Speaker. Writer. Activist. Marketing is Regina Patterson’s superpower. She fights for the underdog, has a passion for marketing, and is really good at what she do…because she is a nerd. A cool nerd; yet, still a nerd. And she brings all of this passion, zeal, and rockstar energy to RRP Marketing, a full-service marketing agency intent on helping small and mid-sized businesses and non-profits create sustainable businesses through smart marketing decisions. Regina’s passion for marketing strategy and communications can be seen through her dedication to my craft, where she brings several combined years of experience. She possess a diverse background including retail, higher education, ministry, manufacturing, B2B, and B2C; all of which have positioned Regina as a well-versed contributor and leader in multiple areas. Known as a strategic thinker, Regina is a results-driven. She prides herself in combining traditional as well as out-of-the-box thinking to develop holistic plans and executes accordingly. Praised for having a knack to bring things together with minimal or extensive details/direction, she possess proven track record of optimal results throughout various project stages. When Regina isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her dog, Murphy, family, and close friends – and, of course, on social media.

Janna Wade never went to medical school, but married someone who did. She’s an eye surgeon’s wife, and a mother of three little ones. Her husband loves helping his patients see more clearly while she loves helping her customers see the humor in health challenges. Research shows humor can heal the body and soul. Everything is a little bit easier with laughter. Paper Mummy Co. is her ever-changing line of stationery and gifts. It’s all inspired by “real life” health challenges, staff and funny medical moments. All products are physician-approved.

Speaker. Writer. Activist. Marketing is Regina Patterson’s superpower. She fights for the underdog, has a passion for marketing, and is really good at what she do…because she is a nerd. A cool nerd; yet, still a nerd. And she brings all of this passion, zeal, and rockstar energy to RRP Marketing, a full-service marketing agency intent on helping small and mid-sized businesses and non-profits create sustainable businesses through smart marketing decisions. Regina’s passion for marketing strategy and communications can be seen through her dedication to my craft, where she brings several combined years of experience. She possess a diverse background including retail, higher education, ministry, manufacturing, B2B, and B2C; all of which have positioned Regina as a well-versed contributor and leader in multiple areas. Known as a strategic thinker, Regina is a results-driven. She prides herself in combining traditional as well as out-of-the-box thinking to develop holistic plans and executes accordingly. Praised for having a knack to bring things together with minimal or extensive details/direction, she possess proven track record of optimal results throughout various project stages. When Regina isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her dog, Murphy, family, and close friends – and, of course, on social media.

Tara has worked and consulted for organizations in both the for-profit and non-profit industries. With more than 18 years of experience in the world of marketing + events, she has quality experience in a variety of areas. She recently launched a passion business based on her love of greeting cards + events. Tara is married with a young son and resides in Cleveland, Ohio.

Phil Linder is the Director of Operations for Sandboxx, a mobile technology company that offers a digital to print mail service for military families and recruits in basic training.

In 2014, I founded Matrick & Eve, a wholesale greeting card and gift company that offered a personalized, hands-on approach and dedication to hand-crafted design, printing, packaging, and shipping. Within a 3 year period, I cultivated strategic retail partnerships that enabled our company to achieve product placement in over 2,500 retail locations in the U.S. & Canada including Target, The Container Store, corporate-owned Hallmark, Paper Source and Sur La Table stores, as well as over 600 privately owned specialty stores. I not only focused on directing the company’s end-to-end product development, creative direction/concept design, merchandising & omni-channel digital marketing strategy but simultaneously was dedicated to client service and building long lasting relationships in the industry that enabled the company to operate in a very difficult, low-margin industry with few barriers to entry. I worked with multiple showrooms and rep groups, in addition to exhibiting at trade shows. We also won a Louie Award and had a few nominations. I built Matrick and Eve on the heels of Invitation Consultants. I had a vision for a better way to create and deliver invitations leveraging technology and founded IC, an Ecommerce invitation company specializing in a personalized approach for B2C & B2B clients. Within a 6-year period, IC achieved $6 million in revenue through a cohesive brand strategy across all online platforms. I also mentor and host a weekly podcast about entrepreneurship.

