Felicia’s love of community and fitness started at a young age. By ten, she was organizing soccer tournaments and obstacle races for the neighborhood kids. While her grandfather was an amateur boxer, it wasn’t an activity most young women pursued at the time. But after the sudden death of her father when she was only 16, Felicia discovered her love of boxing.

A graduate of Stanford University and the UCLA Anderson School of Business, Felicia went on to have a successful career as a Sales & Marketing executive for companies including Sun Microsystems, Sony, Mattel, and Demand Media (now Leaf Group), all the while recruiting new friends and members of her team to come together through fitness.

In 2016, she decided to leave corporate America to chase her childhood dream of empowering the community through boxing and helping others discover their true greatness through fitness— no matter their age or ability. Together with her business partner, Todd Wadler, BoxUnion launched in March of 2017. After the success of the first studio, BoxUnion opened on Robertson Boulevard in 2019 and has signed a lease in Sherman Oaks to open in Spring 2019. The brand is working to expand to Hollywood, Culver City, Denver and Dallas in late 2019.

Felicia lives in Pacific Palisades with her husband, Gregg and 11-year old son, Gavin.

Remy Allis has established herself as a successful entrepreneur, hospitality thought leader and businesswoman over the past 20 years. For the past decade, she’s led Allis as a boutique luxury branding agency launching over 50 brands and generating over $500M in sales. Previously, she co-founded Fishtank Brand Advertising working with clients in technology, apparel, healthcare and real estate, resulting in acquisition in 2008. She has also served in various strategic roles on brands including Nike, Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt.

Allis has offices in New York City and San Francisco specializing in launching new-to-world consumer brands in the premium lifestyle and luxury categories. The agency has won countless industry awards including The World Luxury Award in Monaco. Remy spends her time bi-coastally with her family based in Tribeca, NYC.

Amy Atwood has been working with wine since 1996, when she was running beverage programs in Australia. After many years spent working for other wholesalers and importers, she founded Amy Atwood Selections in 2009. Her focus is primarily on small production and natural wines. Amy lives in Los Angeles, and is also a partner in Future gin, made in downtown LA.

Charles has kept himself busy collecting awards and accolades in the coffee world for quite some time now. He has taken home the 2015 US barista Championship, 2nd place in the 2015 World Championship, as well as 2012-2014 US Barista Championship. He and Kyle met while working together at the Venice Intelligentsia location where Charles developed the slow bar concept. Charles is also the star of the 2015 coffee documentary, Barista. Additionally, Charles developed the largest Korean CPG cold brew company, Cold Brew by Babinski.

Verve Co-Founder Colby Barr grew up farming pears and wine grapes with his family tucked in Northern California where he learned firsthand the relationships between farmers, processors, buyers, and consumers. Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, when the opportunity arose to purchase his favorite, local coffee shop, he took it. He quickly realized the incredible depth of the coffee industry and that he wanted to immerse himself into it all. After a year of successfully learning the ropes and growing the business, he contacted his college friend, Ryan O’Donavan. about taking the leap and starting a coffee roasting company together. Since then, the partners have emphasized impeccable sourcing at the Farmlevel and high engagement at the Streetlevel. This holistic approach has led to 11 thriving Verve cafes across California and in Tokyo, with more locations in the works. To stay at the forefront of the craft coffee movement, Barr and O’Donovan continue to innovate, whether that means investing in company culture, upgrading their food program, or launching new products like canned Nitro Flash Brew Coffee.

Mary Bartlett has worked in bars and restaurants for over ten years. She started bartending in Portland, OR, before moving to Los Angeles where she was the beverage director for Honeycut, Ace Hotel and most recently Arclight Cinemas. She created Future GIn with three women who wanted to create a forward-thinking gin that brings everything they love about gin and California together.

Diana Bianchini is the Founder and President of Di Moda Public Relations, a lifestyle communications agency established in 2002, currently ranked one of the top PR firms in LA and the nation by Upcity.com. With over two decades of solid industry experience, and a 18-year company track record of business success, Bianchini is a significant asset to brands, startups, innovators and disruptors looking to grow and expand business in authentic and meaningful ways.

Bianchini actively lends her expertise to a variety of non-profits including as a Board Member for Project Angel Food and 17 year volunteer for the organization. She mentors youth, and speaks to student and entrepreneurial audiences about Public Relations, Social Impact, Female Empowerment in business, and Entrepreneurship. In 2019, she was the keynote speaker for a Women’s Group Event hosted by UCLA and spoke on a panel at the BLLA and StayBoutique’s Female Empowerment Conference in early 2020. To date, she has been an invited speaker at a handful of colleges and universities including Princeton, Azusa Pacific University and FIDM, and has served as a panelist at the West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference. In 2020, Bianchini was recognized as a nominee for the Women’s Leadership Awards given by Los Angeles Business Journal.

Bianchini is a UCLA graduate and endowed scholar. She lives with her family in Santa Monica, California and has aspirations to write a book one day on etiquette.

Melissa Biggs Bradley is the pioneering entrepreneur behind Indagare, an innovative digital player in the luxury travel space. At Indagare, Melissa has created a new, expertise-driven, membership-based approach to travel. Indagare offers members transformative, personalized travel experiences featuring exclusive access to carefully crafted experiences with local experts and adventures that draw on an unsurpassed depth of knowledge in the space. In the decade since its founding, Indagare has grown rapidly, and has been named to Inc.’s Fastest Growing Companies in the US and to Crain’s 50 fastest growing companies in New York.

Prior to founding Indagare, Melissa served as the travel editor at Town & Country for twelve years. During her time there, she launched the Town & Country Travel magazine. Under her leadership, the magazine was nominated for a National Magazine Award for General Excellence by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Richard “Boz” Bosworth is General Partner and CEO of the newly formed JC Hospitality, LLC which recently acquired the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. The ownership group will embark upon a multi hundred-million-dollar renovation and convert the iconic resort hotel to the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas by late fall of 2020. Bosworth Hospitality Partners, LLC recently joined forces with Juniper Capital Partners in this acquisition, in partnership with Virgin Group, LiUNA, Fengate Real Assets, Dream and Orlando Development.

