If Day 1 was about institutions, Day 2 was about people – and about what happens when science and artistry are practiced under one roof.

Morning – Arylessence
We spent the morning at Arylessence, a company that creates fragrances and flavors, and does so at the intersection of chemistry, sensory science, and genuine craft. It is rare to see a business where laboratory precision and creative intuition are given equal weight – and rarer still to be walked through it by the PEOPLE who do the work every day.
Our thanks to Steve Tanner, Cynthia Reichard, and absolutely irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind Liz Cameron, and to the entire Arylessence FAMILY, for their openness and generosity. Learning from a team like this is a privilege, and our Executive MBA Poznań-Atlanta PUEB-GSU cohort is genuinely proud to have had. The session was a reminder that innovation is not only a matter of technology – it is also a matter of culture, patience and taste.

The afternoon took us to Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development authority, for a conversation about how a metropolitan region attracts investment, supports entrepreneurship and plans for growth.
Special thanks to the unforgettable Laurie Prickett, whose energy carried the whole room. It is one thing to read about a city’s economic strategy – it is quite another to hear it from someone who clearly believes in it. Our group left with a much sharper sense of how public policy, private capital and civic ambition come together in the City of Atlanta.
Two very different organizations, one shared lesson: strategy is only as strong as the people who deliver it.