That vision has been shaped by Karen DiPeri, President, and Michael DiPeri, CEO, through more than three decades in hospitality. Even the KinOra name reflects the philosophy: “Kin” represents family, connection and community, while “Ora,” Italian for time, represents growth and the journey of refining one’s craft. “We are in the people business of humans serving each other,” Karen DiPeri noted. “People want to be recognized. They want to know that their time isn’t being wasted and that they’re learning something. They want to know that they’re part of a family that respects what they’re trying to accomplish.”
That philosophy connects KinOra’s three hospitality brands across the talent journey. HMG+ focuses on staffing and placing Service Professionals; the Academy for Hospitality Arts (AHA) develops education, training and repeatable service standards; and Acquire Hospitality supports permanent placement and management recruitment. Together, the three divisions are designed to help clients find the right people, develop their capabilities and create pathways for career and leadership growth.
HMG+ serves as the staffing engine, identifying and placing Service Professionals with the communication skills, presentation, judgment and hospitality mindset needed in corporate environments. Those qualities can be especially important when an employee may move from a reception to a board dinner or executive dining room, where technical execution has to be paired with emotional intelligence and the ability to read a room. “We have always looked for people who have great communication skills, a feel for the art of presentation and genuine caring and kindness in their heart,” Karen DiPeri said. “Experience is always helpful, but we can train that. Now more than ever, it is important because people are a brand extension.”
Culture is central to how KinOra translates those expectations into day-to-day service. Service Professionals are held to what the company calls the 4 P’s: Punctuality, Presentation, Performance and Personality. The standard is intended to reinforce not only how a person performs a task, but how they arrive, communicate, work as part of a team and represent both KinOra and the client. “Everything we do is intentional,” Karen DiPeri said. “From training and consulting to placement, each step is built with purpose and not left to chance.”
The company says that culture also shows up in recruiting. KinOra interviews roughly 2,000 candidates annually and onboards approximately 500 to 700 people per year, according to the DiPeris, with approximately 75% to just under 80% of recruiting now coming through referrals. That creates a pipeline built heavily around relationships, community and Service Professionals recommending the experience to others.
AHA takes the development piece further through front-of-house education, training and skill building. The DiPeris have long viewed formal service education as an underserved part of hospitality, particularly when compared with the structured training available in culinary disciplines. “When it came to front-of-the-house education, we have always seen a big gap and with it an enormous opportunity,” Michael DiPeri said. “How do you set that up with SOPs and repeatable systems? How do you train event planners? How do you understand your foodservice resources and put systems in place to execute complicated services?”
The Academy’s role reflects KinOra’s broader belief that hospitality training has to extend beyond technical mechanics. Repeatable systems matter, but so do teamwork, pride and an understanding of why a standard exists. “Hospitality is purely a team sport,” Michael DiPeri said. “People want to gather. They want to feel loved and appreciated. When you can help people become better at what they do, they take that with them, they have pride in what they do and they appreciate that.”
Acquire Hospitality addresses the next stage of the talent journey through permanent placement and management recruitment. The division is designed to help hospitality professionals move into longer-term career and leadership opportunities while helping clients build stronger management teams. Within the KinOra model, that creates a progression from staffing to education to advancement rather than treating each need as an isolated transaction.
Technology supports that process without replacing the human interaction behind it. KinOra’s approach is to use technology to reinforce learning and simplify routine work while keeping training and service grounded in face-to-face hospitality. “Technology can enhance your training, but it’s just a tool. It’s not the solution,” Michael DiPeri explained. “Our priority remains to be in the room with the person to walk through the steps and to use technology to supplement. The focus is still in the field and face to face.”
The company’s giggo platform follows the same principle. Originally designed to centralize event orders, menus, floor plans, staffing details and service information, giggo is intended to automate routine transactions so teams can spend more time on hospitality strategy and client interaction. “The minutiae gets processed through technology so we can actually have strategic conversations with our client contacts or captains and really focus on the event,” Michael DiPeri said. KinOra is also exploring how AI could expand those capabilities going forward.
That combination of culture, training and technology is also shaping KinOra’s expansion into Chicago. After more than 30 years rooted in New York, the company is building its Chicago presence around recruiting and developing local talent, establishing client relationships and carrying the same standards of teamwork and professional growth into a new market.
KinOra’s participation in the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management’s 2026 National Conference, held last month at Chicago’s Palmer House, was one part of that effort. As a Silver sponsor, the company joined leaders from corporate foodservice, workplace hospitality and employee experience for education, networking and industry collaboration. For the DiPeris, the goal is not simply to add a staffing footprint, but to become part of the local hospitality community and create additional career and leadership opportunities.
For operators, contract feeders and corporate hospitality teams, KinOra’s model connects recruitment, education, career development, culture and technology around a common service standard. The company’s broader vision is to help hospitality professionals learn, grow and lead while helping organizations build stronger teams and more consistent guest experiences. For additional information on KinOra, HMG+, Acquire Hospitality and the Academy for Hospitality Arts, readers can visit KinOraUSA.com.
