January 26, 2026 – Restaurant Digital Ops Kevin Rice and Big Book of HR Cornelia Gamlem

Kevin Rice – Angel Investor & Founder of Theorem One Capital Complexity is the enemy of scale, and so once we got really simple about like, focus on who we were and the industry we wanted to serve and the market opportunity we wanted to go after, everything started to operate more efficiently. Kevin Rice is a seasoned entrepreneur, angel investor and founder of Theorem One Capital, a firm that invests in and advises early-stage, AI-first companies with the potential to reshape business across operations, go-to-market, finance and customer experience. Before launching Theorem One Capital, he co-founded Hathway, a digital consultancy that grew from a garage startup into a leading partner for restaurant and convenience brands, eventually joining forces with Bounteous in 2021 where he served as a leader helping guide digital strategy and transformation for major clients. Throughout his career he has built and scaled businesses, led teams and worked closely with founders to drive growth and innovation. In addition to his work as an investor and operator, Kevin hosts the “CEOs & ABCs” podcast where he explores leadership, identity and the real challenges of navigating ambitious careers while showing up for family. His professional journey reflects a commitment to building meaningful ventures, mentoring founders and fostering leadership that balances success at work with presence at home. Cornelia Gamlem – Co-Author of The Big Book of HR Probably one of the most important things about employee engagement is making sure that people have the opportunity for input and that that input is really being heard. It’s not just doing surveys and then putting the surveys away in the proverbial file cabinet. It’s really listening and acting on their input. Cornelia Gamlem is an award-winning author, consultant and thought leader in human resources best known as co-author of The Big Book of HR, a comprehensive resource she wrote with Barbara Mitchell to help HR professionals managers and business leaders get the most from their people and talent. She draws on decades of real-world experience in HR leadership including roles with major employers and extensive involvement with national workplace equality and diversity initiatives. Cornelia left a senior HR leadership position with a Fortune 500 IT services company to start her own consulting practice, The Gems Group, Ltd, where she helps organizations develop and maintain respectful inclusive workplace cultures. She holds a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Marymount University and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from California State University Sacramento and has achieved Senior Professional in Human Resources certification from the Human Resource Certification Institute. In addition to writing multiple books and contributing to industry publications she regularly speaks to business groups contributes to online HR platforms and serves on the board of SouthWest Writers in Albuquerque New Mexico where she lives and writes.