-stay operator, property manager or holiday-home business in the UAE, SSC membership is free.

Another BIG thank you to the GuestReady team for letting us film in their beautiful Bluewaters apartment,

And to the @konceptae team for pulling it all together 👏 taken in Dubai, UAE by @iamkatherineread

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18 days ago

I WISH sales was part of the school curriculum.

Having spent 20 years working in education and then stepping into the world of running my own businesses, I very quickly realised that you can have the best idea, product or service in the world, but at some point you have to convince somebody else to buy it.

Which means learning how to sell… 👀

And bloody hell, there is a LOT to learn.

The psychology behind it. The rejection. The follow-ups. Knowing when to push and when to back off. Getting very excited about a deal that you absolutely do not have yet. Having an incredible month and assuming you’ve cracked it, only to be humbled by the next one.

I’m definitely still learning as I go, but I’m also slightly obsessed with getting better at it.

So, eight lessons from my very ongoing education in sales… by @iamkatherineread

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19 days ago

You don’t know what you don’t know.

For a lot of operators, the disruption earlier this year exposed something they perhaps hadn’t thought deeply enough about before…

How much of the guest relationship they actually OWN.

Because, if you don’t own the data, don’t have a direct route back to the guest and haven’t built any relationship beyond the booking itself, there’s a gap in the business.

And this is exactly why bringing short stay operators together MATTERS.

Because someone in the room has already started building their direct strategy.

Someone else has worked out how they’re capturing guest data.

Someone has tested what drives repeat bookings.

Someone has learnt the hard way what they wish they’d put in place sooner.

That knowledge becomes far more useful when it’s shared.

And SSC exists to bring the people running these businesses together, so the lessons, conversations, experiences and connections that can help someone build better don’t stay inside four walls.

And a massive shout out to the team at @guestreadydubai who have played such a HUGE part in Short Stay Circle so far and opened the doors to one of their beautiful apartments on Bluewaters Island for us to film this series.

We couldn’t have asked for a better setting or a better team to have supporting what we’re building 🙌🏼

So, if you run, manage or work within a short-stay business in the UAE, come and be part of the Circle.

Individual Membership for short stay operators is FREE.

Head to the link in our bio to join us 🤝

Huge thanks to @konceptae for filming & producing this series 🎥😮‍💨 taken in Dubai, UAE by @iamkatherineread

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22 days ago

Day 7 of 27… THREE weeks to go.

There’s something quite humbling about spending every day surrounded by an industry and then deliberately putting yourself in a position where you realise how much of it you still have to learn.

And I firmly believe that’s a good thing.

The deeper I’ve gone into the short-stay industry here in Dubai over the last few months, the more interested I’ve become in the detail behind the decisions being made every day.

Not because I need to become the expert in every part of it.

But because if we’re building rooms full of brilliant people, who ask better questions and create conversations that are worth listening to, I need to understand enough to know what those questions should be.

And trust me when I say, I’m learning a LOT.

And fortunately, I now have access to some pretty incredible people to learn from too.

21 days to go 👊🏻

More to come tomorrowwww! by @iamkatherineread

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22 days ago

Day 5: Guess we’ll just stay “unfortunate” then 🤷🏻‍♀️😉 by @iamkatherineread

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24 days ago

IYKYK by @iamkatherineread

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a month ago

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a month ago

Day 2: We have a speaker reveal 😮‍💨

There’s SEVEN speakers joining us on Monday 28th September for our Evening Exhibition.

And it only felt right that Danni was the first one to be announced.

She’ll be part of the short stay operator led fireside chat which will dig deep into the world of automation.

Because, this word is flying around a LOT at the moment in the world of short stays.

But actually, how much automation is too much?

That’s exactly what we’ll be exploring on the 28th!

Beyond thrilled to have you join us, Danni!

More to come tomorrow 🚀🚀

P.s. This has taken me HOURS to edit so algorithm… do you thing and make sure that this reaches short stay professionals across Dubai 😁 by @iamkatherineread

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a month ago

Day 1 of 27…

Here we goooooo 👇🏻

It’s the 1st September and we are on the countdown to the Short Stay Circle Evening Exhibition.

Our BIGGEST event yet.

Monday 28th September, 7pm.

So, if I haven’t already got enough on my plate… I’ve decided to bring you along with me too.

Everyday in the lead up to the short-stay evening event of the YEAR (and let’s be honest, it’s been a year)

I’ll be updating you.

Every single day 👀

With reveals on who’s exhibiting, speaking, raffle prizes, global industry experts who’ll be joining us…

You name it.

AND, not only that, il be sharing all that sits behind pulling together something like this.

Follow along on for the ride.

Monday 28th September… Dubai’s short stay space is coming for youuuu 🔥📈😮‍💨 by @iamkatherineread

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a month ago

Founder Spotlight: Katherine Read - Founder of Short Stay Circle

"For almost twenty years I worked in education, eventually becoming an Assistant Headteacher. Looking back, the thing I loved most was never the curriculum or the strategy documents. It was bringing people together and watching what happened when the right people shared ideas and solved problems collectively.

That has become the thread running through everything I've built since.
When I left teaching in July 2024, I stepped into business with no background in entrepreneurship. I founded The Holiday Mode, a luxury travel planning company in Dubai and quickly realized my greatest value wasn't having all the answers. It was building relationships that created opportunities, not just for me, but for everyone around me.

And that was the mindset which led me to the short-term rental industry. I met incredible founders, operators, hosts and suppliers who were all building brilliant businesses, often just a few miles apart, yet many had never met. I believed the industry needed an independent space where relationships came before sales and collaboration came before competition.

That became Short Stay Circle.

Today, Short Stay Circle is a private B2B community connecting the people shaping Dubai's short-term rental ecosystem, from operators and property managers to the businesses supporting them. Through carefully curated events and a growing digital platform, we're creating one trusted place where conversations become collaborations and introductions become commercial opportunities.

In just over a year we've welcomed more than 115 vetted members, the majority founders, owners and decision-makers, hosted more than 30 industry events, partnered with brands including Airbnb and Booking.com, and built a community representing around 15% of Dubai's active short-term rental market.

What drives me hasn't changed since my teaching days.

I don't believe leadership is about being the most knowledgeable person in the room. It's about creating the environment where other people thrive, where the right introductions are made and opportunities are created that simply wouldn't have existed otherwise."

#WEAsia by @iamkatherineread

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2 months ago