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Tag: GenXYZ 2023

GenXYZ 2023 — Taylor Rosty

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Taylor Rosty, 28

CEO, Lasso Digital | Denver

In three years, Taylor Rosty has transformed a small, two-person healthcare marketing agency into a 12-person communications, marketing and fundraising consultancy aimed at helping nonprofits further their missions. Rosty led the agency through a rebrand and restructuring. Under her leadership, Lasso Digital has become one of the only firms in Colorado that combines a full-service marketing agency with a full-service fundraising strategy.

Rosty has secured large contracts, including an extensive two-year contract with the Wyoming Department of Education and a statewide advertising contract with Connect for Health, Colorado’s healthcare marketplace. She has crafted a company culture that allowed the company to retain 100% of its team during the Great Resignation, motivating her team to perform while celebrating them as human beings. She has been running the company while being a first-time mom. Most of Lasso’s growth occurred while Rosty was working from home with her newborn, who made appearances on Zoom calls.

For community work, Rosty is vice president of the board of directors for Project Safeguard, a Denver nonprofit helping survivors of gender-based violence (sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence) access critical legal resources. She graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science in economics with a focus in marketing, and is an alumni interviewer for the University of Pennsylvania.

Motivated to serve people, Rosty serves nonprofits through her work at Lasso and leads the firm with a spirit of servant leadership and humility that allows her team to feel seen and heard.

GenXYZ 2023 — Terence Rogers

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Terence Rogers, 33

Chef/Owner, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen | Denver

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste each year. Chef Terence Rogers wants to change that, and his restaurant, Sullivan Scrap Kitchen, has sustainability in food, staff and community as the core of its mission. Rogers reduces food waste by finding creative ways to utilize ingredients and repurpose items before they end up in compost.

Rogers is also the chef and owner of TBD Foods, a premier farm-to-table catering company. Having both businesses operate out of the same building allows for full cross-utilization of ingredients. He focuses on local sources for all ingredients for the restaurant and catering company and works with local farms, ranches, mills, cheese purveyors, honey suppliers and more. 

He started TBD Foods in 2014 out of his apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts, hosting pop-up dinners. He moved to Denver in 2016 and continued hosting pop-up dinners and catering small events. In the winter of 2019 he opened Lil Scrap Kitchen as a pop-up sandwich restaurant out of his commissary one day a week to sell items that were “waste” from catering events. From there Sullivan Scrap Kitchen opened during the pandemic in July 2020. 

In the summer of 2022, Rogers changed the concept of Sullivan Scrap Kitchen from sandwiches and burgers to a plant-focused, small-plates menu that changes throughout the year. Sullivan Scrap Kitchen offers discounts to the teachers and administrators at the school next door, Denver Center for 21st Century Learning.

GenXYZ 2023 — Jocelyn Gilligan

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Jocelyn Gilligan, 38

Partner, Longs Peak Advisory Services LLC | Longmont

As a partner at Longs Peak Advisory Services and as its brand ambassador, Jocelyn Gilligan is responsible for building the company culture. She pushes the team to think of new and creative ways to be innovative within the financial services industry. The firm was founded to provide the investment management community with guidance, education and support related to Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), a set of voluntary ethical standards developed by the CFA Institute. 

Longs Peak Advisory Services is redefining how investors compare investment advisers. Gilligan has played a huge role in communicating this message and has helped the firm grow more than 45% per year on average since it opened in 2015. She has an insatiable desire to continuously improve and help others do the same. Whether it is related to business processes or pushing the team to be the best version of themselves, she strives to help them grow as humans.

As a mother of four, Gilligan is redefining what work-life balance looks like and how one can be a mom and a business owner. Life is a constant balancing act, and she has managed to turn this challenge into a positive for the business. She temporarily stepped back from the day-to-day operations of the business to act in more of a mentor/advisory role. That enabled her to truly lead the team and allowed them to grow substantially. Now back to work nearly full-time, she is focusing on longer-term strategic initiatives that will take the firm to the next level.

GenXYZ 2023 — Devon Davis

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Devon Davis, 28

Vice President, Banking Advisor, PNC Bank | Denver

Starting as a teller, Devon Davis quickly worked his way up at PNC Bank. For the last three years as a banker, Davis has been one of the top producers within PNC Private Bank. This has earned him the PNC Market All-Star Award for the past three years as well as making it to the semifinal rounds for the PNC Performance Award, the bank’s most prestigious recognition.

When PNC made its acquisition of BBVA USA, Davis transferred to Denver to spearhead the market’s Private Bank growth as a banking adviser. He also acted as a culture carrier for the bank as the market quickly expanded. This was meaningful to the organization as over 75% of the employees were new to PNC. He transitioned to a new market within PNC during the BBVA USA acquisition while still growing the market’s loan book by six times.