In 2015, Bosworth formed Bosworth Hospitality Partners LLC (BHP), a hotel, casino, and restaurant investment platform. BHP directly deploys both debt and equity capital for value add projects. Formerly, he was Managing Director-Global Hospitality at Canyon Partners.

Bosworth is also an author and penned the children’s baseball fantasy, The Box Seat Dream. The novel earned New York WABC-TV’s “Book of the Week” and has been optioned for film.

Avi Brosh is the founder, leader and creative force behind the Palisociety platform of hospitality, food and beverage, and residential properties and directly oversees the daily operations of all company ventures and brand development. Avi spearheads Palisociety’s concept innovation, design direction, development execution and operational strategies and instills a passionate commitment to unique placemaking in all of Palisociety’s brands and business enterprises.

Actively involved in the real estate development and hospitality industries since 1988, Avi has overseen the ground-up and/or adaptive re-use development of over 30 residential, mixed-use and hospitality properties comprising in excess of two million square feet.

Prior to founding Paligroup, Avi was the Executive Vice President of The Braemar Group, a prominent Southern California based real estate development company and is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Business Management.

April Brown is one of the boss ladies behind The June Motel, the “Insta worthy” motel in Prince Edward County Canada that’s been featured in Vogue, Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast and grew a following of almost 30K in less two year. With a passion for travel, good wine and creative designs, April together with her best friend and co-founder Sarah Sklash, redesigned a vintage roadside motel in wine country and reinvented the motel experience for millennial travelers. Now local hospitality is served-up with a chilled glass of wine – just the way they like it!

Nicole Centeno is a French Culinary Institute–trained chef and the founder and CEO of Splendid Spoon, the e-commerce business providing holistic wellness solutions for professional men and women. At Boston College, she studied diet therapies as treatment for illness and has taught cooking and nutrition courses at Columbia University. Centeno has cooked in New York City restaurants, managed a catering business and worked in media strategy at Conde Nast. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her two sons, Grover and Caleb. She is the author of Soup Cleanse Cookbook (Rodale, August 2016).

Caitlyn Chase has amassed a serious online following of luxury lifestyle lovers since the launch of her blog, Caviar & Cashmere in 2011. The Los Angeles based blogger-turned-entrepreneur began her career as a fashion and beauty writer for nationally acclaimed publications at the young age of 18. Caitlyn thrives on exploring the world of luxury lifestyle; sharing the things she loves with her readers, aiming to inspire them to lead a life well lived with her blog and recently launched skincare line.

Ambitious, confident, and approachable, Caitlyn has become the go-to girl for all things luxury fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle.

Caitlyn has received accolades and awards from some of the most respected media outlets, from being named “One of the Top Ten Bloggers in Los Angeles,” “Trendsetter of the Year,” to recently being nominated for “Female Founder of the Year.”

Caitlyn launched her skincare line, Caviar & Cashmere Skincare, in 2018, which has quickly become a must-have product in the homes of influencers and celebrities. The line is made in Los Angeles, consisting of three non-toxic, vegan, cruelty-free anti-aging skincare products. Caviar & Cashmere Skincare is now sold online and at all Blushington locations countrywide.

Jay Coldren is the managing director of the Eat + Drink studio at Streetsense, a strategy and design collective based in Bethesda, MD. With more than 25 years of hospitality experience spanning the independent restaurant, boutique hotel, and branded hotel segments, Jay brings his wealth of front-line customer service expertise and organizational capabilities to his work. In his role, Jay coordinates the activities of a team of talented industry experts on projects that include concept visioning and development, operational analysis and oversight, and full concept implementation.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Founder and CEO of LIVELY, has spent the tenure of her career creating brands and product for some of the world’s largest retailers including Federated, VF Corporation, Limited Brands/ Victoria’s Secret and Thrillist Media Group. Grant instantly fell in love with the entire process from concept to customer and realized that her passion was in supporting, creating and developing amazing brands and products. While working with Victoria’s Secret, she learned that this $13B lingerie category, in the US alone, was dominated by this one brand, with one point of view. Grant was inspired to create a completely new experience for the category, — one she coined Leisurée— and so LIVELY was born.

Mark Durliat has over 25 years of resort and residential real estate development experience. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Business and French and moved overseas after university to pursue an international real estate career in France and Belgium. For four years, Durliat learned alongside the famed South African golfer Gary Player about the development of master planned resort projects. Following his tenure in Europe, Durliat moved to Cape Town where he co-founded and ran a successful condo-hotel development firm for many years. Today, he is a driving force in the growth of luxury travel and residential development in the Turks and Caicos Islands where his company Grace Bay Resorts develops and manages four resort properties and a luxury branded single-family villa rental company.

As creative director and co-founder of Easton Porter Group, Lynn Easton provides strategic vision and a well-honed stylistic eye to all aspects of Easton Porter Group properties and operations. An international speaker and lifestyle-influencer, Lynn’s sophisticated design sensibilities set the tone for the Easton Porter Group luxury brand, and her impeccable attention to layered detail is what keeps us reaching high standards of quality. Her background as a live television producer has served Lynn well in founding Easton Events ​LLC, an internationally recognized ultra luxury event and destination wedding planning firm under the EPG umbrella.

She is regularly featured on the “best of” lists published in ​Vogue ​ and ​Harper’s Bazaar. She is an inspired innovator and relentless pursuer of refinement, which is evident in the lush textures and patina of our celebrated boutique hotels, restaurants, wineries and event venues.

Under her creative direction, each Easton Porter Group project, property or marquee occasion showcases an intuitive sense of stage setting with classic, fresh design. Lynn is a graduate of Barnard College in New York City, the sister school of Columbia University.

