McLean,
VA, May 19, 2021—
Officials of She Has a Deal today announced the five finalist teams selected to
advance to the final round of their annual hotel investment pitch competition
to compete for the prize of $50,000 in hotel deal equity following the
conclusion of a virtual, preliminary round of pitching.
 |
| Sara Glenn |
The
goal of She Has a Deal is to increase the number of women hotel owners and
developers, and the organization offers inspiration and education to channel
the power of collaboration and mentorship.
She
Has a Deal creates new pathways to hotel ownership and development by exposing
participants to the hard-to-find details needed to successfully source, analyze
and close hotel real estate investment deals.
During the preliminary judging round,
seven teams comprised of 15 participants pitched their hotel investment
acquisition or development plans live on Zoom to a judging panel of top-level
hotel business executives, entrepreneurs and investors.
 |
| Nancy Guzman |
The
judges evaluated and selected the following five teams, listed in alphabetical
order:
1. Celeste Companies: Emma Spring from
Washington State University
2. Eden Investment Management LLC: Angel Deng
and Kayleen Fan from Cornell University
3. Emerald Investments: Lexi Effron,
Keslie Easton and Nikki Loseff from San Diego State University
4. PAIZA GROUP LLC: Sana Mahmood from
Zigurat Global Institute of Technology
5. PEN Investment: Polina Shavrina, Nadia Cismesia and
Emma Toppi from Michigan State University
The teams, who started the She Has a Deal
process in December 2020, completed more than 12 hours of intensive hotel
investment education to learn how to source, evaluate and raise capital for a
real hotel deal.
 |
| Sana Mahmood |
"I had the privilege of participating
on one of the judging panels for this year’s competition, and I have to say the
whole experience was really well done – well-organized, user-friendly for the
judges, thorough for the candidates. It is an inspiring initiative –
desperately needed and truly on point," said Sara Glenn,
competition judge and senior vice president, operations, North & Central
America, Accor.
 |
| Leslie Easton |
Pitches included ground-up construction,
adaptive reuse and conversions of hotels in markets ranging from Silicon Valley
and Seattle to Miami and Chantilly, Va.
Judge and SHaD Alumni Nancy Guzman,
director of development, HACC, said, “I was impressed by the caliber of the
presentations and the confidence these women exude. I’m excited to see these
changemakers enter the industry and shake things up. The future of hospitality
is female!”
 |
| Nikki Loseff |
“I signed up for She Has a Deal to bridge the
gap between where I currently stand in my career and my dream of becoming a
developer," said Sana Mahmood, finalist, who also is pursuing a
Masters in Global BIM Management at Zigurat Global Institute of Technology.
"I
knew that knowledge was the key to this success, but the right education in the
development space was hard to find. I got everything I wanted from SHaD plus
more.
 |
| Tracy Prigmore |
"I
know there is nothing I can’t accomplish with the fearless SHaD squad on my
side.”
"Competing on the Emerald Investments team
for SHaD has been nothing short of life-changing. Lexi Effron, Nikki Loseff
and I didn't even know each other before becoming a pitch team, and we've grown
so much together," said Keslie Easton, finalist representing the
Emerald Investments team from San Diego State University.
"We
all had prior operations experience, but becoming hotel investors was nowhere
on our radar. It's now a reality for us thanks to Tracy and the rest of
the SHaD Squad! We can't wait for the next steps ahead of us."
She Has a Deal founder, Tracy Prigmore
of TLTsolutions, said about the virtual competition:
 |
| Stephanie Linnartz. |
“I continue to be inspired and impressed by
the quality of the pitches. I know how hard these women have worked on
their projects, and to watch them put what they learned into action gives me
confidence that our industry will see more women-led projects come to fruition
in the future.”
Tracy went on to say, “Our founding sponsors,
Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International, continue to demonstrate a deep
commitment to diversifying the ownership of their brands.
"Their
support, and the support of all our sponsors, make it clear that the hotel
business is moving in the right direction.
 |
| Angel Deng |
"After
a challenging year, it gives me hope that our industry has come together to
become more diverse and inclusive on the investment side of the business, which
is the mission of She Has a Deal.”
The final pitch competition will take
place at the Innovation Gallery at Hilton McLean Tysons Corner on June 5.
The
competition will be followed by an awards and networking luncheon where the
participants will be celebrated, and they will be inspired by guest speaker
President of Marriott Stephanie Linnartz.
For
more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.shehasadeal.com.
CONTACT:
CHRIS DALY
PRESIDENT
DG Public Relations, LLC
42806 Oatyer Court
Broadlands, Va. 20148
Main: 703-435-6293
Mobile: 703-864-5553
chris@dalygray.com | www.dalygray.com
