Stephen J. Cloobeck is the founder and former CEO and chairman of Diamond Resorts International--a business that grew to become the second-largest vacation ownership company. A busboy turned entrepreneur with more than thirty years' experience across every aspect of hospitality, he is the author of Checking In: Hospitality-Driven Thinking, Business, and You. He is the former Chairman of the State of Nevada Athletic Commission.

Cloobeck was appointed by former Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to serve as the inaugural chairman of the board of Brand USA Inc., a US government-formed nonprofit corporation with the sole mission of promoting travel to the United States. In 2004, he was appointed by former governor Kenny C. Guinn to Nevada's Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices. A native of Encino, California, he currently resides in Southern California.

"Stephen offers a new lens through which to view the most pressing issues of our day. For anyone looking for a way out of the political morass, Facing Hard Truths seeds new ideas that I, for one, certainly hope take root."
--Stephen F. Sisolak, businessman and 30th Governor of Nevada

"A must read if you live in California and are concerned about its future."
--Robert Shapiro, internationally renowned litigator and serial entrepreneur

"We need more leaders like Stephen that are willing to step up and stand in the gap and make sacrifices to create real change."
--Gary Brecka, renowned human biologist, biohacker, and longevity expert

"It is often said that a teacher learns from his students. I have had the honor of mentoring many students in my lifetime and learning from them. I will always remember the lessons from one of my mentees, Stephen J. Cloobeck, on the 'Meaning of Yes.'"
--Michael Milken, financier and cofounder of the Milken Family Foundation

"This world needs more of Stephen's fight to ignite that spirit in all of us to keep going and come together to do what's right. He's a person who doesn't just talk but delivers."
--Cory Booker, US Senator, D-New Jersey

"Cloobeck's toughened, real-world optimism, his essential humanism, is obvious and cheering throughout the text. A provocative, stirring call for greater civility."
--Kirkus Reviews

"[Cloobeck] shows his policy chops by outlining creative ideas and practical solutions to some of the toughest problems facing California and America. But as his 'hard truths' make clear, those solutions don't stand a chance without the right attitude."
--David Suissa, Jewish Journal

"It's a great book and he should be proud of it."
--President Bill Clinton

"Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and California gubernatorial candidate Stephen J. Cloobeck is stepping into the national conversation."
--Los Angeles Magazine

Publisher: Disruption Books

Pub date: 2025-06-03

Length: 264 pages