Scott Gerber is the Principal and Chief Executive Officer of hospitality industry leader, Gerber Group. Setting out to provide an innovative nightlife experience, Gerber Group opened their first property, The Whiskey at the Paramount Hotel, in 1991. Soon after, Scott took the lead in forging a partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to develop the W Hotel brand. The partnership is widely credited for changing the landscape of the nightlife industry by creating unique, innovative venues that have re-defined the ‘hotel bar.’

Today, Gerber Group, is the owner-operator of 6 innovative bars and restaurants in New York, Washington D.C., and Atlanta including The Campbell at Grand Central Terminal, Mr Purple, The Crown, Irvington, 12 Stories and Whiskey Blue. Gerber Group continues to re-define the hospitality industry with innovative dining concepts and bars featuring renowned beverage programs accompanied by exceptional culinary talents.

Scott is widely viewed as a leading entrepreneur in the hospitality industry, appearing on shows such as CNBC’s “Squawk On The Street,” Fox Business Network’s “America’s Nightly Scoreboard,” MSNBC’s “Your Business,” and CBS’ “Undercover Boss”. Scott has also been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Market Watch, Crain’s New York Business, Bloomberg Businessweek, Hotel Business, Nightclub & Bar, and Bar Business Magazine, among others.

Scott – who holds a B.S. in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Arizona – was previously a Principal at a commercial real-estate firm and represented notable clients such as Giorgio Armani, Hermes, and Dolce & Gabbana.

Before GGET and G&B, Kyle worked with Intelligentsia Coffee from 2006-2012 as their Director of Retail and VP of Strategy. He’s a coffee guy, first and foremost – a fact proven by decades of dedication to the coffee industry, and the 2008 title of United States Barista Champion. Kyle is an industry leader who has lectured and taught around the US, Brazil, Bolivia, Greece, Australia and Denmark.

Joey Gonzalez is the CEO of Barry’s Bootcamp, the original cardio and strength interval workout that started a global boutique movement.

Initially a fan of the brand, Gonzalez first began his tenure at Barry’s as a customer in 1997. He became an instructor soon after, and worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming CEO in 2015.

While continuing to teach class, Gonzalez has dedicated his life to expanding the brand across the country and overseas, fostering communities throughout the US, UK, Italy, Australia and Scandinavia. Gonzalez continues to grow the brand’s footprint domestically and internationally, with locations coming soon in Mexico and Southeast Asia. Today, Barry’s boasts over 50 studios more than 75,000 engaged consumers a week.

Gonzalez was named to Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2018. He also sits on the board of the Family Equality Council.

He currently resides in Hancock Park, Los Angeles with his husband, daughter and son.

Benjamin got his start in the creative/business world at the age of 17, during the first dot-com boom. With no formal training or education, Gott taught himself the ins and outs of programming, focusing on merging information architecture and design. He has since developed a somewhat avant-garde focus on entrepreneurship that lead him to work on and create a variety of businesses in a handful of industries from beverage, to enterprise technology, to venture capital, to fashion, to home goods, to science. Some of his projects include founding Boxed Water Is Better, creating the object company, BENJAMIN EDGAR, founding the peer-to-peer education service th-oughts.com, is entrepreneur in residence at the venture capital fund Wakestream Ventures, serves as an advisor to the retailer Notre Shop.

Chris Green is Executive Officer with Chesapeake Hospitality where he brings more than a quarter century of successful hospitality operations experience to Chesapeake’s corporate team—including nearly a decade in the field at various Chesapeake-managed properties. He is responsible for all company and field disciplines in the Chesapeake-managed estate. Under Green’s leadership, Chesapeake has consistently demonstrated the ability to deliver industry-leading financial results across a wide range of different markets and hospitality concepts. Green has a sophisticated understanding of how to successfully balance a property’s long-term strategic vision with the practical immediacy of day-to-day operational demands, and he takes a leading role in actively protecting, managing and improving every asset.

Green is a regular guest on the No Vacancy podcast and a frequent contributor to a host of different industry publications, including Hotel Executive and Hotel Business. He writes a recurring column for Hotel News Now where he shares insights and perspectives on everything from how to build and maintain a vibrant company culture, to future technology and hospitality trends. A respected industry voice, he is an accomplished public speaker and a coveted guest on roundtables and panels at industry conferences and special events.

He holds the Certified Hotel Administrator designation from the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and has served as president and board member for various CVB, Tourism development, and Hotel & Motel associations in the markets in which he has worked.

Rachel is on a mission to shake up the status quo in society and in business. Her background in journalism and documentary filmmaking led her to a career in marketing and entrepreneurship where she worked in non-profit media, the food industry, and fair-trade clothing. She sees the for-profit sector as an influential (and economically sustainable) arena to make a social impact and she saw the emerging cannabis industry as a perfect fit for revolutionizing business practices, internal and external. She founded Lucky 420 in 2016, a cannabis manufacturing company based in Northern California. The company aims to consider human needs, ecological health, social impact, and profit earnings–proving that these are not mutually exclusive. The brand uses its platform to spread a message of elevating consciousness and fighting the good fight through “The 420 Force.”

As the humble captain behind the brand, Malibu Farm, Founder Helene Henderson joyously celebrates the launch of her latest outpost at New York City’s South Street Seaport. As its leader, Henderson strives for Malibu Farm to live up to its ethos while enabling distinct yet familiar personalities at each location. “Every dining room has a sense of comfort like dining at home,” she explains. She brings to the city her classic dishes alongside local specialties inspired by her backyard farm dinners on the coast of Southern California.

Henderson began Malibu Farm just where one would expect—at her farm in Malibu, on Point Dume. Funded by a small inheritance from her mother, it began as a few cooking classes held in her free time and recipes posted on her blog. That grew to include farm dinners in her backyard. The success of the naturally evolving concept encouraged her to stage a pop-up in 2013 at the Malibu Pier. Her original commitment turned into a two-year run garnering long lines and praise from critics and diners alike. Expanding to the restaurant and bar space closer to the shore, Henderson continues to provide counter, bar, and table service at the now-iconic location. Fulfilling a promise to her late mother, Henderson holds a traditional Swedish Santa Lucia event in Malibu every year.

