EXECUTIVE TEAM
Andrew
Brussard
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Co-Founder & UX Designer
Andrew Brussard has explored over 50 countries over the past seven years. Over the years, Andrew assisted hostel operators and owners to develop communal and social atmospheres to drive traveler engagement and local experiences.
Andrew has a deep passion for hosteling culture and the communal nature hostel culture creates through group events, activities, and excursions.
Keenan
O'Leary
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Co-Founder & CEO
Keenan O'Leary serve as Chief Executive Officer and spent his entire 20+ year career in hospitality operations and real estate finance. Keenan has valued over $4 billion in hotel related assets while a Director at Cushman & Wakefield in the New York City and Seattle offices. Subsequent to C&W, he traveled throughout Europe, Middle East, and Asia researching hostel accommodations and operations before returning to work for American Life, Inc., one of the largest EB-5 investment companies in the U.S., as Director of Investment Analysis.
As a graduate of both Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and the Culinary Institute of America, Keenan has an obsession for hospitality, food, and travel.
Brandon
Parker
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Head of Product Development
Brandon Parker is a manufacturing and fabrication specialist with 19 years of experience with a strong focus on product development and oversight. He has lead business operations projects worth over $60 million of fabricated equipment and been responsible for complex quality management systems. With a deep understanding of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S, OSHA, EPA, L&I and fire code regulations, Brandon has worked with multiple different manufactures around the world and has overseen the control of material traceability for all projects and materials while managing internal staff and third-party contractors to adjust activities to meet or exceed company goals.
James
Lee
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Mechanical & Industrial Designer
James Lee is an industrial designer and mechanical technologist based in Vancouver, Canada and Seoul, South Korea. For over a decade he's been heavily involved in every step of the product design process of multiple consumer goods, from toothbrushes to prefabricated architecture and everything in between. Starting with initial napkin sketches all the way to final mass production, having worked with countless manufacturers in North America, Europe, and Asia, his experience has been hands-on and behind the scenes, ensuring that ideas are made into high-quality, tangible realities.
As the lead Industrial Designer for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic games, James was responsible for designing and executing high profile designs that were showcased on the world stage, under the strictest of timelines and logistical constraints.
Tyler
Mugford
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Head of Hospitality Integration
Tyler Mugford serves as Head of Hospitality Integration and brings 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He previously held management roles at The St. Regis Aspen, Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, and The Phoenician Scottsdale. In addition, Tyler was on the opening team of the $120 million Pendry Hotel in San Diego. Tyler is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and is currently General Manager of the Goldener Hirsch Inn, a luxury hotel in the final stage of a multi-million-dollar renovation and expansion in Deer Valley, Utah.
Sally
Hennemuth
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Head of Operations
Sally Hennemuth has spent her entire career and over 17 years in hospitality. Sally’s background is primarily operations, specializing in new location openings and turning around struggling locations to be fiscally secure through improved operating standards. She has worked for several prestigious companies, such as Hillstone Restaurant Group and Bon Appetit, and spent the last year as an Account Executive at Compeat in software sales. Sally is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.
ADVISORY TEAM
Tanya
Wong
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Houlihan Lokey
Over the course of her career, Tanya has worked on a variety of real estate transactions, primarily focused in the lodging and leisure space. A passionate hotelier, Tanya believes in the value of innovating hospitality on an on-going basis.
Tanya’s investment and deal structuring experience crosses many product types including hotel acquisitions/dispositions, hotel development, commercial leasing, real estate credit underwriting, capital raising, and M&A. Tanya is currently a member of Houlihan Lokey’s Real Estate Investment Banking team, focusing on mid-market M&A and capital raising. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, she was Director of Global Real Estate at Sonder, where she led the company’s real estate expansion efforts in nearly quadrupling unit count. Earlier, she was Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ Realty Management Division where she completed more than $2 billion in hotel dispositions, $100 million in hotel acquisitions, and more than $4 billion in financings and capital restructurings.
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JP
Marinelli
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Hickory Advisors
J.P. Marinelli has spent his legal and investment banking career working in the Cities of London and New York. He managed the London Finance Desk at Lehman Brothers International running debt and equity offerings for sovereign, quasi-sovereign and multinational corporations.
Subsequent to Lehman, JP joined as Managing Director and the head of Real Estate Investment Banking at Citi Global Strategies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. In over 30 years he has participated in more than $30 billion of capital raises and advised on more than $12 billion of mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations and LBO’s.
For the past few years he has been a Senior Managing Director at Hickory Advisors, a New York City based boutique firm, specializing in financial advisory work for mid-market private entities. He also serves on several corporate boards as well as non-profits.
Shaiza
Damji
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360° Hotel Group
Shaiza Damji serves as the Principal/Managing Director for 360° Hotel Group. She oversees the strategic direction, legal and financial matters for the company’s hotels and other investments. Shaiza graduated from Yale University with a BA in History. She then attended Harvard Law School where she received a JD law degree. She practiced international corporate law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York before returning to the west coast to join her family’s hospitality business.
Shaiza has a passion for hospitality and for the people in the hotel business as well as for looking for innovative ways of delivering the hotel experience to guests. She has extensive experience with both branded and independent hotels. She has served as a board member and Chairperson of the Washington State Hotel & Lodging Association and as a board member of the Seattle Hotel Association. She sits on Marriott’s TownePlace Suites brand Franchisee Advisory Council.
Alif
Nurani
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360° Hotel Group
Alif Nurani has served as Executive Vice President – Development for 360° Hotel Group since 2005. Alif is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He oversees and manages land acquisition and all aspects of new development as well as renovation, expansion and construction of existing hotels within the 360 Hotel Group portfolio. He is committed to high quality construction and innovative design and construction methods.
Examples of ground-up development include the first Marriott Springhill Suites and Marriott TownePlace Suites co-branded hotel in the Marriott system. Large renovation projects include expansion of a hotel from 76 to 102 rooms including conceptualization of the Boeing 727 wing porte cochere and Fokker F-28 awning; overseeing the complete renovation and repositioning of a 30 year old exterior-corridor Ramada Inn into the affordable chic Hotel Nexus; and overseeing the Hilton mandated Perfect Mix lobby and Forever Young guestroom PIPs at a Hampton Inn & Suites.