This year marks the 12th year of our annual Leadership Conference! We will celebrate in person at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis on May 12th, 2023, and we’re also offering this event virtually so your national workforce can join in, too! The day includes interactive and empowering speakers who will share their authentic leadership journey in both entrepreneurial and corporate settings. Our speakers are from various professions, backgrounds, educations, and experiences. 

Don’t miss this hybrid in-person and virtual event filled with energy and passion. Register here to join us!

Miss Shannan Paul | Emcee

Comedian | Speaker | Voice-Over Artist | Auctioneer | Social Instigator

We are thrilled to welcome back Miss Shannan as our 2023 Leadership Conference Emcee! Her energy is contagious, and trust us, she will keep you laughing all day! Miss Shannan was named “Best Stand-up Comedian” by City Pages Magazine in their “2020 Best of the Twin Cities.” Campus Activities Magazine® included her as one of eight Top Speaker Picks for 2015. Miss Shannan is a regular guest on TV talk shows, speaking on diversity and pop culture. She started her professional career working for Fortune 100 companies, including Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America. Since her cubicle days, Miss Shannan has moved on to become a radio and television host, speaker, certified benefit auctioneer, and a proud former player of the Women’s Professional Football League.

A self-labeled Geek, Miss Shannan Paul brings roaring laughter to everyone. Plus, her storytelling and irresistible smile are sure to crack up even the most stone-faced curmudgeon. Twin Cities newspaper, the City Pages, says, “No matter where you’ve seen (or heard) her, you know just how great Miss Shannan is. With comedy that’s personal and relatable, she has the ability to make you feel like you’ve been friends for years, even if you’re only seeing her for the very first time.”

She can regularly be seen bringing her wit, whimsy and pop culture expertise to TV and radio talk shows, including her regular contributions on “The Jason Show” and “MyTalk 107.1.” Her diverse professional background has given her an incredibly broad communication set and allowed her to work with people and groups covering a spectrum of ethnicities, age ranges and education levels. She has hosted numerous corporate and charity events. In addition, she is a touring stand-up comedian who has performed for a wide range of audiences.

In addition, Miss Shannan works on “Diversity and Community Relations” for the Twin Cities Film Fest and was recently appointed to the Diversity and Inclusion Commission for the City of Crystal, Minnesota. Plus, she is an active board member of the Pacer Center, an organization that expands opportunities for children and young adults with disabilities, and a board member of the Autism Society of Minnesota.

Jenny Evans

Founder and CEO of PowerHouse Performance | Speaker | Author

Jenny Evans is obsessed with human performance and has created a career and life designed around maximizing her potential and helping others do the same. With a blend of confidence, creativity, stubbornness, and some naïveté (which is sometimes key), she has gone headlong into following her passion and purpose…and figured out how to make a living while doing it.

Jenny is a speaker, author, and organizational consultant on resiliency, stress, confidence, and human performance. She is the founder and CEO of PowerHouse Performance and author of the award-winning book The Resiliency rEvolution: Your Stress Solution for Life – 60 Seconds at a Time. Working with thousands of C-suite executives, leaders, and employees worldwide, Jenny helps audiences tap into their personal power and confidence and learn how to increase their capacity for stress and recover from it more quickly and effectively. Clients improve their performance and productivity, all while enhancing their health.

Jenny has spoken on the TEDx stage, is the resiliency subject matter expert for Optum and The Big Know’s digital courses, writes as a blogger for The Huffington Post, and was an NBC Health & Fitness expert for over four years. She has been quoted on National Public Radio, in Health Magazine and Women’s Health, while being showcased on FastCompany.com, Inc.com, Entrepreneur.com, Shape.com and Elle.com.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis on Psychology from the University of Minnesota, has been an American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor for over 20 years, and is a certified Exercise Nutritionist. In her spare time, she is an aerial arts performer…because you never know when you’re going to need a backup plan.

Pat Miles

Author | Hall of Fame Broadcaster | Former WCCO & Kare11 Anchor

Esteemed for her professionalism by viewers, listeners, and her colleagues, the versatile Pat Miles became one of the Minneapolis region’s premier television news anchors and radio talk hosts.

