Hayley Melidonis
Founder and CEO of Bubbl
Hayley Melidonis is a seasoned global strategic business development executive and entrepreneur with extensive experience building and scaling technology, media, and travel ventures across the globe. Over the past 15 years, she has worked with some of the most recognized names in technology, including Uber, Intel, Virgin Mobile, and Nokia, as well as multiple startups out of San Francisco incubators. Her diverse background spans across Europe, the USA, Australia, and Japan, where she played key roles in launching groundbreaking innovations such as autonomous vehicle technologies, industrial IoT, augmented reality devices, and the world’s first smartphones.
As the Founder and CEO of Bubbl, a groundbreaking platform transforming social travel, Hayley is focused on creating meaningful, shared travel experiences, that leverage the power of ‘travel’ co-living so that we can create a more connected and inclusive world. Bubbl allows like-minded individuals to come together in what she calls “Bubbls”—these are unique pop-up travel groups who ‘stay together, and share together’ formed around shared interests, events, festivals, retreats, and destinations. Bubbl provides the safe meeting platform and seamless tools to organize group stays, trips and events. Hayley’s vision is to create a socially responsible global community of travelers for infinite possibilities, making it easy for people to experience the world together.
Before founding Bubbl, Hayley’s travel entrepreneurship was defined by her leadership in the travel adventure space. In 2009, she launched **Total Heliski**, a heliski adventure travel company that catered to thrill-seekers looking for once-in-a-lifetime heli skiing experiences around the world. Hayley has personally heliskied, cat-skied, and ski-toured across multiple continents, sharing her passion for adventure with her clients while building a global network of boutique operators. For the past 8 years, Hayley ran share ski houses in Palisades Tahoe, where the idea for Bubbl was born from observing how her Ski Lease Members desired the community experience and value offering over hotels . She even met her husband in a Summer share house Bubbl, thus contributing to the authenticity of her Founders Story for Bubbl. Her entrepreneurial drive to build Bubbl has also been fueled both by her extensive personal experience as a solo traveler, and a leader organizing group travel, making her an expert in understanding the challenges and joys of shared travel experiences. This coupled with her extensive, global business experience in fast moving technology and media industries, makes Hayley an attractive candidate to discuss topics around technology, media, trends, and entrepreneurialism.
As a podcast guest, Hayley is an engaging speaker who brings fresh perspectives on the evolving landscape of travel, the rise of ‘the connected economy’, solo and group travel trends, and the importance of social connectivity in today’s world. Her deep insights and hands-on experience make her a compelling voice in conversations about the future of travel.