Explore every episode of the podcast Divine Details
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitality that encourages connection with Ryan Diggins. | 17 Jul 2026 | 00:42:03 | |
On today’s episode I sit down with Ryan Diggins, Founder of Midnight Auteur, an owner and operator of boutique hotels, specifically, The Ramble Hotel in Denver, Colorado and Municipal Grand in Savannah, Georgia. Ryan has a love for activated public spaces that encourage human connection over food and beverage. When The Ramble opened in Denver’s River North Arts District in 2018, it was the first hotel in Denver to bring this “living room” effect to the city. Years later, it remains a destination whether you want to impress some visitors with a night out or enjoy a slow morning coffee by the window. | |||
| The magic behind an exceptional dining experience at Flagstaff House with Kit and Kacey. | 10 Jul 2026 | 00:29:24 | |
On today’s episode, I sit down with two lovely ladies I have had the pleasure of getting to know Kit Sawyer & Kacey Johnson with Flagstaff House in Boulder. Flagstaff House has gone through many identities since 1929 and in 1971, Don Monette, acquired the property with the intent of establishing a truly “fine dining” restaurant concentrated on creating incredible experiences for guests. The team behind Flagstaff House continues to look for new ways to bring exciting tastes to the menu while constantly upgrading the facilities to offer the most forward thinking concepts with regards to service, care, and culinary selections. To hear more about the magic of Flagstaff House I sat down with Kit, Dining Room Manager & Kacey, Assistant Manager with a view overlooking beautiful Boulder. | |||
| OG boutique hotels with Jennie Yip | 05 Sep 2025 | 01:07:05 | |
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/ | |||
| Art in the public realm with Martha McGee | 29 Aug 2025 | 00:42:36 | |
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 | |||
| Hospitality unfiltered with Bashar Wali | 22 Aug 2025 | 01:09:58 | |
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
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| Intentional sustainability and global community in the luxury hotel space with Abhay Bakaya | 15 Aug 2025 | 00:28:55 | |
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 | |||
| Community through yoga, done right, with Daryn Schwartz and Jennifer DeMaio | 08 Aug 2025 | 01:01:40 | |
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 | |||
| Storytelling through food and the art of giving back with Sam Bakhshandehpour of José Andrés Group | 31 Jul 2025 | 00:42:43 | |
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/
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| The importance of quality social media marketing and farm hospitality with Ben Wolff. | 26 Jun 2026 | 00:45:47 | |
On today’s episode I sit down with Ben Wolff. Ben is the Co-Founder of Onera, an upscale landscape hotel brand, and Co-founder & CEO of Oasi, an experiential hospitality marketing, management and development firm. Oasi is a pioneer in the hospitality services industry offering best in class social media marketing, revenue management, guest experience and design-development for upscale to luxury hotels and experiential resorts. Onera and other Oasi managed properties drive 75%+ direct bookings through organic social media and content marketing. Ben is also developing a new hotel concept, Baya, where he taps into his love for farm hospitality. | |||
| Being a first mover in secondary markets with Left Lane CIO, Andy Bernard. | 19 Jun 2026 | 00:34:53 | |
On todays episode I got to sit down with Andy Bernard, the CIO of Left Lane, a New York based hospitality investor that acquires and transforms hotels in high-growth trajectory secondary markets. They create magnetic cultural hubs that people want to come back to over and over. Andy’s Real Estate career spans asset classes and project types, primarily as a hospitality investor. Most recently, he was the Head of Development for Equinox hotels, responsible for projects in the US, Canada, and the UK. He has held leadership positions at Witkoff Group, specializing in distressed debt and hotel development including the Edition Hotel in West Hollywood. | |||
| Inside the nation’s first carbon positive hotel with Urban Villages CEO, Jon Buerge. | 12 Jun 2026 | 00:38:24 | |
On today’s episode, I have the pleasure of sitting down with Jon Buerge, CEO of Urban Villages, a Denver based Real Estate Developer. As Chief Executive Officer, Jon leads the overall strategy, operations, and future growth of Urban Villages. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience within the company, Jon is responsible for executing the firm’s vision and ensuring its mission is woven into every aspect of the business. He provides direct oversight for several key company initiatives, including the development and expansion of Populus Hotels, the brand poised to disrupt the hospitality industry, and the firm’s comprehensive Environmental Stewardship programs. | |||
| Not just a coffee shop with Gia and Sarah | 05 Jun 2026 | 00:55:02 | |
On today’s episode, I am interviewing Gia and Sarah, Co-Owners of Mnemonic Coffee. Located on 5th Ave in Banker’s Hill, San Diego, Mnemonic Coffee is a 1970s inspired coffee shop featuring specialty coffees, teas, and zero-proof drinks. | |||
| Intentional Design and Translating Story into Space with Ashley Wilkins. | 03 Oct 2025 | 01:03:54 | |
On today’s episode I sit down with Ashley Wilkins, Founder of Islyn Studio, an award winning woman-owned and operated design studio, headquartered in New York City. Ashley founded Isle Studio in 2017 as a way to shift design into a kinder, more meaningful place. Hailing from the poppied Coast of Northern California, Wilkins is inspired by the spiritual power inherent in beautiful idiosyncratic places. With a focus on curiosity, collaboration, and cultural storytelling, she and her team build immersive spaces for a wide swath of clients in a range of culturally-relevant industries. Named HD Magazine’s “Wave of the Future”, Ashley’s relentless commitment to innovation and her expertise in spatial storytelling have solidified her as a trailblazer in the design industry, consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in modern design.
