Intertwined by their love for design (and each other), Corinna Kretschmar-Joehnk and Peter Joehnk are the minds behind the Hamburg, Germany-based JOI Design. Together, they and their family-like team have designed more than 500 hotel projects around the world including Moxy Hamburg City in Germany and Il Salotto Wines & Resort in Italy. This episode is brought to you by Craft and Main. For more information, go to craftandmain.com.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria to a family of entrepreneurs, Victor Body Lawson seemed destined to build something of his own. After moving to the states, he discovered his passion for architecture while studying at Montgomery College, Catholic University, and Columbia University and went on to found his firm Body Lawson Associates. A certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Body Lawson strives to help close inequity gaps in hiring practices and through projects designed to empower communities.This episode is brought to you by Craft and Main. For more information, go to craftandmain.com.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Tristan du Plessis’ rise through the ranks of the design world has been meteoric, going from self-taught designer to partner at a firm to founding his namesake studio—all in less than 10 years. The South Africa native’s portfolio, which includes Rome’s Chapter Roma hotel and Gorgeous George in Cape Town, spans the globe.This episode is brought to you by Craft and Main. For more information, go to craftandmain.com.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Tina Norden has built her career at the esteemed Conran and Partners since graduating from University of Westminster, joining the firm in 1997, and becoming a partner in 2016. A quote from founder Terence Conran—which Norden often cites—is “Good design improves people’s lives," a lens that guides her and her team in their work for visionary spaces like the Park Hyatt Auckland and The Peninsula Hong Kong.This episode is brought to you by Craft and Main. For more information, go to craftandmain.com.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

After cutting her teeth in the interiors department at SOM and Atelier Ace, Little Wing Lee became part of the Exhibition Design Team for the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Now, the designer is busy helming her own firm, Studio & Projects, as well as overseeing Black Folks in Design, which she founded as a network for Black designers across multiple disciplines.This episode is brought to you by Craft and Main. For more information, go to craftandmain.com.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Born in Limerick, Ireland, Bill Walshe’s passion for design has taken him all over the world—from Dubai, working for the Jumeirah Group to sunny Los Angeles, California where he serves as the CEO of Viceroy Hotel Group. No matter where he is, Walshe’s approach to hospitality stays the same. As he says: “My fundamental essence of hospitality is very simple. We’re human beings who make other human beings happy.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

A champion of diversity and inclusion, Kia Weatherspoon founded Determined by Design 10 years ago with the belief that everyone deserves well-designed spaces. Together, they’ve created intimate, community-oriented projects including Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books in Philadelphia, and multifamily housing units in Washington, DC, using what Weatherspoon calls Design Equity to create an elevated standard for all, rather than luxury for a select few.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Lionel Ohayon says "The most important thing you'll ever do is design your own path." Since founding ICRAVE in 2002, Ohayon has taken a transformative approach to design, integrating technology in spaces from hospitals to airports. After 20 years of award-winning work, ICRAVE has joined forces with Futures Intelligence Group and Skilled Creative to create Journey, a futurescaping company to imagine and execute the next generation of hospitality.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Design duo Lisa Simeone and Gina Deary met while working at a firm in Chicago in the 1990s and became fast friends. Realizing they had a similar vision and passion for design, they took a leap of faith founding their own firm Simeone Deary Design Group in 2002. Their thoughtful approach can be seen in projects such as the Detroit Foundation Hotel and Hotel Kansas City—two historic buildings transformed into modern properties while retaining a strong sense of place. Named Hospitality Design magazine's 2022 Design Firm of the Year, these two—now principals of KTGY Simeone Deary Design Group, after a recent merger with the architecture firm—show no signs of slowing down.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

