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Most people dont realize how overstimulated they are until they finally step away from the noise. As an executive at a hospitality brand that helps guests reconnect with nature, I see it all the time: Guests arrive tense and distracted, constantly checking their phones. But after just a day or two offline in nature, something shifts. You can see it in their posture, their breath, their pace. They didnt realize how much they needed to disconnect until they did. Its not just about screens, though screen time is a big part of it. Its the entire rhythm of modern lifealways on, always reacting. Thats why more people are rethinking what luxury really means. Luxury used to be defined by what you had: the highest thread count, the most high-end amenities, the most exclusive experience. Today, its increasingly becoming defined by what you dont have: no packed schedules, no overflowing inbox, no constant stream of pings and notifications. A RETURN TO NATURE What people are seeking now is balance. Stillness. Simplicity. Families are carving out screen-free time together, in part because theyre worried about what nonstop digital input is doing to their kids. Professionals are looking for ways to reset and get grounded. Even a couple of nights in nature can help regulate your sleep, lower stress, and remind you how good it feels to actually be present. Spending time outdoors plays a unique role in that reset. Its not just about quietits a different kind of sensory input: fewer alerts, more birdsong. Less stimulation, more space to think. Whether guests are staying steps from a national park or unwinding after a guided hike with a local naturalist, Ive seen how nature-centered experiences can create the kind of mental clarity that more traditional hotel settings rarely offer. And theres science to support it: Studies consistently show that exposure to green space reduces stress and anxiety. Surrounded by trees, sleeping under the stars, peoples nervous systems respond in ways that simply cant be replicated by a hotel gym or meditation app. THE POWER OF A TECH-FREE WEEKEND A tech-free weekend in the woods used to be considered a rare indulgence or even an impossibility for professionals who couldnt imagine fully disconnecting. Now, its something more and more people are actively prioritizing. Restoration has shifted from a fringe benefit of leisure time to the primary goal. And thats reshaping not only how we design experiences, but also what we consider valuable in the first place. Ive had conversations with guests who arrive tightly wound from work, skeptical about unpluggingbut after even one night under the stars, they describe a kind of clarity they say they havent felt in years. They tell me its the first time in months theyve felt rested or truly present. And this change isnt just something Ive noticed anecdotallyits backed by data. A recent trend report from Expedia found that travelers are increasingly seeking out destinations that allow them to relax and disconnect.. The Global Wellness Institute projects that wellness tourism will more than double by 2027, becoming a $1.4 trillion industry. Booking.com even named disconnection travel one of the defining trends for 2025. Its not hard to see why. Americans now spend more than seven hours a day in front of screens, and parents are more concerned than ever about their kids tech use. Even short breaks can make a difference: Stanford researchers have found that just 90 minutes in nature can significantly reduce stress-related brain activity. This isnt a fringe movementits a fundamental change in how people want to spend their time, their money, and their attention. Whether its a weekend outdoors, a wellness-focused retreat, or just space to be fully present, people are investing in experiences that offer real restoration instead of just another weekend escape. As this continues, it will redefine how businesses think about design, hospitality, and what it really means to serve people well. FINAL THOUGHTS For those of us in hospitality, this shift is already showing up in how we design experiences. Its not about piling on more amenitiesits about removing friction. People dont want to spend hours planning or shopping for outdoor gear just to get a moment of peace. They want simplicity, accessibility, and spaces that make it easy to disconnect. Thats why hospitality brands that make nature more accessible are gaining traction. This shift in mindset is evident in other industries, too. Workplaces are rethinking their environments to give people more mental space. Wellness brands are emphasizing recovery, not hustle. Even tech companies are experimenting with features that encourage people to log off. The throughline is clear: Weve reached a collective breaking point with burnout. The hospitality brands that will thrive in the coming years are the ones that create spacefor balance, for clarity, for quiet reflection in nature. In a world that encourages us to be always on, choosing to unplug may be the biggest luxury of all. Bryan Terzi is the chief commercial officer of AutoCamp Hospitality Group.
