How First Class Jerk Is Building a Travel Media Brand

0:01Sarah Dandashy: All right. So we're here at the Creators Summit for the Skiff Global Forum. And I've got Adam Lovick here. You probably know his brand, First Class Jerk, which, dude, it's blown up. So we, I remember like we got in touch before you even launched it. And like, as I've seen it grow out, I'm just like, I'm like, seriously, like, cheering you on from the sidelines. And it's like, what you're doing is so awesome. And it's like, it's such a perfect brand. So yeah, why don't you talk to us like a little bit about that? Like how you even came up with that concept because it's so unique. And so you've just executed so well.

0:40Adam Lovick: Well, first I want to say, thanks. Thanks for having me here. We met, I don't know, it feels like six years ago.

0:45Sarah Dandashy: Just about, it was in the pandemic.

0:47Adam Lovick: Yeah, it was during the pandemic. And this is the first time we've actually met, but we've had a variety of conversations prior to this. But yeah, thank you. I mean, I appreciate the kind words. It's been two years since we've like really been full time into this project. The way I sort of define it is like we're a travel brand. We're a travel publisher. You know, I worked in this industry prior to the pandemic. My grandmother started the travel agency in 1984. Then my father joined and then I joined. And the thing that like really excited me about it was the content stuff. I mean, the storytelling.

1:16Adam Lovick: And I guess at an early stage of like what content was, what influencer is, what is creator. there wasn't a lot of definition around that stuff you know when when when when the content for me was an interest but it was a white space ultimately right I think a lot of people were consuming blogs at that time sure and for me it was like I had an interest in video and photography and like I didn't know what it was at you know when we started this I mean did any of us actually really know yeah you know it's evolved you know it's 100 % it's evolved quite significantly so like yes we've been at this for two years and how can we be a great storyteller in this space but this started a long time ago.

1:54Adam Lovick: It's been in like the blood. It's a family affair. So it's been an exciting journey and I hope we have like a lot more in store.

2:01Sarah Dandashy: Definitely. No, so, okay. So we're here, we're at this creative summit. By the way, this is the first time that Skift has done this, which is cool. So have there been any key like takeaways that kind of sparked your interest just as you've been there kind of listening?

2:13Adam Lovick: Yeah, well, listen, I think like I've been around travel shows and trade shows and I think it's just like a fun nod to like the creator community. however you know there's a lot of terms being flown around here like influencer and creator and like how we distinguish the two but i think it's just good to see that acknowledgement it travels in archaic industry it's so archaic and it's not going anywhere and it's not and but it's exciting to see the acknowledgement it's exciting to see a lot of the brands that want to be educated on it we have a lot of these conversations on you know a week-to-week basis yeah educating why what we're up to is valuable and there's a real belief and i think people are behind it.

2:49Adam Lovick: People are behind the mission. People are behind the strategy. And there's just, it just, it's, it's been an ever changing thing. It feels like month over month, we're learning something new about this. Um, but I have so much belief. I, um, I'm so aggressive in saying that content and attention is like the ultimate business moat for sure. And in travel, um, we've really like kind of taken advantage of that. And, um, there's a lot, there's a lot to be done. There's a lot of stories to be told. And we just had this belief in like great storytelling. And so, uh, so how did

3:17Sarah Dandashy: you come up with actually first class jerk? Because that I actually don't know, but I love it. And it lands so well.

3:25Adam Lovick: Yeah. You know, early on, like when we were like, how can we make money off this business? You know, there's a lot of concern at the, you know, in the conference firms around that name. But I think it's just the, the origin, uh, it's a long story, but I think the reason we wanted to lean into it was it's a play on words. It's irreverent. I think this industry takes himself quite seriously at times. Very much so. And we always say like, if we were called first-class travelers, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So 100%. No, I think you hit the

3:52Sarah Dandashy: nail on the head with it. And it's like, and so it's so just again, like how you've executed it. Like it's a high level of standard, of standard, like, and then the places that you've been able to go and the experiences, it's been so cool to see. And I just like know it's going to go like that much further.

