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Lifestyle Barcelona Interview |
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All in a day's work for Lifestyle Barcelona
BarcelonaYellow talks to Josephine Anagor, who is a partner in a young dynamic company in Barcelona called Lifestyle Barcelona
So what is Lifestyle Barcelona all about we asked?
Well, really what we do is quite simple, Jo tells us. Our mission in life is to give residents and visitors to Barcelona the opportunity to experience something unique and fun! We have over 200 exciting experiences and activities in and around Barcelona.
So what sort of activity could we experience?
Many our of clients choose what we call a “once in a lifetime” experience. By this we mean something, that you would not normally expect to do.
Like winning the lottery?
No, Jo laughs. We can organise almost anything, but not that!
But we can put your behind the wheel of a Formula 1 race car or Ferrari. Or perhaps you prefer Bridge Jumping, Rock climbing, making "Castellers" human towers, piloting a helicopter or soaring through the skies of Catalonia in a hot air balloon?
That sounds unique all right, but what if we don’t want to race a car or pilot a helicopter? Do you have something “slower and lower?”
Jo smiles. Yes, lots of slower and lower things too. For something less adrenalin heavy, you might want to look at Seductive Cooking, Chocolate Massages, a huge range of Gastronomic experiences and Romantic Packages. We have lots of experiences to choose from and that’s why our clients keep coming back. They know that we can always find something new for them.
Many companies in Barcelona have a good story about how they started their business in Barcelona. What’s yours?
Jo warns us that it’s a bit of a yarn, but we insist on hearing the whole story. (Although we make her promise to keep it down to 1500 words and not start with the words “Once upon a time”
“Once upon a time…” (Lifestyle Barcelona partners have a good sense of humour) there was a man called Tony, who came from the UK to live in Barcelona.”
Jo sees our worried looks, give us a wink, and we get the short version instead.
Well, it seems that the aforementioned Tony, is the director of Lifestyle Barcelona and he came up with the idea 5 years ago.
That was when he had a couple from the UK staying with him in Barcelona. Not for a weekend, but for a full fortnight. This was a couple that he knew very well indeed from the UK and he wanted to show them the best possible time in Barcelona.
For the first 3 days Tony was the World Champion of tour guides. His visitors had a fabulous time and experienced many great sights and sounds of Barcelona.
By the 4th day, however Tony’s melting pot of ideas was beginning to dry up at an alarming rate! This was not the first time his visitors were in Barcelona, so the Playas, Ramblas and Tapas were nothing new them.
In short they were a bit Gaudi-ed out, Over-Rambled, beach-burnt and generally ready for something new.
The problem was Tony had little new to offer. And worse still, he had no idea who to call for suggestions or where to go to for ideas.
The rest of the visit was a real challenge. By day 10 Tony admits, even though he considers himself a dynamic and creative person, that he was stumped for ideas and had to resort to scrabble, cinema visits and old photo albums!
He just managed to keep his visitors entertained until the end of their stay on day14, but one more day and Tony would have bought the origami Sagrada Familia kit!
After his visitors had gone back to the UK, Tony got to thinking, that he was probably not the only person, who been in this dilemma, when visitors stayed longer than 3 days. Something needed to be done!
He decided that he was going to set up an Experiences Company that offered vistiors and locals in Barcelona numerous different ways to enjoy this amazing city of Barcelona. He was going to call it Lifestyle Barcelona. And that’s what he did in 2003.
 Tony soon realised that this was not a one-man job and teamed up the first of what would be a team of 4 partners eventually. The first partner was Krissi from Iceland, who is responsible for creating all the amazing and diverse experiences in and around Barcelona that Lifestyle Barcelonas offers today.
Then came Raquel from Catalunya. She takes care of the books. Then there were three.
And according to Jo, Tony was obviously saving the best for last, because Jo herself joined Lifestyle Barcelona as the fourth partner four years ago. Jo is responsible for sales and bookings.
By the way, Jo tells us, the couple who came over to stay with Tony in 2003 - were his mum and dad! And they are Jo’s mum and dad too! Tony is her big brother.
So there are four partners in Lifestyle Barcelona. We call it a half a family busines and half a “friendly” business! It’s a great combination!
" Look me Hearties! A Captain can't lead AND paddle at the same time! " Tony the founder of Lifestyle Barcelona demonstrating his leadership skills in an action packed Pyrenees rafting moment!
Great story Jo! (Good job we chose the short version tho!) So if your parents came to Barcelona in 2007 which activities and things would you recommend for them?
