Today, your membership comes with not only that phone number but the email address of at least one lifestyle manager in a major city. From there, Guevarra said, “we fulfill anything that’s legal. We basically do anything and everything under the sun.”
The average net worth of a Quintessentially member is $50 million, he said, and the typical member is 35 to 55 years old. But newer members have been even younger. And that means better technology is critical to keeping up.
“When I started, I don’t even think iPhones were around—so there weren’t apps,” Reedy said. “There wasn’t Blade [the helicopter service], so you couldn’t just book a helicopter on your phone. Uber didn’t exist.” (Quintessentially is in the process of developing an app for its members, he said.)
A December 2017 report from McKinsey & Co. found that, over the previous three years, spending on “experiences” including travel had grown almost four times faster than spending on goods. Millennials are driving that shift, according to Sophie Marchessou, an author of the report. “Social media most likely plays a role,” she said. “It has such a focus on showcasing experiences.”
Nevertheless, Marchessou notes that less-digital-savvy baby boomers are also driving the experience economy. Along with Generation X, they tend to be wealthier. Reedy can attest to that.
When Reedy was a lifestyle manager, he was responsible for coming up with plans and ideas to entertain a 60-something Manhattan millionaire. At the client’s beck and call, Reedy even had to attend events when a companion was needed. The client paid $20,000 a year for the service.
“We found him a dance teacher, singing lessons, and a dialect coach to lose his Long Island accent—[even] a magician and private lessons,” said Reedy, 33. He also recalled working with a 12-year-old piano prodigy once. The boy requested “a lot of birthday cakes,” Reedy said.
The luxury lifestyle concierge industry is made up of a small universe of players. Luxury Attaché and Alberta La Grup, like Quintessentially, are full-service. Others have niche focuses, whether it’s location or industry. Stupak Las Vegas, for example, focuses only on planning corporate and leisure trips to Sin City.
Velocity Black is another do-it-all lifestyle concierge, but it’s audience is younger—with an average age of 34 and a lower net worth, around $7 million. The price of the three-year-old service is much less than Quintessentially, $2,800 a year with a $900 initiation fee. Founder Zia Yusuf, 32, said he’s trying to provide members something that’s usually elusive: spontaneity.
“We don’t just wait for you to tell us what you want,” he said. “We aspire to something greater, which is showing you things you didn't even know you wanted.” Yusuf also places an emphasis on technology, saying that 40 percent of Velocity Black members open their app every day.