Whitley Penn is dedicated to helping our clients achieve growth, strategically innovate, and ultimately reach success. Our advisors are equipped to provide personalized solutions no matter what stage of the entrepreneurial journey you are in, and will partner with you to work towards meeting and exceeding your financial goals. See what we can create together by visiting www.whitleypenn.com
JBB Advanced Technologies is a Dallas-based holding company that innovates at the intersection of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and clean, renewable energy.
At that intersection, we’re developing blockchain-based solutions for today’s world, including one to integrate ever-increasing amounts of solar energy seamlessly into our electric grid for greater robustness and resiliency.
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Scarlett is soaring once again after a successful hip surgery. Because there’s never pressure put on our physicians to consider the financial impact to the hospital, they can focus on recommending the best course of treatment for every patient – regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Just another way we’re defining greatness in pediatric orthopedics. scottishriteforchildren.org
Haynes Boone started its roots in Dallas more than 50 years ago. We are proud of the outstanding people who make this city so special.
Congratulations to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists. Thank you for your impressive contributions and leadership, and for all the work you do to help our great community thrive.
haynesboone.com
Since we entered the workforce, female leaders have struggled for a "seat at the table." But what if we create a new table?
It's time for women to embrace their natural leadership style.
It's time to shift culture and advance the workplace of tomorr ow.
It's time to flip the table and pave the way for all future leaders.
Girl Scouts is on a mission to increase gender equity in the workforce.
girl scoutft' of northeast texas
September 26, 2023
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hilton Anatole | Dallas
txwfluncheon.org
Join Texas Women’s Foundation for another memorable, motivational Annual Luncheon experience, where we’ll bring together our community in support of women and girls
soon-to-be announced keynote speaker who will talk about their work as an advocate for social change. And, how you and your organization align with the movement to build inclusive communities where women can thrive.
Don’t miss this transformative moment! Visit txwfluncheon.org and reserve your table or sponsorship today.
Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann is proud to announce that for the sevent h year in a row, the firm has been ranked as a leading commercial litigation firm in DFW.
Five LPHS Partners have been ranked as top lawyers in DFW by Chambers for 2023.
Mike Lynn, Eric Pinker, Michael K. Hurst, and Chris Schwegmann ranked in the LITIGATION: GENERAL COMMERCIAL category, and David Coale has been ranked as a top lawyer in the LITIGATION: APPELLATE category
Hannah
top cfos and other leaders from across the region gathered at On the Levee in April for D CEO’s 2023 Financial Executive Awards, held in partnership with the Association for Corporate Growth, Financial Executives International, and TXCPA Dallas. Industry leader Larry King was honored with the Constantine “Connie” Konstans Excellence in Corporate Governance Award. Other winners included Outstanding Large Public Company CFO Misty Kawecki of DZS and Priority Power’s Innovative Finance Team. Joining D CEO editors as judges were Mike Bates, Travel Solutions International USA; Kenny Broom, MG Stover; Mark Dendle, Growers Express; Abby Fuqua, Venturity Financial Partners; and Donovan Miller, Whitley Penn. Thank you to title sponsors Forvis, Independent Financial, and Stream Realty.
top industry leaders gathered at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in March for D CEO’s 2023 Commercial Real Estate Awards. The event honored the region’s standout projects, transactions, dealmakers, and leaders. Christine Perez, editor of D CEO, presented the awards, alongside Bill Shaddock, owner and CEO of Capital Title; Lee Miller, mayor pro-tem of The City of Anna; and Rogge Dunn, CEO of Rogge Dunn Group. Jonas Woods, founder and CEO of Woods Capital, was honored with this year’s Pioneer Award. Hunt Realty Investments, led by Chris Kleinert, was named Developer of the Year. Lynn Dowdle of Dowdle Real Estate was named Broker of the Year. Thank you to our title sponsors, Capital Title Commercial, The City of Anna EDC, and Rogge Dunn Group, for their support of this program.
BLNelson Group draws on their proven Business Intelligence Technologies, Databases, and Processes. BLNelson Group achieves unparalleled results in Finding, Recruiting, and Placing the Best Talent in both Permanent Hires and Temporary Staffing.
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“People are not your greatest asset. The “right people” are!”
-Blaine L. Nelson, President & CEO
The former model is on a mission to promote global well-being through her wildly popular jewelry company, BuDhaGirl.
story by CHRISTINE
After climbing from the trading floor to the upper echelons of private banking, Charmaine Tang has taken the helm of Swiss tech company Orca AG.
The 46 business leaders honored in EY’s 2023 Entrepreneur Of The Year program have powered through risk, fear, market reluctance, and other setbacks.
story by KELSEY J. VANDERSCHOOT stories by BRANDON J. CALL, WILL MADDOX, CHRISTINE PEREZ, BEN SWANGER, AND KELSEY J.
62 ON TOPIC Gennéa Squire de Torres of Cadré Talent Consulting, Ellen Wharton Smith of Riveron Consulting, and Veena Somareddy of Neuro Rehab VR discuss the one thing they would change about their industry.
64 THOUGHT LEADER Jolene Risch, Risch Results
67 SNAPSHOT Debra Brennan Tagg, BFS Advisory Group
68 WALK-UP SONGS We asked area C-Suiters what song they’d have played as they walk into their offices each day.
70 ART OF STYLE Ashlee Kleinert, Ruthie’s For Good
72 WELL TRAVELED: NEW YORK CITY Gemma Descoteaux, Sheppard Mullin
74 MY ROOTS Vickie Yakunin, Amazon 100 END MARK Maria Luna, Luna’s Tortilla Factory
i remember the first time my twin sister, caroline, told me she was studying Reiki, a Japanese form of energy healing. It was about 11 years ago, and we had just turned 50. I wasn’t sure what to think about her news. Reiki was a huge departure from her longtime career as a finance executive for a property management company. (Side note: She got her start working for Craig Hall in the 1980s, when his company was based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.)
Caroline took a lot of grief about her new pursuit from friends and family. But she persevered. She went on to study with renowned practitioners and became one of a handful of masters invited to the birthplace of Reiki, Mount Kurama, Japan. Today, she teaches and does healing sessions in her backyard garden or sunroom through her single proprietorship. She also is about a month away from releasing the first book in her children’s series called Magic at Moon Lake.
I am so incredibly proud of Caroline for having the fortitude to make her dream a reality. She’s not alone. In the last few years, I’ve talked with countless individuals who decided to do a restart. Many are women whose children left the nest or people who were spurred to find a higher purpose after the pandemic.
We share the stories of two C-Suiters who made big changes in this issue of D CEO. Former model and fashion industry executive Jessica Jesse (page 38) launched her own jewelry company at the age of 50. She was moved to do so after her son experienced a health crisis and has made well-being a core of the enterprise. Her BuDhaGirl is now a $20 million company that’s kicking off a global expansion.
Go-getter and former investment and private banker Charmaine Tang (page 44) made a change last year to drive the U.S. expansion of Swiss tech company Orca AG. She had an immediate impact; in just six months, Tang grew her realm into Orca’s largest market.
All three of these amazing women have proven that it’s never too late to start over. If you’re not already living your dream, what’s next for you?
Christine Perez Editor– Frannie G dn
PUBLISHER Noelle LeVeaux
EDITORIAL
EDITOR Christine Perez
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brandon J. Call
MANAGING EDITOR Ben Swanger
ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Kelsey J. Vanderschoot
SENIOR EDITOR Will Maddox
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Richard Alm, W. Michael Cox
EDITORIAL INTERNS Ryan Bozman, Zoe Cote, Garrett Tarango
ART
DESIGN DIRECTOR Hamilton Hedrick
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Elizabeth Lavin
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER Rachel Gill
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Rhett Taylor
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Cami Burke, Haley Muse
MANAGING EDITOR OF SPECIAL SECTIONS Jennifer Sander Hayes
CLIENT OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Julianne Emeterio
SALES INTERN Elle Muenker
MARKETING & EVENTS
MARKETING DIRECTOR Gigi Ekstrom
MARKETING MANAGER Natalie Swaim
ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Katie Garza
EVENTS PRODUCER Madeline Alford
EVENTS INTERNS Ella Giese, Daisy Rosas, Julie Valdez
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
SENIOR MANAGER Sarah South
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Emma Barretto
EDITORIAL PROGRAMS MANAGER Sarah Masquelier
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MERCHANDISER David Truesdell
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HEAD OF DIGITAL OPERATIONS Katrina Foster-Witherspoon
LEAD CAMPAIGN MANAGER AND AD OPERATIONS Riley Hill
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DIGITAL INTERN Jade Garrett
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PHOTO RETOUCHER Jasmine Green
BUSINESS
CONTROLLER Sabrina LaTorre
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Debbie Travis
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE COORDINATOR Jessica Hernandez
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR Patricia Martin
IT TECHNICIAN Luan Aliji
OFFICE MANAGER Will Smith
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THE SUPPORT THEY NEED. THE RESULTS YOU WANT.
Leaders today are shouldering immense weight as they face higher levels of uncertainty, emotional labor, and more complexity than ever before.
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Renda Mathew is a leader at Truist—and in her lifelong home of Dallas.
How has Renda accomplished so much? By consistently honoring her authentic self. And pursuing her professional goals with a company that aligns with her personal purpose. Today, Renda is the Dallas market president for Truist, and cares for her community by helping her local business clients thrive and serving on multiple non-profit boards.
Learn how all of Truist is taking care of Dallas at Truist.com/dallas-fort-worth.
c-level execs, managers, and entrepreneurs make daily sales pitches. Whether you’re trying to motivate an employee, sell goods or services, obtain funding, or win an argument with family or friends, persuasion skills are essential. This article details another proven persuasion technique.
Two time-tested persuasion techniques are scarcity and urgency. Multiple studies confirm that it’s human nature to want what we can’t have and embrace a product, service, or concept before it’s unavailable. There is no more powerful persuasion technique than “you better act now before it’s too late.” That’s why so many marketing efforts tout “limited time only,” “going out of business sale,” and “while supplies last.” Embedded in people’s psychological DNA is the concept of “we don’t want to be left out” and “we want to have something that is rare and unique that other people can’t get or don’t have.”
Urgency and hard deadlines are other persuasion techniques often used in conjunction with the scarcity principle. Not only is the product or service scarce, but the ability also to obtain the same ends soon, which causes the listener to act quickly, often without fully evaluating the merits of their hurried decision.
When I was a young lawyer, I received a notice that if I attended a presentation for timeshare condos, I would receive a free TV. I wanted to see the salesperson’s persuasive methods and get a free TV in the process. If you have never attended a sales presentation for timeshares, it’s quite a persuasive educational experience. The salespeople are some of the most clever and knowledgeable salespersons, who are able to read their customers and employ highly effective sales techniques.
I listened to the sales pitch, took notes, and asked questions that caused the salesperson to use all her sales techniques. I told the salesperson that the timeshare purchase seemed like a good deal but, obviously, I needed to take a day or two to study the 15-page contract. The salesperson said the offer was available only on that day, and if I didn’t sign the contract right away, I would not be able to purchase the timeshare ever again. I didn’t “bite,” but numerous people are persuaded by this technique.
One of the reasons that people fall for this technique is that studies show people are more worried about losing out on something of value than gaining a valuable product or service. This psychological trait is embedded in the concept that people value freedom. See my November 2021 D CEO article. As products or services are less available, according to the reactance principle of psychology, people are more likely to act to avoid what, in their minds, is a loss of freedom by not taking advantage of the “last chance” to obtain a product or service.
The takeaway: Without trying to sound like a used car or a timeshare salesperson, emphasize the exclusivity of what you’re selling and the limited opportunity to take advantage of embracing a product, service, or argument that is rapidly disappearing.
ROGGE DUNN represents companies, executives, financial advisors, and entrepreneurs in business and employment matters.
Clients include the CEOs of American Airlines, Baker Hughes, Beck Group, Blucora, Crow Holdings, Dave & Busters, Gold’s Gym, FedEx, HKS, Texas Motor Speedway, Texas Capital Bancshares, and Texas Tech University as well as sports figures such as New York Mets manager Buck Showalter, NBA executive Donnie Nelson, and NBA Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. Dunn’s corporate clients include Adecco, Beal Bank, Benihana, Cawley Partners, Match.com, Rent-A-Center, and Outback Steakhouse.
In 2021, 2022, and 2023 Dunn was included in D CEO Magazine’s Dallas 500 list, which recognizes the most influential business leaders in North Texas.
He has been named a Texas Super Lawyer every year that award has been given and recognized as one of the top 100 attorneys in Texas by Texas Monthly (a Thomson Reuters service) and a D Magazine Best Lawyer 14 times.
photography by JONATHAN ZIZZO
an assignment that brita andercheck gave her students pushed her into a new career. The former sociology professor at Southern Methodist University asked her class to propose solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. Walking across the quad after hearing her students’ presentations, she wondered, “Shouldn’t I try?” She decided to see if she could make a difference. “I quit my job teaching—a job I loved— because I wanted to try to work on big problems,” she says. Now, Andercheck leads the Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence for the City of Dallas as director and chief data officer. (Her role does not involve cybersecurity.)
She started out in the city’s Transportation Department, working with engineers to perform crash analysis. “They needed someone to help them start thinking about their data,” she says. The group sifted through KPIs around intersection geometry, signal timing, and more to recommend infrastructure changes. With Andercheck’s insight, the team was able to help reduce auto fatalities. “The City of Dallas has brought in over $65 million in Highway Safety Improvement Program grants to make changes at intersections where they know they’ve got a crash problem,” Andercheck says.
The city then applied her approach to crime, helping the mayor’s office analyze street lighting to provide better public visibility and sight lines for police. “Little by little, we were able to use data to make decisions,” Andercheck says.
Shortly after, she was called into the city manager’s office. She asked which project binder to bring and was told “just your brain.” Prepared for the worst, she walked in to find a friendly face. “The city manager said, ‘Brita, I want to do what you’re doing in transportation with data city-wide. I want every department to use data like this and to make decisions,’” she recalls. At the end of the meeting, in October 2020, the Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence was born with Andercheck at the helm.
In its first year, the department grew to a 28-person team and developed 50 data-driven dashboards, apps, interactive maps, and more for the city. Each project addresses equity across several variables. “People think, ‘There are bad areas of town.’ It’s never that simple. We think it’s about using more data to be smarter about where you’re implementing your solutions and not always assuming that one location probably needs a little bit of everything,” she says.
Andercheck’s team partnered with the city’s Office of Equity and Inclusion to release an equity impact assessment and recently unveiled a new crime data dashboard in collaboration with the Dallas Police Department. Her team also partnered with leaders to reduce the amount of identifying information in police reports. “We need people to feel that they can call the police, and if they think that we’re going to put up their personal information, they might not do that,” Andercheck explains.
Morving forward, she is collaborating with DPD, the District Attorney, nonprofit partners, and other agencies to raise awareness about the magnitude of human trafficking in our community and track the city’s progress in fighting it. Additionally, Andercheck is helping the city aggregate and publish permitting statistics and adding a data tool to an equity-driven bond that will be released in 2025.
A big focus is trying to provide policy levers to pull for officials who want to create change.
“You can have the coolest-looking chart in the world, but we’ve got to be focused on the impact on people because that is what we all are really here for,” Andercheck says.
Brita Andercheck’s data-driven approach is helping many city departments tackle big issues. Here’s a look at some of them:
CRIME: Andercheck worked with the mayor’s office to assess the effectiveness of his crime reduction plan.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Andercheck’s team produced a data dashboard displaying relationship and family violence stats to help promote prevention.
