Owning Your Legacy

Eric Larson, Founder and Managing Partner of Tilia Holdings, joins Laurette Rondenet on Owning Your Legacy to explore how food systems innovation, sustainable investing, and industry collaboration can drive measurable change for human health, climate action, and business growth. With decades of experience in private equity and a deep commitment to sustainability, Eric shares how aligning food, hea...

Natalie Shmulik transformed her passion for food into a mission-driven career helping hundreds of founders grow their food and beverage businesses. In this episode of Owning Your Legacy, Natalie takes us behind the scenes of The Hatchery—Chicago’s premier food incubator—and shares her journey from running a franchise restaurant in Canada to building one of the nation’s most impactful entrepreneuri...

Margaret Mueller, CEO of The Executives’ Club of Chicago, turned a 110-year-old institution into a modern hub for business leadership. In this episode of Owning Your Legacy, Margaret shares her unlikely journey from first-generation college student to founder, strategist, and now a transformational civic leader helping shape Chicago’s executive future. Her story is packed with insight—for women na...

Jon Harris, EVP & Chief Communications and Networking Officer at ConAgra Brands, has led an extraordinary career built on empathy, authenticity, and bold storytelling. In this episode of Owning Your Legacy, Jon shares his journey—from humble beginnings and a life-changing internship at the Howard Stern Show to top-level roles at PepsiCo, Sara Lee, and now ConAgra. Jon opens up about his childh...

Meryl Kennedy, CEO of Four Sisters Rice, is reshaping the future of farming with family, sustainability, and purpose. In this episode of Owning Your Legacy, Meryl shares how she transformed her father’s commodity rice operation into a nationally recognized consumer brand—while redefining leadership in a male-dominated industry. From launching a cutting-edge rice mill at 21 to securing shelf space...

Dan Gibbons, CEO of the City Club of Chicago, believes civic engagement starts with meaningful conversations. In this episode of Owning Your Legacy, Dan shares his journey from advising Mayor Richard M. Daley to revitalizing one of Chicago’s most influential civic forums. From uplifting entrepreneurs like Ida Nelson to driving real policy change, Dan’s story is a powerful reminder that change star...

Thanks to Emily Smith’s bold leadership and inspiring mission, thousands of young girls are gaining the confidence to lead, speak up, and own their space—in business and in life. Emily is the Senior Vice President of Bespoke Commercial Real Estate and the founder of Female Strong (https://www.femalestrong.org), a fast-growing, nonprofit organization empowering girls through entrepreneurship, leade...

Thanks to Alan Reeds refreshingly practical approach to taking on big issues, the Food & Beverage Industry delivered 4 million servings to people facing food insecurity last year. As Executive Director of the Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network and Bigger Table, Alan shares how his team is transforming food industry challenges into community solutions. This episode is all about turning wha...

What happens when you combine culinary artistry, food science, and a passion for teaching? You get Chef Charlie Baggs, a leader in the culinary industry who’s redefined what it means to innovate with food. In this episode, we explore Charlie’s groundbreaking work on food as medicine, how the hedgehog concept helped him build a culinary empire, and how he bridges the gap between chefs and food scie...

Natalie McGrady’s journey from a small town in New York to supplier diversity leader at Cargill is a testament to purpose and determination. Overcoming early discrimination fueled her passion for opening doors for underrepresented businesses. As the youngest of six daughters, Natalie’s fearless resolve led her to break barriers in corporate spaces, championing supplier diversity as a tool for econ...

In this inspiring episode, Jess Kaskov, Certified Life Coach, Speaker, and Author, offers a fresh perspective on measuring success and fulfillment beyond traditional metrics, sharing her transformative journey from tech industry stress to discovering and pursuing her true calling.  Together, Laurette and Jess explore how to design a life aligned with our passions, prioritize self-care, and make me...

Sean Sebold, Founder of Sebold Capital Management, took an unconventional journey from English major and college football player to respected wealth management expert. In this episode, Laurette and Sean discuss challenging conventional wisdom about education, success, and building lasting wealth. Throughout the episode, Sean offers fresh perspectives on how to approach major life decisions, from c...

