Orion3

What is Orion3? Read the last sentence #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

These screenshots are from the Year End report of Defy Ventures and I'm sharing this because THEY need to be recognized for what they do! As you read the images, keep in mind "EIT" means entrepreneurs in training who are currently incarcerated. Here is my personal view and opinion about Defy Ventures: I have done A LOT of volunteer work with different organizations over the years and most of them were significantly impactful. BUT I have never ever experienced something that hit my heart on a level that was deeper than my first volunteer experience with Defy. I felt the highest level of appreciation and gratitude for my life after spending a day in person and with people who have been forgotten by society and kept in the darkest cages for decades. Me being the person I am, I asked several of the EITs real questions about their choices, their "why" and who they were before they went in to who they are now. We use the word "empathy" a lot, but real empathy comes from understanding another person. The volunteer days with Defy are some of the biggest lessons in empathy a person can experience. I have SO MUCH respect for every single person who volunteer with Defy! I have built some great relationships with some great leaders because of my days volunteering with Defy. I have ZERO respect for the people who talk, talk, talk (especially on LinkedIn and other social media) about social justice and inequality, yet don't do anything about it. Defy has created a process for people who want to make a DIRECT impact on this system that disproportionately incarcerated people who are poor. Defy has a program that helps to train and develop qualified people, who are getting out of prison, to add value and make a positive impact on society instead of doing things that will put them back in prison. If you are interested in supporting a great organization, reach out to Melissa Gelber-O'Dell, Jon Hennessy, or Kristi Zuhlke. I'm forever grateful to my good friend Kristi for introducing me to this organization. Orion3 will continue to support Defy Ventures in 2025. ?? Nate Ruben Kendric Richardson Andrea Moran Tanya Killian-Droba, Candice Savino #orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

I'm sharing this screenshot because this is THE MAIN reason I do what I do. When I got this from my friend, about Nina Davis and her Popcorn, it made me so happy because i know what Nina has gone through in her life, to get to where she's at now.? ONE of the best things about having a lot of great business leaders, with decision making power in Orion3, is because they can make decisions that will impact small companies in a big way.?One order for popcorn, for a WHOLE company, can make a big difference. If you want to taste one of the best popcorns in Chicago and support a Black Woman who's building a great product, order popcorn from her website. I've gotten messages from several friends from last Wednesdays event regarding the different products.?I invited these companies because I liked the founders and they are small businesses with products that I genuinely loved.? Jake Ireland and Kenneth Clay,?are Members of Orion3 and that's why this event happened in the first place. I did not take money from any of the other vendors, and I'm telling you that because when I say something about their product or about them, I want you to know that it's a genuine opinion.?I liked all of them as human beings loved all of their products! There were some other people who reached out to me and wanted to have their products there, but I did not let them... because I didn't like them. ??♂? (it's my event so if I don't like you why would I have you there?) If you want to support a founder the top two things you can do are: - Buy their products - Invest in the company (if they are looking for investors) It's also helpful to promote them on social media by engaging on their posts.?You can connect with them on LinkedIn (they are all tagged in these pics) and the last pic/collage even has the Instagram handles of all the women who are building/leading these companies. I would love to know what you thought of their products or if you bought them at the store or ordered online. If you were there at the event, feel free to comment on your favorites out of all the brands you tried there =) Thank YOU to these women who are leading through action and turning their dreams to a reality! #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

How do you get over 110 Business Leaders to come to the Chicago LOOP on a Wednesday night? I love this city with all my heart and it pains me that the Loop, formerly the busiest place in the city, is now only getting a small percentage of the pre 2020 foot traffic. I wanted to prove some people wrong, so The Serendipity of Food was intentionally done in the Loop. Partnering with Sterling Bay to have it at one of my favorite event spaces in the city, was a big reason for why this went so well. Thank YOU Mike B., Teresa Amaro and Russ Cora for your support of Orion3! The entire staff at the venue were phenomenal. This was the first ticketed and open to the public event. I don't do these because I'm very intentional about who I invite (you have no idea how much time i spend figuring out who I invite to what). Most of the people who were there were Orion3 Members, but it was great to see some new faces & have them experience what "Creating Conscious Serendipity" means. Some highlights I thought of this morning: - Kenneth Clay coming through with catering from one of my favorite restaurants, Bronzeville Winery - The Women who are incredible Founders and Builders! - Nostalgia: seeing the guy that hired me at my first job Aerotek (where I was for 12 years) Matt Grueder after not seeing him for 15 years AND seeing one of the guys who I hired at Aerotek Mike Reporto after not seeing him in 9 years. (all 3 of us happened to be NIU alumni who did NOT know each other in school) - Introducing Jake Ireland (who flew in from Los Angeles) to the Orion3 Fam in Chicago. EVERY single person who met Jake loved him and I'm hoping most of the attendees will buy Off Hours Spirits Bourbon (at Whole Foods) - Surprisingly Being VERY impressed with Ice! Audrey got a lot of fans for her Quari Ice that night! incredible product. - Mara coming after doing her pitch at The Josephine Collective only to find out that the person in the Uber with her, Ely Thurmond is an Orion3 Core Member, (several of my Core Members are involved with Josephine Collective ) and Celia came to mine before the Pitch Competition - Finally meeting David Lolis, the man behind the Honey Alcohol movement and CEO/Founder of Hive2o - I'm not a very "cultural" person when it comes to my own culture, so I was VERY happy to have two different founders who are building great brands, from my culture =). Harish with The Cumin Club and Keya Wingfield with Keya's Baked Goods - Having one of my cousins and one of my best friends from Childhood there. - Seeing people in person, who follow me on LinkedIn or IG, for the first time. - Having my friends from my Founding Membership companies there: Tony, Gregg, Curt, John (Tony came even though he had a flight to catch later that night) - Tonya having a moment of Serendipity =) I'm an extremely lucky person, because most of the moments that I cherish the most, are the moments that are considered my "work" or "business". #orion3

