Justin Knight has been a part of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s (AHLA) Executive Committee for three years and has served on the Board of Directors for twice as long. Knight, who is CEO of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc., was recently named chair of the 2022 AHLA Board of Directors. His dedication to hospitality dates back to his graduate school days when he began working shifts at a Homewood Suites near Salt Lake City that was owned by Apple Suites, a company Knight’s father launched in 1999. “Over a period of months, I did everything from cleaning rooms to serving breakfast to folding laundry to working the front desk—and I got amazing exposure to the hotel industry that way,” Knight recalls. “When I graduated from the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University, I came back and joined Apple Suites as one of the initial employees. The rest is history.”