FIRE RESPONSE
TIMES: The team created a dashboard to track firefighter response and incident data.
PERIOD POVERTY: Andercheck’s team helped the Office of Community Care and the Dallas Public Library identify where feminine products were needed and the best means of disseminating them.
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it’s an exciting time to be in the infrastructure business, says Dev Rastogi, who leads the Dallas office of AECOM. Tech advances and transportation electrification is sparking a change in U.S. cities, she says, and fleets and utilities will bring social, environmental, and economic change through the deployment of new transportation tech. “It’s not just about converting vehicles; cities, utilities, and fleet owners must also develop new infrastructure,” Rastogi says. “AECOM is accelerating the adoption of zeroemission technologies supporting transit agencies in their electrification efforts. We’re developing tools and models to apply innovative solutions to how we plan, design, finance, and deploy transportation and energy infrastructure to drive our zero-emissions future.”
EDUCATION: Washington University (BS)
BIRTHPLACE: Edinburgh, Scotland
LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES:
“The strategy I think is most important is fostering a culture that encourages teamwork, collaboration, initiative, and creativity. When team members feel their knowledge and experience are valued, they are more likely to be invested in outcomes.”
NONPROFIT CAUSE:
“As a cancer survivor, organizations that focus on awareness and cancer research are particularly important to me.”
HOBBY/PASSION:
“I like to garden.”
LOCAL FARE:
“I recommend the lunch buffet at India Palace.
With Bell’Invito, Heather Wiese Alexander is reshaping the upscale printing industry and branching into leather goods.
positions. Having a team of engineers with diverse backgrounds brings broader perspectives that are needed to develop better solutions.”
DESTINATIONS OF CHOICE:
“I love to travel and experience different cultures. My favorite destinations are the Bahamas for a beach vacation, India to see family, and London, Paris, or Rome for great food, museums, and culture.”
WALK-UP SONG:
There is something for everyone, whether you already like Indian food or want a great sampling of options to try.”
GO-TO ADVISER:
“Wendy Lopez. She and I have been business partners, colleagues, and friends for many years.”
TOUGHEST CHALLENGE:
“You don’t learn about cash flow and P&L statements in engineering school. When I became a COO, I had to build business acumen.”
FIRST CAR:
“I learned to drive in a silver Ford Pinto hatchback. “
INDUSTRY CHANGE:
“The engineering industry needs a diverse workforce with more minorities and women, especially in leadership
“I’d choose ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys. It’s a reminder to follow your passion and let go of anything that is holding you back.”
MUST-READ:
“I recommend Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. This book and the Strengths Finder tools are great for everyone who wants to understand themselves better. It is about putting your focus on the areas you are strongest and outsourcing your weaknesses to others who excel in those areas.”
SPIRIT ANIMAL: “An owl best encapsulates my character.”
BEST ADVICE: “Say yes to the things that scare you or where you think you don’t have the experience.”
ALTERNATE REALITY:
“I’d be a diplomat— influencing the world in a positive way.”
when she first dove into letterpress, designer Heather Wiese Alexander discovered there was no one-stop shop for specialty printing projects. So, in 2005, she founded Bell’Invito. “No one in the specialty printing industry had people working on letterpress, next to people who were engraving, next to people who were edge-beveling, next to people who were matching the printing plates,” she says. Bell’Invito has since designed milestone event invites for upscale clientele, including a handful of celebrities. Sales quadrupled in the first year after the launch, and grew 12-20 percent every year up until the pandemic. Last October, Wiese Alexander expanded into leather goods, unveiling a line of passport covers, luggage tags, and more, which was picked up by Neiman Marcus. “I would like to see more leathers and a collection that’s in people’s lives more often than just special occasions,” she says.
—Kelsey J. Vanderschoot
sisters jodie hastings and shelly slater decided they needed a fresh start when they hit a wall in 2016. Slater, a prominent WFAA anchor at the time, struggled to balance her family life with the intense demands at the news station. So, she left to found communications firm Shelly Slater Strategies. Hastings, a 15-year commercial litigation attorney, was confronted with her lack of balance when she bumped into her husband—also a lawyer—at the San Antonio airport after they were both traveling apart for five days, covering various depositions and hearings. It was a wake-up call to Hastings, a mother of two children, that she needed more control over her professional life.
The sisters’ crises led them down new paths—together. Shelly Slater Strategies has landed contracts with Nike, Crow Holdings, and Toyota, but at the time, Slater couldn’t find a headquarters. “There was nothing on the market with a full production, TV, video, photo, or podcast studio,” Hastings says. So, the sisters built it. They invested “enough money that the business can’t fail,” Slater says, and in 2018 bought the building that is now The Slate.
They worked with GFF and Talley Riggins Construction to reconfigure the space that was a jewelry photography studio, working through Thanksgiving and the holiday season that year to get it off the ground. The Slate opened its doors on March 1, 2019.
The coworking space was tailored to women-owned startups at its launch, but the space accommodates men, too. A year after opening its doors, the pandemic struck, and the sisters worried they would face another career crisis. “We thought everything was going to go down; instead, we grew by 83 percent in 2020,” Slater says.
Members range from one-person ventures to Southwest Airlines. In 2022, The Slate partnered with Texas Woman’s University to provide space and coaching to women via the Women Owned Business Incubator.
Along with the full production setup, The Slate’s 11,488-square-foot space has 10 offices, 28 desks, and two large conference rooms—one that can host 20 people and the largest of which has a 75-person capacity.
2022 was The Slate’s highest-performing year. In 2023, the sisters expect revenue to grow by 25 percent. Going forward, they have discussed adding another location, but instead, are focusing on expanding in place. “With a killer downtown skyline view from our lot, we’re throwing around the idea of adding another story,” Slater says.
as the founder of the statewide en trepreneurial support network Her Texas and director of innovation for the Frisco Economic Development Corp., Jasmin Brand has more on her professional plate than most. The award-winning marketer and social entrepreneur recently met with D CEO for lunch at Hudson House, where we embraced the dining faux pas of ordering the same dish; the Cajun chicken did not disappoint.
Brand tells me her drive and love of a good challenge started early. As a young girl, she begged her dad to let her go to school early and always enjoyed shopping for school supplies more than clothes. She was a dancer at Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts before graduating from Southern Methodist University and has launched and led several businesses, from creative agencies and digital publishers to interactive events and media companies. Her two most recent endeavors balance her passions for growing businesses, marketing, and building community.
The first is a company she founded called Her Texas. As Brand’s network of business contacts grew, she was inspired to take a more systematic approach to connecting women founders. “I built a large network of women who were investing, creating, and developing, and I was manually connecting people, but my inbox was a hot mess,” she says.
“We can’t be relying on Jasmin and my slow email responses, so I started doing some research and found that there’s not a good statewide network for women. We’re very siloed in cities, so I created something that gets us talking together.”
Since then, Brand has pulled together a group of 20,000 women entrepreneurs and supporters in Texas, aiming to more than triple that number to help facilitate strategic support and increase connectivity, business flow, commerce, and investment in the state. Brand has spent years developing entrepreneurial and financial relationships all over the state, and wants Her Texas to be a place where capital sources, especially women investors, can connect for deal flow and opportunities. Her Texas launches its statewide membership in June.
Brand had always been a Dallas girl, and hadn’t explored many of the suburbs, but as she learned more about the robust growth and opportunities in the bustling city of Frisco, she became more open to putting her skills to use there. She also began a new role with the Frisco Economic Development Corp. in March 2022, seeing it as an opportunity to dive deep into a dynamic, growing city, hoping to foster a culture of innovation. She is leaning into the job and has seen the impact of her identity as a Black woman. “When I came on board, I got so many emails from women of color and founders of color looking for representation,” she says. “Having the role there makes people feel that their perspective will be finally represented.”
When she isn’t uniting women founders and attracting businesses to one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, Brand serves as an executive board member of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at SMU. In all of her roles, Brand is a connector, and she says she always will be.
Brand has high hopes for changing the narrative for Texas women in business. “Once we have an integrated ecosystem, as opposed to being separate, we will not only be creating new businesses but also a support network,” she says.
If all property tax consulting companies aren’t the same, what makes Morrison & Head different for employees?
We’re built different. Morrison & Head has positioned itself uniquely in the market in that we, as a company, are looking a lot more like our clients, particularly in age and gender. The vast majority of our team members are ages 25 to 40, and are predominately women. The appraisal district has more female appraisers today, and our clients are younger. It’s important for us to mirror what the clients and the market looks like. From a work culture perspective, we are very nimble. We have an institutional grade mindset on an entrepreneurial platform. Just coming into our office, you’ll notice we are flexible, lighthearted, and fun. We do our best to embrace a true work/life balance. A lot of companies say that, but don’t follow through. We want our team members to prioritize home life and have time for activities with their families. When it’s time to work, we are going to do what’s necessary, but we don’t micro-manage. One thing the pandemic taught is how to reprioritize what matters most. We have cracked the code on that.
From a competitive advantage, our peers are mostly older companies and stuck in the old ways of running a property tax consulting company--they aren’t as inviting. We are more light-hearted with our clients, friendly, and relatable than any other property tax consulting firm in the state. There are fewer property tax consulting companies by the year, as there has been a tremendous amount of consolidation in the past 24 months. We have uniquely positioned ourselves to compete with the best in our backyard—and nation-
wide. Morrison & Head offers a fresh look at an older, tired industry.
Are all of Morrison & Head’s consultants recruited from other property tax consulting firms?
No. Most everyone we have hired didn’t initially know this was a tax consulting job, and many had no real understanding of what property tax consulting was until they applied for the position. They came from large real estate firms and brokerage houses. We wanted them to know that if they had goals to work in commercial real estate, this field is a viable career path. In this role, they get to value real estate, represent clients, and negotiate with the appraisal district on value. It takes an extremely talented and different type of person to succeed in this job. Many people don’t know this avenue exists in CRE and are happy to learn they are the right fit. Part of our mission has been making the talent within the CRE industry aware this is a profession and that those with real estate backgrounds can use their skill sets in different ways than they thought.
How has the fact that your team is comprised of mostly women helped you stand out to clients and peers in this industry?
Our practice has always been hiring the best qualified candidate for the job. There recently has been an overwhelming number of applicants and referrals who are women. We hired the best, as usual, and our culture now is better than it ever has been. We are a dynamic group of individuals from a variety of backgrounds with different viewpoints. This has been an asset to our company, and as an owner, I have been happy to see everyone come together and learn from each other.
RYAN CHISMARK, CCIM, is a partner with Morrison & Head, a Texas-based property tax consulting, due diligence, and appeals practice. He oversees the Dallas office with his partner Mark Kline working with institutional owners of commercial real estate through acquisition, development, and property tax protests. Morrison & Head is the fastest growing tax consulting practice in Texas and was recently named one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s 100 fastest-growing companies. Chismark is a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and licensed property tax consultant. He attended Le Moyne College in New York. He grew up in Syracuse, New York before relocating to Texas in 2012. He lives in Dallas with his wife Chelsea and daughter, Olive.
Jessica Jesse is on a mission to promote global well-being through her wildly popular jewelry company, BuDhaGirl.
story by CHRISTINE PEREZ portraits by JILL BROUSSARDAfter a career
er sets intentions for the day—and taken off one at a time while the wearer expresses gratitude.
To Jesse, the well-being aspect of BuDhaGirl is paramount. She puts as much energy into creating content— meditations, blog posts, social media, and more—as she does into product development. Her jewelry can be purchased via the company’s site or through about 500 retail partners, ranging from upscale local boutiques to Neiman Marcus. Millions of bangles have been sold since BuDhaGirl launched in 2012; the company expects to hit $20 million in revenue this year.
SHE GOT INTO the industry as a young teen, working as a model in New York for Adolfo and Calvin Klein, then on the runways of Europe with Hubert de Givenchy. She later ascended to leadership posts on the operations side with luxury brands and retailers. But it wasn’t until she found a way to blend fashion with science and contemplative practice through her Dallas-based jewelry company, BuDhaGirl, that Jesse came to fully appreciate the industry’s power.
Her signature product is a stack of nine All Weather Bangles. Made of polyvinyl carbonate tubing filled with gold leaf, silver leaf, or other materials, they are waterproof, soundless, nearly weightless, and make it through TSA scanners without a beep. Handmade by artisans in Thailand, the bangles are meant to be put on one at a time while the wear-
The daughter of a Mexican mother and Austrian father, Jesse grew up mostly in California—in Carmel and Los Angeles. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at SMU. Having already racked up years of experience as a model, she quickly realized that college life was not for her. “I had already been working, and the other kids seemed immature,” she says. Instead, she found what she was looking for in a fashion merchandising program at what is now the Art Institute of Dallas. “This was the early 1980s, and Dallas, at the time, was so ripe for high fashion,” Jesse says. “I discovered that I really liked the business side of the industry—the mechanics behind what everyone else sees.”
While still in her late teens, she took a job with Robert Sakowitz that led to work in Texas and Paris with Versace, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent and grew into executive posts with Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Jesse also helped bring high-end European brands to Highland Park Village, with sister stores on Rodeo Drive, and worked for boutique owner Torie Steele and her then-husband, Sam Wyly (an experience she describes as “difficult and tumultuous”). Then, in January of 1999, she met Bill Jesse, the man who would become her husband and give her the jazzy and memorable “Jessica Jesse” name.
They met on Match.com, back when the Dallas-based online dating site was still in its infancy. “This was before you could upload images,” Jessica says. “There was a premium option for about $30, and I decided to be a big spender. I met Bill two days after being online, so let me tell you, it was the best $30 I ever spent.”
He was living in San Francisco at the time, running an investment and advisory firm and deeply involved with the “Internet 1.0,” as he calls it, funding startups and raising money to launch Wired magazine. “I was on the board of Wired from pretty much its inception to its sale to Condé Nast,” Bill says. “It put us right in the middle of everything. It was an interesting, exciting time.”
He had joined Match.com mostly for business rea-
sons; he wanted to study the company’s platform as part of due diligence for a potential investment in a similar site in Canada. “And then, kismet, right?” Jessica says. “We met, and, yeah, we’ve now been married for 24 years. And yeah, it’s really good.”
The couple made their home in California, and Jessica stopped working, a challenge she says was made easier by the birth of their daughter, Sloane. She also had a 10-year-old son, Charles, from an earlier marriage. The couple had a second home in Cabo and moved there so the kids could more easily learn Spanish. In 2008, when it was time to enroll Sloane in kindergarten, they decided to return to the States—but not to San Francisco. Instead, the family moved to Dallas.
“When we began looking at where to settle, Dallas kept coming up,” Jessica says. “I didn’t want to push too hard and tip the scales, but I love Dallas. You can go anywhere quickly, which is very important for Bill, and the school systems here, certainly in the Park Cities, are great.”
Jessica reconnected with North Texas friends from her past and did charity work. Then in 2010, when her son was a senior at Highland Park High School, he had a psychotic break. “One day, your child is there, and the next day, he’s in a straitjacket,” Jessica says. “No matter where he was being treated, in a clinic or a hospital, people wanted to medicate him, which made it worse. He was totally lost, and it was awful.”
Ever the mama bear, Jessica threw herself into finding a way to help reintegrate her son’s brain. This meant applying focus exercises and shutting off technology. And it meant exploring options in nutrition and “blowing up your gut, because that’s the second brain,” Jessica says. “We tried every form of cabbage known to mankind.” Gradually, all the efforts worked. Charles, who is 30 now, is doing very well.
