Crystal Vinisse Thomas ’08 is a natural storyteller whose “passion is my superpower.” Mostly she uses that superpower to craft compelling brand stories and guest experiences, but it’s evident in her own brand, too. On her website, Thomas, who is vice president and global brand leader for Hyatt’s lifestyle and luxury brands, states: “When not honing my tasting skills as a wine and whiskey ‘consumeoisseur,’ I’m a passion-led seeker of all things awesome, craver and creator of unforgettable travel moments and, more personally, a lifestyle and culture enthusiast obsessed with TV, singing, and Oprah.”

Thomas’s ability to see things differently was on display in the spring of 2022 with the opening of Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis, the first realization of that select-service-meets-lifestyle concept, which she was recruited to develop. The brand celebrates diversity, equity, and inclusion—“things I’ve always been passionate about,” she said.

“To me, Caption by Hyatt is a vehicle that showcases Hyatt’s attention to care, its inclusion practices, how we want to show up. The crux of the brand is a place that welcomes everyone—travelers and locals—to be who they are in our space.”

In its appeal to locals, Caption by Hyatt will be part of the growing trend in catering to remote workers and “travelers not staying over who need a place to work,” Thomas said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more membership clubs and work options within the hospitality space.”

One such option is Caption by Hyatt’s Talk Shop, a fast-casual concept developed in collaboration with restaurateur Danny Meyer “that allows people to work, play, chill, hang out, do what they want to do at all times of day,” she said.

“Seeing my vision come to life—where the community informs how we program—has been pretty incredible,” she said. “It’s been an amazing experience to be able to innovate and have the autonomy to implement it quickly.”

From Hotels to Sports and Back Again

As a student, Thomas interned with several companies and found the best fit at Starwood. After graduating, she joined the company’s management training program for sales because, she said, “I have the gift of gab.” But wanting to tell stories and “establish the look and feel of things,” she pivoted to a branding coordinator role at W Hotels and Le Méridien in White Plains, New York. In 2009, she moved to Starwood’s New York City office as global brand coordinator in guest experience for W Hotels and Le Méridien; in 2011, she became a global brand specialist for W Hotels, St. Regis, and the Luxury Collection.

Although traveling extensively in her role, she was uncomfortable having “global” in her title when she had never lived abroad. “If I was going to continue to build equity in my own story as a brand and a leader—particularly a global leader—it was important to me that I have experience working internationally,” she said. Finding herself seated between Starwood’s leaders for the Asia-Pacific and Europe, Africa, and Middle East regions at a dinner in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, she told them what she wanted the next chapter in her story to be. Before long, she was named brand manager of W Hotels for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, based in Brussels, where she spent three years introducing “some really cool campaigns.”

As Marriott International worked to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Thomas represented her office on the committee that negotiated packages and placements. Once the acquisition was completed, she took a year off in 2017 to travel and decide on her next move. She developed a list of things she was passionate about—music, design, sports, fashion’s impact on culture, entertainment; where she wanted to live—New York, Los Angeles, or possibly London; and aspirational companies—Apple, Nike, Puma, Beats by Dre. “It served as a framework for informal conversations I had during that time,” she said. When an Apple recruiter contacted her about a sports role at Beats by Dre in Los Angeles, it checked all the boxes.

From 2018 to 2019, as senior brand manager on the global brand marketing team, she was the brand lead for the headphone company’s partnership with the NBA and covered all things sports. “I joke now that I made commercials for a living because that played a huge role in how we told our story,” she said. Those commercials featured the likes of Serena Williams, Tom Brady, and LeBron James. “It was a different kind of brand management than I was used to at a much larger scale with multimillion-dollar budgets,” she said. Although she wasn’t looking to leave, Hyatt came calling with the opportunity to build a new brand—an offer she couldn’t resist.

She joined Hyatt Hotels Corporation in 2019 as director of global lifestyle brands, responsible for elevating Hyatt’s lifestyle positioning within the industry. Shortly thereafter, COVID-19 struck; Hyatt’s brand team went from 20 to three, and her team was furloughed. “That was one of the hardest years of my career,” she said. She became global brand leader for lifestyle and luxury brands in 2020 and added vice president to her title in 2021. After starting with three brands, she now stewards six—Park Hyatt, Alila, Andaz, Thompson, Hyatt Centric, and Caption by Hyatt—ranging from select lifestyle to ultimate luxury.

Paying It Forward

Thomas, who grew up in Miami, started her Cornell career in Arts and Sciences, transferring as a sophomore into what is now the Nolan Hotel School. As a student, she ran track and field and was the gospel choir director, a resident advisor, and a teaching assistant. Today, she is active in Cornell’s Diversity Alumni Network, the Cornell Black Alumni Association, and the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality. “I love any opportunity to share with students my journey and how it might help theirs,” she said.

The journey has made her one of the few Black executives in the hospitality industry; the Castell Project, which promotes the elevation of women in hospitality as part of the AHLA Foundation, puts the figure at about 2 percent. She calls herself “a huge champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

“Being a woman of color in a position like this sets an example,” she said. “Seeing my levels of impact— on our teams, on the business, on our properties—has been really powerful for me.”

On September 30, she spoke in the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series about the need to embrace change. “I’ve had so many points in my career that were significant pivots from what I had anticipated or planned,” she said. “It wasn’t until I embraced them that I really started to grow.”