Well. I can’t see my parents skydiving or my mum behind the wheel of a Formula 1 racing car, but you never know. They are quite adventurous! Perhaps chocolate massage I think I would offer them.
Do you need people to test these experiences? Like chocolate unwrapping, wine bottle emptying or moonlight lip moisturising? We can do that, we told Jo. For FREE!
By the expression on Jo’s face it seems that we are not the first to offer our services as free testers!
Sorry guys, join the queue! Actually though, Jo says, when I joined Lifestyle Barcelona the testing was a big part of my job. I was OO-Jo for a while. Licence to thrill! I had a fantastic time.
Coming from a boring old IT background in the UK, it was a very pleasant shock to the system to find myself stepping out of a plane one day, quad biking the next, then a beauty consultation followed by wine tasting!!!
And you got paid for it?
Yep, Jo grins. Tough life, but somebody’s gotta live it!
No, but really the testing is quite demanding work and very important to us. We cannot ask our clients to try an experience, unless we know that it really is fun, and if we know how it actually feels.
What we are really selling is feelings, emotions and memories, so we need to know what our clients will feel, when they try an experience at Lifestyle Barcelona.
Another important aspect of testing the experiences ourselves is that we develop a very close relationship with our suppliers. They become our friends and this special relationship of trust and friendship is crucial.
If we trust our suppliers our clients can sense it and will trust us in turn. Trust is a huge part of what we sell too. Especially in the more adventure based activities. You need a lot of trust, if you are going to step out of an aeroplane, believe me!
A parachute would be good too, we add!
Trust me – you will have a parachute!
So the customers are who exactly?
Jo says, it’s a good mix of companies, tourists and sometimes private groups of friends or organizations.
Many companies book activities to go with their own sales incentives, conferences, Off site meetings, jollies etc.
We try to give them an experience to suit every profile of client and we have set ourselves a bit of a challenge at Lifestyle Barcelona, that we cannot offer the same company the same activity more than once!! That goal keeps us on our toes!
That was fantastic Jo, er.. but my hair was black before I got into that Formula 1 car?
We have many tourists too. We make it very easy for tourists to try these experiences even if they are only in Barcelona for a couple of days. Booking with us is a one-click experience and much easier than organising it all yourself.
And more and more we are looking at the Spanish market and not just the overseas markets. Very early on we realised that we were ignoring a fantastic market right here under our noses.
Our Spanish clients loved our website so much, that we not only translated the site into Spanish, but we have now created a totally separate website for them: called www.muchomadsqueunregalo.com (much more than a gift) This site is dedicated to Gift Experiences and covers the whole of Spain.
Is your company green?
Well it's funny you ask that, Jo says. Yes we are a green company. We send “green company emails” on environmentally friendly issues regularly. We nominate a green chico or chica each month to depose of the plastic water bottles that we collect and the paper that we have re-used.
To finish our very pleasant and fun interview with Josephine Anagor of Lifestyle Barcelona, we asked a few up-close and personal questions..
If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be ...?
Skydiving! No, not really those good old days are over. I would be working. Selling Barcelona to a prospective client.
A phrase I tell customers often is..?
If you have a look at our website I am sure you’ll find an experience that will appeal to you.
What I tell my employees most is…?
“No day is ever the same in this job.” “We did promise that you would never be bored!” and “It’s important to play as hard as you work!”
The most surprising thing since coming to Barcelona was ..?
That I could be in my 4th year here and still struggling with the Spanish language – I am thoroughly embarrassed and taking classes to rectify that situation! And then Catalan! I will get there in end!
The think I like most about Barcelona is ...?
The weather and the pace of life
We’re very good at..
Inventing new paths, trends and ideas
We are not so good at..
Standing still!
Where will you or your business be in 5 years time..
Well like John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making plans.” My plan is to be here in Catalunya but the business plan is to expand the business to all of Spain. We’ll have to see what happens to my life…!
What is your favourite restaurant(s) in Barcelona right now?
It’s a new Japanese restaurant on C/Corsega with Pau Claris called Yu Ja! AMAZING!
Yu Ja
Restaurant Japonès
Corsega, 343
08012, Barcelona
Tel 932375310
Many thanks to Jo for a great interview about her job and company.
If you want more information about Lifestyle Barcelona then:
Visit their website:
http://www.lifestylebarcelona.com
Visit their offices:
Lifestyle Experiences Group SL
Calle Balmes 184, 1º 3ª
08006 Barcelona
SPAIN
Opening hours Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM CET
Registered Travel Agency GC1490
Or contact them:
Phone: +34 932 702 048
Email:
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