About a year-and-a-half into things, a friend advised Jessica to go back to work—but this time as an entrepreneur. Mulling over different ideas, she thought about how much she loved the bangles that Buddhist monks give out in Thailand. (She and Bill are avid travelers and have traveled through more than 65 airports together.) Developing and selling her own line of bangles could work, Jessica decided, but only if she could add value by promoting mindfulness. “I wanted to find a way to help people stop for a minute and do a mini-scan of, ‘What am I doing today? Why am I even doing it? How do I feel?’” She came up with the idea of asking bangle buyers to set an intention for each bracelet they add to their wrists.
She went to Thailand and found a production partner who developed a prototype that met her demands for quality. After perfecting the product, she set up meetings with various fashion editors in New York City. “I went
to Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and even The Robb Report, and I started talking about mindfulness in fashion,” Jessica recalls. “I’m not going to tell you I was laughed at, but pretty much, I was laughed at.”
As an e-commerce company, BuDhaGirl was able to communicate directly with consumers. Still, the early years were tough. Jessica often wondered if anyone was even reading the content she was producing and had to dig deep to keep going. By her fifth year in business, she made the bangles available to wholesalers.
It wasn’t an easy decision. “The margins are cut in half, and no one can tell the story quite like you can,” she says. “Since then, we’ve become much stricter about who we bring in as retail partners. For example, our only national company is Neiman Marcus. We have a very good relationship with them, but even so, there were some stipulations from us. We don’t allow certain things to happen with our products.”
When thinking of a moniker for her company, Jessica Jesse was drawn to the philosophy of Buddhism—“that it’s your journey—that it’s up to you,” she says. “I also liked the word ‘girl.’ It’s fun.” She got some pushback when she opted to spell Budha with one “d” instead of the traditional two. Then later, while doing research, she came across a deity with the same spelling. "It’s a deity for merchants and commerce. And so, it was meant to be.”
BuDhaGirl pushes its well-being content through three platforms that attract tens of thousands of followers.
Although it meant giving up some control, going wholesale provided a way for BuDhaGirl to reach a vastly larger base of customers—people who could touch and try on the bangles. Sales doubled for three consecutive years in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and grew by 50 percent last year. “We are at a pace that is very significant for what we do,” Jessica says.
All along, she has had an ace in the hole—her husband, Bill, who serves as the company’s chairman. He also is a managing director of SBJ Capital, a private equity firm based in Walnut Creek, California, that invests in and advises consumer companies. Its portfolio includes a wide range of enterprises, from a large sparkling winemaker to a seller of school uniforms. “The unifying focus is these are all businesses that want to grow,” Bill says. “We help take away the barriers to growth and help provide the foundation they need for growth.”
Six four-minute meditations to promote relaxation throughout the course of a day.
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With decades of experience, he has seen a lot of pitfalls with young businesses, so he knows what to do and what not to do, Jessica says. “But he has never seen a business quite like ours and the way we operate.”
When his wife first shared her plans for BuDhaGirl, Bill thought it was a great idea. “I thought it would be difficult to third-party finance, which turned out to be true,” he says. “And I thought it would probably find its way a little sooner than it did. But I also think the opportunity is significantly larger than what I initially thought it might be.”
One of the biggest challenges the company faces is the proliferation of knockoffs—inferior products that, in some cases, may even be dangerous, Bill says. “We use third-party labs to do regular testing on the products—to make sure that the adhesion is good, that the quality of the tubing we use, and all the ingredients are safe,” he says. “In one sense, being copied says you’ve arrived. But in another sense, it’s a little bit like running around in a dark room with a mallet, trying to hit the cockroaches running across the floor.”
BRIEF
Answers to frequently asked questions and discussions on various topics of interest.
As part of her mission, Jessica is heavily involved with the Global Wellness Institute, a nonprofit aiming to empower well-being worldwide by educating people and companies about preventative health and wellness. One of its key programs is The Wellness Moonshot, a platform that has a lofty goal of achieving a world that’s free of preventable diseases. (According to GWI’s, research from the Centers for Disease Control and World Economic Forum shows that roughly 70 percent of deaths each year are the result of preventable causes and that the global cost of treating these diseases is on track to hit $47 trillion by 2030.)
Personal responsibility is key to changing things, Jessica says. “You have to start with you; it’s as simple as that,” she says. “Western thought wants to complicate wellness.
People want to go to doctors and be cured. We all go to doctors—I’m not saying you shouldn’t—but what is that cure going to take? And how did you get there?”
GWI is widely known for its annual summit, held in major cities throughout the world. Jessica, who has served on the organization’s board, has been a speaker since 2015, says Nancy Davis, the summit’s chief creative officer and executive director. “What BuDhaGirl does is unique in the market,” she says. “There is no other company I can think of that so authentically and deeply cares about people’s mental well-being and the importance of intention and ritual and then expresses it in such a beautiful and fun and ubiquitous way.
“What people choose to wear and how they adorn themselves speaks volumes about how they feel about themselves, Davis says. “It’s something you know intuitively;
Every BuDhaGirl bracelet is handcrafted and touched by more than 20 artisans who make the bangles in Thailand.
The product that started it all at BuDhaGirl—and remains at the company’s core—is the All Weather Bangle. Packaged in a beautiful, custom silk pouch, the bracelets are made of flexible, polyvinyl carbonate and hand-filled with
gold leaf, silver leaf, or other materials by about 240 women in rural Thailand. (Another 70 people work at the company’s fine jewelry building in Bangkok.)
“Even before BuDhaGirl, this community understood how to do the process—they
Jessica brings it to life and embodies it. She is such a deep-thinking, caring person. She is kind and super smart. I don’t know of another jewelry company that has a scientific board. Jessica is as much a thought leader as she is a businessperson; she has really changed the way people think about things.”
The entrepreneur’s impact is about to get even bigger as her company continues to experience brisk geographic and volumetric growth. It just launched the BuDhaGirl app, which gives users access to meditations, two-minute unplugging ritual exercises, a journal, a BangleStack game, and more. A European expansion is underway, with openings in London in July and Paris in October, and the company’s e-commerce site has been translated in to five languages—French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish.
From a product line standpoint, BuDhaGirl has added brand-aligned handbags, rings, notecards, journals, and even jewelry boxes to its mix, and its bangles now come in about 40 different colors and styles. One of its newest variations is a stunning three-bangle stack called Three Queens that comes in a modern trio of golds—yellow, white, and rose.
BuDhaGirl puts a lot of effort into studying and engaging with its tribe. It has a robust data science initiative to deeply understand the idiosyncrasies of customers across
just didn’t have enough business to do it,” says Jessica Jesse. “So, most of the women were either rice farmers or buffalo herders. And now, they get to be home
with their children, filling tubes.” Jessica herself designed the bead that adorns the bangles’ seal. “It’s called the serenity prayer bead,” she explains. “It’s this little zigzag with a dot
in the middle. The zigzag represents your life; your life is never a direct road— it’s always back and forth. And within that back-and-forth is a little dot, which is your focus.”
varying demographics and geographies. A signature marketing outreach involves alerts about the company’s “Stack of the Week,” inspired by exotic locations, books, and celebrities ranging from Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe to Lenny Kravitz and Cher. The company recently created an exclusive design for the Cattle Baron’s Ball in honor of the charity’s 50th anniversary and hit it out of the park with a 2023 Super Bowl promotion. “We took the team’s colors—red and gold for the Kansas City Chiefs and silver and green for the Philadelphia Eagles— and we offered those four colors during the halftime show at 50 percent off,” Jessica says. “During Rhianna’s performance and all the other hoopla, we ended up with $238,000 in sales—in 29 minutes. Last year, with the same promotion, we sold about $100,000.”
Although the bangles are made in Thailand, they’re packaged and distributed locally from BuDhaGirl’s home base in the Dallas Design District. All marketing is also done out of the facility, which includes a photo studio. The company moved in about 18 months ago and is already outgrowing the space. Jessica has hired an engineering firm to study the possibility of vertical expansion.
Amidst the rapid growth, she is committed to staying true to the company’s mission of well-being. Inner peace can be achieved, no matter the circumstance, Jessica says. “We must live in the present moment and take joy from it,” she says. “I’m an optimist—I always like to think of the future, but I’m very mindful of living as I’m sitting here right now.”
CHARMAINE TANG'S LOVE FOR FINANCE was sparked by a simple question. She was working in JPMorgan Chase’s back office in New York as a teen when she asked her boss, “Where do all these trades come from?” He answered by taking her to see a Wall Street trading floor. It was a life-changing moment. “I knew in my gut, I wanted to be there,” Tang recalls. It was an ambitious goal, but the curious 16-year-old was determined to see it through. ¶ Today, Tang is channeling her drive into leading the U.S. expansion of Switzerland-based asset management software tech company Orca AG. Its software helps high-networth individuals, family offices, trust firms, corporations, and more to track legal, compliance, and tax data. Founded in 2017, the company has rapidly gained traction across 20 countries and is garnering new business in the United States. ¶ Tang, became president of Orca AG in October 2022, after nearly 25 years in investment and private banking. “I grew up in the traditional finance world, so being able to articulate the tech value proposition to a traditional finance leader or organization—I think that’s going to be the next version of me,” she says.
Orca AG was founded in 2017 when Tomas Hurcik and Gregor Feichtinger wanted to improve some of the common pain points in addressing complex legal structures. They leveraged their deep ties with some of the most sophisticated and complex families in the world to better manage wealth structures across the world. “What the software does is help families organize in a fashion where any member of the family can not only know what they own, what it all means, and have all the back-up documents stored in there, but they can look at it dynamically through time. It can be historical, or you can project. It can also feed systems like Salesforce, Addepar, Reuters, JPMorgan, and Goldman,” Charmaine Tang says. Hurcik and Feichtinger named the company Orca, in part connoting the animal's ability to collaborate and communicate in pods with their own language. The company's namesake also draws on orcas presence in the ocean and their position at the top of the food chain.
Tang has had immediate impact. In her first six months, she built Orca AG’s U.S. client base into its largest market. “For a long time, Switzerland has been, for obvious reasons, the leading country for Orca and the U.S. has been second or third. Now, we've really made a nice push here,” she says.
In between client meetings in Old Parkland, Tang often reflects on her journey. For that curious young girl growing up in Queens, New York, life wasn’t always easy. “I cry of joy, but I also hurt because of inequity,” she says.
TANG WAS BORN the oldest child to Filipino immigrants. When she was 5 years old, her father tragically passed away, leaving her mother to care for Tang and her infant brother. “She had a very modest job, and she worked hard,” Tang says of her mother, who worked as a phlebotomist at New York University Medical Center. Money was tight, but love and hard work abounded.
Tang showed early aptitude in science and math, earning a spot at Stuyvesant High School, one of the U.S.'s top public high schools. She was among the 300 students accepted that year out of 10,000 students who took the entrance exam. “I was a STEM gal before they called it STEM,” Tang says. Each day, she rode the subway two hours round-trip from Queens to North Manhattan to school.
When she wanted to go to her prom at the Plaza Hotel, she reached out to her cousin, who was a JPMorgan Chase admin, for a part-time job. “I work for four or five hours after school, making $5 an hour, and my job was to open pneumatic tubes and pull-out bond trades,” Tang says.
Her supervisor showed her the trading room floor for the first time in 1990. “My jaw dropped,” Tang says. “It was on JPMorgan’s fixed income floor. There were people yelling, screaming—lots of men,” she remembers. The experience spurred her to earn a degree in finance and accounting at New York University’s Stern School of Business on a full-ride scholarship.
She moved into the controllers department at JPMorgan—a step closer to the trading room floor—and increased her former after-school side gig to a 25-hour weekly commitment. “Two managing directors from Long Island said, ‘Kid, you have to apply for the global markets internship program,’” Tang remembers. She had never heard of the internship, but the two leaders assured her they could help her get in.
When she learned more, she hesitated. “It’s all Ivy League, and it’s all men,” she expressed worriedly. The managing directors assured they’d take care of her. Tang was accepted into the program the summer of her junior year; the two execs wrote letters of recommendation, applauding her hustle. “I was the first NYU hire in the history of this JPMorgan program,” Tang says. She was also
one of the few women in the group of interns selected. Her desk was on the fixed income trading floor, where she interned on the taxable credit research team. “I was like ‘Oh my god, I’ve made it,’” Tang recalls with a smile.
When she graduated, Morgan Stanley offered her a role as an investment banking analyst. “At that time, that was the white shoe firm,” Tang says. Roughly 140 young professionals globally were selected to the junior associate program Tang was hired into, about 40 were women and roughly five were women of color.
During her time there, she met Jan Kniffen, then senior vice president for The May Department Stores Co., who has become a lifelong mentor. Kniffen was spinning off Payless ShoeSource from its parent company, and Tang was the analyst on the deal. “Charmaine was hard not to like,” Kniffen says. “She’s very good at what she does. She’s driven. She’s focused, but she’s a very nice human being, and that’s a target combination.”
In her role, Tang worked on even more game-changing transactions during the '90s dot-com boom, including Pixar’s IPO in 1995. “I met Steve Jobs and fetched him blanched and raw almonds in 1996, when no one knew what a raw almond was,” Tang chuckles. Her star-studded Wall Street experience over the next two years included run-ins with many high-powered founders and CEOs, and even director Steven Spielberg.
She shifted to a post as an equity research associate for the firm in 1998, at 25, and immediately began working on a team doing research and building models for media conglomerates Disney, Viacom, and Time Warner. “I was in the thick of the tech experience,” she recalls.
Tang loved digging into the figures behind transactions. “I think you have so much more bite when you can pick apart numbers,” she says. “I just thought that I would challenge myself intellectually at every stage; it was almost like I was training—just getting stronger.”
She went on to work for two more top teams at Citigroup, culminating in a role as a VP and retail analyst. “We covered the coolest stocks, like Nordstrom, [formerly public] Neiman Marcus, and Walmart,” Tang says. She often appeared on CNBC to share thoughts on the retail sector’s star stocks. “By the time I was 31 or 32, I was a regular contributor for retail stocks,” she says.
ALTHOUGH TANG HAD made a name for herself as a young leader in finance, the realities of the male-dominated industry still loomed large. When she became pregnant with her firstborn, a longtime mentor offered her some advice. “She said, ‘Charmaine, congratulations. I’m glad you’re pregnant, but don’t say anything until the bonus numbers are out,’” Tang recalls. She hid her pregnancy until she was seven months along. “You can’t get pushed over,” Tang says. “So, I always stood my ground,
and each step of the way, I think I was able to gain respect, even at a young age.”
Tang’s son was born prematurely and had a handful of health complications during his first two years of life. So, by the time she had her daughter in 2008, she was ready to take time off to focus on being a mother. Her husband, George, sold his business in New York and became a stayat-home dad while Charmaine finished her time working. After the 2008 recession, the couple decided to move to Dallas to go back to his roots—a community he loved. The transition back to George’s hometown proved enriching. “I became really entrenched as a mom, and I could fundraise, and I could make friends,” she says of the move to Preston Hollow.
Two years later, she went back to work, becoming a franchisee and opening a location near Preston and Royal for New York-based Kidville, which offered children’s event and play spaces. “It was an upscale kids’ gym, so my clients included local celebrities and various sports personalities—people who lived in Preston Hollow and Highland Park,” Tang says. She ran the business with a partner, and the pair was inside the venue nearly seven days a week. “It was hard work,” she says.
In 2016, she closed the business and became the executive director for the Dallas division of March of Dimes. There, she oversaw its staff, fundraising, and volunteer efforts and partnered with the board. “I became more authentic in what I care about, such as equity, women, and girls,” Tang says. Her time in the nonprofit space evolved into a post as SVP of U.S. Trust’s philanthropic efforts in its West and Central regions, where she worked for two years before wanting to return to her banking roots.
