The Carver Story

Joel Carver grew up in Poplarville, Mississippi — a small town where, in the early 1900s, there were exactly two hotels. His great-grandparents owned both of them: the Orr Hotel and the Carver Hotel, now known as The Blueberry Inn. Entrepreneurship wasn't a lesson Joel learned later in a business school; it was the family business. His parents ran a restaurant and a children's clothing store, and by the time Joel was old enough to wait tables, he'd already learned two things — how small businesses actually survive, and that he would never make a good waiter.

After college, Joel took his first hotel job as a sales manager at The Capitol House Hotel in Baton Rouge. That one job set off a career spanning more than four decades — director of sales, marketing director, assistant vice president, corporate director of sales, vice president of sales and marketing, senior vice president of marketing, sales and public relations. Today, he's President and CEO of Atlanta-based The Carver Companies, leading Carver Hotel Group, Staffing By Carver, and Carver-Olson Hospitality Search.

Along the way, Joel earned a reputation as a genuine "change agent" and "early adopter" — the kind of leader companies bring in when the market gets hard, not when it's easy. During one of the worst recessions in modern history, he moved an entire hospitality portfolio's market share from 112% to over 118%. Growth when everyone else was shrinking.

His peers noticed. Joel was named one of the Top Twenty-Five Most Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality Sales and Marketing, received the "Spirit to Serve" award from Marriott Hotels and Resorts, and won the 2011 "Diversity in Business" award from the Minneapolis/Twin Cities Business Journal. Carver Hotel Group was later named one of the "Top Start-ups in Georgia."

As a speaker and executive, Joel's career has taken him to 49 of the 50 states, every province of Canada, and a significant part of the world. But his mind stays close to Poplarville, Mississippi, and to the three people who shaped how he leads:

From his father, Pete: "When an opportunity comes, take it — even if you're not ready. It may not present itself again." From his mother, Bertha: "Make sure your decisions make sense," and "Don't ever judge people until you've walked in their shoes." From his grandmother Vivian — a pioneer who earned her Master's degree and pursued a Doctorate at a time when few women finished college at all: "You can go anywhere and achieve anything you want, but don't ever forget where you came from."

Those three lessons aren't framed quotes on a wall. They're built into how The Carver Companies operates today.

Joel has served as a board member of the Association of Starwood Franchise Owners Association nd on HSMAI's Americas Board (2012–2015). The Carver Companies gives back through partnerships with The Point Foundation, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, The Human Rights Campaign Fund, and Backpack Buddies, which helps ensure at-risk children have adequate food. Joel is also an active member of the Episcopal faith.

Joel's perspective on leadership, resilience, and building something from nothing didn't come from a textbook — it came from a restaurant in Poplarville, Mississippi. Check Joel's availability →