Speaker Bios

Anthony Lambatos grew up in the catering business working for his father and founder of Footers Catering in Denver, Colorado. Anthony and his wife, April, purchased the business in 2010 and have successfully made the transition to a second-generation family-owned business.  With a focus on creating a great place to work, revenue has quadrupled since the purchase of the business. They recently moved Footers Catering into a new facility that will also house their newest venture – a 20,000 sq. ft. event center called Social Capitol Events. In 2019, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce named Footers Catering “Small Business of the Year” and they have been recognized as one of the best places to work in Denver by the Denver Post and Colorado Biz Magazine.

As a sought-after speaker nationally within the catering industry, Anthony is passionate about helping businesses create a culture that allows their businesses to thrive.  He specializes in Heart Leadership and management of teams with a focus on operational structure and employee engagement.  Anthony and April also have a sister company called “mibe” -  MIBE is the acronym for “Make It Better Every day” and the second part of the Footers’ mission statement.  mibe focuses on education around Heart Leadership and Intentional Culture Building for the hospitality industry.

Anthony graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Business and in Economics.  He is a 40 under 40 award recipient from the Denver Business Journal and was named one of Denver's Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals by Colorado Biz Magazine.

Anthony enjoys traveling, skiing with his family, wearing fun socks, and trying new hot sauces.

Ashleyn Przedwieck is the Founder, Creative Director at LUUM Collective. She is a seasoned events industry professional with over 8+ years of experience in the industry with a background in nonprofit, arts & culture, and creative placemaking events, with an emphasis on sustainable design, social impact, and community engagement.

She is a certified Sustainable Event Manager through the Events Industry Council, is Climate Reality trained, and studied at Minneapolis College of Art and Design through the Master’s program in Sustainable Design.

She is a highly sought-after creative director for her design-forward approach to curating impactful experiences that center on sustainability, encourage mindfulness, and inspire cultural shifts.

SPEAKER BIO
THRIVE // Work, Life, and How to Crush Both
Tuesday, May 24th, 2022

Uncovering Your Values to Build Awareness Toward a More Fulfilled Life

Jessica Horton; Life Coach Practitioner, Jessica Horton Coaching and Consulting

Jessica Horton is a Life Coach Practitioner and Life Strategist. Her practice focuses on empowering women to empower themselves by creating an awareness of self and developing positive mindset shifts. Jessica graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Consumer Education with an emphasis in Retail and Environmental Textile and Design and is completing her Professional Life Coach Practitioner certification from Learning Journeys, The International Center for Coaching (an ATCP accredited program).  

Jessica spent much of her professional career as a corporate meeting planner at a top 100 retail corporation planning events ranging from 10 top executives at off-site retreats to 15,000+ team members at annual sales meetings in the US and internationally. She later transitioned to her own freelance planning firm executing corporate events as well as non-profit events and incentive trips. 

In 2020, she was forced (and blessed) to pivot into an entirely new career but one that she had naturally been doing her entire career: coaching. She is passionate about meeting clients where they are in life and helping them step into their truest, most aligned version of themselves. 

Jessica lives in Shakopee, MN with her husband and three children.

IG: @jessicahortoncoaching

Wine Tasting Class with Green Mangos Catering: Understanding what’s in your Prosecco

Thao Moore; Chef / Co Proprietor, Green Mangos Catering

Thao was born in Vung Tau, Vietnam, but her formative years were spent here in Minnesota. She is a graduate from the University of Minnesota – Duluth. After spending years in the corporate world, she decided to pursue her passion for food and wine.

Thao’s passion for food is closely followed by her love of wine. She is WSET Level 3 Wines Certified from Napa Valley Wine Academy.  She has further honed her wine skills by shadowing head winemakers from Napa and Sonoma, CA.

Speaker: Michelle Harrison, Owner/Planner, Michelle Harrison Signature Events & Intimate Signature Events

Michelle Harrison is the founder and Sr. Planner of Michelle Harrison Signature Events an award-winning Event Planning, Design and Management company based in Atlanta and the mother of the smartest most amazing 4-year-old daughter in the entire world.... She is a Southern-California native, who has had 20 plus years of incredible experiences operating memorable and cutting-edge social and corporate events in over 22 countries around the world. Michelle began her planning career with a series of annual events for the Central California Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. She also worked as a wardrobe stylist for a well-known Los Angeles-based agency specializing in print media, album covers, music videos, and television sitcoms. 

After relocating to Atlanta and working the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Summer Olympic Games, Michelle suddenly realized her true passion – Producing Events. Michelle made it official and founded her own event company My Dreamz Eventz in 2004, after having spent the preceding five years as a wedding & social event planner and freelance corporate events operations manager for many fortune 500 companies. She decided it was time for a “REBOOT” and rebranded in 2018 as Michelle Harrison Signature Events and in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic created Intimate Signature Events, a company focused on unique curated weddings and other milestone celebration services that meet the needs of the modern client by way of smaller more intimate setting.

Michelle credits her professional success to great mentors, authentic relationship building, amazing loyal clients, her sensitivity to her clients’ needs with her hands-on approach and her ability to find a way through creativity and vision to make each event unique.

Michelle is a speaker, mentor, former board member of the (ILEA) International Live Event Association’s Atlanta Chapter, founding member of the Small Wedding Society, certified wedding planner and designer and her work has been featured in Modern Luxury Magazine, JEZEBLE Magazine, Perfect Wedding Guide, Two Bright Lights, Aisle Society, Celebration Society Southeast, and the Styled Network’s “Married Away”.

   

We created Bigger Picture Solutions as a natural extension of the work we’ve been doing over the past 16+ years; building and managing venues, creating events and experiences while focusing on vendor relations, organic and innovative opportunities for connections within the industry.  

Jessica created the operational infrastructure of two freestanding venues in the Twin Cities that have made a significant impact on the overall industry while booking over 150 events annually and a yearly gross revenue exceeding $2.5 million each. She has consulted with venues in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area such as The Food Building, Studio 125, Keg & Case Market, and The Holden Room. The BPS team also includes Kastina Morrison, who comes from a similar venue management background. She was on Jessica’s Aria team for 3+ years.  After leaving, she managed the opening & sales objectives of two boutique venues, Brick x Mortar and Harriet Place in Minneapolis. You’ll reap the benefits of a woman-owned business with an extensive network, expertise on design and aesthetic choices, as well as 20+ years of collective experience.

Our goal is not to build up cookie-cutter spaces but to honor the uniqueness of each individual venue while being led by our core values of integrity, transparency, and hospitality. We’re here to help you make your clients the hero of their story while maintaining your unique brand identity.

Tim began his career with AVEX in 2005. His background in lighting design, energetic approach to event design and high level of customer service were quickly noticed and propelled him into a client management position. After service as an account manager for 7 years with the company, Tim was promoted to his current position managing the sales and marketing efforts of the company.  With 14 years at AVEX, Tim has been an innovative force, driving the company focus and skill-set forward.  When he’s not working with all the amazing people here, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Lauren, and is also an active member of the Minneapolis/St. Paul theatre community.