On October 16, 2018, Metro Edge held one of our most popular events of the year at Sacramento’s Sutter Club. Executive Insight featured a diverse panel of Sacramento’s best and brightest, sharing professional experiences and personal journeys.
Executives representing housing, health care, government, art, academia, and even grocery stores, gave YP’s an in-depth look at how they’ve found success, service and identity in our region.
If you missed the 2018 Executive Insight, we want you to do better and come next year! But, since this year’s event was so powerful, we wanted to share our favorite moments.
Sacramento Proud
If we had one hashtag to sum up Executive Insight, it’s #SacramentoProud. The passion for our region was in full force from our executives. It’s exciting to see that even executives from a range of diverse industries share the same optimism for Sacramento.
From Katherine Bardis, Co-Founder of Bardis Homes speaking about her passion for creating an affordable townhome to Amanda Blackwood, CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber sharing her vision for growing businesses in the region, it was no secret that every one of our executives is proud to live and work in the Sacramento region.
Actual Insights
If you’re a YP that follows podcasts or Ted Talks, chances are you’ve heard a lot of stories about inspiration, motivation and success. After awhile, much of the content blurs together into a soup of buzzwords and catch phrases. Thankfully, every executive who attended Executive Insight offered more authentic insights.
The firebrand that is Chris Johnson, CEO of Rapid Brands and the Johnson Group, offered an incredible look at the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and starting a business, what he called the bridge and the lottery. Or Kate Renwick-Espinoza, President of VSP Vision Care, who provided a unique explanation of having champions and mentors throughout your professional career. And Chelsea Minor, Corporate Director of Consumer and Public Affairs at Raley’s, who spoke about navigating career changes with the help of a strong network.
One surprising antidote came from Dr. Rod Githens, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Sacramento Programs at the University of Pacific, who noted that goals sometimes inhibit progress and creativity. Dr. Githens also spoke extensively about the importance of a relationships and a professional network. Bob Gragson, Executive Director of Grid Alternatives also shared fascinating insights about working in the renewable energy space.
Hearing the personal journey and opinions from each executive was one of the most rewarding parts of the event.
An engineer, an artist and a developer walk into the room…
That’s not a bad dad joke! Those are some of the many industries represented at this year’s Executive Insight. Darren Suen, the vice-mayor for Elk Grove and program lead for the California Department of Water Resources Department of Flood Management shared the importance of giving back to the community and recognizing that our region is bigger than the downtown grid. Karen Woodruff, Vice President of Community Affairs at Wells Fargo gave us a look at the role her bank plays in the surrounding community.
Andrea Lepore, of Lepore Development, instilled her passion and creativity behind Hot Italian, the Food Factory and Solomon’s Delicatessen. Susan Sipe Rabinovitz of Little Relics emphasized her love of Midtown and Sacramento’s growing art scene. The true diversity of industries and talent was on full display.
Takeaways
Executive Insight highlighted what is best about our region: intelligence, innovation and diversity. Young Professionals got to experience an incredible night of direct feedback from the leaders of Sacramento’s many industries.
Few events give you an upfront conversation with so many talented leaders in our region. We thank all our executives, volunteers and young professionals who made Executive Insight an immense success.
