What’s something you’ve had to unlearn as a leader?
Maybe it’s less about unlearning and more about learning where certain instincts actually belong. Some things that served me in the early days, like needing to be involved in every decision, don’t serve the same purpose at scale. It’s about knowing when to lean in, when to step back, and trusting your team to carry the vision forward.
Is there a destination that always reminds you why you do what you do?
Southern Africa, without question. There’s just something magical about it. It has this way of opening people up. I’ve never seen the impact of travel land so clearly and so quickly as it does there. You can see it in the travelers’ eyes, in how they connect with each other, how they catch themselves and slow down. It’s often said that a safari is life-changing, and I can’t tell you enough how true that is. There’s a stillness and a perspective shift that happen almost instantly, stripping away all the noise and bringing people back to themselves.
If SmartFlyer were a hotel, which one would it be?
Since I can’t possibly name just one, I’ll say this: if SmartFlyer were a hotel, it would feel welcoming to all, yet very much in-the-know. It would be a blend of some of my favorite places in the world, the intimacy of Casa Polanco, the art curation of The Silo, the obsessive details of Villa Treville, and the visionary architecture of Forestis. It would have a really good story combined with layered interiors that feel collected, never curated, and the sort of service that makes you feel seen, but never bothered.