Luxury Ambassador of the Month

To say the career of Roxy Robinson, Founder of Roxstar Group, has been meteoric would be an understatement. She was already a successful businesswoman working with top luxury brands at a young age, but then seized an opportunity to go from high-end, to Ultra.

"I actually started my career in 2004 in promotional modeling and events, not in travel. Growing up in Johannesburg and attending an all-girls school, I was raised to appreciate the value of money, so if I wanted a special dress for example, I had to go out and work for it. So I started my business by recruiting all my girlfriends and teaching them everything I knew about promotions to create a top tier promotional agency.

One of them was dating a marketing manager for a big tobacco company and I asked him to give me the contract on his worst-performing venue in Johannesburg. The pitch was that if I did well he'd give me more venues and more contracts. After the first month, we'd exceeded all targets and today that business, called Pick a Flava, has about 5,000 promotional models and influencers globally.

Having a large roster of beautiful models allowed us to start organizing events for various brands, and positioned us in 2006 to do an exclusivity deal with the most prominent owner of VIP nightclubs and restaurants in Johannesburg. Anyone who wanted table service or a VIP hostess had to book us.

The events became larger and more high-profile, ranging from 200 to 1,000 people and we became the go-to company for brand launches in South Africa – Maxim magazine, Bentley, RedBull, and all the big liquor brands were just a few of our clients for these campaigns.

Carving out this niche helped us build relationships with sponsors who wanted access to UHNW clients. Naturally this exposed us to a lot of businesspeople traveling internationally, and that's essentially how I discovered I had a passion for travel and for organizing things.

Despite initial setbacks with potential business partners, I remained undeterred and started very small around 2007 – just helping friends with their travel at first. I quickly realized how much I liked it and that I was pretty good at it, plus we had corporate clients who were asking us to help them with their incentive and golfing events.

Luxury travel followed soon thereafter. I was in some golf groups with a few CEOs and they asked me, 'Hey Roxy, you did such a great job with this company trip, do you think you can do our family's ski vacation?' It all happened organically.

Then came my big break in the travel industry.

Today, about 10% of Roxstar Group's business is from modeling and promotions, 40% from consulting and events, 30% from our concierge/travel service, and 20% from our own wellness venture, Tabula Rasa, for which the American entrepreneur and fitness model Dolvett Quince is my partner.

We actually started organizing wellness retreats before Covid started. People are paying more attention to their health more than ever now, so things have really taken off.

In fact, while I can't share details, I can say we're about to close a deal to be the exclusive wellness provider for a major luxury hotel brand. It's been about two years in the making, and we hope to finalize things later this year.

Naturally, success hasn't come without its challenges, or without taking a toll. We used to have a membership model, but now we tailor our rates to the client, according to the level of their needs.

For example, I have clients that just want to chill out on their yacht(s) – fine, no problem. But one client wanted his yacht to look different every day he woke up during the Grand Prix in Monaco. Different art, different furniture – everything. It all had to be sourced and transported by tender boat between about 1am when they went to bed, and finished by 9 am before they woke up.

It was one of the most difficult requests I've ever received, but we pulled it off. The last day of the Grand Prix he called me to his yacht and told me, 'Roxy, great job. These are the pieces I want to buy, and these are my various properties around the world that they should go in. You have six weeks.'

While I love this life, I do have stress. I've had three nervous breakdowns, and I speak at women's events to promote women's health. I care so much about my clients that it would break my heart to disappoint them, but I have had to turn down some completely ludicrous requests.

At the end of the day, I have to remember to be at peace with myself, to do my best, and to trust my people. Having success is great only when you know how to enjoy it and to take care of yourself."

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