Director of Franchise Development

Jonathan Maher

Jonathan Maher has been in the vacation rental space for 7 years. Jonathan joined Grand Welcome in 2021 as Director of Franchise Development. Prior to Grand Welcome, he was a National Account Executive spearheading new product innovation for Vacasa. Prior to Vacasa, Jonathan spent five years as a National Sales Consultant for TurnKey Vacation Rentals helping build flagship markets. Jonathan is also well versed in the marketing space working for two years navigating the real estate advertising space and the two years prior working in New York City with a digital advertising firm Quantcast. Jonathan is originally from Connecticut graduating from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts. His professional career has taken him to Austin, TX where he has built his career over the past 8 years.
Jonathan lives in Georgetown, TX and recently married his wife in May 2021, and is expecting his first child in May of 2022! Jonathan also loves his two golden retrievers, playing golf, and watching sports.

Director of Franchise Development

Ryan McLaughlin

Ryan McLaughlin has spent the last 6 years in the vacation rental industry on Mustang Island in the quaint fishing and beach destination town of Port Aransas, Texas. He and his wife Shiela began their journey in this industry through acquiring and managing a 12-bedroom vacation rental focused on catering to weddings, business retreats, and large-group vacations. In addition to managing their large-group rental, Ryan soon found himself as Director of Operations for TurnKey Vacation Rentals managing slightly under 300 vacation homes in the Coastal Bend area of Texas. Prior to joining this industry, Ryan and Shiela lived in Austin, Texas with their two daughters, Carson and Maddie. In Austin, Ryan spent 12 years in various roles from Plant Manager to Director of Operations in industries ranging from aerospace, medical software, aerodynamics, and fuel-efficient engineering and manufacturing. 

Ryan and Shiela sold their business in December 2021. Ryan joined the Grand Welcome Franchise team as Director of Franchise Development in mid-April 2022. The couple still happily resides in Port Aransas, Texas along with their daughters where they enjoy golf cart rides to the beach, dolphin watching, swimming, fishing, and spending time with their two dogs, Hershey and Willy.

Founder & CEO

Brandon Ezra

Brandon Ezra is an experienced operator/entrepreneur. Brandon started his first company in his early twenties and within 10 years has successfully founded several vacation-related businesses. Brandon’s earliest venture in this space was JetLiving, an online travel agency which focused on vacation homes in Southern United States.

Based on knowledge gained through JetLiving Brandon founded JetLuxury Resorts, a business focused in the condo-hotelindustry. JetLuxury Resorts was successfully launched and exited within two years. Shortly after which Brandon started his first short-term management operation in Mammoth Lakes, California. After many years of expansion into other locations and by developing industry-leading marketing, technology, and operational techniques Brandon founded Grand Welcome Franchising to support other entrepreneurs in achieving their goals.

CTO

Erland Odd

Erland Odd has been on the technology and digital side of hospitality for the last 20+ years, both in hospitality software and property management companies. Erland joined Grand Welcome spring 2023 as Chief Technology Office (CTO). Most recently he held an executive position for technology at Castle Hospitality Group, a Hawaii based hotel and vacation rental property management company. An experienced leader focusing on continuous innovation and with an entrepreneurial mindset he provides expertise in vendor and product assessment, lean processes, data modelling, tech stack buildout, and business operations optimization.

Erland earned a Master’s degree in Information Systems and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science both from Hawaii Pacific University and a Certification in Revenue Optimization from Cornell University. Erland is originally from Sweden and currently resides in Kailua, Oahu (HI).

CFO

Lisa Guild

Lisa Guild is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA), with over 25 years of finance and operational experience, both in public accounting and private industry. Lisa recently joined Grand Welcome in 2022 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  Prior to Grand Welcome she was the CFO for multiple companies in a variety of industries to include consumer products, retail, e-commerce and education. She has tremendous experience scaling organizations, building infrastructure as a skilled finance architect, supporting both corporate and brand growth. She has developed and lead accounting, finance IT and operations teams with an emphasis on lean processes, automation and accountability. Lisa has advanced financial modeling skills which are utilized for intuitive reporting and tracking KPI’s for Private Equity Groups and Boards. 

Lisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1990 from California State University Fullerton.  As an active CPA, she is required to maintain a level of continuing professional education.  Lisa is originally from Southern California and currently resides in San Clemente, CA.