Sara Ittelson is the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Faire. Prior to Faire she spent four years on the Global Business Development team at Uber, working first on the ride-share business and then on Uber Eats. Prior to her time at Uber Sara led a global BD team at an Edtech startup in NYC building adaptive learning technology. Through these experiences, she is passionate about technology platforms ability to support individuals in reaching their full potential and pursuing their entrepreneurial passions. She is an alumni of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Northwestern University, and is the mom to a fiery 3 year old daughter.

Ariana Waller is a 3X founder, full stack-software developer, tech consultant and host of the technology podcast, Women in Tech with Ariana podcast. Ariana is the owner of Wallway Technologies, a technology company that helps non-technical founders develop tech solutions through consulting and development. With a listener base in 10+ countries, Ariana was featured in Forbes for her tech podcast work in and rated Top 5 podcasts for product managers in 2020. Ariana previously served as Chief Technology Officer of Michigan’s first uber eats style platform for cannabis based products and is a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 semi-finalist for the company. Ariana has consulted 60+ startups and business owners into developing modern technology solutions to help scale their companies and develop digitally efficient business models.

Shannon Cohen is founder and CEO of Shannon Cohen, Inc. – a boutique firm with a mighty imprint and reputation for excellence. Her clients include: The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Helen Devos Children’s Hospital, United Way, American Heart Association, Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Michigan, The University of Michigan, The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Steelcase, Inc. Using a head+heart approach, Shannon excels in engaging change agents in transparent conversations about the unspoken truths of leadership. Shannon doesn’t just ‘speak’ to leaders; she speaks ‘into’ the lives of leaders. Shannon is an author, podcaster, and owner of a greeting card and inspiration product line called Tough Skin, Soft Heart. Her Tough Skin, Soft Heart products are available at a host of retailers nationwide. Her Tough Skin, Soft Heart podcast reaches subscribers nationally and globally with weekly grab-and-go encouragement for difference makers. Her 2nd book, “It’s Normal to Shake as You Soar” was released in September 2020. Shannon is respected and renowned for empowering organizations to integrate innovation, research, emerging trends, and creativity to cultivate continuous improvement and spur ongoing learning. Shannon is the 2020 YWCA Tribute Award recipient and was named one of the 2020 and 2018 50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan by the Grand Rapids Business Journal. Shannon is an alumnus of the prestigious W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellowship and a former Encore Innovation Fellow.

As the Co-Founder and CEO of Brandwise, Todd has spent the last 24 years as an impassioned advocate of the Gift and Home industries. Todd spent 5 years on the GHTA Board including serving as President 2013-2014. Todd actively engages with the Brandwise client community and guides the company’s vision in everything from product development to sales. Together with his wife Jannetta, Co-Founder and CFO of Brandwise, they have built a reputation as trusted partners to thousands of professionals in the Gift and Home segment.

As Chief Strategy Officer for Brandwise, Ari Lowenstein uses his unique experience and extensive network within the industry to guide Brandwise’s strategy in a new era of growth for the Brandwise Ecosystem. Ari has a broad background, including owning an Italian gift company, acting as an Intergalactic Business Development Manager, co-owning Canopy and serving as a current board member of Gift for Life and Past President of the Gift Sales Managers Association.

