Meet Our Team

Before founding Horizon Hospitality in 1998, Scott held senior management and executive roles with renowned hospitality leaders such as ClubCorp, Hilton Hotel Corporation, The Levy Restaurants, and Dean & Deluca. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and also pursued studies at the University of Paris and the Culinary Institute of America.

Scott has conducted hundreds of recruiting and human resource workshops nationwide. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a published author in numerous prominent hospitality trade publications. Scott has served as president of the board of directors for the Missouri & Kansas Search and Staffing Association, and previously led the board of the Dream Factory of Kansas City. Additionally, he was recognized by Ingram’s Magazine as one of Kansas City's "40 Under 40" top business executives.

Happily married to his wife Maddy for 34 years, Scott takes great pride in being actively involved in the lives of their three children. A passionate sports enthusiast, he enjoys staying fit, playing pickleball, snow skiing, and participating in other recreational sports.

Since joining Horizon in 2014, she has played a pivotal role in expanding the firm's presence throughout the Southeastern and Southwestern United States and has become a trusted advisor to hospitality companies nationwide seeking top-tier talent.

A graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, Alissa brings more than 25 years of hospitality and recruiting experience to her work. Before transitioning into executive search, she built a successful career in hotel and restaurant operations, holding leadership positions with respected organizations including Hillstone Restaurant Group, Starwood International, and China Grill Management.

Known for her consultative approach, strong industry relationships, and ability to identify exceptional talent, Alissa has successfully partnered with hotels, resorts, private clubs, restaurants, contract foodservice companies, destination management organizations, and hospitality-related businesses across North America. Her operational background allows her to understand both the technical requirements and cultural nuances that drive successful hires.

Alissa is passionate about helping companies build high-performing teams and guiding hospitality professionals through meaningful career transitions. She is recognized for her commitment to communication, transparency, and delivering a high-touch recruiting experience for both clients and candidates.

Based in Scottsdale, Alissa enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, staying active through fitness and outdoor activities, and taking advantage of everything the Southwest has to offer.

Dana joined Horizon Hospitality Associates in June 2006 as a regional recruiter, following a successful career in the hotel industry. After proving his abilities in hotel sales, he quickly advanced into management, leading teams across a range of properties—from limited-service Hilton brands to independent, boutique luxury hotels. These experiences gave him expertise in rebranding, property openings, renovations, new construction, procedure development, marketing, and staff development.

Dana approaches recruiting with a passion for helping people improve their lives. Whether assisting clients in finding the perfect candidate or guiding job seekers in advancing their careers, Dana views every opportunity as a chance to make a meaningful impact. His dedication and competitive drive have made him one of the company’s top recruiters and earned him his current leadership role.

Dana attended Western Kentucky University and resides in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife and two children. In his free time, he enjoys working in the yard, jogging, and coaching his children’s sports teams.

Before joining Horizon Hospitality in January 2017, Adam earned his Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management from Kansas State University and spent over a decade leading teams in upscale restaurants, private clubs, and contract dining. His extensive industry experience, combined with a deep passion for hospitality, positioned him for success as a recruiter. Since joining Horizon Hospitality, Adam has earned multiple promotions in recognition of his high performance and remains committed to representing both candidates and clients with their best interests in mind.

In his free time, Adam enjoys spending quality time with his wife, Jessica, and their three young children, as well as playing the occasional round of golf.

Upon relocating to Jupiter, Florida, Kristin discovered her passion for recruiting and quickly established herself as one of the industry's top performers. Known for her ability to build lasting relationships and connect exceptional talent with outstanding organizations, she rapidly rose through the ranks and became the firm's top producer. In August 2017, Kristin joined Horizon Hospitality, bringing with her a unique blend of operational expertise, marketing acumen, and leadership experience.

Today, as Managing Director, Kristin partners with hospitality organizations across the country to identify and attract high-impact leaders. Her consultative approach, industry knowledge, and commitment to delivering exceptional results have made her a trusted advisor to clients and candidates alike.

A proud South Florida native, Kristin enjoys traveling, water sports, skiing, gardening, and spending time with her husband, two children, and the family's beloved menagerie of dogs, cats, rabbits, reptiles, and tortoises.

Brittany joins Horizon Hospitality as a Client Relationship Manager, bringing 12 years of experience in the hospitality industry with a focus on hotel sales and business development. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management from New Mexico State University. Brittany began her career as an opening sales manager for Hilton Garden Inn and advanced through the Hilton portfolio, including Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Homewood Suites, and Hilton Hotels. During her tenure with Hilton Hotels Worldwide, she was awarded the prestigious Circle of Excellence designation, reserved for top performers across the company.

