Optimizing Human
Potential
OPTIMIZING
HUMAN POTENTIAL
Alex HAS BEEN FEATURED IN
Who Is Alex?
Alex Atwood is a multifaceted, purpose-driven leader with more than 20 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur who helmed four startups in the hospitality and staffing space. He’s also a coach in the emerging psychedelics field whose focus is on optimizing human potential. Other roles include podcaster, public speaker, angel investor in firms that help build a better world, and philanthropist with a soft spot for owners and operators of family businesses.
Opportunities for Collaboration
My Startups
GravyWork
GravyWork connects hospitality businesses to an experienced on-demand workforce.Our streamlined staffing technology serves DC, Virginia, Maryland, and Central FloridaWe partner with our talent, clients and the community to create opportunities for growth and mutual success.
Sanistaff
Sanistaff was my response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This service connected businesses with disinfection technicians and supplies which allowed them to keep serving customers safely. Sanistaff also provided disinfection training and employment to displaced hospitality workers.
Hospitality Training Institute
I founded this school to provide skills & experience to new hospitality professionals. Students received training from professionals with extensive experience in the hospitality industry.
HTI was involved in the Virginia Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and The National Restaurant Association (NRA)
Penguin Services Group
Penguin supplied trained professionals to private events, hotels, caterers, and managed food service providers. Our services encompass staffing, training, and executive search services for the hospitality industry.
Penguin Service’s talent base served as the foundation for my other staffing startup, GravyWork.
Testimonials
Testimonials
In the Media
The Alchemist Lounge
Episode 030: A Journey of Self-Discovery Through Your Physical Body with Luigi Pissani
If you’re someone who’s used to sitting down on the computer the whole day, there are surely times when you’ve noticed pain here and there.
Episode 029: Using Psychedelics to Bring Forth the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection with Austin Mao
Psychology has spanned over a hundred years now. First, there was Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning where humans are triggered by certain stimuli. Then there’s
Overcoming Failures And Winning In Life – Pauls Pujats
One learns more from failure than from success. In pole vaulting, mother nature is everything, and Latvia Olympian Pauls Pujats has this in mind every
A Deeper Dive on Men’s Sexual Health – Dr. Marc Richman
Sexual health is a window to general health as all different components in life are intricately connected with it. Urologist / Deputy Sheriff Dr. Marc
Articles
What it was like to have a bird’s-eye view of a cultural trainwreck
In watching the Netflix documentary Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99, I couldn’t help but flash back to my own experience attending this ill-fated event. Which marked the
A Journey of Self-Discovery Through Your Physical Body with Luigi Pissani
If your body is a reflection of all the constant actions that you do repeatedly – then what kind of image are you giving off
Why gig-work is so appealing to so many working Americans
This is the best job market for American workers in my lifetime. The unemployment rate is very low at only 3.7%. There are more than
How and why my time at Burning Man was so transformational
Fresh from Burning Man, an experiment in deconstructing social constructs. I found the experience to be transformative, psychedelic and magical. Attending the latest incarnation of