4:08Adam Lovick: Yeah. Well, I appreciate that. We've been so fortunate over the last few years. I mean, I didn't expect us to be in rooms like this, meeting people like you, nonetheless, like visiting some of the best hotels in the world. And we've traveled a lot and we've done a lot of amazing things. And, you know, we have, we have big plans for like what we want to do in with, you know, with some of this access, of amazing access. And that was sort of the goal when we first started this, it was like, how can we get our foot in the door? And now that we do, how do we like take advantage of that opportunity?

4:37Adam Lovick: So YouTube is a big thing for us. Long form storytelling is a big thing for us. So hopefully in 2027, we see a lot more of that.

4:43Sarah Dandashy: Okay. So that's actually what I was going to ask you. Like, what are you kind of like seeing for the future, whether it's for like, you can share certainly what you guys are looking at, what you're going to be leaning into, but also like even where you're seeing maybe the industry is heading, that is exciting to you.

4:56Adam Lovick: Yeah. I mean, I mean, for us, I think it's, it's simple right now. I think it's, we're still in growth stages. I think how do we find more ways to tell better stories? and that sounds a little cliche, but like YouTube is a big focus for us. You know, we've seen a lot of success in some of the videos that we're putting out. We want to sort of serialize it. Yeah. Sort of create a show, if you will, on YouTube. Yeah, I love it. That's a big focus for us. As far as like things that we're excited about, I think, you know, cruising is an exciting thing for us. I think a lot of people have kind of, you know, turned their nose at that sort of style of travel.

5:29Adam Lovick: But that's because they haven't done it. Yeah, and so that's what we always say. They haven't done it.

5:32Sarah Dandashy: That's always a good thing. People that turn their nose

5:33Adam Lovick: are the people that haven't been on a great ship. And so we like to like tell those stories and be a little bit more involved in that. I mean, there's obviously this great like resurgence and small ship luxury cruising. And so, you know, we were just on Explorer Journeys, their third ship, and it was amazing. We see a lot of other things popping up with the Orient Express sailing yacht, the world's largest sailing yacht. And so all this amazing stuff on the cruising side. But, you know, I think we want to tell destination stories. So like a lot more tourism board collaboration is something of interest with us.

6:03Adam Lovick: And yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things I could ramble on and on, but there's a lot of things, you know, there's a lot, we want to be involved in every great hotel opening. I think that's like an interesting thing. And this all comes from just an energy and passion to be involved in this industry. You know, it's nothing more than that. And so they talk about like, they talk about like building community and building loyalty. I get really excited about long-term relationships with partners. And, you know, a lot of these brands here are talking about that. And so it's good to see, and it's good to see it acknowledged.

6:28Sarah Dandashy: Yeah. Well, I mean, again, you just, you do it so well. So finally, just before we wrap here, like any final thoughts to, um, to brands that are, maybe they're just, they're a little bit overwhelmed with like working with creators. What are things that they can even think about moving forward for their brand and even how they can like have these partnerships with creators, whether it's people like yourself or, or smaller creators?

6:50Adam Lovick: Yeah. It's a good question. I don't know if I can answer it directly, but yeah, some of the, some of the things that we're hearing out on that stage is, you know, strategy used to be how do we bring people into campaign moments? And now it's sort of this like democratization of how do we bring creators in on almost every moment? How do we find different stories? I think the biggest thing for me is who has the best ideas and how can they execute? I think leaning into creators' ideas, leaning into influencers' ideas is always a beneficial thing. They talk a lot about like organic content wins and then amplifying via media.

7:25Adam Lovick: I I think it really starts with how can we collaborate with you you the creator's idea and how does that fit into our overall strategy? So I think um, I don't know if that answers the question, but I think um That's that's that's definitely a lot of the thing that we're hearing over there, which is like Authenticity building community loyalty, you know, this thing has been established what is creator? What is influencer? This is sort of an old conversation. So now it's like how do we get smart about this? and that's an exciting thing for us.

7:55Sarah Dandashy: Yeah, super exciting. Well, thank you so much for like sitting down with me for a couple of minutes. No, thanks for having me. This is so cool. It's such a pleasure seeing you. Yeah, I know, likewise. And again, I mean, everything that you're doing, growing, building, I love all of it. For those that aren't familiar, definitely check out First Class Jerk. They're awesome and they're everywhere. So congrats on all the success.

8:14Adam Lovick: That means a lot, Sarah. Thank you so much for having me.

8:16Sarah Dandashy: Of course. All right, cheers.

8:25Thank you.