Annastasia Seebohm

"It gives you a degree of stamina and allows you to empathise with people in a different way."

"I have this thing about being ‘human’ in business."

"It’s because I’m a young, female CEO, but I think it’s important to build an environment where people don’t think that to be successful."

"We all have personal challenges, and I’d love to foster an environment to feel that’s OK."

"Ben and Aaron are my mentors. They have totally formed my career."

"They could have hired a big gun externally for this role yet they’re empowering their own."

"Half of luxury consumers in the world will soon be millennials, but at the moment our product isn’t focused on them."

"A key theme will be making sure we’ve got a membership offering that does."

"They call out bullshit really quickly."

"You have to really give them what they want, or they’ll walk."

"If you’re genuinely offering the right experience the cool little hidden spot in Marrakech to go to then they’re going to want to use you."

"“I was lucky enough to be invited as a guest to Brilliant Minds in 2018 and 2019. And I had the most amazing experience. I thought it was a really unique gathering of the most interesting people convening on the most important issues of our time.”"

"“They started looking for a new CEO and I was headhunted. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I knew I was excited by it as soon as I got to know the board. It just cemented that this is absolutely what I wanted to do,”"

"“You just have the most amazing group of interesting people driving change and impact, and I feel so fortunate to get to learn from them every day,”"

"“I absolutely adore Malala. I find her very inspiring. Equally, I find Emma Watson incredibly inspiring and as Angela Merkel is now finished in office I would love the opportunity to hear from her... and then I'm really inspired by the decisions that Alexandre Arnault makes, so I would love to be able to get him on stage too.”"

"“It's very transparent. It's a very non-hierarchical, relaxed working culture and creative and collaborative.”"

"“Sweden is so conscious in its impact and sustainability agenda, and businesses see that they have a responsibility to impact society positively in the long term. And that's something that I think is very unique to this market and I think the rest of the world needs to be educated on.”"

"“My first adult job was as an executive assistant, which means I got to see everything from the top and how a company runs. I got all the boss’s emails. I could also see all the numbers, which meant I could see how a business ran. It was amazing. It gave me the best insight into operating a business.”"

"“So I actually chased Quintessentially for a job and applied over multiple years and in different places until they gave me a job. From there I worked very closely with the founders, and they threw me an opportunity to come out and run the US business. We tripled in size very quickly, and then I took the reins. I just sort of rose up, learning from them, actually.”"

"“In this position of seniority, I think there’s an obligation to actually show a different and more feminine side to leadership. And I’ve found I’d be much more effective in staying close to my team and understanding what’s going on with the front line by showing emotion. I spent the last 12 months actively trying to soften a little bit, and it’s made such a huge difference with how I’m engaging with people.”"

"When Covid first hit, services which were historically the most popular amongst our members such as restaurant reservations, access to events and international travel ceased almost overnight."

"Our agency arm also saw their events programming paused."

"People have definitely come to appreciate the smaller, everyday luxuries the time to enjoy a real conversation and dinner with a friend"

"The chance for a long walk with a loved one, downtime with family, the opportunity to learn a new language or skill."

"These things don’t have to cost a lot of money."

"It’s just having the time and capacity to do them."

"I was at university I read an article in British Vogue magazine a profile piece on Quintessentially’s co-founder Ben Elliot."

"I immediately parked the company in my head, thinking it seemed like a great concept entrepreneurial, creative, global."

"“…whilst I was always very clear about where I wanted to go, I have always been willing to kind of like throw it all up in the air and try something new.”"

"I moved back to London and started at Quintessentially’s London headquarters."

"You know, it’s very hard, being a young carer."

"The roles are reversed."

"The parent suddenly becomes physically disabled but emotionally different too."

"That’s why I’m doing a job of somebody at least 10 years older than me."

"When you go through things, loss is one, you gain an ability to prioritise what’s important."

"It was the kind of company I knew I wanted to work for."

"“I've always been a little bit like this. I'm huge on New Year's resolutions. I'm huge on setting goals, but I think we're always an evolution…You grow, and you learn things about yourself, and you read more. And I think that it's an evolution.""

"“I had the feedback that I was quite alpha and I saw that behavior in myself as well. I felt to be a really effective and well-respected CEO, you had to have that energy. But then I saw somebody I was managing, a young woman, have that energy as well and I didn't like seeing that I'd influenced somebody to behave like that because that's what they thought they needed to do to succeed.”"

"“in the beginning. There were many times I was mistaken for an executive assistant instead of the CEO when people arrived to meet the CEO”"

"Look, I talk to strangers all the time…I met my husband on an airplane. You know, I've met so many interesting people on airplanes.”"

"I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be."

"I want to improve about myself, for example, I took this role and it was a much more public facing role."

"There is a stage presence that you have to have."

"I wanted to fix my posture."

"I would say my posture wasn't bad previously, but it wasn't excellent."

"I started working with a postural expert."