Transcript Below - September 30, 2026
00:01
Welcome to the second episode of the Luxury Hour podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Auda, and today I'm really excited to take you through my seven pillars of human luxury. I'm going to start off by sharing that this is something I'm asked to do podcasts on, you know, for other people's podcasts. As a guest, I'm brought in to speak to teams and leaders and groups of all sizes to talk about these pillars. And to me, the ideas that I'm going to share here mixed with my many years of working with small business and large businesses in implementing human based models. This is really the crux of where my zone of genius meets a need in the world.
00:40
So if you're interested in that, you can always fill out the contact form and we can talk more about your next event or an opportunity to potentially work together. So what I want to start with before I go into these seven pillars is really set the stage with this idea that luxury can be very polarizing for people. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Even when I say I've launched a new business called the Luxury Hour, I can get mixed responses from people. For some people, they are magnetized towards this idea of luxury. I think that there can be a general intrigue about what it is, who has it, where is the next luxurious experience or meal or product. I think there are some people that are naturally drawn to this idea.
01:25
And in turn, I also think that there are people who are really driven away by the idea of luxury. And I think that's for a lot of reasons. Obviously, we're seeing a lot in our world with the haves and the have nots, and we are seeing people in political power and other circles running around with other billionaires making all sorts of decisions. And I think that there is a fair question that we're not going to address today, which is the morality of billionaires in our world. And I also can understand for people who are not a fan of luxury, some of the connotations that might come with such as consumerism, right, the. The idea of waste. I think there's some morality judgments in there as well.
02:12
All that to say what I want to really make a point about is that luxury is not a brand and there's no financial threshold that categorizes something as luxury. So because luxury is something that we can't touch, right? It's not something tangible, I really want to present that the idea of luxury is really exactly that. It's an idea. So when we hear the term luxury, we will pull from our own experiences and our own predispositions and judgments about what that means. Right? What it means, whether or not we can have it, our relationship to it, et cetera. So I believe that luxury is simply a mode for service. If it's just an idea, then it's something that we can use as a service model.
03:00
So if you're providing something specific, such as a product or an experience, luxury can be the wrapping paper of how that's presented and housed. So I really want to push back on the idea that luxury services means something other than the fact that they're thinking about the human while they're creating something different. Right. Bigger. A specific product, a specific dining experience, a specific trip or location. So what you put into the fold, what you put in the wrapping paper is up to you. But I really want to look at this idea of luxury being a modality of service versus the actual product itself. So as we go into these seven pillars, what I'm really excited about here is breaking down for you things that you probably are already aware of, but maybe haven't identified in the same language before.
03:55
And I, I'm excited to bring you onto this journey with us. So I'm going to dive in. So pillar number one, we're going to be looking at environment and the sensory experience that comes with what you're creating. Even if there's a fully remote, right. Virtual option that you create for people, we can still consider the five senses of how someone experiences your deliverables or your work. So I believe that luxury engages all five senses as much as possible, and especially when it's an in person, right. Physical event. So sight, taste, touch, smell, sound. How are you creating and presenting an environment that really speaks to your values and to whatever it is that you are providing for your clients or your patrons?
04:44
So it can show up in a signature lobby scent, or if we think about the Grove and Rick Caruso's famous golden trash cans, which is a whole other blog in and of itself. But in the smallest details, how we appeal to someone's five senses matters a lot. So a restaurant that stocks Aesop soap in its restroom has made a deliberate choice to splurge on something that most guests would only touch for a moment. And the choice really says, we thought about you.
05:17
So I give you these examples and one of the things that I also want to point to as well, because I work with people globally, a lot of my work does happen virtually so What I'm thinking about in my mind is how can I create sound, how can I create touch, how can I create visuals that make it easy for the person to engage with? So whether that's a video message instead of an email, or whether that's me reassessing every six months what my onboarding processes look like, how easy is it for my clients to access their documents that we share? How easy is it for them to write, complete their onboarding paperwork or whatever the case might be? So these are the things we want to think about. Pillar one, environment and sensory experience number two is this idea of anticipation of arrival.
06:06
I fully believe that experiences begin before the actual event takes place. There's been some research that's been done, which you can look up, which is essentially capturing this idea that the best part of a vacation is not actually going on the vacation, but it's the anticipation leading up to the vacation in a lot of ways. And so this anticipation, this expectation, setting the stage, or in some other words, I've heard people say, how are you setting the table? And there's a fabulous book about that as well. But the experience begins before the guest walks in, before the guest enters into an experience. So things like clear details and simple and direct instructions, names and contact numbers, right? Anything you can do to remove uncertainty. And once someone arrives, the moment should really feel like a celebration.
06:59
They should feel welcomed and equipped and completely relieved of whatever burden they might have had coming into your environment. The message is really, you've been traveling or you have made a journey here, so let us take over, let us take care of you from here. Pillar number three is discretion and calibrated engagement. So this really comes into play. No matter who the client is, there are ways to create a sense of discretion and safety within your dynamic. Additionally, some people love to chat. Other people prefer quiet. Some people like a lot of space. Some people want everything packed in. Really, the spirit of luxury reads. A person, reads the dynamic and engages in a way that is most appropriate for that person or for that entity or that group. It's really looking at convenience and, of course, with discretion.
