Spring Break
Executive recalls rise from streets to the suites
Pharoah Martin/NNPA Correspondent
Issue date: 10/18/09 Section: Cover
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At 34, Penny has the appearance of a fresh-faced executive who is still waiting on his MBA degree to be mailed to him by his school but the title on his business card says otherwise--'Thomas Penny, General Manager, Courtyard by Marriott Washington Convention Center".
It's rare to find African-Americans working at the upper-echelons of the management level any major hotel. Yet, Penny is running an 188-room Marriott Courtyard hotel property that sits in the center of one of the most heavily trafficked areas of our Nation's Capitol-downtown Washington, DC.
Penny is one of the most successful African-Americans under 40 in the country now, but his ability to shed makes his story even more incredible.
"I considered myself to be a conscientious thief," Penny said jokingly of his Robin Hood morality. "I didn't want to steal from those in my neighborhood. I wanted to rob those in Georgetown who were doing better than people in my neighborhood."
He said that he and his friends would go to Georgetown and pull guns on unsuspecting victims on weekend nights.
"We would get money, watches and other things and then go have a good time," Penny said. His friends got arrested and sent away to prison for years for the robberies. Penny got lucky, he was never caught. He decided to turn his life around.
In a very short time, Penny has come a long way from robbing people in Georgetown. He is now overseeing a hotel that brings in $13 million dollars in business annually.
His hotel commands some of the highest rates of any Courtyard property. Today, they sit in the top 2 percent.
The Washington-native got his start in the hotel business in 1992 as a high school senior. His parents demanded that he find a job to pay for his car insurance and so he got a job as a dish washer at a local Holiday Inn. His brother, Derrick Penny, who was 2 years older, was somebody who helped spur Penny's drive to be successful.
"If there was anyone who played the biggest part in mentoring me it was my brother because if I was either playing sports or going to college a 'B' was never good enough, and scoring 25 or 35 points in a game was never good enough," he remembers.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Cheryl
posted 10/20/09 @ 11:56 AM EST
I thank God for Mr. Penny. I had to write to applaude his accomplishments in corporate America as well as his commitment to the children of our community. (Continued…)
Russell Fig
posted 10/20/09 @ 12:38 PM EST
This is an inspiring story. Mr Penny you are a role model. I had been in the DC area for a few years I am now back in Boston but am ready to return.Mr Pen what you are doing is a noble thing. (Continued…)
kitty3075
kitty
posted 11/04/09 @ 6:26 AM EST
Yeah...His parents demanded that he find a job to pay for his car insurance and so he got a job as a dish washer at a local Holiday Inn. His brother, Derrick Penny, who was 2 years older, was somebody who helped spur Penny's drive to be successful. (Continued…)
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