Our friends Yvonne & Agustina, opened up the 1st Property Management Company in Venao - Pirawa Properties and we would like to share the story of their friendship and business in Venao.
Agustina Ortega
Nationality: Argentinian
Moved to Venao in: 2009
Venao for me is: A lot of things - Love, My daughter, Family, Friends, Life Lessons (many), Business and Growth. Venao for me is HOME and I never want to leave!
Connection to Venao: Initially LOVE and then a range of possibilities to create, feel free and motivated. Then I had my daughter, Mia, and I felt it was the perfect place to raise a kid, surrounded by nature, simplicity and family.
Things you love here: I love Venao in all its forms, the nature, the community, the security and the space to create. It's filled with intelligent and talented people and has a warm climate!
Things you don't like: I don't agree on the way that the urban planification of Venao is being organized. I'm worried that it is not being very functional to achieve organic growth.
Yvonne Bennett
Nationality: Panamanian
Moved to Venao in: 2018
Venao for me is: A Playground where I can have the most amazing routine and turn my dreams and goals into reality.
Connection to Venao: Initially WORK but I don't believe in coincidences. Now, the people, the community and my group of friends is everything to me. I was supposed to be here and I will continue to create my home in this magical place.
Things you love here: That I can surf every day, the connection to nature and people and the simplicity of living on the beach while also having work opportunities as an architect and property manager.
Things you don't like: It can feel small in terms of the quantity of people, shops and restaurants and that banks and hospitals are still far away.
Tell us the story of how you met and decided to work together?
In a past life, Agus made balance boards and had her own brand. She was doing a photo shoot for her products and they first met when she chose Yvonne as a model. Later, they also talked at some point about working on a design project together, which in the end never happened.
“It was only until later, when we started hanging out more, that we realized we had a lot in common and became friends”, says Yvonne. But it would still be a few years before they actually started working together.
A couple of months after Yvonne started Pirawa on her own, she realized she needed help. The business was growing quickly and in order to continue offering a good service, Yvonne needed an amazing partner.
“Agus was the first person that instantly came to my mind”, shares Yvonne, “not only because of obvious things like her experience in Venao and the fact that she's also a Spanish speaker, but also because of a very clear gut feeling”. Once they talked about the idea, they both knew that they wanted to work together.
“It felt good to both of us, and it continues to feel good today”.
Tell us about your business. What impact does it have in Venao and how does Venao impact your business?
Pirawa is a property management company. We manage, equip, and promote tropical vacation homes and luxury villas. We help homeowners turn their properties into high return vacation rentals, from the initial steps of getting a home ready to rent, to the actual management and marketing of the rentals.
The impact that we have in Venao is mostly related to the experiences of the people who visit our properties. From the moment someone books a villa with us, we're committed to providing the best guest experience, not only for the villa we're managing, but also for Venao.
We want our guests to take home an amazing impression of this beach we call home. It is all related, if we bring good guests to the beach, and they have a good experience, not only will they come back, but they will bring more people, and Venao will continue to grow.
Biggest challenge and biggest reward in business and relationship.
The biggest challenge is that now that they are best friends and partners, they can't travel together. “Someone has to stay in charge in Venao!”, says Yvonne, laughing. The truth is, clarifies Agus, “that we haven't had that many challenges in our relationship as partners, we really are a good team”.
On the business side, they both agree that Venao is growing very fast, and perhaps their biggest challenge is to always reinvent themselves to keep up.
Curiously, they also consider this the biggest reward, because “It keeps us in constant growth, just like Venao”.
What is your vision/plans/project for the future and community of Venao?
Both Agus and Yvonne both really want to help the Venao community grow in an organic and healthy way. They believe that by showcasing the best of Venao, more international people and families will come into our beautiful beach community.
“We have many fun plans and projects to come and we're extremely inspired about the future of Pirawa and Playa Venao”. The same way we are inspired by who they are, the quality of the work they do and their contribution to our community. Thank you for helping us grow with your love, action and vision for Venao.
