Jake
Sasseville

Jake Sasseville's story doesn't follow the standard playbook — and that's precisely the point.

At 14, he was hosting local-access television in Lewiston, Maine. At 21, he became the youngest late-night host in ABC broadcast history with The Edge with Jake Sasseville, airing after Jimmy Kimmel Live! He produced television for major networks, created nationally touring campus music festivals featuring artists including Kanye West and OneRepublic, and built an early breakout podcast — The Jake Sasseville Show — reaching millions of downloads at the intersection of culture and consciousness.

Then he walked away from all of it.

The pivot wasn't random. After a period of deliberate reinvention following Hurricane Sandy in 2013, Jake emerged with a singular obsession: what does it look like to build a physical container so well-designed that transformation becomes almost inevitable?

The answer became Imiloa Institute.

In 2018, Jake raised $3.5 million — crowd-funded across 38 investors from 19 countries — to build a luxury retreat and education campus in Costa Rica. The premise: transformational leaders deserve a home as precise and consistent as the work they're bringing into the world.

Under Jake's leadership, Imiloa turned profitable in just over a year, navigated COVID-19 without layoffs, and grew into one of the most respected retreat campuses globally. Since opening, Imiloa has hosted 120+ retreats annually, supported 450+ retreat leaders, and helped generate over $100M in program revenue — sustaining an 86% client renewal rate.

Recognized by the White House and the Kauffman Foundation as one of America's top young entrepreneurs, Jake now lives in Hawaiʻi. His operating philosophy hasn't changed since Maine.