Meet Brendan Monaghan
LOCAL FOREIGNER’S TEAM OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
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Climbing the ladder
For Brendan Monaghan, travel has been a constant. In his early years, he split his time between New York and Boston, and in that schism, found comfort in the liminal spaces. “I realized recently that, even though I love living in New York and have a wonderful community here, I feel most at home when I am traveling,” he says. His parents both prioritized travel as well, though they had different styles - “My mom was a beach fanatic, and I would spend a lot of time in the Caribbean with her while I was growing up. My first memory is lying on her lap as a tiny child, in Jamaica, staring up at a ceiling fan and listening to reggae. And then my dad was a classic Roman history guy - he loved the big European capitals and the grand churches and all of that.” This contrast between beach resorts and world capitals would prove to be a recurring theme as Brendan’s own travel patterns started to play out.
After graduating from Syracuse, he fell into magazine publishing - but Brendan is the type of guy who doesn’t do things by halves, so “falling into” the industry led to a sparkling career, spanning 17 years at Conde Nast, including time at Vogue, GQ, and as the publisher of Conde Nast Traveller; he also spent time as the publisher of New York Times’ T Magazine and as Chief Business Officer of Beautiful Destinations. “I was always drawn to fashion and lifestyle, so that was the professional through line during my time in publishing,” he says, “and I always spent all of my disposable income on travel.” And he wasn’t married to one city as he rose through the professional ranks - while New York is the place he always returns to, since turning 18, he has lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, London, Florence, Los Angeles, Hong Kong.
Logging the miles
“I was finding all these kindred travel spirits, people who appreciated the same sort of hotels and destinations that I did, and realizing that there weren’t a lot of travel advisors out there who understood what they were looking for.”
-Brendan Monaghan
Travel was part and parcel of Brendan’s career in publishing, which saw him city hopping constantly; in his first year at Conde Nast Traveller alone, he flew over 300,000 miles. He would be in fabulous cities and the best hotels, but changing accommodations every night to ensure he maintained a holistic understanding of the landscape and product. “That part of my career was rewarding, but it was grueling. I had to be in Paris and Milan at least four times a year, each, in a new hotel each night, so I didn’t associate those cities with leisure - I associated them with being very tired. And in my downtime, I was drawn to beach vacations - for a long time, to me, the word ‘vacation’ meant warm weather. Luxury was finding a wonderful hotel and not leaving it. But launching Coolidge & Co. has given me a new perspective; an amazing beach is still hard to beat, but there is also so much life outside the resort.”
As one might expect from someone who found so much professional success in the communications field, Brendan is a talker. “Every vacation we’d go on, we would meet great people, and get to chatting with them about how they found the hotel and how they booked their travel. You already have something in common with them, because you’re at the same small hotel, but I was always trying to figure out the path that led them there. From my time at Traveller, I understood the value of working with a travel advisor, but it seemed like every time I spoke to someone about the agency they worked with, they were unhappy. I was finding all these kindred travel spirits, people who appreciated the same sort of hotels and destinations that I did, and realizing that there weren’t a lot of advisors out there who understood what they were looking for.”
But even as these ideas started percolating, he wasn’t quite ready to leave the publishing space, and a major adventure was still ahead - as a newlywed just before the start of the pandemic, he was tapped to lead Tatler Asia. In the fall of 2019, he and husband Mark packed up their life in the States and relocated to Hong Kong, where they spent the next 18 months based out of the penthouse of the Upper House Hotel as the world turned upside down. As part of a thriving expat community, their time in Asia during Covid was vibrant, but also a chance to reassess his next professional chapter. After settling back in New York, the seeds for Coolidge & Co. finally started sprouting.
A pineapple a day
“Our tagline at Coolidge & Co. is ‘At Home in the World.’ That idea of feeling comfortable in the in-between spaces is the unique background that my personal and professional history brings to how I plan travel. The foundation of our business is personality.”
“Our tagline at Coolidge & Co. is ‘At Home in the World,’” he says. “That idea of feeling comfortable in the in-between spaces is the unique background that my personal and professional history brings to how I plan travel. The foundation of our business is personality - we believe in making friends through travel, in understanding who someone is and matchmaking the best destinations and hotels for them, but also building a trusting relationship that goes both ways. Our clients are people who are into experiences that are authentic and unstuffy, understated luxury; not flashy, not in your face.” And the relationship aspect is not just agent-client - Brendan prioritizes and values the relationships he has developed with members of the industry as well, both during his time in publishing, and since starting with Local Foreigner. “It’s so helpful to be able to call the general manager of a hotel my clients are about to check into, and speak with them about my clients’ personalities and preferences, so when they arrive, the staff is ready to make them feel totally at home. Comfort is so important to me, and that goes so far beyond nice physical surroundings. It’s the hotel’s team, it’s the guides, it’s the thought that goes into pairing an experience with a family. I love introducing people to magical places they wouldn’t have considered before - I love when someone has a lot of personality and I can send them somewhere they haven’t heard of, and then it becomes ‘their spot.’”
In the center of Coolidge & Co.’s logo, there’s a pineapple - a classic sign of hospitality, and a symbol of how Brendan looks at his business as a whole, which is as a host or guide for his clients as they navigate the world of travel. “The pineapple is a symbol of welcome, and that’s how we want our clients to feel whenever they arrive somewhere. Our ideal clients trust in travel, and understand that it brings the world together and is the best education you can give yourself - understanding different cultures and your place within the global picture. I’ve been so lucky in my career to build a global perspective, first in magazines and publishing, and now with the Local Foreigner and Coolidge & Co. This chapter is all about sharing that perspective with clients who become friends, and watching the joy and perspective that travel brings them.”
