Davonne Reaves On Her Hotel Career, Raising Capital, Inspiration To Pursue Hotel Ownership, + More
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's up its way up at Angela Yee. I'm Angela
Yee and my girl is here, Devon Reeves. Okay, you
know her from the Vaughn Group, but she is a
hotel owner. You own three hotels, correct, and you are
always trying to get me to invest in hotel ownership,
but you actually have two people with you. This is
a whole trifecta when it comes to investing in hotel ownership.
(00:25):
All right, So we have Damon Smith here and Damon
you are you? You are the owner of Senergy Management,
Senergy Hospitality Management, Senergy Hospitality Management.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Which what do you do?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
So we are a third party management company, so we
manage hotels for hotel owners and we're also hotel investors
as well, myself and my wife.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Okay, how many hotels?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Currently we're managing four and we have three in pipeline
under contract to transact by the end of August.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, and I'm right head to here.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You are a hotel broker, correct, Okay, So explain like that.
I mean it sounds self explanatory, but I like to
hear it from you absolutely.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So what I do is two hats. One is I
help people sell their hotels primarily what I do. So
just like you always tell people, if you think about
real estate, specifically hotels, you've rarely ever seen a first
sale sign in front of it. They do sell, So
it's a relationship based industry. And then the other had
I wear is I do acquisitions consultant for first time
high networth Black Latin or LATINX families looking to get
in that they're capitalized. They just don't want to lose
(01:22):
their shirt and go into it the wrong way. I
help them with their acquisition.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Now, when it comes to hotel ownership, what percentage of
Black people are hotel owner is devined.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
So they're actually over fifty nine thousand hotels in the
United States and less than one percent of the hotels
are owned by Black people, less than probably what zero
point five percent.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
It's probably owned by black women. That is insane because
we definitely stay at some hotels. They work at hotels.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
So there was a report that was put out I
think it was by MMG Global that was put out
in twenty nineteen, I believe, and as a Black community,
the black travel dollar was over one.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
Hundred and nine with million billions one Yeah, it was
a big number.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
But yet we own less than one percent, so we're
not even really circulating that money with within our communities.
And so I'm on a mission, actually all three of us,
we're on a mission to increase that.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
So I have courses, you know, I have the book Hotel.
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
I've launched a platform called a Vestor. It's a crowdfunding
platform where individuals or sponsors can raise capital or equity
for their hotel. And one of the main reasons I
created Vestor so folks can actually invest in You can
invest in properties is little as five thousand dollars. Typically
(02:46):
investing in hotels is a minimum of seven figures or
very high six figures. And I saw that there was
an opportunity for our community because there are people who
do want to diversify their investor portfolio, and they're capitalized
to actually invest or own. And so that's why I
wanted to make sure that I see people who look
(03:10):
like me, you know, in the ownership space. I'm glad
that at these ownership conferences. That's actually why we're here
in New York right now. More there's more and more
people who are looking like us. When I'm in the boardrooms,
I want to see more people who look like me.
I want to see more owner representation. And the reason
why because owners make decisions right.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
We can put people's and we can put people in
jobs if somebody wants to actually do business with the hotel,
meaning you know, put their soaps, put their call in,
and that's a big deal there called hey I'm here.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Oh I'm gonna get you in there. Don't worry. Don't worry.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, because it's a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
And look, I own an Airbnb that's nowhere near owning
a hotel, but on a smaller scale, you see what
is necessary, you know, with the towels, with their roads,
with the with the toiletries, but having all of those
things that are available for your guests when they check in.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And and a lot of those amenities can be black
phoned or minority owned. And so I saw that there
was an opportunity. And now I'm in a position and
I've created a community and a platform, and the brands
are and they've been seeing that their brands, hotel brands
that have diversity programs.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Choice has the emerging markets. Well, now it's sore.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Wyndom has bold and women on the room and IHG
has the Lift program and so they're they're they're really
starting to see the opportunity of diverse hotel owners and
they're working with folks like myself to get the message
up there.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, I see Wyndom is actually sponsoring this hotel ownership
tour right one of the spy You're here for New
York and then Belize and then New Orleans.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Yep, so HG, I had an Atlanta stop. IHG did
the Atlanta stop. Windom they're doing the New York stop,
and then we're going to be staying at some Hilton
properties in the future steps.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay, I say it was spread the love around.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
We said the love around. Baby.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Now you also did used to work at a hotel?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Right?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I want to see this is why this is an
important conversation. It's like, you know how to own a
Chick fil A, you have to work at one. And
I do feel like the experience of having worked at
a hotel probably helped you a lot. Yeah, and wanting
to see that because my first question would be, what
made you decide, being that less than point five percent
of black women are hotel owners, what made you even
(05:30):
think this is something that's possible.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
You know what, when I started off working as a
front desk agent, I didn't even know I could own
a hotel.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
Did y'all know that Chuck could start off.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Not really not her first noise hotel school grads like, yeah,
we just.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Did because we're you know, we were trained to work,
and probably the highest position we thought we could get
would be a general man a manager.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
Yeah, we did. I was advanced. I was going to
be a regional vice president.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Okay, he was taking big I was like, I'm just really,
I was like, I'm just going to be a director
of sales, you know. I was like, I just want
to be a director of sales and marketing. And so
it wasn't a Mari and I. We actually met in
this organization called the American Hotel Lodge and Association under
thirty gateway. So it was for professionals, hotel professionals under
(06:18):
the age of thirty, and we.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Had a board meeting in New York.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
We met every year in New York at a hotel
show and that there were folks from the Indian community
and they were under the age of thirty.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
And I was like, well, what do you do on hotels?
Speaker 6 (06:31):
Wait?
Speaker 5 (06:32):
What you own a hotel.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I mean they inherited. They that part I found out last.
But you know, they were developing and owning hotels. And
that's when the light bulb just went off and I
just became passionate and I was like, I'm an own hotel.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
I didn't know how I was going.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
To do it. There wasn't YouTube like it is now,
with a podcast like it is now, you know, you
couldn't you know, listen to your show and try to,
you know, connect with someone, and so I just you know,
just got hungry. And people thought I was crazy because
they was like, girl, you working at the front desk.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
You ain't got no money. How you going to own
a hotel? I don't know, but I'm own it.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
And for all of you guys, I want to ask
that question too, and getting into this space, what was
that journey like for your first you know, hotel? I
know you have ownership in hotels, but like, what was
that journey like getting into your first hotel ownership?
Speaker 6 (07:25):
First? You let me go first, Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Just cliff note, I started in the hotel business at
age of seventeen as a bellman and a ditchwasher in Mobile, Alabama.
Speaker 7 (07:34):
Which is my hometown, Okay se student, and I think
looking at life from there to now.
Speaker 6 (07:47):
Through see is get these ds.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
So I think my first opportunity was came through a
mutual acquaintance that I was doing some consulting for. I
had worked my way up to the kind of above
property level as a regional vice president with the company
UH based in Richmond, Virginia, and I was talking to
this guy, UH and he was in a tight he
(08:14):
had lost he had lost a partner. He wanted to
He needed some cash real bad. UH needed to refinance.
Speaker 7 (08:21):
UH.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
He couldn't afford to refinance. You know, he was he
was really just grasping for straws. And you know, me
and my wife started talking, you know, shout out to
Crystal because she she stood behind it, UH, and she said,
you know, baby, if you believe in this, then let's
do it. And that's exactly what happened. We we invested
the money, and you know, it turned into an amazing
(08:42):
property that we not only bought into from an ownership standpoint,
but it was our first asset under management for our
management companies. So Synergy Hospitality Group was born at the
Country in the suits and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (08:56):
Yeah, So you know God is good man. You cannot.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I mean and risk and risk I mean as people
of color. And I'll be brief and I'll let little Margo.