Islyn Studio Website: https://www.islynstudio.com/ Instagram: @islynstudio
Ashley Wilkins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleynwilkins/ Instagram: @ashleynwilkins | |||
| Divine skincare and finding the right provider with Shyanie Kumar. | 26 Sep 2025 | 00:56:40 | |
On today’s episode of Divine Details I sit down with Shyanie Kumar, MD. Shyanie is the Founder and Medical Director of Skin Medical Aesthetics and a Trauma Surgeon at Saint Anthony Hospital in Denver, Colorado. She first became interested in aesthetics while struggling with severe cystic acne in her 20s. She underwent many failed treatments and procedures until she finally met the right provider where she learned that detailed consultation with comprehensive skin case therapies results in a successful outcome.
Shyanie wants to provide a place where clients can trust their providers. She wants each client to know that at Skin! Denver they will receive in depth consultations and only be recommended treatments that will work for them. No gimmicks, no over selling and no wild promises that do not pan out only amazing results.
Skin! Medical Aesthetics Website: https://skindenver.co/ Instagram: @skin.denver
Shyanie Kumar Instagram: @denverskinmd
Brands sold at Skin! Medical Aesthetics
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| What makes F&B a successful venture with COJHO's Mitch Prensky | 19 Sep 2025 | 00:46:53 | |
This week, I sat down with Mitch Prensky, Founding Partner of COJHO Hospitality based in New York City. With a focus on hospitality industry trends, food service excellence, and empowering employee training, Mitch’s team delivers unparalleled culinary creation and operations. His journey through notable roles including Director of Culinary at Hyatt, has honed his expertise in F&B concept development and revenue management. His role as Culinary Officer for COJHO, leverages this expertise, where he orchestrates the development of full-service restaurants and hotel F&B operations. Mitch’s vision is to craft unique dining concepts that not only delight guests but also set industry benchmarks.
Mitch Prensky LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-prensky-mba-5865b415/ COJHO: https://cojho.com/
Projects Mentioned | |||
| Ideating with intention with Keghan Hurst and Ashlynn Dawes | 12 Sep 2025 | 00:41:55 | |
Keghan Hurst is the ideator of brands, creator of experiences, and founder of the Fylament Collective —a Denver-based creative strategy studio that transforms ideas into unforgettable brand identities. At Fylament Collective, Keghan leads her "collective" team with a distinctive approach to brand development—one rooted in human connection, emotional resonance, and sensory storytelling. The name says it all: like a filament conducts electricity to spark light, Fylament—with a “Y”—conducts your ideas into something tangible, beautiful, and built to last. From big-picture strategy to the finest brand details, Keghan’s work is all about bringing intention and impact to every touchpoint.
Ashlynn Dawes is a multi-faceted creative with many passions and purposes. She operates professionally under the nom de guerre of Dawes Studio. She is fascinated by developing the most artistic solutions to design quandaries and collecting inspiration from worldly experiences — from vintage finds and quirky curiosities to the natural beauty of Mother Earth. With deep experience in branding design from previous stints at agencies from big to boutique, Ashlynn now brings subtle taste and expressive style to a variety of creative projects: spanning interior concepting, art and installations, illustration and brand identity design, and creative direction of all disciplines.
Keghan Website: www.fylamentcollective.com Instagram: @fylament_collective
Ashlynn Website: Dawes.Studio Instagram: @dawes.studio | |||