Patrick Smith
Founder, President

Patrick J. Smith is founder and President of BeautifulPlaces, Inc. Smith is responsible for both the strategic vision and daily operations of the company. With BeautifulPlaces, Smith has parlayed 25 years experience in marketing, brand building and Internet technology into a unique concept in luxury lodging for the epicurean lifestyle travel market.

Prior to founding BeautifulPlaces, Smith was CEO of Internet technology start-up Dream Logic, and prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President of Bright & Associates, a Los Angeles-based brand and marketing consulting firm, and former subsidiary of Chiat/Day Advertising (now TBWA). Earlier in his career, Smith worked for the Boeing Airplane Company where he served in numerous management positions of increased importance in marketing and business development, and assisted in the sale of billions of dollars worth of commercial aircraft.

Smith’s ability to push the envelope when it comes to solving problems or exceeding expectations has been a hallmark of his career and has resulted in major successes for the companies and clients he has served, ranging from Radio City Music Hall to Intel, Aviateca Airlines and government of Taiwan.

As lead consultant on positioning and brand development for his consultancy’s assignment with Intel, Smith’s recommendations were instrumental in persuading Intel to adopt a strong, consumer-oriented branding strategy, leading to the birth of the “Intel Inside” campaign. He was responsible for conceiving, developing and presenting Bright & Associates’ successful approach to creating a worldwide brand strategy and marketing program for the island of Taiwan. The contract, valued at more than $110 million dollars, was the firm’s largest ever. Deemed by the Taiwanese government to be a major success, the program was renewed for two subsequent five-year periods.

Along the way, Smith has traveled the world extensively, lived in Europe and Asia, immersed himself in international cultures, and developed a keen appreciation for the travel and hospitality industries, and what he affectionately calls “the epicurean lifestyle.” Borrowing a phrase from his craft, Smith says, “BeautifulPlaces was created to provide the first ‘organizing principle’ for the food-and-wine-lifestyle traveler. Starting with our Napa and Sonoma operations, and extending soon to the major food and wine destinations of the world, Epicurean adventurers now have a go-to resource for luxury accommodations and memorable epicurean experiences.”

Smith graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor’s degree in history. He earned his Master of Science degree in International economics and politics from The London School of Economics.

Liza Graves
Co-Founder

Liza Graves is a co-founder and member of the board of directors of BeautifulPlaces, Inc., where she is actively involved in strategic, marketing and human-resource management for the company.

She brings a wealth of experience in travel and tourism to the company, based on 15 years of experience in a variety of marketing and sales management positions of increasing importance at American Express Company in New York and San Francisco from 1982 to 1997. She served as vice president and general manager for both the Eastern and Western regions of the Establishment Services Division.

In 1997, she joined Charles Schwab, Inc., where she held a number of executive positions, including senior vice president and head of talent management, chief of staff to the president and CEO of Charles Schwab, and senior vice president of marketing for Schwab's Services for Investment Managers Division, where she was in charge of all advertising, marketing and communications for the advisor business.

Graves has been involved in numerous business and tourism organizations in California and New York, and served on the board of directors and executive committee of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. She previously served on the board of directors for the California Tourism Industry Association and on the executive committee of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In addition to her responsibilities at BeautifulPlaces, Graves serves on the advisory board of Prolitec, Inc, a leader in indoor air quality and ambient scenting.

Graves earned a BA in History from Bowdoin College and an MBA in Marketing from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gerrett Snedaker
Vice President, Real Estate Broker

As BeautifulPlaces’ Broker of Record, Snedaker is responsible for all regulated real estate activities including leasing and sales consultation. He is CEO/Managing Broker of Frank Howard Allen, The Wine Country Group Realtors™, an independently owned and operated real estate brokerage with more than 100 agents located in eight offices throughout the Northern California wine country, and also a BeautifulPlaces strategic partner.

Gerrett obtained his first real estate license the summer after graduating from high school in Florida in 1966. He later held a real estate brokers license in Illinois and has been a real estate broker in California since 1976. He has worked in practically all aspects of the real estate industry including real estate development, merchant home building, mortgage lending, title insurance and escrow, and residential and commercial brokerage.

He has a MA in Urban Studies from Loyola University in Chicago and a BA in Real Estate and Urban Land Studies from the University of Florida. Snedaker is a past president of the Marin Association of Realtors and past director of the California Association of Realtors. He is immediate past president of the Board of Directors of Audubon Canyon Ranch in Stinson Beach, CA, and recently completed several terms on the Board of Directors of Homeward Bound of Marin, the primary homeless services provider in Marin County.

Christian Martin
Director, Internet Strategy & Technology

Martin, who has over 13 years of ecommerce, web site development and travel industry experience, will guide the development of the upscale food-and-wine-lifestyle hospitality company’s next-generation website, online marketing and e-commerce platform. Martin most recently was Senior eStrategies Manager for Contiki Holidays, the largest tour operator globally for the 18-35-year-old travel market segment. Prior to that, he served as Head of Internet Strategy for Eurostar, the high-speed passenger train service connecting London with Paris and Brussels, and Director of eCommerce with Rail Europe Group.

Lorna Taylor
Director, Operations

In her extensive lodging and travel industry experience, Lorna Taylor has been Global Event Manager for Lucent Technology, a corporate travel agent, the manager of a large catering company and owner of a specialty cleaning service. Those experiences have served her well in her capacity as the person in charge of provisioning and maintaining BeautifulPlaces’ properties, as well the company’s overall day-to-day operations.

Samantha Francis
Manager, Luxury Property Portfolio

Samantha Francis wears two hats. She was recently promoted to the position of Manager, Luxury Property Portfolio, in which capacity she is responsible for new property acquisition and homeowner relations. She also serves as Assistant Operations Manager, in which she assists with the day-to-day operation of BeautifulPlaces’ Wine Country rental properties, including booking, provisioning and maintaining them. Francis, a native South African, brings 10 years of operations experience gained at several South African and North American properties of the luxury lodging brand Relais & Chateaux, as well as service at Auberge de Soleil and Carneros Inn, two notable California Wine Country resorts.

Arlene Winnick
Public Relations Consultant

Winnick’s company, Winnick PR+, directs BeautifulPlaces’ outreach to travel, lifestyle and food-and-wine media. A veteran hospitality industry professional, Winnick has worked in innovative product marketing, public relations and promotion for more than 30 years. She has created and launched toys (including POGs and Alien Autopsy); developed plush and video sets for Benji; helped design upscale resorts from the ground up; marketed top-selling books and authors; lectured on consumer awareness; marketed luxury hotels (she won the California Tourism Marketing Excellence Award); and written countless campaigns for a wide variety of products. Among Winnick PR+’s current clients are Johnny Walker/Diageo, Le Meridien Beverly Hills, Raffles L’Ermitage, and the five-star Mexican resort, Pueblo Bonito Punta Mita.

Patrick Totty
Editorial Consultant

Totty is the founder of Larkspirit Editorial Services, a Marin County-based company. He is a former newspaper and trade magazine editor who specializes in working with entrepreneurial companies to develop web site content and communications strategies.