24 Tamara Lohan - Founder of Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Turning a Personal Need into an International Business
Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-founders, Tamara and James Lohan first came up with the idea for a carefully curated collection of hotels after their first international trip as a couple turned out to be quite disastrous. The experience led them to write down every single thing they would want from a hotel. Those notes quickly became their business plan. What originally started as a guidebook has now become Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a carefully curated collection of 1,000+ boutique and luxury hotels across the globe.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith quickly gained a cult following. The global travel club now caters to more than 1 million like-minded members in 100+ countries and counts tastemakers like Stella McCartney, Olivia Von Holle, and Dita Von Teese as fans. The company now offers Smith24, a 24-hour customer service and booking support line and launched a “Family Hub” to highlight child-friendly hotels.
Listen in as Tamara and Monica discuss the trajectory of Mr & Mrs Smith, how she manages a team located around the globe, how to best tap into influencer marketing and why you have to balance the human and digital aspects of customer service.
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'Great businesses start small and come from ideas that can grow.' - Tamara Lohan
Show Notes:
- What is the mission of Tamara's business
- How Tamara got the idea for Mr. & Mrs. Smith
- When Tamara and her husband decided to quit their day jobs
- What she looks for in hotels
- When they started to go international
- How she came together to work with her husband on this project
- What is the size and layout of her team
- How Mr. & Mrs. Smith tapped into influencer marketing
- Why you have to balance the digital and human aspects of the business
- How to build a culture with a global team
- How people can use the Mr. & Mrs. Smith platform
- What challenges Tamara has faced
'At no point did we think this is not a great idea.' - Tamara Lohan
Links Mentioned:
- Find great hotels and book your stay with Mr & Mrs Smith
- Connect with Tamara:
'It's important that hotels make their customers feel good and sexy and special.' - Tamara Lohan
