Join us for Business Bites - Innovation Lessons | Stories of Successful Pivots That Amplified Profits
Sometimes changing directions can be the fastest way to get to the desired result. In this month's Virtual Business Bites session we will explore the power of a business plan or product pivot.
Join entrepreneurial leaders Christina Farinacci-Roberts, Curtis Michelson, and Brock Weatherup for an engaging conversation about innovation and business strategy.
Curtis Michelson - Founder | Minds Alert
Curtis is a business architect and creative consultant with expertise in publishing, media and higher education. For over 15 years, he has served both enterprises and startups with digital, agile and strategic business change and transformation.
In 2012, he launched Minds Alert, a design agency based in Orlando, FL serving clients globally. He co-created the Discovery Leadership framework in 2017 and today offers product management and business model innovation workshops for organizations of all sizes.
Christina Farinacci-Roberts - Founder | Chief Consultant
Christina Farinacci-Roberts, the founder of Head Heart Hands Consulting LLC (HHH), is a 20 year veteran educator and a champion of Equity and Excellence for All. As a consultant, she advises senior executive clients to create equitable systems and inclusive structures for diverse stakeholders to experience greater individual and organizational flourishing. This has enabled her clients’ organizations to remove barriers and shape cultures that drive substantive change and fuel sustainable growth. Christina’s use of her jointly created W.I.D.E. (Wellness, Inclusion, Diversity & Equity) framework and approach are rooted in educational pedagogy, critical race theory and HeartMath.
Prior to founding HHH, Christina was the principal and CEO of the first all girls charter high school in New York State where she advanced leadership and closed achievement gaps for girls of color. Christina has a proven track record for turning around institutions that were struggling to attain equitable outcomes. In New York City, she worked as a principal and former teacher in some of the most underperforming and historically underserved districts. Both positions required her to engage in successful change management through completely transforming the organizations’ culture to create a common vision, sense of urgency and strong community.
Christina’s passion for increasing DEI in all industries is grounded in her experience as the child of an immigrant mother. Christina has seen firsthand the challenges that racism and discrimination can produce but also the ways in which they can be fought and reduced, as well as the life changing outcomes it can create.
Brock Weatherup - CEO/Founder | Great Pet Fund
Brock Weatherup is a proven CEO & C-Suite Leader who has a long history of leading growth-oriented consumer technology, ecommerce, retail, and media businesses that focus on leveraging technology to drive consumer engagement. He is currently CEO/Founder of Metamorphosis – a pet consumer focused business development platform and digital agency. Currently overseeing operations of brands/sites that include e-commerce site Muttropolis and TheAnxiousPet as well as consumer engagement platforms of GreatPetCare, Pawprint and as a pet Amazon reseller.
Prior to his current role, Brock spent two years as the EVP/Chief Innovation and Digital Officer for Petco, overseeing the strategic leadership of all digital, ecommerce and new consumer innovation for the organization. Brock arrived at Petco when his prior startup PetCoach was acquired by Petco. PetCoach is a consumer tele-health/tele-medicine engagement platform focused on transforming & innovating veterinary care delivery. As EVP/CIO/CDO, Weatherup led Petco’s efforts to maximize the $4.5B/28,000 employee/1,500 location retail & services business of today, while strategically redefining the future of the company by leveraging customer insights, marketing & technology. He oversaw a +$500MM e-commerce business (Petco.com & DrsFosterandSmith.com), +40MM customer database/email/CRM, $75MM advertising budget, in-store associate technology/apps/iPads, and the full omni-channel tools.
Brock is an avid outdoor enthusiast, hiker, skier, cook, volunteer and highly involved father of two teenage daughters. He is a 1994 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He and his wife, Mary, live in San Diego, with their daughters and their dog, Boulder.
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About Business Bites:
An original webinar series brought to you by HanaHaus in close collaboration with ON ITS AXIS. Enjoy 1-hour livestream episodes featuring renowned thought leaders and notable speakers from various industries. Join us for thoughtful conversations every month where our guests share insights on innovation, leadership, business development, and other relevant topics!
About ON ITS AXIS:
ON ITS AXIS is an award-winning innovation consultancy helping enterprises accelerate faster and at scale. Since 2009 we've partnered with some of the brightest, most forward-thinking companies to spark change, enhance agility, and optimize growth. Over the years we've had the honor to work with companies like Samsung, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, IBM, and BICS. Together, we’ve created business models, taken products from concept to commercialization, and created cultures of excellence.
About HanaHaus:
HanaHaus is a community workspace that combines the best aspects of café and coworking culture and cultivates a dynamic atmosphere for innovation. The concept of HanaHaus is rooted in the philosophy that great ideas spring from anywhere, and more often when people come together. HanaHaus brings people together and offers a space where they can connect, explore new ideas, and bring them to life.