Meet Essi Metsakallio
LOCAL FOREIGNER’S TEAM OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
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On the Runway
No one does cool like the Nordics, but Essi Metsakallio’s scenic route to the travel industry is especially chic. Raised in Finland, she left home at 18 with plans to study in London - plans that shifted when she was discovered by a modeling agency. Instead of hitting the books, she spent the next seven years on runways and sets in London, Milan, Paris, Japan, Australia, and New York. While the fashion world introduced her to extraordinary places, it also taught her what she didn’t want: glitz and glamour at the expense of substance. “I have to be honest,” she laughs, “I prefer traveling like a travel advisor to traveling like a model.”
In her mid-twenties, she went back to school, studying art history, international affairs, and marketing at the American University of Paris before moving to New York to work at the United Nations, at the Office of the President of the General Assembly. When the bureaucratic realities of that world collided with the 2008 financial crisis, she pivoted again, landing at Ralph Lauren’s flagship store on Madison Avenue at a moment when high-end retail was deeply personal and relationship-driven. “Originally, I intended to go into marketing for Ralph Lauren, but everyone across the company starts in retail because there’s no better way to get to know the customer,” she says. Over the coming years, she built relationships that functionally became her own business within the brand, learning clients’ tastes, preferences, and quirks, earning their trust, and tailoring her recommendations and services accordingly - perfect training for a travel advisor.
“If I had to pick a ‘last meal,’ it would probably be the Poulet de Bresse with morel mushroom creamsauce at Auberge Bressane in Paris—rich, comforting, and unforgettable.”
-Essi Metsakallio
Style & Substance
Over time, Essi transitioned to independent consulting, working with fashion houses like Dior, Valentino, and Louis Vuitton, and advising private clients across Europe. As she built her business, the international nature of fashion and the diversity of her client base meant travel naturally played a major role. “I was doing a lot of incidental travel planning for my clients, and my husband would tease me, like, ‘Do they really need to fly to Paris for a lip gloss?’ But I have always understood that travel is so much more meaningful than a gown or a handbag.” What began as arranging trips for longtime fashion clients based around a show or a shopping trip evolved into designing experiences that felt personal and emotionally resonant, even if there was never a reason to get dressed up.
This balance of beauty and meaning is important to Essi, and defines her personal travel style as well as how she likes to plan for clients. She is equally at home pitching a tent or checking into a grand historic hotel. A lifelong athlete who loves road biking, mountain biking, tennis, and the outdoors, she pairs that energy with an appreciation for luxury. “I can go camping, but I also like things and nice rooms. I can do both, and I especially love discovering new places.” And while she’s calm and collected, there are stories of pretty wild adventures in her travel past: “I got stung by a bee in New Zealand, had a severe allergic reaction, passed out, and woke up to a spinal tap in a hospital. I then spent the next two weeks feeling like my head was going to explode, lying flat on the floor of the tiny sailboat I was traveling on!”
“I had a couple that went to London, Positano, and Capri, all for the first time, and it was so fulfilling. She was sending me videos, saying, ‘This is exactly the Italy I dreamt of!’ That’s the travel I want to plan, those are the reactions that drive me.”
A Beautiful View
Europe remains her greatest love: skiing in the Swiss Alps, summers in the Engadin Valley, decades-long ties to St. Moritz, and deep familiarity with Paris, Italy, and the South of France. (How deep is the familiarity? “In my 20s, I was in St. Tropez every summer for at least a month. I still love to go, and the owners at Club 55 still remember me as a kid,” she laughs.) She also has a special appreciation for lesser-explored destinations, and is Local Foreigner’s resident advocate for the wonders of northern Europe. “Finland is so undiscovered and unspoiled, with all of these stunning lakes. We also spend time in the Alps every summer, and there is just no place like the Engadin Valley. The Swiss Alps are my favorite, because no one is as organized as the Swiss.”
Whether planning a first trip to Europe for an excited couple or crafting something more understated for seasoned travelers, there’s a distinct sense of joy that comes across when she talks about making clients’ travel visions come to fruition. “I had a couple that went to London, Positano, and Capri, all for the first time, and it was so fulfilling. At Il San Pietro, they got a double upgrade, and she was sending me videos of the room, saying, ‘This is exactly the Italy I dreamt of!’ That’s the travel I want to plan, those are the reactions that drive me. Making them happy made me so happy.”
