Lisa Sun, founder & CEO of retail brand and lifestyle company, GRAVITAS, will take the stage as this year’s keynote speaker at The Packaging & Processing Women's Leadership Network (PPWLN) Breakfast on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. (Room W-375), during PACK EXPO International (Nov. 3-6, 2024; McCormick Place, Chicago).
PPWLN is a vibrant and inclusive community that fosters growth, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities for women in the packaging and processing industry. It aims to empower women in their professional journey, inspiring them to reach new heights of success and leadership. The PPWLN PACK EXPO International Breakfast will provide attendees with an opportunity to hear Sun share her entrepreneurial insights, experiences, and valuable lessons. Following the breakfast, student attendees will have the unique opportunity to participate in guided tours led by PPWLN industry leaders.
Sun will seamlessly blend stories from her personal journey with data and experience-driven insights from her 11 years at McKinsey & Company into how she founded GRAVITAS in 2012. Its origin dates to her first professional review, at which time she was told that she “comes across as young and overly enthusiastic at times,” that she “lacked gravitas,” and “should go buy a new dress, big jewelry, and great shoes.” With those words in mind, an understanding of the transformative power of clothing, and a determination to create a game-changing company, Sun filed for a global patent to build shapewear directly into dresses. She launched GRAVITAS as a company with a mission to catalyze confidence. GRAVITAS offers innovative size-inclusive apparel, styling solutions, and content designed to make over women from the inside out. Two months after launch, her first collection was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, PEOPLE, and TODAY. Sun and GRAVITAS have not slowed down since; she has been featured by many media outlets including CNN, Forbes, Fast Company, New York Magazine, Elle, Marie Claire, and InStyle.
In addition to being a changemaker and entrepreneur, Sun is the national bestselling author of GRAVITAS: The 8 Strengths that Redefine Confidence. In the book, she shares her journey, as well as the superpowers that anyone can call upon to be confident and successful. The book is a USA Today bestseller and reached number one on the Amazon bestseller list for its genre.
"Her remarkable journey from a young entrepreneur to an industry leader is truly inspiring, and we believe her insights will greatly benefit women in the packaging and processing fields and student attendees who are the future of our industry,” says Tracy Stout, vice president, marketing and communications, PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, and producer of the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows.
Sponsors of this year’s event are BW Packaging, Emerson, ID Technology, Morrison Container Handling Solutions, PlexPack, Schneider Electric, Septimatech Group Inc., and Syntegon Processing and Packaging. Breakfast attendees must be registered for PACK EXPO International to attend this free event.
For more information and to register, please visit pmmi.org/ppwln.