Aurora Anguilla is set on the white beaches of Rendezvous Bay . Photo credit : Zuri Wilkes
Sheila Johnson is the founder and CEO of Salamander Collection , which , now 10 years old , includes seven hotels and resorts . about a hotel conference keynote that she ’ s accepted , but the exact details have failed to materialize . Within her vexation springs something ordinary : unlike most , Sheila Johnson is minted , but like most , she can become irritated by the quotidian wheel of life .
For Johnson , it ’ s been a wheel of fortune , one that she has spun with both gumption and humility . Her conference details resolved , Johnson makes her way into the hotel lobby , which in Salamander jargon is referred to as the living room , a nod to Johnson ’ s own Virginia farm home , just minutes away , where she is known to welcome guests in her living room . All Salamander properties have a twist on this .
No sooner has she crossed the threshold before a couple approaches her , almost deferentially . Johnson greets the woman like an old friend , dropping into a conversational casualness not often exuded by business tycoons who tend to emit a particular distance and detachment to those not within their inner circle .
Once the couple has left , Johnson seats herself on a couch , this time not perturbed , but solicitous , empathetic . Turns out , the woman Johnson had been speaking to had been sick and was getting over the malady . Johnson remembered and showed a genuine concern usually reserved for a long-time friend or a family member , not a paying guest .
STANDING ON HER OWN Salamander Collection , which Johnson founded a decade ago , recently went through a rebranding effort — naming conventions , mostly , and storytelling . One thing that hasn ’ t changed is the Salamander credo , conveyed by Johnson , which is front and center on the company ’ s website : “ As a hotel company , our approach to hospitality is the same as it is to family : you will always belong , always feel welcome , respected , appreciated and special .”
Respect is something Johnson has had to fight for within the context of a patriarchal society . Her first marriage to Robert Johnson , a co-founder of BET , who went on to become the owner of the NBA ’ s
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