RBN Rewards is the innovative referral network helping to turn your real estate transaction into a first-class travel experience.
1. Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about RBN Rewards.
I’ve worn a few hats over the years including physician, entrepreneur, real estate investor, jet pilot and now CEO of RBN Rewards. I grew up in France and have lived in Paris and London as well as cities across the U.S. including New York, California, Utah and now residing in Scottsdale, Arizona. I’ve flown jets across the globe and even brought planes back home from locations like Singapore and Abu Dhabi – once flying solo over Greenland! My early career was as a physician in emergency medicine, and I went on to build urgent treatment centres.
I was one time awarded physician executive of the year. I left medicine and went into full-time tech, where I launched and then successfully exited a healthcare IT company. When I quit, I said I’d never go back to healthcare and am proud to say I kept my promise. Along the way my love of food and travel meant I found myself on the Food Network—twice—thanks to my renowned BBQ restaurant ‘The Thumb’ in Scottsdale which is located in a gas station.
I’m also executive producer of Passport Properties, a new TV docuseries that explores high-end homes in some of the world’s most desirable locations. I am also an owner of an exclusive golf club in Arizona.
RBN Rewards is where it all comes together. We took the luxury real estate referral model and added an ingredient no one else had done before: world-class rewards. We help buyers and sellers work with elite agents and in return, they earn points that can be redeemed for incredible luxury experiences.
2. For those who might not be familiar with RBN rewards, can you tell us how it works?
We created RBN Rewards as the first of its kind referral platform to connect buyers and sellers with top agents from leading brokerages such as Christie’s International Real Estate, Sotheby’s, and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
By offering points on property purchases and sales, RBN turns one of life’s biggest investments into tangible benefits. We specialize in luxury residential transactions and offer a personalized client-agent matching process as well as in-house concierge to provide VIP travel advisory and booking services
Through our latest partnership with Virgin, clients can transfer at a 1:1 ratio to its rewards club Virgin Red, which opens the door to premium travel with Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Voyages and their global network of affiliates. And yes, even international deals count. Thanks to our partnership with Forbes Global Properties, RBN is expanding worldwide.
3. What differentiates RBN from other platforms?
It’s not very often you can say we were an industry pioneer, but it’s true. We were the first to offer points for property sales and purchases and our mission is to reward life’s largest transactions, while at the same time, offering freedom and choice to our clients. Our participating agents are the best in the business. Quality, vetted professionals from the most reputable brokerages. They are selected based on performance metrics, luxury market knowledge and client satisfaction, but you can even use your own agent if preferred. The key thing is the client stays in complete control while getting free access to a concierge-level experience. Unlike points you earn on a credit card buying a coffee, RBN Rewards offers you serious value on life’s big purchases.
4. How do you see the industry evolving in the next few years?
We’re working in a different currency to cash. RBN points represent something I like to call “guilt-free spending”. Points can be exchanged for experiences, memories and the luxury vacation of your dreams. People are more cautious about what they spend their cash on, if you have dollars in the bank it can tend to go towards necessities. With rewards, we can help turn a major purchase into an unforgettable experience. That’s how our model makes a difference to people’s lives.
The points space is becoming gamified—who can get the most out of their points? We’re focused on what people actually want—freedom, memories, movement and travel to create lifelong memories.
5. What do you find most exciting about your role?
I love building things that surprise people. Whether it was putting a five-star BBQ restaurant in a gas station or developing a game-changing medical platform. I’m always asking, “How can we make this more interesting? More valuable?”
With RBN, we’ve taken a traditionally dry and arduous process filled with paperwork—buying a home—and layered in something aspirational and exciting. It’s a hidden value we’re unlocking for our clients.
6. What does the future look like for RBN Rewards?
We’re just getting started. Our vision is to bring extraordinary value to the biggest transactions people make in life. You can get points for buying a loaf of bread, so why not a new home?
Think of what Apple did with packaging. Or Tiffany with the little blue box. We want to wrap a real estate transaction in a beautiful reward experience. Buying a house might be stressful, but when you close, you could be booking two business-class flights to Tokyo.
Beyond home purchases, we’re looking to expand into the full real estate ecosystem: mortgages, renovations, title services, design partners. We’d like to create a high-value rewards network for everything tied to the home. And it all comes back to one simple belief: no one should have to choose between what they need and what they dream about.
For more information, please visit www.rbnrewards.com