But you know, we're so risk averse in our communities
and because we don't do the research, and we go
for find a person that's the smartest person closest to us.
And I started reaching out to people outside of me
and my circle, and I found people like Amar and
(09:23):
Amari introduced me to Davon and we've been introduced in
created a very unique ecosystem of high intellectual people who
all like to have fun, but love and love to
serve and have passions for it.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And you know, I also look at us being risk
averse because a lot of times, like we might be
the first ones that are actually investing in and making money.
So it is scary because it's not like a lot
of us have anybody to fall back on. If this
doesn't work, then a lot of times it's like building
yourself back up.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
There's people who can.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Fail and fail forward and a lot of times for us,
it's like there's a lot of people that are relying
on us. I knew about that too. So it is
hard to think about, you know, that mindset. But it's important,
right because with a greater risk comes a greater reward.
But sometimes it is just so hard to make that leap.
And Amari, let's talk about that with you and how
you got into this space also and your work in hotels.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, so I first got introduced to it. I'll never forget.
My brother went to Cornell University top hotel program. He
did not go to a hotel program. He was super smart,
did engineering. And my mom was like, you like to travel,
you like to eat. You ever thought about hospitality? Okay, mon,
I'm like, oh that's a job. I'm like, I'm a fan.
I like to travel, like do this. So from that
point on, I was committed to hospitality. Fast forward. I
(10:40):
had another brother and he always he worked in hotel business,
and his brother got him into the hotel business. And
his hotel at the time had the contract for Jerry
Springer Show.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
So I used to I'm like a kid.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I used to sit in the lobby and it's like
you get to see the guests, super wowy had great stories.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I was with you last night.
Speaker 6 (10:57):
Yeah, like, oh that's true. I could see. I could
see it on the episode later on, and I mean
it was he.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Got us to the line of rainforest all things. I
was not the decoy, by the way. We want to
put that out, don't. I don't want that to live.
But but but he said, O Mario, if you're going
to do this, do it the right way, like I
have a ceiling. And and he wasn't privileged enough to
(11:25):
go to college the same way that I did.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Went to University of Ada Las.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Vegas, chased it down, worked and opened the spot tower
at the Bolagio, VIP services at the Rio, so big
box gaming, opening consulting for the win.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
This is all my undergraduate experience.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And I was just like so by the time, I
had a very extensive resume, came out, did a management
training program in Chicago, GFC happens Great Financial Crisis, and
then I moved out to DC. My partner she was
applying the pH d program, so you know, we had
to kind of figure that out. We made it work
and we went to DC and the best thing ever
about Great Financial Crisis about a house. And the previous
(12:00):
sales price for the house was like three hundred and
sixty nine thousand I got for like one sixty nine.
And while that was so important, was because I was
able to ride that up and when I used that
home equity line of credit to invest in my first
hotel deal. Now when I was I've always wanted to
get into brokerage, and a big piece of that is
that again, like I said, it's a relationship based industry.
(12:20):
So if you are looking to find diverse and new owners,
you have to have somebody from that community. And I
looked around and I'm like, there's not any black hotel brokers.
And when I asked a few, People'm like have you
ever met one? Like it was I was literally trying
to find the plug, like have you met a black
hotel bron there?
Speaker 6 (12:38):
And I heard about one? It was like very elusive.
Yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
It was very elusive. So I was like, Okay, I'm
gonna make that jump. It'll take that risk, right because again,
this is commission only And so when I when I
jumped into that world, I saw that a lot of
it was not just access to capital, it was I
beat the drums more so accessed information. So when I
can have these conversations with people, there's like, okay, you
flip houses and you do this, or you you have
(13:02):
a retail business and you do it. You ever thought
about hotel ownership And by the way, I can show
you how to how to value this, I can help
you do that.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
I can help you acquire it.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Being that conduit for information was just that that's been
game change and that's what you know, the ecosystem that
we build and devon having the biggest micro from being
the biggest champion for that, I mean, we continue to
appreciate that. So that was my story into kind of
how I got into being a brokerage and advisor and
the consultancy, because I've also seen people from our community
get into it, get into it the wrong way.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
And it's been because when we don't know the.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Business, people pray on that because again people realize that
we do have the capitol and they're just like, oh
wait a minute, and they'll sell you whatever. And then
they forgot to tell you like, oh, such and such,
you know, the airport entrance is relocating. Are you something
that you didn't do your research on that that the
right consultant and advisor could have helped you through, and
then somebody sold you that and you're left hold in
the bag and it's an empty bag.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And Davin, you know, speaking to what Amari just said
earlier too about you rarely see that for sales sign
on a hotel. Explain that because you know it's the
business that great that like just tell me why that is. Well,
like you said, for one, is a relationship business and
it's a commercial asset, right so, and also hotels are
operating business sitting on real estate, and so typically you
(14:20):
want to work with someone that specialized in that field.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And there's not an MLS for hotels. Like so there's
not like a central location.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Like if you want to.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Buy house, you have access to have access to it,
right the hotel you just can't go. You know, you
can google it, but there's not like one central place.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Where you can go.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
You can go to Loop Ned, you can go to Craiksey,
but there's not one central place.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
And as far as like a for sale sign, you
know they'll call up a broker.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
They called for Mari And actually the Indian community probably
owns over fifty percent of the hotels in the United States.
Who knew I did not know that, And so you
know they can just pick up the and called a cousin.
If they wanted to sell me, they could just keep
it in the family. And so for what And then
(15:07):
the common person buying a hotel wouldn't even just cross
their mind.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
It's not on the race.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Listen, I tell you, it's not something I even thought about.
I was thinking about the salamander in DC too, and yes,
so I remember, and that was the Mandarin Oriental and
I stayed there, you know, last time that I was
in DC, and I was like, Okay, that's you know,
that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Her story is amazing because she's the fact that she
not only did uh did miss Johnson create a hotel brand,
but she created a hotel luxury brand experience very very
and she created an amazing team. And so the fact
that you know, by her opening doors for someone like myself,
(15:51):
even though I would never get into luxury, that's just
not my space.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
But why is that?
Speaker 6 (15:56):
And that's a good point.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
The reason why it's not my space because.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
It depends on your strategy on where you want to
go in the hotel ownership. Luxury hotels has a lot
of amenities, right, a lot of labor because you have
the service. Yes, you know, when you go to a
luxury Hotel de mand and Oriental those Salamana. You want
to take advantage of the spa. You know you want
room service. You know you want sounds like me exactly.
(16:21):
You want stuff when you come home, when you come
back to your room from the spy.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
You know you would love the chocolate.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
You want to turn down services, all of that you need,
all that. You know, you just want to pick up
the call and pick up the phone and say, you
know what, I don't feel like going downstairs and getting
my towels. Right, That's okay because they're going to bring
it up to you.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
You know. But everything that I just said has a cost, Yeah,
it does.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
So by the time, from my ownership perspective, all of
those different line items is being taken away from the revenue.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Okay. So that's so me.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
I prefer extended state or limited service hotels.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
And the reason why because they don't.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Have as many as amenities from an ownership perspective. So right,
So a hotel like a Hampton in or Home to Suite,
those type of hotels, you know, when you stayed there,
you're getting a comfortable bed, you know, shower and you
know someone nice clean hotel, clean hotel.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
You know what I mean, that's what's devil Chi.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
You might get some warm cooking exactly.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
You know, now I'll never forget that. I will go
to DOUBLET to get a cook You remember that exactly.
