How Jonathan Mildenhall Found His Higher Purpose by Taking a Chance on Airbnb

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In 2011, on a lark, Jonathan Mildenhall tried Airbnb for the first time. It turned out to be a transformative experience, he says now, one that not only sold him on the home-sharing concept but also got him thinking about how the brand could be marketed, a full three years before it became his job to do so.

The occasion was the 40th birthday of a female advertising friend in London, where the British-born Mildenhall had worked at various agencies himself before coming to the U.S.

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