As the Malibu Farm brand expanded—in California, at Newport Beach’s Lido Marina Village and Montecito’s Rosewood Miramar Beach resort; in Hawaii at the Four Seasons Resort Lanai; and in Florida at Nobu Eden Roc Miami Beach hotel—Henderson maintained strong affinity for the coast, choosing only waterfront locations. That thread continues its weave in NYC, with Malibu Farm’s launch at the South Street Seaport. Henderson revels in her full-circle return to The Big Apple, where she first came to the country looking for a new life.
Yet, even as her restaurant spreads from coast to coast, Henderson remains locally rooted at Malibu Farm itself. There, on the California coast where she began the journey, she maintains a flock of free-range chickens; a pig named Arnold; some sheep; bees; two dogs, Jocko and Stanley; and goats, Casey and Cloud, who enjoy walking on the beach and participating in Point Dume’s annual Fourth of July parade. In her free time, Henderson enjoys being with her husband, John Stockwell, and children, Celia, Casper, and Caden.

Julia’s wide-ranging restaurant career encompasses development, operational and corporate experience across the globe. Before founding Heyer Performance in 2009, Julia worked with Alain Ducasse, SushiSamba restaurants and Richard Sandoval’s Modern Mexican Restaurant Group. Her roles have included Controller, Operations Analyst, Sales Manager, Acting GM, and Director of Development. Over the years, she has led the creation, negotiation, design, development and project management of a large variety of new ventures. This multi-faceted experience has sharpened her skills and insights for the strategic use of Food and Beverage that drives the subsequent concept development, experience creation, business structuring, operations management and project execution.

With Heyer Performance (HPI), Julia and her team support owners and managers of Real Estate, private equity firms, co-work spaces, hotels and restaurateurs on how to optimally use Food and Beverage as part of their overall business – and then helps them successfully program + develop the experience and business through the opening and beyond. With HPI she has spearheaded and supported more than sixty food and beverage ventures—projects ranging from 450 to 29,000 square feet in size, and fast casual to three-Michelin star in type. From crafting Food halls in size, deal structure and curation mix, over envisioning the future of co-working experiences, to creating the right fit of F+B experience in hotel, resort and club environments: Julia leads the growing HPI team in programming and developing unusual spaces and deploying F+B as a strategic tool in venues nationwide and internationally.

Emilie Davidson Hoyt is the Founder and CEO of LATHER, a natural skincare and wellness company that makes products with zero synthetic fragrance.

Back in 1999, Emilie had a hunch that her lifelong migraines were triggered by synthetic fragrance – made largely by toxic chemicals and frequently found in beauty products. Little did she know, her explorer’s heart, natural curiosity, and deep love for nature and essential oils would become the first steps on a journey towards creating LATHER, a pioneering, head-to-toe personal care brand loved by loyal customers all over the world. LATHER has been on a mission to deliver daily natural skincare and wellness experiences that help people feel real ever since.

Emilie is the proud owner of many successful LATHER stores nationwide, including Fairfax, Long Beach, Pasadena and Phoenix. LATHER products can also be found in hundreds of boutiques, hotel properties, spas and resorts worldwide.

Emilie is a graduate of Pepperdine University. She currently lives in Pasadena with her husband, Rob, and two children.

Gulla was recently coined as the new Zaha Hadid by the Huffington Post and has in her career worked on renowned projects in USA, Japan, Mexico, Iceland, Paris, Beirut, Bahamas and China.
Gulla Jónsdóttir creates unexpected and poetic modern architecture and interior spaces. Known for her sensual and dynamic forms that work in harmony with their surroundings, Gulla’s environmental compassion brings unique spatial experiences that respond to nature and surrounding site, always echoing the integration of organic beauty and function.

Icelandic-born Gulla Jónsdóttir studied mathematics before moving to Los Angeles to study architecture at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture). Before starting her own firm in 2009, she worked for Richard Meier, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Dodd Mitchell Design. In 2017, she completed the design of the first hotel in the West Hollywood design district, called the La Peer hotel, and recently opened her first gallery with the hotel, called Gulla Jonsdottir Atelier.
Gulla has in her career of architecture and design received several awards including Interior Design’s Best of year winner 2017 for Resort design: The Macau Roosevelt in Macau, China.

Some of her most notable projects are:
The 2 Michelin star Le Grand Restaurant, by Jean-Francois Piege in Paris. La Peer hotel in West Hollywood, The Macau Roosevelt hotel in China, The Mayfair hotel, downtown Los Angeles, Comal at Chileno Bay, Los Cabos, Mexico and the
Renovation of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Ara’s breastfeeding experience led her to the microbiome and inspired a personal mission to bring science closer to humans and to pioneer how microbes (probiotics) can impact the health of our bodies, our children and our planet. A serial entrepreneur, Ara previously Co-Founded and served as CMO of mobile commerce marketplace, Spring, was on the Founding Team of social commerce company, BeachMint, and advises various companies across health, tech and consumer, including Violet Grey, Tamara Mellon and Stadium Goods, which was recently acquired by FarFetch.

Ara has been a fellow at the MIT Media Lab’s Center for Future Storytelling and CCA’s Design MBA program. She was named in Marie Claire’s “The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in America”, listed on Business Insider’s “Silicon Alley Top 100” and “36 Rockstar Women in NYC Tech”, and was recently included in Create + Cultivate’s 100 List for STEM.

She lives in Venice, California with her husband and three-year-old son, Pax–without whom Seed wouldn’t exist. Oh, and she’s the proud owner of several tardigrades who now live at Harvard’s Museum of Natural History.

INK Entertainment is Canada’s leading lifestyle and entertainment company. Operating since 1982, INK Entertainment has demonstrated an enviable ability to read the pulse of ever-changing cultural times and tastes, responding with a host of successful enterprises, including The Bisha Hotel, critically acclaimed restaurant brands including Sofia, Patria and Byblos (Toronto and Miami), Canada’s first Taglialatella Galleries, the country’s largest outdoor music festival VELD Music Festival and a number of trendy nightclubs.

