ML - Boston Common

2014 - Issue 5 - Late Fall

Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.

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Suit ($2,370), shirt ($280), sunglasses ($295), tie ($190), and belt ($320), Salvatore Ferragamo. Copley Place, 617-859-4924; ferragamo.com PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, DUVINE CYCLING + ADVENTURE CO. ANDY LEVINE It takes just a few minutes of talking with Andy Levine to realize you've been traveling— and probably living—all wrong. "You bicycle through these small villages and you're learning about wine and culture and art and smelling f lowers and clean air and eating amazing food," he says, describing life as founder and president of DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co., the world's premier cycling tour operator. "Who wants to ride in a car or bus?" Who indeed? Levine's business has grown from a dream hatched on a cycling trip in France 20 years ago into a company with more than $7 million in sales last year. "I was like, man, if you build this, they will come—and then I knew when they came, I would do whatever I could to just blow them away." The awe-inspiring landscapes of Burgundy or the Italian Piedmont do half the work; the other half is the level of service the company provides, from anticipating when someone needs a cappuccino to setting up a roadside feast on a white tablecloth at the moment a customer's legs are about to give out. "People don't understand what luxury is," Levine says. "Luxury is about support, and we so seldom get that in our lives." Leadership is… "Being brave, being focused, loving the details, being fair, being honest, being strong, understanding your weakness, knowing when to hold them and knowing when to run." BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 107

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