Brittany is eager to leverage her skills and passion for the hospitality industry to ensure exceptional talent is placed with outstanding companies. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the tranquil desert of West Phoenix with her husband, Joe, and their children, Zach and Katie.

Before transitioning into talent advisory, Alex spent years building an extensive background in restaurant operations, leadership, and entrepreneurship. He served in ownership and executive roles, overseeing multi-unit operations and launching successful hospitality concepts. Later, he moved into senior-level recruitment, specializing in the Food & Beverage sector on a global scale. Across nearly two decades, Alex has managed high-performing teams, driven operational excellence, and developed strategies that fuel growth across the industry.

Alex earned his Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Management and also studied abroad in Belgium, gaining an international perspective early in his career. Over the years, he has built a reputation for connecting top-tier talent with leading brands and advising businesses on strategies to scale effectively through people.

Alex has spearheaded large-scale recruitment initiatives, designed talent acquisition strategies for growing organizations, and served as a trusted advisor to hospitality leaders. He has also been deeply involved in business development, helping companies expand their reach and attract the right talent to achieve growth goals.

Outside of his professional work, Alex is passionate about travel, discovering culinary and wine destinations around the globe, and sharing unforgettable dining experiences with friends and family.

Tabatha recently joined Horizon Hospitality, where she continues to leverage her passion for people and commitment to delivering exceptional service. Her background in both hospitality and recruitment has given her a unique ability to connect with others, understand their needs, and help them achieve their goals.

Outside of work, Tabatha enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children. Whether they're relaxing at the beach or making new family memories, she values quality time with the people she loves most.

Bill Wilson is one of the hospitality industry's most accomplished and broadly experienced executives, bringing more than 25 years of leadership experience across virtually every major segment of the restaurant and hospitality business. His career spans fine dining, specialty coffee, retail hospitality, convention center concessions, sports and entertainment foodservice, workplace dining, quick-service concepts, and multi-unit restaurant operations.

What sets Bill apart is not simply the breadth of his operational background, but his proven ability to assess organizations, identify leadership and structural challenges, and implement the systems, talent strategies, and organizational frameworks that drive sustainable growth and performance.

Throughout his career, Bill has consistently been entrusted with complex operational transformations, large-scale growth initiatives, leadership development, and organizational redesign projects. His expertise extends beyond day-to-day operations into executive leadership, succession planning, financial turnaround, talent acquisition, strategic planning, and organizational effectiveness.

One of Bill's most significant accomplishments occurred during his tenure with Nordstrom, where he played a pivotal role in transforming the company's Food & Beverage division from a $30 million operation into a business generating more than $250 million in annual revenue. He designed the organizational structure, built the leadership team, and developed the operational systems that enabled the division to scale successfully while maintaining quality and consistency. Demonstrating his exceptional ability to identify and develop talent, Bill personally recruited 22 of the 37 senior executives who currently lead Nordstrom's Restaurant Division.

Beyond growth initiatives, Bill has successfully led numerous organizational assessments and restructuring efforts. He directed the strategic separation of Nordstrom's Foodservice Division into two independent operating entities, creating new leadership models, reporting structures, operational standards, and accountability systems that enhanced organizational effectiveness and long-term scalability.

His operational leadership experience also includes senior executive roles with some of the industry's most respected organizations. Bill held Vice President-level leadership positions overseeing operations at McCormick Place—the largest convention center in North America—as well as Walt Disney World and several premier restaurant and entertainment venues operated by The Levy Restaurants. These experiences provided him with deep expertise in high-volume operations, guest experience management, large-scale foodservice execution, and complex organizational leadership.

Over the course of his career, Bill has directed more than 70 restaurant, café, concession, and hospitality openings, relocations, and remodel projects nationwide. His experience spans multiple concepts and service models, providing him with a unique perspective on operational scalability, brand development, and organizational growth.

In addition to his operational accomplishments, Bill has demonstrated significant entrepreneurial and product development expertise. He successfully conceived, developed, and launched a proprietary specialty coffee brand, overseeing every aspect of the process, including roast development, branding, packaging, marketing strategy, and promotional programming.

Bill's ability to rapidly diagnose operational and financial challenges has also led to successful turnaround engagements. Notably, he engineered the operational and financial recovery of a Chicago fine-dining restaurant, returning the business to break-even performance within six months through targeted organizational restructuring, operational improvements, and financial controls.