Davis has worked on multiple internal groups focusing on revamping internal practices and improving PNC’s overall client experience. He’s also taken on a leadership role with onboarding new advisors at PNC to improve employee retention at the bank. 

During the COVID pandemic, Davis worked to push through the processing of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and assisted his clients in keeping their businesses open. This was a challenge for the bank and clients due to the speed at which the PPP was released along with new information. 

Davis serves as a trustee for the Family Star Montessori and regularly volunteers through PNC Grow Up Great, which is the early childhood education program at PNC Bank.

GenXYZ 2023 — Devin Bostick

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Devin Bostick, 30

Founder and President, Lucky Truck | Boulder

Commercial trucking insurance was a paperwork driven, regulation heavy, bricks and mortar business until Devin Bostick reinvented and disrupted it. Commercial trucking insurance has higher and more complicated risks than conventional auto insurance. Bostick’s company, Lucky Truck, redefined commercial trucking insurance by putting it into a digital format. 

The commercial trucking industry is dominated by small businesses, with owners on the road filling out paperwork that easily gets disorganized. Lucky Truck puts it all on an app where it has 24/7 visibility, saving drivers time and keeping them on the road.

Though he did not have experience as a trucker or as an insurance provider, Bostick started researching business ideas in 2017, looking for something that would change business and provide real value to customers. He saw that the staid, mechanical, agency-based commercial trucking industry was handcuffing the very drivers it insured. He set out to develop technology that could change as fast as the driver’s loads and provide 24/7 visibility for the documentation and proof of coverage truckers need. Bostick launched Lucky Truck in 2019. Then, during the pandemic, he raised $6.5 million, wrote the software and launched the Lucky Truck platform, hired 50 employees and added more than 900 customers.

Bostick teaches entrepreneurship in the College of Media, Communication and Information at University of Colorado Boulder. Instead of textbooks and case studies, students learn from real world examples of startup companies. In addition, he founded an early stage venture capital firm and has made seed investments in 10 startup companies.

GenXYZ 2023 — Cassandra Puhalla

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Cassandra Puhalla, 33

Director, Client Advisory, Crestone Capital | Boulder

To pay off her student loans, Cassie Puhalla decided to apply for a Wall Street job. She landed an interview with J.P. Morgan and spent two weeks preparing by learning everything she could about finance. She got the job, and in less than 10 years she was a portfolio manager in J.P. Morgan’s Asset Management business. 

On a trip to Wonderland Lake in Boulder, Puhalla realized she wanted to make an impact on that community. Six months later, she was offered a position with Crestone Capital as a director of client advisory for the Boulder-based independent wealth management firm. Soon after joining Crestone Capital, Puhalla was asked to take a leadership role for the firm’s initiative to grow assets under its management from approximately $3 billion to $10 billion, more than 300%, in 10 years. 

Puhalla helped create the Crestone Brand Monetization Task Force and focused on enhancing Crestone’s presence within key target industries and centers of influence. She implemented new tools to better identify and qualify prospects, create a client journey and hold her team members accountable for goals. She designed carefully curated events in target markets with entrepreneurs, founders and clients to build awareness for Crestone.

She joined the board of directors for a financial literacy nonprofit, Cents Ability, whose mission is to educate high school students about the fundamentals of personal finance. She also recently joined the board of directors of Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and was drawn to BMoCA because of its focus on Diversity, Equality, Access and Inclusion (DEAI).

GenXYZ 2023 — Kelly O’Donnell

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Kelly O’Donnell, 34

National Business Banking Merchant Sales Leader, KeyBank | Denver

As KeyBank’s first National Business Banking Merchant Sales Leader, Kelly O’Donnell has helped build out the Business Banking Merchant Sales team, playbook, incentives, goals and more. O’Donnell leads a team spanning 21 states, and has helped pave a successful strategic plan within each market. She took a team that partnered with branches and business bankers across the bank’s coverage area and built a high-performing team focused solely on partnering with business bankers and working with business banking clients.

A top-performing salesperson, O’Donnell jumped into leadership three years ago. She was very thoughtful in her approach and quickly adapted to the world of leadership. She has now led two different high-performing teams and continues to help KeyBank evolve as a merchant sales organization. Leading a team of 18 across 21 states is not an easy task, but it is one that O’Donnell has been able to do successfully while leading different product rollouts and participating in employee groups across KeyBank. 