And it's that brand standard.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Now some folks, you know, they may not depending on
your appetite, you may not want to say it. In
an economy hotel, but they're great to own, right And
the reason why because there's not as many amenities, you know,
when I'm talking about a super aid or microtel, those
type of hotels. That's how people build their portfolio, and
that's really how any community owns over fifty to sixty
(17:46):
percent of the hotels from that that that model was.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Just because it's not as many luxury hotels at all
either as far as.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Plus, it takes a lot of money and it takes
a lot of money to renovate costs. Because I mean
because even even with a luxury hotel, because it's a
certain level of service, you have to have twenty four
hour room service.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
And even though I will say they don't anymore, I
feel like a lot of hotels now, especially after COVID, Yeah,
after COVID, a lot of things. A lot of things
have changed, you know, And I want to talk about
your opportunity that you saw to get into the hotel business,
because I know we've discussed this previously, But for you, divine,
how did that happen for you?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
It happened for me.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Basically, I took a non paid internship for Yes, my
my daddy got blessed to so you know, he did
not do free You had to work, yeah, and he
did not. He didn't believe in volunteering. Everybody could be based.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
And so when I told him that, it didn't make
sense to him.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
And so I worked there in the morning for free,
and I worked at the heighted night because I got
my start off at the Hiring st Atlanta. So this
was after graduation, but I was so determined and becoming
a hotel owner, and so I found an opportunity to
work for hotel owners because in my mind, that's the
best way to learn about hotel ownership is from a
hotel owner. And that's probably been like the best experience
(19:09):
I could have ever had. And it's so funny my
old bosses at the conference.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
They were in.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
And that's how I built relationships, That's how I understood
the process. That's how I understood the development, and I
understood the money. The biggest part of a hotel is
the money part, right, understanding the financing part, and understood
that a lot of people really don't use their own
money to buy hotels, including billionaires.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Did you use your own money when you first started?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
No, we used We was all through private capital. Oh wow, okay, yep, yeah,
So we partnered up and we raised capital do our
and my investors there my family forever. I loved them
because for them to invest with me, even though I
had hotel experience, and even though I worked in asset management,
(19:59):
working on behalf of owners, it's different when you take
that risk and you do it on your own.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
It's different. It's just completely different.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
And so for the fact that they took and they
didn't even meet me, the met because this was during COVID.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Right, yeah, I remember, you tell me again that it was,
you know, opportunity during COVID.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Opportunity during COVID, and so they they believed in me,
never met me.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
I didn't even meet my business partner. We buying an
eight point three million dollars. We didn't meet.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Whereas it al Rena, Oklahoma. Yeah yeah, and Arena, Oklahoma.
We bought it for eight point three million dollars. And
you know, the investors and how I was able to
find investors just I just kept talking about hotel ownership.
I kept talking, and then people reached out. It was
an opportunity. People reached out and they invested. Of course,
I was shocked. I was like, what so And it's
(20:49):
people that you don't My family didn't want to invest, right,
you know. Now it's a different story now, girl, what
you got now?
Speaker 1 (20:54):
But people afterwards, after worth, they'd be like, why you
didn't hit me up to you know what I did.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
I tried.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I tried.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
I sent you to visit that you and ghost.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
But and so the fact that they invested, and it's
so crazy how God works because my first investors now
they're on their second hotel, you know, and so they're
adding to that.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
You know, he's about to manage it, you know, and
so he's so the fact.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It's such a beautiful experience because you know, Omar and
I we we talked about this what in twenty eighteen,
twenty nineteen, and I remember when I was like, man,
I'm gonna talk about hotel ownership.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
He was like, nah, I ain't ready, David. People ain't ready.
And I was like, man, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
And and it's the crazy how we had these conversations
and we're here with you.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Now, with Miss b Angela.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
YU like, it's just amazing that we're here talking about
black hotel ownership and folks are coming up to me
and they're having these conversations.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
I read about you before I met you, and that's
and that's how I knew it.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
When I heard you say my name, I.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Was like, yeah, I appreciate the transparency because when she's
talked about having investors, they lead with kind of likes
me is me as me?
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah, the last one, yeah, three million is you know,
I can't even lie and damon, you're getting emotional, and
so I would love for you to jump in, just
because I feel like there's something that you want to
you know, I.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
Think you know, I'm a very spiritual person.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
And as as she's talking, as is talking, you know,
there's a theme.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
There's a theme theme of faith.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Yeah, because when you're doing something that nobody else believes
that you can do, and everybody tells you no, yeah,
but you know that you know that you have been
called and anointed to do what you're doing. That resolute,
that that the necessity, the necessity to be resolute in
(22:57):
the face of every mountain that's in front of you.
One of the things that that gravitated me towards Avon
is her undying commitment to not just being a hotel owner,
but the education platform.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
Same thing with Amar and we're.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
All very fervent readers, and we love the educational process
and we're passionate about the industry. So she's talking about
two of her investors that started off as investors with her.
We just took over their first hotel, Solo Hotel in Memphis,
and we're getting ready to take over their second hotel,
(23:40):
their first full service hotel, my first full service hotel
under management in July. And I get emotional because I
think back when I was washing those dishes, and I
don't give nothing for my journey, and I just it's
just an amazing feeling.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
When you trap it out with your tribe.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
You know, when you trap it out with your tribe,
and these people a Maria call me, Deyvanna call me Hey,
I talk to such and such. You need to call them.
They're gonna call you. I just want to make sure
you're right with it. Amara, Hey, I need to bound
something off of you. It's and it's it's not common.
It's not common, especially in our communities, that we have
(24:25):
these types of groups and these types of dynamic personalities
and we can all be humbled in front of one
another because we respect what the other person does and
that's what makes the ecosystem of it all work. So
this isn't just something that happened overnight and and we're
just like sitting up here hanging out and you know,
it's it's it's something that is cultivated. You know, I'm
(24:47):
from Alabama and my family has been been in agriculture
for a long time. So I believe in what you plant,
m giving it the love that it needs because it's
not just the soil, it's not just the water, it's
not just the sun. But everything that you put into
that seed makes it grow. The love makes it grow,
and the love and respect and the fallings out and
(25:08):
the disagreement sometimes it happens.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Yeah, you gotta just take business not personal.
Speaker 5 (25:15):
Oh yeah, you can.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
My mom used to say teeth and tongue fall out.
You know you you you know your your teeth and
your tongue. I have a disagreement and your bite your tongue.
So I think that with with with the people in
this room, and you know, for her to mention the
two people that we're investing with, I think and I'm
managing for she tutored and mentored.
Speaker 7 (25:31):
I think that they use vest and they.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Use funded and they use my crowdfunded UH form to
raise the capital or to raise some of the capital
for the deal. And so to seeing that all of
these things come to fruition. And and you know, I
was talking to some students yesterday. It was actually some
some black students go to some HBCUs and I was
(25:59):
talking about hotel owner ship and the fact that you
know that we're talking about it, and they were listening
and if we could just change one person, you know,
to make their lives easier because we didn't really have
a we we've been creating our own rope.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Now each of us have our now exactly. And so
the fact that.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
You know, now I have you know, little girls that
tell me that that mom send me an inbox saying
you know, they did a history project on me.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
It's like, wait, what you know they talk about the
dinner table. They're talking about it.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
As I mentioned before, you know, fanily reunions and you know, we.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
Make sure we all eat because.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
You know, if we don't circulate it within our community,
if we don't help each other out, then how you
know we're doing a disservicing. And you know, you know,
as Dane was talking, I was thinking about, you know,
my grandma and a lot of our grandmas. You know,
at one point, not only could they not stay at
(26:58):
a hotel depending on hotel and the color of their skin,
especially if they're a little dark, they couldn't even work
at the hotel. You know, my grandmother at my age,
especially when I first started out, she couldn't even work
at the hotel that was in her town.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Damn not work. Like that's not that long ago.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
When you think about it, people always act like it's
been oh, that's in the past whatever, But it's not that.
