Boutique Design - March 2019 - 4

EDITORIAL
Publisher/Vice President,
Boutique Design Group
Michelle Finn
michelle.finn@emeraldexpo.com
Editor in Chief
Mary Scoviak
mary.scoviak@emeraldexpo.com

BY MARY SCOVIAK, EDITOR IN CHIEF

Art Director
Kelly Farrar
kelly.farrar@emeraldexpo.com

DITCH THE SAFETY NET
THIS ISSUE IS a celebration of risk takers.

Leaving their comfort zones behind, whatever the professional-and personal-implications, is the thread that carries through from
the 2019 Up-and-Coming Hoteliers (page 16)
and the Boutique 18 (B18) honorees (page 37)
to the what-if restaurateurs and tech-savvy
entertainment entrepreneurs redefining LA's
culinary/cultural scene (page 28), the pioneers
looking to bring cannabis-related ventures into
the mainstream hospitality industry (page 6)
and the Bulgarian immigrant who left a steady
gig working on high-profile projects to start
his own firm (page 80). Marcus Carey and
Damon Lawrence, who each earned one of
this year's Up-and-Coming Hotelier awards for
their successful launch of Homage Hospitality,
summed it up, saying, "We're risking more than
we can sometimes stomach because this effort
represents our life's joy."
The people featured here aren't waiting for
change to happen in this industry; they feel a
personal responsibility to make it happen. Carey
and Lawrence are spotlighting the hotel industry's oversight in not understanding the needs
of the African American travel market and not
bringing more diversity to their upper-level
management and leadership teams.
Fellow honoree Steve Wilson, cofounder of
21c Museum Hotels with his wife, Laura Lee
Brown, silenced naysayers who claimed people
in second-tier cities didn't "get" contemporary
art or chef-driven fare. Their success also bears
out their contention that art in a hotel setting
should be provocative; it should make people

think-whether that's pleasant thoughts about
pure beauty and humor or uncomfortable issues
such as sex, death, gun control and racism.
Collective Retreats' Peter Mack is a role model
for all those who believe they can make their
mark without having to cater to a mass market.
He would have had quite a trajectory if he'd
stayed with previous boss, the legendary hotelier/
investor Barry Sternlicht. Instead, he struck out
on his own, creating a concept that would bring
people closer to nature and what's real.
Designers honored in this B18 class are just
as fearless. It's not easy to wake up one day and
acknowledge you really don't want to be an
engineer or that your dreams of being a ballerina aren't going to come true. Nor is walking
through the door to a client meeting solo after
just a couple of weeks on the job. Then, there's
the whole issue of fighting for design integrity,
finding ways to proactively enhance the local
community and holding firm to your ethics.
Yeah, risks are scary. But not taking them is
scarier still. "There have been a lot of moments
when I didn't know what do, when it would have
been easier not to have a controversial piece or
give a talk," says Wilson. "That's why I have a sign
in my office that says, 'Just Do It.'"

Special Projects Editor
Oriana Lerner
oriana.lerner@emeraldexpo.com
Associate Editor
AnnMarie Martin
annmarie.martin@emeraldexpo.com
Contributing Editors
Alicia Hoisington
Alicia Sheber
Production Director
Nan McDowell
Production Manager
Terri Hill
terri.hill@emeraldexpo.com
(770) 291-5481
Boutique Design Marketing Director
Sandi Luppert
sandi.luppert@emeraldexpo.com
Executive Vice President
Joe Randall

SALES
Associate Publisher/Business Development
Manager, Midwest/West
Melani Beattie
melani.beattie@emeraldexpo.com
(312) 218-5691
Business Development Manager, Northeast
Michael Schneider
michael.schneider@emeraldexpo.com
(212) 404-6936
Business Development Manager, Southeast
Scott Rickles
scott.rickles@emeraldexpo.com
(770) 664-4567
Sales & Marketing Manager
Cassie Maurer
cassie.maurer@emeraldexpo.com

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CORPORATE
Interim President And CEO
Philip Evans
Chief Information Officer
Bill Charles
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
And Secretary
David Gosling
Senior Vice President, Finance
Dave Sunderland
Senior Vice President, Marketing Services
Joanne Wheatley
Vice President, Human Resources
Eileen Deady

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