Millen, GA – The Southeast Produce Council is pleased to announce a powerful lineup of speakers for upcoming Southern Innovations, September 22-24, 2022. Held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, this year’s conference will continue to build upon SEPC’s “What’s New?” platform, which debuted during last year’s conference. Southern Innovations has become a highly tuned platform that delivers creative solutions and inventive perspectives for each segment of our industry, and the following guest speakers are sure to encapsulate SEPC’s continued endeavors:
Keynote Speaker – Rorke Denver, Navy SEAL Commander & New York Times Bestselling Author
Attendees will not want to miss the highly sought-after Navy SEAL and author, Rorke Denver, as he will share riveting perspectives and lessons learned from the battlefield to help teams and individuals perform at higher levels.
Commander Rorke T. Denver has run every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs and led special-forces missions in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and other international hot spots. He starred in the hit film Act of Valor, which is based on true SEAL adventures. His New York Times bestseller, Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior, takes you inside his personal story and the fascinating, demanding SEAL training program. Denver is the founder of Ever Onward, a fresh, new brand designed to use Navy SEAL principles to call leaders to take action, to suffer, and to be bold so they can perform at their highest levels.
Southern Roots Reception Speakers –
This engaging Southern Roots session will feature two of the produce industry’s own; Dan’l Mackey Almy, Founder & CEO of DMA Solutions, Inc. and Megan Zweig, President of DMA Solutions, Inc. Both ladies are co-hosts of the freshly launched Self Smarter Podcast.
Over the past 18 years, Dan’l has led DMA Solutions, a marketing agency that serves fresh produce companies, restaurants, better-for-you food products, floral, nonprofits, and associations. As a committed business owner, visionary, mentor, and coach to many, Dan’l has recently added “podcaster” to her list of accomplishments. As co-host of the Self Smarter podcast, Dan’l vulnerably shares the leadership lessons she’s learned over the years to support leaders as they seek guidance in business, groups, and themselves.
As president of DMA Solutions, Megan guides the daily business operations and oversees the company’s growth and client service excellence. She is fiercely loyal to the fresh produce industry and is extremely passionate about ensuring people have access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and other life-giving sources of food. Megan’s service and accolades extend beyond her work at DMA Solutions. She is an eager volunteer leader, and co-host of the Self Smarter Podcast where each Monday, she guides a discussion by leaders, for leaders seeking to be better every day.
SEPC University Educational Session Speakers
Educational Session I – Leading Today’s Superheroes
Laura Juarez, Founder/Partner of 10X Leadership Lab
Southern Innovations attendees are in for a treat for Southern Innovations’ first-ever interactive Leadership Lab. Laura is the creator of 10X Leadership Lab, a coaching and consulting practice dedicated to supporting middle market companies in achieving extraordinary results by aligning with purpose and values, creating strategy that inspires stakeholders, and cultivating thriving cultures and high performing leadership teams. Fuel up with this engaging breakfast session that will surely set an energetic and innovative tone for the day.
Educational Session II – What’s New from the Consumer View
Anne-Marie Roerink, President of 210 Analytics, LLC
Anne-Marie never disappoints when it comes to providing thought provoking content and delivering data-driven perspectives on driving the success of tomorrow. Working closely with retailers, wholesalers, grower/shippers and trade associations, Anne-Marie has developed an excellent perspective on the ever-changing wants and needs of the produce consumer in a one-size-fits-no-one world. Prior to founding 210 Analytics, Anne-Marie was the Head of Research for the FMI. She designs and authors the annual Power of Produce study and monthly performance reports, along with similar studies in meat, deli, frozen, bakery and other categories.
“I am absolutely thrilled about our outstanding speaker line-up for Southern Innovations 2022. We have a powerful ensemble of thought leaders and innovators that will inspire attendees to harness creativity and implore innovation. My chairman’s theme is cultivating superstars for the future of our industry and each speaker was hand-selected to ensure we continue to deliver complementary content. A thriving culture of innovation is a critical element in building for the future; it can be a company’s most powerful competitive edge. You will not want to miss one minute of these entertaining, world-class speakers. They are the leading voices on innovation.”
~ Raina Nelson, SEPC Chairman of the Board
President/CEO of Westfalia Fruit Marketing USA
Visit SEPC’s Southern Innovations webpage to discover the conference agenda, hotel information, exhibitors, and to register of course!
About Southeast Produce Council
The Southeast Produce Council (SEPC) is a member-driven, non-profit association of more than 3,000 leaders from all facets of the produce industry. It was formed more than 20 years ago to promote the value of fresh fruits and vegetables in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia through networking, innovation, community, and education. Today, SEPC is a thriving organization that continues to share and pursue its vision, mission, values, and goals. Learn more by visiting www.seproducecouncil.com.
