| Event Start Date: February 1, 2024 | Event End Date: February 1, 2024 | Event Venue: |
Join us, in collaboration with The Garage Group, for an in-person and virtual community-building event for a panel discussion with battle-tested leaders on how they are navigating the current market turbulence and increased headwinds within themselves, their teams, and their companies.
If you join us in Chicago, you’ll find opportunities to collaborate and network with corporate leaders, startup founders, investors, and professional peers from different backgrounds for courage, inspiration, and ideas as you’re building your company and career in the midst of uncertainty.
Courageous Minds Only, started by The Garage Group, is a Global Community whose mission is to build a network of courageous leaders and inspire them to find new, creative solutions for growing their brands and companies in uncertainty. Find the courage you need to take the next step in your career. Remember, all it takes is a community, ideas, and some courageous inspiration!Â
Registration
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Featuring:
Courageous Minds Only Founder & Moderator – Jason Hauer, Co-Founder, The Garage Group and CEO, hauerX holdings
Jamie Rotnicki – Vice President, Innovation at Molson Coors
Jamie Rotnicki serves as the Vice President of Innovation at Molson Coors. In this role, she is significantly involved in the company’s strategic initiatives, particularly those targeting younger consumers. For instance, she played a key part in the development and launch of “Happy Thursday,” a flavored, “spiked refresher” by Molson Coors. This product was partly inspired by the non-alcoholic “refreshers” lines from Starbucks and Dunkin’.
Jamie’s approach emphasizes the importance of flavor as a major purchase driver for legal drinking age consumers, especially those between 21 and 34 years old. She highlights the need for a balance of taste, sessionability, and variety to appeal to this audience. This strategy also involves extensive research and consultation with younger consumers to better understand their preferences and expectations, moving away from traditional marketing approaches and focusing on authenticity and relatability to the target demographic.
Previously Jamie has lead teams at Terlato Wines and Kraft Heinz.
Dujon Smith – Founder & CEO @ My Block Skin & Co-Lead Black Founders @ Accenture
Dujon Smith, a seasoned expert with over a decade of experience in innovation and venture capital, co-leads the Black Founders Development Program at Accenture Ventures. He empowers Black entrepreneurs to advance their technology businesses through enhanced access to venture capital, corporate mentorship, and strategic connections. Leveraging his expertise in law, international business, and social networking, Dujon builds bridges between Global 2000 companies and the startup ecosystem, fostering wealth creation and innovation within Black communities.
In addition to his role at Accenture Ventures, Dujon is the founder and CEO of My Block Skin, a mission-driven company dedicated to providing innovative SPF solutions for the melanin-rich community. Through education, awareness, and access to high-quality sun care products, he redefines sun protection, ensuring that everyone, regardless of skin tone, can enjoy the sun safely and maintain healthy, radiant skin.
Rissa Reddan – CMO, West Monroe
Rissa, as a Partner and Chief Marketing Officer at West Monroe, leads the marketing strategy and execution for a digital services firm that helps companies in transformative industries achieve quantifiable financial value. She has over 25 years of experience in marketing, storytelling, and demand generation, with a track record of creating and launching innovative campaigns, programs, and solutions that drive growth, engagement, and loyalty.
She is passionate about the power of creativity and data to shape compelling narratives and deliver impactful outcomes. She is a certified story facilitator, a podcast host, and a board member for two organizations that align with her values and mission. She believes that digital is a mindset, not a destination, and that it requires collaboration, agility, and curiosity. That’s why she enjoys working with diverse, multidisciplinary teams that blend management consulting, digital design, and product engineering to move companies from traditional ways of working to digital operating models.