From learning how to weld for practical reasons to designing the iconic S-Chair for Cappellini to founding his eponymous label, Tom Dixon took an unconventional path to becoming one of Britain's most renowned designersThank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Before founding Los Angeles-based Commune Design in 2004, Roman Alonso let his curiosity lead the way. Following his affinity for art and design led to experiences working for Hearst magazines, Barney's, renowned fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, and founding his own publishing company Greybull Press. Informed by his multifaceted career, Commune Design leads residential, commercial, and hospitality projects for clients like Ace Hotel, Opening Ceremony, and Goop.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Before the term "wellness" became a buzzword and grew into the trillion-dollar industry it is today, Susie Ellis was championing the cause. In 2014, she founded the non-profit organization Global Wellness Institute dedicated to research and educating both public and private sectors about preventative health measures. As Chairman and CEO, Ellis also oversees the organization's annual Global Wellness Summit and Global Wellness Tourism Congress which bring together experts from around the world to share knowledge and influence change. Since the pandemic, Ellis has seen health and wellness brought into the public eye like never before and is happy to continue her groundbreaking work to help change peoples’ lives.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

David Galullo roots himself in the idea of placemaking and how people use spaces to connect and build communities rather than the utilitarian side of architecture. It is with this lens, Galullo founded his multidisciplinary firm, Rapt Studio, where he has been pushing boundaries for clients from Goop to Google for the last ten years. When approaching projects, Galullo wants his team to question everything, noting that just because something has been designed a certain way for years, doesn't mean it should stay that way. Find out why he says "there is no better time to be a designer than now." Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Cherishing the creative process, hotelier Jason Pomeranc continues to push it to its limits and redefine the hotel experience. First, in the early 2000s, as a cofounder of the industry-disrupting Thompson Hotels brand before following up his success with SIXTY Collective, the operating company of SIXTY Hotels. Pomeranc is also behind the recently opened, theater-centric Civilian hotel in New York—a natural fit for his design approach which he describes as cinematic. When entering a building for a new project, he likes to envision people in the space and watches it play out like a movie, which he then uses as inspiration.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Libby Sims Patrick’s Southern U.S. roots are both the foundation of her upbringing and her approach to design. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Sims Patrick grew up in Decatur, Alabama and graduated from Auburn University before starting her career in Georgia. Reflecting the southern hospitality her mother, a restaurant owner, instilled in her, Sims Patrick says great relationships are as important as great design. Having built her firm, Sims Patrick Studio, through word-of-mouth marketing and referrals, she employs a people-first approach with her clients and team to this day. Since 1999, Sims Patrick has designed a myriad of residential and commercial projects across the U.S., including the historic Battle House Hotel and multiple locations for longtime client Sonesta. Next, she will step into the role of owner-developer with The River Runner Hotel in 2024.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Dyonne Fashina,  founder and principal designer of Toronto-based studio Denizens of Design, takes an empathy-first approach to her work. She designs with sensitivity, compassion, and a sense of cultural awareness. This is evident in projects like the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, where she sourced everything locally, reflecting the gallery’s emphasis on Canadian artists. In 2021, Fashina was honored with HD's inaugural HDAC Awards of Excellence, which recognizes exemplary work in the industry by those working to advance the field through the promotion of diversity, inclusivity, and equity. Indeed, throughout her career, Fashina has always remained true to herself. Trust the process, she says, and you’ll get to where you want to be. Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

After graduating from Cornell with a bachelor's of architecture, Chad Oppenheim continued his education by living in Spain, Israel, Italy, and Japan. Once he returned to the United States, he spent five years working at Arquitectonica in Miami before founding Oppenheim Architecture + Design. Informed by his travels and appreciation for nature, his firm specializes in ambitious creations which celebrate the land such as the lush Ayla Golf Academy and Clubhouse in Aqaba, Jordan, or the Desert Rock Resort in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, built into natural rock formations. Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Sweden-based, Norway-born designer Erik Nissen Johansen always felt drawn to the creative world. After studying design in Florence, Italy, he went on to found his firm Stylt Trampoli AB, which has been pushing the boundaries of hospitality design worldwide for more than 30 years. Using a film director like creative approach, he often cites, “Never do the film without doing the script first.” When pitching to clients, each project is accompanied by a short, written story, connecting emotion to physical design. A testament to the firm's creatvity, one of his most recent projects is Pater Noster, an 1868 lighthouse off the coast of Sweden he and his team revitalized into a 10-room hotel. Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

