About – Rêve Consulting

Kristin founded Rêve in 2009, seeing the need to create a new breed of strategy consultancy: one that co-created the future as partners, with robust, integrated methodology and lots of heart.

Kristin started her career at General Mills where she held increasingly broader financial roles in information technology, sales, and brand marketing. In 1998, she joined GE where she led several strategic business initiatives as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. As Vice President, Product Services, Kristin met the challenge of designing and deploying a large-scale process reengineering and outsourcing effort.

In 2002, Kristin was recruited by Carlson to help launch a company-wide improvement and innovation strategy to position it for growth. In 2005, Kristin was promoted to the executive team of Carlson Hotels Worldwide. Here she built and integrated the strategy, innovation and continuous improvement functions.

Kristin holds a MBA in strategic management and finance from the University of Minnesota and a BA from Wheaton College in business and economics. Kristin is a certified Black Belt, Master Facilitator, and Executive Coach.

Kristin is passionate about catalyzing change. She is a unique blend of head and heart. She will make things happen with you and for you.

General Mills
While at General Mills, Kristin was focused on being a value-added financial partner to the businesses with which she worked. She managed a $230 million supply chain budget for the Snacks business unit down to the penny. She provided financial evaluations for new product launches that generated over $100 million in sales. Lastly, Kristin led an effort to reengineer how inventory was capitalized, saving the company over $20 million a year.

GE
Kristin held three roles at GE, all focused on leading teams for flawless delivery to internal or external customers. She spearheaded cross-business and vendor teams to reengineer and outsource three core processes through digitization and Six Sigma rigor. She led one of the first At the Customer, For the Customer process improvement partnerships, reducing order fulfillment time by 52 days, and increasing savings by $2 million for a top customer. She was the project lead for a team that decreased the financial close process from 14 days to 3 days, the second business in GE Capital to do so.

Carlson Hotels Worldwide
Kristin’s tenure at Carlson was a time of firsts. Kristin built the first strategic management practice for Carlson within Carlson Hotels. She co-created the infrastructure, processes and capabilities for strategy development and deployment for the business. She co-led a cross-functional team deploying the first Balanced Scorecard governance system. Kristin drove the creation of the organization’s innovation pipeline and new product and services function. She built an internal Six Sigma team and community of practice of over 200 colleagues whose improvement efforts impacted net income by $10 million per year.

As Co-Founder of Rêve, Brad excels at the intersection of business and technology.

Brad started his career at GE as a Quality Analyst and gained increasing responsibility through roles in product management, marketing, e-commerce, and technology before ultimately being named Vice President, Product and Technology Sales.

After GE, Brad moved to Target to lead the Marketing Technology team responsible for all guest-facing technology. He was promoted to Marketing Director where he led the business in shaping the strategy and design for the new Target.com experience.

Brad holds a MBA in strategic management and technology from the University of Minnesota and a BA from the University of St. Thomas in international business – marketing and German. He is a graduate of the Humphrey Policy Fellows program and a Partner with Social Venture Partners. He is PMI and Six Sigma Black Belt certified and serves on the Board of Directors for the Patchwork Quilt in North Minneapolis.

People and the potential for radical change inspire Brad. This shines through in the manifestation of Rêve Academy, an innovative out-of-school program focused on providing a pathway to careers in digital marketing.

GE
Brad held a variety of roles during his seven years at GE, all focused on creating highly differentiated solutions to significantly grow the business. One of these was an innovative business and technology product that led to $1 billion in new business. Another solution involved launching the first ecomagination^SM service offering in the company. It was aimed at a $25 billion market opportunity and garnered a number of awards (and improved the air you breathe).

Target
While at Target, Brad was responsible for leading the business through one of the biggest e-commerce re-platforming programs in history. As the Marketing Director, his team was responsible for the strategy, design and business capabilities for this significant business transformation. In partnership with the technology team and over 20 external partners, the site was launched in August 2011.

Patchwork Quilt
Brad has been involved with the Patchwork Quilt since its inception, helping launch and build a myriad of out-of-school programs for kids in North Minneapolis. One of the programs he pioneered was a program aimed at bridging the digital divide. In partnership with local companies and governments, the program refurbished and donated 500 computers to kids in North Minneapolis.

As Brand Advisor for Rêve, Daniel is a brand professional with a keen sense of design and a proven instinct for innovative problem solving.

Daniel began his design career as a silk-screener, but his heart for the arts soon took him to the Minnesota Orchestra, where he served as Creative Director. There he led the transformational effort of re-branding the 100-year-old organization and reclaiming Orchestra Hall as a true destination in Minneapolis’ arts scene.

Later, as a Senior Art Director for Target, Daniel continued to deliver award-winning and highly successful work. From Oprah to Target Race, he was able to exercise his versatile design style to deliver creative that consistently raised the bar for the chic retailer. With innovative ‘firsts’ for Target and record-breaking campaigns, Daniel once again left a lasting legacy in his wake.

Daniel holds a Commercial Art degree from Saint Paul College, as well as two creative writing degrees from Long Ridge Writer’s Group. He is also the author of The Vyne: Mystery of the Hidden Ember, a young adult fantasy.

Brand
Versatility is one thing Daniel prides himself on, but it goes without saying that brand identity is among his greatest strengths. From nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies, his award-winning design shows every bit as much range as versatility.

Minnesota Orchestra
As Creative Director, Daniel was charged with finding a way to underscore the fact that the Minnesota Orchestra is indeed one of the world’s top ensembles and reestablish Orchestra Hall as its proud home. The result: a complete overhaul of the organization’s brand identity, all of which culminated in the form of the largest graphic vinyl-wrap installment Minneapolis had ever seen.

Target
While at Target, Daniel brought his sense of innovation and bold design attitude to the table, resulting not only in many award-winners in the design industry, but innovations that helped continue to propel Target forward as a leader in retail. Through Target Daniel worked with such big names as Oprah, MOMA, Cooper-Hewitt, The Kennedy Center, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

As Strategy Consultant, Taylor works directly with our clients’ teams, co-creating strategies and the process to help them deploy it.

Taylor joined Rêve from Thrivent Financial where he honed his diverse strengths as a Social Entrepreneur Fellow. In this role he was responsible for testing and implementing social ventures through various pilot programs. He was soon promoted to Strategy Analyst and worked with an internal consultancy, bringing business development and innovation practices to the greater organization.

During his time at Thrivent, Taylor also volunteered as a consultant at Engine for Social Innovation, where he directed projects that evaluated programs for nonprofits and developed solutions for large strategic issues.

Taylor holds a BA in Economics and management studies from Saint Olaf College. In his senior year, Taylor co-founded Just Water, a social venture dedicated to the alleviation of the world water crisis. In addition, he is a Partner at Social Venture Partners.

Not only does Taylor have a heart for making the world a better place, he’s got the brains to make things happen.

Thrivent Financial
Thrivent Financial explored the creation of a minority owned and governed bank in North Minneapolis, in hopes of strengthening the community. Taylor helped with the quantitative and qualitative research, focusing primarily on population densities and income levels to find the most appropriate location, as well as identifying potential investors for raising the $30 million in capital needed to start the project.

Engine for Social Innovation
In 2010, Taylor volunteered for Neighborhood Development Center, successfully helping them implement a new evaluation system, a new “train the trainer” process, and a critical evaluation system.

Make Things Happen
Taylor is currently working with community leaders to create a venture fund designed to attract, develop, and scale innovative and entrepreneurial education solutions to the Twin Cities.