After earning her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Missouri, Miles worked in radio and television news in Colorado before joining WCCO TV in 1978 as a reporter and weekend anchor. Her intelligent reporting and authoritative delivery soon brought her to the anchor desk of WCCO’s 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM newscasts. She covered every major news event for WCCO TV but was most proud of A Time to Weep, her documentary on the famine in Africa. In 1990, she moved to KARE TV, where she anchored the 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM newscasts and developed A Pat Miles Special, using her writing and interviewing prowess to tell the stories of notable Minnesotans. When she left TV news in 2001, she fulfilled a lifelong dream by becoming the host of The Pat Miles Show on weekday mornings on WCCO Radio.

A role model for women in the industry, she has received numerous honors for her work in broadcasting and the community, including the National Television Academy’s Silver Circle Award.

After Pat lost her husband to cancer in 2019, she found healing by writing about grief and loss and planning her own mortality. In Before All is Said and Done, Pat navigates the realities surrounding dying and widowhood in our culture. She reveals how her husband’s untimely death deeply affected every aspect of her life and parallels how other women have dealt with the grief, financial upsets, and daily life changes that come with such a painful loss.

Rachel Brewster

Keynote Speaker | Strategic Communication Coach

Rachel Brewster is a keynote speaker and strategic communication coach specializing in digital marketing and IT. Her friends have called her the “horse whisperer” for IT!

She is passionate about helping leaders communicate with calm, confidence, and credibility. With an engaging and interactive approach, she empowers cross-functional teams to “speak the same language” by collaborating across strategy, digital marketing, and IT. She’s passionate about coaching teams engaged in digital transformation efforts by navigating ambiguity, providing clarity, and developing best-in-class solutions. Rachel encourages leaders to drive meaningful change by communicating their mission, vision, and values to content, UX/UI, and development teams.

She has a BA from the University of Minnesota Duluth and an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona. With a flair for fun, Rachel is a native English speaker and a fluent Spanish speaker…but comedy is her language of choice!

Kim Nelson

2022 Minnesota Business Hall of Fame Inductee | Independent Board Director | Former Senior VP at General Mills

Kim Nelson is the former Senior Vice President, External Relations for General Mills, where she worked for nearly 30 years. In this global C-suite role, Kim was accountable for the corporate brand, external stakeholder relations, issue and crisis management, internal and external communications, consumer relations, sustainability, philanthropy, and government/industry relations.

Previously, she held a series of operating roles, including serving as the President of the company’s $1.2B Snack Food Division, where she drove double-digit revenue and profit growth during her tenure. Kim was a founding member of the company’s Black Champions Network, co-founder of its Women-In-Marketing Network, and leader of its Women’s Officer Group.

Kim retired from General Mills in January 2018 and currently serves as an independent board director at Colgate-Palmolive Company, Cummins Inc., and Tate and Lyle, PLC.

Angie Tebbe

Co-founder and CEO | Rae Wellness

Angie Tebbe is the co-founder and CEO of Rae Wellness. A fruitful 13-year career at one of the world’s most recognizable retailers, a lifelong commitment to well-being, and an endless thirst for knowledge led Angie to start Rae Wellness, a holistic wellness company committed to well-being for all by providing natural supplements at affordable price points.

The North Dakota native grew up in a humble and holistic home. Angie’s mother worked as a nurse, and her father had a deep passion for Eastern medicine. At a young age, Angie learned how to meditate and developed a curiosity for wellness—a period of reflection in 2018 sparked the idea of Rae Wellness. She gave up her title-holder role at Target, dusted off her father’s books, and decided to pursue a new path.

Within a year of starting Rae, Angie launched 20 new products and orchestrated distribution in every Target location. Speaking directly to her consumer base, Angie emphasized the importance of wellness for women. Rae has reached nearly two million customers in the first two years of business, with 68% of customers falling in the 24-35 age range. Rae’s products are available at Amazon, Anthropologie, CVS Pharmacy, Target, Thrive Market, Standard Dose, Whole Foods Market, and more.

Before co-founding Rae Wellness, Angie spent over a decade at Target. As a leader in merchandising, Angie spearheaded the introduction of new brands and designer collaborations while managing P&L and personnel.

Outside of Rae Wellness, Angie loves traveling, cooking, and entertaining. Most importantly, she is a wife and mother of three children ranging in age from 7 years to 6 months.