The Launch!

Wilshire Hospitality... It's a name that I believe has several meanings, rings true to the core, and sounds pretty flippin' good... To give y'all a bit of background, when the Shindler Clan of LSD (that's Lake Shore Drive people, c'mon) moved from the digs overlooking Belmont Harbor, we crash landed in Wilmette, specifically, 'Hollywood in Wilmette' on a little street called Wilshire Drive East... From there, I think the rest should be relatively self-explanatory, as I was admitted (by the grace of someone's magic wand) to Cornell's 'prestigious' School of Hotel Administration while living on Wilshire Drive East... Some could legitimately argue that my hospitality career began when Carey was born, as that is when Dad opted to take the trip from real estate to hotels... It was probably one of the many Levy-genes that I inherited that got me in to this business in some way shape or form, but it has seemingly all worked out for the best...

However, I digress... I knew pretty early on in my Cornell days that I wanted to be on the ownership side, and in the late 90's/early 00's, the 'in-thing' seemed to be naming your fun after the street on which the office was located, so, I very quickly, and very astutely, selected Wilshire Hospitality as the 'brand' that I would create in some way shape or form (hotel ownership, asset management/services/consulting, operations of hotels/restaurants/bars/clubs, etc...) down the road when I was an adult and could be treated as such and respected by my peer group.

So, after partying ways with Gettys in the summer (northern hemisphere) of 2008, I began some independent, project-based consulting for some previous employers, and had the chance to work with Dad on a few projects he was kind enough to bring me in to, which was great, and quite rewarding. Working side-by-side with him (the client happened to be a father-son team as well) gave me the confidence (not just because he was blowing smoke up my ass) that I actually could work in the industry as a projessional, and that the experience that I had so meticulously charted over the previous years had apparently paid off...

It was pretty soon thereafter that I began using Wilshire Hospitality as the trade name (Adam Shindler d/b/a Wilshire Hospitality), and it wasn't until about 8 months later that I actually got myself up and running with a web-page (I expect to have the next versions published soon), email address, logo, etc... A good friend of mine from NYC, an Argentine guy who has really helped me get comfortable here, has been my designer for everything, and he will probably be fed up with my tendencies for absolute perfection when this process is all said and done, but so far, I now have a brand, I have a mark, I have a client, and I'm working on the rest as it comes together...

I'm pretty excited that I'm still moving toward a goal I had when I was 18, and I'm living the dream every day... Here's to the rest of 2009, and making dreams come alive!

This, of course, is coming from an insider's perspective (p.s. that's my tag line)...