Go Team Portero!
With our exclusive real estate and business center partnerships, It should be no surprise to anyone that we’re also starting to get some attention from the press. We can’t say enough about our hard-working staff and all of the effort they’ve been putting into everything they do.
The text of the Newport Beach Examiner’s “Biz Buzz” article is quoted below, but here’s an easy-to-read link clipped from the paper itself.
Concierge Service Lends Extra Hands
Norm Bour – Newport Beach Independent, 04/17/2015
Ever wish you had an extra set of hands, or extra hours in the day? That’s where Portero Concierge comes in.
Like an “assistant on demand,” Portero (“keeper of the candles” in French) was founded in April 2013 by Marni Ellison Smith, who spent 16 years as a headhunter and hired many C-level executives.
“The problem was that many of the employers really couldn’t separate themselves from each other when it came to offering incentive packages,” she told me. “When I saw that some of them offered their employees a concierge service to help them get acclimated, I recognized a niche and started Portero.”
One of the most common requests that Portero gets is from new employees moving into the area who do not know their way around.
“Imagine moving to Newport Beach and not knowing where the schools are located, how to find a dentist or hairstylist, or how to get tickets for a show. Portero is there to help new residents get acclimated,” Ellison said.
Newport Beach resident Cher Shepherd is the Lifestyle Manager for Portero, and provides services from the mundane to the exclusive. Many of their clients are elderly and unable to drive or get around to take care of things like they used to. Portero fits that bill along with helping the upper level executives book a private jet or yacht or arrange vacation packages.
They also work with meeting planners to help accommodate the attendees as well as the exhibitors that may be in town from throughout the world.