SB Profiles

A Camel, a Desert, and Some Quick Thinking

A Camel, a Desert, and Some Quick Thinking

How an accident led to a $4 million company

Jensen Brehm just wanted to protect his eyes from the blazing heat of the sun. Brehm, then a student at the University of Redlands in California, was a top of a camel in a remote desert in India when his party stopped for lunch and a much-needed break from the 100-degree heat. Brehm sat down…

The Wonderpreneur

The Wonderpreneur

Aegis founder Dwayne Clark is an author, philanthropist, filmmaker, and a highly successful business executive

Dwayne Clark was standing on a crate washing dishes at the tender age of 7 in an airport restaurant where his Mother, Colleen, was a cook. He grew up without a father. He was, he says, “at the bottom rung of the economic cycle.” The biggest influences in his life were all women: his grandmother,…

A Medical Journey

A Medical Journey

Jody Elsom has spent a career designing health care facilities. She never expected to become a patient in one of them.

Jody Elsom never imagined she’d wind up a patient in a health care center she had designed. But there she was at the recently opened True Family Women’s Cancer Center on the Swedish Hospital First Hill campus shortly after an unexpected diagnosis for breast cancer. “It wasn’t what I expected, but it was actually an…

Lori Hill: The Seattleite

Lori Hill: The Seattleite

The commercial real estate veteran is upbeat about the future of Seattle

Lori Hill has seemingly worked at just about every job in commercial real estate. Last September, she pivoted to the leasing side at Clise Properties, where she serves as executive vice president. Her resume includes stops at Unico Properties as senior vice president of investment management, and as managing director of capital markets at JLL….

Jon Jones: The Mindful CEO

Jon Jones: The Mindful CEO

Jon Jones isn’t your ordinary boss, and Brighton Jones isn’t your ordinary company

Jon Jones is a business executive by trade and a guiding light by nature. The culture at the wealth management firm he co-founded with Charles Brighton 25 years ago, Brighton Jones, is a mix of spiritual, practical and, when appropriate, lighthearted. Acronyms such as “MESI” and “RLP” spill from his tongue like a free-flowing river….

Downtown's 'It' Man

Downtown’s ‘It’ Man

Jon Scholes is leading the effort to bring downtown Seattle back. It’s working

For Jon Scholes, the state of downtown Seattle is deeply personal. As a longtime resident, he’s keenly invested in downtown’s post-pandemic recovery. As president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, he’s inarguably the neighborhood’s most fervent advocate. He keeps close tabs on store openings, crime rates, transportation issues, and public policy decisions. And he’s…

'It's Not About the Visitors'

‘It’s Not About the Visitors’

Visit Seattle CEO Tammy Blount-Canavan reveals some secrets about tourism

Tammy Blount-Canavan calls herself a “travel evangelist.” Visit Seattle calls her its CEO. Blount-Canavan had big shoes to fill when she took over the regional destination marketing organization last year from Tom Norwalk, who served as CEO for almost 14 years. Blount-Canavan, who lives in downtown Seattle just blocks from her office, has a long…

How Four Letters and AI Can Create a Cure

How Four Letters and AI Can Create a Cure

François Vigneault’s Shape Therapeutics seeks to find answers for incurable disease

The impetus for François Vigneault’s decades-long love affair with biology was actor Dustin Hoffman. Vigneault watched the movie Outbreak in 1995, in which Hoffman plays an Army epidemiologist searching for a cure for a quickly spreading and deadly virus. “That’s what I want to do,” he thought. The movie motivated Vigneault, who was serving in…

Mariners' President Catie Griggs is in a league of her own

Mariners’ President Catie Griggs is in a league of her own

Most 14-year olds are preparing to enter high school. Catie Griggs was a freshman in college. It was an auspicious sign. Griggs, 41, is in now in her third season as president of business operations for the Seattle Mariners. When she was hired in July 2021, she became the only woman president in a Major…

Inventing the Future

Inventing the Future

Inclusivity is the key theme for architect Michael Stueve

At Ankrom Moisan Architects in Portland’s Old Town, there are no private offices. Not one. “That’s just the way our culture is,” says Michael Stueve, a principal at the firm in charge of user experience strategy. “But you will never hear us say let’s do something just because it’s cool. We do it because it…

The Sporting Life

The Sporting Life

Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke embraces the power of all sports

Tod Leiweke’s résumé is the business equivalent of the three-sport athlete, and then some. For anyone who’s not been paying attention, Leiweke is president, CEO, and minority owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. He previously worked in the NFL as its chief operating officer after serving as CEO of the Seattle Seahawks and soccer’s Seattle…

Life Inside The Law at Schlemlein Fick & Franklin

Life Inside The Law at Schlemlein Fick & Franklin

Dogs stroll the premises. People play ping-pong and work out in the free onsite gym. Pizza parties and happy hours are common. A Seahawks or Mariners game may be playing on the big-screen TV. This isn’t a social club, though longtime clients often refer to it as the “clubhouse.” It’s the headquarters of Schlemlein Fick…

Brighton Jones' Tama Smith: Passion, Power, Purpose

Brighton Jones’ Tama Smith: Passion, Power, Purpose

Before Tyra Banks asked Tama Smith to serve as CEO of her eponymous company, Smith urged the television personality, model and producer to attend Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program. When Banks finished two years later, Smith was out of a job. It was all part of the plan. Empowering women has become Smith’s life…

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