Meet Your Lake of the Ozarks’ Vacation Rental Team
Russell Burdette
Owner/Broker
Russell and his wife Tammy are the proud owners of Your Lake Vacation. Both graduated from School of the Osage (a few years back), and have called the Lake of the Ozarks home for more than 40 years! They have five children, Erin, Justin, Eli, Zechariah and Eden and one grandchild, Bella.
During his professional career, Russell has managed a number of Lake Area businesses, including Miner Mikes Adventure Zone and Music 4 Less where he was a district manager over Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. In January of 2004, he took a position as the marketing director for Al Elam Real Estate and Property Management. By April of 2004, he had become the assistant manager of the property management company in addition to his marketing duties. In 2005 he was promoted to manager of the property management company and obtained his real estate license. In 2008 he and his wife purchased the property management company. He then obtained his broker’s license and rebranded the company as Your Lake Vacation. After expanding and moving twice, YLV was able to purchase the building they were renting and now have a permanent home in the heart of Osage Beach. He strives to run the company in a family-friendly manner, but also as a professional vacation rental management company. His vast knowledge is put to use each day by assisting people looking to purchase a rental property, helping real estate agents evaluate potential rental properties and by helping current property owners on YLV maximize their potential with their existing properties.
Russell currently serves on the board of directors for the Lake of the Ozarks Golf Council (marketing arm for the 12 area golf courses), is president of Freedom Through Christ Ministries in Camdenton, MO (a Christian transitional housing program helping men who have come out of jail or prison to get back on their feet and become productive members of society again), is an elder and sits on the board of directors of Calvary Chapel Lake of the Ozarks and is an alderman for his hometown of Bagnell. Russell is the past president of the Miller County and Camden County Business Districts for the Tri-County Lodging Association, past president of the Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Rental Association and was formerly the pastor at Calvary Chapel Barnett. In his spare time, Russell enjoys reading, listening to and collecting music (he has seen more than 50 bands live in concert and has over 2500 albums and cd’s in his music collection), playing softball, basketball and teaching the bible at the local jail each week. As a die-hard baseball fan, he loves the Yankees/Cardinals and is looking for World Series titles number 28 and 12 respectively!
Erin Burdette
Director of Business Development, Real Estate Broker-Salesperson
Erin was born and raised in Central Missouri. After graduating High School in 2009, she started working for her father’s company, Your Lake Vacation, and continued to work summers throughout college. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
Soon after college, the opportunity arose to work for a local internet marketing company at the Lake of the Ozarks. After 4 years of living and working at the Lake full-time, Erin decided to move to Fort Myers, Florida. She helped open a satellite office for the marketing company there to gain new clients in the area. After 1.5 years in Florida, a new opportunity fell into her lap, to assist the owner of a new Fort Myers Beach based vacation rental company. During her 3.5 years there, she helped grow the company from 20 properties to over 100 properties!
Now, in the Summer of 2022, Erin has returned to Your Lake Vacation to prepare to take over the family business in the future. She is a licensed real estate agent in both Missouri and Florida. In her spare time, she enjoys reading books, practicing and teaching yoga, and traveling the world!
Patrick Porter
Reservations Manager/Golf Guru
Pat was born in Peoria, Illinois and lived in various locations mostly in Missouri and Illinois before settling in Licking, Mo. He attended Central Missouri State University (now known as the University of Central Missouri) in Warrensburg at the same time as Russell Burdette, although they didn’t know each other then but probably passed each other on campus. After college, Pat went to work for Wal-Mart and moved up the ranks to Assistant Store Manager (including being honored with the Wal-Mart “Rising Star Award”) before the opportunity to work with his wife, Lisa, at Your Lake Vacation came along. He has worked his way up from an inspector to reservations manager, accumulating over $4,000,000 in sales.
Pat loves the friendly and inviting people that inhabit the Lake Area along with the Lake itself and the different seasons that alter the look on a daily basis. Music, watching Cardinals baseball, church, traveling with family and watching his grandson Grehyor grow are all things that he loves to do when away from work. Our guests love working with Patrick due to his vast knowledge of our properties and his more than 20 years of living at the Lake. He can answer almost any question that a guest can think of or throw at him.
Shawna Upton
Administrative Assistant
Shawna is a School of the Osage alumni and has loved living at the Lake Area for most of her life. Her favorite titles are Wife, Mom, and Grandma. She enjoys hiking, photography, painting, and music. Shawna is looking forward to growing with the Your Lake Vacation Team!
Julie Rambo
Reservationist
Julie has been a resident of the Lake Area all her life. She was born and raised here, and is now raising her 3 children here. She has only been employed with Your Lake Vacation for a short time, but is excited to be helping guests plan their vacation!
