When most teenagers were obsessing over college applications or summer jobs, Erica Jackowitz was tracking down sold-out UGG boots for her friends. Not because she needed them, she already had a pair, but because someone else did, and she knew she could find them. “That adrenaline rush of making the impossible happen has always been part of my DNA,” she says.
That instinct, to anticipate a need before it’s spoken, to solve a problem before it arises, is now the foundation of her thriving luxury concierge business. As co-founder of Roman & Erica, and later Rêve Travel Club, Jackowitz has helped shape some of the most exclusive luxury concierge services NYC has to offer. Her journey from attorney to elite problem-solver is anything but conventional, but that’s what makes her story, and her success, so compelling.
From Law to Lifestyle Management
Even while working as an attorney, Jackowitz couldn’t help but keep tabs on the latest openings in Travel + Leisure. She was the person friends called when they needed restaurant recommendations in Tokyo, even though she’d never been there. “It’s just who I am,” she explains. “I’ve always had this internal drive to help people experience the best, and do it better than anyone else could.”
The real turning point came after a poorly planned trip to Cabo, booked through a major credit card travel service. Frustrated by the generic experience, she started asking around, mainly within New York’s social scene, and realized she wasn’t alone. There were plenty of people who wanted memorable travel experiences but had no desire to be involved in the details.
“I kept hearing the same thing: ‘I want to do it all, but I don’t want to plan it,’” she says. “They wanted to show up, have everything taken care of, and know that it would be right. That’s when I realized there was a business model in this.”
Building Roman & Erica and a Better Model
In 2010, Jackowitz and her husband Roman launched Roman & Erica, their namesake luxury concierge NYC firm. Unlike larger agencies that treat clients like transactions, they built something personal and intentionally small. “We never wanted to be a company that lost touch with the individual client,” she says. “Our goal has always been for each client to feel like they’re the only one.”
They started by taking just three clients a year. Over time, the company organically grew to serve about 30 ultra-high-net-worth families with a 24/7 hands-on approach. “It’s not scalable and that’s intentional,” she says. “This isn’t a volume game. It’s about availability, trust, and consistency.”
But as demand for their style of concierge services increased, they saw an opportunity to expand. without diluting their signature care. In 2023, they launched Rêve Travel Club, a membership-based model for families who travel frequently and want everything handled: boarding passes, airport transfers, resort itineraries, and more. “It’s still highly personalized,” she says, “just not 24/7 access to me and Roman.”
The starting annual membership for Rev begins at $12,500, with most families averaging $25,000–$30,000 per year. Some clients spend well beyond that, depending on trip volume and complexity. “It’s like having a full-time leisure assistant,” she explains, “except better, because we’ve actually been there.”
Values First, Always
In an industry where the phrase “we don’t take no for an answer” gets thrown around casually, Jackowitz offers a refreshingly honest perspective. “That’s just not true,” she says. “Sometimes the restaurant is booked for a private event. I can’t get you in. But I can find something better that you didn’t even know existed.”
She’s also unapologetically clear about her company’s boundaries. “We don’t do drugs. We don’t arrange prostitution. And we definitely don’t sleep with clients [laughing]. Those are the three hard nos.”
And when a client crosses the line, whether by being disrespectful to staff or making egregious demands, she has no issue walking away. She once cut ties with a woman who, during a week-long Miami trip, asked for breakfast, lunch, and dinner reservations each day for parties ranging from two to twelve, without knowing who was attending what. “I’m not going to make 24 restaurant bookings a day and cancel half of them,” Jackowitz says. “That’s not fair to my team or to our partners.”
Her approach may be direct, but it’s driven by principle. “I’ve had billionaires who are the most gracious people on the planet. And then I’ve had others, not nearly as accomplished, who treat people terribly. That doesn’t work for us.”
Why Recognition Matters in a High-Touch Business
At its core, luxury concierge work is about service. But it’s also about energy; emotional, mental, and physical that goes into anticipating someone’s every need before they even know it themselves. That level of detail can be invisible to the client, which is why Jackowitz says simple recognition goes a long way.
“The number one motivator isn’t money, it’s appreciation,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be dramatic. Just a text that says, ‘Great. Thank you.’ That’s enough. But when you pour your heart into something and it goes completely unacknowledged, it becomes thankless. And that’s not sustainable.”
In a field where glamour often overshadows the grind, Jackowitz is grounded by purpose. “Travel is ingrained in who I am, not just what I do. It teaches humility, culture, connection. That’s what I want to pass on not just to my clients, but to my kids.”
Whether it’s booking a six-table hidden gem in Paris or arranging a spontaneous safari in Kenya, she’s clear about her mission: to create something so seamless, so elevated, it feels like magic. Even if that magic required 43 spreadsheets and six time zones to pull off.