Category:
E-Commerce
Why are some jobs better than others? Well, it largely depends on peoples preferences. In other words, one persons dream job may be another persons nightmare. And yet, there are also clearly some universal or at least generalizable parameters that make most people accept the idea that some jobs are objectively better than othersor at least seen by most as generally preferable. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-16X9.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-1x1-2.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"Get more insights from Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic","dek":"Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a professor of organizational psychology at UCL and Columbia University, and the co-founder of DeeperSignals. He has authored 15 books and over 250 scientific articles on the psychology of talent, leadership, AI, and entrepreneurship. ","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/drtomas.com\/intro\/","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91424798,"imageMobileId":91424800,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} Pay and purpose For example, jobs that pay well, offer stability, and provide opportunities for growth are almost universally considered better. A tenured professorship, a senior engineering role at a reputable company, or a stable medical position all combine financial security with long-term prospects and prestige. In contrast, poorly paid, insecure, or dead-end roles (like gig work with no benefits or exploitative manual labor with long brutal shifts and an alienating experience) are widely viewed as worse, even if a few individuals might value their flexibility or simplicity. Then theres autonomy. Jobs that grant people a degree of control over how and when they work (e.g., creative professionals, entrepreneurs, and researchers) tend to score higher on satisfaction than those defined by micromanagement or rigid supervision. Autonomy is a proxy for trust and respect, and it correlates strongly with both engagement and mental health. Few people dream of jobs where every move is monitored, and most aspire to roles where they can think, decide, and act freely. Unsurprisingly, purpose matters, too. Occupations that contribute to something meaningful (whether saving lives, advancing knowledge, or building something lasting) are viewed as more fulfilling than those that feel transactional or pointless. A teacher inspiring students, a scientist developing a vaccine, or an architect designing a community space are all examples of work that confers a sense of legacy. By contrast, even lucrative jobs can feel hollow when they lack purpose or moral value. This may explain the low correlation between pay and job satisfaction, which highlights the fact that we tend to overestimate the importance of compensation when making career choices. In that sense, the best jobs arent just about rewards, but about how they make people feel about themselves and their place in the world. What the science says A good way to acknowledge these nuances, and yet still predict whether a person is likely to access better jobs, is to examine why some individuals have more choices than others. That is, in any job or labor market, available job or career opportunities may have different degrees of appeal or attractiveness; but from a job seekers perspective, the more employable you are, the more likely to are to find and maintain a desirable jobwhether we look at subjective or objective dimensions of desirability. With this in mind, here are some critical learnings about the science of employability that explain why certain people are better able to access in-demand jobs: (1) Their personalityResearch has consistently shown that employability is largely a function of personality. Traits such as conscientiousness, emotional stability, curiosity, and sociability predict not only who gets hired, but also who thrives once employed. Personality shapes reputation (the way others see us) and reputation determines whether we are trusted, promoted, and retained. For instance, people who are reliable, calm under pressure, and open to learning tend to be more employable than those who are erratic, avoid feedback, or difficult to work with. Moreover, personality also predicts job satisfaction: even in objectively good jobs, neurotic or disagreeable people are less likely to feel content, whereas optimistic and adaptable individuals find meaning in a wider range of roles, and are resilient if not satisfied even with jobs that make most people miserable. In short, who you are determines both the jobs you can get and how you feel about them once you do. (2) Their social classWhile most advanced economies like to think of themselves as meritocracies, the data on social mobility suggest otherwise. In the United States, only about half of children born to parents in the bottom income quintile will ever move up the ladder, and just 7% will reach the top quintile. In the U.K., the class pay gap between working-class and professional backgrounds persists even among graduates. Privilege still buys access to education, networks, internships, and employers willing to take a chance. Sociologists call this social capital; in plain terms, it means your parents contacts and credentials still matter more than your own potential. The world may be trending toward meritocracy, but it hasnt quite arrived there yet. (3) Where you are bornLocation remains one of the most powerful predictors of career outcomes. The Where-to-Be-Born Index ranks countries by the opportunities they afford their citizens, and being born in Switzerland, Denmark, or Singapore gives you exponentially better odds of landing a good job than being born in Haiti, South Sudan, or Bhutan. Access to education, infrastructure, technology, and basic security all shape employability. The same talent, if born in a country with weak institutions or unstable governance, is far less likely to achieve its potential. In that sense, geography is more likely than talent to mean destiny, at least until global mobility or remote work meaningfully narrow the gap. (4) Their values, interests, and preferencesEven within similar contexts, people differ in what they want from work. Psychologists like Shalom Schwartz and Robert Hogan have shwn that our motivational values (e.g., achievement, power, altruism, security, stimulation, and so forth) determine what fit looks like for us. Someone who values