Christopher A. West
Founder & CEO @Bespoke Private Service
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WORK HISTORY
Founder & CEO @Bespoke Private Service
San Francisco, CA, US
Founded Bespoke Private Service to bring practitioner-level understanding to executive search and advisory in the family office and private household space. Before placing a single candidate, I spent years managing estates, leading household teams, and working inside the families I now serve.We specialize in three things. First, recruiting senior leadership for single-family offices and family foundations: Chief of Staff, Estate Manager, COO, Executive Assistant, Foundation Director, and other key roles supporting family operations and philanthropic missions. Our focus is the family and lifestyle operations side rather than asset management. Second, advising families on how to build out their single family office or complement an existing multi-family office with the right internal team. We help families define what they actually need before recruiting begins, because the most expensive mistake in this space is hiring for the wrong role. Third, conducting on-site assessments of household and family office operations: multi-day property visits, staff interviews, organizational structure reviews, workflow analysis, and compensation benchmarking. The result is a detailed report with strategic recommendations, updated job descriptions, proposed org charts, and an implementation plan.Our seven-step Evolved Process combines deep discovery, candidate assessment, rigorous vetting, and 90-day post-placement mentorship, all built around one principle: cultural alignment determines long-term success more than credentials alone.Families and the professionals who serve them both thrive when someone bridges the gap with transparency, discretion, and genuine understanding of both sides. That bridge is what Bespoke was built to be.
EDUCATION
The Culinary Institute of America
Bachelor's of Professional Studies, Culinary Arts Management
SKILLS
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER A. WEST
I grew up raising guide dogs for the blind. You train them knowing you will give them away. That was my first lesson in service: you build something with care and hand it to someone who needs it more than you do.I chose food as my way in. After the Culinary Institute of America, I started as a prep cook on a 275-acre property with a restaurant, catering operation, and nonprofit teaching young people about local, organic, and sustainable food. Over seven years I worked my way across every part of that operation and left as Culinary Programs Manager. Nobody I worked with knew my family had created Doritos. I kept that to myself on purpose. I wanted to be judged on what I could do, not where I came from.A family then hired me to design a permaculture homestead, and that work drew me into the broader world of family office operations: managing estates, leading a 19-person household staff, and learning what makes families actually function. Most people hear \"family office\" and think investments. I have always been drawn to the family side: the people, the operations, the culture, the legacy. That is where I built my career and where I stay focused.Today I run three ventures across that ecosystem.**Bespoke Private Service**(est. 2014): Executive search and advisory for single-family offices and private households. We place Chiefs of Staff, Estate Managers, COOs, and Foundation leaders, and advise families on building their operations or complementing a multi-family office with the right internal team.**Family Office Mastermind Group**(est. 2023, with Rob Landsness): A vetted community helping families build the hybrid family office: keep control of operations while partnering with multi-family offices for asset management and accessing peer-validated expertise across 22 domains. Membership is earned, not bought.**The Greenhouse**(in development): Six years of curated dinners, mountain retreats, and private gatherings built on one belief: the most important relationships form around a table, not a conference stage.Build longer tables, not higher walls. That is the throughline.To learn more about FOMG membership: fomastermindgroup.com/joinTo explore open roles with our client families: bespokeprivateservice.com
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