For our first event of the 2019 calendar, Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network partnered with Fifty Gazelles for the first Innovation Breakfast event of the year.  Innovation Breakfasts are now headed into their 3rd year of offerings, under the guidance and content cultivation of Fifty Gazelles' Jeremy Anderson.  One of CFBN’s most popular series, Innovation Breakfasts examine “innovation” across all platforms and categories and offer attendees an insider’s look into the mindset, actions, and pursuits of companies who are innovating in product development, company culture, and more.

January’s event, held at the Fifty Gazelles/Blue Dog space in the West Loop, focused on three Chicagoland leaders who have been recognized for their “innovative” approach to company culture and team development.  Katlin Smith of Simple Mills, Barb Pegesk of FONA International, and Michelle Hayward of Bluedog provided insight into why their companies have been recognized as some of the best in Chicagoland to work for, especially for women.  

Katlin noted that her team strives to be both “internally collaborative and externally competitive”.  She has worked to develop a team of people who can “move faster”, and have the “safety to be bold, to make mistakes, and to have the hard and honest conversations” with one another.  At the end of the day, the culture and team she has built at Simple Mills understands that her goal is “growth, not perfection” which enables them to lead as they expand into new categories and channels.

At FONA, Barb noted, they are transitioning from a Founder-led company, and her team is working to capture all of the qualities that drove their growth and shaped their culture under that leadership.  She believes that FONA has built a team of “people willing to lift the heavy end of the box” - partly by reminding leadership to “stop hogging decisions” so that everyone can be a part of the decision making processes that shape FONA and encourage ownership and engagement.  FONA must be a a “non-elitist meritocracy” where the leadership and the full team understand that “innovation is not exclusive to any one part of the business.”

Michelle’s approach at Bluedog, is to emphasize that they are a team who values “boldness, curiosity and learning, and freedom.”  Here culture building begins from the moment she interviews, by finding professionals and individuals who are looking for “growth, high accountability, high ambition” and understand and respect the “opportunity” to explore how they want to operate.  This balance between autonomy and accountability, is at the core of her team’s approach to projects and drives innovation in all of their endeavors.

Thank you again to everyone who joined us for January’s Innovation Breakfast - we are looking forward to this year’s roster of events.  So check our Events page for updated listings and announcements.