Today, as Founder of Side by Side Advisors and through various senior advisory engagements, Bill leverages his extensive executive experience to help hospitality organizations improve performance, strengthen leadership teams, optimize operations, and position themselves for long-term success. His consulting practice focuses on organizational assessments, leadership evaluation, succession planning, operational excellence, strategic growth initiatives, financial turnaround strategies, and executive coaching.

Having spent decades leading businesses from the inside, Bill brings a uniquely practical perspective to consulting engagements. Clients benefit not only from his strategic insight but also from the fact that his recommendations are grounded in real-world executive experience and a proven track record of building, scaling, and transforming hospitality organizations.

Bill's combination of operational expertise, leadership development capabilities, organizational design experience, and strategic vision makes him a trusted advisor for hospitality companies seeking sustainable growth, stronger leadership, improved performance, and long-term organizational success.

James is excited to rejoin Horizon Hospitality Associates after nearly two decades. He began his recruiting career at Horizon as a Regional Recruiter and has since gained extensive experience as a Corporate Recruiter, interviewing thousands of applicants and hiring candidates across a variety of industries. Prior to his return to recruiting, James served as a Seminar Trainer with Pryor Learning Solutions, where he delivered over 300 presentations on a wide range of topics to audiences across all 50 states.

James holds a B.A. in Communications and has worked as a professional actor throughout the United States and France, where he studied in Cannes during college, performing three plays entirely in French. His diverse professional background also includes roles in eLearning training videos, commercials, and voice-overs for both national and local companies. James is the proud father of three.

Eric was born and raised in the Midwest, where he spent the majority of his life before relocating to Florida in 2013. He graduated from Eastern Illinois University with an MBA in 2006, balancing his studies while competing on the Men’s Tennis Team. Initially, Eric began his career in Information Technology, but he quickly discovered his passion for working with people.

In early 2008, he transitioned to staffing and recruiting, where he has experienced considerable success in building strong relationships with both candidates and clients. Eric has advanced into management roles, where he has trained and mentored teams of recruiters and business development representatives across various industries. He takes pride in consistently meeting and exceeding the expectations of those he collaborates with.

Eric brings his extensive experience and drive to the Horizon team. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis and spending quality time with his wife and daughter.

Pat studied psychology at Kansas State University before relocating to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she became a professional scuba diver and obtained her U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s License. During her time there, she served as the Director of Operations for a local diving company, overseeing multiple retail outlets and establishing partnerships with major hotels and resorts across the island. Pat later transitioned into the spa industry, where she spent two decades leading teams of up to 100 employees at prestigious properties such as Ritz-Carlton, PGA National, and Marriott, consistently driving innovation and excellence.

Pat's deep passion for service and hospitality has made her a natural fit for recruitment, where she thrives in fostering strong relationships between clients and candidates. Happily married to her husband, Dave, for nearly 20 years, Pat enjoys spending time on the water with him in sunny South Florida.

Joyce Laurien is a highly accomplished membership, sales, and relationship-development executive with more than four decades of experience helping private clubs, associations, and member-based organizations accelerate growth, strengthen engagement, and enhance member loyalty. Throughout her career, Joyce has built a reputation for designing and implementing strategic membership programs that drive enrollment, increase retention, improve communication, and deepen member participation.

Drawing on more than 25 years with ClubCorp, one of the world's largest private club operators, Joyce has developed extensive expertise across virtually every aspect of membership development and club operations. Her experience spans membership acquisition, retention strategy, communication planning, new product development, onboarding programs, board and committee engagement, staff training, sales leadership, and organizational change management. She has successfully guided clubs through reinventions, acquisitions, mergers, and repositioning initiatives, consistently creating awareness, strengthening member value propositions, and generating sustainable membership growth.

As Vice President of Sales for ClubCorp, Joyce led enrollment, retention, and communication strategies across 11 clubs throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States, managing annual revenue objectives exceeding $24 million. Her leadership responsibilities included recruiting and developing sales teams, creating growth-focused marketing campaigns, forecasting performance, launching new membership products, and partnering closely with club boards and committees to align strategic objectives with member expectations. Her ability to cultivate meaningful relationships and build member-focused cultures consistently translated into stronger engagement, higher utilization, and improved financial performance.

Prior to her executive leadership role, Joyce served as Membership Sales Manager for The Metropolitan Club in Chicago, where she led a team of Membership Directors and worked collaboratively with board members, committees, and club leadership to drive referrals, improve retention, and create successful member onboarding experiences. Earlier in her career, she held multiple Membership Director positions throughout the Chicago market, refining a consultative sales approach that helped clubs achieve and maintain profitable membership levels while fostering long-term member relationships.

