Bio
Shay Hughes is president and COO of Hughes Marino, a global corporate real estate advisory firm that has represented companies on tens of thousands of projects, helping them develop and execute on winning corporate real estate strategies for office, lab and industrial occupiers. The firm specializes in lease negotiations and structuring, owner user acquisitions, construction and project management, planning and design, portfolio management, lease auditing, lease administration, capital markets and facility management.
Shay oversees all aspects of business operations, including brokerage and other client services, internal operations, human resources, marketing communications and expansion strategy. Shay also leads our culture consulting services, where she regularly speaks to companies and organizations, sharing insights on how to cultivate an award-winning culture and build an extraordinary team.
A true visionary, she has been instrumental in shaping Hughes Marino’s culture, spearheading the development of the company’s Core Values and building a world-class team of professionals who are not only at the top of their game in business, but also treat one another like family. Shay’s creativity and familial approach to business management have been integral in shaping Hughes Marino’s corporate culture, leading the company’s expansion and growing the firm from its first office into the nationally recognized industry leader that it is today. Hughes Marino has been named by Fortune as the number one best workplace in the nation, by Entrepreneur as the number two best company culture, as well as by Inc. Magazine as a best workplace.
More important than the accolades Hughes Marino has received is the culture that Shay has developed based on Hughes Marino’s ten Core Values. She has cultivated a team of people who truly love what they do, and who are committed to always doing the right thing, which means protecting the interests of the thousands of businesses and organizations that Hughes Marino is proud to count as clients. Hughes Marino has taken an antiquated industry and completely reimagined and revitalized it, breaking the mold of traditional real estate firms. Shay credits her business skills and leadership style to her father, Shawn Holder, who helped grow the Chart House restaurant business to become a NYSE public company. She shares her inspiring story of the parallels between Chart House and Hughes Marino in our blog titled, “From Humble Beginnings to President of a NYSE Public Company” and the accompanying three-part micro-documentary.
From the company retreats where team members spend time with best-selling authors and speakers, to the family style living room, kitchen and game room in the offices that the team enjoys every day, Shay’s enthusiasm for business is complemented by her flawless eye for design. In addition to her role as President and COO, Shay personally designed Hughes Marino headquarters and original offices, leading to the development of our in-house Planning + Design team that helps clients find the perfect space to meet their business objectives and create the culture they desire, much like Hughes Marino has for its own team.
Shay received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Pepperdine University, where she graduated alongside her husband, Jason. In her free time, Shay enjoys traveling with her family, design and creative endeavors, and writing about business management and culture for several publications, including her blog, Lead from Within. Shay’s greatest achievement has been raising her three remarkable children.