There's people alive today who experienced that.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Yeah, and people forget that we actually owned hotels, Like
this is not something new.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
No black folks own the hotels. We've been owned a
hotel since the.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Late eighteen hundreds, and you know it was just you know,
they had to stay at black owned hotels during the
Civil Rights movement. And like Omari said, I'm gonna give
you credit for it.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
So I came up with that.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Black folks we were originally the original folks at Airbnb
because during the Civil Rights movement and even prior to
the civil Rights movement, in the Green Book, you know,
it was folks homes listed where it could stay because
we couldn't stay at home at you know, white on
hotels or white on establishments. We could work there, but
we couldn't stay there. And we travel differently, right, and
(28:08):
so the fact that you know, because of integration, it
got lost because now we wanted to stay at hotels
where we couldn't stay at before and a lot of
those black on hotels kind of shut down. So it's
not it's not new at all. But what I when
I realized the amount of money that the hotel industry
(28:29):
makes and we are putting a lot of children's children.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Through college, and I've seen it and I'm like, well,
why can't we do it?
Speaker 4 (28:38):
And you know, my grandmother, she always taught me to
keep one paid off house in the family, so that
where everybody always gonna have a place to stay. You know,
that's good advice. I'm gonna take it to the next level.
Keep a paid off hotel in the family. That way,
not only way you have a place to stay, but
you have place to work. So if you need some money,
place to make some.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I got that loan for you, that two thousand you need,
go ahead, and I got the twenty five rous.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
For anybody listening.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
And if they're like, okay, I'm interested, what would you
tell them? Is the first step to figure out how
can I get on this path to hotel ownership?
Speaker 4 (29:13):
First see what your bank account looking like, So talk
because it's very expensive. So talk to your financial advisor
to see if you can go in.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
The path of owning or investing.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Okay, right, And so if you know, maybe you're not
ready for owning because you probably figure starting off that's
on the low end, at least right on the low
end to start off, you know, but if you don't
have that in your financial advisor. And the reason why
I say talk to your financial advisor because for one,
I'm not a financial advisor, and I don't know your
personal situation.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
But you know, and then.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
Also investing in hotels has its benefits when it comes
to Texas. Okay, right, So that's why we always say,
talk to your financial advisor to see what works for you.
But if you know, if you don't have that much,
probably the most economical way to get started and investing
in hotel would be reads real estate investment trusts. And
that's it's essentially kind of like investment in stock or
(30:07):
you can invest in a piece of a hotel. It's
like a piece of a hotel. So and you're not
investing directly into the hotel. But if you want to
invest directly into the hotel, you know, finding folks like us.
But the biggest thing you go to investor let him
know our dot com and and the book and exactly
(30:31):
so you know, and then we we talked about this
and actually I got this from Omari. He really I
get a lot of myself from.
Speaker 5 (30:39):
Because he's a professor at heart.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
But he talked about an ownership thesis, and you know,
so finding out the basic things. You know, what when
we're how so what kind of hotel you want to buy?
You know, where do you want to buy it, Why
do you want to do it? Do you want to
do it for cash flow? Do you want to do
it for equity? So, because hotels is a capital intensive
so it's not like something you kind of want to
go just kind of jump in without the knowledge, you know.
(31:03):
And that's what I've noticed a lot too with the
people of color who wanted to get in the whole.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
I met a lot of black people with money.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Right, I know a lot of black people with money,
and they got serious money and they come buy a hotel,
probably in cash if they wanted to, right. But the
biggest thing is, like Omar mentioned, and what we realized
as we've really gotten out there into the community is
the lack of education and knowledge that you can actually
do it. So the biggest thing is if you don't
know how to do it, you know, work with the consultants,
(31:31):
you know, work with someone that's in the industry. So
don't get you know, your favorite residential broker to help
you sell or help you buy hotels. It's different because
it's a different thing, it's a different beast. You know,
you have to understand the business side to valuate just
it's just too complicated. So for the folks who really
want to get into the hotel space. I would say
start off with education, really understanding different type of brands,
(31:55):
the type of markets, how to valuate a hotel, all
of those things that will help you be prepared. Because
it's on Mari mentioned and I say this a lot,
and I've seen it firsthand. There are some predatory folks
out there. Yeah, they know you a first time hotel owner.
They will take it in and they will tave no money.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
And in a contract so longer.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
You're talking about five ten year contracts, and if you
don't know what you're doing, it can be very expensive
to get out of them.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
And you're talking about it was some of the entities,
it's twenty year contracts, right.
Speaker 7 (32:25):
See.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Yeah, so if you don't know what you're doing, and
that's why a lot of that's part of the equity
and inclusion piece, right when people start coming around the
community and they're like, oh wait, we can kind of
tell people anything. Man, the fees should be this if
you don't have a point of reference, or your point
of reference is not sillient to what is general practice
in hotels, and you think you're getting a good deal
(32:47):
and you start talking to other hotel owners and you
realize somebody just cut your head back to the white meat,
right and did it with a smile, and you did
not know what happened. And it happens just like that,
like a lot of exactly what Davon said, people, you're
not engaging the right folks.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Yeah, because the hotels is basically you're buying a franchise.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
So a lot of people don't realize. People think of
entrepreneurs I see this a lot they think of entrepreneurship.
They thinking I had to come up with this idea
and take it from ideation to execution.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Okay, how about you to right? You know, I want.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
To how about good luck? That's crazy. But buying into
a franchise is also you becoming and so you're buying
the business and you're buying in real estate. That's why
it's it's sexy to a lot of real estate investors
because of that owning the business and the nightly rates
the night see with multi family it's you know, static
(33:38):
six to not twelve month least with a hotel.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Guess what the super Bowl coming? You can junk them
right to you know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (33:44):
You see that happen New Year's, New Year's even New
York I don't even want to know what the read
is because I know it's crazy, and then the next
day it's yeah, back to normal, you know what I mean?
So that going to essence fast And how come it's
so expensive?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
I was just here.
Speaker 6 (33:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's revenue management.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
So that's why including us while we invest in hotels
and take advantage of the text benefits. My biggest thing
is I love this kind of rates, just kind of
that's I mean, because I don't work in a hotel anymore,
so I don't get those benefits.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
So I was like, I need to do something.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
But my producer Dan, we was in Dallas and they
upgraded my room to the Presidential Suite.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
When I tell you, I was about to squat. I
was like, I'm not leaving here Dallas in that room.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
This has been a great crash course, But I feel
like people need to follow each one of you if
they want to get started on their journey or maybe
you know later on down the line. Know who are
some credible people in this hotel industry. So let's give
our information.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Damon. Let's start with you. Where people can find you.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
You can find me on Instagram at hotel Guru gu
RU one nine zero six and obviously you can look
up our company at www dot Synergy Hospitalitygroup dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Okay, all right, i'mri O.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Marihead on Instagram at hip hop Hotel Broker, Okay.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Davion Dave var and Reees, I'm on Instagram. You can
find me on LinkedIn and you can also go to
Vestor dot com which is v E S T E
r R dot com. And I want to thank you
Angela for bringing us on. This is history right here,
to have a black owned hotel management company, to have
a black hotel broker who's transacted over a billion dollars
(35:36):
in sales, to have one of the few black hotel
black female hotel owners.
Speaker 5 (35:41):
So I just appreciate you so much.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
All right, chopping with you tribe, all right, Well, thank
y'all so much. This has been amazing, all right, and
I know this has been a long time coming. I'm
glad we were able to get it done. And woman
of your words, I'm definitely following the journey always.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
I'm just saying, well, we girl, watch out, stay tune.
