Divine Details

This week I sat down to chat Jennie Yip. Jennie is is an entrepreneur, F&B strategist and hospitality consultant. Founder and Creative Director of JenJuice Hospitality and Co-Founder of COJHO. Jennie’s experience in the culinary and hospitality industry spans over three decades. She partners with Real Estate Developers looking to activate spaces with standout F&B, Chefs & Restauranteurs ready to scale or shape their next venture, and Boutique hotel brands that want to create destination-worthy dining and beverage programs. Her collaborations have included hotels such as Gramercy Park, Delano Miami, and Mercer. She has also worked directly with celebrity hoteliers and restauranteurs including Ian Schrager, Geoffrey Zakarian, Andre Balazs, and Jean Georges. 
Today, Jennie has partnered with Mitch Prensky to found COJHO to widen their F&B consultantcy to real estate developers and corporate hotel brands. 
 
Jennie Yip
Website: https://www.jenjuicehospitality.com/about/
COJHO: https://cojho.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-yip-19659421/

Today's guest is Martha McGee, as a formally trained artist, self-taught business woman, and lifelong entrepreneur, NINE dot ARTS CEO Martha McGee aims to be a mentor and champion for aspiring artists and business leaders alike. Martha oversees NINE dot ARTS’ company vision, business strategy, and diverse team development, as well as the firm’s national expansion and growth in its target markets of Denver, Seattle, and Atlanta. Martha also spearheads NINE dot ARTS’ centralized core services by building systems, expertise, and knowledge management tools to scale its vision of being the nation’s leading art consulting and creative placemaking. Martha and Co-founder Molly Casey formed NINE dot ARTS in 2009 with the vision of building a forward-thinking art consulting company that both curates incredible art experiences and advocates for art and artists. Since then, the firm has completed over 1,000 real estate projects across 39 states and five countries, generating more than $50M in revenue for the creative economy. 
 
Where to find Martha
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-mcgee-b112396/
Instagram: @MarthaLouiseMcGee

Bashar Wali is a founder, a father, and a hotel fanatic. His vested interest in hospitality, culture, and design, is cut with curiosity of what’s possible, beyond the status quo. Bashar is always looking for that spark—that perfect symmetry of an idea and its physical manifestation—to make human experiences as we know them, better. 
As founder and CEO of This Assembly and Practice Hospitality, Bashar draws upon expertise honed over a 30-year career in hospitality. An expert in the lifestyle space, Bashar is known for pushing limits in his philosopher-meets-hotelier kind of way. Whether helming the TEDx stage or hosting a Global YPO event Bashar’s message is unwavering: service is what you deliver, hospitality is how you make people feel.
Bashar has done every job in a hotel—from frying an egg to negotiating a deal—working for Starwood Hotels before leading acquisitions and development globally at Grand Heritage Hotels. Prior to launching This Assembly and Practice Hospitality, Bashar served as President/CEO of Provenance Hotels, where he remains a partner, for 15 years, growing the company from five to 15 hotels, 1,500 team members, and expanding the collection from the Pacific Northwest to an award-winning national brand, with annual revenue in excess of $150 million. When Bashar isn’t traveling to 50+ countries and 45+ states, he’s home in Portland, Oregon with his wife and kids, dreaming up the hotels of tomorrow.
 
Bashar
Website: https://basharwali.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basharwali/
Instagram: @basharwali
 
This Assembly
Website: https://www.thisassembly.com/
 
Practice Hospitality
Website: https://www.practicehospitality.com/
 
Locations Mentioned
The Mining Exchange Hotel
Americana Motor Hotel
Soho Farmhouse
Estelle Manor 
 
 
 

Today’s guest is Chief Development Officer of Starwood Hotels, Abhay Bakaya. Abhay is responsible for growing the company’s portfolio of open and pipeline hotels to scale. He leads the expansion of 1 Hotels, Treehouse Hotels, and Baccarat Hotels globally across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, he has focused on real estate and business development for Fairmont-Raffles Hotels, the original Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Marriott International prior to joining Starwood Hotels in 2017. We will discuss sustainability across the Starwood Hotels portfolio and how that creates community across global travelers.
 
Where to find Abhay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhaybakaya/
 
Starwood Hotels: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/experience/hotels-resorts

Today’s guests are the wonderful ladies, Daryn Schwartz and Jennifer DeMaio. Daryn is the Founder of The Space Between, a yoga-inspired well-being space and community, based in Chicago, got the idea to open a yoga studio during savasana in a yoga class in 2016. What transpired from there is nothing short of divine. Daryn has allowed her intuition to inform her, her community to inspire her, and her personal values to guide her. She holds the belief that businesses can be both conscious, compassionate and successful. Daryn has created the space that she would want while navigating the human experience, and she suspects that others need it too. 
Jennifer is a small business owner of Dharma Delights and teacher at The Space Between. Jennifer has been dedicated to yoga for over a decade, and has completed certifications yoga training, Barre, sculpt, prenatal, yoga Nidra, sound healing, Kirtan, and Crystalign Healing. She is passionate about creative sequencing, yoga philosophy, and cosmic energies. She also co-leads teacher trainings and retreats around Chicago and beyond. 
 
Where to find Daryn
Instagram: @darynjs
 
The Space Between
Website: https://thespacebetweenyoga.com/
Instagram: @thespacebetween_yoga
 
Where to find Jennifer
Instagram: @yenyfuryoga
 
Dharma Delights
Instagram: @dharmadelights

Sam Bakhshandehpour is a powerhouse in the culinary and hospitality world. As a two-time CEO, board member, and one of the Top 50 Most Important People in Nightlife & Dining, Sam has played a key role in shaping some of the most influential brands globally.
From leading Michelin-starred restaurants to producing Emmy-winning content, he has always believed in the transformative power of food. Now, as CEO of José Andrés Group, Sam oversees 40+ restaurants and creates content that brings people together. On this episode we sit down with Sam to discuss food, connection, and how it can change the world.
 
Where to find Sam:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sambakhshandehpour/
 
Where to find Jose Andres Group:
JAG Website: https://www.joseandres.com/
The Bazaar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bazaarbyjose/?hl=en
Nubeluz Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nubeluzbyjose/?hl=en
Zaytinya Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zaytinya/
minibar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minibarbyjose/?hl=en
 
Streaming:
Yes Chef!: https://www.nbc.com/yes-chef
Chef's Table: https://www.netflix.com/title/81712001#episodes
Longer Tables: https://open.spotify.com/show/503IMoVqjrfk7m1kbNpPsc
Jose and Family: https://www.max.com/shows/jose-andres-family-in-spain/6c16a375-7ca5-4265-b36e-2ab5379df92a
We Feed People: https://www.hulu.com/movie/we-feed-people-e2be592c-f04f-4462-ae1d-a738bf89d238
Dinner Party Diaries: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.3ca18802-cd0e-48e0-b3df-e8305d087947?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb
The Chef's List: https://thechefslist.substack.com/