Lessons From Leaders
Start your day off right by tapping into the life and business experience of leaders who know how to make things happen! Lessons from Leaders is an ongoing series of discussion panels to help entrepreneurs get a great start to their day! Join us as our panel of highly successful business leaders share their experiences and answer your questions about different topics. Coffee and light breakfast provided for those who attend in person.
Register below to sign up for the next session!
March 31, 2023 // 7:30am – 9:00am
The Shift from Founder to CEO
As companies grow, one struggle a founder may be faced with is when (and if) to make the transition to the CEO or another C-Suite level role. Their focus may shift from creating an idea and bringing it to life, to building a team of experts around them who can make the vision come to life. This step is not only a change in responsibilities, but also a change in mindset. How do you get out of the day-to-day operations and start to work on the business from more of a strategy, culture, and vision point of view?
We will welcome panelists and attendees in person at Innovation Guelph for coffee, networking, and a continental breakfast. If you are unable to join in person, there will be an opportunity to participate in the panel discussion through Zoom webinar.
Panelists and further details to be shared soon!
The Panelists
- Morgan Mitchell, Founder & CEO of Green Goddess Fromagerie
- Jennifer Prendergast, Co-Founder & CEO of The Expert Talk
- Jo Anne Watton, CEO of UTComp Inc.
- Sean Thompson // CEO, Co-Founder, Psigryph Inc.
Meet the Panelists!
MORGAN MITCHELL // Founder and CEO, Green Goddess Fromagerie
Morgan began experimenting in creating vegan cheese after a health scare which resulted in her cutting out animal products, specifically dairy. With a background in pharmaceuticals, Mitchell began developing dairy-free cheeses for her family. Green Goddess Fromagerie is an Artisan Vegan Cheese Purveyor, based in Guelph, Ontario, founded by a family of lifelong cheese lovers. Green Goddess cheese was born in the kitchen, with a desire to achieve the alignment of ethics and health without compromising exceptional taste. They love cheese, and don’t think that dairy-free cheese needs to be a compromise. Their mission is to make the highest quality artisan vegan cheese that is creative, delicious and versatile. Cheese that can stand alone on a cheese board, make the most luxurious pasta, take your salad up a notch, or inspire your creativity in the kitchen.
JENNIFER PRENDERGAST // Co-Founder and CEO, The Expert Talk
Jennifer is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Expert Talk, where she manages the overall strategy and operations. Before establishing The Expert Talk, she was the Publisher for My Passion Media. With a background in B2B sales and executive leadership, she co-founded The Expert Talk in 2020.
Jennifer earned a degree in Communications and Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University. She spent ten years working in B2B sales, eventually leading a team of sales professionals, and then ultimately overseeing the travel division of a national media company and three of its brands. Following a life-changing trip to New Orleans in the summer of 2019, she felt a pull to change career directions. Tired of seeing so much misinformation peddled as “expertise” to people who are struggling and looking for solutions, The Expert Talk is dedicated to only delivering science- and evidence-based information and strategies that are backed up by current research.
SEAN THOMPSON // CEO and Co-Founder, Psigryph Inc.
Sean has extensive Clinical and Business Development experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry including GSK (SmithKline Beecham), Roche and YM BioSciences Inc. He was a founding Board Member VBI Vaccines (then Variation Biotechnologies Inc), VP, Corporate Development for YM BioSciences (now Gilead). Previously he held Clinical Development positions at Roche and GSK representing Canada on Tamiflu Global Development Teams. Sean holds a B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo. Psigryph Inc. is a biotechnology company who is redefining the way we deliver bioactive molecules across the cell membrane. Their patent-pendingNanopect™ nanodelivery system can transport large numbers of molecules across cell membranes of plants, animals and humans increasing bioavailability many fold. Psigryph Inc. was founded in 2018 and identified product opportunities in many industries such as Food and Beverage, Agriculture, Pharmaceutical and Cannabis.
JO ANNE WATTON // CEO, UTComp
Jo Anne is a proven leader who has demonstrated her skills in facilitating change through research, communication, networking, and training. As the Chief Operations Officer of UTComp, she has the opportunity tointegrate her national and international work to expand the FRP inspection around the world. She has worked and developed networks during her 20-year career, in government, not-for-profit, for profit and research sectors. Bridged knowledge of human development, organizational structure and business skills, Jo Anne has achieved an understanding and expertise in how people work in organizations and how to support them to respond to an evolving work environment, and work environments to global change. Jo Anne is a graduate of Memorial University (BA (Sociology/Business 1994) and Wilfrid Laurier University (MSW (Community Development and Social Policy) 1998).