2018 Speaker Series Archive
January 16
Craig J. Pickett
CFO of Imagine Music Festival, and also CFO of JusTours and JusCollege. Craig has experience as an entrepreneur starting and selling businesses while in school, as an auditor for Ernst & Young, and as an associate for Huntington Capital leading business development activities in Nevada and serving as interim CFO for portfolio companies.
January 23
Tayson Whittaker
Tayson graduated from SUU three years ago and started building his dream business. A $500 investment has grown to multi-million dollar Outdoor Vitals, a business making waves in the outdoor community. Tayson has experienced every position in the company by bootstrapping the business from the ground up.
January 30
Wilford Clyde
Mayor of Springville. Chairman & CEO of Clyde Companies, after serving as president for 16 years. Clyde Companies is the parent company of Sunroc, Geneva Rock, and Beehive Insurance. He also serves as a Member of the Board for the Utah State Board of Regents. He previously served as Chairman of the Utah Manufacturers Association, and President of the Utah Chapter of the Associated General Contractors.
February 6
Lance Syrett
Chairman of the Utah State Board of Tourism Development. General Manager of Ruby's Inn, founded by his grandfather Reuben Syrett, which has been in operation for over 100 years in Bryce Canyon City, Utah. Lance graduated from SUU with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance.
February 13
John Pestana
Founded ObservePoint which is a software company providing enterprise-class Data Quality Assurance applications for Digital Marketing Technologies. Prior to ObservePoint he Co-Founded Omniture, a web analytics software company based in Orem, Utah.
February 20
Brett Binford
Founder of Mudshark Studios in 2005 with Chris Lyon. Mudshark Studios offers ceramic design and production services to potters, designers, institutions, galleries, and public artists all over the world.
February 27
Dave Staheli
Founder and President of Staheli West, Dave Staheli created the Hay Steamer which allows farmers to bale hay in a hot and dry climate. Dave graduated from SUU with a degree in engineering.
March 6
Bryan L. Welton Jr.
Chairman and Founder of Namify. Bryan founded and/or served as CEO for 7 successful businesses, including Welton Capital, White Fir Properties, and VeraClean. He has been honored as the Reed Smoot Businessman of the Year and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist.
March 20
Nancy Singleton
Nancy and her husband started Singleton Systems in 2006 with a focus to have predictable success and reliable, increasing income. They help a variety of medical professionals including Medical Doctors, Physical Therapists, Dentists, Chiropractors and business owners.
March 27
Will Taylor
Will graduated from BYU with an undergrad in Exercise and Wellness and is currently getting his MBA from SUU. Wills entrepreneurial journey started at BYU where he flipped motor scooters to pay rent each month. After graduation, he was the youth development Director at a youth crisis center but after 2 years he left that job to create his own businesses and path in life. He currently owns Crossfit Cedar City, which he purchased 1.5 years ago and in that time doubled its monthly revenue.
April 10
Davis Smith
CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a social mission at its core. Davis was named CEO of the Year 2016 by Silicon Valley Community Foundation and is a member of the United Nations Foundation's Global Entrepreneurs Council. He was previously the Co-CEO of Baby.com.br and Dinda.com.br, Brazil’s Startup of the Year in 2012, which raised over $40M in venture capital.
April 17
Julie Castle
Chief Development & Marketing Officer at Best Friends Animal Society. She has led a rebranding effort for the organization and introduced the new call to action, “Save Them All.” Before Best Friends, Julie was the Executive Director of No More Homeless Pets in Utah. She graduated from SUU with a B.S.
April 24
Robyn Openshaw
Founder of GreenSmoothieGirl.com and author of “Vibe: Unlock the Energetic Frequencies of Limitless Health, Love & Success”, “The Green Smoothie Diet”, and 13 other books. Robyn’s a former clinical psychotherapist and university professor. She’s lectured all over the United States.