In 1990, Julie Subotky joined the trail of new college graduates heading to Aspen, Colorado. She intended to ski for a season and then find a “real” job. Like many ski bums, Subotky did what she could to underwrite her ski habit. And in Aspen, that meant entrepreneurial opportunities beyond dishwashing.

“Everyone comes to town and doesn’t know how to get things done, and they have left their assistants behind,” says Subotky, who was soon running paid errands for the Aspen roster of “VIPs, celebrities, and people with second and third homes”.