VTrips adds CFO Paul Smith-Marquez and CGO Sandra Brahn to its executive team

This week VTrips announced that it has added Paul Smith-Marquez as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Sandra Brahn as Chief Growth Officer (CGO) to its executive team.

According to the company’s release, “VTrips is growing, and Paul Smith-Marquez and Sandra Brahn will bring an ideal combination of skills, from leading the financial systems that empower the VTrips team and help analyze, strategize, and grow their financial position, to developing and executing merger and acquisition growth strategy development through due diligence and post-closing integration management.

Paul Smith-Marquez

Relocating with his wife and children from Mexico City where he spent five years as CFO of the publicly-traded company Hoteles City Express, Paul Smith-Marquez brings over 15 years of experience in the C-Suite leading multidisciplinary functions, including business development, general management, mergers and acquisitions, business strategy, and financial planning analysis.

While CFO of Hoteles City Express, Paul Smith-Marquez led one of the fastest-growing hotel chains in Central America and South America by spearheading debt and equity processes and negotiating over $350 million in credit lines from global banks. Paul Smith-Marquez recruited and led the team that was responsible for the finance, strategy, investor relations, asset growth, and performance assurance functions of Hoteles City Express.

With more than ten years as a board member and CFO of both private and public companies, Paul Smith-Marquez currently serves on the boards of Christel House de Mexico and Haber Holding.

Paul holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from Universidad Panamericana, and he worked earlier in his career at Arthur Anderson, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Mckinsey & Company.

Sandra Brahn

Sandra Brahn specializes in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and international business development with over 20 years of experience building departments, identifying and delivering profitable growth opportunities, and closing complex deals across industries and geographies.

Sandra Brahn spent six years at Vacasa as Senior Director of Corporate Development as the company expanded rapidly through an emphasis on organic homeowner acquisition and portfolio acquisitions. Sandra was initially hired to lead new market growth, including Vacasa’s entry into Florida and Georgia, and established strong foundational home volumes in some of the south’s most competitive markets. Seeing a faster growth opportunity for the company, Brahn shifted to corporate development and, over the next five years, led the team to close over 150 portfolio acquisitions and partnerships.

While primarily focused on strategic growth at Vacasa, Brahn’s depth of understanding of the vacation rental management business stems from her outlook on management and business relationships and from having built and managed aspects of a wide range of teams at Vacasa—mergers and acquisitions, business development, multi-family management, Canada and Baja Mexico expansion and operations, marketing, financial analysis, sales operations, and lead generation. 

Adept at quickly understanding new businesses and industries, Sandra Brahn has also served as Vice President of Product Strategy at Fleetcor, Senior Director of Marketing, Sales Operations and Communications at Erickson, Managing Vice President of Sales and Acquisitions at NCO Group, and Senior Business Manager at Capital One.

Sandra holds a Masters of Science in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts in German Language and Literature from the University of Virginia. She also studied at Berkeley Law School and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

According to VTrips CEO and founder, Steve Milo, “We are confident that Paul Smith-Marquez and Sandra Brahn will be excellent additions to the VTrips family and strong assets to the executive team. Both Paul and Sandra are committed to continuing to build a diverse workforce at VTrips.”

Located in Ponte Vedra, Florida, VTrips manages 4,000 exclusive vacation rental properties in traditional resort destinations ranging from Florida to Hawaii.