the founder
meet jules sawyer
Twenty years in luxury hospitality, a licensed broker's eye for what makes a home thrive, and a life built around the same balance she brings to every property.
care, consistency, craft
a foundation built on hospitality
Jules Sawyer brings two decades of luxury hospitality leadership to Higher Ground Hospitality — including a General Manager role with IHG's Hotel Indigo brand. That foundation, paired with years of hands-on short-term rental operations across the Asheville region, shapes an approach to property management built on care, consistency, and craft.
As a licensed North Carolina real estate broker, Jules carries a rare dual perspective: not just how to operate a property beautifully, but how to evaluate, position, and grow it as an asset. HGH owners lean on guidance that spans both the guest experience and the bigger investment picture.
a personal philosophy
the four elements, personally
These four elements aren't just a brand framework — they're a way of understanding how I move through the world, and how I show up for the people and places I care about.
earth — what grounds me
Earth is where I return to when life feels like too much motion. It’s the reminder that I am allowed to stand still, to be steady, to trust what’s beneath my feet.
water — what moves through me
Water is how I’ve learned to flow, not force. For most of my life, I believed worth had to be earned through effort. Water teaches me that I can move like a current. It’s softness as strength. It’s trusting that ease is a way of being.
fire — what wakes me up
Fire is the part of me that still feels alive after two decades of doing this work. It’s joy, spark, aliveness — the feeling of being fully present in a moment instead of just passing through it. Fire reminds me that devotion and delight can live in the same breath.
air — what lets me exhale
Air is clarity — the practice of being honest with myself. It’s also lightness. Play. Laughter, allowed in the simple moments. Air is what reminds me that truth and joy exist in harmony.
presence & restoration
The best hospitality comes from operators who practice what they offer — presence, restoration, and alignment between how you work and how you live.
That balance comes from somewhere personal. Jules is deeply invested in wellness and intentional living. A mom of three, she lives with her family in Asheville — happiest hiking to waterfalls, cooking a slow, delicious meal, and lingering over coffee on the front porch as the ridges come into light.
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