Theme: Innovation - Bringing Ideas to Life

Our event focused on sharing ideas of innovation in business, personal life, professional life, and community - the speakers shared stories of how they utilized innovation to enhance our world. An underlying theme was reaching out to take risks, getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, challenging in-tact systems, and re-inventing your dreams. We focused on collaboration amongst participants, speakers and student. Our goal was to create a very interactive, inspiring community event.

Central Wyoming College
2660 Peck Avenue
Riverton, Wyoming, 82501
United States

Phil Hessler

Phil has been a part of Brolin’s life since he came to the US. The two became inseparable and bonded over their love of snowboarding throughout middle and high school. He witnessed first hand the struggles and tragedies he faced in his early years in America. Phil and Brolin approached Galen with the idea to make a documentary on Brolin last September that has evolved into the vision it is now. Phil is a junior at Westminster College, majoring in Business with a concentration in Economics. Phil is also a competitive slopestyle snowboarder. He has a background in brand development and fundraising after multiple internships with start up companies in Boston and Salt Lake City.

Galen Knowles

Galen is the driving force behind this project. He is the creative director, principle cinematographer, and editor. His passion for film originated five years ago when he began filming and editing ski and snowboard footage in Vermont. He has made countless shorts as well as a full-length documentary on an Olympic hopeful in Salt Lake City. Galen is taking the year off from school at Westminster College, where he is a film major, in order to focus all his efforts on this film.

Adam Schellenberg

Adam is a long time friend of Brolin and Phil. He is a savy business student at Santa Clara University, and assists Phil in all production aspects of the film. Ranging from fundraising to social media management. His organization and leadership skills have been key to structuring and managing the Far From Home team.

Maxwell Wessel

Maxwell Wessel received an MBA from Harvard Business School and is currently a Fellow at the school’s Forum for Growth and Innovation. Max regularly writes on innovation and entrepreneurship for the Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg Business Week, and Business Insider. He is also co-authoring a book on product design, innovation, and new product marketing with Clayton M. Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, and Scott D. Anthony, author of The Little Black Book of Innovation. Max serves as an advisor to various venture backed start-ups in the consumer internet and clean-tech industries. Additionally, he previously founded a consumer internet company that automated the performance booking process for independent musicians and venue owners.

Anne Even

Originally from western Nebraska, Anne developed her sense of independence, stubbornness, and desire to push herself to unknown limits. After spending time backpacking with her husband in the Winds while living in Nebraska, Anne is now eager to call Lander her home. Having an appreciation and knack for organizing, planning, and streamlining processes, she decided to get her degree in Recreation with an emphasis in fitness, exercise, and business from Chadron State College. Anne currently enjoys working with small businesses and coordinating grant projects at Central Wyoming College. In her free time, you'll find her running, working out at the gym, training for her latest adventure, cooking, blogging, and working an art show booth with her husband, Zach. They have an adventurous set of twins to keep them busy

Ashlee Lundvall

Ashlee Lundvall - As a teenager, Ashlee Lundvall enjoyed horseback riding, hiking, playing softball and the other activities of a nature lover. One day, while helping feed cattle, she fell from a hayloft, landing on the handle of the pitchfork she had been using, and doing irreparable damage to her T-12 vertebrae which caused permanent paralysis. Her determination got her through graduate school. She married and became a mother and found a door to the outdoors that she had always loved. Learning to make adaptations and innovate, she is now an avid kayaker, four-wheeler, camper and huntress, and in July 2013, she won the title of Ms. Wheelchair USA. Ashlee is a unique combination of wife, mother, teacher and huntress.

Jason Kintzler

Jason Kintzler is the Founder and CEO of PitchEngine, a content creation platform that is now used by more than 45,000 businesses worldwide including companies like Pepsico, WalMart and Budweiser. He is the author of “The New American Startup” which details the story of how western independence and self‐reliance led him to create a disruptive technology from the unlikeliest of places. A former anchorman turned PR pro, Jason bootstrapped his startup PitchEngine beginning in 2008 as a celebration of Wyoming independence, forgoing the traditional startup path in favor of the road less traveled. Jason regularly shares his passion for new media and business by speaking to groups of all sizes at events like TEDx, SXSW, PRSA and at universities like Stanford, USC and Marquette. He has been credited with “heralding in a new era of public relations” by creating “one of the PR industry’s most transformative innovations.” Jason and/or PitchEngine have appeared in several popular books including; Engage, Twitterville, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, SocialCorp and Social Media Marketing for Dummies.

John Kanengieter

John Kanengieter A background on extended mountaineering expeditions gives him valuable experience that he now uses in his work. A teacher at heart, John is a principle trainer contracted by NASA to work with International Space Station astronauts in the dynamics of teamwork and leadership on extended space expeditions. He has developed leadership programs for the US Naval Academy, Fortune 50 corporations, government, and individuals in a slew of different industries. He is a keynote speaker, consultant, coach and trusted confidant. His work with leaders is augmented by his expertise gained from 25 years in the field of leadership development and experiential education. His practice includes clients as individuals, teams, and large organizations with an emphasis on building a system of strong teams focused and aligned on clear strategies.