Meet Brianna Feo
LOCAL FOREIGNER’S TEAM OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
This post is part of our series celebrating our Independent Contractors and Hosting Program. The Local Foreigner's Hosting Program provides a platform of systems and support for independent travel advisors.
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Making Fashion Fun
Any conversation with Brianna Feo will be punctuated with big laughs. Maybe you know someone like her – someone who will book a flight on a whim to transfer stray dogs from one Hawaii shelter to another, who seems to pick up friends in each new city like a magnet, and whose stories are peppered with just enough outrageousness that you never want her to stop talking. She’s kooky, charismatic, and conscientious, and you can trust wherever she goes that a good time will follow.
Hailing from the Garden State, Brianna grew up adventurous and artsy, in a family that traveled on the east coast circuit – winters visits to the Caribbean, summer trips to Europe. After college in Boca Raton, her creative side lead her into the wild world of Naughties New York fashion – a world that was just starting to be documented for reality tv and that was populated with big personalities and seismic shifts in the way fashion looked and was marketed. Brianna was constantly jetting to one fashion capital or another – Milan, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo – hitting more than 60 countries over the course of a decade. The combination of her grasp of the fashion landscape and eye for design meant it was inevitable that she would start her own line, and she launched her athleisure brand, Well Kept, in 2012. “I designed pieces for Jennifer Lopez and Ellie Goulding, and at the same time I was creating and trademarking proprietary textiles and fabrications, which I was able to sell when I left the industry.”
“I love destinations where you really need a support system, where you really want to get it right - anything in Africa, Antarctica, Patagonia, Bhutan, New Zealand.”
-Brianna Feo, on travel that inspires her
The Charismatic Connector
But she didn't see herself in the fashion industry long-term, and friends kept coming to her for travel expertise. When the requests became overwhelming, she would refer them as clients to the Local Foreigner. “I love destinations where you really need a support system, where you really want to get it right - anything in Africa, Antarctica, Patagonia, Bhutan, New Zealand. It was actually when I went to Mongolia that Alex Erdman Ely – the only other person I know that’s been – told me I needed to make this a career.” She started Upon Arrival shortly thereafter, and in 2023, when she was looking for a new host home, it was another unexpected connection that made her take the leap to TLF. “I was sitting in a lodge in New Zealand, discussing my next career steps with my husband, and a guy who works in the industry – whom I had never met – came up to me and said he heard me discussing joining the Local Foreigner, and that I should absolutely do it – he said their resources, systems, and support were unparalleled.” Soon thereafter, she closed the loop and joined the TLF team.
“And while Brianna can plan Europe upside down, backward, and blindfolded (as you would expect of someone who maintains a deep collection closet full of vintage Phoebe Philo, Dries Van Noten, and Chanel), she’s proud of gently nudging people out of their comfort zone.”
Finding a Common Thread
Her inherent skill for connecting people is now the common thread that carries through her work as a travel advisor – when Brianna sends a client somewhere, chances are she’s connecting them with someone she knows personally and trusts implicitly. And while can plan Europe upside down, backward, and blindfolded (as you would expect of someone who maintains a deep collection closet full of vintage Phoebe Philo, Dries Van Noten, and Chanel), she’s proud of gently nudging people out of their comfort zone. “I love to get people out of their gated communities and into a place that’s totally unknown to them – when you convince someone to go to Rwanda, and they have such a meaningful experience that suddenly the whole globe is on their to-see list.”
Zooming out, Brianna’s professional evolution makes perfect sense – she’s a treasure hunter to likes to create and collect, and her focus is always how to make something the best fit for her client, whether that’s a Greenwich Village girly on her way to pilates, or a retired couple headed to the Tibetan Plateau. With her knack for turning strangers into friends, Brianna not only curates unforgettable experiences, but also fosters meaningful connections along the way.