In November, during ICFF and WantedDesign, editor in chief Stacy Shoemaker Rauen sat down with multidisciplinary design Ini Archibong for a candid one-on-one discussion. Archibong's work transcends disciplines: He’s crafted furniture for the likes of Bernhardt Design and Knoll, he’s designed a watch collection for French luxury brand Hermés, conceived the Pavilion of the African Diaspora for the London Design Biennale, and recently landed his first solo gallery exhibition in New York scored with his own music. The conversation dove into Archibong's process, which is centered on storytelling that combines empathy, philosophy, spirituality, and everything in between.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Tye Farrow is a bit of a philosopher when it comes to design, seeking out projects that inspire hope where the future is unknown. He cut his teeth with renowned German-Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler before starting Farrow Partners in Toronto in 2004. It’s here that he launched his visionary Cause Health movement, which creates places where people can thrive through an intricate co-creation process. In fact, his firm is working on a slew of audacious projects, including the ambitious Venice Archipelago, which proposes a necklace of new and existing linked islands that promote ecological health in a city that is being devastated by climate change.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Born in Taiwan, Tony Chi moved to New York when he was 9 years old, cultivating a global sense about the world that is embedded into everything he touches, including the studio’s work with Rosewood Hotel Group. The firm has had a hand in bringing the brand international recognition, from revitalizing the Carlyle in New York to reimagining a Belle Epoque building in London. Chi compares his role to that of a composer, where he must ensure that every member of his symphony is playing the right notes for a flawless performance.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu's  Shanghai-based practice is as prolific as its work is thought-provoking, thanks to the leadership provided by the husband-and-wife duo, who met while they were studying architecture as undergraduates at the University of California, Berkeley. They both cut their teeth with Michael Graves before deciding to go out on their own in 2004 after moving back to Shanghai. One of their early projects was the Waterhouse hotel, which established Neri&Hu as a firm known for a sensitive approach to design. In addition to helming the firm, they both teach at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design as visiting professors. Beyond the iconic buildings they’ve created, the duo sees it as their legacy to give back what they’ve learned to the next generation of designers and architects.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

EDSA principal Kona Gray says he stumbled upon landscape architecture, and for the past 25 years, he’s been a crucial voice in creating immersive environments for  resorts to senior living facilities and everything in between. One of Gray's initiatives is bringing more people of color into the field, where less than 10 percent of graduating landscape architects are BIPOC. He believes that everyone is meant to have good landscape architecture no matter the cost. It’s a view that fits into his definition of success: being a good, kind person who gives back. “Having a fantastic landscape makes you a better person,” he says. “It’s simple and we overlook it despite walking through it all day. These are things that are integral to human survival.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

George Gottl is the chief creative officer and cofounder of UXUS, a strategic global design consultancy. But it’s also much more than that. When Gottl and his team are working with a client—whether that’s Sephora, H&M, or IHG—they are cultivating a one-of-a-kind experience. He honed this skill when he worked at Nike, which taught him how to craft ideas and tell a story. In fact, the former fashion designer has a soft spot for retail in particular. He used to own interiors store Relic in Los Angeles. It was a passion project of his that has extended to his work at UXUS. “Retail is a show,” he says, “and I love putting on a show.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Ed Ng, along with partner Terrance Ngan, founded the Hong Kong-based design firm in 1999. He counts the W Bali, which opened in 2009, as the firm’s big break, putting them on the map of international hospitality. Fast forward to today and the recently opened Argo in the Four Seasons Hong Kong is a full circle moment for Ng, who was born and bred here, and who sees the project as a personal and firm highlight—both as reimagining Hong Kong’s F&B scene and as a nod to the firm’s legacy of crafting design-forward, location-driven spaces that spark curiosity.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