07:54
Even initial calls that I might have with clients, I'm always quick to say, everything you share on this call is confidential, right? Nothing leaves this container. Whether we ever work together or not, that's part of my promise to you so that you have a space where you can really let your guard down and be honest and we can create some magic together. So discretion and calibration for engagement. And then pillar four is preemptive curation. All great hosts know that, know how to access environments and energy that suit you best before you're having to ask, right? We know that the best people set the stage and really consider five steps ahead. They're thinking about timing, scheduling, hunger, energy, right budget, and then they can offer options that fit that model right there.
08:47
There is this sense of, I'm looking after you, I'm looking out for you that I think can be embedded in almost any sort of product or experience. So we never want our clients to have to necessarily work for their own comfort if we're adopting this model. Of these seven pillars, the fifth pillar is graceful recovery. And look, it's like mistakes happen. We cannot control the weather, we cannot control all flights, we cannot control other people. And so whether something is caused by a person or nature or something else, what really defines luxury is the response to what happens. So how do you resolve rather than escalate? How do you accept the error graciously? And then most importantly, how are you going to make it right?
09:33
You know, one of my favorite questions that I ever get asked when I am completing a contract with someone or ceasing services that I've employed, one of my favorite questions is, Sarah, how could we retain you? What could we have done better? Is there anything else we could have done right? What else can we do for you from here? Is there anything else we can do? Those questions make me feel. And if you've been asked those questions, you probably feel the same way. Make you feel seen, make you feel honored, even in the disengagement of whatever's happening. So the way that we can create graceful recovery says a lot about our value system and it says a lot about what we really care about. So this experience of graceful recovery is something that every single business should be considering.
10:24
I'm apologizing at least a few times a week because inevitably things go awry, right? Links break or, you know, other things pop up that we might not be able to avoid. So how we repair them is important. As we get into pillar six, this is meaningful send offs and lasting connection. The experience doesn't have to end at a departure or at a completion. And thoughtful touches, like some sort of a gift, a handwritten card, right? That marks the close, ongoing relationship. Care, right? To keep the connection alive invites continued engagement. So I'll give you an example. Last year, my sister and I took our kids to this incredible event, a Santa brunch at the Ojai Valley Inn. And the tickets were expensive and we trusted what were doing. With them because we trust the brand.
11:15
And we showed up and had the most incredible time. And so when Tickets went online this year, they immediately sent us an email saying, you came last year. We're so glad you did. We're doing it again. Here's the link if you'd like to participate and if you want to talk more, here's our concierge number where you can reach us. Right. Such a beautiful way to continue that lasting connection and to maintain us as patrons and as customers. So it's a small example, but I see so many of my clients leaving money on the table, leaving long term relationships on the table when they don't thoughtfully have a follow up plan for how are we going to continue to nurture and maintain this connection. And that can happen a lot of different ways.
12:02
Number seven, and this is the last one, and possibly my most favorite, the last pillar is energetic integrity. You cannot fake luxury and the product and the result must match the price point and the expectations for what it sets. Because people know that when they've paid for something subpar, it doesn't feel good. Right. I'm thinking about, there was a huge issue with a bunch of designer handbags that their seams started to rip. And they've been getting handbags from some of these places which if I named their names, you would know them immediately. And they've noticed that over the years the materials have changed and the craftsmanship has waned.
12:44
And so when we're starting to think about that, and maybe it's a fancy restaurant or a Michelin star restaurant that had some rude serving staff for whatever reason, whatever it is that we are trying to access when we are paying for what we perceive to be a premium service, the energetic integrity has to be there. And without that integrity, every other pillar falls flat. And so what you're creating has to match the promise has to match the product. Right. And the response that, this, that this client gets, that your audience gets. So those are the seven pillars. These are things that I do executive coaching on and again, speaking on. There might be an assessment in the future around this, but these are seven areas that you can look at your business right now and see where are we on this?
13:41
Do we even have a process for that? Do we have language for this? Furthermore, do we have ongoing training where people really know this is how we deal with things? Here are what our values are. You know, I work with a lot of clients who right now are updating their onboarding and ongoing training manuals. And it sounds really dry and boring but to me I'm like this is the core of how your people know what to do, what they do and if there's not regular touch points into the languaging and the processes that you have in place to handle some of these things in these pillars then my guess is that you're probably not functioning at the level you could and maintaining business at the level that you could.
14:23
So this is an exciting opportunity for you to really look at the seven pillars and consider where are we strong where do we need some reinforcement? And again if you would like to talk more about that through a consultation if you have questions about that fill out the contact form and if you'd like me to come and speak directly about these pillars with more fleshed out examples and specific metrics I would be more than happy to talk with you about that. Until next time. I'm so glad you're here and keep bumping around the luxuryhour.com.