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Carolyn Phillips
Optimist - Word Nerd - 2019 Tory Burch Fellow
Carolyn Phillips is a highly skilled and creative problem-solver with a strong background in project planning and development. Her expertise spans start-ups, business consulting, and fostering investments in the social enterprise and non-profit sectors through community engagement and fundraising efforts.
She holds a Master of Arts in Sustainability from Arizona State University's prestigious Global Institute of Sustainability and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Magna Cum Laude, from Texas Christian University's renowned Neeley School of Business.
Carolyn's professional journey includes roles such as ESG & Product Manager at Conestoga, Owner & Chief Alchemist at Alchemy Pops, Donor Engagement Manager at United Way of Tarrant County, Associate Faculty at Arizona State University, Manager of Corporate Engagement at REAL School Gardens, Sustainability Research Assistant at Texas Christian University, Market Research Consultant at Arizona State University, Research and Marketing Graduate Assistantship at The Sustainability Consortium, and Community Garden Program Coordinator at HOPE Farm.
Her top five strengths, as per StrengthsFinder 2.0, are Arranger, Maximizer, Learner, Ideation, and Self-Assurance.
Highlights
Friday morning travel was eerie - the uncertainty of how things would go (I was flying American Airlines with my daughter), the lack of information on screens across the airport, and the default assumption that travel trouble would affect every fellow traveler…it wasn’t ideal. But at the end of the day, the people, teams and machines charged with getting us home safely did exactly that.
Just got back from Toronto with this little gem, and I’m reflecting on time spent with other companies in our buying group this past week. A couple of nuggets from this year’s Facilisgroup summit:
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The power of numbers: $1 out of every $15 spent on promotional items in North America flows through our buying group, giving us a larger collective voice with top suppliers than we would otherwise have. I personally got to benefit from an amazing dinner with 10 guests hosted by SanMar (thanks again to Parvaneh Frilot for such a fun experience x2!)
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Relationship building isn’t supposed to be convenient: airports, time away from the office, missing my family, and time changes are part of the cost of these gatherings, but a ton of value is generated through facilitated small groups and swapping notes and stories on our daily problem-solving. Glad to have left this past week with multiple meetings with Image Masters’ Tim ONeill, MAS and Chris O'Neill as a great example of how much fun we can have while also helping each other. The effort to attend is worth it.
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I don’t know what I don’t know: I only recently celebrated 2 years at HF Custom Solutions and the average summit attendee has been in the industry for over a decade, and I’d say almost everyone I met has 20+ years of experience on me. What an opportunity when there’s 10x experience in every corner of the room, and I’m also grateful to extend the value of these summits through monthly virtual meetings with other buying group partners throughout the year.
Cheers to the halfway mark of 2024, and I sure hope I figure out how to apply half the things I learned last week!
