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Tag: Women in Business

Golden-Based Brewery, Holidaily Brewing Co. Expands to Pacific Northwest with New Distribution Deal

Golden-based Holidaily Brewing Co. announced on Tuesday a statewide distribution agreement in Oregon and Washington through a partnership with Columbia Distributing.

Karen Hertz founded Holidaily Brewing Company in 2016 with one taproom in Golden that was open three days a week with three beers on tap. She wasn’t sure if people would be interested in a dedicated gluten-free beer. By the end of year one, Holidaily Brewing was open seven days a week, had 10 beers on tap, and Hertz found herself distributing beer out of the back of her “mom car” to retail accounts and stadiums throughout the Denver area.

READ: A Change is Brewing at Phantom Canyon Brewing Company — And Women Are Leading The Charge

Holidaily has since grown more than 1,121%, and its production brewery is the largest dedicated gluten-free brewery in the U.S. Exponential growth, along with a handful of national and local awards for both the quality of their beer and business practices have allowed for rapid expansion across the country, including Oregon and Washington.

“We are excited to bring Holidaily to the already established gluten-free beer-loving communities of Oregon and Washington,” said Hertz, chief Brewista at Holidaily as well as its founder.

“Our expansion into these states represents not only a strategic growth opportunity for our brewery in a like-minded market but also a chance to connect with beer enthusiasts in general who share our appreciation for quality ingredients and flavor.”

Columbia’s President and CEO Chris Steffanci anticipates great reception to the Holidaily brand for several reasons. “There’s already tremendous buzz about Holidaily in the Pacific Northwest,” Steffanci said. “First, the liquid stands up to any beer, gluten-free or not, it’s just great beer. Our retailers want a gluten-free option — customers are asking for it — and we’re excited to bring it to them. And to represent the only certified woman-owned brewery in the country … what an honor! We’re always proud to support females in this industry.”

READ: Is the She-Cession Over? Not for Many Women in the Workplace

Starting late April, Holidaily Brewing will be available in liquor stores, bars, restaurants and grocery stores throughout Washington and Oregon.

Distribution will begin with four of the brewery’s core styles: Favorite Blonde, Fat Randy’s IPA, Big Henry Hazy IPA and a rotating seasonal: Buckwit Belgian (March-August), Patchy Waters Pumpkin Ale (August-December) and Riva Stout (December-March).

Holidaily Brewing Co., a ColoradoBiz Top Company Award winner in the Tourism/Hospitality category last year, is the only certified gluten-free and certified women-owned brewery in the U.S. It has two tasting rooms in Colorado — one in Golden and one in the Denver Tech Center. Beers are distributed to liquor stores, restaurants, stadiums, grocery stores and breweries throughout Colorado, Arizona, Texas, California, Kansas, Kansas City Metro, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington.

 

Visit holidailybrewing.com for more information and specific retail locations.

How Kieding is Creating Flexible and Collaborative Workspaces for the Modern Era

Since 1974, Kieding interior architecture and design has consulted on, planned and designed more than 12,000 projects in the Denver area and in 26 states, with projects ranging in size from 500 to 500,000 square feet. The firm specializes in corporate office planning and interior design consulting services largely for office spaces but also for some light industrial, retail and small medical offices. 

Though the company is named for founder Warren Kieding, the firm today is 100% woman-owned by architect Tia Jenkins and designers Katie Winter and Kim Hoff. After 10 years at the company, Jenkins bought the firm from Kieding in 2007. Hoff and Winter became co-owners two years ago. 

Just as workers were forced to be flexible and businesses to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, designers of business spaces focused on flexibility to create spaces for the new paradigms in work. 

READ: Creating a Home Office — Optimizing Audio Stimulation and Sound Quality for Productivity

“The office is now competing with the comforts of home,” Winter says. “What makes it feel good is that it feels more like a hospitality space, like a restaurant or hotel feels like. Amenities are key to that. Your space is inviting with a great break area where you can chat with your co-workers.”  

More appealing common spaces and multi-purpose kitchens are overtaking bland coffee break areas and utilitarian lunchrooms. Cubicles are on the outs, but shared workstations with standup desk options and lockers to store personal items are trending, Winter says. 

“Collaborative spaces must feature a variety of seating types and environments,” Hoff adds. “Workspaces continue to incorporate right-sized smaller private offices. These offices feature larger glass sidelights for better natural light to the interior.” 

READ: TARRA — A New Way for Women to Work

Private offices are still important but have shrunk as more people work a hybrid schedule with more time from home. Instead of grand reception areas and huge conference rooms, businesses are spending money on technology and smaller huddle rooms that can double as Zoom rooms. 

When many businesses slowed down during the pandemic, the team at Kieding stayed busy redesigning office spaces as businesses continued to morph operations and schedules. In some cases, building owners saw the opportunity of fewer people in office buildings to remodel common corridors and restrooms, Winter says. 

At Kieding, the design process starts with a computerized “test fit” using Revit software to make sure the new tenant’s needs will be a good fit for the building space. During the pandemic’s supply chain disruptions, Kieding designers worked to choose the top three options of products to make sure projects stayed on schedule.  

