Orion3

I am honored to welcome Nick Currier into the Orion3 family as a Core Member! Nick was the first person I met in Chicago, who was building an Ai company (when we first met in 2018). He was also the first person I met who was a Co - Founder AND CFO. We lost touch after the 2020 lockdowns, but because of my friend and Associate Member, Krista Caprini Kapsa, we reconnected earlier this year. Nick had A LOT happen in his life over the last 4 years. Professionally he had a huge milestone because the company he co founded, Packback, got acquired. Personally, he became a father! I love getting to know Nick (and others like him), because it takes a lot of hard work, discipline, intelligence, and passion to accomplish what he's done so early in life. Nick joins, now the long list of the Core Members, who are entrepreneurs and executives that have built companies with great exits! Nick - I'm grateful to have you as a Core Member. I think there's so much that others can learn from you and so much you can learn from the incredible humans who are already in the Core Membership (including the man in the pic Craig Levy 😁 ). Welcome to the family brother! (If you want to see the others who are a part of this INCREDBILE group of people in the Core Membership, you can look at the website) #orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

#LinkedIn friends, the new Orion3 website is live! I'd love for you to check it out. (link in the comments for the website) I needed the website to reflect Orion3 the right way to the public. What you're going to see is the public facing side. What you don't see is the private internal portal that is available only for the Core and Corporate members. That Portal should be completed by end of this month, but for now lets focus on the public part. What's on the website? - The "WHO" - you'll get to see all of the Core Members, the Associate Members, and the main (most active) leaders from the Corporate Member Companies - The MEMBERS of Orion3 are the most important part of it. EVERYTHING that I do is to create a mindset of authenticity, where people can feel safe being themselves, to build real relationships with each other. It's about utilizing the team to help each individual become the best versions of themselves so that they can create a better life for their loved ones and their communities. - The "WHY" - you'll see why 'Serendipity' is important, especially to cure this mental and emotional epidemic that we're dealing with right now: Loneliness - Orion3 is not an events company, but you'll get to see some a lot pics of some of our moments, what I call "moments of authenticity" that happen at the intersection points of our Personal and Professional lives. What's not on the website? - there's no button to press to get a hold of me. - there's no application form to sign up for Orion3 - there's no 'request to learn more' - there's no exaggerated bullshit Everyone comes in through referrals and there is a specific reason for that. One of the ways that I can tell you I'm 100% serious about that, is by making sure the public facing website reflects it. I'm extremely grateful to my good friend, a Core Member, and a badass entrepreneur (and creative), Nicole Ruiz and her team at Bullgro for spending SO MUCH time with me over the last 2 months, dealing with all my back and forth, last minute changes, and all my weird requests (that's different from what a normal business website should be) to build this so far. I will create a post later that will make it specifically about her and her team and how awesome they are!! For now, I'd love for you to check out the website and let me know what you think. #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

Ending the summer on top of a Castle ✨ And evening on top of The Tribune Tower, watching the sky turn pink as the sun slowly set over the castle walls. Then sitting around a hot fire as the sky turned dark, a breeze came around us and the city lights turned on. I do really cool shit with really cool people at really cool places A huge THANK YOU to my good friend and Orion3 Corporate Member, Kevin Kaye CEO of Katalyst Group, for hosting this at one of the best buildings in the city, The Tribune Tower! ❤️🙏🏾 Orion3 is not a physical thing, it's not a networking group, and it's not a traditional business that fits into a category. Orion3 is the energy that creates a mindset of authenticity that leads to trust which Creates Serendipity. ✨ Don't ask "what" this is, instead look at WHO is in Orion3 and ask them WHY they're a part of it. (you can look on the website for the different members) #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

Ending the summer on top of a Castle in the Sky ✨ Thank YOU to my brother and Orion3 Corporate Member, Kevin Kaye, for hosting us in one of my favorite buildings, The Tribune Tower! This was a night with my Core and Corporate Members. I am the only person who gets to spend every moment for "work" with ONLY people who I genuinely like and respect. I never ever ever take that for granted. Last night ended by the fire on a beautiful evening, on top of a Castle on the Mag Mile, with incredible human beings who I genuinely love being around. This is proof that Authenticity and the best of humanity still exists. Thank YOU to my Core and Corporate Members in this Orion3 family. I'll post more pics from this next week. Kristi Zuhlke Craig Levy 🟦 Samir Mirza Angela Allen Adam Birnbaum Izabella Dubanski Agatha Gaca Ciana Carpenter, Esq. Varvara Alva Darrell White = last ones left 😁 Quote of the night: "Benny is the algorithm and the Ai" 😂 #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

#LinkedIn friends, I'm very excited to announce that Tickets are now on sale for this Orion3 Experience, The Serendipity of Food! This is the first ticketed Orion3 experience that is open to anyone that would like to attend. This is a result of a collaboration between my good friends and Orion3 Members, Kenneth Clay (CEO of foode) and Jake Ireland (CEO of Off Hours Spirits). You can take a break from the complexities of life, for an evening of serendipity, authenticity, fun, and meaningful connections as we bring together Chicago's finest food, beverage, and restaurant brands. This exclusive event will feature an exciting blend of founders, investors, and consumers, all coming together to share in the unique serendipity that happens when leadership meets flavor. You will get to experience different types of food and hand crafted cocktails, while getting to know the founders behind these brands and restaurants! Click here for earlybird tickets: https://lnkd.in/gh23e7Qd Starting next week I will announce and talk about the different brands and founders who will be there! ***If you are interested in being a sponsor for this event, please feel free to reach out to me directly. #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