Her coffee about to be in somebody, so
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I know that's right way up, way up,
What's up its way up at Angela Yee. I'm Angela
Yee and my girl is here, Devon Reeves. Okay, you
know her from the Vaughn Group, but she is a
hotel owner. You own three hotels, correct, and you are
always trying to get me to invest in hotel ownership,
but you actually have two people with you. This is
a whole trifecta when it comes to investing in hotel ownership.
(00:25):
All right, So we have Damon Smith here and Damon
you are you? You are the owner of Senergy Management,
Senergy Hospitality Management, Senergy Hospitality Management.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Which what do you do?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
So we are a third party management company, so we
manage hotels for hotel owners and we're also hotel investors
as well, myself and my wife.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Okay, how many hotels?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Currently we're managing four and we have three in pipeline
under contract to transact by the end of August.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, and I'm right head to here.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You are a hotel broker, correct, Okay, So explain like that.
I mean it sounds self explanatory, but I like to
hear it from you absolutely.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So what I do is two hats. One is I
help people sell their hotels primarily what I do. So
just like you always tell people, if you think about
real estate, specifically hotels, you've rarely ever seen a first
sale sign in front of it. They do sell, So
it's a relationship based industry. And then the other had
I wear is I do acquisitions consultant for first time
high networth Black Latin or LATINX families looking to get
in that they're capitalized. They just don't want to lose
(01:22):
their shirt and go into it the wrong way. I
help them with their acquisition.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Now, when it comes to hotel ownership, what percentage of
Black people are hotel owner is devined.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
So they're actually over fifty nine thousand hotels in the
United States and less than one percent of the hotels
are owned by Black people, less than probably what zero
point five percent.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
It's probably owned by black women. That is insane because
we definitely stay at some hotels. They work at hotels.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
So there was a report that was put out I
think it was by MMG Global that was put out
in twenty nineteen, I believe, and as a Black community,
the black travel dollar was over one.
Speaker 5 (02:00):
Hundred and nine with million billions one Yeah, it was
a big number.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
But yet we own less than one percent, so we're
not even really circulating that money with within our communities.
And so I'm on a mission, actually all three of us,
we're on a mission to increase that.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
So I have courses, you know, I have the book Hotel.
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
I've launched a platform called a Vestor. It's a crowdfunding
platform where individuals or sponsors can raise capital or equity
for their hotel. And one of the main reasons I
created Vestor so folks can actually invest in You can
invest in properties is little as five thousand dollars. Typically
(02:46):
investing in hotels is a minimum of seven figures or
very high six figures. And I saw that there was
an opportunity for our community because there are people who
do want to diversify their investor portfolio, and they're capitalized
to actually invest or own. And so that's why I
wanted to make sure that I see people who look
(03:10):
like me, you know, in the ownership space. I'm glad
that at these ownership conferences. That's actually why we're here
in New York right now. More there's more and more
people who are looking like us. When I'm in the boardrooms,
I want to see more people who look like me.
I want to see more owner representation. And the reason
why because owners make decisions right.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Right.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
We can put people's and we can put people in
jobs if somebody wants to actually do business with the hotel,
meaning you know, put their soaps, put their call in,
and that's a big deal there called hey I'm here.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
Oh I'm gonna get you in there. Don't worry. Don't worry.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, because it's a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
And look, I own an Airbnb that's nowhere near owning
a hotel, but on a smaller scale, you see what
is necessary, you know, with the towels, with their roads,
with the with the toiletries, but having all of those
things that are available for your guests when they check in.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
And and a lot of those amenities can be black
phoned or minority owned. And so I saw that there
was an opportunity. And now I'm in a position and
I've created a community and a platform, and the brands
are and they've been seeing that their brands, hotel brands
that have diversity programs.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Choice has the emerging markets. Well, now it's sore.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Wyndom has bold and women on the room and IHG
has the Lift program and so they're they're they're really
starting to see the opportunity of diverse hotel owners and
they're working with folks like myself to get the message
up there.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, I see Wyndom is actually sponsoring this hotel ownership
tour right one of the spy You're here for New
York and then Belize and then New Orleans.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Yep, so HG, I had an Atlanta stop. IHG did
the Atlanta stop. Windom they're doing the New York stop,
and then we're going to be staying at some Hilton
properties in the future steps.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Okay, I say it was spread the love around.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
We said the love around. Baby.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Now you also did used to work at a hotel?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Right?
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I want to see this is why this is an
important conversation. It's like, you know how to own a
Chick fil A, you have to work at one. And
I do feel like the experience of having worked at
a hotel probably helped you a lot. Yeah, and wanting
to see that because my first question would be, what
made you decide, being that less than point five percent
of black women are hotel owners, what made you even
(05:30):
think this is something that's possible.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
You know what, when I started off working as a
front desk agent, I didn't even know I could own
a hotel.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
Did y'all know that Chuck could start off.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Not really not her first noise hotel school grads like, yeah,
we just.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Did because we're you know, we were trained to work,
and probably the highest position we thought we could get
would be a general man a manager.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
Yeah, we did. I was advanced. I was going to
be a regional vice president.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Okay, he was taking big I was like, I'm just really,
I was like, I'm just going to be a director
of sales, you know. I was like, I just want
to be a director of sales and marketing. And so
it wasn't a Mari and I. We actually met in
this organization called the American Hotel Lodge and Association under
thirty gateway. So it was for professionals, hotel professionals under
(06:18):
the age of thirty, and we.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Had a board meeting in New York.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
We met every year in New York at a hotel
show and that there were folks from the Indian community
and they were under the age of thirty.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
And I was like, well, what do you do on hotels?
Speaker 6 (06:31):
Wait?
Speaker 5 (06:32):
What you own a hotel.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I mean they inherited. They that part I found out last.
But you know, they were developing and owning hotels. And
that's when the light bulb just went off and I
just became passionate and I was like, I'm an own hotel.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
I didn't know how I was going.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
To do it. There wasn't YouTube like it is now,
with a podcast like it is now, you know, you
couldn't you know, listen to your show and try to,
you know, connect with someone, and so I just you know,
just got hungry. And people thought I was crazy because
they was like, girl, you working at the front desk.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
You ain't got no money. How you going to own
a hotel? I don't know, but I'm own it.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
And for all of you guys, I want to ask
that question too, and getting into this space, what was
that journey like for your first you know, hotel? I
know you have ownership in hotels, but like, what was
that journey like getting into your first hotel ownership?
Speaker 6 (07:25):
First? You let me go first, Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Just cliff note, I started in the hotel business at
age of seventeen as a bellman and a ditchwasher in Mobile, Alabama.
Speaker 7 (07:34):
Which is my hometown, Okay se student, and I think
looking at life from there to now.
Speaker 6 (07:47):
Through see is get these ds.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
So I think my first opportunity was came through a
mutual acquaintance that I was doing some consulting for. I
had worked my way up to the kind of above
property level as a regional vice president with the company
UH based in Richmond, Virginia, and I was talking to
this guy, UH and he was in a tight he
(08:14):
had lost he had lost a partner. He wanted to
He needed some cash real bad. UH needed to refinance.
Speaker 7 (08:21):
UH.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
He couldn't afford to refinance. You know, he was he
was really just grasping for straws. And you know, me
and my wife started talking, you know, shout out to
Crystal because she she stood behind it, UH, and she said,
you know, baby, if you believe in this, then let's
do it. And that's exactly what happened. We we invested
the money, and you know, it turned into an amazing
(08:42):
property that we not only bought into from an ownership standpoint,
but it was our first asset under management for our
management companies. So Synergy Hospitality Group was born at the
Country in the suits and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (08:56):
Yeah, So you know God is good man. You cannot.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I mean and risk and risk I mean as people
of color. And I'll be brief and I'll let little Margo.
But you know, we're so risk averse in our communities
and because we don't do the research, and we go
for find a person that's the smartest person closest to us.
