Announced at an awards dinner held in New York on Friday, November 9, Barrett was chosen as the gold trophy winner out of a total of 1,200 global applicants across a range of industries.
Barrett is the only woman in New York City — and one of only a handful in the world — to own and run a hotel investment and management company.
In 2011, she helped to secure Denihan’s first-ever joint-venture, giving real estate investment trust Pebblebrook Hotel Trust a 49 percent ownership stake in six of the company’s core Manhattan assets and raising capital to fuel national growth for Denihan.
Barrett was also key in restructuring the family’s 50-year-old hospitality business to set the stage for aggressive growth, naming the first non-family member to the position of president in early 2012.
Barrett is known for her passion for personally mentoring promising young Denihan associates and women in the hospitality and commercial real estate industries.
“To receive this award is not only an incredible honor personally, but it is also a true testament to the strides Denihan has made and the many accomplishments we have achieved,” said Barrett. “At Denihan we don’t simply define success through numbers. As important is the company’s culture and employee passion and sentiments. Without these things, the more traditional, tangible measures of success cannot be achieved, and as an executive I believe it is important to focus your attentions equally on each area as you cannot maximize financial success without internal employee passion and satisfaction.”
The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world’s top honors for female executives and the organizations they run.
