Women in Entrepreneurship Forum

Listen and learn from successful and experienced entrepreneurs as they share personal insight into running a business. This is your chance to learn about real-life issues and solutions in the entrepreneurial field, ask questions, and get advice. Free food and drinks!

Biographies from our speakers:

Lisa Thompson, Founder and Executive Director of Self Love Beauty (panel moderator)

Lisa Thompson is the Executive Director and Founder of the non-profit Self Love Beauty, co-founder of BluWave Wellbeing, host of ‘The Confident Podcast’ and author of ‘The Strong Women of Haiti’. She is an established confidence and self-love keynote speaker and coach. She received a Bachelors from Michigan State University and has degrees in Social Impact Strategy, Positive Psychology and Creating Wellbeing. Her background is in corporate communications and has held positions on multiple boards before taking the leap into the entrepreneur world. In her free time, Lisa loves to run and go on adventures with her fiance Marc and dog Denver & Jackson and spend time with friends & family

Carrie Schochet, Founder and CEO of Purple Squirrel Advisors (peer discussion moderator)

Carrie Schochet is the Founder and CEO of Purple Squirrel Advisors, a boutique executive search firm based in Troy, Michigan. With a passion for helping companies grow by creating exceptional leadership teams, Carrie has spent the past 19 years connecting C-level and senior executives with leadership positions in finance, accounting, human resources, operations, sales, and marketing.

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Carrie moved to Chicago and spent over a decade climbing the ranks at one of the nation’s leading recruitment and staffing firms. In late 2012, she moved back to Rochester Hills to be closer to family. In early 2015, Carrie launched Purple Squirrel Advisors with the mission of designing a consultative, “white glove” recruitment process customized to each client. Her team’s expansive and loyal network combined with their direct sourcing activities helps to connect PE-backed, family-owned, and entrepreneurial companies with unique candidates and fulfill even the most difficult searches.

Carrie’s compassion and values have led to a passion of philanthropy and helping others. Carrie co-founded 100 Business Who Care to bring business leaders together who want to make a sizeable impact across southeast, Michigan. Carrie is also the founder of CFO Next, a group she launched in early 2013 when she discovered a lack of resources and networking opportunities for transitioning or unemployed senior financial executives. Additionally, Carrie volunteers on several boards, including: ACG, Women’s Forum committee chair, and Entrepreneur’s Organization, GSEA chair.

Courtney Lorenz, Founder of Cultured Kombucha Co.

Founder of Northern Michigan’s first kombucha tea brewery, Courtney desires to share the health benefits reaped from living foods. She believes that each body has unique nutritional needs.

Courtney is a lifelong food and beverage entrepreneur who creates value in the health and wellness industry. Her background in nutrition and culinary arts fosters wellness within the community through education, agronomy, and functional nutrition. Courtney has supported multiple businesses through their growth phases and enjoys supporting her business through it’s own growth.

Courtney is a Certified Culinarian through the American Culinary Federation, Reiki Master, certified meditation facilitator, and NASM nutritionist. She has been published Forbes, received 40 Under 40 awards three by the age of 30 and is Great Lakes Culinary Institute’s Alumni of the Year 2019. Courtney holds multiple businesses with her most current holding a top 3 nomination for Small Business of the Year in Traverse City, Michigan.

Courtney volunteers on four community board organizations centered on health and wellness and enjoys life outside with her dog

Melissa Hughes, Founder of Live Rich. Spread Wealth.

A self-made millionaire by 31, Melissa Hughes is the founder of the Live Rich. Spread Wealth. Global Movement, which is changing the lives of businesspeople worldwide. She is a master business coach, best-selling author, international speaker, and consultant. Her mission: to help entrepreneurs and individuals at large companies to accomplish their business goals (including massive profits) while staying connected to their authentic self, transforming the world, and creating lives of limitless abundance.

Known as The Guru of Implementation®, Melissa’s success, and that of her clients, is a result of her practical, proven systems for business and life success. Her clients include companies like Microsoft, Motorola, ESPN, and globally recognized speaker Lisa Nichols, star of the hit film, The Secret, as well as small start-ups and individuals.

Large corporations around the world hire Melissa to advise them on projects and initiatives to the tune of $20 million, and she specializes in helping to ensure culture, communication, project scope, and implementation are successful across divisions, departments, and business units.

Melissa is a dynamic, transformative speaker who has presented to companies and at entrepreneurial events, conferences, universities, and associations throughout the U.S. and in Ukraine, Dubai, Costa Rica, Canada, Bali, Tokyo, and Amsterdam, to name a few.

Thanks to her high-accountability and firm-love coaching style, Melissa’s coaching clients (who number in the thousands) have created massive results in their business and personal lives.

Melissa, a wife and the mom of a seven-year-old global citizen (who has already been to 15 countries), serves as a board member on the Detroit Chapter of the Entrepreneur Organization. She has worked with leaders, trailblazers, sleeping giants, and entrepreneurs worldwide, helping them live their divine purpose and a full life.

Linzie Venegas, Vice President of Ideal Group, Inc.

Linzie Venegas is the Vice President of Ideal Group. She oversees Administration, Marketing, Finance and Human Resource activities for the company. The Ideal Group operates eight different companies with annual revenues approaching $300 million and over 600 employees.

Linzie actively works with various community organizations in Southwest Detroit including Holy Redeemer Grade School, Detroit Cristo Rey High School, and Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation. Linzie currently serves as a Board of Trustees member at Cranbrook and is an active board member at Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Detroit Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, as well as Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Linzie is an instructor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business Digital Excellence Program. She teaches many small business owners the fundamentals of digital marketing to help grow their business.

Linzie is a recipient of the Mi Gente Magazine Spirit of Frida Award, The Joyce Ivy Foundation Women of Impact Award, Beyond Basics Women Bettering Detroit Honoree and was named 2019 Top 10 Michigan Business Women by NAWBO. DBusiness Magazine selected Linzie as 30 in Their Thirties for young Detroit business leaders. Crain’s Detroit Business recognized her as a Women to Watch and in 2018 was selected as one of their 40 under Forty.