ROMAN HARRISON SMYTHE
AGE: 36
BIRTHDAY: October 21st, 1988
RELATION: half siblings
TYPE: solo
GENDER: cismale
PRONOUNS: he/him
ORIENTATION(S): fluid
FACE CLAIM: Theo James
JOB/SCHOOL
JOB: CEO of Empire Hotel chain
ALUMNI?: alumni
ABOUT
Roman grew up the product of two affluent families. His father, Harrison Smythe was well known in finance, and a powerful man. His mother, while she wasn’t exactly the perfect daughter her parents had envisioned, was an heiress to a massive global hotel chain known round the world. His mother was fairly irresponsible in his raising, as she was often known more for partying and just generally, being an heiress than she was at taking care of a child. His father, was rather busy with work quite often, which often left him in the care of his maternal grandparents. He did see both his mother and father regularly, but didn’t find much connection in either of them. As his father married and had more children, he did attempt to spend more time with them, and to connect but the age differences made it difficult, and he found himself busy with school, sports, and then eventually work, following much in his father’s footsteps.
When Roman was only 12, his mother was found dead in a hotel room in Paris of an apparent overdose. It was astonishing how little it affected him, and his grandparents insisted on therapy, afraid he was repressing his feelings and they would come back to haunt him later. He was glad for the therapy, but the truth of the matter was that while his Mother’s passing made him sad, he had very little connection to her, it was the same as the passing of a distant relative. Sad, but life goes on. His grandparents, of course, were devastated, they had lost their only child, but they took comfort in each other and in the fact that the had Roman to care for. His grandparents were the best part of Roman’s life, and he cherished them more than he could put into words. Even at a young age, he understood that the loss of his mother would be nothing in comparison than the loss of his grandparents when that time came.
Roman spent quite a bit of time at work with his grandparents, they were quite young at heart, and both still working full time at the family hotel chain. His grandfather, Bart was CEO and his grandmother, Marta was CMO, and Roman loved watching them work. He loved watching them captivate a board room, and more so, he loved their morals. They were good people to the bone, no matter how much money they had, they were good to their people, and good to their community. During natural disasters, it was well known that they would happily house those who needed it, not charging them a penny for anything they needed and making sure their people handled going straight through insurance so that the people in their care had nothing to worry about. They also quietly owned and funded countless homeless shelters around the world. Food waste from the restaurants was unacceptable and anything left over at the end of the night was brought to various food banks in the cities they were located.
Bart and Marta volunteered regularly at all kinds of charity events, and hosted just as many as they attended. They were the kind of people that only exist in fairytales, but they were real, and more so, they didn’t brag about their contributions, it was not often that you’d find someone who didn’t know about the kindness of their hearts, but that was solely because word got around, they refused to ever participate in any kinds of awards, or articles written about themselves, and had no use for boasting. And they taught Roman to be the same. To give and give until you could give no more, and then work hard to make more money so you could give that, too. They enjoyed their money as well, they weren’t martyrs living in a box, but they helped in all the ways they knew how.
Roman began working at the hotel at 15, first a bellhop, then later he was in housekeeping, then maintenance. He bussed tables in the restaurants, then waited tables, then learned to help in the kitchen. He worked front desk, he worked security, and he eventually was promoted to management. He knew that people saw him as nepo baby, that he wouldn’t be in that position at only 21 if his grandparents weren’t who they were, and maybe that was true, because he certainly wouldn’t have chosen to start working at a hotel at 15 if it weren’t for them, but he also knew that he was good at his job, and however he got there, he was grateful for his position in life. He was in school as well, PSU majoring in business.
He climbed the ranks higher as he graduated college, and then went back for his masters degree. Yes, he knew that again, he had an advantage, but he wasn’t going to back down and take less just because of the family he was born into. Eventually, three years ago, his grandfather retired, and he was named the new CEO of The Empire Hotels. Again, he was questioned for if he really deserved it, and he’s spent the last 3 years trying to prove that he is. Profits are up, and they’ve just renovated their LA location, and not once has he ever strayed from his grandparents vigilance for taking care of his employees, or his community.
Roman resides in the penthouse of the LA Empire, it’s easier to oversee most operations from there, and equally as easy to travel when needed via the hotel’s private jet. Roman works day and night, and rarely allows himself any time to relax. He has a dog named Hercules, and as far as love goes, that’s about as far as he’s gotten. He enjoys sex, but keeps everything intentionally casual, it is too difficult to try to maintain any kind of relationship when you’re married to your work.
