The Faces of Kigo: Meet Billie-Jean Willis

We created the Faces of Kigo series to showcase our talented employees, tell their stories, and share why they love being a part of the Kigo team.

Meet Billie-Jean Willis, Kigo Client Success Team Manager based in Richardson, Texas. Billie-Jean has a unique and powerful ability to inspire others, making her the ideal person to lead our implementation and account management teams across the globe.

Learn more about Billie-Jean:

Tell us about yourself!

I believe that life is full of adventure, you just have to live YOUR life and be authentic and true. If you do, adventure will always be there for you to experience.

I was born in Zambia and loved every moment growing up in such a beautiful and culturally rich country. I left home at 19 and moved to Los Angeles, California. Science, music and cultural history are passions of mine and I was able to enjoy all of that going to college and experiencing all that life had to offer in the wonderful state of California. After living the California life for 14 years, and meeting and marrying the love of my life, we moved to Dallas, Texas to be close to family and to start one of our own. I am a mother to a beautiful boy who just turned one and my new adventure at this time of my life is learning to be the best mother and wife I can be.

What is your role at Kigo?

I am currently the manager of Kigo’s client success team, which is comprised of the implementation and account management teams located in the U.S., Barcelona and Manila. My role within the client success group is to ensure every team member is empowered to provide the best experience possible for every customer that makes the important decision to partner with Kigo. Our goal as a team is to innovate ways that provide a quality experience for our customers, from the implementation of the software to the continued use of the systems as our customers’ businesses grow and evolve in the short term rental industry. We strive for our partnership to be an added value to their business as they use our exceptional software platform.

What do you love about your job?

Everyone wants to make a difference in the world, to make some positive impact in their own way. I feel like my job within the Kigo team allows me to do that every day. I strive to make a positive impact on and for my team, from the individual person to the collective group. I get the opportunity to find ways to motivate, empower, unite and support a team as they in turn make a difference to our customers. Our team creates an atmosphere where we are making our customers’ lives and businesses better with the software and personal service we offer. By helping my team and customers, I have the unique opportunity to serve and grow personally. That’s a pretty great place to be in life—motiving and growing others as you are motivated to grow.

What makes Kigo stand out from the competition?

The people and the platform are what makes Kigo stand out. Our team is constantly innovating and executing ways to make our platform better. Everyone at Kigo stands behind our platform and all the work it takes to make it a success. To see how everyone is passionate and personally invested in who we are and what we offer really does separate us from the competition. We do not simply want to provide a software platform, we are here to partner with our customers to help them succeed.

What is your favorite feature of Kigo?

Kigo Marketplace encompasses everything powerful that Kigo has to offer. This groundbreaking offering allows our customers and their guests to have a simple, time saving, end-to-end booking experience.

How is Kigo changing the vacation rental industry?

Kigo is leading the way in innovating and simplifying the guest experience in the short-term rental industry by creating one platform with advance technology to help streamline our customers’ ways of doing business.

How does your hobby/passion translate into your role at Kigo?

I have been able to experience different cultures and ways of life by living in different parts of the world. I believe that has helped me understand that our customers and their guests all have different needs and goals to suit their businesses and lives all over the world. People travel the world for many different reasons and Kigo provides a service and platform that can accommodate this diversity in travel and rental experience. I feel proud to be a part of a group that has a platform that can adapt, not conform.

What do you look for in a vacation rental? What do you avoid?

When I was younger, I looked for rentals that were close to all the social life I wanted to experience in that area. Now that I am a mother and older, I focus on comfort, amenities, ease of access, privacy and cleanliness of the rental as well as proximity to family centered social events and activities.

How can property owners make their vacation rentals more appealing to travelers like yourself?

Property owners can start by identifying who their demographic may be based on the location of their rental and then highlight the amenities and social spots that would appeal to that demographic. In addition, clearly stating whether children are permitted at a property is helpful.

As we continue to explore the Faces of Kigo, you will meet more members of our global team working every day to create the best products in travel. Stay tuned!