In 2018, she leveraged connections she had had for more than 20 years at JPMorgan Chase to join Elaine
Agather’s private banking team in Dallas as executive director. “I was re-entering the workforce as a mom; I was learning the private wealth side. I didn’t grow up on the private wealth side. I was an investment banker. So, this was all new to me, but I knew I was on the best teams,” Tang says. At the close of 2020, she took a new role with BNY Mellon as a senior client strategist, where she continued building connections in private banking and wealth management. “My client base was private foundations, family offices, business owners, and founders,” Tang says.
She met Tomas Hurcik, co-founder and CEO of Orca through a mutual connection in 2022. Tang wasn’t looking to make the move into tech, but when she saw Orca’s software capabilities—how it could address pain points for her client base by tracking assets across time and jurisdictions and store corresponding documentation securely on the blockchain—she was intrigued. “I’m a lover of innovation. As an adviser, I already saw tech coming down the pike. I could see how the financial services industry is getting commoditized, things are being automated, robo-advisers are coming, the whole bit—even at the mass affluent level,” she says.
When Hurcik returned to Dallas later in the year, Tang helped him make connections. “I believed in the product,” she says. “But I wanted to see how people I knew in Dallas and New York felt about it.” Hurcik came for a quick 72-hour trip, and Tang filled his calendar with meetings, introducing him to potential clients and key players in her network. “It was clear that she had a wonderful network of people who valued her as much as she valued them,” Hurcik says.
It was a turning point in the relationship. “It was a new experience for both of us. At the end of our three days together, it was clear that it was going to work really well,” Hurcik says. The two met up again during vacations in Long Island. There, the power pair formalized their desire to work together. She has since campaigned around the U.S., significantly growing the company’s market to include clients such as investment management firm Mt. Vernon Investments in Dallas.
“It’s her versatility that is unique, and that’s also been her story, right?” Hurcik says of his top U.S. exec. “She has worked in investment banking in New York, she’s worked in private banking in Texas, and she has now made the move to technology.”
Orca is exploring opportunities for growth in the U.S., including strategic partnerships and building out a team under Tang. “It could be sales, a lot of it will be marketing, and the last thing is APIs (application programming interface),” Hurcik says, referring to software intermediaries that allows tech platforms to communicate with each other. Specifically, the company is in the final stages of launching an integration with Addepar, a wealth management platform with more than $3.5 trillion in assets and a large stateside client base. Hurcik hopes this will be the first of many such integrations in the United States.
For Tang, the transition has been seamless, and she looks forward to writing the latest chapter in her career. “Working inside a tech company is very different than working inside a bank. The nature of the work is fast; it’s exciting to see how we can take feedback from the field or when we’re talking to clients and prospects, meet as a team, and quickly iterate on that to make the tech sharper—every single day. That’s super exciting to me,” she says. “All of that early part of my career, I just was trying to crack in and get in there. And now I’m here.”
“I WOULD CHALLENGE MYSELF INTELLECTUALLY AT EVERY STAGE; IT WAS ALMOST LIKE I WAS TRAINING —JUST GETTING STRONGER.”POWER COUPLE In addition to their full-time roles, Charmaine and George Tang are involved in local business and philathropic boards.
The 46 business leaders honored in EY’s 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year program have powered through risk, fear, market reluctance, and other setbacks in their quest to innovate.
stories by D CEO EDITORS
THERE’S NOTHING EASY ABOUT launching a business. As entrepreneurs navigate challenges around funding, proof of concept, market reluctance, hiring, and more, they must learn to become comfortable with uncertainty. “My advice to entrepreneurs is not to grip the bat too hard. In other words, don’t take everything so seriously,” says George Baker Sr., founder and chairman of Dallas-based ParkHub. “Batters who hold the bat too tightly because they’re stressed out about making a mistake end up making mistakes simply because they’re too rigid and uptight. You need to loosen up and go with the flow and be nimble.” Baker and 45 other leaders featured here have made it through the uncertainty, successfully bringing new innovative products and services to market—all with the mission of bettering society. For a 16th year, D CEO is proud to profile all Southwest regional finalists in EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year program. All regional finalists will be honored at a June 24 event, where winners will be revealed. Those honorees will then compete for national recognition in November.
IN THE LAST YEAR, vertical greenhouse company Eden Green Technology has more than tripled its headcount under CEO Eddy Badrina—from 22 to 75 employees. The company aims to provide locally grown greens to help eliminate food deserts, using vertical farming and greenhouse techniques to reduce the space and lighting needed for maximum output. Eden Green opened its first facility in Cleburne in 2022. “Our ability to increase plant yield per harvest has grown by more than 500 percent since I took over as CEO, all thanks to patent-pending innovations involving how we control water, air, and light to the plants,” Badrina says. “We're also starting construction on our third and fourth facilites here in DFW.” In five years, he hopes the company will become “the Amazon of lettuce,” bringing fresh greens from farm to fridge in 72 hours. And the company will use energy four times more efficiently than indoor farms.
ROBIN ALEX
Co-founder
SHAUN CLARK
Co-founder
VARUN VAIRAVAN
Co-founder
Innovation veteran Thomas Joseph Brennan founded Plano-based solar and energy storage technology firm SOL-ARK in 2013 as an alternative to hazardous fuel-based generators, with an aim to reduce society's reliance on the energy grid.
A publicly-traded hydrocarbon exploration company operating in the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountains, DENBURY uses carbon dioxide to extract petroleum from previously tapped fields. In 2022, revenue totaled $1.7 billion.
Founded by Darron Eschle in 1997, ANDREWS LOGISITICS has grown into one of the U.S.'s largest liquid transporting operations with more than 500 employees and $122 million in sales in 2022. In 2023, Eschle hopes to top $200 million.
A full-service tire collection, disposal, and recycling manufacturing facility, TJP ENTERPRISES which prevents 50 million pounds of waste a year—has almost doubled its sales yearly since 2015, when it was founded by Tom Parker. Led by Robin Alex, Shaun Clark, and Varun Vairavan—two engineers and a marketing specialist—marketing
app HighLevel enables marketing agencies to build custom, no-code platforms to increase retention, new client leads, and more. The North Texas-based company is on pace to close 2023 with $125 million in revenue. “We really want to flip how people view software from seeing it as an expense to a way to make money, grow their business, and provide value to their community,” Clark says. “We are going to be a $10 billion company. Our customers are generating $9 billion in revenue for themselves.”
AmplifAI uses data and artificial intelligence to help consumer-facing staffers improve performance. It aims to equip leaders with the necessary resources, systems, and capabilities to develop their employees, with particular focus on contact centers. Since 2020, AmplifAI has increased its revenue by 263 percent, and in 2021, it secured $18.5 million through its
Series A funding round.
“In five years, I see AmplifAI continuing to expand its offerings beyond contact centers and customer service organizations, potentially branching out into sales, marketing, and HR,” says the company's founder Sean Minter. As tech continues to evolve, I expect AmplifAI to stay at the forefront of innovation, incorporating new AI and machine learning into solutions and leveraging natural language processing, computer vision, and predictive analytics.”
Teltech recently implemented a Private 4G/5G LTE network in its 200,000-square-foot facility in Flower Mound that will be a proof-of-concept center for trials of new IoT tech.
Over the next five years, the company’s highest priority is to close the digital divide in Tribal Country, rural America, and Alaska by partnering with businesses and public organizations.
Teltech currently has 86 employees across the U.S., with the majority located in Texas and Colorado. The company will celebrate 25 years in business in 2024.
LISA HANLON CEO
“I am bringing innovation and change into a market that has been stale for more than 20 years with new product lines that inspire customers to be creative.”
LAUREN BROOKS, Bakery Bling
ON INNOVATION
In 2019, Aaron Smith co-founded FLEXCARE INFUSION CENTERS to mitigate unnecessary delays in infusion treatment. “Access to biologic medications is a supply chain challenge,” Smith says. “We invest in tech, talent, and training to quickly and reliably get patients started on life-changing medications.”
George Baker Sr. is aiming to disrupt the parking sector, where his family has worked for 50 years, with his company PARKHUB . “We want to reimagine parking decks and garages as mobility hubs, serving as points to facilitate different transportation modes,” Baker says.
OENOPHILES TAKE NOTE: the mission of Southlake-based PureWine, which was founded in 2014, is to eradicate wine sensitivities, allowing more people to enjoy the popular libation. Father-and-son duo David and Derek Meadows—who both suffer from wine headaches and adverse reactions to wine—spent two years in a lab creating patented technology to remove sulfites and histamines from wine. “We could see that our filtration was working, but when we tried that big, bold Cab, and it was every bit as delicious as it was in the tasting room in Napa, we knew we had it,” David says. The company’s first product, The Wand, debuted in 2016 to filter a single glass of wine. In 2018, it released The Wave to filtrate an entire bottle. Most recently, the company debuted The Phoenix as a reusable wine aerator and purifier. “We toasted each other ‘To Our Health,’ and that remains our company motto to this day,” Derek says. To date, PureWine has sold more than 15 million units and its products were top-selling wine accessories on Amazon in 2021 and 2022.
Founded by Matthew Bowers in 2004, LONE STAR ANALYSIS helps clients make decisions using predictive and prescriptive analytics and artificial intelligence. “Our analytical approach first seeks to understand what influences the road ahead and the uncertainty involved,” Bowers says.
Matthew Wadiak left his post as the co-founder and COO of Blue Apron to launch COOKS VENTURE , a regenerative agriculture system that improves land and rural economics. The company has 500 employees, works with 30 regional poultry farms, and operates an 800-acre farm.
Carter Malloy was investing in land when he realized he could bring large asset classes to other land investors while helping farmers grow their business. He launched AcreTrader in 2018. The platform puts farmland into an LLC, where the company can perform due dilligence and fundraise. After that, parcels are divided into fractional shares that investors can purchase. The platform manages administration and farmers pay a land rent fee to the LLC established. Any
excess income is distributed to investors. Typically investors hold the land for five to ten years before selling.
“Historically, transacting land has been slow, inefficient, and opaque. By connecting farmers to growth capital, we are able to drive transparency in land markets and modernize the transaction process,” Malloy says. Last year, the company also launched a land research offering called Acre. “Acre’s ten-plus layers of insight help users save time and find relevant land data in one place, including soil data, crop history, elevation, historic imagery, and more,”
Malloy says. To date, AcreTrader’s investors have funded 130 farms, working with 120 farmers to manage 40,000 acres across the United States and Australia. Its team has grown to roughly 100 employees. “Driving the growth is investors looking for a new way to diversify their portfolios with real assets like farm and timberland in today’s economic environment. With the global population increasing rapidly, and our growing need for food, fuel, and fiber, it is paramount to consider the supply and demand of this unique asset class,” Malloy says.
“We had to completely transform the company after I joined as CEO. We worked tirelessly, empowered the right leaders, replaced those that were necessary, and completed a big turnaround in a few yeas.”
ROD MILLAR Likewize“We faced our toughest challenge when our largest customer, which provided more than 50 percent of our business, stopped paying its bills. We never gave up, which led us to where we are today.”
SHELDON ARORA LiquidAgents Healthcare“Our biggest challenge was convincing a market that has been doing things the same way for the past 15 years to try something new. This took longer than we would have liked but proved successful.”
CHRIS CROSBY Compass Datacenters“The lodging REIT sector has typically traded below net asset value, making it potentially dilutive to raise equity capital.
Over the past six years, our various means have allowed us to complete over $1 billion in acquisitions.”
RICHARD STOCKTON Braemar Hotels & Resorts“One of the hardest lessons to learn is realizing that investing in your business is not just about the money. It's about protecting your assets and your future. The key is keeping risk management top of mind.”
KIRT LININGTON Linear Roofing & General Contractors“The technology adoption curve among public safety organizations is relatively flat. This is a result of the limited funding available to upgrade systems and processes to the latest and most excellent versions”
CHRIS WHITE Athos GroupWhile working as an owner and operator of a diagnostic lab, Justin Simons realized there had to be a better way to handle billing.
“We quickly identified that most people hated receiving surprise medical bills almost as much as we hated having to send them,” Simons says. He launched MyLabsDirect in 2018, providing affordable at-home diagnostic testing services. The company rode the wave of increased demand during COVID, with sales jumping 250 percent from 2020 to 2022. This year, it launched LiVWell, a digital health testing platform that helps enterprise employees maintain health and wellness. “If we can make it five years without being acquired, we will become a household brand in at-home diagnostic lab testing,” Simons says.
In 2012, Chris Bradford and Kevin Wang mortgaged their homes and called on family and friends to capitalize Newline Interactive—a manufacturer of interactive displays and large format touchscreens. Nine years later, the company exploded from a $73 million company to a $165 million enterprise. Now, the co-founders are expecting to grow revenue north of $200 million. Clients for the businesses range from K-12 educational institutions, colleges, and universities to startups and Fortune 500 corporations. “We live and die based on our ability to bring innovative—and sometimes disruptive—solutions to our customers,” Bradford says. “We are currently integrating AI into multiple parts of our product portfolio, and we will be the first company in our industry to bring this capability to our customers,” adds Wang.
J. BROOKS LAUNCHED neuromarketing company GlassView in 2014 from his kitchen table, after spending more than 15 years building ad technology for Condé Nast and digital campaigns for The New Yorker, Vogue, Reddit, and more. To date, GlassView has completed more than $100 million in marketing efforts and aims to grow by a factor of 10 during the next five years. It’s all about leveraging data and consumers’ unconscious minds to help the right products find the right customers at the right time. Working with companies like Goldman Sachs, Meta, Intel, and Apple, GlassView’s media software has become one of the fastest growing video advertising platforms worldwide. Two months into 2023, the company had already received more orders than it did all 2022. “Through deeper understanding of consumers’ psychology and minds…we are closing the gap of what marketers know works and doesn’t,” Brooks says.
Born from a children’s sandbox construction gone wrong, BILT provides 3D instructions for product assembly with voice and text directions. The company partners with retailers, brands, technicians, and more to create customized, interactive tutorials for consumer goods and products for electricians, plumbers, and locksmiths. It also works with the U.S. military. “Demand from the professional trades and the Defense Department increased to address widening skilled-labor gaps,” president and COO Ahmed Qureshi says. Since its launch in 2016, BILT has created tutorials for thousands of products in 10 languages and 170 countries worldwide. “Focus on
Founded by Suchismita Acharya, Fort Worth's AYUVIS RESEARCH fights antibiotic-resistant diseases, while directing immune system suppression. Ayuvis was just granted $2.1 million from the National Institute of Health to fund a Phase 1 trial.
IDATAFY ’s collection of products aims to stop online marketing and federal student aid fraud, as well as connect companies with new job talent. “Our goal is to activate 46,500 job seekers by 2024,” says Dave Wengel, founder and CEO.
Founded by Daniel Chu, TRICOLOR HOLDINGS is a community development financial institution on a mission to use AI to provide transportation and financial mobility to underserved Hispanic populations with limited or no credit history.
FRONTIER WASTE SOLUTIONS has seen 50 percent annual growth since 2017. “Success in this industry requires execution with a focus on local nuances. Our competitors have lost their local focus,” says John Gustafson, founder, president, and CEO.
enriching lives,” says Nate Henderson, BILT’s chairman and CEO.
“Everything else will fall into place.”