I'm not a parent but most of my close friends and most Orion3 members are parents. All of them are great parents! ONE of the things that I love about Cliff Goins IV ?????, is how he is as a father. He's done everything to make sure his daughters (now young adults) have everything that he didn't have. We talked about being a parent and how it's different these days. Cliff also talked about how he was lucky to have both parents that guided him the right way so that he can get his education and opportunities. I loved this entire conversation and I honestly didn't realize everything we covered, while we were recording. Cliff is someone who you should connect with and it would be great to get his book (prep order now) "Minding the Wealth Gap." Link in Comments for the full episode #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

The energy at "The Serendipity of Food" was ? The world can seem chaotic, but when you're surrounded by great humans in an environment where everyone can be their authentic selves, our great food and fun cocktails, you realize how beautiful and incredible humanity is. Orion3 is a world within the world, where you feel safe being your authentic self around others, and connect with each other at the human level. Next week I'll post the professional pics but this was the only video I took on my camera Hannah Stepp Samir Mirza Don Bora Rocco Belcaster Melissa Smith #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity #ReachingForTheStars

"Seize the moment, try to freeze it & own it, squeeze it & hold it, cause we consider these minutes golden" Those lyrics ?? perfectly explain what I feel when I look at these pics. Orion3 is a safe space where you can be your authentic self, connect with others on the human level, and create moments of Serendipity. I'm so glad I hired a great photographer. Thank YOU Justin Jose, for capturing some great moments from The Serendipity of Food ???? Last Wednesday night was the proof that I needed, to prove that "Creating Conscious Serendipity" can happen on a larger scale. The energy from last Wednesday night will continue to grow and turn into something bigger in 2025???... ?? Thank YOU Rob Ress / Signature Bank, and Dave Hess / Office Revolution for being the Gold sponsors for The Serendipity of Food! #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

Nobody ever gave me the mic, so I said F*ck it, I created MY own stage, I grew MY own audience, and said what I wanted to say. It's been 3 years of building something that is based fully on my values and based on what I feel are the best aspects of the human consciousness. Three years since I started this journey to build something based on the concept of "Serendipity." I had great advice from great people and support from the best people I know. But at the end of the day, "I did it my way." ???? Thank YOU to every single person who's supported me, especially every single Orion3 Member! The language the universe uses to speak to me are the connections I feel with the people that come into my life. Thank YOU! #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

Last night meant so much to me. It's hard to put it in words. It was validation in a form that can't be articulated in language. Thank YOU to everyone who was a part of it. I had a professional photographer take pics for this event, so I'll post those, with a more detailed post next week. Over 100 Business Leaders from all different backgrounds and industries got together in the Loop last night for Orion3 "The Serendipity of Food" Thank YOU to Teresa Amaro and the team at Sterling Bay for all your help and support. A beautiful venue with a staff who were such great helpful human beings! Thank YOU to my friends and Orion3 Associate Members, Dave Hess & Office Revolution and Rob Ress & Signature Bank for being the main Sponsors for this event! Thank YOU to Orion3 Core Member, Kenneth Clay and foode for catering from one of my favorite restaurants, Bronzeville Winery! Thank YOU to Jake Ireland for coming all the way from California to be a part of this night! Jake is the first Alcohol brand that's became a Corporate Member of Orion3, and this all came about because of that! Thank YOU to all of the founders of the food and bev companies who were there! Harish Visweswaran, Keya Wingfield, Claire Ridge, Caitlin Fox, Audrey Sullivan, Mara Smith, Nina Davis, Oliver D. and Catalina Casta?eda More pics and details to come next week. Thank YOU! #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

We have 3 more days until "The Serendipity of Food" This is the first Orion3 experience that's open to all who wants to get a ticket (free for members). This will be the biggest one of the year too! Get tickets here: https://lnkd.in/gh23e7Qd If your company is interested in being a sponsor for this, please let me know. Cheers to the founders of these brands and to having them there together in the same night! Great food, incredible cocktails, and a lot of Great people from Orion3 as well as new friends. #orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerensipity