Cornell Nolan School affiliations:
Pillsbury Entrepreneurs in Residence Program
Key areas of expertise:
- Project ideation, launch, and building
- Luxury travel and hospitality
- Marketing and branding strategy
- Go-to-market strategy
Grace McBride is a dedicated entrepreneur and innovator in the luxury travel industry, currently serving as the Founder & CEO of Lucia. Lucia is a marketplace that connects the luxury travel industry with freelancers, addressing the labor shortage crisis and helping businesses scale without hiring.
Grace’s professional journey has been deeply rooted in both luxury travel and startups, focusing on services and technology. She has held leadership roles in several travel-related companies, including serving as the CEO of TripKit, an assistant service for luxury travel advisors, which she successfully exited in 2022. She also served as the COO of MilesAhead, a luxury travel concierge company, while she was a full-time undergraduate student.
A proud alumna of Cornell University, Grace earned her Bachelor of Science degree before pursuing an MBA at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. She was also a Fellow in the New York 2021 cohort of the Startup Leadership Program and a Philip C. Wolf Memorial Scholarship winner of the Phocuswright Conference in 2022.
Grace is passionate about sharing her expertise and insights with other young entrepreneurs in travel and hospitality. She is always excited to try the next new hotel or restaurant and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.