Scott Poniewaz
Matthew Mueller
Card-Carrying
Commuter
Scott Poniewaz has been an avid traveler for as long as he can remember.
As the director of FoundersCard,
a global membership community
which provides its members with
access to networking opportunities
and premier travel, hotel, business
and lifestyle benefits, he is required
to, essentially, be everywhere at
once. While working closely
with a network of more than
15,000 entrepreneurs, managing the member services team
and hosting events across
the globe makes for a hectic
lifestyle, Poniewaz thrives on
the action. “It’s a crazy travel
schedule, but I wouldn’t have it any
other way,” he says.
Spending so much time on the
road and in the air requires shrewd
packing, which Poniewaz has down
to a science. “I think the key is to be
able to pack multipurpose clothes that
allow me to dress up and dress down
easily,” he says. “I also roll a lot of my
clothes, which allows pants to generally stay less wrinkled, but also allows
me to maximize the internal space of
the suitcase.”
Once he’s gotten the packing and
unpacking out of the way, Poniewaz
believes in indulging in at least one
thing he enjoys while in a new city,
60
whether it’s the performing arts, a jog
to take in some of the sights and get to
know the area, or simply a unique lunch
or dinner option. “Personally, I am a
huge foodie,” he admits. “So ahead of
my trips, I do my best to dig out
the best meal options. On a
recent Paris trip, I made
it a point to get a hot
chocolate from Angelina
[Tearoom] and sought out
a local steak frites favorite from a
client’s recommendation.
“I always make it a point to get out
of the hotel and to ask around for recommendations on the must-dos,” he
explains. “[I] always try my best to
enjoy the localized experience.”
Well-Suited Traveler
CEO Matthew Mueller’s company,
Knot Standard, has him constantly
living out of a suitcase thanks to its
showrooms across three continents.
The company crafts custom suits from
fine English and Italian fabrics and
serves more than 80 countries, which
has made Mueller into an expert traveler who enjoys bringing his family
along for the ride.
As a connoisseur of looking sharp
even on the go, Mueller is a fan of
splitting items between bags when
you travel with others. “If you lose
a bag, your traveling companion
isn’t walking around in style while
you’re rocking the same T-shirt for
five days,” he says. “Travel is about
shared experiences, shared luggage
and, yes, shared disasters.”
Mueller admits that “me time” can
be hard to come by
when traveling
for business,
but he remains
committed to
making the most of
every minute he has in each destination and his suggestions are simple.
“Research,” he says. “You don’t have
to go overboard or have too much
advance notice. I take a quick glance
through TripAdvisor for attractions
and restaurants, then Viator for an
easy way to book activities.”
Being able to enjoy each destination while staying on schedule
implies that minimizing jetlag is
a crucial element of each trip, and
Mueller is a big proponent of the
Anti-Jet Lag Diet developed by
the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Argonne National Laboratory. “It
cuts jet lag by seven times when
heading west and 16 times when
heading east, and is quite literally
a mir