Beyond Seattle ‘Nice’: How is Seattle’s ‘polite’ mentality impacting the PNW success or failure?
Respectful. Collaborative. A distinct lack of honking car horns. Seattle “Nice” permeates the way its residents live and do business every day. It’s a pleasant refuge from an increasingly rough-and-tumble world. But given this globally competitive landscape, should we be doing more to climb our way to the top? Or is our pleasantness sufficient to distinguish us from the madding crowd? And what does this mean for the Pacific Northwest’s place in the world? We’ll explore these questions with Adam Brotman from Starbucks, and Leigh Canlis of Canlis Glass through their business, philanthropy, technology and arts perspectives. We’ll also engage on-camera with creative thought leaders in this provocative Four Peaks premiere episode.
Leigh Canlis of Canlis Glass
Born the daughter of an artist and an attorney, Leigh Canlis is very much a product of the two. With both a business mind and a vision for the arts, Leigh has created new waves in the art world for the past 14 years. In Hawaii, she co-founded Art After Dark, a group connecting young adults with the arts, and led it as President until her departure from the island in 2005. In 2005, Leigh, with her business partner and husband, J.P., opened Canlis Glass in Belltown. The gallery and studio space is dedicated solely to glass art created by J.P. Leigh currently is the President of the business, acts as a private art consultant for Dale Chihuly, is a contributing writer for Seattle Magazine and Spotlight Seattle and continues to serve her community with volunteer efforts.
Adam Brotman, Senior Vice President and GM of Starbucks
Adam Brotman, Senior Vice President and GM, Digital Ventures, leads all Digital Ventures activities for Starbucks and oversees all businesses that are digital in nature, including e-commerce, Wi-Fi, the Starbucks Digital Network and entertainment, as well as the enterprise-wide mobile strategy. Prior to joining Starbucks in April 2009, Adam held several key leadership positions at leading digital media companies, and most recently was CEO of Barefoot Yoga Company, a Seattle-based e-commerce company. He served as Senior Vice President at the digital image licensing and e-commerce company Corbis, and founded PlayNetwork, Inc., a leading provider of in-store digital media and entertainment services for businesses worldwide.