O’Donnell has helped lead, develop and mentor more than 100 future professionals and leaders across Colorado during her time with KeyBank. Her partnerships and direct supervision have created many leaders across KeyBank and within other businesses. She is involved with Ronald McDonald House charities and in an annual Neighbors Make A Difference Day at The Action Center.  

GenXYZ 2023 — Avi Loewenstein

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Avi Loewenstein, 39

Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck | Denver

Sought-after corporate attorney Avi Loewenstein has extensive experience with a variety of complex, high-profile transactions. As a shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, he provides practical, business-minded advice to his clients and is recognized for his leadership in the mergers and acquisitions space. 

Loewenstein represents private equity funds, entrepreneurs, family offices and private companies in a variety of complex transactions including mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, growth equity and minority investments, corporate reorganizations and general corporate matters. He has crafted complex joint ventures and helped to form, finance and advise emerging businesses in a variety of industries. 

His notable clients and transactions included a consortium of developers in connection with the redevelopment of Denver’s Union Station. He represented the financial, economic and management consulting firm The Claro Group in its sale to Stout, an Audax Private Equity portfolio company, and represented luxury optical retailer Luxury Optical Holdings in its sale to New Look Vision Group.

Loewenstein is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Law School, where he teaches courses on mergers and acquisitions and advises the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. He is one of the youngest shareholders in Brownstein’s history, and is a board member with Young Americans Center for Financial Education. He has also served on the boards of Lucky to Ride, which serves underserved and at-risk youth through experiential cycling programs; Water for Waslala, which builds water projects in remote Nicaragua; and Roots & Branches Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, which uses strategic philanthropy to award grants.

GenXYZ 2023 — Anna Costello

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Anna Costello, 35

Owner, Ship Sunshine & dropSHIP Like It’s Hot | Denver

Finding a shipping and fulfillment partner is a challenge for small businesses. Anna Costello’s company, dropSHIP Like It’s Hot, offers an innovative approach to onboarding new clients that helps small businesses scale to global businesses. The company helps companies work with manufacturers to ship inventory to the dropSHIP Like It’s Hot warehouse, assists with setting up the shipping functions on their websites, and shows them how to ship product in the most cost-effective manner. It can also custom print branded merchandise, store and pack products, help with kitting and ship worldwide.

Costello works with businesses to remove roadblocks and has redefined the fulfillment service industry by partnering with both small and large clients for mutual success. Collaboration is important, and Costello’s skills in networking and connecting people have helped clients grow their brands.

Her other business, Ship Sunshine, provides custom gift boxes for corporate gifts, real estate closing gifts, and other occasions. The company has a Sunshine It Forward program, which sends boxes to people who need a little extra support, such as personal hygiene items for people experiencing homelessness or school supplies for students and teachers. The program is funded by customer donations and 2% of Ship Sunshine profits.

Costello serves on the Programs Committee of CIVIC of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and is a coach for the Impact Denver program of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation. She also volunteers at Soul Dog Rescue.

GenXYZ 2023 — Angel Johnson

They’re uncommon achievers, whether as entrepreneurs, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, visionaries critical to their companies’ success or, in some cases, all of those roles. This year’s Top 25 Young Professionals figure to continue making a difference professionally and in their communities for years to come.

Read on to learn about the 2023 Top 25 Young Professionals and to see the list of this year’s top 50 finalists.

READ: GenXYZ 2023 — Top 25

Angel Johnson, 31

CEO/Founder, ICONI | Denver

Angel Johnson is reinventing the activewear industry to make it more inclusive and diverse. Her company, ICONI, makes leggings and other clothing designed to deliver motivation and empowerment to people of different body types, ages, ethnic backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations and abilities. Johnson has streamlined the design-to-door time to shorten the manufacturing process, which leaves her customers satisfied and happy.

ICONI stands for “I Can Overcome, Nothing’s Impossible.” Johnson overcame barriers when she launched the business, as there was a lack of resources for Black and woman-owned businesses. As a veteran, she was not easily discouraged. She self-funded the launch and looked to her chamber of commerce, small business development center, and other nonprofit organizations to provide resources. The business got a boost in 2020 when Oprah featured ICONI leggings in her “Favorite Things.” Sales exploded and the company gained new fans.

From the beginning, Johnson made it part of ICONI’s mission statement to donate 10% of profits to charities. Last year, ICONI donated 100 unreleased hoodies to Clothes To Kids of Denver (CTKD). The mission of CTKD is to provide new and quality used clothing to students from low-income or in-crisis families in the Denver Metro Area, free of charge. The hoodies were intended to remind the recipients, teenage girls and boys, to stay motivated and take it one step at a time — Next Rep, Next Set, Next Level. Johnson wants to show kids it’s possible for them to do anything no matter their size or color of their skin.