“A lot of clients are building owners who build out for tenants coming into the building who want to be moved in as quickly as possible,” Winter says. “We can get a space plan done in days, not weeks. We know the pace of tenant finish work, and we know when we get a request, time is really important to them.” 

Jenkins, a licensed architect for 40 years, says as the work environment has changed to more hybrid schedules, employee training has become more of a challenge. 

READ: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Company Culture in a Hybrid Work Environment

“The biggest challenge we have is maintaining the critical mentorship and training specific to our employees within a hybrid work environment between home and office,” Jenkins says. “It is much harder to teach employees how to ‘read’ clients and communicate effectively in the computer environment than it is at a real face-to-face meeting.” 

When Kieding and its team moved into a new space in September 2021 on South Monaco Parkway, they gutted and redesigned their space to exemplify the comfortable, flexible workspaces they also design for clients. 

“We definitely went the route of ‘work everywhere,’ and collaboration is why people come to the office,” says Winter, who has been with the firm for 22 years. “We have four areas where people could meet together. We have those numerous spots for two to four people working together on a project.” 

Like their clients who want flexibility in workspaces and schedules, the 15 employees at Kieding usually spend one day a week working from home. 

 

Suzie C. Romig is a freelance journalist who has lived in Colorado since 1991. Her byline has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the state on topics ranging from small businesses to raising children to energy efficiency. She can be reached at [email protected]

Entrepreneur of 2023 Finalist — Jennifer Henderson

For Jennifer Henderson, starting TiLT in 2017 was personal. “I spent 15 years in corporate America, always working for Fortune 500 companies in an operational role,” says Henderson, 42. “In the early years of my professional career, I also went through seven years of in vitro fertilization with my husband, trying to get pregnant. Then we got pregnant, and overnight I stopped getting invited to the table.” 

READ: Guest Column — Fighting Gender Politics in the Home Improvement Industry

But that wasn’t the immediate catalyst for TiLT. “Five years later, a different company, a different stage of my career, when I announced I was expecting with our second, I actually had a promotion rescinded,” she says. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.” 

Henderson thought there had to be a better, more equitable way of managing corporate leave programs. “That’s when I started to lean into solving leave of absence, and quite honestly, when I left corporate America, I was just very pissed off.” 

TiLT’s platform manages paid leave programs for client companies while reducing the risk of both litigation and turnover. The company went to market with its platform in 2019. Four years later, it has 85 employees. 

“We are an HR tech tool, by definition,” Henderson says. “We often point to TurboTax in terms of what they have done in streamlining complexity in a very disparate landscape in a similar way to what we’re doing with leaves of absence.” 

READ: The Best Modern HR Strategies — Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

Initially targeting California-based tech companies “was very successful,” Henderson says.  “We’ve had at least a 2X every year since coming out of the box and I don’t see that changing this year.” 

After closing on a $10 million Series B in late 2022, TiLT is scaling up to serve large enterprises. Big companies “have very few options to do leave currently, so these large organizations are pulling TiLT very aggressively to swim upstream,” Henderson says. “We’re moving as fast as we can to position ourselves to support anyone from the Walmarts of the world to mom-and-pop, Main Street stores.” 

Henderson says her personal connection to TiLT’s mission has been critical to the company’s success. “I truly believe that if you don’t have a visceral connection to the problem that you’re solving, I don’t know how you manage through the ups and downs that this entrepreneurial journey throws at you. For me, I see my daughter every single day, so I’ve given myself a clock until she enters the workforce to make this better for her, and that’s a hell of a motivation.”

 

Denver-based writer Eric Peterson is the author of Frommer’s Colorado, Frommer’s Montana & Wyoming, Frommer’s Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks and the Ramble series of guidebooks, featuring first-person travelogues covering everything from atomic landmarks in New Mexico to celebrity gone wrong in Hollywood. Peterson has also recently written about backpacking in Yosemite, cross-country skiing in Yellowstone and downhill skiing in Colorado for such publications as Denver’s Westword and The New York Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]

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 — 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 — 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 — 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.

GenXYZ 2023 — Amanda 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

Amanda Johnson, 37

Principal, OZ Architecture | Denver

As a principal at OZ Architecture, Amanda Johnson designed Platte Fifteen, the first commercial project to utilize cross-laminated timber (CLT) in Denver. CLT is a wood panel product that consists of at least three layers of lumber glued together, for superior acoustic and other benefits, and little onsite waste. The project, located near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River, was awarded the 2022 Mayor’s Design Award. The office and retail building also won the 2021 Regional Excellence Wood Design Award from WoodWorks and the 2020 Downtown Denver Partnership Award.

Johnson also designed the Fort Worth Cultural District Office, part of a luxury mixed-use development in Texas. Like Platte Fifteen, the office building has a covered paseo to lead into the primary entrance of the office building.

Johnson not only designs commercial buildings to meet client needs but also follows through with contractors and subcontractors to make sure the project is on schedule, on budget and adapts to any client-requested changes. She has helped the firm gain repeat customers through her passion, work ethic and drive.

Johnson earned a master of architecture from the University of Colorado Denver, and a bachelor of environmental design from the University of Colorado Boulder. She was determined not to let student debt become an issue, and worked throughout high school and college. She is a single mom of two sons, and is involved in her son’s school and her subdivision’s HOA.