Business As Unusual | Leadership & Growth Livestream

October 15, 2026
at Noon CT

The C-Suite Case for Brand Evolution

How GHA's Leadership Aligned People, Position, and Growth for What Comes Next

As companies evolve, leaders have to ask whether the brand still reflects the business they are building.

GHA, an engineering consulting firm, reached that point after becoming 100% employee-owned, expanding its capabilities, and growing from about 90 to about 160 employees. Its leaders saw an opportunity to preserve 45 years of trust while building a clearer identity for the company’s next stage of growth.

In this Business as “Un”usual session, Red Caffeine CEO Kathy Steele is joined by GHA CEO Todd Gordon, GHA Chief People Officer Anika Moore, and HR Source President and CEO Mary Lynn Fayoumi for a C-suite conversation about the business decisions behind brand evolution.

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What to Expect:

This conversation centers on GHA’s process from the initial business questions through research, strategy, creative decisions, and internal rollout. The panel explains how employee surveys, focus groups, client interviews, and a competitive audit helped leadership decide what to preserve, what to clarify, and how the brand needed to support future growth.

They’ll also examine how GHA communicated with employees throughout the process and why a brand promise must match the day-to-day employee experience.

If your company has grown, added services, changed ownership, or reached a point where the brand no longer tells the full story, this session will help you think through what to consider.

Session Highlights:

Identify the signs that a long-standing brand no longer represents the full business
Learn how research can move brand decisions beyond personal preference
See how GHA balanced its 45-year reputation with employee ownership and future growth
Understand why employee listening must include visible follow-through and communication
Explore how a clearer brand can support recruiting, client understanding, and employee pride

Register now to learn how leaders can evolve a brand while protecting the trust and history that made it valuable.

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Meet the Guest Speakers & Host

Guest

Todd Gordon
Chief Executive Officer
GHA

Todd Gordon is Chief Executive Officer of GHA, a full-service engineering consulting firm with about 160 employees. He joined GHA 26 years ago after spending…

Todd Gordon is Chief Executive Officer of GHA, a full-service engineering consulting firm with about 160 employees. He joined GHA 26 years ago after spending roughly a decade in the public sector with the Village of Gurnee. During his career at GHA, Todd has led the municipal sector, transportation, and construction survey groups. He became CEO in 2022 and has helped guide the company through significant growth, expanded service lines, and the brand evolution featured in this session.

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Guest

Anika Moore
Chief People Officer
GHA

Anika Moore is Chief People Officer at GHA, where she partners with leadership to align people and business strategy. She joined GHA in 2015 as…

Anika Moore is Chief People Officer at GHA, where she partners with leadership to align people and business strategy. She joined GHA in 2015 as the company's first HR professional and now focuses on connecting employees, culture, and strategy so people understand where the company is going and how they contribute. With a Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Anika brings experience in leadership development, organizational design, succession planning, performance management, employee engagement, and culture change. She is known for a practical, people-centered approach grounded in trust, communication, and leadership accountability.

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Guest

Mary Lynn Fayoumi
President and Chief Executive Officer
HR Source

Mary Lynn Fayoumi is President and Chief Executive Officer of HR Source, an organization that helps Illinois employers address workplace and people challenges through HR…

Mary Lynn Fayoumi is President and Chief Executive Officer of HR Source, an organization that helps Illinois employers address workplace and people challenges through HR guidance, survey data, legal services, and flexible support. Mary Lynn has spent 36 years with HR Source and has served as CEO for 27 years. She leads a team of about 40 people serving roughly 1,300 member organizations across manufacturing, public-sector organizations, financial services, libraries, and other industries. She brings an external people and culture perspective to GHA's brand evolution and internal rollout.

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Host

Kathy Steele
Chief Executive Officer
Red Caffeine

Kathy Steele is a visionary leader and entrepreneur with over thirty years of corporate strategy, branding, marketing, and technology expertise. As an operating executive, consultant,…

Kathy Steele is a visionary leader and entrepreneur with over thirty years of corporate strategy, branding, marketing, and technology expertise. As an operating executive, consultant, founder, and board member, she advises executives on innovative growth, brand, and talent management strategies that drive shareholder value while protecting reputational risk and improving customer and employee engagement. Currently, Kathy is the CEO of Red Caffeine, a growth consultancy that builds Grow-to-Market™ strategies for mid-market companies in the manufacturing, technology, professional services, and education sectors with combined revenues exceeding 4 billion. She has advised executives on developing and promoting first-mover technologies, positioning and launching new products and services, changing brand perception to aid business turnaround, and helping organizations with their human capital strategies. Kathy has successfully guided the management of a crafting product from idea to acquisition by the largest strategic player in the space, a technology product launch campaign that led to 80% revenue growth, more than doubling their business, and an award-winning repositioning strategy that reached a global audience, changed negative market perception, and drove new customer acquisition.

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