A few years ago, what started as a casual meetup with a handful of us fellow cha
By Krista Arnold · November 10, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
A few years ago, what started as a casual meetup with a handful of us fellow challenger brand marketing leaders has turned into something pretty special.
Once a month, this incredible group of women comes together virtually to share ideas, swap learnings, challenge each other’s thinking, and figure out new ways to win as challenger brands.
Many of us spent years at large CPG companies before making the leap into the emerging brand world. And while the entrepreneurial energy is exciting, the reality is that we’re often trying to make a bigger impact with a fraction of the resources we once had. It takes creativity, scrappiness, and a willingness to rethink everything we thought we knew about building brands.
A few weeks ago, thanks to my amazing friend Jenna McGrath , we took our monthly conversations to the next level with our first-ever offsite. We spent the day sharing ideas, learning from one another, and pushing ourselves to grow as leaders.
It was such a great reminder that while we may be building challenger brands, we don’t have to figure it all out alone.
I’m so excited to see this group continue to grow and bring together more Minnesota women marketing leaders who have traded big-brand budgets for the challenge (and fun!) of building something from the ground up. We have gotten so big that we even officially branded our group as the North Star Brand Builders !
Turns out, one of the best resources we have is each other!