This week, Laurette is joined by Paul Graham, President & CEO of Americas at Döhler and recently appointed FEMA President, who shares his remarkable journey from humble beginnings as a grape picker in Adelaide, Australia, to becoming a transformative leader in the global food and beverage industry. Throughout his conversation with Laurette, Paul shares invaluable insights about authentic leade...

Ever been told you can’t do something? Darcy Gaechter’s journey to becoming the first woman to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea is filled with moments when she defied limitations imposed by others and followed her passions. In his episode of Owning Your Legacy , Darcy candidly discusses the challenges she faced being told she was "too small," "too short," or "too...

In an inspiring story of perseverance and passion, Kevin Boehm, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of BOKA Restaurant Group, shares his journey from living in his car to building one of Chicago’s most celebrated restaurant groups. Throughout his conversation with Laurette, Kevin talks openly about the big risks he’s taken, the moments that didn’t go as planned, hitting "rock bottom", and getting the...

This episode of Owning Your Legacy has Laurette speaking with Robert Pomazak, or “Coach Pom” as he is known by the players of St. Charles North High School, where he serves as head football coach. Coach Pom talks about how he answers the call to be a leader and everything that entails. He discusses his highs and lows as a coach and as a leader—from making a positive difference in the lives he touc...

Israel Santiesteban-Barrientos joins us in this episode of Owning Your Legacy to share his story of how he went from delivering milk at Dannon to becoming a leader in food and beverage with roles at prestigious companies like Kraft-Heinz and Schreiber Foods. Israel’s journey is one of perseverance, from losing his mother at a young age and playing semi-professional soccer to keep food on the table...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette speaks with Mar Soraparu, a former finance executive who went on to co-found BIÂN, a premier private social and health club for total well-being. She also serves as the club’s chief wellness officer. The transition from finance to wellness may not be a typical one, but the series of events makes perfect sense in her story—she simply met the challeng...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette is joined by Julia Stamberger, the president, founder, and director of The Planting Hope Company, Inc. The two begin by discussing Julia’s start at United Airlines where she pioneered the airline snackbox concept and set her career on a trajectory of food innovation. This led her to found Planting Hope, a company that reimagines the future of food t...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette is joined by Brent Novoselsky, former NFL player and current VP of Wealth Services at Alera Group. The two discuss Brent’s experience playing for the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings, his career-ending injury, and life after professional football. Fortunately for Brent, he had a business degree from Penn State to fall back on. When it comes to pr...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette is joined by Jennifer Convery, the former group president of Griffith Foods North America. Jennifer currently sits on three boards and is an advisor to CEOs. Together, Laurette and Jennifer discuss how women’s role in the workplace has evolved over the last 30 years and the importance of advocating for yourself to get what you want. Jennifer created...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette sits down with Tali Kogan, renowned Chicago stylist, founder of Tel Aviv Couture , and co-founder of Sweet Dome Chicago Foundation . Tali shares her inspiring story as a Ukrainian-born Israeli immigrant who came to America with little to her name and began her career as an accountant. Finding herself unhappy, she escaped an abusive relationship, eve...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette sits down with Alex Johnston, the founder and president of Building Impact Partners , a philanthropy advising firm that works together with changemakers to help people, communities, and society move forward for good. Alex is also the author of Money With Meaning: How to Create Joy and Impact Through Philanthropy. With over two decades of advising cl...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette sits down with Lori Hilson Cioromski, founder & CEO of HC Strategic Advisors, president of Essential Water Technologies, and award-winning author of You Hold the Power: Igniting Your Fire for Success . As the episode title suggests, Laurette and Lori discuss how to scale a company in the face of adversity, as well as the necessity for women lead...

In this episode of Owning Your Legacy , Laurette sits down with Brandon Casteel, vice president of partnerships at SPINS, to discuss the leadership tenets that have allowed him to build a successful, multi-decade sales career. They also discuss how SPINS is leveraging point-of-sale data to unlock powerful consumer insights. Brandon is a master of building authentic relationships through trust, vul...