Davonne Reaves Biography
One of the ways of giving back to the community is through education and creating awareness. As the popular saying goes give a man fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a life. This is the ultimate goal for Davonne Reaves. She is the president of The Vonne Group, the Founder of a crowdfunding platform called Vester, a podcaster, and a co-owner of three hotels. Her desire is to change the narrative of people in the hospitality. She aspires to see many people of color especially black women thriving in this industry just like she did at the age of 33.
Davonne Reaves Age, Family and Husband
Davonne Reaves is a Philadelphia native born on 28th March 1986. Her father and mother were a great inspiration for her as she grew up. They supported her at the initial stages and have continued doing so even in her adulthood. Reaves’ father, however, passed on in 2018. Despite the setback, Reaves continues to draw inspiration from her family. She is a single mother to her only son Jasmir. Details of Reaves’ further have remained off the public space due to the nature of their relationship.
Davonne Reaves Education
She grew up under the care of her godmother who was an event planner. Despite having hints of her future career, it never occurred to Reaves that she would be in the hospitality business. She went to Jonesboro High School and later to Georgia State University where she did a degree in sociology and a minor in hospitality.
As she grew in her career she got a Real Estate certificate from American Public University System. In 2016, Davonne joined the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute where she got a certificate in Hotel Industry Analytics.
Davonne Reaves Journey to Hotel Ownership
Davonne’s journey in the hotel business started when she was working part-time as a student and a front desk agent at Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Her duties were checking in guests and making sure they were taken care of. This experience sparked an interest in knowing how hotels operate.
After six years, she took an internship opportunity at Horwath HTL while still serving as a front desk agent. Working as an intern exposed Davonne to the corporate side of hotels. She worked with the head consultants to take care of the needs of clients, site selection, feasibility studies, brand selection, industry relations, project management, and operation audits. After three months she got a permanent deal with the hotel and served them for 2 years before moving to Beverly to work as an associate for CHMWarnick.
Getting experience in the corporate side of the business world gave Davonne the desire to become her own boss. In 2017, she started her own consulting and investment firm called The Vonne Group whose aim was to help first-time and experienced hotel owners build their acquisition team, finding hotel brokers, lenders, interior designers, and branding experts.
She created online courses that educate students on the fundamentals of hotel ownership and investments, working with asset managers and management companies. In her first year, she made $25,000 then in 2018 her online courses made her six figures.
Although Davonne had made tremendous progress in the hotel business, she was unsure of when to purchase a hotel. In 2019, Reaves and her college roommate Jessica Myers founded a hotel ownership group called Epiq Collective. In 2020, Epiq Collective partnered with Nassau Investment to buy Home 2 Suites by Hilton at a price of $8.3 Million. After the purchase, the duo broke records by becoming the youngest black women to co-own a hotel under an international hotel brand such as Hilton.
In 2021, she founded Vester, a crowdfunding program for people interested in commercial real estate had hotels. After two years Davonne redesigned Vester from just a crowdfunding platform to an academy and podcast called NextGen in Lodging where experts in the hotel business gather and share ideas about the present and the future of the hotel business. Vester also hold conferences, concerts, and summit where leaders in business, real estate, and hotel industry gather and share their knowledge on the sector.
Owning a hotel opened Davonne to other opportunities and investors. In 2022, she got another deal with Nassau Investments to purchase 2 properties valued at $17.9 million. She completed the deal and became a co-owner of Staybridge Suites in Indianapolis and Hampton Inn and Suites in Scottsburg.
Davonne Reaves Success and Influence.
Her journey from a front desk agent to a hotel owner has been inspiring to many people, especially women of color. Davonne desires to educate and create awareness of the wealth-making opportunities that exist in the hotel business.
Although she was dethroned as the youngest black woman to own a hotel with a major brand, Davonne Reaves is glad she opened up an opportunity to many people. Her work has not gone without recognition as she was listed among the Top 100 Most Inspirational People in Global Hospitality and Travel two times. She has also been recognized by Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Hotel Business Magazine, International Society of Hospitals and Consultants, and Hotel Management Magazine.
Her passion for seeing other people thrive in the business had Davonne authored How to Buy a Hotel: Roadmap to Hotel Ownership. In the book, she takes the readers through all stages of buying a hotel to successfully run it. The book is designed for both first-timers and experienced hotel owners.
We can say that Davonne Reaves has succeeded in his endeavors and has had an influence on young girls. She has joined the caliber of other successful black women like Quiana Watson, Cristyl Kimbrough, and fashion guru Anifa Mvuemba.
Davonne Reaves
Ethnicity: Black
Nationality: American
Age:36
Marital Status: Single
Children: 1
Occupation: Hotel Owner
Height: probably 5 feet and 7 inches
Net Worth: approx $40 million.
