Damon Lawrence is the Founder & CEO of Homage Hospitality and a hotelier I truly respect. I've known Damon for about a year and have always respected him. Definitely a professional crush of mine. A lot of aspiring hoteliers are pretty vapid, honestly, and aren't getting into the business for the right reasons. But, Homage speaks for itself.

When we spoke on Tuesday for Ahead of the Curve, I asked Damon if there was anything he wanted to cover that was especially top of mind for him. He said: "I think this is the perfect day to even do this because I feel free, personally. I had to do the dance of not being authentically 100% myself for such a long time."

We covered A LOT: the beauty and diversity of Black Culture in different American cities, brand call-outs, and the influx of long overdue capital attention following the murder of George Floyd. Like, really? This is nothing new.