Strategic Innovation Firepower
We collaborate with executive retail/hospitality teams to create bold innovation and deliver transformative growth.
Together, we
- Swing big at bold ideas
- Shift perspectives and thought patterns
- Define and solve complex problems
- Create unexpected consumer engagement
- Deliver holistic stakeholder value
Services
Chief Innovation Officer
For Hire
- Strategic Innovation & Growth Planning
- White space/growth opportunity identification
- Portfolio design, pipeline development, and prioritizing winners
- Identifying innovation talent, structuring innovation teams, fostering innovation culture
- Innovation coaching for Executive teams
Holistic
Concept Design
- Consumer trend and white space identification
- Menu/Product strategy
- Customer experience design
- Business model design, including pricing strategy
- Guidance on branding, physical design & go-to-market strategies
Concept
Optimization
- Business model assessment
- Insights-driven consumer innovation and pipeline development
- Product management
Rachel Antalek is a growth-oriented innovation leader and intrapreneur. She is a pragmatic futurist, known for her ability to map long-range vision and identify disruptive opportunities that translate into viable business strategies. Clients benefit from Rachel’s strong track record of transformative innovation over 11 years at Starbucks across products, business models and retail concepts.
Rachel’s passion for growing and turning around businesses by creating compelling customer experiences and challenging the status quo has been evident throughout her 25-year career. She expertly helps her clients manage the tension between vision and execution without diluting their bold ideas. Rachel’s business partners rely on her to help them design their innovation strategy, prioritize their innovation pipeline, and coach their teams to excellence, staying focused on long-term innovation in a world overwhelmed with near-term business gains.
Prior to her tenure with Starbucks, Rachel spent 8 years at driving new business growth in the beverage category for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Smokey Bones BBQ (Darden Restaurants). She began her career operating coffeehouses and restaurants in the early days of “start-up” coffee. Prior to her corporate years, she took an apprenticeship with a master pastry chef in Germany. She has also been a Certified Sommelier for nearly 20 years. Rachel’s formal education includes dual Bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and German from Tufts University and an MBA from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business.