Why Billionaires Pay Him a Retainer with Leigh Rowan

Episode #214: Leigh Rowan — Building a premium service business without ads

How to grow a premium service business through trust, referrals, and client retention.
For founders and operators building high-touch services and trying to scale without paid acquisition.

Leigh Rowan, founder and CEO of Savanti Travel, joins Jason Shafton to break down how he built a luxury travel management company serving ultra high net worth individuals, family offices, VC firms, and Hollywood entertainers without ever advertising. He explains how Savanti evolved from helping entrepreneurs unlock value from points and miles into a full-service travel business built around 24-7 support, personalization, and relationships. The conversation covers how his team uses CRM workflows, SOPs, and regular standups to deliver consistent service across five continents, how they ask for referrals after delivering concrete wins, and why they have fired clients worth as much as 25% of revenue to protect the team and the business. Leigh also shares that Savanti has saved clients more than $10 million by using points and miles more strategically.

What you’ll hear

• Why Savanti chose word of mouth over paid advertising and how that shaped client selection
• How the team uses monday.com, SOPs, standups, and shared context to deliver high-touch service at scale
• Why most people leave points and miles value unused and how Savanti turns those assets into real savings and better experiences
• How Leigh thinks about referrals, client feedback, hiring for judgment, and protecting culture even when revenue is at stake

Chapters

Timestamps from transcript

• 00:00 — What luxury travel management actually means
• 03:22 — From points and miles to full-service travel support
• 07:26 — The system behind saving clients money with loyalty assets
• 11:42 — Why Savanti never advertised and how word of mouth compounds
• 17:37 — Handling travel crises, hiring for judgment, and firing bad-fit clients
• 21:05 — Client feedback, luxury as personalization, and how to grow by word of mouth

Links & resources

Guest
Leigh Rowan — Founder & CEO, Savanti Travel
Website

About Frank Growth

Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions.
Hosted by Jason Shafton.

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