Show Kenneth H. Fearn Jr. a glass ceiling and he would probably see a bump in the road of progress. It's not that he hasn't faced challenges, but he has learnt not to let them define him.

A successful hotel owner and Chairman of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD), Mr. Fearn shared parts of his life story with students at The College of The Bahamas recently. He was invited as a guest speaker to address budding hospitality and tourism professionals.

To a man whose company has acquired more than $450 million in hospitality assets in primary and secondary markets across the United States, a part of his fulfillment lies in transferring the knowledge and worthwhile experiences he's acquired along the way.

“I think one of the greatest things about being in the hotel industry is that we can help future leaders coming out of hotel schools and culinary schools get their opportunities to be the next great leaders," he said.

It was a message not lost on the Culinary and Hospitality Management majors at COB.

"If I can get to the point where I can actually own a hotel, anybody in this room can. You guys should never put up a wall to say that you can’t accomplish something; it’s (about) always looking for how can I get there. There is no ceiling that you can’t break through,” Mr. Fearn said.

Founder and Managing Partner of Integrated Capital LLC, a private equity real estate firm with a focus on hospitality, Mr. Fearn has been directly involved in over $1.5 billion of acquisitions and has secured more than $2.5 billion in debt financing. Among Integrated Capital’s assets are Residence Inn, Courtyard, Marriott, Doubletree, Sheraton, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn properties.

But long before he carved out his success, he was a youth growing up in South Central, Los Angeles, in the United States, reared by parents who believed in education. He also had a focused upbringing on the value of hard work.

Mr. Fearn admitted that he also recognized new opportunities.

“I always had an open-mind to say that I am going to learn, I am going to be open to observing and taking advantage of everything that is put in front of me,” he recalled.

“Where I went to school we had probably 40 percent of the class was black and the rest of the class was mixed ethnicities. The black people would also be stuck in one little area. We always called it the wall. If you met at the wall you weren’t getting any additional learning. So, one of the things I had to do is force myself out of my comfort zone to be open to networking and being involved and learning from everything I could, from everyone who was there.”

Mr. Fearn, a guest of the United States Embassy in The Bahamas, was in town to address the National Conclave of Chambers of Commerce in The Bahamas held on April 15th and 16th at the Melia Resort. His presentation focused on: “A Path to Success – Investing in the Hotel Industry from Select Service to Luxury Properties”.

He was invited to address hospitality and tourism students of The College in an effort to advance educational opportunities between the United States and The Bahamas.