adventure and creativity will flourish in startups or design roles, while a person who craves structure and predictability may prefer government or finance. Misalignment between values and job environment (say, a highly independent person in a bureaucratic culture) leads to burnout or disengagement. The better your job matches your values, the more likely you are to perceive it as a good one. Adapt, evolve, and improve In the end, better jobs are not just better paid or better designed; theyre better matched to the people who hold them. Some of this is luck: being born in the right family, in the right country, with the right temperament, will simply afford you a higher range and choice of matches, so you are bound to find more options. But much of it also depends on deliberate self-awareness, namely understanding what kind of environments bring out the best in you, and aligning your career moves accordingly. From a societal perspective, the goal should be to expand access to good jobs by improving education, reducing inequality, and helping people develop the skills and traits that make them employable. That means focusing less on pedigree and more on potential, less on connections and more on competence. Ultimately, the world of work will never be perfectly fair, but it can be fairer. And while none of us can control where we start, we can control how we grow. The most employable people are not just those who fit the system, but those who learn to adapt, evolve, and turn whatever job they have into something better. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-16X9.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/10\/tcp-photo-syndey-1x1-2.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"Get more insights from Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic","dek":"Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a professor of organizational psychology at UCL and Columbia University, and the co-founder of DeeperSignals. He has authored 15 books and over 250 scientific articles on the psychology of talent, leadership, AI, and entrepreneurship. ","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/drtomas.com\/intro\/","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91424798,"imageMobileId":91424800,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Glenn Fogel joined dot-com darling Priceline in early 2000, a year after the name your price travel sites blockbuster initial public offering (IPO). “I joined one week before the Nasdaq peaked, Fogel recalls. Within a year of his arrival, the stock had cratered to $6 a share. By March 2002, the Nasdaq, a proxy for the burgeoning e-commerce and tech infrastructure companies that went public, plunged 77% from its March 2020 highs. Quips Fogel: At the time, my mother was wondering whether I still had a job. Today, Fogel is CEO and president of Booking Holdingsparent of Priceline, KAYAK, Booking.com, OpenTable, and other brands. His experience navigating the dotcom bubble (more on that in a moment) affords a compelling perch from which to observe the current generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) boom. He sees parallels in the gold-rush mentality of both booms: Theres lots of investments, lots of new companies, he says. Many of them will not make it. Many investors will lose money. Corporate investment in AI reached $252.3 billion, and private investment in gen AI reached $33.9 billion in 2024, according to data compiled by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered artificial intelligence. The key difference between the dotcom bubble and now? I would say in terms of the possibility for human society, I think the possible transformations from gen AI are so much greater than what was possible from the [startups of] the nineties, he says. Fogel points to breakthroughs like Googles AlphaFold model, which decoded protein folding and could accelerate drug discovery. Every area really of our society can be greatly improved by using gen AI, he says. Thats the thing thats so exciting. Happy travelers In travel, the stakes may not be as high, but the impact on daily life could be profound. Maybe were not going to save a lot of lives the way that the healthcare industry is going to be able to do, but maybe well make the experience much happier, he says. Indeed, the company is already deploying AI to reduce customer-service wait times, using gen AI chatbots that can solve problems instantly. When a human agent does handle a call, the bots generate conversation summaries and next stepswork that previously consumed significant amounts of agent time. Embracing emerging technology has been key to Booking Holdingss longevity. When predecessor company Priceline Group bought Booking.com in 2005, it acquired Bookings prowess in leveraging Googles paid search and platforms that enabled the business to rapidly test messaging to optimize conversion rates. The company subsequently bought travel search engine KAYAK in 2013 and restaurant reservation platform OpenTable in 2014. Priceline Group changed its name to Booking Holdings in 2018. The long view Travel itself is currently experiencing a boom. Despite economic uncertainty, U.S. consumers, especially those at the high-end of the market, are prioritizing travel, with airlines and hotels indicating strong demand for premium products. Indeed, at the end of October, Booking Holdings reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and said it continues to see steady travel demand trends in the current quarter. Having led Booking Holdings through the dotcom boom and bustas well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a near complete shutdown of travelFogel acknowledges that nothing goes up forever. I dont know when those bad times are going to come, but theyre going to come sometimes, he says. Still, he takes the long view: I do know, in the long run, travel is always going to increase. It is human nature . . . people wanting to travel. This time it’s different? Do you agree that the societal benefits of gen AI companies and technologies dwarf the contributions of the dotcoms? If so, what breakthroughs excite you most? Send your examples to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Id love to share your scenarios in a future newsletter. Read more: bubble theories Why the AI-fueled stock market isnt a bubble waiting to pop There isnt an AI bubble. There are three Are we in an AI bubble?
Category:
E-Commerce
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