Annual WIL Statewide Leadership Luncheon

2026 WIL Statewide Leadership Luncheon 

June 18, 2026

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Embassy Suites Columbus Dublin

Our 'Barrier Breaker' Panel 

Letha Pugh

Co- Founder of Bake Me Happy, Preston’s Burger, Café Overlook, Core Café, NorthStar Development Partners

A transplant from Omaha, Nebraska, Letha Pugh has co-founded a family of small businesses in the Columbus community: Bake Me Happy (a wholesale/retail gluten free bakery with 2 locations, Preston’s Burger (the best burger in the Midwest with 2 locations), Café Overlook (a workforce development café inside the Franklin County Courthouse, and Core Café (located inside the new Bob Crace Recreation Center in Upper Arlington). Letha is also the Commission Chair for the City of Columbus Department of Parks and Recreation, a general board member of The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio, Freedom Equity, Columbus Sports Commission, and Service! A relief effort for hospitality workers.  A graduate of the Affordable Housing Trusts’ Emerging Developers Accelerators Program first cohort, Letha is currently building her first ground-up housing project and is learning the development world in real time.

Jodi Burroughs

Partner at Grove City Brewing Company & Plum Run Winery

A 30-year resident of Grove City, Jodi Burroughs is one of the partners at Grove City Brewing Company & Plum Run Winery here in the heart of Grove City, along with Hocking Hills Canopy Tours in southeast Ohio, providing educational zipline eco-tours, creating fun and memorable experiences for visitors across multiple generations within Appalachia, Ohio, for the past 18 years.  

As an entrepreneur, Jodi is highly regarded as a business leader within the state tourism industry and in the Grove City community, serving as a member of City Council, volunteering her time on various local and state boards, along with other local organizations. She is also a recent graduate of the Grove City Citizen Police Academy.  Her areas of specialty include sales and marketing, management and operations, contract negotiations, customer service training, strategic planning, and partnership development.

Jodi's educational background includes engineering and business administration, which has allowed her the opportunity to travel to many places around the world. In her free time, Jodi and her husband, Ray, enjoy college football. tennis, concerts, the local food scene, and spending time with other family members and friends in Grove City and their two cats. 

Moderator: Lisa Garner

Area General Manager at Concord Hospitality

Lisa is the Area General Manager at Concord Hospitality for the dual properties, Residence Inn OSU and Marriott OSU, north of The Ohio State campus.

Lisa serves on the OHLA Board of Trustees, is currently the OHLA Columbus Lodging Council Chair, and is a member of the WIL Advisory Council.

She is a Hospitality executive with over 30 years of experience as a seasoned high-caliber general manager with a passion for sales. Successful creation of synergizing sales and operations teams while delivering excellent results in customer satisfaction, market share, top-line revenues, and maintaining profit margins.

Keynote Presentation

Modern women are breaking barriers in every direction—leading companies, raising families, supporting communities, caring for loved ones, and carrying invisible responsibilities few people ever fully see. But beyond the horizon of achievement lies a deeper question: What happens when the woman holding it all together begins to lose herself in the process?

To find out how to shed your “shoulds,” join us on June 18 at our Annual Women in Lodging Leadership Luncheon!

Regan Walsh

Author of Heart Boss

The bestselling author of the highly acclaimed memoir Heart Boss: Trust Your Gut, Shed Your Shoulds, and Create a Life You Love, Regan has contributed to Harvard Business Review and Forbes and has been featured by Fast Company, Today, and Real Simple, among others.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Regan also leads The Leadership Circle, an exclusive network of corporate executives and founders from around the world.