Meet The Team
Daniel Jones
Dan, a Siesta Key native, relocated to NYC in 1991 to pursue a career in property investing and analysis. In 2009, he returned to Siesta Key and founded Gertrude Rentals, focusing on property management. At Gertrude Rentals, Dan leverages his expertise in PDP marketing, lead management, and pricing and calendar utilization to offer the premier product on the island. His prior roles in commercial and residential real estate include Principal at Ernst & Young, Managing Director at Barclays Capital, and Director at Brean Capital. Dans specialty is PDP marketing and converting inquiries into bookings.
James Daly
James’s experience includes 8yrs With Gertrude, 14yrs Chief Operating Manager of 1,200 seat, 31,000 sq ft Henry Fonda Theatre, and 7yrs as a US and European tour band manager. He grew up in Chicago and was living in Los Angeles when he joined us. James’s superpower is project management and appliance repair.
Zana Martin
Zana joined Gertrude less than a year ago but brings 25yrs of experience from Yum Brands where she was a regional head of customer service and training. She grew up all-over the deep south and was staying at a Gertrude Rentals property when we hired her. Zana was born for this role and hit the ground running with no sign of stopping. Her specialty is converting inquiries into bookings.
Matt Warn
Matt’s experience includes 15yrs with Gertrude and 13yrs in photo staging and set design at Nordstrom. One notable side project is his 4yrs bedazzling power tools. Matt grew up in Sarasota and was living in San Francisco when he joined us. We value his contribution in all aspects of maintenance and his specialty is photo staging.
Gered Andrews
Gered’s experience includes 6yrs with Gertrude and 15yrs in property management. He studied engineering at MIT and is also a certified horticulturalist, licensed electrician, and certified heavy machine operator. Gered grew up in Connecticut, lives in Vermont, and his special power is in subzero preventative insulation.
Margit Orban & Rita Szentgyorgyi
We’ve been with our cleaners steadily for 12 years. Margit and Rita’s teams split the North and South parts of the island. Grew up in Hungary, live in Sarasota.
Eddie Nonato
Eddie joined Gertrude 3yrs ago and has 16yrs of vacation rental and travel experience including Expedia and Lufthansa. He lives in the Philippines with his fiancé but loves travel and visits 10 or more destinations a year. Eddie is an unbelievably nice guy and doing great work in reviews management and OTA hacks. His special power is improving our ranking in Airbnb and VRBO search results.
Kyle
Kyle comes to us from V-trips and has 14years of vacation rental and online PDP marketing experience. He grew up in Florida and lives in Fort Myers.
Ralph Wyatt
Ralph is a young Marine, Sarasota transplant, up-and-coming member of the team. He is entering his second year with Gertrude and has 7yrs of previous property maintenance experience. Ralphs team specialty is pest control.
Matthew Van Ess
Matthew has 3yrs with Gertrude and 7yrs of previous customer service experience. He is our night shift guy, stay-at-home father of 2 and a Sarasota transplant. Matthews specialty is in niche marketing.
Petras Genys
Petras has been with Gertrude 3yrs and spent the prior 20yrs in NYC in building maintenance. He grew up in Lithuania, lives in Sarasota, and his special power is major repairs and installs.
Joey Sullivan
Joey is a 3yr veteran up-and-coming member of the Gertrude team. He is also a young dedicated father of four (including Mickey). Joey is well-rounded but his specialty is upholstery, furniture and rug rescue.
Gertrude Van lopik Jones
Gertrude our matriarch and the inspiration for both our business model and approach to service. She rendered everything with a sense of vigor, friendliness, individual pride, and a 'can do!' spirit. Image is her in 1949, recently widowed touring Mexico by motor car and trailer. That year Gertrude unexpectedly lost her husband, assumed his sales routes selling industrial lubricants throughout the Midwest, then drove 2964 miles from Michigan to the Pyramid of the Sun, alone except for her two year old son.
