Official Site of Damon Lawrence

Hospitality,
from capital to concept.

Hauspitality is an independent hospitality development practice helping owners bring to life their vision for hotels, restaurants, and membership clubs. Just as a house has many rooms that serve and array of purposes, Hauspitality is a multi-disciplinary house for the work of welcoming.

See selected projects How we can work together Get at me
PracticeIndependent consultancy
FocusHotels · F&B · Lifestyle
EngagementsStrategy · Advisory · Development
Ethos — 01

A hotel isn't a building. It's an ecosystem.

…So much so that each tentacle is a micro organism within itself. The world of finance, development, design, branding, creative, food and beverage, procurement — each an individual world with which to navigate.

That's been my superpower in consulting. Having the ability to code switch between these various worlds seamlessly and bringing true value to my clients by helping them navigate the world of hospitality from concept to inception.

More about the practice →
Hauspitality on stage at Hilton
The Ventures — 02

Five ventures. One operator.

01 — Weldon Work

Weldon Work ↗

Co-Founder·weldonwork.com·Workforce Technology

An AI-native workforce OS built exclusively for hospitality. Scheduling, deployment, and labor intelligence designed for operators and the people on the floor — not the HR stack.

  • AI-native scheduling and deployment
  • Cross-functional labor flexibility
  • Hospitality-specific intelligence
  • Operator-first, worker-centered design
02 — Vanadium Group

Vanadium Group ↗

Director of Hospitality·v23group.com·Capital Advisory

A real estate capital advisory specializing in institutional-grade hospitality and mixed-use development. Leading underwriting, investor relations, and deal positioning across multiple markets.

  • Hotel and F&B underwriting
  • Mixed-use development advisory
  • State incentive and grant strategy
  • Institutional investor relations
03 — Homage Hospitality

Homage Hospitality

Founder·Hotel Development

A boutique hotel brand rooted in the cultural identity of the places it inhabits. Homage develops properties that honor their neighborhoods — from New Orleans' Tremé to emerging markets across the South.

  • Historic adaptive reuse
  • Boutique hotel development
  • Integrated F&B concepts
  • Capital raise and LP relations
04 — Weldon Estate

Weldon Estate

Founder·Hotel Development

An elevated hospitality brand for a new standard of living. In development — more to share soon.

  • Elevated hospitality
  • Brand architecture in progress
05 — Heritage Heights

Heritage Heights ↗

Principal·heritageheights.fund·Community Investment

A community-focused investment vehicle building generational wealth in underserved neighborhoods connected to Historically Black Colleges and Universities through real estate and small-business development.

  • Community-anchored real estate
  • Generational wealth strategy
  • Neighborhood revitalization
  • Impact-aligned capital
Selected Work
2020 — 2026

A considered catalogue of recent engagements.

Strategy for storied places The house of hospitality Since 2020 Strategy for storied places The house of hospitality Since 2020
Services — 03

Two ways we work together.

01 / Development

Hospitality Development

End-to-end advisory for hospitality projects — from the moment the deal is imagined to the day the doors open. Structured for operators, developers, and capital partners who need a single seat at the table that spans the full arc of a project.

  • Hotel and F&B underwriting
  • Financial forecasting and feasibility
  • Pro forma and capital stack modeling
  • Institutional investor relations
  • Capital markets
  • Investor materials and pitch decks
02 / Advisory

Ongoing Counsel

For operators who want a strategic partner in their corner month after month. A standing retainer for brand decisions, creative review, launch planning, and the hundred small questions that shape a property's first year. Calm, responsive, focused.

  • Quarterly strategy sessions
  • Launch planning and rollout
  • Creative review and brand stewardship
  • Crisis counsel
  • Team workshops
Panel conversation — Hauspitality on stage
Ideas — 03

Recent writing from the practice.

Read the journal →
Speaking & Press — 04

Conversations, stages, mentions.

