@homantag | The entrepreneurial spirit has been flowing in Homan’s blood from his childhood days. Having worked in the hospitality industry since he was 14 years old, Homan has not only incrementally taken the steps to further his passion for the industry, but also, completed his educational goals to become an attorney as well as serial entrepreneur.

Homan performed his undergraduate studies at University of California at Irvine and paid for his education by building upon his high school work experience, taking an entry-level server position at the local Olive Garden Restaurant close to campus. After only a few months, Homan was quickly snatched away to head the wait staff of Slades’ Harvest Restaurant, a newly opened fine-dining restaurant in Newport Beach founded and ran by New York restaurateur, Ira Slade. Ira quickly promoted Homan, first to the assistant manager, then to floor manager. At Slades’, Homan found success in a formula which combined a focus on service with education for the customer as it related to food and wine to enhance the customer dining experience along with implementing a live evening entertainment program paired with dinner specials. The result for Slades’ was reflected in an increase in weeknight sales by nearly 30%.

While still in college, Homan’s next move was to Romeo Cucina, a high-volume restaurant in Laguna Beach where Homan fine-tuned his experience in every aspect of the back-of-house operations. In his efforts to maximize the profitability of the restaurant and to lessen the fluctuations resulting from the seasonality of Romeo Cucina’s business, Homan once again brought focus to the hospitality aspects of the business, combined with education for the customer. By instilling his staff with the knowledge of pairing food types with wines and spirits to empower enjoyable and memorable combinations for guests, Homan successfully set Romeo Cucina apart from its local competitors as one of the most successful restaurants in Laguna Beach during the off-season.

In furtherance of his educational career, Homan took some time off from the hospitality industry to obtain his law school degree. After graduating from law school, Homan was admitted to the California bar after his first attempt, and after working in San Francisco, Homan moved to Los Angeles to open his own firm. Homan refined his practice to the areas of real estate, business, and hospitality. For over 12 years, Homan served as General Counsel for a real estate development and investment company where he was actively involved in business development, project development, construction, and handling the negotiations of multi-million dollar projects and ventures. As a result, Homan has had the opportunity of being involved with every phase of land acquisition, business development, and project development (from project planning, to architectural design, to branding, to construction). In the process, Homan kept his private practice and his finger on the pulse of the restaurant and nightlife industry, by focusing on a client base focused on those industries.

While Homan’s real estate work has included working on the legal aspect of acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures totaling over $750 million in value, in addition to legally handling everything related to those projects, Homan has also been involved in many of those projects from a business standpoint.

Homan’s development projects have included the development and construction of the first high-rise residence to be built on the Las Vegas Strip, towering 47 stories and housing 409 residential units, as well as over 60,000 square feet of mixed use commercial and retail space.

Homan has also been involved with the assemblage of approximately 250 residences along the Las Vegas Strip to develop a 40-acre alternative lifestyle hotel site on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, as well as the development, management, and oversight of various projects, office buildings, residences, retail sites, and other hospitality in various locations throughout the United States.

With the crash of the real estate market in late 2008 and 2009, Homan began to shift his focus to his other core competencies, in business and hospitality. He has helped many business start-ups get set up legally and operationally over the last 17 years, which have included both domestic and international legal and trade agreements related to the same.

Homan also consulted many established businesses, in helping to reposition them from a position of near closure and potential bankruptcy, into becoming operationally successful businesses with streamlined profit centers. His scope of work has included involvement with retail outlets, bars, restaurants, hotels, manufacturing businesses, and fabrication businesses.

From his passion of the hospitality industry, in 2010, Homan was able to put into motion, the pieces necessary to create and develop Salvage, a hip bar and lounge in Downtown Los Angeles; involving himself in all aspects of the venue – including initial fundraising, designing of the venue, construction and permitting, licensing, brand implementation, opening, operations, and management.

In 2012, Homan expanded his restaurant portfolio by becoming involved in the ownership and development of The Morrison Gastropub, a unique Scottish influenced upscale restaurant redefining the idea of the local pub – offering a vast selection of artisanal draught and bottled beers from around the world, as well as an emerging list of cocktails.

After meeting Michael Tipps in 2012 and discovering their mutual appreciation for the hospitality industry, Homan co-founded Invictus Hospitality and has been working with Michael to provide hospitality consulting services on various projects throughout the United States.