Case Studies Hospitality

Before Christina Pimenta ever set foot on a construction site, she was arguing cases in a Massachusetts courtroom. A political science graduate of UMass Amherst who earned her JD from New England Law Boston, Pimenta spent roughly six years as a litigation attorney before a pivot into real estate law opened a door she hadn’t […]

When Petu Kummala was a university student in Turku, Finland, he spent summers working at a shipyard—not yet designing the vessels that passed through, but installing their interiors, hands deep in the craft of making floating spaces feel like somewhere worth being. He studied naval architecture, never quite imagining that the same shipyard where he […]

Keri Steers has spent much of her life solving practical problems. Long before she entered the professional world of facilities management, she was learning firsthand how buildings worked, spending time on sites, handling tools, and seeing how quickly things could break and be fixed again and ultimately improve people’s lives. Those early experiences built a […]

In the fast-moving world of hospitality construction, where speed and precision must coexist, Matt Schollmeyer has found the perfect rhythm. As senior project manager of design and construction for Wonder, the rapidly expanding mealtime platform founded by entrepreneur Marc Lore, Schollmeyer leads with a balance of technical expertise, calm confidence, and a deep respect for […]

Pat Munley understands that credibility in facilities leadership is earned long before a title is granted. At Wind Creek Casino Chicago Southland, that credibility traces back to the mechanical rooms, rooftops, and overnight shifts where he first learned the realities of building operations. Today, as director of facilities, he oversees a 255-room hotel, a 70,000-square-foot […]

For Chad Severance, success has always been about service—serving clients, colleagues, and communities through projects that inspire wonder while staying grounded in practicality. As Senior Vice President of Development, Construction, and Engineering for Westgate Resorts, Severance brings decades of hands-on experience, global perspective, and team-building acumen to an organization known for transforming vacation experiences across […]

The foundation of Savio Shum’s approach to luxury senior housing was not built in a design studio or a corporate boardroom. It was built on construction sites across Asia, where he started his career on the contractor side, learning the realities of scheduling, sequencing, labor coordination, and the unavoidable tension between drawings and buildability. That […]

For more than two decades, Don Waller has been at the center of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants’ evolution from a regional favorite to a national hospitality powerhouse. As Senior Director of Construction and Facilities, he has helped shape not only the restaurants themselves but also the systems and teams that support their growth. His career is […]

Long before she became director of engineering for the New York Marriott at Brooklyn Bridge, Melanie Glenn understood the value of resilience, service, and technical curiosity. She grew up in Manhattan, where household repairs and conversations at the hardware store shaped her early awareness of how physical spaces work. Her father, as she recalls, was […]

When Paul Dobias first entered the workforce, he never imagined that his path would lead him into the world of hospitality. Born and raised in Chicago, he began his career in customer service and sales, a world away from mechanical systems and property maintenance. Yet the problem-solving mindset he developed early on would later prove […]