We revisit our conversation with president and CEO of EDG Jennifer Johanson, who, later this year, will be inducted into HD's Platinum Circle. Johanson's illustrious career spans decades, including working at John Powers Associates s before joining Eric Engstrom’s firm in 1989 (the firm changed its name to EDG Design in 2007 when Engstrom retired). Today, she runs the company alongside her husband, Patrick O’Hare. Together, they have spearheaded such projects as the Viceroy DC, Lulu’s Lounge, and the Andaz Scottsdale.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

The former advertising executive turned real estate maven, Naomi Heaton recently launched the Other House, a members’ club-meets-longterm rental option for the next generation of travelers. Heaton set out to create a brand that focuses on flexibility and technology, thanks to a proprietary app that invites guests to create their own personalized journey all from their phone. This hospitality model is partially in response to the pandemic as people have become more discerning with how and why they travel. With two properties opening in London in the next two years, Heaton is planning to expand the brand globally, providing residents with a second home as they move from club to club around the world.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Known for blending luxury with individuality, actress-turned-designer Anouska Hempel is a singular talent. The former Bond girl made her mark on the hotel industry in 1978 when she opened the Blakes in London—a new kind of lifestyle hotel that Hempel describes as a home away from home. From the Hempel Hotel in London and the Six Senses Duxton in Singapore, to her latest, the Monsieur George in Paris, Hempel says her designs flourish because of the people who populate the space. It makes sense for someone who says she loves every aspect of the process. “You don't start out making money,” she says, “you start out being the artist with a dream and then go and do it and hope for the best.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Antionette Carroll, president and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab, founded her St. Louis-based nonprofit after the Ferguson uprisings in 2014. She describes herself as a social entrepreneur; equity designer; and diversity, equity and inclusion specialist, and her mission is more important now than ever. Carroll is building a movement dedicated to highlighting youth-centered Black and Latinx voices in an effort to create actual systemic change. Here, she shares her inspiring journey from doing living room craft hours with her grandmother as a child to losing her 13-year-old brother to gun violence, which led her to conceive Creative Reaction Lab, a creative problem-solving process that gives communities the tools they need to dismantle systemic oppression and create a future of equity for all.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Queens, New York-born and raised architect Deborah Berke fascination with design started as a teenager while imagining the inside of houses in her neighborhood. She later attended RISD, went back to school to learn about urban planning, and finally got involved with 21c Hotels having never designed a hotel at that point. Today, she manages Deborah Burke & Partners alongside ten other partners, covering everything from universities to high-end residential and hospitality. “One’s life should be the pursuit of the balance between generosity and fulfillment,” says the dean of architecture at Yale. “You’re never going to find the answer, but if you keep looking for it, both you and others will benefit.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Paula Scher's career is as wide ranging as it is inspirational. The former art student, who pivoted to graphic design, is also a children’s book author; she’s designed album covers for artists like John Prine; she launched her own magazine, Together, with Terry Koppel; and she became the first female partner at New York-based multidisciplinary firm Pentagram. Among her many clients, her indelible work has transformed the Public Theater in New York, where she learned many lessons over the course of the almost 30 year relationship. Though she has sometimes felt like a misfit, she sees that as another way of rebelling against the belief of what she’s supposed to be. From the beginning, she says, “I have tried to defy expectations.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