Speaking

2026 Hospitality Creators SummitPanel Host HiTEC · San Antonio
2026 HUED HONORSAward Show MC Hospitality HUED Atlanta
2026 Hospitality HUED SummitConference MC Hospitality HUED · New Orleans
2024 Weaving Culture into Hospitality DesignFireside Panel BDNY · NEWH Booth · New York City

Press & Features

2021 Homage Hospitality Founder Has Timing, Concept on His Side Hotels Magazine
2023 Founder of Stay Homage Hotel Brand Pays Homage to Black Culture in Hospitality CoStar
2020 Interview: Damon Lawrence Hospitality Design
2020 Howard Grads Creating Black Spaces in Hospitality Industry Essence
2024 Diversity Remains a Stretch Goal for Black Women Investors Hotel Investment Today
Start a conversation — 05

Have a deal, a concept, or a problem? Reach out.

New projects from Q2 2026 Based in Dallas, Texas Available worldwide
← Index

The Juke
Hotel

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Engagement 01 · In Development
The Juke Hotel exterior rendering, 511 Main Street, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Overview

Hattiesburg's first boutique hotel — celebrating the birthplace of Rock & Roll.

When the Mississippi Jook Band recorded in a Hattiesburg hotel in 1936, it planted the "roots of rock and roll" in the city. The band was short-lived, but the recordings, the musicians, and the music that echoed across Mississippi lived on.

The Juke is a nod to that music history, housed in a set of historic buildings that have witnessed many eras in downtown Hattiesburg. The original facade and brick walls hold the stories of the past as we create new ones in the present.

Engagement

Financial Analysis
Development Advisory
Trade Procurement
Launch Advisory

Industry

Boutique Hotel

Partners

CB2  ·  Interiors
Cohere  ·  Branding
Verb  ·  Architecture

Stats

19 rooms
Courtyard
Bar & Lounge
Restaurant
The Juke Hotel welcome materials — marbled vinyl sleeve and arched welcome card
Room 27 door detail and The Juke Hotel postcards

Rooms numbered like record stacks. Door tags that borrow the language of a jukebox. Postcards that turn a stay into something you'd want to mail home. The whole property is tuned.

Visit The Juke Hotel ↗
The Juke keychain and letterpressed do-not-disturb tags
The Juke matches and Blue Velvet scented candle
The Juke Hotel social content — Juke Sessions vinyl record and playlist
A rhythm runs through the heart of downtown.
— The Juke Hotel
The Juke wooden hanger and branded notepad with pencil
The Juke Hotel business cards on marbled stone
Stay With Heart, Sleep With Soul — The Juke merchandise and room tag

Hauspitality partnered with the Juke ownership from feasibility through pre-opening — underwriting the project, shaping the business case for capital partners, curating the trade package, and advising on the launch strategy as the property prepares to welcome its first guests. A record of attention, from concept to inception.

The Juke Hotel room 27 with vintage postcards
Return to Work

See all engagements

About the practice — 01

Hauspitality is one person, working carefully, with a small bench of trusted partners.

Hauspitality portrait

Hauspitality began the way most independent practices do — quietly, and because of a feeling that the existing options weren't quite right. After fifteen years inside hotels, restaurants, and the agencies that serve them, I started taking on strategy engagements under my own name in 2020. The practice got a name, a point of view, and a small roster of clients it's built around ever since.

The work sits at an unusual intersection: deep hospitality operating experience, a brand strategist's way of thinking, and the patience to sit with a property long enough to actually understand it. Most of what I do for clients is help them say what they've been trying to say. Occasionally it's helping them realize they've been trying to say the wrong thing.

Clients range from first-time independent operators to mid-sized hotel groups navigating a rebrand, a new property, or a leadership transition. I keep the roster small — typically no more than three active engagements at a time — because the work I'm most proud of has always been the work I had room to think about.

Outside of the practice, I write, teach occasionally, and spend too much time in hotel lobbies that aren't mine.

Work with Hauspitality

Let's talk.