Panelists
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Griffen O'Shaughnessy, Founder/CEO | | | | Luke Johnson, Founder/CEO | | | | | Teresa Troester-Falk, Founder |
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Griffen O'Shaughnessy, Founder and CEO | Canopy Advisory Group
Griffen is an attorney and CPA with more than twenty years of professional experience. She worked in Holland & Hart's mergers and acquisitions practice until the fall of 2009 when she started Canopy. Griffen also worked in the audit group of Arthur Andersen before attending law school at American University.
After identifying a void in the market, Griffen founded Canopy's cutting-edge approach to curate the best independent professionals in town and connect them with businesses and non-profits for project based and contract to hire work. As the CEO, Griffen provides innovative leadership that allows Canopy clients to gain access to top-tier independent experts, while also providing these experts with the flexibility to do what they love both at work and home.
Currently, Griffen is on the Board of Directors for Girls, Inc. of Metro Denver and President of the Board for the Country Club Historic Neighborhood.
In 2018 Griffen was awarded the Denver Business Journal's 40 Under 40 award and in 2016 Griffen was a finalist for the Denver Business Journal's Outstanding Women in Business Award.
Luke Johnson, Founder and CEO | Luke and Company | Fine Pet Supply and Outfitter
Luke Johnson is a proud 4th generation Coloradoan- his grandparents were dairy farmers and Colorado plains home steaders in the late 1800's. He completed schooling at the University of Northern Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, emphasis in public relations and marketing media. He has experience working in public relations for a regional hospital campus and served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the National Business Office of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. He became a Jimmy Johns Franchisee in 2012 growing his store to record breaking unit sales in Colorado. He sold his ownership in 2015 and opened Luke & Co. in early 2016. Currently, he also serves as President of the Broadways Merchants Association, a 501(c)(6) non-profit.
Luke & Co is Downtown Denver's largest independent retail pet supply establishment offering over 4000 items in stock, all simultaneously ready for same day delivery. We also offer "salon-style" grooming for cats and dogs as well as self-serve dog washing. With only 12 employees we are a small team of nutrition and pet care experts dedicated to serving our customers' unique needs. In an ever evolving market niche our unique look and feel helps to separate our space from our competitors. All of our shelves are custom made 8" x 3" rough sawn timber which adds a warm and cozy feel to the shop. There's a 1949 ford pickup truck inside stocked with dog food and the walls are covered in original vintage advertising signage from the 1930-1960's. Coming to Luke & Co. should be an experience for each customer and we pride ourselves on making memorable experiences with our customers.
Luke & Co. will gross just over $2.2m in sales this year and is expanding into a newly acquired, purpose built, 6500 sq ft location in the spring of 2022. Despite the pandemic we continued to see 19% growth last year and believe that double digit growth will continue for at least the next 4-5 years. The continued influx of high rise luxury apartments in Downtown Denver brings increased population density to a place where owning a pet is almost a prerequisite. Pet supply sales transcend race, religion, age, sexuality, politics and all other divisive issues. This allows us to continue a healthy, stable growth trajectory despite economic downturns.
Teresa Troester-Falk, Founder | BlueSky Privacy
In 2019 she founded BlueSky Privacy, a leading provider of outsourced and managed privacy office services (virtual privacy team and vCPO). BlueSky Privacy helps companies turn privacy law requirements into practical, sustainable business processes.Teresa is a thought leader and subject matter expert on global privacy law, an entrepreneur and a passionate "connector." Her background blends law, operational privacy, strategy and a life-long connection to family businesses.
Throughout her privacy career, she has led global privacy strategy and combined her industry expertise with her broad and deep global network. She has built privacy programs from the ground up and led enterprise-wide initiatives at leading data-driven marketing and technology companies including: DoubleClick (acquired by Google), Epsilon (acquired by ADS) and Nielsen.
She's a frequent speaker at privacy industry events around the world, a regular guest on privacy compliance podcasts and she authors papers, blogs and articles on current privacy compliance issues. She's been an Advisory Board member of the Future of Privacy Forum (a Washington DC based think tank and advocacy group focused on issues of data privacy) and represented member companies of the Center for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL) (a global privacy and security think tank).