For this episode, we toe the line of hospitality a bit with a chat with entrepreneur and cofounder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia. There’s no question that what he’s built with partner Brian Chesky has been among the most major paradigm shifts in the travel industry since its inception. Hatching the lucrative idea out of personal necessity in 2007, when he was just in his mid 20s, the start-up has only accelerated and expanded into much more than an online booking service in the years since, and today the brand is, quite literally, a household name. Our conversation with this brilliant mind spans the first idea he ever tried to sell (Hint: it’s a cushion), how he recruited his cofounders at the onset of the Great Recession, his love for air beds, and how Airbnb is evolving to better serve the future. Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Hailing from northern Italy, Network of Architecture, or noa*, cofounder and architect Lukas Rungger cites Roman architecture as a major influence on his career. He started out as a professor in the region before he moved to London and cut his teeth with the likes of Softroom Architects and Matteo Thun. It’s there that he met his business partner Stefan and they started noa* in Italy in 2010. Their approach is collaborative and holistic, melding the interiors with the land and opting quality versus quantity when it comes to the projects they take on. Take the recent GFELL hotel in Italy, which they dub a hotel under a barn, or the Floris Hotel, which integrates itself into the surrounding park. His and his firm’s work and the lessons learned along the way serve as perfect inspirations for today’s world.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Cofounder of his namesake development company, Keith Menin has spent his career building an eclectic portfolio in his native Miami with such notable openings as the Sanctuary South Beach, which he conceived when he was only 23 years old. Included in those buzzy projects is the redo of the Shelborne South Beach Hotel, and soon, the 51-story Natiivo Miami. The residential-hospitality-lifestyle hybrid is a nod to the evolving industry, as well as to Menin’s ability to create exciting spaces that respond to how people live, work, and play today.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Robin Staten started her career in higher education but pivoted to hospitality in 2018 when she wanted do something that contributed more significantly to the world. Enter Tiny Urban Escapes. Launching in her native Indianapolis, Staten repurposes shipping containers into idyllic getaways that act as a welcome respite from city life. Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

It seems there’s nothing Marquise Stillwell and his New York design and research firm can’t do. His projects promote inclusion and equity, rethink the norm, and bring people together, seen in forward-thinking concepts for Black Girls Code, the Lowline, and the DC public library. Stillwell is also a film producer and co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, an organization focused on developing policy solutions for coastal cities. Our conversation spans the different, fascinating facets of his career, and it’s clear Stillwell’s mantra can be boiled down to one succinct remark he made: “Empathy is a muscle. It’s something you have to practice and build every day.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Larry Traxler joined Hilton in 2009 as senior vice president of global design, where he's helped double its portfolio to 6,500 hotels and overseen brand launches and refreshes that have transformed Hilton into a global powerhouse in nearly every segment. Traxler's thoughtful approach to his career and life is what makes him stand out in this industry. “It’s better to be lucky than good,” he says. “If you’re passionate about everything that you do and invest everything you have, opportunities will land in your lap.”Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

This week, we spoke with creative director and principal of her own studio Nicole Hollis. A master of both hospitality and residential interiors, the renowned designer got her start in Manhattan studying at FIT before packing everything up and moving to San Francisco without so much as a job offer. It was the right move. She first became part of the team that conceived W hotels, and then cut her teeth with Howard Backen before starting her own firm. Almost two decades later, she is known for her curated black and white spaces that marry architecture and interior design seen in her warm, residentially inspired spin on hotels such as The Candler and El Prado, much of which is captured in her first Monograph, released last year. In this enlightening interview, she discusses what drives and excited her and our changing world.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

