The Shepherd Hotel in Clemson blends Southern charm with a purposeful business model.
“This is more than a hotel, it’s a place of transformation,” said Clemson University Head Football Coach Dabo Swinney, at the opening of the seven-story, 67-room Shepherd Hotel in 2022. Swinney went all in on the venture and became a partner.
“We started with a purpose,” says CEO Rick Hayduk. After years in hospitality management, Hayduk, inspired by his daughter Jamison, who has Down syndrome, wanted to open a hotel that would employ people with disabilities. What happened next is what Shepherd partners refer to as “God winks.”
In 2018, Hayduk came to Clemson to attend a football game and pitched his idea to Rich Davies, a developer and Clemson graduate. “When Rick shared his vision with me, it probably took me thirty seconds to make the decision,” Davies says. He then pointed out to Hayduk where the hotel should be–a bank property in the heart of downtown that Davies had purchased in 2014.
At a tailgate, Davies and Hayduk told Dr. Joe Ryan, executive director of the ClemsonLIFE program, that they wanted to employ his students. ClemsonLIFE started in 2009 and empowers students with intellectual disabilities to follow their career goals and experience life on a college campus.
“We’ve employed students in hospitality and restaurants before, but the nice thing about The Shepherd Hotel is they are able to take a large capacity of students,” says Erica Walters, program manager. “Even when they were building the hotel, ClemsonLIFE had a voice in it. It’s been a true collaboration,”
It was a difficult 18-month build. “This property was the furthest thing from a prototypical hotel site,” Davies says. It was a trapezoidal shape with difficult right-to-build circumstances. However, the purpose-driven team was determined. “We have the opportunity to overcome,” Davies says, “and do it in a way that creates these interaction areas where people can come together.”
For example, the elevation change of the site provided an opportunity to install an entrance stair, so “people seated in the lobby look up and see you coming down the staircase as you enter the hotel.” The ClemsonLIFE students and alumni who work there “love seeing people they know walk in,” Walters says.
Another partner, Sarah McKinney, was instrumental in the hotel’s design concept. “She has a phenomenal eye,” Hayduk says. IIG, a firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was selected for the interiors and did a three-day immersion in the local community as part of their process.
Part of the family
IIG’s research led to some of the hotel’s most memorable features. There is a Clemson “family tree” installation suspended just inside the Sloan Street entrance. In the elevators, panels with braille lettering spell joy, love, sunshine, and other words indicative of the hotel’s atmosphere.
The lobby is like a contemporary living room with an open dining area for breakfast, lunch, or dinner from Delish Sisters—a restaurant offering flavorful dishes crafted by two South African sisters. ClemsonLIFE staffers provide table service.
Instead of a front desk, touch pads running the latest technology are used for check-in. This is both an accommodation for staff and a convenience for guests. The lobby’s swing couch is a playful centerpiece. A corner retail area sells artwork, jewelry, and gifts made by artisans with disabilities. Abstract artist Charlie French, born with Down syndrome, donated three of his paintings to the hotel.
Guests select from five room options; all rooms feature ViscoSoft mattresses, NEST bath products, an abstract print of Lake Hartwell, and original tissue paper artwork made by ClemsonLIFE students. Room furnishings are cozy and comfortable. Soundproofing was prioritized.
Light, natural tones form the colors and textures throughout. A spiral staircase connects the first two floors to the Thomas Bar, named after university founder Thomas Green Clemson, which is open to the public on level three. The terrace off the bar offers an enviable location to watch the activity happening on College Avenue below.
The Shepherd Hotel succeeds in providing a unique and moving experience. It’s a place where smiles are traded like currency and individuals are celebrated for what makes them special.
Plans are in the works to bring a second Shepherd to Columbia; with franchise opportunities available, more colleges offering inclusive education programs might soon be partnering with this authentic brand of hospitality.
The Shepherd Hotel is True to its Name
The Shepherd Hotel employs up to 40 workers with disabilities and people on the autism spectrum. Many of them are current or former ClemsonLIFE students. The prospective employees who come from the ClemsonLIFE program have to interview for jobs at the hotel and are subject to the same performance evaluations and expectations as any other team member. Among the staff is the increasingly famous Tanner Smith, who appeared to great acclaim on the Netflix series Love on the Spectrum.
“One of the unintended benefits of this project is these individuals with disabilities get to work amongst their friends,” says Rick Hayduk, CEO of Shepherd Hospitality. Four years ago, Hayduk and his wife, who have three older daughters, one with Down syndrome, adopted a teenager with Down syndrome named Abe who works at the hotel on weekends.
“When I think of The Shepherd Hotel,” says cofounder Rich Davies, “I think of these youngsters being the shepherds teaching us how to interact with others and be positive, facing the challenges of the day.”
“It’s amazing to see who has been impacted,” says ClemsonLIFE Program Director Erica Walters. “Yes, they’ve changed the lives of our students, but our students, in turn, have changed lives in this community.”
TOWN recently sat down with three Shepherd Hotel team members who find purpose at work.
- Jamison Hayduk (18) is an incoming ClemsonLIFE student and Rick Hayduk’s daughter. She’s worked at the hotel for a year as a mini “Delish Sister” in the restaurant because she does it all. Her younger brother, Abe Hayduk (16), also works with her and can often be seen on Saturdays working at the buffet. Jamison enjoys serving food because it “makes people happy.”
- Marsden Miller is a ClemsonLIFE graduate who played for Clemson’s wheelchair tennis team and also has a job with Clemson football. At the hotel, Miller works as a front desk receptionist. “I love it here, meeting new people everyday.”
- Marcus Wooten is a ClemsonLIFE alum who also works with Clemson football. He serves as a steward (food runner and busser) in the hotel restaurant. “I like working in the hotel; I greet people, work behind the scenes, and get to know the customers. It’s been a good vibe.”
