Team

Meet the Characters Behind Storey

The Storey cast of characters brings decades of successful hotel, resort, and restaurant management and marketing expertise to the task of creating exceptional luxury properties.

Michael Casey, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer “The Guru”at Storey, Michael (AKA Mike or MC), looks at numbers and sees stories. With over 40 years in the hospitality industry, he started his career as a dishwasher and is still in charge of doing the dishes at home.

His entrepreneurial style and strategic thinking has served him well as he’s launched and operated multiple multi-million dollar hotels for leading hospitality companies. Now he ensures that each Storey property has the right people, systems and processes in place to perform at their highest levels.

MC got “Googly” for four and a half years immersed in the latest trends in food, technology, sustainability and workplace preferences at Google. With an annual budget of $106 million, his team served more than 25,000 meals a day to 14,000+ Google employees and won numerous awards including #1 Café, #1 Catering Team and #1 Micro-Kitchen Team in the Americas.

What keeps “The Guru” up at night? His obsession with increasing revenue and profit – and how the San Francisco Giants are performing.

Laura Rose, Co-Founder and Managing Partner Partner MC named Laura “The Idea Machine” early on in their quest to create and grow Storey Hospitality. Growing up working in her dad’s movie theaters from the age of 6, Laura formed a great love of storytelling, marketing, making people happy – and candy.

With decades of experience in sales, marketing, digital content creation (on and behind the camera), branding and writing, “The Idea Machine” spends most of her time putting together impactful brand partnerships, marketing plans, and public relations campaigns, and creating the next new thing in luxury hospitality. She also works alongside MC helping to guide the operations of Storey properties.

With a long history of and deep passion for giving back, Laura also ensures Storey properties are involved in their communities in meaningful ways. Storey’s “Culture of Kindness” started with another one of her big ideas – the concept that kindness is the key to every employee’s and guest’s happiness and that the hospitality industry should be a fun, rewarding place where employees and their careers can thrive.

What keeps “The Idea Machine” up at night? Ideas, naturally – and missing her brilliant degree-seeking daughters.

Jonathan Holcomb, Vice President of Commercial Strategy The Veep brings over 20 years of hospitality experience to the Storey team. He’s super into improving revenue and operations and loves taking Storey properties to higher levels of performance with every sunrise – and every annual budget. The Veep is obsessed with data and technology and uses both to help MC and Laura guide the business direction of each Storey property.

He has worked with independent boutique hotels as well as branded large full-service properties, and has found his happy place working with the independent luxury properties in the Storey portfolio

What keeps “The Veep” up at night? Strategies about driving revenue – and deciding the best plays to run as he coaches his son’s baseball games.

Omar Pena, Corporate Director of Finance “The Money Guy” has a demonstrated history of finance leadership in the hospitality industry. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, he started his journey in the Dutch Caribbean and then joined a major luxury brand to open a large resort in Caracas. Next he held assignments in Mexico City and Lisbon. Now with Anguilla, the U.S. and Fiji also under his belt, he knows how to count money in all sorts of currencies.

A dedicated family man, Omar is also a fitness enthusiast. You’ll find him up early hitting the gym even when traveling for business.

What keeps “The Money Guy” up at night? The ABBA song, “Money, Money, Money.”

Kristy Kehs, Director of Global Sales “The Closer” brings 30+ years of results-driven sales experience to Storey, with a background spanning multiple major hotel brands and markets. Known for her passion for cultivating client relationships, Kristy is all about designing sales strategies that drive market share growth – and maximize profitability. She has deep expertise in sales structure and process efficiencies, ensuring that Storey sales teams are aligned, supported and performing at their highest levels.

“The Closer” spent most of her career with large properties and big brands in urban locations from Minneapolis to San Francisco and Denver. She brings that passion for growing corporate business to Storey’s business-centric properties, from Silicon Valley to Nashville, Tennessee.

When she’s not closing deals, Kristy is an enthusiastic foodie who loves cooking and pairing meals with great wine. A passionate traveler, Kristy finds inspiration in discovering new places. But her greatest joy comes from spending time with her three sons – Lucas, Maxwell and Marcus.

What keeps “The Closer” up at night? Checking emails for that contract to come back – or scrolling for a new recipe.

Mary Carmen Garcia, Global Senior Sales Manager Born and raised in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Mary Carmen is Storey’s globe trotter, “The Diplomat.” She travels the world building relationships with luxury travel partners for four over-the-top Storey properties in Fiji and Anguilla.

After completing her education at the prestigious Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in (always diplomatic) Switzerland, she entered the hospitality world in 2009, gaining experience in various progressive operational roles across renowned global brands. After gaining valuable knowledge from her operations background, her focus over the past seven years has been on luxury leisure and corporate travel.

She has a deep love for creating guest experiences that surprise and delight and a strong ability to nurture relationships with luxury travel advisors – and everyone else she meets.