An unabashed free spirit hailing from Texas, president and CEO of EDG Jennifer Johanson walks us through her unplanned entry into the hospitality world, her evolved managing style thanks to COVID, the importance of collaboration, what she loves about restaurants versus hotels, and her secrets to success with an inspiring matter of fact approach. Her illustrious career spanning decades, our conversation spans her search on the San Francisco waterfront for a job to her instant classic the Andaz Scottsdale. Later this year, we also have the honor of inducting Jennifer into HD’s Platinum Circle.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Since she was a child growing up in Detroit, Kimberly Dowdell, the former president of NOMA and principal in the Chicago office at HOK, saw how the built environment can improve the quality of urban life, leading her to pursue degrees in both public policy and architecture. This summer, amid Black Lives Matter protests and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, NOMA—with Kimberly at the helm—addressed these twin crises by emphasizing the importance of mentorship, representation, inclusivity, and equity. This shift to advocacy and empowering communities has been a big part of Dowdell's journey, allowing her to tap into a reservoir of resilience, she says, that keeps her fighting for another day to do the work that’s so important.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Prolific designer and architect Jeffrey Beers grew up traveling the world with his parents, which instilled in him a love of hospitality and design—a skill he honed under a who’s who of mentors, including Dale Chihuly, Oscar Niemeyer, and I.M. Pei. For the self-described rebel entrepreneur, his passion for the industry is as present today as it was more than three decades ago, cementing his legacy as one of the forefathers of hospitality design today.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

On this week’s What I’ve Learned podcast, hoteliers Alex and Carrie Vik of Vik Retreats discuss their properties, primarily found in South America, and sustainably immersing guests into their natural surroundings. In this illuminating conversation, the couple details how they first fell in love with Uruguay on family vacations and holidays before building properties there. They also speak to their passions for wine, art, agriculture, and the little things that make a design work.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Long-time friends and partners at Toronto-based studio DesignAgency, Allen Chan, Matt Davis, and Anwar Mekhayech, discuss their beginnings working in restaurants and designing hotel branding before taking on sizable projects such as The Generator and Momofuku. Our extensive conversation puts their energy and kinship on display as they detail how they came together, their studio’s ethos, and what’s next for hospitality design.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Among her many accomplishments, the tennis superstar has found time to launch her own design firm, V Starr Interiors, as well as start her own fashion brand, EleVen. Unsurprisingly, Williams is driven by a competitive spirit that has made her a noteworthy contender on and off the court.   This episode is brought to you by Global Allies. For more information, go to globalallies.com.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

London born and raised designer Tara Bernerd’s sprawling career spans leaving school at age 16, a stint at Vogue magazine, and invaluable industry experience at London firm YOO before setting off to build her own firm. She credits her greatest inspirations and mentors as journalist Jane Mulvagh, design legends John Hitchcox and Philippe Starck, as well as her father, who she says taught her her greatest lesson to date. In our conversation, she details her work with Equinox Hotels, her favorite travel destinations, and dealing with COVID-19.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Though born in Ohio, award winning chef and restauranteur Andrew Carmellini’s Italian roots have pervaded much of his storied career, which includes New York City mainstays new and old, from Locanda Verde, The Dutch, and Bar Primi to across the East River with Leuca and Westlight in the new William Vale. The James Beard and Michelin star honoree talks through his foundational trips through Italy and France’s respective wine countries, cooking for the Cuomos, the cities that entice him outside the Big Apple, and much, much more.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Sheldon Scott is an artist of many disciplines based in Washington, DC who is bringing attention to the crucial issues of racial inequality and systemic racism through his work. In fact, he was among the inaugural finalists in performance art for the Smithsonian’s 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, for which he kneeled on a burlap sack and hulled rice for six days straight as a tribute to his ancestors. Scott started his career in psychology, finding Boys & Girls Club of America before diving into the art world. Today, he is also the director of culture at Eaton DC, entering the hospitality fray with a brand committed to activism and inclusivity. In our fascinating interview, Scott clued us in on what makes his artistic and entrepreneurial mind tick.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.

Industry legend Roger Thomas, the designer behind such iconic Las Vegas mainstays as the Wynn and the Bellagio, details his entire career from first meeting Steve Wynn to taking his work across the globe and starting his own product line. Full of anecdotes from his stories history on the Vegas strip and beyond, the endlessly charming Thomas reflects on his career while offering sage advice for the creatives dreaming up tomorrow's future.Thank you for listening! For more of our great interviews, find us at hospitalitydesign.com.