.png)
Tracy Prigmore, the visionary behind She Has a Deal, a platform dedicated to empowering women in the hospitality industry, has been honored with the prestigious 2024 Pioneer Award. The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), in collaboration with the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), presented Tracy with this recognition during the conference in Los Angeles.
Advocating for Women in Hospitality
Kristie Dickinson, ISHC President and Managing Director/EVP of CHMWarnick presented Tracy with the award during the conference plenary session. Dickinson remarked, “Tracy is a hotel owner, operator, develop, fund manager, educator, mentor, and founder of the She Has a Deal. pitch competition, which educates and awards equity to women to acquire hotels. She is relentless in her advocacy for increasing diversity in hotel ownership and holds senior leaders accountable to ensure women have access to capital and the support they need to overcome historical barriers to entry to hotel investment.”
Jonathan Jaeger, ISHC Awards Committee Chair and Senior Managing Director of LW Hospitality Advisors commented “Pioneers are people who do things for the first time and open new pathways for many years to come. Tracy is a true pioneer in our industry, and we are excited to present her with this award.”
“It’s an honor to receive recognition for something that is really about the heart and is a passion for me, helping other people and being a servant leader.” –– Tracy Prigmore
Inspiration Behind She Has a Deal
On her inspiration for creating the She Has a Deal. competition, Tracy said “It started because I found it very challenging to find the information I needed to be comfortable with the risks and to be successful as a hotel owner, and because I knew other women were interested in becoming owners and developers, I didn’t want them to have the same challenges and experience the same barriers that I did.” She concluded that “She Has a Deal. is everything I wish I knew before I started, everything I learned along the way, and everything I continue to learn each and every day as an owner and operator and now a developer.”
Diversity in Hotel Ownership
On the key to expanding diversity in hotel ownership, Prigmore noted, “It’s really to recognize that there are disparities between wealth, net worth, and liquidity for women and people of color just based on systemic issues in the past that kept us from earning and creating wealth and recognizing those challenges with the criteria that are traditionally applied. If you really want more women owning and developing, the criteria must shift.”
“Tracy is a leader, an inspiration, and she’s making a difference not only in the lives of the women she trains and supports, but also in her education and engagement of our industry leaders to make changes from the top down a reality,” remarked Kristie Dickinson, President of ISHC.
“Providing inspiration is a defining attribute for a Pioneer Award recipient, and the entire ALIS, The BHN Group and Northstar Travel Group team is proud to recognize Tracy Prigmore’s impact on the hotel industry through her inspirational and pro-active approach to opening doors in the hotel-investment community,” said Jeff Higley, President of The BHN Group. “It is visionaries like Tracy that pave the way for new approaches that facilitate growth and opportunities for so many individuals and the industry as a whole.”
The Pioneer Award, established in partnership with ALIS in 1996, celebrates individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the hospitality industry. Past recipients of this esteemed award include notable figures like Peggy Berg, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Jonathan Tisch, J.W. Marriott, and Bill Kimpton, among others. Tracy Prigmore joins this distinguished list as a true pioneer in the world of hospitality.