And I started reaching out to people outside of me
and my circle, and I found people like Amar and
(09:23):
Amari introduced me to Davon and we've been introduced in
created a very unique ecosystem of high intellectual people who
all like to have fun, but love and love to
serve and have passions for it.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And you know, I also look at us being risk
averse because a lot of times, like we might be
the first ones that are actually investing in and making money.
So it is scary because it's not like a lot
of us have anybody to fall back on. If this
doesn't work, then a lot of times it's like building
yourself back up.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
There's people who can.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Fail and fail forward and a lot of times for us,
it's like there's a lot of people that are relying
on us. I knew about that too. So it is
hard to think about, you know, that mindset. But it's important,
right because with a greater risk comes a greater reward.
But sometimes it is just so hard to make that leap.
And Amari, let's talk about that with you and how
you got into this space also and your work in hotels.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, so I first got introduced to it. I'll never forget.
My brother went to Cornell University top hotel program. He
did not go to a hotel program. He was super smart,
did engineering. And my mom was like, you like to travel,
you like to eat. You ever thought about hospitality? Okay, mon,
I'm like, oh that's a job. I'm like, I'm a fan.
I like to travel, like do this. So from that
point on, I was committed to hospitality. Fast forward. I
(10:40):
had another brother and he always he worked in hotel business,
and his brother got him into the hotel business. And
his hotel at the time had the contract for Jerry
Springer Show.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
So I used to I'm like a kid.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I used to sit in the lobby and it's like
you get to see the guests, super wowy had great stories.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I was with you last night.
Speaker 6 (10:57):
Yeah, like, oh that's true. I could see. I could
see it on the episode later on, and I mean
it was he.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Got us to the line of rainforest all things. I
was not the decoy, by the way. We want to
put that out, don't. I don't want that to live.
But but but he said, O Mario, if you're going
to do this, do it the right way, like I
have a ceiling. And and he wasn't privileged enough to
(11:25):
go to college the same way that I did.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Went to University of Ada Las.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Vegas, chased it down, worked and opened the spot tower
at the Bolagio, VIP services at the Rio, so big
box gaming, opening consulting for the win.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
This is all my undergraduate experience.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And I was just like so by the time, I
had a very extensive resume, came out, did a management
training program in Chicago, GFC happens Great Financial Crisis, and
then I moved out to DC. My partner she was
applying the pH d program, so you know, we had
to kind of figure that out. We made it work
and we went to DC and the best thing ever
about Great Financial Crisis about a house. And the previous
(12:00):
sales price for the house was like three hundred and
sixty nine thousand I got for like one sixty nine.
And while that was so important, was because I was
able to ride that up and when I used that
home equity line of credit to invest in my first
hotel deal. Now when I was I've always wanted to
get into brokerage, and a big piece of that is
that again, like I said, it's a relationship based industry.
(12:20):
So if you are looking to find diverse and new owners,
you have to have somebody from that community. And I
looked around and I'm like, there's not any black hotel brokers.
And when I asked a few, People'm like have you
ever met one? Like it was I was literally trying
to find the plug, like have you met a black
hotel bron there?
Speaker 6 (12:38):
And I heard about one? It was like very elusive.
Yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
It was very elusive. So I was like, Okay, I'm
gonna make that jump. It'll take that risk, right because again,
this is commission only And so when I when I
jumped into that world, I saw that a lot of
it was not just access to capital, it was I
beat the drums more so accessed information. So when I
can have these conversations with people, there's like, okay, you
flip houses and you do this, or you you have
(13:02):
a retail business and you do it. You ever thought
about hotel ownership And by the way, I can show
you how to how to value this, I can help
you do that.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
I can help you acquire it.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Being that conduit for information was just that that's been
game change and that's what you know, the ecosystem that
we build and devon having the biggest micro from being
the biggest champion for that, I mean, we continue to
appreciate that. So that was my story into kind of
how I got into being a brokerage and advisor and
the consultancy, because I've also seen people from our community
get into it, get into it the wrong way.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
And it's been because when we don't know the.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Business, people pray on that because again people realize that
we do have the capitol and they're just like, oh
wait a minute, and they'll sell you whatever. And then
they forgot to tell you like, oh, such and such,
you know, the airport entrance is relocating. Are you something
that you didn't do your research on that that the
right consultant and advisor could have helped you through, and
then somebody sold you that and you're left hold in
the bag and it's an empty bag.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And Davin, you know, speaking to what Amari just said
earlier too about you rarely see that for sales sign
on a hotel. Explain that because you know it's the
business that great that like just tell me why that is. Well,
like you said, for one, is a relationship business and
it's a commercial asset, right so, and also hotels are
operating business sitting on real estate, and so typically you
(14:20):
want to work with someone that specialized in that field.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And there's not an MLS for hotels. Like so there's
not like a central location.
Speaker 5 (14:28):
Like if you want to.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Buy house, you have access to have access to it,
right the hotel you just can't go. You know, you
can google it, but there's not like one central place.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Where you can go.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
You can go to Loop Ned, you can go to Craiksey,
but there's not one central place.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
And as far as like a for sale sign, you
know they'll call up a broker.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
They called for Mari And actually the Indian community probably
owns over fifty percent of the hotels in the United States.
Who knew I did not know that, And so you
know they can just pick up the and called a cousin.
If they wanted to sell me, they could just keep
it in the family. And so for what And then
(15:07):
the common person buying a hotel wouldn't even just cross
their mind.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
It's not on the race.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Listen, I tell you, it's not something I even thought about.
I was thinking about the salamander in DC too, and yes,
so I remember, and that was the Mandarin Oriental and
I stayed there, you know, last time that I was
in DC, and I was like, Okay, that's you know,
that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Her story is amazing because she's the fact that she
not only did uh did miss Johnson create a hotel brand,
but she created a hotel luxury brand experience very very
and she created an amazing team. And so the fact
that you know, by her opening doors for someone like myself,
(15:51):
even though I would never get into luxury, that's just
not my space.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
But why is that?
Speaker 6 (15:56):
And that's a good point.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
The reason why it's not my space because.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
It depends on your strategy on where you want to
go in the hotel ownership. Luxury hotels has a lot
of amenities, right, a lot of labor because you have
the service. Yes, you know, when you go to a
luxury Hotel de mand and Oriental those Salamana. You want
to take advantage of the spa. You know you want
room service. You know you want sounds like me exactly.
(16:21):
You want stuff when you come home, when you come
back to your room from the spy.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
You know you would love the chocolate.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
You want to turn down services, all of that you need,
all that. You know, you just want to pick up
the call and pick up the phone and say, you
know what, I don't feel like going downstairs and getting
my towels. Right, That's okay because they're going to bring
it up to you.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
You know. But everything that I just said has a cost, Yeah,
it does.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
So by the time, from my ownership perspective, all of
those different line items is being taken away from the revenue.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Okay. So that's so me.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
I prefer extended state or limited service hotels.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
And the reason why because they don't.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Have as many as amenities from an ownership perspective. So right,
So a hotel like a Hampton in or Home to Suite,
those type of hotels, you know, when you stayed there,
you're getting a comfortable bed, you know, shower and you
know someone nice clean hotel, clean hotel.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
You know what I mean, that's what's devil Chi.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
You might get some warm cooking exactly.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
You know, now I'll never forget that. I will go
to DOUBLET to get a cook You remember that exactly.
And it's that brand standard.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Now some folks, you know, they may not depending on
your appetite, you may not want to say it. In
an economy hotel, but they're great to own, right And
the reason why because there's not as many amenities, you know,
when I'm talking about a super aid or microtel, those
type of hotels. That's how people build their portfolio, and
that's really how any community owns over fifty to sixty
(17:46):
percent of the hotels from that that that model was.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Just because it's not as many luxury hotels at all
either as far as.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Plus, it takes a lot of money and it takes
a lot of money to renovate costs. Because I mean
because even even with a luxury hotel, because it's a
certain level of service, you have to have twenty four
hour room service.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
And even though I will say they don't anymore, I
feel like a lot of hotels now, especially after COVID, Yeah,
after COVID, a lot of things. A lot of things
have changed, you know, And I want to talk about
your opportunity that you saw to get into the hotel business,
because I know we've discussed this previously, But for you, divine,
how did that happen for you?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
It happened for me.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Basically, I took a non paid internship for Yes, my
my daddy got blessed to so you know, he did
not do free You had to work, yeah, and he
did not. He didn't believe in volunteering. Everybody could be based.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
And so when I told him that, it didn't make
sense to him.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
And so I worked there in the morning for free,
and I worked at the heighted night because I got
my start off at the Hiring st Atlanta. So this
was after graduation, but I was so determined and becoming
a hotel owner, and so I found an opportunity to
work for hotel owners because in my mind, that's the
best way to learn about hotel ownership is from a
hotel owner. And that's probably been like the best experience
(19:09):
I could have ever had. And it's so funny my
old bosses at the conference.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
They were in.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
And that's how I built relationships, That's how I understood
the process. That's how I understood the development, and I
understood the money. The biggest part of a hotel is
the money part, right, understanding the financing part, and understood
that a lot of people really don't use their own
money to buy hotels, including billionaires.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Did you use your own money when you first started?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
No, we used We was all through private capital. Oh wow, okay, yep, yeah,
So we partnered up and we raised capital do our
and my investors there my family forever. I loved them
because for them to invest with me, even though I
had hotel experience, and even though I worked in asset management,
(19:59):
working on behalf of owners, it's different when you take
that risk and you do it on your own.
Speaker 5 (20:03):
It's different. It's just completely different.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
And so for the fact that they took and they
didn't even meet me, the met because this was during COVID.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Right, yeah, I remember, you tell me again that it was,
you know, opportunity during COVID.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Opportunity during COVID, and so they they believed in me,
never met me.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
I didn't even meet my business partner. We buying an
eight point three million dollars. We didn't meet.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Whereas it al Rena, Oklahoma. Yeah yeah, and Arena, Oklahoma.
We bought it for eight point three million dollars. And
you know, the investors and how I was able to
find investors just I just kept talking about hotel ownership.
I kept talking, and then people reached out. It was
an opportunity. People reached out and they invested. Of course,
I was shocked. I was like, what so And it's
(20:49):
people that you don't My family didn't want to invest, right,
you know. Now it's a different story now, girl, what
you got now?
Speaker 1 (20:54):
But people afterwards, after worth, they'd be like, why you
didn't hit me up to you know what I did.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
I tried.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I tried.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
I sent you to visit that you and ghost.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
But and so the fact that they invested, and it's
so crazy how God works because my first investors now
they're on their second hotel, you know, and so they're
adding to that.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
You know, he's about to manage it, you know, and
so he's so the fact.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
It's such a beautiful experience because you know, Omar and
I we we talked about this what in twenty eighteen,
twenty nineteen, and I remember when I was like, man,
I'm gonna talk about hotel ownership.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
He was like, nah, I ain't ready, David. People ain't ready.
And I was like, man, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
And and it's the crazy how we had these conversations
and we're here with you.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Now, with Miss b Angela.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
YU like, it's just amazing that we're here talking about
black hotel ownership and folks are coming up to me
and they're having these conversations.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
I read about you before I met you, and that's
and that's how I knew it.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
When I heard you say my name, I.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Was like, yeah, I appreciate the transparency because when she's
talked about having investors, they lead with kind of likes
me is me as me?
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yeah, the last one, yeah, three million is you know,
I can't even lie and damon, you're getting emotional, and
so I would love for you to jump in, just
because I feel like there's something that you want to
you know, I.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
Think you know, I'm a very spiritual person.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
And as as she's talking, as is talking, you know,
there's a theme.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
There's a theme theme of faith.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Yeah, because when you're doing something that nobody else believes
that you can do, and everybody tells you no, yeah,
but you know that you know that you have been
called and anointed to do what you're doing. That resolute,
that that the necessity, the necessity to be resolute in
(22:57):
the face of every mountain that's in front of you.
One of the things that that gravitated me towards Avon
is her undying commitment to not just being a hotel owner,
but the education platform.
Speaker 7 (23:17):
Same thing with Amar and we're.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
All very fervent readers, and we love the educational process
and we're passionate about the industry. So she's talking about
two of her investors that started off as investors with her.
We just took over their first hotel, Solo Hotel in Memphis,
and we're getting ready to take over their second hotel,
(23:40):
their first full service hotel, my first full service hotel
under management in July. And I get emotional because I
think back when I was washing those dishes, and I
don't give nothing for my journey, and I just it's
just an amazing feeling.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
When you trap it out with your tribe.
Speaker 6 (24:02):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
You know, when you trap it out with your tribe,
and these people a Maria call me, Deyvanna call me Hey,
I talk to such and such. You need to call them.
They're gonna call you. I just want to make sure
you're right with it. Amara, Hey, I need to bound
something off of you. It's and it's it's not common.
It's not common, especially in our communities, that we have
(24:25):
these types of groups and these types of dynamic personalities
and we can all be humbled in front of one
another because we respect what the other person does and
that's what makes the ecosystem of it all work. So
this isn't just something that happened overnight and and we're
just like sitting up here hanging out and you know,
it's it's it's something that is cultivated. You know, I'm
(24:47):
from Alabama and my family has been been in agriculture
for a long time. So I believe in what you plant,
m giving it the love that it needs because it's
not just the soil, it's not just the water, it's
not just the sun. But everything that you put into
that seed makes it grow. The love makes it grow,
and the love and respect and the fallings out and
(25:08):
the disagreement sometimes it happens.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Yeah, you gotta just take business not personal.
Speaker 5 (25:15):
Oh yeah, you can.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
My mom used to say teeth and tongue fall out.
You know you you you know your your teeth and
your tongue. I have a disagreement and your bite your tongue.
So I think that with with with the people in
this room, and you know, for her to mention the
two people that we're investing with, I think and I'm
managing for she tutored and mentored.
Speaker 7 (25:31):
I think that they use vest and they.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Use funded and they use my crowdfunded UH form to
raise the capital or to raise some of the capital
for the deal. And so to seeing that all of
these things come to fruition. And and you know, I
was talking to some students yesterday. It was actually some
some black students go to some HBCUs and I was
(25:59):
talking about hotel owner ship and the fact that you
know that we're talking about it, and they were listening
and if we could just change one person, you know,
to make their lives easier because we didn't really have
a we we've been creating our own rope.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Now each of us have our now exactly. And so
the fact that.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
You know, now I have you know, little girls that
tell me that that mom send me an inbox saying
you know, they did a history project on me.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
It's like, wait, what you know they talk about the
dinner table. They're talking about it.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
As I mentioned before, you know, fanily reunions and you know, we.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
Make sure we all eat because.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
You know, if we don't circulate it within our community,
if we don't help each other out, then how you
know we're doing a disservicing. And you know, you know,
as Dane was talking, I was thinking about, you know,
my grandma and a lot of our grandmas. You know,
at one point, not only could they not stay at
(26:58):
a hotel depending on hotel and the color of their skin,
especially if they're a little dark, they couldn't even work
at the hotel. You know, my grandmother at my age,
especially when I first started out, she couldn't even work
at the hotel that was in her town.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Damn not work. Like that's not that long ago.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
When you think about it, people always act like it's
been oh, that's in the past whatever, But it's not that.