MicroTransponder’s medical devices seek to restore dignity to patients experiencing sensory and motor function loss. “Having family members suffering from debilitating strokes, we focused on neuroplasticity, the
process of creating or strengthening neural connections, to make damaged areas of the brain more viable,” says Jordan Curnes. The company’s FDA-approved device provides 2-3 times improvement in the movement of upper limb function for stroke survivors. Born out of neuroscience research from The University of Texas at Dallas, the device uses electric stimulation to release chemicals in the brain. Microtransponder is in 10 metro markets and doubled in size in 2021 and 2022.
Ecobat is the world’s largest battery recycling company, processing lithium and lead acid batteries. Its mechanisms help improve the environment by reducing mining and the number of batteries in landfills.
The lead battery recycling segment of the Dallas-based company, which has operations in four countries, has grown 2 to 3 percent annually and the lithium battery recycling segment has grown at a clip of 40 percent per year.
In five years, chairman and CEO Marcus Randolph is projecting that the $2.2 billion company, which employs 2,600 people across the globe, will capture 20 percent of the non-Asian lithium battery recycling market.
BEST ADVICE
MARCUS RANDOLPH Chairman and CEO“Don’t be afraid to ask for help—because you can’t do it alone. Hiring well makes all the difference; delegating is crucial to your success as a leader.”
ELYSE STOLTZ DICKERSON, Eosera
EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year honorees are selected by a panel of independent judges, comprised of past recipients and local leaders.
“To make Dallas even better I would increase the support and resources for underrepresented and female founders. When we were trying to venture capital raise, we were mostly offered mentorship, but not capital.”
“DFW’s entrepreneurial landscape is very diverse, inclusive, and supportive of the small business community. I have had the opportunity to live in multiple states, and DFW is the new Silicon Valley.”
“DFW is a supportive environment, but at times, it can be somewhat difficult for newcomers to enter. I’d love to see renewed efforts to ensure access to investors, advice, and support for as many people as possible.”
MATT ALEXANDER Neighborhood Goods“DFW has a thriving entrepreneurial landscape, and it continues to get better. One area we could improve in is having more mentors ready to invest in, and inspire, the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
“Having small groups of innovators, grouped by current level of scale or company growth, who meet regularly to share ideas, best practices, and common challenges would be so powerful and have a huge impact.”
LUKE HEJL TimelyCare“DFW's strengths include a diverse talent pool, access to funding and mentoring, a healthy local marketplace, and unmatched global accessibility. We can do better at promoting the area's benefits to small businesses.”
San Angelo's Principal LED is North America’s largest provider of electrical components to the sign industry, making LEDs and drivers for the pool and spa, aviation, and architecture industries. What started out as a two-person operation has grown to 150 employees in a 100,000-square-foot facility with operations across Europe. “We've grown by creating new market categories through innovation, value-added manufacturing, taking market share, as well as geographic expansion,” says Blake Vincent, co-founder and managing partner. But as his brother, co-founder, and managing partner Bryan Vincent explains, the company won’t be straying from staple products. “You must stay focused on one or two products that give you a real advantage,” he says. “Most startups die from indigestion, not starvation.”
JACK GIBBONS FB Society MANDY PRICE Kanarys BRYAN REDMOND Suntex Marinas TANYA BIGGERS Big Star TransitIN 2017, EBBAH REALZOLA founded Mexzim Corp., a general contractor specializing in interior finish-out services for office buildings, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, restaurants, hotels, retail, medical facilities, schools, and more. The company’s mission is to optimize the usability of commercial spaces for ROI. “We help our customers by leveraging a team of subject matter experts to reimagine the design and space usability, using innovative solutions incorporating technology, sourcing sustainable building materials, and recycling construction waste,” Realzola says. What has been her toughest business challenge? “Working in a male-dominated industry,” she says. “The experience gave me courage and resilience to overcome challenges along the way. I had to learn to stand up for myself and used the minority shortcomings as a woman to my own advantage by working twice as hard as my male counterparts.”
At Amazon, we look to leverage our scale for good to help strengthen local communities. That means combining our strengths with those of community partners, working together to find creative solutions that have a lasting impact. Thank you to D CEO for your impact in the community.
To learn more, visit aboutamazon.com
story by BRANDON J. CALL
Tthe term “recession” has been thrown around a lot lately. Rising interest rates, high inflation, and an unexpected banking crisis have all been in the news recently as potential triggers of recession. Still, some economists are pointing to the growing labor market and expanding GDP as signs of an economy that remains too healthy to stall. In fact, the latest U.S. Labor Department report showed that the economy keeps cranking out jobs in the private and public sector increasing by 339,000 in May, marking the 29th straight month of positive job growth. With some level of uncertainty on the horizon, D CEO talked to three economic development experts for some on-theground insights about what they’re seeing in the market today—and, more important, their forecasts for the future of our region.
“While we might not like the dreaded R-word, we’re very aware of headwinds in the market,” says Beth Bowman, CEO and president of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce and Irving Economic Development Partnership. The developer’s ability to obtain funding and break ground on new projects is critical, she says. “But our pipeline of projects looking to relocate to the region remains full,” Bowman says. “We have about 200 projects of varying sizes that our team is currently working on.”
Kelly-Moore Paints is the latest in a string of California companies announcing a relocation to the region. Bowman cites Dallas-Fort Worth’s diverse economy and rapid population growth as continued bright spots in the ever-competitive recruitment of companies to the region. These same strengths are also insulation against any possible economic downturn, she says.
According to the latest census estimates released in May, North Texas had the biggest population jump of any U.S. metro last year. The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan statistical area had an annual increase of 170,396 people between 2021 and 2022. “As an economic development strategy, we’re continuing to focus on net new job growth,” Bowman says. “Companies are making decisions every day around real estate and human capital. We want to make sure that Texas and our region remain at the top of their lists.”
Despite higher mortgage rates, Dallas-Fort Worth homebuilders posted a solid performance in the first quarter of 2023. Area builders began construction on 9,691 new homes through March 2023, which is up from the 8,060 starts in the final quarter of 2022. That’s according to the most recent data from Residential Strategies, a Dallas-based research and consulting firm specializing in tracking new home activities.
Alexis Jackson, director of the Celina Economic Development Corp., says the city has been a beneficiary of several new housing developments as it sits squarely in the path of growth as the Dallas North Tollway continues its expansion into northern Collin County. “We have a lot of young families continuing to move to the region,” she says. “In order to be a world-class, high-quality metropolitan
area, it’s not just about healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure. Those are important, certainly, but so too is quality of life.”
Jackson says Celina’s strength of schools and bustling downtown with small businesses remains a selling point for her city. Meanwhile, retail and entertainment offerings for the region remain top of mind as Universal Studios announced a brand-new theme park for Frisco in March and the New York Times dubbed Dallas “the new Dubai,” with an onslaught of new high-profile out-of-state restaurant groups opening in Dallas. “Post-COVID, we’re all looking for more things to see and do,” Jackson says. Indeed, retail sales grew 0.4 percent in April, showing consumer confidence nationally isn’t showing signs of slowing down.
Locally, the retail sector remains another strong point. According to the latest research from Dallas-based Weitzman, DFW enjoys a record-breaking 95 percent occupancy rate. In fact, the entire region benefits from the strongest retail market since Weitzman first began surveying shopping centers here in 1990, bolstered by grocery-anchored projects like H-E-B’s recent and robust entry into North Texas.
“Everything you need to live starts in a field or a factory,” says Kim Buttram, the director of economic development for the city of Mesquite. “You cannot have cars, clothes, food, and many other things without industrial buildings, manufacturing, and distribution.”
Buttram says Mesquite is “lucky” to be located at the crossroads of four major interstates, making it a logical choice for many companies’ logistics expansion projects. Similarly, the Dallas-Fort Worth metro is centrally located within the United States to foster continued growth in the sector. “What we’re seeing right now with leasing activity is that projects that are under construction are going like wildfire,” she says. “We’re filling up buildings before they’re finished.”
The downside? “Investment-wise, we’re seeing some hesitation,” Buttram says. “When starting a project from ground up, there is a collective pause to wait to see what the market does before pulling the trigger on any new major projects.”
KEY STATS
339,000
Number of jobs added to the U.S. economy in May, according to the U.S. Department of Labor
170,396
Number of people added to the DFW metro between 2021 and 2022, according to the latest census estimates
70.85 %
Probability of a recession within the next 12 months, according to the New York Fed
1.3 % U.S. GDP gain in the first quarter of 2023
9,691
Number of new home starts in the region, according to Residential Strategies research
Principal Consultant CADRÉ TALENT CONSULTING
“I wish more people knew what talent planning is. It is always lost in the mix of recruiting and employee relations, but it complements these needs and saves my clients money if they are proactive and consistent about implementation. The economy always goes up and down but if a client drops employee development funding for one year, they will never get that year back to develop employees.”
“Change is a big component of consulting. In some ways, there is nothing needed except to embrace the change itself and look for ways to be helpful. That being said, I think many women are intimidated to select the accounting and finance industry, specifically consulting as a career choice. Business advisory is in the center of change and has become more achievable to women as a long-term career option.”
“I’m in the healthcare space— an industry run by insurance reimbursements and not by what’s best for each patient. There is a lot of opportunity to make healthcare more accessible and efficient with massively reduced costs. My aim with Neuro Rehab VR is to shift the industry toward value-based healthcare with a better adoption of new tech and a focus on prevention-based initiatives that will help us have a better future.”
ASSESS JOB DESCRIPTIONS.
Even the most minute details in your job description can impact the diversity of your candidate pool. Are all the requirements you’re asking for necessary to perform the job well? Or is something like a four-year traditional education getting in the way of including experienced talent?
CAST A WIDER NET.
You might need to adjust your search parameters to include candidates with strong transferable skills rather than industry experience. You may also look for organizations that attract minority candidates or expand university recruiting to schools with diverse populations. The bottom line is to find ways to source talent outside of your own network.
CONDUCT BLIND RESUME REVIEWS.
1.
LOOK FOR AFFINITY BIAS.
Evaluate your existing team. Do your team members represent a wide range of backgrounds, ages, lifestyles, and experiences? Or do many of them have similar experiences to your own?
As a leader, you are responsible for building the best team to tackle your company’s projects, challenges, and initiatives. However, despite our best intentions, something can still get in the way of building the most talented teams: our own hidden biases. Most of us are not aware we have them. For example, we may favor a candidate who attended our alma mater. We may assume a person who rides the bus to work will often be late. We may worry a candidate over 60 won’t stay long at the organization. Unchecked, these hidden biases can sabotage our efforts to be inclusive or to recruit the most talented candidates. On the other hand, there are countless benefits to preventing these biases from entering the hiring process. Inclusive hiring improves your recruiting efforts, boosts retention, and builds a positive culture of mutual respect at your workplace. The easiest way for a bias to take root in your leadership is to let it go unrecognized. Start by digging into your own history and hiring tendencies to identify what might be a bias for you, whether it’s age, lifestyle, appearance, background, or something else. Here are some additional tips:
Omit names, academic institutions, and even company names from resumes so you can focus on skills and experience. This might give you an entirely different perspective.
OFFER INTERVIEW TRAINING.
Make sure your entire team has been trained to understand unconscious bias. Education is the best way to decrease biases in the recruiting process. Create a structured, objective interview process that includes diverse panels.
Jolene Risch is president and founder of Risch Results, a Dallas-based search and executive recruiting firm.
We celebrate Texas women and women’s history every day at the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership. It’s an inspiring story — one worth sharing with the next generation of Texans.
Now, an interactive digital history exhibition gallery, the Sue S. Bancroft Women’s Leadership Hall, showcases the achievements of women who were pivotal in advancing women’s leadership in Texas. From science to politics, it’s a chance to learn about trailblazing women who have led the way for change.
a third of the way up a 50-foot frozen waterfall in Vail, Colorado, BFS Advisory Group President Debra Brennan Tagg was disoriented. There was a piece of ice jutting out from the side of the wall, blocking her upward view and she was also unable to see her feet beneath her. “Our guide was below me, and he said, ‘You’re going to have to trust me, just lift your right leg as far as you can, dig it in with your crampons, and that’s going to be your shelf.’ And I told him, ‘No, it’s not going to work.’”
When Tagg embarked upon a self-declared “50th Year on the Planet” campaign, she began crossing exhilarating tasks off her bucket list—including soaring on a trapeze. One of the challenges was scaling a frozen waterfall. “I kept avoiding it for all sorts of silly reasons,” she says. But a few weeks before spring break this year, someone asked her about her plans for the week. For reasons unbeknownst to her, she blurted out, “I’m going ice climbing in Colorado!”
The financial market was showing signs of disarray at the time. Silicon Valley Bank had just collapsed on the heels of a year filled with record-break-
ing inflation. But as Tagg scaled the quiet, solid wall of ice that was a deafening waterfall just a few months earlier, she realized that turbulent waters eventually calm. “Part of our role as a financial adviser is to take the noise away and calm all that down into a distilled approach,” she says.
Looking ahead for BFS Advisory Group, Tagg says the firm is shedding its defensive posture in light of the Fed indicating that its interest rate campaign is ending. “The asset classes we’re bullish on are warehouses, data centers, and multifamily housing, and it’s a great time to invest in bonds now that some of the carnage is behind us.”
Tagg trusted her guide’s advice. She dug her crampons into the ice and continued the climb. Once she crested the summit, she was blown away by the majesty of it all. “Peeking up over the top was like climbing into a new world,” she says. “The beauty of the river and waterfall that rushes all summer long—but was completely still at the time—was profound.”
We asked area C-Suiters what song they’d have played as they walk into the office each day.
“I’d choose ‘Seasons of Love’ from the musical Rent because it is a reminder to value the life of family and friends, the importance of planning our journeys, and the simple things like cups of coffee, laughter, and love.”
LILY CABATU WEISS Executive Director Dallas Arts District“‘Run the World (Girls)’ by Beyoncé speaks to the power of women, even though those traits can sometimes be regarded as masculine. It speaks to women not having to choose between a career and raising a family.”
ERIN NEALY COX Partner Kirkland & Ellis“‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers eases me into the day with a smile and a good attitude. Positivity is always at the top of any strengths assessment I’ve taken, and ‘Lovely Day’ is one of the most upbeat and positive songs ever.”
MIMI CRUME STERLING CEO The Family Place“It depends on the day and circumstance. There are those ‘Conquer the World’ days when I feel anything is possible. I enjoy the occasional warm and fuzzy ‘I Hope You Dance’ days. Then there’s the ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ days.”
TAMMY GILBERT CIO Fidelity Investments
DOING GOOD
Ashlee Kleinert favors sustainable fashion and brands that help build the community.
WHAT I DO:
“I’m the owner of a food truck business called Ruthie’s For Good and help manage The Good Foundation and Dallas Doing Good. We work with a population of amazing humans who have experienced barriers to employment and sometimes are just in need of a first chance.”
STYLE ICONS:
“I am a huge fan of Goldie Hawn for old Hollywood style and Iris Apfel for her courageous style.”
FASHION INSPIRATION:
“There is power in our purchase. I usually try to build my outfit around a piece or two that are tied to giving back in some way. It takes a little extra time, but it’s worth the effort, because there are some wonderful brands that hire employees from marginalized communities or donate a percentage of their bottom line to a worthy cause.”
STYLE DEFINED:
“I like to look approachable. If my style
has a sense of fun and happiness, it affects how I relate to people and how they may relate to me.”
FASHION
ESSENTIAL:
“Bags. I feel like I have a traveling office in my car, so I have different bags for different projects, including a diaper bag for unexpected babysitting needs of my grandchildren.”
