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

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

Plated Skin Science

EltaMD

Revision Skincare

ZoSkinHealth

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

Olive and Sea

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

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/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-yip-19659421/

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

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

The Mining Exchange Hotel

Americana Motor Hotel

Soho Farmhouse

Estelle Manor

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