INK Entertainment is helmed by CEO and Founder Charles Khabouth who in 2018 was awarded The EY (Ernst & Young) Entrepreneur Of The Year™ in the Ontario entertainment and hospitality category. Charles’ risky ideas and determined point of view have set the foundation and fueled the aspiration for a thriving hospitality industry. While his list of partners has included the likes of Cirque du Soleil and Loews Hotel’s, Charles has brought a strategic philosophy to an otherwise stereotyped industry. This has earned him a revered spot amongst Canada’s elite as a transformer that has changed the face of entertainment.

Nathan Kivi is a serial entrepreneur who has a passion for results-oriented management in the hospitality, finance and real estate sectors.

With 17 years of experience in corporate finance, investment banking, asset management, fund management experience, Nathan has a proven track record in roles including Chief Investment Officer for SB&G and Chief Strategy Officer for Valor Hospitality.

SB&G is a funds management company out of Australia and Nathan is setting up their United States investment platform. The first two acquisitions in 2018 included an operating asset and ground up development with a cost on completion of these assets over $160.0 million.

Valor Hospitality is a hotel management company managing hotels across the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa. Valor also set up two new offices at the end of 2018, one in Hong Kong and one in Dubai.

Through strategic foresight, industry partnerships and a wealth of knowledge, Nathan built a strong foundation for HotelierCo, which he founded in 2017.

Larry Korman is President of AKA Hotel Residences, a visionary hotel company who pioneered the furnished apartment, and co–CEO of Korman Communities Inc., a fourth–generation residential real estate company.

After graduating from Duke University in 1986, Korman joined his father Steven Korman and the family business full time. In 1995, along with his brother Brad as Co-CEO, they created KormanSuites, taking the furnished apartment concept to a higher level, by developing and acquiring new mid-rise apartment communities in some of the most dynamic locations on the East Coast.

Korman Communities continued to evolve the offering, expanding throughout the East coast. Starting in 2004, recognizing an unmet need in major urban cities for luxury extended-stay residences with hotel services, Korman created a new brand, AKA Hotel Residences, in a venture to acquire, reposition and transform high-rise properties in the most desired metropolitan locations in the world. With properties in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and London, AKA’s unique approach to design, service, and unparalleled amenities has resulted in recognition from prestigious outlets such as the BBC and Serviced Apartment Awards as the most luxurious extended-stay brand in the world.

The company-wide ethos of dedication to the resident experience flows directly from the Korman tradition of pride and commitment to long-term excellence.

Nadira Lalji serves as Director for Precis Advisory, a privately-owned real estate investment and development company with a mixed portfolio of U.K.-based real estate assets including owned and operated hotels (under the Montcalm and Inhabit brands).

In 2017, Nadira co-founded a new lifestyle and wellness hotel brand, initially based in London, centred on offering a restorative stay. Beyond her commitment to her guests’ wellbeing, Nadira has a strong commitment to supporting social enterprises, showcasing small businesses and experimenting with sustainable best practices.

Prior to joining her family business, Nadira worked for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in Toronto and Monitor Group in London and New York. Nadira graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 2009 and was a John Eliot Scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge University in 2010. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2015. Nadira has numerous personal and philanthropic interests, including microfinance and education in East Africa. In her free time, she enjoys yoga and is a karate black belt.

Lola Langusta is a Global DJ and Founder of Stoned Fox, a creative production and media agency unapologetically fusing cannabis with fashion, lifestyle and culture.
An influencer in the music and fashion scene playing events like the Versace, Met Gala after party and recently nominated for Create & Cultivate’s 100 list honoring the most successful and inspirational women making waves in 10 categories.

A Montreal native (and fitting every Canadian stereotype), Annabel Lawee began her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. She then took a risk, moved to New York, and joined Eko as employee #8, growing with the company to eventually lead business development, sales, and partnerships.

As a frequent business traveler with Celiac’s disease, Annabel struggled to find healthy yet convenient food options at the airport — let alone options that were also gluten-free. “Airport food sucks,” she told herself, and would later use those exact words in a pitch deck to raise initial funding. Because what was once a personal struggle, morphed into the idea for Breeze: an on-demand food service designed to provide airport travelers convenient access to real, wholesome food.

A year and a half later, Breeze is now live at LAX, marking the first stop on Annabel’s journey to elevate the airport food experience.

Jane Lerman began her entrepreneurial career as Founder and CEO of L.E.R. Public Relations, a boutique PR firm representing luxury brands in hospitality, wellness and fashion. Jane launched the agency in 2008 in New York and has spearheaded the growth of the company over the past 13 years into a full-service, bi-coastal agency with teams in New York and Los Angeles.

Jane graduated from Boston University with a BA in Psychology. Prior to launching her own ventures, she gained experience in luxury PR at both boutique and global agencies in London, Sydney, and New York City. Utilizing her diverse experience and network, Jane has been dedicated to developing impactful communications strategies for a variety of clients ranging from global industry leaders to emerging disruptors.

Jane is also the co-founder of luxury affiliate network Port Privé, which she launched in 2020. Port Privé is a digital platform committed to fostering long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships between design-driven brands and online publishers. The platform allows publications and key opinion leaders to drive bookings directly to boutique hotels, leveling the playing field for independent luxury hospitality brands.

Jane brings her in-depth knowledge of the ever-changing media landscape and close personal relationships with journalists and key opinion leaders to every project. Under Jane’s leadership, L.E.R. PR has spearheaded a wide array of impactful press and consumer-facing campaigns for clients such as Gramercy Park Hotel, 11 Howard, Monteverdi Tuscany, Cas Gasi (Ibiza), Casa Las Tortugas (Isla Holbox), Max Mara, Custo Barcelona, Palmiers du Mal, Deveaux, Marrakshi Life, and more.

Christine Magrann is a gardener.