GO-TO LOOK:
“Anything colorful, relaxed, and breezy.”
HOW I ACCESSORIZE:
“I start with my shoes and build from there. I add jewelry with a story or social impact. Especially bracelets—lots of bracelets!”
FAVORITE STORES:
“I like to mix it up. There are a few online boutiques where I regularly shop: Buru is my current favorite. If I’m feeling adventurous, Genesis Women’s Shelter has two incredible thrift stores that always provide a treasure if you
hit it right. However, if I’m going to mention a store by name, it would be MaryBeth Boutique on Lovers Lane for consistency and customer care.”
AT WORK:
“No two days are the same, so I choose what
I wear based on my schedule. One day I might hop on the food truck with comfy athleisure under my Ruthie’s tee. If I have an outside meeting or board event then I’ll wear a pantsuit. I almost always wear my glasses because they make me feel put together.”
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the 2023 Women's Leadership Symposium.
TITLE SPONSORS: COCA-COLA SOUTHWEST BEVERAGES | COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF GREATER DALLAS | CONNECTIONS WELLNESS | EWF INTERNATIONAL | GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHEAST TEXAS | MUNCK WILSON MANDALA | TEXAS WOMEN’S FOUNDATION | TRUIST BANK | UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON SIGNATURE SPONSORS: AMAZON | BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF TEXAS | EVOLV CONSULTING | ISP CREATIVE | MORRISON & HEAD | PLAINS CAPITAL BANK | TEXAS WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY | VERITEX BANK
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING NEXT YEAR'S WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM, OR OTHER EVENTS LIKE THIS, PLEASE REACH OUT TO SALES MANAGER RACHEL GILL AT RACHEL@DMAGAZINE.COM TO DISCUSS FURTHER.
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THE REAL DEAL: REAL WOMEN. REAL TALK.
“Great room full of powerful women. I can’t wait until next year!”
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM ATTENDEE
CITY SANCTUARY
Despite its location at one of the world’s busiest intersections, Aman New York evokes a sense of calm.
TIME FOR A DIP Aman New York’s spa includes a fitness center, cryotherapy chamber, indoor pool, and more.
WELL TRAVELED
Aman’s swanky new urban hotel makes a splash in Manhattan, a frequent business travel destination for Dallas M&A attorney Gemma Descoteaux.
story by CHRISTINE PEREZ
FRESH AIR
A large garden terrace, overlooking Fifth and 57th avenues, offers al fresco dining.
ALL THAT JAZZ
Hotel guests can take a staff passageway to get to the subterranean nightclub.
BIG FINISH Arva offers elevated Italian fare, such as pasta topped with shavings of winter black truffle.
REST AND RELAX Massages, and other treatments are offered at Aman’s spa, which occupies the 9th, 10th, and 11th floors.
there are two ways to get reservations at Arva and Nama, the in-house restaurants at Aman New York, which opened last fall in Manhattan’s historic Crown Building. The first is to be an owner of one of the property’s 22 condominiums; the second is to be a guest in one of its 83 hotel suites. During a recent getaway to NYC, a friend and I had an opportunity to be the latter.
Even in a city steeped in history, the Crown Building stands out. The 26-story Beaux Arts tower was among the first skyscrapers built in Manhattan when it opened in 1921. Russian investor Vladislav Doronin, who acquired Aman Hotel & Resorts in 2014, bought all but the retail floors of the building in 2015 then gave it a stunning $1.25 billion conversion and renovation.
Ultra-luxe accommodations and a location in the heart of Midtown at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue allows Aman New York to charge room rates that start at about $2,000 per night and go much higher. Despite being at one of the busiest intersections in one of the world’s biggest cities, Aman has found a way to achieve impressive soundproofing to create an urban sanctuary. Each oversized room features a fireplace and expansive bathrooms with a soaker tub, huge walkin rain shower, and Toto toilets.
An extended Easter weekend getaway began
Twith brunch at Arva. Standouts included the artfully presented French toast with bacon and the light and flavorful spelt pancakes. (Pro tip: Do your best to nab a table in the large outdoor dining area, overlooking Bergdorf Goodman and Tiffany & Co.) Afterward, we joined throngs of New Yorkers at the city’s annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival—a celebration that dates to the 1870s. We walked south to burn off breakfast and saw many tourist hotspots, such as the Empire State Building and Grand Central Station.
For dinner, we went exploring and stumbled upon PizzArte, a tiny “new old” Italian eatery on 55th street. The flavorful pasta dishes we tried (Maccaronara all’Amatrician with classic beef ragu and Lasagna Napoletana) were so good, we returned the next day to have wood-fired pizza for lunch. We wisely chose the Ragu Napoletano, with smoked buffalo mozzarella, veal, and pork ragu, and saved room for tiramisu.
Once again, we walked off our meal—this time with a tour of Central Park, just two blocks north of the Aman. Unseasonably warm weather made the stroll and a ride on the park’s historic carousel especially enjoyable. Afterward, it was time for some R&R with a massage and swim at the hotel’s three-story spa, which includes cryotherapy chambers and an indoor pool. Topof-the-line fitness equipment includes a spaceage-looking infrared and vacuum treadmill, in which you’re enclosed from the waist down.
We saved the best for last and spent our final night at Aman New York with an unforgettable dinner at Nama, the hotel’s Asian-inspired restaurant. Along with delectable sushi treats, our meal featured Lobster Uni (charcoal-grilled lobster with uni miso), A5 Miyazaki Wagyu (with shishito pepper sauce and fresh wasabi), and my favorite, Miso Black Cod.
The only disappointing thing about our stay at the Aman was that we didn’t have a chance to visit the hotel’s underground jazz club, a speakeasy that’s a nod to the Crown Building’s birth during the Prohibition era.
Sheppard Mullin attorney Gemma Descoteaux often travels to New York for meetings in her firm’s office at 30 Rock and always tries to see a Broadway show while she’s in town. She would mostly stay at the Waldorf Astoria until it closed for renovations; she now typically opts for Essex House, as she likes having easy access to Central Park. Descoteaux says she’s crazy about authentic New York-style bagels
(“Shuggs on Mockingbird has the closest thing here in Dallas,” she says) and recommends Carmine’s Italian Restaurant for its homestyle fare and decadent desserts.
“New York has an energy to it that makes business travel not quite as much of a beating,” she says. “It’s brighter and bolder and more everything.”
Yakunin’s father opened a car dealership while she was growing up. She worked for him there as a teenager, washing vehicles.
Yakunin grew up in a Cleveland community that housed many other immigrants and often spoke Russian growing up.
as told to
illustration by JAKE MEYERSwhile working on a soviet union cargo ship, Vickie Yakunin’s father saw the coast of Canada during a stop and was inspired to pursue a better life for his family. Yakunin was born in what is now Odessa, Ukraine, and arrived in the United States as a toddler. Her parents traveled from the USSR through Austria and Italy and ultimately settled in Cleveland. In 2009, Yakunin moved to Dallas for a community relations role at Time Warner Cable. Today, she oversees community affairs in Dallas for Amazon. Here, she shares the lessons learned from her family’s journey: “I saw how hard my parents worked as I was growing up, and that work ethic was instilled in me at
a young age. My first job was at my dad’s car dealership. I washed cars, and he paid me $20 a day and took me to lunch. I started working at a young age and have never been afraid to work. I think the second—and probably equally important—thing I learned is courage. My parents were 32 years old when they left the Soviet Union, with basically no money. They didn’t speak English. They didn’t have jobs lined up. It takes courage to do that. When I think about it, I don’t know if I would be willing to do it. Sometimes I ask myself that, and I reflect on it. I know that no challenge is too difficult. I can make my way through it because I have the courage to persevere.”
Go behind the scenes and learn the stories behind some of this year’s E&Y Entrepreneurs of the Year nominees. Here, they reveal what it takes to become a success and why Dallas-Fort Worth is the perfect place to be an entrepreneur.
From Left to Right: Varun Vairavan, Shaun Clark, Robin Alex
when highlevel co-founders Shaun Clark, Robin Alex, and Varun Vairavan began their start-up in 2018, they set a goal to offer clients “Everything Your Agency Needs to Succeed.” In a short time, they achieved just that—and are gathering impressive accolades along the way.
In the past two years, HighLevel has experienced a revenue growth of 1,909%. It ranks No. 13 in Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 5000 Regionals Southwest list and No. 9 in SaaSworthy’s list of the Top 20 Fastest-Growing Software CRMs. In addition, Ernst & Young LLP named Alex, Clark, and Vairavan Entrepreneur of the Year® 2023 Southwest Award finalists. Just last year, HighLevel’s software experienced an 88% growth in annual recurring revenue, and its new employee hires increased by 116%. The company is also one of the highest-funded start-ups in the past few years.
HighLevel has created a sustainable, powerful, “all things marketing” operating system that provides limitless opportunities for agencies and marketers. HighLevel’s customers can capture and close sales through a fully integrated software solution, which is also offered as a white-label product, making it unique in the industry. This allows agencies to create a custom-branded app, letting them scale faster and more efficiently as a result.
“We have 600 team members around the world serving 28,000 agencies, and more than half a million small businesses through them,” Clark says. “This is something that we could have never foreseen when we started. We have been able to pull this off by being profitable from the beginning. We recognized that agencies were underserved, and by enabling them to have their name on the hood with white-label products, they are creating value.”
HighLevel has also created a proprietary program—SaaSPRENEUR—a radical new business model for agencies to serve their customers through marketing and prospecting
for their SaaS. HighLevel has been the first to create a successful program of this scale. “Fundamentally at its core, it’s making sure our customers are successful,” Alex says. “This alignment has radically defined us.”
Clark says this unique model sets HighLevel apart. “When you look at other players in the market, we are unique in that we focus on agencies and enable them to become their own independent software product; we are the only company with that angle,” he says.
“And as great as our product is, our number one commitment is customer service,” adds Vairavan. “Our theme is act first and act fast, and that’s whether we are building a product or helping a customer. This has a compounding effect. Our team members have enjoyed freedom in multiple ways in regard to where they work, the hours they work, and what they work on.”
HighLevel’s co-founders refuse to mimic a standard corporate work culture. They’ve long been entrepreneurial-minded. HighLevel itself began as a side hustle, created in the hours between other projects and jobs. “We try to keep the organization as flat as possible and get out of people’s way,” Clark says. “The more we can prevent traditional methodologies from creeping in, the better off we are. I tell people all the time that our goal is to be a $10 billion company, and I would like to see $9 billion of that go to our customers. This is how we judge our success. If we are able to change our team members’ lives and our customers’ lives in positive ways, then that will be the most extraordinary part of what we do.”
Whether you want to join the HighLevel team or are ready to grow your digital agency, by choosing HighLevel you are partnering with a thriving community of the most successful and visionary digital marketers on the planet. Built by agencies, for agencies, HighLevel is committed to helping the agency world.
gohighlevel.com
from pumping gas at his parents’ marina in Austin, Texas, to becoming co-founder and CEO of one of the largest and most respected marina operators in the country, Bryan Redmond has come full circle in his passion for boating and the water. He has elevated the traditional mom-and-pop marina concept by transforming nearly 100 marinas across the country into a hospitality-driven, community experience with Suntex Marinas.
“Historically, marinas have been small, family-owned operations, which typically means lack of capital and backing—basically self-storage for your boat,” he says. “We felt there was a real opportunity to disrupt this mindset and reinvest in marinas to bring them to a brand standard that resonates with what today’s consumers want and expect.”
Suntex owns and manages 73 marinas and expects to have 98 by fall. Each Suntex marina is more than just a place to park a boat. They operate with a sense of community where boat owners and enthusiasts can relax, hang out with friends and family, and simply enjoy the water. “We want to be your third place,” Redmond says. “There’s home, work, and the
place to experience blue therapy—the water.” Redmond, who has overseen more than $2.5 billion in transactions for the Suntex brand, and his team reinvest capital in the marinas, enabling various experience levels. Boat owners enjoy luxury storage and upscale, concierge-style services. The Suntex Boat Club allows members to experience the boating lifestyle without the cost of ownership. Affordable Suntex Boat Rentals provides access to those wanting an initial experience with boating. And for those who prefer to just watch the boats and water pass by, there are waterside restaurants at most marinas.
Suntex not only invests in marinas, but in the talent to operate them as well. The company has placed an emphasis on recruiting and training by promoting careers in marina management in colleges from Texas to Florida. But what excites Redmond the most is the opportunity to grow and build a brand around the consistency of experience. Says Redmond, “Our goal is to create a community at each marina where everyone knows your name and generate even more opportunities to experience the water.”
suntex.com
some of the best success stories begin with a tale about turning nothing into something. This is exactly what Tom Parker did when he founded All American Tire Recyclers. In 2015, he was unemployed and looking for ways to make ends meet when he helped a friend in his mechanic shop and noticed there wasn’t a disposal outlet for scrap tires. He offered to transport and dispose of the tires, and along the way, stopped by a few other mechanic shops who needed the same service. A business idea was born.
Parker took $3,100 out of his retirement savings—which had a balance of $4,000—purchased a 24-foot truck, and began picking up tires with his wife Jodi for local disposal. They funneled the profits back into the company, and within five months, hired a few employees and were officially in the tire recycling business. By year two, Tom and Jodi obtained their CDL licenses and purchased a tire shredder for easier disposal. The company’s current tire shredder also creates crumb rubber—the material on rubberized asphalt and sports surfaces. Today, All American Tire Recyclers, which was recently named Grand Forte Small Business
of the Year by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, is a major recycling facility that has doubled in business every year. It grossed more than $6.8 million in 2022 alone and is the only 100% green tire recycling facility in Tarrant County.
Parker says when he reflects on the success of his business, he considers his journey somewhat of a fairy tale and is committed to giving back. Through recycling efforts and creating crumb rubber from scrap tire waste, All American Tire Recyclers will prevent more than 106 million pounds of tires from winding up in local landfills.
“Our goal is to meet the needs of tire disposal for residents, businesses, and municipalities with integrity while supporting our employees,” Parker says. “We are dedicated to processing scrap tires into a 100% green fuel alternative as well. In growing and investing in our employees, we are creating a pipeline for future success. Our goal is to create a legacy business that will continue to benefit our employees and our customers, as well as Mother Earth.”
allamericantirerecycling.com
1-1 2023
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Industry experts discuss the role of employers in today’s healthcare system, technology and telehealth updates, health insurance and wellness plans, mental health, and healthcare landscape predictions.
What role do employers have in the overall healthcare ecosystem, particularly when it comes to cost control, improving health equity, and holding providers accountable for quality outcomes?
SCOTT FLANNERY: Employers play several roles, but it starts with implementing plan designs and having an administrator best suited to engage and incent employees to make optimal healthcare decisions. Steering employees to the highest quality, most efficient providers creates more satisfied employees, creates less absenteeism, and lowers overall costs. It is imperative that employers explore and understand the innovation they have available to control costs, improve health, and hold providers accountable. Innovation, like high-performing network options, is just one example.
JESSIE QUICK: Healthy employees are the backbone of a thriving company. We consider ourselves a partner with customers to attract, support, and retain their diverse workforce. An innovative, quality benefits package is an investment, not just in the short-term to retain quality talent. Long-term, employers are facilitating access to preventive care, setting the foundation for their employees to build a relationship with
LUKE HEJL: As the leading virtual health and well-being provider in higher education, TimelyCare (formerly TimelyMD) has seen rapid adoption of telehealth as consumers have grown more comfortable with this modality of care. Part of that increasing comfort is due to the pandemic, which validated and accelerated the adoption of telehealth by about five or six years. Due to its convenience, patients appreciate the convenience, speed, and accessibility virtual care offers. While our business has scaled, our services have evolved, our impact has grown, and our vision to help students be well and thrive has not changed.
