Ep. 38: From one hotel to many hotels, with Davonne Reaves

Feb 23

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I’m so excited to bring Davonne Reaves on the show today.

Davonne is the founder and chief hospitality strategist of The Vonne Group, where she helps aspiring hotel owners achieve their dreams. She is the co-founder of Epiq Collective, a real estate venture that harnesses the power of a collective community to invest in commercial real estate deals within hospitality and also beyond. To date, Davonne and her co-founder Jessica Myers have purchased more than $14 million dollars in commercial real estate.

I’m calling it right now: Davonne Reaves is one to watch in our industry. She’s a woman on a mission—and I’m so excited to share her story today.

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I really enjoyed my conversation with Davonne Reaves. My key takeaways were:

1. Build a brand that’s bigger than yourself. Davonne talks about abundance—her hotel ownership story begins with a promise to her grandmother, and then it grew. This year, Davonne’s goal is to create 221 hotel owners. Then there’s the scholarship fund, that I really see as a stepping stone for future hotel owners, and greater representation in our industry.

2. When it comes to hotel investment and hotel ownerships, there’s not just one straight and narrow path to the top. Davonne’s story is a testament to that. And yes, it’s possible to be sitting at a front desk of a hotel, and do more than dream about becoming a hotel owner. Not only do opportunities exist in today’s market to own a distressed asset and get your foot in the door, but you can also lean on crowdfunding and Davonne’s Epiq Collective to source investment dollars and resources.

3. Davonne’s passion for the industry had me thinking about the many ways each one of us can do our part to make our industry more representative of the world we’d like to live in—a world where 7 year olds can dream about hotel ownership, and 8 year olds are realizing that Black History is actively being made, with people like Davonne Reaves leading the charge. Davonne is building her legacy each and every day.

As always, keep sharing your stories.