A garden takes care, it takes hard work and respect, and even if you get it just right, a garden takes time. It is not something that happens overnight, because the secret of the successful garden is not just what you put on the surface, it’s the work you put into the soil.

As far back as she can remember, Christine found strength and significant influence from the people in her life. From the important role her grandmother and great-grandmother played in her upbringing, to the mentorship and encouragement she received while at Hillstone and The Breakers, she learned to believe in her potential to be an influential leader herself.
But during this time she also gained a better understanding of people, or maybe the power of understanding what makes them tick, and putting that into practice in real ways.

“Through genuine hospitality and sincere service we have the opportunity to create special memories and hopefully change someone’s day—or if we get lucky maybe even change a life.”
There is no training manual for intuitive service, it has to be nurtured, it has to be practiced, it must be learned through experience.

“The only way we can ensure that our team members treat our guests in this way is if we’re willing to treat them with this same care, respect and thoughtfulness. To teach, not just train.”

Christine finds drive in this ability for great people to accomplish great success through sincerely taking care of the guests.

Snowcaps, trails or sandy beaches, in her free time you will likely find Christine outdoors forging a new path—New Yorker tucked under one arm, the other slung over the shoulder of one of her two sons. Or you might find her in her own garden, getting her hands dirty—seeing what treasures lay beneath the surface. And if you get to know Christine, you’re sure to notice—she’s optimistic about what she’s going to find.

Kim Malek co-founded Salt & Straw in 2011 with her cousin Tyler Malek. Kim, who previously held marketing positions at Starbucks Coffee, Yahoo! and adidas among others, left the corporate world with a vision to create a small, mom-and-pop style retail business that would act as a gathering place for locals and inspire creativity and conversation. Kim cashed out her 401k to bring her scoop shop to life, and alongside Tyler, Salt & Straw’s head ice cream maker, have since grown the business from eight flavors served from a humble cart in Portland to the largest small batch ice cream company counting 18 total scoop shops across Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. A pioneer in localization, Salt & Straw crafts each chef-driven ice cream flavor in small batches and in local kitchens using only all-natural cream from nearby farms and the best local, organic and sustainable ingredients from Oregon, California and Washington farmers and artisans. Salt & Straw continues to evolve and grow under Kim’s leadership, yet remains true to its core mission to be the happiest part of someone’s day.

Shannon McLay is a financial planner who left a “traditional” financial services firm 5 years ago to start her own company, The Financial Gym because she felt traditional financial services firms did not have the tools or resources for this generation. After accomplishing her own successful weight loss journey, Shannon realized that while there are a number of resources available to people who want to become physically fit, there are far fewer for those looking to become financially fit. Most people don’t even know what financial fitness looks like, let alone how to achieve it, prompting McLay to ask, “How can you discuss retirement or investment options, when you don’t have any money to begin with?”

As with physical health and fitness, financial fitness is a goal that anyone can achieve, no matter your starting point. The journey is very similar: you need a plan, the right tools to accomplish your goals and a support system. Shannon realized that the key to financial success for most people is human contact and not a website or an app. People are more than algorithms and The Financial Gym is putting the personal back in personal finance to help the everyday Jack and Jill who are trying to build assets while also managing debt.

A true champion of inclusivity within wellness, Dorian Morris is a beauty junkie with deep expertise across categories from cosmetics to haircare to skincare to food/wellness. She is the Founder/CEO of Undefined Inc which includes Undefined Beauty, a clean, conscious, inclusive lifestyle brand focused on democratizing wellness and destigmatizing plant magic. The Glow Collection taps into the supercharged benefits of CBD to soothe, balance and heal whereas the new R&R Collection harnesses the power of adaptogenic mushrooms to detoxify and protect against daily stressors and there is continued category expansion on the horizon. Dorian believes in the power of plant magic in all its forms and has built Undefined to educate, normalize and demystify plant-based solutions for all. She believes we all deserve access to high-quality products that don’t cost your first born child. Wellness shouldn’t be illusive or exclusive—let’s democratize it.

With a diverse leadership background, her previous experience spans Retail, CPG and Beauty—from leading US Marketing at Covergirl Cosmetics, spearheading Prestige Innovation at Sundial Brands and as an early employee and global Brand Manager at Kendo, LVMH’s innovative brand incubator. Prior to beauty, she started her brand management career at General Mills, sharpening her general management and brand building skills on legacy brands such as Chex Mix and Yoplait and started her career in the Macy’s buying office, mastering merchandising and portfolio management. She graduated from UCLA summa cum laude and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. A true wanderlust with an adventurous spirit, in her free time Dorian enjoys globetrotting (and has traveled to 60+ countries) and is a proud pet mom of a spunky Morkie named Monaco, who is Undefined’s CPO (Chief Protection Officer).

Aiming to bring art back into the common conversation, Chelsea N. Nassib co-founded Tappan to change the way emerging artists connect with their collectors and the world. Tappan is a curated platform that supports emerging artists by sharing their work through e-commerce, crafting digital context, and the Tappan Studio a recently-opened physical space and artists-in-residency program in Los Angeles.

Tappan’s main goal is to change both collectors’ and artists’ relationship with the arts and between each other. Tappan has and will continue to change the way the next generation experiences art buying.

Founded in 2012, Tappan serves to foster the careers of emerging artists by giving them an online platform to sell their work, to tell their story and to reach collectors all over the world. Nassib combined her passion for supporting the arts with the foresight that collectors would purchase art online. Through reaching out to peers from her BFA program and artist friends, Nassib built a strong roster of artists and Tappan pioneered the act of collecting Emerging Art through digital means.

Dave Neupert is a hospitality entrepreneur and real estate investor who has helped launch many of LA’s best nightlife establishments in recent years. Following his early career in the music business, Dave became a digital marketing pioneer in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Dave’s years of experience in the local nightlife and music scenes gave him the acumen to pinpoint opportunities in burgeoning neighborhoods on the brink of transformation in Los Angeles.

