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BUSINESS
GilbertSunNews.com
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GILBERT SUN NEWS | DECEMBER 5, 2021
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Gilbert firm’s gaming boosts employee morale BY ASHLYN ROBINETTE GSN Staff Writer
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eepWOL (Keep Wondering Out Loud), a developer of immersive learning and development solutions, recently launched a talent development gaming platform designed to maximize workplace cultural intelligence and minimize turnover. As the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Kansas’ Aerospace Engineering Department, Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks of Gilbert, founder and CEO of KeepWOL, knows what it’s like to be the only minority and formed her company to help others who feel that way. When she entered corporate America, she thought that things would change – but they didn’t. She still felt like an out-
Lauren Fitzpatrick Shanks is the founder and CEO of KeepWOL, which launched a gaming platform to reduce employee turnover. (Special to GSN)
sider. After over a decade of experience working at five different Fortune 500 companies in technology, Shanks witnessed other employees, and even herself at times, suffer and grow complacent at work. “When you feel unsupported, you provide less than optimal output,” she said, adding that the drive to excel can wither and die. “Companies had promises about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, but all of them were more so for vanity metrics purposes,” Shanks said. “None of the programs were geared around retention or ensuring the success of those diverse hires,” she continued. “On top of that, managers didn’t receive
see TALENT page 25
Family trio acquires Mesa event center at the right time BY PAUL MARYNIAK GSN Executive Editor
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iming can be everything in business and for Charles Cotter and his two children, buying Superstition Manor in Mesa could not have come at a better time. hile it caters to a variety of gatherings, its specialty is weddings and Cotter, his son Taylor and daughter Sharley Leavitt, acquired the 10-year-old property on the northwest corner of Signal Butte and Brown roads from the founding Burns family just as the pandemic loosened its grip on couples eager to tie the knot. “Weddings have not only come back in full force. It is a force to be reckoned with,” Taylor said. “You had a lot of people that rescheduled or postponed their wedding for a year and then you still had the busy season on top of that. And right now, the
The new owners of Superstition Manor in Mesa are, from left, Charles Cotter and his children, Taylor Cotter and Sharley Leavitt. (David Minton/GSN Staff Photographer) industry is projected to have more weddings in 2022 than there has ever been in the last several years. “So, 2022 is supposed to be crazy,” he
continued. “We already have over 160 events booked for 2022 and we are projected to break 200.” They got a taste of that level of business
in October, which Taylor called “literally insane” because “it was something like 19 events in eight days….That was our welcome to the new business moment.” And even more fortunate for them, the sprawling Superstition Manor grounds and mammoth reception center came equipped with three halls that can accommodate between 100 and 250 people, two fully equipped commercial kitchens and a half-kitchen and a staff of some 40 to 50 experienced servers, cooks and other personnel. Beyond that, however, two features have made Superstition Manor a high-demand wedding venue, Taylor said: first, it’s pretty much a one-stop-shop for weddings; and its pristine desert grounds with an unobstructed view of the majestic Superstition Mountains. Taylor has been in the wedding industry
see WEDDINGS page 25
