Davonne Reaves has a mission: to teach people how to become hotel professionals and increase the percentage of African-American hotel owners. She taps into her 14 years of hospitality experience to run her Atlanta-based firm, The Vonne Group, which offers coaching and courses that make hotel ownership relatable for aspiring industry professionals.
Hotel Business spoke with Reaves about her initiative to “create” hotel owners and investors, walking us through her plans and goals.
Why hospitality? What about the industry inspires and motivates you? Hospitality had always been a passion of mine before I even knew it was a thing. My late godmother was a corporate event planner and, as a teenager, I would assist her with her events. During this time, I enjoyed working with other ethnicities because I was able to learn about different cultures. I’m a sponge for learning. For example, I worked with a lot of people from Bosnia, Croatia and The Gambia. Working with people from different cultures early in my career has helped me become a better leader working with other cultures on various professional boards and companies.
The hospitality industry inspires me because it’s one of the few industries that you can start off as a dishwasher and become a CEO. There are so many career paths in the industry that I don’t think people realize. Accounting, hotel ownership, asset management, graphic design, architecture and so many more.
What was your first hospitality job? What did you learn from it? During a moment in college, I was asked if I wanted a job as a front-desk agent, and as a broke college student, I said, “Yes!” I learned how to work with different age groups; I learned how to work with other cultures. I learned the fundamentals of the hotel industry. I knew the importance of taking care of employees first because they are your internal guests and, as a result, they should take care of your external guests. This has helped me become a better leader and hotel owner because I’m not that far removed from the front desk, and I remember providing the guest experience. Some things may have changed, but taking care of the employees shouldn’t change.
Can you describe the work you currently do? Why are you so passionate about it? Currently, I serve as a fund manager, asset manager and hospitality consultant. As a fund manager, I oversee a fund that invests in hotels. As an asset manager. I watch my hotel asset on behalf of my hotel ownership group. And as a hotel consultant, I help turn people into successful hotel owners.
How do you teach people to become successful hotel owners? I spread awareness education, and awareness is how I’ll be able to reach people to become successful. I’ve created online courses where I teach people the fundamentals of hotel ownership and investing to reach 221 hotel owners and investors. This consists of learning how to assemble an acquisition team, connecting people to other hotel ancillaries (appraisers, asset managers, management companies), and assisting people in deciding the brand or type of hotel that works best for them.
Why is increasing the number of African-American hotel owners so important right now? Not only is it important right now, but it’s essential for the future. There’s an ongoing conversation about diversity and inclusion, but to help change this to actionable steps, we have to have more of a diverse ownership and leadership base. I plan on assisting that cause with my initiative to create 221 hotel owners and investors. I will accomplish this goal through education and awareness. A lot of African-Americans are unaware of the opportunities to invest in or own a hotel. I teach people that they can invest in hotels through REITs, crowdfunding platforms, private funding or becoming a syndicator.
Why is diversity and inclusion as a whole so important to our industry? What needs to change to promote this more successfully? Diversity and inclusion are vital to our industry because every culture, race, shape and size steps into our hotels. Why doesn’t our leadership or ownership reflect that? Pathways need to be created to help change that––starting with education at the high school and college level. What is being taught to expand students’ minds to the various opportunities the hospitality industry has to offer? There’s a path for front-desk agents to become general managers, but not a pathway to becoming a hotel owner or CEO.
What’s the most challenging part of your job, and what keeps you awake at night? I am getting minority business minds across the country to shift toward hotel investment and ownership. There’s a massive market for it and, right now, less than 2% of hotel owners are African-American and less than 1% are Black women.
I am not meeting my 221 goals. I’m not sleeping until I achieve it. It’s the year 2021, and I thought it would’ve been too cliché to say 100 new Black hotel owners and investors—and 2,021 would be too aggressive. So, 221 started to stick and became more attainable.
Do you have an example of a setback you faced that you overcame? What did this teach you? I’ve had plenty of setbacks and I’ve failed numerous times. I didn’t get the promotions or jobs I thought I deserved. It has helped me grow because I learned from my mistakes and realized that nothing is given. And if it’s something that you want, but you don’t get a job or promotion, then create your way. These setbacks motivated me to make my latest initiatives, both 221 and the Stay Black Experience, which aims to create spaces for more underserving minorities to build capital. The goal is to, ultimately, provide more job opportunities for growth for people who look like me.
What is something the industry may not know about you? I’m a huge Beyoncé fan (I’m part of the Beyhive). Beyoncé inspires me because of her work ethic and her dedication to her craft. Beyoncé inspired me to have a better work ethic. She continues to evolve and is the epitome of strategic partnerships and developing a solid brand. Many people see her as just an entertainer, but I see her as a businesswoman, a mom, wife, daughter, sister and so much more. She is the epitome of “follow your passion and the money will come.” I consider myself a game-changer, and a little competitive as well. I want to be the best of the best of the best. Beyoncé is the best of the best.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received, and what advice would you share? Follow your passion; the money will come. I received this advice during an internship after college. Before I heard this, I was laser-focused on making a lot of money and excelling in my career. Yet, I still wasn’t focused because I wasn’t following my passion. At the time, I didn’t know what my passion was. I realized that I loved the hotel industry, and that was my passion. It has various career paths, but I discovered my passion was the transactional side of the industry. I’m giving this same advice to others because once I became laser-focused on the hotel industry, specifically the ownership side, that’s when my career skyrocketed.
What’s your five- or 10-year plan? To own a hotel from each brand; create a more accessible pathway on a national scale for folks to become hotel owners and investors; create more scholarships for underprivileged communities; and support an increase in Black hospitality leaders through our Stay Black Experience campaign.