I'm excited to OFFICIALLY welcome my friend, Manuel Mares, into the Orion3 Family as a Core Member! Earlier this year, my good friend and Core Member, Feride Sen, told me "Benny you have to meet an old friend and former colleague of mine, Manuel. You will really like him!" When Feride talks, I listen...always =). Over the last several months, I've gotten to know Manuel as a human: his values, how he is as a husband and father, his international experience of leading finance teams all over the world, and his perspective on life. Manuel recently moved to the US and lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter. I always talk about the actual diversity that is in Orion3 and the exceptional leaders who are immigrants from all different countries, who come to me through pure Serendipity. Well, this is a prime example of that because it's one of my Core Members from Turkey (Feride), who created this friendship for me with Manuel who's from Italy. I'm so grateful and excited to have Manuel Mares as a Core Member! Welcome to the family, brother! 3 great additions to the Core Membership over the last 10 days! Allen Samuel, Allan Koch, and Manuel Mares #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

John P. Bennecke gave the best explanation of the impact of this election on our taxes. I took pics of these two slides, but there was SO MUCH more that he shared with us. If you want a good understanding about the realistic impact of this election on your taxes, I HIGHLY recommend reaching out to John. After talking with John, both Craig Levy 🟦 and William Gorski said we need to do an Orion3 Tax Update discussion that John can lead. Them saying that just validated how good this conversation was! I'll put a link in the comments for the Baker Tilly US Tax info on the website, but the actual conversation with John and his perspective, in his own words, made much more sense to me. Chris Jeffrey Victor M. Polanco #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

LinkedIn friends, this is something that is a first for me, and something that happened serendipitously out of inspiration and love. A couple weeks ago, after speaking to two of my friends and Orion3 Members, Kenneth Clay (CEO of foode) and Jake Ireland (CEO of Off Hours Spirits), I posted on LinkedIn about potentially doing a large scale Orion3 experience, based on the AMAZING food and beverage companies in Chicago. I got a ton of DMs and texts from people who thought it would be a great idea! I was also inspired by what my friends Lauren Backe and Abin Kuriakose put together with the Future of Food Venture summit in May for World Business Chicago. My biggest inspiration came from seeing the hustle, drive, determination, and passion that I see from Kenneth, Jake, and my other friends in the food and beverage space: Tonya Romin, Dan Giancola, Caitlin Fox, Aidan D., Nina Davis, Marnie and her team at Hive2o, Disha Gulati, and so many others who are not on LinkedIn. So, for the first time ever, we will have "The Serendipity of Food" Orion3 experience! Great people, Great Food, and Great Cocktails, in a Beautiful Venue! I'm grateful and excited to partner with my friends at Sterling Bay to have this at one of my favorite spaces in the city... at 311 W Monroe! (the hidden gem in the loop). Thank YOU Russ Cora and Teresa Amaro for your support and partnership of Orion3. This is free for all of the 3 levels of Orion3 Members. This will be the first time I'm going to have tickets for an event (available next week), so that people who are not in Orion3 can also be a part of this experience! My ask: - if you (or someone you know) is a founder of a food/beverage (including alcohol) company, and want to participate in this evening experience, please reach out to me. - If you (or someone you know) is an owner of a Chicago restaurant and want to be a part of this experience, please feel free to reach out to me. - If your company would like to be a sponsor for this event, please feel free to reach out to me. My expectations for this event is to have 100 - 150 people and almost all of them will be Chicago Business leaders from all different industries. My favorite Orion3 gatherings have been the private and intimate get togethers over delicious food and great cocktails. This event is to create a similar experience for a bigger group of people. Feel free to share this post on LinkedIn or dm it directly to anyone you know who would be interested. Thank you in advance! #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity Tony Coglianese Matthew Fazio Steve Adamjee Gregg Mellinger Chris Jeffrey Victor M. Polanco

I wish every single parent—especially ambitious fathers—could have heard Joe Del Preto on Wednesday night. In part 1 of the "Conscious Leadership" series, Joe, CFO of Sprout Social, Inc. shared deeply personal and professional insights that left everyone in the room impacted in their own way. Joe has led four companies through IPOs, but what resonated the most was his honesty about life beyond work: his childhood, his marriage, and being a father. He emphasized, that his success would NOT be possible without his wife’s support. Joe doesn’t live to work; he works to live, with family always first. He also shared thoughts on leadership, navigating business politics, building inclusive cultures, and life post-COVID, giving us all a lot to think about. Joe has been with Orion3 since day one, as an OrionCore Member, and I’m grateful for his friendship and trust. Like the song says, "everyday people do everyday things but I CAN'T be one of them." People ask WHY I do what I do the way I do it, instead of wanting to "scale." Well, If you were there Wednesday night, you’d know my WHY, because it's the energy that was in that room. Orion3 is where personal and professional lives intersect, a safe space for real conversations with real people, striving to be the best versions of themselves to create a better world. These conversations are personal, vulnerable, and honest from real people who I trust. Orion3 is not a place for professional speakers with scripted speeches. These discussions are there to help people to be the best version of yourself to lead organizations and families. Thank YOU to Paola, George and the BEAR Construction Company team for hosting us at The Old Post Office! It was beautiful weather, with the harvest moon lighting up the sky, to have drinks on the OPO Rooftop, which made it the perfect way to end the night! Thank YOU to Sean, Rocco, Nina, and Sean for being the food and bev sponsors. #orion3 #creatingconsciousserendipity

Nobody ever gave me a mic, so I said F*¢× it. I created my own stage and brought the best people I know with me Orion3 is about the Intersection Points of our Professional and Personal lives. The Conscious Leadership Discussion Series, featuring some of the Core Members, is about those intersection points. Last night was Part 1 of the Conscious Leadership Discussion Series. I'll put a post with all the pics tomorrow & summary, but so grateful for every single person there yesterday at the Old Post Office. #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity