Vonda Tackett
CEO
Vonda is a passionate mother, grandmother, entrepreneur, and photographer. She and her family enjoyed renting vacation homes on the beach for almost 20 years, and eventually purchased several of her own rentals. Instantly falling in love with the business of vacation rentals, it didn’t take long before she founded Soar Vacation Rental Services.
A highly experienced entrepreneur, Vonda started a 24/7 professional services business in 1987 and grew it into a multi-million-dollar operation before merging with several other companies in 2015 and making her exit in early 2017. Founding Soar shortly after, she considers the vacation rental management business her greatest adventure yet.
Vonda enjoys being involved in the community and is active with the Galveston Chamber of Commerce, along with other organizations. She serves as a board member with the Short-Term Rental Owner's Association of Galveston, (STROAG). She is especially honored to serve on the fellowship and missions board at her church.
When not working she enjoys spending time with her children, grandchildren, friends, and her two rescue dogs, Scooby and Skipper.
April
Service Agent/Admin Assistant
April joins the Soar team with nearly 10 years of experience in the Galveston vacation rental industry. A true Galveston native, April was born and raised on the island, and is the daughter of hardworking, entrepreneurial parents. She graduated from Ball High school in 2008, and then earned her real estate license, marking the beginning of an extensive and successful career built on unmatched customer service, hospitality, and sales expertise in the ever growing and changing real estate and vacation rental markets. In her spare time, April loves checking out Galveston’s newest hot spots and spending time with her family and beloved 13-year-old yorkie, Howie. Above all, April is your above and beyond people person, and enjoys delivering exceptional service to her Soar customers, combined with remarkable vacation experiences! Supported by her genuine kindness and professionalism in the rental market, her commitment to excellence is unwavering! She is ready to serve you!
Laura
Inspector
Entrepreneur, and small business owner, (bookkeeper extraordinaire!). Laura also has many years of hospitality experience, and serves as one of Soar's fabulous insepctors.
Robert
Head Maintenance Technician
Robert, is our head maintenance technician, He is highly skilled and has many years of experience in the hospitality industry.
JC
Maintenance Technician
JC is a retired property developer and home builder, owning and managing many residential properties prior to moving to Galveston in 2017. JC serves as one of our skilled maintenance technicians.
JC is also a talented musician, and plays at venues around the island!
Kate
Reservations/Customer Service
Kate is from the Philippines and the youngest of three siblings. She graduated Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and previously taught high school students Physics and Geometry.
What she loves most about the Hospitality industry is that she gets to make people happy! As a traveler, she understands how important it is to have a smooth, relaxed and comfortable stay. She takes the time necessary to understand and put herself in the guest's/owner's shoes.
Kate loves the beach and its vibe, with beachfront homes being her favorite! When not working, she enjoys her hobbies which include playing the guitar and watching TV series and movies.
Kea
Reservations/Customer Service
Kea started working in the hospitality industry right after she graduated from college in 2016, and is from the Phillipines.
She offers the best customer service to guests by going the extra mile and making sure they are happy with their stay! Kea is professional in all circumstances.
In her free time, she loves having coffee with friends and shopping.
Larry Pfeil
Lake Livingston
Larry and his wife Amanda have owned property on Lake Livingston for over ten years. With the youngest of their five children in college during the Covid shutdowns, they moved to Lake Livingston full-time at the end of 2019 and sold their home in Houston. The couple live on their eleven-acre ranch and Larry manages the boots on the ground services for beautiful lakefront properties, including their own.
Larry is a serial entrepreneur who has a business degree from the University of Houston as well as a law degree from South Texas College of Law. He has a diverse background in business ranging from technology to telecommunications regulation. Larry co-founded a medical supply company to provide personal protective equipment to regional first responders during the Covid emergency.
He has partnered with Soar Vacation Rental Services by assembling a comprehensive boots on the ground team in Livingston to manage and maintain luxury properties around Lake Livingston for vacation rental homeowners. Larry and his team provide “boots on the ground” services to complement the marketing, accounting, and administrative services that Soar Vacation Rental services provide. The partnership, consisting of critical management services, makes owning or renting houses around Lake Livingston a peaceful, and enjoyable experience.
Zaira
Housekeeping
Zaira has lived in the Galveston area for 15+ years and has been in the housekeeping business for 6 years.
She is truly passionate about preparing the properties so they are clean and tidy for her guests. Zaira states that reaching her cleanliness goals consistently gives her a very warm, heart felt feeling.
Zaira, her husband and 3 children love to travel when not working. She understands the wow feeling when they enter a well prepared rental property.
She also enjoys walking the seawall and embracing the beach.