Wendell L. Brown Sr. is a Ball State University graduate and Hall of Famer. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in 2008 in Criminal Justice and has worked as a lawyer’s assistant in the Michigan Law Firm Plunkett Cooney. Wendell applied his education and knowledge in Criminal Justice to serve at risk youth as a treatment specialist at Don Bosco Hall in Detroit, Michigan. He is also the founder of Brown Elite Youth Elevation Foundation, a youth and community empowerment organization. Wendell began playing multiple sports as an adolescent but his sports career includes playing professional football in America, Canada, Austria and other European countries. He also has experience coaching youth, high school and collegiate football in North America, Europe and Asia. The Detroit native uses his work ethic, his athletic and education background, along with his passion for community service and love for uplifting and growing others, as his driving force for success. Wendell is currently mentoring and training Detroit’s inner-city youth through the Sound Mind Sound Body Football Academy, along with coaching high school football, at his Alma Mater Detroit Martin L. King Jr. Senior High School.

Tiffany Chalk is a sought-after event planner. Dedicated to her craft, Tiffany stays abreast of what she calls ‘T3™’ (the latest techniques, technology and talent boosters), making her the go-to for forecasting industry trends. Amplifying the WOW factor of her client’s experience regardless of the limited budgets, especially during space transformations is Tiffany’s expertise. It is this expertise that has also made her one of the Delaware Valley’s most sought-after speakers at industry conferences and retreats both internationally and state-side in recent years. Her charismatic demeanor coupled her spontaneity to conceptualize creative party and entertaining ideas has led to several guest appearances on Fox 29’s Good Day Philadelphia and WBOC TV’s Delmarva Life. In addition to being a businesswoman, Tiffany is a loving wife and mother. She has served as adjunct instructor for over five years at Delaware Technical Community College for the Wedding and Event Planning Certificate course. In her spare time, Tiffany volunteers for several charitable organizations and serves on the board of several non-profits.

Stephan Sabo is the Co-Founder and CMO of the Card Isle Corporation. At Card Isle, he is involved in marketing, content strategy, product design, customer experience and high level company direction. Card Isle is a greeting card technology company that provides a platform for selling and printing personalized greeting cards, both in store and online. Card Isle works with a network of hundreds of florists, retail gift stores and eCommerce gifting brands across North America that sell their personalized greeting cards. Card Isle licenses thousands of designs from hundreds of artists on a non-exclusive royalty basis.

Kathi Rowzie is an accomplished communications, public affairs and sustainability professional whose career spans more than 30 years in corporate and consulting roles with Fortune 500 companies, including extensive experience in the paper and forest products industry. Before joining Two Sides as Vice President of Operations in March 2020, she served for five years as vice president of communications and public affairs at Verso Corporation. During her previous paper industry career at International Paper she was both executive communications counsel to the chairman from 2013 to 2015 and communications leader for the company’s Printing and Communications Papers and Coated Papers businesses and their 12 paper mills from 2003 to 2006. Among her other responsibilities, she worked with many of the industry’s leading organizations, campaigns and coalitions, including Two Sides. As a sustainability issues management and communications consultant, Kathi helped guide paper industry customers in the development of innovative sustainability strategies, programs, responsible paper procurement policies and communications, and in their response to the claims and demands of ENGOs. She has authored sustainability-related feature articles and more than a dozen CSR annual reports, and was instrumental in helping Two Sides North America launch many of its initial educational and marketing materials. She began her corporate career at GEICO, where for nearly a decade she was director of Business and Community Relations and led the company’s public relations, community relations and legislative action coalition building. Kathi is a Washington, D.C. native and received her B.S. in journalism from the University of Maryland College of Journalism.

Ariana Waller is a 3X founder, full stack-software developer, tech consultant and host of the technology podcast, Women in Tech with Ariana podcast. Ariana is the owner of Wallway Technologies, a technology company that helps non-technical founders develop tech solutions through consulting and development. With a listener base in 10+ countries, Ariana was featured in Forbes for her tech podcast work in and rated Top 5 podcasts for product managers in 2020. Ariana previously served as Chief Technology Officer of Michigan’s first uber eats style platform for cannabis based products and is a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 semi-finalist for the company. Ariana has consulted 60+ startups and business owners into developing modern technology solutions to help scale their companies and develop digitally efficient business models.