EY Announces Michelle Cardinal as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Pacific Northwest Region Award Winner
Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that CEO and Cofounder Michelle Cardinal of Rain the Growth Agency was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Pacific Northwest Region Award winner. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The award recognizes those who are unstoppable entrepreneurial leaders, excelling in talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans. Michelle was selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was announced during the program’s virtual awards gala on Wednesday, August 4.
“Thank you to PNC Bank for the nomination that led to my win in the regional Northwest Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition,” Michelle said. “Rain the Growth Agency has an amazing group of talented people who have worked tirelessly by my side, to help build a world-class marketing agency and a truly desirable company culture. This win is not mine, it’s ours. Thank you to my colleagues and clients; I can’t imagine a more fulfilling career than one with all of you along for the ride. And what a wonderful ride it continues to be.”
She added: “I’ve learned that seeing what is possible—and seeing what is possible in others—is one of the keys to success. Then we collectively work like crazy to make it happen. We fall down, we get back up, and repeat. Entrepreneurship is about, never, never, never giving up. And it’s never about one person, it’s about the collective ‘us.’”
For 35 years, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies’ success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their communities. Michelle will go on to become a lifetime member of the esteemed multi-industry community of award winners, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.
As a Pacific Northwest Region award winner, Michelle is now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
- Chad Robins and Harlan Robins, Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation
- Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks
- Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.
- Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani
- Brian Niccol of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
- James Park of Fitbit
- Daymond John of Fubu
- Brian Mariotti, Funko
- Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
- Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn
- Ally and Scott Svenson, MOD Pizza
- Saeju Jeong of Noom
- Madeline Haydon, nutpods
- Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corporation
- Jodi Berg of Vitamix
About Rain the Growth Agency
Rain the Growth Agency is an independent, women-led, performance-minded, fully integrated advertising agency. We link strategy, creative and production with audience targeting, dynamic cross-channel media investment and advanced analytics to achieve sales and branding goals simultaneously, without compromise. Our holistic Transactional Brand Building approach produces transformational growth for clients ranging from DTC fast companies and category disruptors to established brands with traditional models. For more than 20 years, we have been scaling businesses such as Peloton, Chewy, Wayfair, LendingTree, Humana, USAA, 23andMe, SimpliSafe and 1-800 Contacts. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon and co-founded in 1998 by Michelle Cardinal, our agency has grown to over 260 employees in four offices nationwide.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. ey.com/us/eoy
