The Beautiful Thinkers Project

Liz Paquette is the Senior Director of Brand for Drizly, a leading beverage alcohol e-commerce shop. Drizly was the first brand to carve out a space in direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, and it continues to revolutionize the act of buying someone a drink via mobile phone with an innovative brand strategy. She talked about the opportunity Drizly found during the pandemic, the rise of ready-to-drink cocktails, and building a brand and a category at the same time.

Ryan Lott is a musician, composer, and founding member of music collective Son Lux. Ryan and his Son Lux collaborators developed the score for the 2022 film “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” much of which was written in a home Ryan rented out in Indianapolis. He talked about reconciling his classical training with a musical rebellious streak, the relationship between music and movement, and why he chose his bandmates to intentionally not just be a bunch of white men.

Candy Tong is a dancer, model, and entrepreneur based in New York City. Having trained and worked in the world of ballet, Candy has a unique perspective on femininity and body politics, and she uses her platform to push the changing look of ballet further forward. She talked about the importance of her education as a dancer, the pressure of social media on dancers and non-dancers alike, and why she’s proud to be a nontraditional ballerina.

Ray Roberts is a former NFL player who currently serves as the Director of Unified Champion Schools for Special Olympics North America. A naturally talented leader and speaker, Ray brings the same heart, work ethic, and communication skills to his career in the nonprofit world that he did to the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks. He talked about the realizations that brought him to retiring from football, living his life with the mindset of a lineman, and his ongoing quest to become a...

Amy Conway-Hatcher is an attorney, author, advocate, and founding member of Chief (a network built to support and empower women in positions of executive leadership) in Washington DC. Her book “Infinitely More: Choosing Freedom, A Career Mom’s Turning Point” recounts her journey from equity partner at a prestigious law firm to dedicating more of her life and career to making the worlds of business, law, and more into places where women have better opportunities to accomplish their goals and...

Bryce and Jill Morrison are the co-founders of Mom Water. All-natural, non-carbonated, and available in flavors like the Julie (passionfruit) and the Karen (lemon-blueberry), Jill and Bryce created Mom Water for their group of parent friends before marketing it to the masses in four US states and counting. The beverage gained popularity through social media sites like TikTok, but also organically through the network of moms they discovered while creating the brand. “I've discovered how moms,...

Martha Hoover is the founder of Patachou, Inc. One of the first restaurateurs to emphasize fresh farm-to-table ingredients back in 1989, Martha has transformed Patachou into an enterprise of multiple European-inspired restaurant concepts that have elevated the restaurant scene in Indianapolis and the Midwest as a whole. She talked about how restaurants can shape a city, making the food she wanted to see be made, and why she thinks motherhood is an oppressive word.

Kourtney Morgan is a Senior Designer at Patagonia— and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People In Business in 2020. Kourtney, a nature lover herself, has taken up the company’s mantle to find unique solutions for minimizing waste in Patagonia’s clothing design, from championing the brand’s Worn Wear program for selling gently used out-of-season clothes to designing the ReCrafted collection from used and damaged clothing. According to Kourtney, the brand isn’t looking to just own these...

Susan Holmes McKagan, author, model, and influencer. Susan has defied the expectations of being a model and rock star wife (to Guns N Roses’ Duff McKagan) by taking on a host of other careers, from swimwear designer and businesswoman to journalist and novelist. She talked about stressing the importance of her entertainer kids’ education, co-hosting a Sirius XM show with her husband, and the rejection-filled process of publishing a rock n roll novel.

Kevin Lynch. Creative Director at Oatly. World traveler. Story maker. Beautiful thinker. With a background at ad agencies in Chicago, Kevin first traveled the world to work in Shanghai, and later came to help the nondairy milk brand headquartered in Malmo, Sweden make creative messaging to further develop its quirky, highly individual tone. Kevin talked about educating consumers through laughter, being a brand with bravery, and staying in a year’s worth of Shanghai Airbnbs.

Chris Davis, Chief Marketing Officer of New Balance, on forming authentic partnerships, calculated risk-taking, and making dad shoes cool.

Julie Browning Bova, designer/founder of Julie Bova Design, on story-centered interior design, putting intentional fear into your life and Midwest craftsmanship

David Napolitano, founder of Breadico, on baking out of a garage, the perks of growing a business in a smaller market, and why we all got so into bread in 2020.

Alessandro Manfredi, EVP, Dove at Unilever on why brand purpose is good business, the need for systemic change in the world of beauty, and partnering with Lizzo.

Justin Parnell, Senior Director of OREO at Mondelez International, on staying playful, building a doomsday vault in Norway, and being an “and” brand.

Beautiful Thinker: Alex Matisse, founder of East Fork Pottery, on bringing old-school manufacturing back, making community part of brand DNA, and finding success beyond his family’s legacy.

Alan Lightman, author, physicist, and educator, on living a creative life, challenging science’s view of the unexplainable, and bringing the humanities to MIT.

John Merris, President and CEO of Solo Stove, on cultivating a solid company culture, radical customer service transparency, and creating your own fire.

Giovanni Corazza, founder of the Marconi Institute for Creativity, on the dangers of expertise, balancing creative ideas with business principles, and how even non-living things can be creative.

Beautiful Thinkers: Emily Granger, harpist, and Luke Tierney, founder of Tier 1 Arts, on discovering the harp, the modern playlist movement, and what happens when classical music meets social media.