# Gena Carlstrom

> Gena Carlstrom is a San Francisco Bay Area luxury travel advisor, founder of Smart Luxe Family Travel, former marketing executive and mother of four. After a career spanning Pfizer, Intuit, Stampli and Aimmune Therapeutics, she brought a customer-insight mindset to planning family trips through Fora Travel. Her public work centers on thoughtful pacing, hotels with character, practical logistics and experiences that allow families to spend more time together and less time managing the machinery of travel.

- **Role:** Founder, Smart Luxe Family Travel; Luxury Travel Advisor at Fora Travel
- **Organizations:** Smart Luxe Family Travel, Fora Travel, Aimmune Therapeutics, Stampli, Intuit, Pfizer, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
- **Education:** NYU Stern School of Business
- **Known for:** Earned Fora Travel's Certified Travel Advisor credential in November 2023., Received four 2014 DTC National Advertising Awards: Best Consumer Website, Best Print Ad and Best TV Ad in the pulmonary category, plus bronze for Best TV Campaign across categories., Has traveled to more than 40 countries.

## Career timeline

- **2004-2006** — Served on the board of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, chaired its fundraising committee and authored its annual report.
- **2006-2016** — Held a sequence of marketing, analytics and leadership-development roles at Pfizer, including work in oncology access, market research, respiratory marketing and women's health.
- **2017-2019** — Worked as Senior Marketing Manager for QuickBooks Online at Intuit.
- **2019-2021** — Worked as Senior Product Marketing Manager at Stampli.
- **2021-2023** — Worked as Director of Consumer Marketing at Aimmune Therapeutics.
- **2023** — Became a luxury travel advisor with Fora Travel and earned Fora's Certified Travel Advisor credential in November.
- **2024-present** — Continued independent marketing consulting alongside travel advising and building Smart Luxe Family Travel.

## Achievements

- Earned Fora Travel's Certified Travel Advisor credential in November 2023.
- Received four 2014 DTC National Advertising Awards: Best Consumer Website, Best Print Ad and Best TV Ad in the pulmonary category, plus bronze for Best TV Campaign across categories.
- Has traveled to more than 40 countries.
- Published destination guides and trip reports for Maui, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Silicon Valley and Lake Tahoe through Fora Travel.
- Served on the board of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families from 2004 to 2006.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Quoted in a feature on high-end villa travel, where she emphasized authentic local connection, careful property vetting and the hidden accessibility and layout issues that photographs may not show.

## Links

- Website: https://www.foratravel.com/advisor/gena-carlstrom
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genacarlstrom

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/gena-carlstrom
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26