Roger Starkweather is the Chief Experience Officer of ANEWbrand, the branding and marketing agency he built with his best friend of fifteen years, Steven Picanza, for what they call do-good organizations. 

Before that he spent years inside the giants: Nordstrom, Starbucks, REI, L'Oreal. The turn came when two pathways collided. Roger and Steven were frustrated with big-agency models that took advantage of clients, and at the same time Roger was in his own personal transformation: coming out. He chose to be raw and honest about who he is and tie it to what he wanted to do in life, which is give back. Then the club handed him something he never went searching for: the board presidency. 

Five general managers in seven years, COVID, no clear direction. His answer was to consistently show up, so consistently that people called him the mayor. And as the first openly gay chair of the Columbia Tower Club, he became fully visible himself right as he was helping the community do the same. 

Jesse talked in episode two about taking the door off. Roger walked through his, and then held it open. He leaves the episode with the three words he lives by, inspired by his three kids, all artists and creators out in the world: create, learn and love. 

CONNECT WITH ROGER STARKWEATHER 
Website: https://www.anewbrand.co 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerstarkweather
ANEWbrand on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anewbrandconsulting 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anewbrand.co 
Substack: https://allaboutbranding.substack.com 

The Good Gathering (nonprofit programming Roger chairs at the World Trade Center) is August 12 and open to all. Every member gets a seat in this chair. 

Vantage Voices is the podcast of Vantage. Learn more at https://www.joinvantage.co