SCOTT FLANNERY: Site of service movement will have a huge impact on our business in helping to drive down the total cost of care for the employers we serve. It has become very clear that moving care to lower-cost sites of service, like homecare, can lead to quality outcomes, lower overall costs, and greater patient satisfaction while creating value for the provider delivering the service. Simply stated, there is an appropriate setting for care, and it is our role to help employers and their employees optimize that without sacrificing quality.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: We’ve seen this trend in the healthcare industry positively impact con-
a primary care physician and offering health education that can impact generations. BCBSTX offers employers solutions to structure affordable plans and incentivize wellness initiatives that drive better health outcomes for Texans.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: Healthcare expenditures represent approximately 20% of gross domestic product in the United States. Employers play a substantial role in driving that figure. Luckily, many health-tech and med-tech companies are available in the marketplace to partner with employers to provide solutions that not only control costs but enable health equity measures and can collaborate with physicians and care providers to ensure the right level of care is provided to enhance the quality of the care outcomes desired.
sumers and employees as care providers and home recovery care companies collaborate to enhance and improve the care for consumers at the convenience of their home. Hospitalization or recovery at-home programs enable consumers the ability to recover more efficiently at home than in a hospital setting and can help reduce the burden care teams in a hospital setting. This may allow consumers in the workforce to get back on their feet and working sooner than if care was completed in a hospital setting.
JESSIE QUICK: What’s old is new; healthcare originated in the home. Now, technology is shaping how we expect to receive care and removing numerous barriers to healthcare access. Trends show consumers like the convenience factor of care in the comfort of home because members want access to the right care, in the right place, at the right time. That could look like calling our nurse line at midnight, seeking virtual primary
“Healthy employees are the backbone of a thriving company.”
JESSIE QUICKJESSIE QUICK Senior Divisional Vice President, Sales & Marketing Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas ANTHONY PLACENCIO Partner RSM US LLP LUKE HEJL CEO and Co-Founder TimelyCare DAVID GOLDFARB Founder and CEO DSG Benefits Group SCOTT FLANNERY Chief Executive Officer UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual Plans of North Texas and Oklahoma
health visits, or scheduling a routine surgery with their provider at an outpatient facility. Expanding telemedicine and other cost-effective options for care also reflects BCBSTX’s continuous commitment to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare.
How is technology impacting the way healthcare businesses innovate to meet their patients’ needs? Is telehealth here to stay?
DAVID GOLDFARB: Telehealth is here to stay! Employees have continued to embrace this technology as utilization continues to climb year over year. Telemedicine improves access to care and is available at a very low price point, benefiting both business owners and their employees with lower claims and higher productivity.
LUKE HEJL: Having telehealth as part of the permanent care mix empowers healthcare providers to meet patients whenever and wherever they are. Considering one in three Americans lives in a federally designated primary care provider shortage area, telehealth serves as a virtual bridge where other infrastructure might not exist for eq-
lieve telehealth will continue to be a huge piece of the healthcare delivery model.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: Telehealth is here to stay from a business owner standpoint due to the capabilities of providing care at the convenience of the consumer’s preferred location. Employees who juggle many hats, such as parents, spouses, and primary caretakers of aging family members, benefit from these service solutions as they don’t largely disrupt their daily needs and obligations. These technologies continue to involve and enhance the overall consumer experience and have the ability to reduce the total cost of care.
Are telemedicine and/or digital apps changing the way healthcare organizations operate? Are they here to stay? What are foreseen limitations and/or benefits?
SCOTT FLANNERY: While no one has a crystal ball, I believe telemedicine is here to stay. Once consumers use telehealth and realize how easy and affordable it is to access, they are more likely to continue using it in the future, and the data is showing this to be true. Virtual care has ex-
grams, like hospital-at-home, to be successful. Digital tools, like a smart stethoscope, run on wi-fi, and providers use digital apps to transfer key patient data to monitor a patient at home. This allows hospitals to provide the right level of care in the right setting all while keeping inpatient beds in the hospital available for those who come through the doors with high acuity and can be cared for. The largest barrier to telemedicine and digital apps today is access to care. Without a great internet connection, these tools and care models will have a hard time being successful. As broadband programs continue to see traction and success, this limitation will fade over time.
LUKE HEJL: Virtual care platforms and digital health apps have transformed the practice of medicine and how healthcare organizations operate. Now that the genie is out of the bottle and people have experienced how amazing it is to obtain care through telehealth, there is no going back. In-person care will always be needed for certain medical examinations and procedures, such as labs, blood work, and radiology, and there will always be times when patients will want to see their providers in person. But in many cases, telehealth is the better, faster, and cheaper option that is increasingly preferred by patients.
uitable, on-demand access to care. While virtual visits have dipped slightly across the sector since the height of the pandemic, there’s no question telehealth has shifted the landscape.
SCOTT FLANNERY: Technology has had, and will continue to have, a huge impact. Providing real-time data around quality and cost in the palm of a patient’s hand is extremely powerful. With that said, we need to understand that each individual and group consumes healthcare and information differently, so while technology is key for many, there are still consumers who shy away from technology and resources must be available for them as well. One of the positives as a result of the pandemic was the sharp increase in utilization of telehealth, which was really created out of necessity. Virtual care visits in 2022 by UnitedHealthcare members were up 1,700% compared to before the pandemic. And while the numbers may have dropped slightly in 2023, I be-
panded from delivering care to people who are sick to also focusing on preventing and detecting disease, helping consumers manage their chronic conditions and providing access to mental health services. Telehealth worked against the status quo for decades, meaning many consumers were reluctant to break out from the old delivery model. But once they were forced to do so, the benefits were evident. UnitedHealthcare data found that 25% of emergency room visits involve conditions that could appropriately be addressed via a virtual urgent care visit, and an estimated $250 billion in annual healthcare spending in the U.S. can potentially be shifted to virtual settings. I am confident that telemedicine will continue to be part of how consumers leverage healthcare resources moving forward.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: Telemedicine and digital apps will continue to augment and enhance how care is provided. These tools enable care pro-
JESSIE QUICK: Telemedicine is absolutely here to stay. Because of the magnitude to which it removes barriers to care, there are more benefits. During the pandemic, our behavioral health network went from almost solely in-person to virtual visits practically overnight, absorbing 25% more visits in the process. Post-pandemic, virtual behavioral health utilization has held steady with nearly half those visits remaining virtual. Members and providers tell us they enjoy wider access uninhibited by location or traffic, as well as efficiency and convenience. We also just launched the free MyBlueRxTX app which puts pharmacy benefits at our members’ fingertips and helps them make informed decisions to manage prescription drugs and out-of-pocket costs for themselves and their dependents.
DAVID GOLDFARB: Yes. Telemedicine provides employees with cost-effective, convenient access to medical care for non-life-threatening symptoms, such as fevers, colds, flu, bug bites, skin rashes, allergies, congestion, eye/ear infections, and more. Furthermore, the adoption of telemedicine will lead to fewer non-emergent emergency room visits. Today, expanded telemedicine benefits are available, such as mental health, behavioral care, primary care, physical therapy, and more—
“Telemedicine improves access to care and is available at a very low price point, benefiting both business owners and their employees.”
DAVID GOLDFARB
providing employees with an even broader range of health services.
How does a business owner bDavidce the benefits of self-insured options with the more “standard” plans?
LUKE HEJL: Any mid-size business with a relatively healthy population should be modeling out self-insured as well as traditional plan options at renewal time. Ideally, this would be in partnership with the company’s benefits broker to ensure plan health is considered in the decision. Self-insured plans in conjunction with strong employee education and awareness about preventive care, wellness programs, and other employee benefits and options are an effective way to lower costs for the employer and the employee, as premiums are typically lower and have lower administrative costs and taxes.
SCOTT FLANNERY: This is an individual decision for each employer and revolves more around risk tolerance than plan options, since there are a lot of similarities in that area regardless of funding. As an example, a start-up organization with limited cash flow in the first several years may be better served to purchase a more predictable, ful-
viding their employees with best-in-class customer service, preventive health and wellness programs, member discounts, and access to the largest provider network in Texas. Last year we acquired Trustmark Health Benefits (Health Benefits), which is a leading third-party administrator of health benefits. We know that employers are facing increasing pressures and challenges. We’re making it easier for employers of all sizes to access our expansive provider networks, our data-driven insights, and coordinated approach to care that focuses on quality and value. This isn’t a one-size-fits all world. We think this asset will allow us to continue to meet the diverse and evolving needs of our self-funded customers.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: The benefit of self-insured plans from an employer perspective is that you have more control and influence over your claims expense and experience. The risk is that you could be exposed if you have a large growth in plan experience. There are products to insulate your risk exposure—for instance, stop-loss coverage that you can purchase to minimize the top end of your risk exposure. Additional benefits are that self-insured plans generally have more control
or our wonderful teachers. When workers are absent, productivity is affected. Employers can set the cadence for a healthy, productive workforce with access to preventive care, screenings, and wellness initiatives that educate—even our most stubborn loved ones—that generational health matters.
LUKE HEJL: Preventive care is essential for promoting a culture of healthcare—not sick care–among the patients we serve and the teams we lead. When people seek preventive care, providers may identify issues that may have otherwise gone undetected, which leads to improved quality of life for the patient as well as cost savings for the individual and employer. Our benefits package includes unlimited PTO to encourage employees to take time away, reset, and recharge as well as designated mental health days to ensure our people care for themselves emotionally as well as physically. It’s a win-win for everyone.
ly insured type of plan that can be budgeted for monthly. Again, it is more about risk tolerance.
DAVID GOLDFARB: Misconceptions about self-insured health plans are typically the largest inhibitor to adoption. Only large companies can self-insure their health plan is a myth. In reality, employers with as few as 25 employees can partially self-insure their health plan; I encourage them to understand and evaluate their options. Another common fallacy is that self-insured plans are too risky—this ‘risk’ is solved with a properly designed plan and appropriate underlying stoploss insurance. In the long-term, companies that self-insure will save 8% to 10% compared to fully insured alternatives. The largest factor of success is partnering with an experienced and knowledgeable broker.
JESSIE QUICK: We provide a unique mix of cost-competitive health plans that provide employers with flexibility and choice while pro-
over the provider network (i.e., using a narrow network) and plan design, subject to limitations based on legislation and regulations.
Preventive care is another buzz term. What role do business owners play in improving the health and wellness of their employees? Is it an actual costsaver? How should business owners think about their wellness program investments?
JESSIE QUICK: Preventive care is never a buzzword when a health screening catches cancer or preventable disease in a loved one early enough to enjoy more time together. Texas is built on strong families and a strong workforce. As we learned during the pandemic, our workforce includes numerous essential employees that need to physically be “on the job,” whether it’s in specialized manufacturing, warehouse fulfillment
SCOTT FLANNERY: Health and wellness programs are a part of the preventive formula and should be tailored to the employer and employee base to optimize participation. Supporting an employee health and wellness program can be a competitive advantage for business owners, resulting in reduced healthcare costs, increased employee retention, and enhanced productivity. There is no doubt that preventive care, as well as the establishment of a primary care physician, can have a substantial impact on driving down employer costs. Patients typically have a high level of trust in their physician but aligning incentives for the physician to truly manage the patient’s health, including preventive screenings, can certainly lower costs. One of the challenges employers face around preventive care and wellness programs is the sometimes-transient nature of employees in particular industries. From a pragmatic point of view, employers know that an up-front investment in an individual’s health and wellbeing will lead to happier, healthier employees down the road. The issue is that at some point, that employee may not be with the organization, so the investment may be unfulfilled. Obviously, this varies by employer, but it is something I hear from them often.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: Business owners can play a critical role for their employees when it comes to improving health and wellness for their employees. A wellness program benefits employees by encouraging a healthy lifestyle. The keys to running a successful wellness program are having convenient and complimentary options available and having a high retention rate of employees. The
“Steering employees to the highest quality, most efficient providers creates more satisfied employees, creates less absenteeism, and lowers overall costs.”
SCOTT FLANNERY
more you can layer on benefits that complement each other, the more you will engage employees to achieve the goals of the wellness program.
DAVID GOLDFARB: Employers can play an enormously positive role in improving the health and wellness of their employees. Promoting preventive care can help significantly reduce long-term costs and the likelihood, impact, and severity of high-dollar, catastrophic claims. Business owners should look at wellness program investments as a long-term cost-saving strategy. There may be some upfront costs; however, well-designed programs can result in savings through lower healthcare costs, less absenteeism, and increased productivity as well as a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce.
Why do digital options appeal to younger people seeking behavioral health services?
LUKE HEJL: Evidence-based mental healthcare and well-being methods that can be accessed through technology, such as interactive exercises, video, audio, or text-driven therapies, give young people the opportunity to seek support and progress at
with data to make the best decisions.
JESSIE QUICK: I’m a Texas gal, born and bred. I grew up in San Marcos, attended UT Austin, and now live in Lakewood. I’m proud to tell people I’m from a state fueled by strong, small businesses. In fact, I’m married to a small business owner. Forty-five percent of our Texas workforce is employed by a small business, but only 25% of those small business employees are offered health benefits. Texas has one of the worst uninsured rates in the nation. That’s why it’s important for BCBSTX to provide employers with the tools to continue solving affordability. Incentivizing wellness visits, partnering with primary care physicians, educating members about the appropriate sites to seek care, offering robust value-based networks—we offer a sundry of solutions that center around choice, affordability, and access.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: There are many options available to business owners to provide quality health insurance offerings. Whether you are geo-central employee-based, or if you have a workforce spread out among different geographical locations, there are coverage options avail-
ability to redirect from there can be challenging.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set a minimum Civil Monetary Penalties to enforce organizations to be transparent with their fees and build a competitive advantage over other organizations by providing a better patient experience. The No Surprises Act is another example of this. Seeing a doctor or receiving a procedure can be a very emotional event. Organizations continue to improve by providing patients with a cost estimate prior to a procedure or inpatient stay that will help them understand the medical costs. People will always need access to medical care, but if the industry remains engaged in quality of care and keeping the patient out of a hospital, it will reduce overall costs to the patient and should provide a better quality of life for the consumer. There is an issue with this concept because hospitals and healthcare organizations need to see patients in order to make money, so there needs to be a continued shift to valued-based care.
JESSIE QUICK: Education is key, and it starts with transparency. When else in life do you buy something and not know the cost? BCBSTX members can access personalized estimates using our Cost Estimator tool in Provider Finder® to compare 500 shoppable items and services. And, starting next year, they’ll be able to compare all services across our robust provider network. Where you go matters, and we want to offer tools to help employers and members take control of their health care decisions and dollars.
their own pace in their own space. Offering a range of digital care options—from online peer support to tele-psychiatry—are crucial for building shortterm and long-term engagement in mental health, generating better health and academic outcomes.
SCOTT FLANNERY: Every business owner and their employees are different, whether it be type of employee, socio-economic position, or corporate culture. It is important to consider the most advantageous network offering to drive quality—a plan design that appropriately engages employees in optimal decision-making and an offering that provides resources to make the first two priorities happen. It’s all about supporting employee decision-making and providing the decision makers
able to meet the needs of your employees. The key is to continue to seek out various offerings as the needs of your employee base continue to evolve. Local and state grant programs may offer tax incentives through the respective economic development programs to help control costs.
What can be
ensure quality, transparency in pricing, and a reduction in the cost of healthcare to help consumers?
SCOTT FLANNERY: To help consumers, data must be readily available, easily understandable, and in a format that consumers can access. While that may sound simple, we know that this goes against how healthcare has been consumed historically and requires a bit more accountability from the consumer. Lastly, depending on where the consumer entered the healthcare journey, it may not be in the business interest of the entry point, so the
DAVID GOLDFARB: To make smarter healthcare decisions, healthcare price transparency is key. Mandating and enforcing price transparency is an important first step. This will lead to more competitive pricing and better consumerism from the end users. Aside from recent regulation requiring hospitals to publish their pricing, most employers and employees are unaware of the disparities that exist in healthcare pricing. Employers can help by providing employees with tools to help them shop for common procedures, such as prescription drugs, imaging services, and more.
JESSIE QUICK: Consolidation has the potential for collaboration and alignment, where members could ideally receive the 360-degree, whole-person care they deserve. Unfortunately, Kaiser Family Foundation research shows that horizontal and vertical healthcare consolidations, as well as private equity firms that seek investor profits, continue to drive-
“The keys to running a successful wellness program are having convenient and complimentary options available and having a high retention rate of employees.”
ANTHONY PLACENCIO
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affordable care. Members are the focus when we partner with providers to create value-based agreements that center on paying for the quality of care provided rather than the number of services performed.
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: The pandemic posed real threats to the U.S. health system but offered great opportunities for innovation. With an overworked physician and nursing staff and communities neglected with appropriate access to care, there has been a shift to provide better access and channels to care through telehealth solutions and expansion of outpatient services. Technology and innovation have provided the capabilities for patients to complete a surgery and be discharged to their homes in the same day and have a larger reach of patients in regions that do not have access to a hospital. Room-and-board costs and lack of staff have made receiving care in a hospital challenging. Consolidation has been important for continuity of care and the ability to improve economies of scale.
as stress, anxiety, and depression, how is healthcare delivery changing to support the needs of Generation Z?
LUKE HEJL: Considering four out of five college students say their campus is in a full-blown mental health crisis, and nearly 60% of students have received mental healthcare during their K-12 years, the industry cannot afford to ignore the mental health issues in this demographic that have been brewing for some time. While concerning on many levels, it is encouraging that Gen Z is more willing to access care and support than previous generations..
Looking forward, what do you think the healthcare landscape will look like, say, five years from now?
LUKE HEJL: Patients will expect that every touchpoint of the care will have some digital aspect to it. In addition to continued adoption of virtual care, I anticipate we’ll also see significant innovation through AI, consumer wearables, and remote patient monitoring. Mental health is so
turned on its head with pandemic. Each piece of the industry had to work at an unprecedented pace to create and evolve existing policies and procedures to open new trails toward better access to quality and affordable care. We need to continue to harness that same spirit to solve the short-term issues facing our industry, but also the long-term ones.
DAVID GOLDFARB: This is hard to predict, but I am almost certain we will continue to see consolidation across the industry. We will see an increased adoption of digital health technology; we will also see a continued emphasis on value-based or outcome-based care. There will be more and more focus from providers and insurers on social determinants of health. More investments will be made in data infrastructure and advancements in technology will continue, using AI and data analytics to improve diagnostics, treatment plans, disease management, and patient outcomes.
DAVID GOLDFARB: Three actionable strategies include re-evaluating your existing health plan, improving employee healthcare literacy, and leveraging a knowledgeable broker/consultant. Take time to re-evaluate your health plan. This could mean shifting to partially self-insured health plan or leveraging health savings accounts to incentivize employees to better healthcare choices. Consider taking action to improve employee healthcare literacy; informed employees are more likely to make cost-effective healthcare decisions. Lastly, leverage the knowledge and experience of a benefits broker/consultant. They can analyze your existing program and provide recommendations. A strong broker should have a variety of cost-containment solutions available for employers to explore.
With so many college students reporting mental health issues, such
integral to one’s physical health and overall wellness. Therefore, I hope the healthcare industry will prioritize equitable, on-demand access to much-needed mental health support as part of a comprehensive approach to well-being that improves health outcomes and reduces longterm costs.
JESSIE QUICK: I can’t overstate the vital role that technology plays, and will play, in advancing healthcare in the future. In a fragmented system, it’s difficult to address gaps in care and improve consumer tools for transparency. We need to create partnerships that foster a secure, interconnected, and efficient health system and information exchange between insurers, providers, and patients—with the objective to improve the delivery of care to patients and improve physicians’ interactions with them. Fully embracing value-based care is also essential as it would shift incentives from the current model that rewards volume to one that rewards value. We saw how quickly the health industry can be
ANTHONY PLACENCIO: Within five years, the healthcare landscape will continue to accelerate the adoption of technologies, such as large language models (LLMs). Healthcare is a great ecosystem for these technologies to be deployed, as LLM’s will help battle the labor shortage issue in healthcare. Electronic health record systems have begun rolling out tools, like ChatGPT, with their inbound messaging system to assist physicians with responses to patient questions through their messaging platforms. Although not perfect—and organizations will need to proceed with caution—LLM’s do showcase the ability to increase productivity while creating time efficiencies for the healthcare labor force.
SCOTT FLANNERY: I believe we will see more move toward value-based provider reimbursement models—paying providers for quality outcomes and efficiency improvement. We will move further down the consumer continuum, financially rewarding (through lower out-of-pocket costs) decision making when it comes to consumer care. Also, we will see more innovation around the site of service with a focus on making the system work better for everyone while still keeping our eye on chronic patient outcomes and satisfaction with the system.
“Virtual care platforms and digital health apps have transformed the practice of medicine and how healthcare organizations operate.”
LUKE HEJLCHRISTINE PEREZ Editor, D CEO
In a period of acute economic disruption, more professionals and executives are turning to higher education to help them make a strategic career move. Fortunately, Dallas-Fort Worth has advanced degree programs recognized throughout the country for excellence and results.
ADMISSIONS/ RECRUITMENT CONTACT:
Natalie Bernard 940-369-7818 natalie.bernard@unt.edu
What is the one thing that you want prospective students to know about your school/program?
The DBA degree at UNT is a practitioner-oriented program anchored in industryfocused research problems. It is designed to allow students the flexibility to work while they earn their doctorate.
Prospective students are interested in the return on their investment. How does your program prepare students in terms of salary potential, career opportunities, and specific competencies?
The DBA program opens diverse career options for executives and managers who want to become thought leaders in their fields, advance in their current industry as consultants, lead new entrepreneurial ventures, and use advanced research skills to analyze business problems within their current positions. Graduates may choose to join academia as business school faculty as a second career.
Businesses need quality leaders to grow and thrive. How does this program prepare professionals to assume leadership roles?
Small classes taught by expert faculty prepare leaders through development of advanced research and analytical skills. Unique courses that enhance leadership skills include Value Creation Theory and Practice, Strategic Business Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Digital Transformation, Transformative Leadership, Managing Complexity Theory and Practice, and The Global Marketplace.
What types of partnerships should higher education, business, and the community be engaged in?
Business education must be anchored in current business practice. The Ryan College of Business has strong partnerships with major corporations who advise on curriculum, speak in classes, mentor students, and support research progress. Our goal is to prepare our students for future business evolution by providing them with a robust tool kit to address business problems through critical thinking and analysis.
UNT AT FRISCO 12995 Preston Road Frisco, Texas 75033 940-369-8977 DBACOBA@unt.edu
FORMAT OPTIONS AND LENGTH
Hybrid format meeting four weekends each semester for 36 months
TOTAL PROGRAM
ENROLLMENT
Average cohort size - 15
TUITION RANGE
Total cost per semester credit hour (SCH) - approximately $2,375
Overall approximate cost for three-year program - $114,000
CONCENTRATIONS
Degree focus is strategic management and leadership with student research that is individualized and industry-focused
AVAILABILITY OF ONLINE/ HYBRID COURSES
Hybrid with online content and instruction supplementing weekend in-person sessions
RANKINGS
All MBA program formats are ranked in the U.S. News & World Report top 100
ACCREDITATION
SACSCOC and AACSB
DESIGNATIONS
Designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Minority Serving Institution
“Since 1942, the G. Brint Ryan College of Business at the University of North Texas has been preparing students for success in business and public service. We continue to be recognized as a leader in business education and scholarship. We accomplish these goals by recognizing and practicing the core values and mission of the College in our everyday teaching, mentoring and scholarship. The DBA program, our newest degree, provides advanced research skills to managers and executives seeking to grow intellectually and increase their opportunities for the future.”
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Get the competitive edge you need with the flexible application focus beyond an EMBA with the high-level investigative strategies of a doctoral program. In this cohort, participants study and apply innovative research methodologies and analytical techniques to complex business problems.
What is the one thing that you want prospective students to know about your school/program?
“This program will boost your already successful business career to the next level and give you knowledge, confidence, and techniques to solve real-world business problems.”
– Vijay Mookerjee, PhD, Professor
Why UT Dallas?
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“It is one of the fastest-rising schools in the U.S. and has a great reputation for cutting-edge research. I noticed in some cases, it is even ahead of some of the very top schools.” - Naresh Pandey
“I want what I learn at the Naveen Jindal School of Management to help me change the world.” – Amee’ra Fuller
Why are you motivated to pursue a Doctor of Business Administration?
EXECUTIVE EDUCATION SCHOOL
AND/OR PROGRAM NAME:
Naveen Jindal School of Management
Executive Education
ADMISSIONS/RECRUITMENT
CONTACT
Lori Skillestad 972-883-5851
Lori.Skillestad@utdallas.edu
FORMAT OPTIONS AND LENGTH
Flexible (weekend/weekday classes)
8-9 hours a week
3 years to complete program
CAMPUS LOCATION Richardson, Texas
TOTAL PROGRAM ENROLLMENT 15-20 students per cohort
TUITION RANGE: $20,000 per semester
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“I appreciate that this specific degree builds on the education and real-world work experiences of the individuals in the cohort. We will be able to share personal and related experiences when it comes to starting, growing, and maintaining successful businesses and organizations.” - Amee’ra Fuller
“The Doctor of Business Administration would open many exciting doors for me beyond the corporate world.” – Naresh Pandey
No. 2 Worldwide and in North America in Research Contributions, 2018-2022, The UTD Top 100 Business School Research Rankings™, 2023
I appreciate that the DBA builds on the education and real-world work experiences of the individuals in the cohort.
Amee’ra Fuller Doctor of Business Administration Class 2026UT Dallas is one of the fastest-rising schools in the U.S. and has a great reputation for cutting-edge research. A DBA would open many exciting doors for me beyond the corporate world.
Naresh Pandey Doctor of Business Administration Class 2026
THE UNIVERSITY OF TE XAS AT D ALLAS
What should prospective students to know about your school/program?
ADMISSIONS/RECRUITMENT
CONTACT: 480-965-3332
wpcareymasters@asu.edu
FORMAT OPTIONS AND LENGTH
Executive (21 months)
ENROLLMENT: 65
How does this program prepare professionals to assume leadership roles?
It’s designed to hone an executive’s strategic thinking and leadership ability, which gives them the tools they need to lead organizations. The program also invests in professional coaching to develop executive presence and encourage thoughtful leadership.
The W. P. Carey Executive MBA pairs a world-class faculty with a state-of-the-art business curriculum to position executives to successfully meet business challenges. 2 3
How are business schools keeping pace with significant changes brought about by advances in digital technology and remote learning?
We have actively leveraged remote learning tools to make our Executive MBA more accessible. Our hybrid scheduling provides students with a great deal of flexibility, when and where they learn, while also preserving a high-quality face-to-face classroom experience.
Tom Bates, Ph.D., Associate Professor, W. P. Carey Finance and EMBA Faculty Director
As the world pivots to face emerging realities, it will need leaders who can power through ambiguity to achieve success. Suited for seasoned managers with demanding schedules and 10+ years of leadership experience, the W. P. Carey Executive MBA at Arizona State University will expand your leadership skills and help you immediately impact your organization.
One of the top-ranked EMBA programs in the world
No. 19 U.S. News & World Report, 2023, ahead of Georgetown, University of Texas, and Yale.
TUITION: $87,033
CONCENTRATIONS: Optional Healthcare Track
ONLINE/HYBRID COURSES:
One intensive weekend per month; One synchronous online meeting per month
RANKINGS:
No. 19 U.S. News & World Report
ACCREDITATION: AACSB
In-person classes one weekend per month
Virtual check-ins one weekend per month
No GMAT/GRE required
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What do you want prospective students to know about your program?
We prioritize empowering participants and organizations with practical skills and knowledge for immediate real-world impact. Award-winning faculty with extensive industry experience bring both academic rigor and relevance to the classroom, ensuring practical application and promoting innovative thinking.
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How does your program prepare professionals to assume leadership roles?
Whether it’s executive leadership programs, certificates, or custom solutions, our goal is to support professionals to become effective leaders and catalysts for positive change. Participants benefit from ongoing support and preparation to lead with confidence, adaptability, and strategic acumen.
What should executives look for in programs?
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Prioritize a continuous learning mindset, access to resources, and alumni engagement. Choose a program that provides a supportive network for growth and success in today’s dynamic business environment.
ADMISSIONS/RECRUITMENT
CONTACT:
Zoran Perunovic, Senior Director 713-348-3720
zoran.perunovic@rice.edu
ruee@rice.edu
TOTAL PROGRAM ENROLLMENT: 1,012 (in the last year)
TUITION RANGE:
$2,200 - $18,500
RANKINGS
No. 1 Graduate Entrepreneurship Program, Top 50 Graduate Entrepreneurship Programs of 2023 No. 5 Best MBA for Finance, The Princeton Review
No. 5 Best MBA for Consulting, The Princeton Review No. 6 Best Colleges, Niche, 2023 No. 15 Best Colleges, U.S. News & World Report
Week 1: February 12-16, 2024
Week 2: April 15-19, 2024
the legacy of maria luna, the founder of Luna’s Tortilla Factory, is alive and well after five generations, and the business continues to contribute to Dallas’ culinary landscape nearly a century after its founding. Maria Luna was widowed before she arrived in Dallas as a single 23-year-old mom with two children in June 1923. Without knowing any English, the San Luis Potosí, Mexico, native purchased a used corn grinder—an investment that changed her life. In 1924, she opened Luna’s Tortilla Factory, selling her homemade tortillas to families in Dallas’ Little Mexico neighborhood. In 1938, she opened a factory at 1615 McKinney Ave.—now a Dallas landmark and where the company remained for 69 years until 2007. (Meso Maya occupies the spot today.) Luna’s Tortilla Factory built a loyal clientele, sharing the richness of Mexican favorites with all of North Texas. Passed down through generations, Maria’s grandson Fernando Luna leads the business today, cranking out 600 dozen tortillas per hour and selling to dozens of hotels and restaurants around town. In the wake of the pandemic, the family had to close Luna’s Tortillas y Hacienda restaurant, which opened in 2008. “We’re very proud that we’ve been able to serve the community of Dallas for 99 years, and hopefully, we can make it to 100 years,” Fernando says. The City of Dallas named a park on Maple Avenue after Maria Luna, and fittingly, a Dallas ISD food services facility is named for the Dallas entrepreneur.
That’s our bank statement.
Honors Awards from the Texas Capital Bank Foundation.
By investing our time, attention and money, we believe we can inspire hope and create lasting change across our state. rough the philanthropic pillars of Live, Learn and Lift, we’re thrilled to award grants totaling $250,000 to community leaders and organizations that are working to
Award Award Award
Award
TEXAS CAPITAL BANK RECOGNIZES