In 2000 he purchased The Short Stop in Echo Park, which went from a quiet “outpost” in an otherwise gritty neighborhood to being named “Hottest Bar in America” by Rolling Stone in just nine months. Dave was also an early adopter of the now red-hot communities of Highland Park (2003), Downtown Los Angeles (2006) and Chinatown (2011). Identifying the latent potential in these colorful, affordable neighborhoods, he acquired six languishing bar properties that went on to have a crucial impact on the transformation of their surrounding area.

Dave also extended his vision beyond Southern California to include hospitality properties in New Orleans and Mexico. His latest project, Gold Diggers in East Hollywood, transformed a legendary dive bar into a vibrant music campus including a bar, 11-room boutique hotel and a state-of-the-art recording studio complex.

Zak Normandin is an award-winning entrepreneur disrupting the way businesses create, communicate and deliver consumer goods. Normandin has over ten years of experience as a product designer in the food and beverage industry and is responsible for branding more than 30 consumer products sold in all
major grocery stores worldwide. In 2015 Normandin launched DIRTY LEMON, the world’s first direct-to-consumer beverage brand that sells exclusively by text message. Backed by A-List celebrities and business leaders alike, DIRTY LEMON is recognized nationally by media outlets such as New York Times, Vogue, Fast Company and AdWeek. In developing this proprietary technology, Normandin built a conversational commerce platform that provides effortless transactions, bypassing existing distribution inefficiencies, to improve the customer’s experience. Normandin recognizes a stagnant industry primed for reinvention and aims to expand his innovative distribution strategy to meet the rapidly evolving preferences of the modern consumer while building the beverage company of the future.

Wilhelm started his career with a three-year apprenticeship program as a cabinet maker at Emanuel Hook Furniture Design in Germany in 1989. He attended the Art Center
(Europe) in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland before transferring to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California where he graduated in Industrial Design with honors in 1994.

Wilhelm joined Eight Inc. in 1995 and became a partner of the firm in 1998.

In the global role as Chief Experience Officer he is in charge of a wide range of projects focusing on the creation and execution of human-centric experiences for notable clients, such as Apple, Citi, Coach, Dolby, GAP, Nike and Virgin.

Wilhelm excels at listening to clients needs, helping to define the challenges, identifying the opportunities and providing relevant strategic guidance while keeping the focus on the end user.

His contributions delivered award winning work across disciplines, categories and continents and are published in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Celebrity stylist and footwear designer, Anita Patrickson was born in South Africa, educated in London, and now lives in Los Angeles, where she creates red-carpet looks for stars like Emma Watson, Julianne Hough, Justin Hartley and Eiza Gonzalez. Anita recently launched AMANU, a line of sustainable, made-to-measure custom sandals that are crafted in the store, on the customers feet in 30 minutes. Grounded in the experience, using an ancient technique, rooted in her home, Africa. Amanu is all about the human connection, believing everything is better when we slow down and becoming present. But above all, Amanu strives for the pursuit of less. Using only what is needed for each shoe and chosen by the customer.

Katharine Polk, a Los Angeles native received a degree in Fashion Design from FIDM in Downtown LA before being offered a position at Badgley Mischka Couture in New York City. As Assistant Designer to Mark Badgley and James Mischka. Polk, worked closely with over 25 licesnsees to ensure brand cohesiveness from runway to the store floor.

Polk went on to become a fashion editor and stylist freelancing at a London based publication and covered New York Fashion Week.

Est. in 2011, Polk Founded and was the Creative Director of Houghton NYC. Breaking boundaries in the bridal industry and bringing a fresh outlook to traditnal bridal designs, Katharine lead the brigade with her brand Houghton. Founded with the simple idea of creating a brand for the modern, independent woman who desires a classic, chic collection that can go from everyday to wedding day.

Polk was accepted into the MADE program at MILK for emerging designers in 2012. The brand has received extensive press and editorial coverage, including being featured in Vogue internationally, Harpers Bazaar, Elle, W Magazine, WWD, Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, The New York Times, Glamour and InStyle. Katharine was awarded the Caleres St Louis Fashion Fund Emerging Designer Award in October of 2015. Katharine was also a 2 time nominee for the Fashion Group International’s 2015 and 2016 Rising Star Award. Polk was also recognized a “Female Founder” by the Knot in 2018.

Houghton went on to sell in over 14 countires and over 65 stores breaking boundaries for the now commercial “Modern Bridal” market before closing in 2018.

After leaving Houghton Katharine formed ‘KRP Creative,’ a consulting company where she has lent her expertise in the industry to brands like BHLDN, Dress Hunt and Ella and Oak to name a few. In 2019, Polk opened up her business to accept private clients and start designeing custom bridal again.

On Dec.1 2020, Kathainre officially launched her namesake bridal brand ‘Katahrine Polk’ Bridal, Bridal for everyBODY.
Polk continues to consult and Creatively Direct through her consulting company ‘KRP Creative’ while Running ‘Katharine Polk” Bridal.

A lifelong penchant for design and architecture continually inspires Heyday Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer Michael Pollak. Capitalizing on this acumen, his attention-to-detail remains a signature of the brand as he actively engages in nearly every facet of business—from shaping and guiding the experience of customers to personally drawing up floor plans, merchandising, crafting messaging, and, sometimes, even fixing the A/C.

Dean Andrews’ bold vision and business acumen undergird all Easton Porter Group endeavors. He loves the hands-on aspects of developing hospitality enterprises, from finding exceptional properties to making guests feel welcome, to curating vintages for the wine lists, to fine-tuning market trends and business financial projections. He’s honed expertise in every aspect of the industry through decades of international luxury hospitality management.

Andrews co-founded EPG in 2012 after a distinguished run as President of the Americas and Senior Operating Officer at ​Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. During his twelve-year tenure with Orient Express, he oversaw some of the world’s most exclusive properties, executed the growth strategies with the founder’s son, building it from eleven properties to fifty two to 52 properties in ten years. With total revenues of over US$600 million, and was one of three directors charged by the board of Orient Express Hotels to collaborate with the investment community during the company’s successful IPO on the NY Stock Exchange in 2000. He had overall responsibility for financial results, all operations, acquisitions, finance, real estate development & asset management, international marketing of the company and joint venture partnership relations.