What keeps “The Diplomat” up at night? Searching for the perfect thank you gift for her clients – or flight delays.

Fabian Rosado, Regional Manager Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, “The Smooth Operator” is a dedicated hospitality leader with over a decade of experience spanning hotel operations, residential management, and guest experience strategy. He loves building teams from the ground up, launching new programs and guiding properties through periods of growth and transition.

Always dressed to perfection, “The Smooth Operator” is never afraid to roll up his sleeves and get to work. His background in pre-openings of luxury hotels and resorts and creating new service models for residential properties has shaped Fabian into a hands-on, people-focused leader. His approach emphasizes thoughtful service, team development, and operational excellence, always with the guest experience at the core.

Fabian currently oversees Sea Spray Resort in Siesta Key, Florida and Walton Residence in Chicago’s Gold Coast, and has taken both properties to new heights through his obsession with operational excellence and delivering the ultimate guest experience.

What keeps the “Smooth Operator” up at night? Creating memorable guest experiences – or his adorable dog Murphy.

Samantha Boyce-Kentish, Brand and Marketing Coordinator “The Ambassador” is a uniquely talented professional with over 20 years of diverse experience in the luxury hospitality, beauty, fashion, multi-media, and events industries. With a high level of creativity and a background in brand partnerships and storytelling through video and photography, she makes a perfect partner for “The Idea Machine.” They work together daily to bring exciting brand partnerships, film and photo shoot productions, events, marketing campaigns and guest experiences to life.

“The Ambassador” also helps source the best celebrities and influencers for Storey brand partnerships and is very comfortable hanging with top names in the world of music, film, TV and social media. Perhaps this is due to the fact that she is originally from Guyana, grew up in the United States and now lives with her husband and two sons in Anguilla, where the mantra on the island is that “everyone is a star.”

A deep passion for giving back also makes Sam a perfect fit for helping create meaningful community partnerships for Storey properties around the globe.

What keeps “The Ambassador” up at night? Thinking of the next brand partnership – and making school lunches for her sons.

Shelley Lindgren, Wine Programming & Food and Beverage Training “The Wine Lover” at Storey is also Wine Director and Owner of the popular A16 restaurants and Partner in sustainable – and delicious – Tansy Wines. Shelley’s reputation as an industry pioneer and advocate for the wines of Italy was recognized when she was knighted by the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco receiving the “Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.”

All that love for all things Italian food and wine led her to open acclaimed San Francisco restaurant A16. More than two decades later, A16 San Francisco is thriving with an award-winning wine list, and has sister restaurants in Oakland, Napa and – wait for it – Tokyo.

After working in restaurants her whole life and winning numerous awards, Lindgren feels that her job is less about creating high-profile wine lists (although she has recently created two for Storey properties) and more about sharing her passion for wine and hospitality with guests.

She lives in San Francisco with her husband and their two sons and is on the Board of Directors for the Guild of Sommeliers as well for Slide Ranch – helping plant kids in nature since 1971.

What keeps “The Wine Lover” up at night? Writing her next award-winning book – or long dinners in Tuscany.

Hooman Khalili, Music Programming & Live Entertainment “The Producer” was a popular radio personality on the top-rated morning show in the Bay Area for over 20 years. During that time, he interviewed countless celebrities including Sting, Maroon 5, 50 Cent, John Travolta, Julianne Moore, Will Ferrell and Hunter S. Thompson, just to name a few. In fact, he was so good at interviews that in the film, Cars, Pixar created a car named Hooman, one of the most successful racing sports photographers and celebrity interviewers in the business.

“The Producer’s” passion for film and music led him to create the film Olive, the first feature-length film shot entirely on a Smart Phone. The movie stars Academy Award-winning actress, Gena Rowlands, and qualified for the Academy Awards with 5 original songs written and performed by Dolly Parton. Prior to filming Olive, Hooman secured his place in the Museum of Radio and Television in New York City with his #1 most viewed non-partisan video aimed at getting the youth of America to participate in the presidential election.

“The Producer” now produces playlists for Storey properties across the globe, creating just the right vibe for each location. He also leads the popular speaker series at the Park James hotel in Menlo Park bringing the best brains from the Bay Area and beyond to speak about the latest in technology, healthcare, space, and more. Hooman is the ultimate connector. Known for his huge heart and dedication to raising awareness about human rights, he has produced murals from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, and abroad in major cities like Jerusalem.

What keeps “The Producer” up at night? Creating the next great playlist – or attending a 24-hour church service in Texas.

Dante “The Prince” is the first to taste and approve a “Wagalicious” menu, lounge in a plush doggie bed, try out new organic dog treats, and find the absolute best places to take your dog on a long walk near a Storey property.

What keeps “The Prince” up at night? Absolutely nothing.