There's people alive today who experienced that.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Yeah, and people forget that we actually owned hotels, Like
this is not something new.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
No black folks own the hotels. We've been owned a
hotel since the.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Late eighteen hundreds, and you know it was just you know,
they had to stay at black owned hotels during the
Civil Rights movement. And like Omari said, I'm gonna give
you credit for it.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
So I came up with that.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Black folks we were originally the original folks at Airbnb
because during the Civil Rights movement and even prior to
the civil Rights movement, in the Green Book, you know,
it was folks homes listed where it could stay because
we couldn't stay at home at you know, white on
hotels or white on establishments. We could work there, but
we couldn't stay there. And we travel differently, right, and
(28:08):
so the fact that you know, because of integration, it
got lost because now we wanted to stay at hotels
where we couldn't stay at before and a lot of
those black on hotels kind of shut down. So it's
not it's not new at all. But what I when
I realized the amount of money that the hotel industry
(28:29):
makes and we are putting a lot of children's children.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Through college, and I've seen it and I'm like, well,
why can't we do it?
Speaker 4 (28:38):
And you know, my grandmother, she always taught me to
keep one paid off house in the family, so that
where everybody always gonna have a place to stay. You know,
that's good advice. I'm gonna take it to the next level.
Keep a paid off hotel in the family. That way,
not only way you have a place to stay, but
you have place to work. So if you need some money,
place to make some.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I got that loan for you, that two thousand you need,
go ahead, and I got the twenty five rous.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
For anybody listening.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
And if they're like, okay, I'm interested, what would you
tell them? Is the first step to figure out how
can I get on this path to hotel ownership?
Speaker 4 (29:13):
First see what your bank account looking like, So talk
because it's very expensive. So talk to your financial advisor
to see if you can go in.
Speaker 5 (29:22):
The path of owning or investing.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Okay, right, And so if you know, maybe you're not
ready for owning because you probably figure starting off that's
on the low end, at least right on the low
end to start off, you know, but if you don't
have that in your financial advisor. And the reason why
I say talk to your financial advisor because for one,
I'm not a financial advisor, and I don't know your
personal situation.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
But you know, and then.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
Also investing in hotels has its benefits when it comes
to Texas. Okay, right, So that's why we always say,
talk to your financial advisor to see what works for you.
But if you know, if you don't have that much,
probably the most economical way to get started and investing
in hotel would be reads real estate investment trusts. And
that's it's essentially kind of like investment in stock or
(30:07):
you can invest in a piece of a hotel. It's
like a piece of a hotel. So and you're not
investing directly into the hotel. But if you want to
invest directly into the hotel, you know, finding folks like us.
But the biggest thing you go to investor let him
know our dot com and and the book and exactly
(30:31):
so you know, and then we we talked about this
and actually I got this from Omari. He really I
get a lot of myself from.
Speaker 5 (30:39):
Because he's a professor at heart.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
But he talked about an ownership thesis, and you know,
so finding out the basic things. You know, what when
we're how so what kind of hotel you want to buy?
You know, where do you want to buy it, Why
do you want to do it? Do you want to
do it for cash flow? Do you want to do
it for equity? So, because hotels is a capital intensive
so it's not like something you kind of want to
go just kind of jump in without the knowledge, you know.
(31:03):
And that's what I've noticed a lot too with the
people of color who wanted to get in the whole.
Speaker 5 (31:07):
I met a lot of black people with money.
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Right, I know a lot of black people with money,
and they got serious money and they come buy a hotel,
probably in cash if they wanted to, right. But the
biggest thing is, like Omar mentioned, and what we realized
as we've really gotten out there into the community is
the lack of education and knowledge that you can actually
do it. So the biggest thing is if you don't
know how to do it, you know, work with the consultants,
(31:31):
you know, work with someone that's in the industry. So
don't get you know, your favorite residential broker to help
you sell or help you buy hotels. It's different because
it's a different thing, it's a different beast. You know,
you have to understand the business side to valuate just
it's just too complicated. So for the folks who really
want to get into the hotel space. I would say
start off with education, really understanding different type of brands,
(31:55):
the type of markets, how to valuate a hotel, all
of those things that will help you be prepared. Because
it's on Mari mentioned and I say this a lot,
and I've seen it firsthand. There are some predatory folks
out there. Yeah, they know you a first time hotel owner.
They will take it in and they will tave no money.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
And in a contract so longer.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
You're talking about five ten year contracts, and if you
don't know what you're doing, it can be very expensive
to get out of them.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
And you're talking about it was some of the entities,
it's twenty year contracts, right.
Speaker 7 (32:25):
See.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Yeah, so if you don't know what you're doing, and
that's why a lot of that's part of the equity
and inclusion piece, right when people start coming around the
community and they're like, oh wait, we can kind of
tell people anything. Man, the fees should be this if
you don't have a point of reference, or your point
of reference is not sillient to what is general practice
in hotels, and you think you're getting a good deal
(32:47):
and you start talking to other hotel owners and you
realize somebody just cut your head back to the white meat,
right and did it with a smile, and you did
not know what happened. And it happens just like that,
like a lot of exactly what Davon said, people, you're
not engaging the right folks.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Yeah, because the hotels is basically you're buying a franchise.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
So a lot of people don't realize. People think of
entrepreneurs I see this a lot they think of entrepreneurship.
They thinking I had to come up with this idea
and take it from ideation to execution.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Okay, how about you to right? You know, I want.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
To how about good luck? That's crazy. But buying into
a franchise is also you becoming and so you're buying
the business and you're buying in real estate. That's why
it's it's sexy to a lot of real estate investors
because of that owning the business and the nightly rates
the night see with multi family it's you know, static
(33:38):
six to not twelve month least with a hotel.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Guess what the super Bowl coming? You can junk them
right to you know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (33:44):
You see that happen New Year's, New Year's even New
York I don't even want to know what the read
is because I know it's crazy, and then the next
day it's yeah, back to normal, you know what I mean?
So that going to essence fast And how come it's
so expensive?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
I was just here.
Speaker 6 (33:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's revenue management.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
So that's why including us while we invest in hotels
and take advantage of the text benefits. My biggest thing
is I love this kind of rates, just kind of
that's I mean, because I don't work in a hotel anymore,
so I don't get those benefits.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
So I was like, I need to do something.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
But my producer Dan, we was in Dallas and they
upgraded my room to the Presidential Suite.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
When I tell you, I was about to squat. I
was like, I'm not leaving here Dallas in that room.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
This has been a great crash course, But I feel
like people need to follow each one of you if
they want to get started on their journey or maybe
you know later on down the line. Know who are
some credible people in this hotel industry. So let's give
our information.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
Damon. Let's start with you. Where people can find you.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
You can find me on Instagram at hotel Guru gu
RU one nine zero six and obviously you can look
up our company at www dot Synergy Hospitalitygroup dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Okay, all right, i'mri O.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Marihead on Instagram at hip hop Hotel Broker, Okay.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Davion Dave var and Reees, I'm on Instagram. You can
find me on LinkedIn and you can also go to
Vestor dot com which is v E S T E
r R dot com. And I want to thank you
Angela for bringing us on. This is history right here,
to have a black owned hotel management company, to have
a black hotel broker who's transacted over a billion dollars
(35:36):
in sales, to have one of the few black hotel
black female hotel owners.
Speaker 5 (35:41):
So I just appreciate you so much.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
All right, chopping with you tribe, all right, Well, thank
y'all so much. This has been amazing, all right, and
I know this has been a long time coming. I'm
glad we were able to get it done. And woman
of your words, I'm definitely following the journey always.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
I'm just saying, well, we girl, watch out, stay tune.
Her coffee about to be in somebody, so
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I know that's right way up, way up,
Way Up With Angela Yee News
Host
Angela Yee
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