New revenue enhancing product developments include completing eleven off market hotel and resort acquisitions, designed and developed eight spas, nine restaurants, bars, retail boutiques and conference centers. Operating and legal knowledge based on acquiring, establishing and managing seven US, two Mexican, two French companies and a Dutch FWI development company. Established Regional Office specialists’ roles to maintain a flat, more entrepreneurial organisation – marketing, public relations, financial management, project management, human resources and training, central reservations, yield merchandising and database development. Implemented common systems architecture for property management, accounting and reporting/forecasting tools.

In addition to Orient Express, Andrews has held senior management positions in the formative years of Omni Hotels, including serving as a general manager and Regional Vice President of Operations and as VP of Asset Management which entailed overseeing the company’s strategic growth plans with Hong Kong-based ownership, Wharf Holdings, and began his career with hotel management positions with London-based Lex Hotels. Andrews studied at the University of Colorado and Columbia University, but is perhaps most proud of his honorary doctorate from Johnson & Wales University, given in recognition of his contributions to developing their culinary apprenticeship programs. He’s acquired, repositioned and operated resorts, boutique and large luxury hotels and acclaimed restaurants across the globe, helping elevate the standards of hospitality excellence worldwide. Today he loves nothing more than honing the finer points of Easton Porter Group’s boutique properties, because that’s what three decades in the hospitality industry has taught him: every detail counts.

Evelyn Rusli, is the President and Co-Founder of Yumi, a new venture-backed nutrition and wellness company for babies. Evelyn has spent more than a decade as a journalist, previously on staff at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times covering startups and innovation. She was also formerly an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Social Capital Partnership, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm. Ms. Rusli graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English.

Carly Stein is Founder and CEO of wellness brand Beekeeper’s Naturals, which produces naturally-sourced and obsessively-tested superfoods straight from the hive. Carly began her career out of college at a hedge fund, then moved to Goldman Sachs. All the while, she maintained her passion for beekeeping, a practice she began during her time at the University of Victoria in Canada. This interest in beekeeping originated during her time abroad, in Italy, where she experienced tonsillitis and found that the only remedy was the honey bee-produced compound Propolis. This “aha” moment led Carly to launch Beekeeper’s Naturals in 2015, while still working as a trader at Goldman Sachs. After a successful first year, she left her career in finance to focus on the company full-time. Using modern methods and sustainable practices, Carly has produced a product line of plant-based adaptogens and health booster complexes incorporating hive superfoods targeting immune support, brain health, energy and sleep issues. Beekeeper’s Naturals products are all made with one mission in mind: to heal customers while saving the bees.

Ashley Wells is a hospitality pro, wine expert, writer, and restaurant owner in Los Angeles. She co-founded T&A Enterprises in 2018 with Tyler Wells, the hospitality group responsible for All Time, Part Time, and two additional projects in the works. Ashley also founded and ran Pour This, an online wine shop and subscription service, from 2014 to 2019. Prior to that, Ashley’s career in hospitality focused on running and opening notable restaurants and wine programs in Los Angeles including Animal, Trois Mec, and Osteria Mozza. She was named as an exceptional hospitality professional in Zagat 30 under 30, Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40 wine professionals, and Bon Appetit’s top six wine professionals to watch. As a writer, Ashley has contributed editorial work to Life & Thyme, Vice, Terre, Pipette Magazine and other media outlets. When she’s not shaking hands and kissing babies and dogs at one of her restaurants, Ashley can be found at Pilates, a piano, or Houston’s (her favorite restaurant in America).

Christine Yi is the co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of premium cannabis edibles company Potli. Potli crafts both THC and CBD infused small batch ingredients like honey, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and sriracha as a healthier, more effortless way to integrate cannabis into your daily wellness routine and can be found in dispensaries like MedMen and wellness hubs like Erewhon and Cafe Gratitude. Originally from the Bay Area of California, Christine met her co-founder in college where they were randomly paired freshman year roommates. They founded Potli as a culinary cannabis brand in 2018 by starting with their honey, which is still harvested from their own hives. Christine moved back from NYC last year to focus on Potli full time, having previously worked in management consulting for tech, entertainment, and media companies and brand and retail strategy for the Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Lou & Grey brands. Her favorite challenge with Potli is introducing and inspiring ways to consume cannabis differently to truly be value adding to customers quality of life. Christine has a passion for growth strategy, building consumer brands, and all things wellness. You can often find her personally testing out the latest trends in adaptogens and whipping up matcha lattes lightly sweetened with Potli Honey for friends.

Olivia Young “livs” by the idea that the best things in life make you sweat. A self-proclaimed
“life-a-holic,” Olivia believes in the power of energy. She follows many mantras including you get what you give and if you think you can, you can. Olivia is always seeking personal connection preferably over cold beer after an intense sweat.

Olivia grew up in Miami Beach among a family committed to daily exercise and congregating around the kitchen. She began practicing yoga at age 15 and discovered boxing after college, as she craved a cardio workout to bring some fight to her flow. Olivia’s daily focus on a balanced lifestyle thru food + fitness is her lifelong passion and much of which inspired her to open box + flow in NYC, the first fitness studio focusing on the integration of fight + flow.

After many years in the hospitality industry, Young finally realized that given her commitment to early mornings working out rather than late nights of dry aged meat and aged scotch, she should make the jump to pursue her passion of fitness with box + flow®. Young practices a ‘LIVYOUNG lifestyle’ inspiring those to embrace both sides of themselves and all aspects of life. She considers balance to be boxing, burgers, backbends + beer. Liv is developing a balanced brand for the lady who can fight and the man who can flow and encourages enjoyment without limitation – committed to bringing forth a lifestyle that speaks to all things. work hard, LIVYOUNG.