Most recently, Joyce served as Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for PGA National Members Club, where she continued to leverage her expertise in membership growth, marketing strategy, and relationship development. Today, as Founder and Principal Consultant of Laurien Consulting, LLC, she advises private clubs, athletic clubs, city clubs, alumni organizations, associations, and nonprofit organizations on strategic membership initiatives designed to increase enrollment, improve retention, strengthen communication, and maximize member engagement.

Joyce's consulting approach combines strategic planning with practical execution. She works closely with organizations to assess current membership performance, identify opportunities for growth, develop communication strategies, train and coach leadership teams, and implement programs that enhance the member experience. Her expertise in relationship-building, organizational communication, and membership lifecycle management enables clients to create stronger connections with their constituents while achieving measurable business results.

Known for her collaborative style, deep industry knowledge, and passion for helping organizations thrive, Joyce brings a unique blend of executive leadership experience and hands-on operational expertise. Her career has been defined by one consistent theme: helping organizations build stronger relationships that translate into greater engagement, higher retention, increased participation, and long-term growth.

Mark joined Horizon Hospitality as a Client Relationship Manager, bringing over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. His passion for the field began at a young age, as he often accompanied his father, who owned a food distribution company on the south side of Chicago. Mark graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts. As a formally trained chef, he has worked across various sectors of the hospitality industry.

Continuing the family legacy, Mark co-owned Mike’s Provisions while launching his career as a chef. More recently, he has served as a liaison for chefs in the Kansas City area, working with a specialty foods distributor in a sales role, where he specialized in sourcing high-quality meats and food products.

In his free time, Mark enjoys scuba diving and fishing with his wife and two children, as well as supporting his children in their various activities.

Matt graduated from Kansas State University in 2009 with a degree in Business Administration, focusing on Finance and Economics. He relocated to Kansas City in 2014, where he worked in the kitchens of some of the city's premier fine-dining establishments.

In his free time, Matt enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons, and dog, as well as endurance training, cooking, and working on home improvement projects.

Hayley, a Dallas, Texas native, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2011. Shortly after, she obtained her Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults from Teaching House in New York City. Hayley spent four years teaching English abroad in Seoul, South Korea, and Cusco, Peru.

Upon returning to Dallas, she joined the team at Sanford Rose Associates and began working with Horizon Hospitality in 2016. She eventually transitioned to working for Horizon directly in 2021, handling all things accounting, payroll, and HR. In 2023, she obtained her PHR and moved into the Director of Accounting & HR role.

In her spare time, Hayley enjoys practicing and teaching yoga, hiking, dancing, reading, cooking, and pestering her friends with terrible puns.

A Topeka native, Ashley attended Washburn University, where she studied Business Administration before relocating to Kansas City. Since then, she has gained experience across various industries and roles before transitioning to an office setting.  

Ashley enjoys traveling, with Thailand being her favorite destination so far, followed closely by the Hawaiian Islands. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and two dogs, especially enjoying outdoor activities.

Caroline began her hospitality career at the front desk of Drury Inn while earning her Bachelor of Science in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has 13 years of extensive experience in hospitality, including group and convention sales, convention services, and event planning for renowned organizations such as Marriott, Hyatt, Brown-Forman, and Explore St. Louis. After taking several years off to be with her young daughter, Caroline joined Horizon Hospitality in 2021.

Originally from the Ozarks in southeast Missouri, Caroline still enjoys spending time on the area's beautiful spring-fed rivers and lakes. She also loves live music, spending time with family and friends, and is an enthusiastic supporter of the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals.

Ahmad joined Horizon Hospitality in July 2025 as a Client Relations Specialist, bringing a unique combination of recruiting, operations, and HR experience. He holds both a Master of Business Administration from the University of Mysore and a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Xavier’s College.

Ahmad began his career as a Human Resources Assistant, where he gained hands-on experience in recruitment, onboarding, and candidate engagement. He later advanced into leadership as a General Manager for Intense Fitness, overseeing daily operations, driving employee development, and managing the full hiring lifecycle. Most recently, Ahmad worked as an Executive Recruiter, strengthening his expertise in talent acquisition and client relations across diverse industries.

With a background that blends operational leadership and people-first recruiting, Ahmad is committed to helping hospitality organizations identify and retain exceptional talent. His consultative approach and focus on strong relationships make him a valuable partner to both clients and candidates.

In his free time, Ahmad enjoys staying active, exploring new opportunities for personal growth, and spending time with family and friends.