FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Michael Graber
[email protected]
662-202-840

Two of the South’s foremost human-centered innovation firms join forces on a mission to make business a force of good in the world.

Memphis, Tenn., Feb. 2, 2022 – Knoxville-based Pedal and Southern Growth Studio, with offices in both Memphis and Nashville, announced the completion of their merger and rebranding as Epic Pivot. The combination brings together two values-driven consulting firms that focus on human-centered innovation. The current partners will remain in place, combining Southern Growth’s Michael Graber, Mark Levine, and Tabitha Scott with Pedal partners Jay Morgan, Mark McComas, and Scott Buchanan.

“Our leadership teams have a long and successful history,” said Morgan. “I worked with the Studio on many projects at both Merck and Bayer Consumer Care. Studio founder Michael Graber and I launched the Memphis Innovation Bootcamp together. Joining forces will allow us to better serve more than 250 corporate, nonprofit, and municipal clients who want to be a force of good in the world.” 

Epic Pivot will build on the 15-year history of providing market and customer insights, growth and product strategy, and innovation consulting—and offer a new service, based on needs both firms noticed in the market. 

“At first we were called into organizations to diagnose why their digital transformations were failing, and they were failing around 70 percent of the time,” said Levine. “We saw it wasn’t the technology. These organizations failed to value their people as a force of real competitive advantage. The pandemic has shown that organizations are facing a crisis of culture and need to align their growth, products and technology around a clear values-driven purpose.” 

Epic Pivot will introduce this framework and methodology to guide organizations through purposeful transformation. 

“Amid the tumultuous events of the last 24 months, companies have come under pressure to discuss how they work in the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders,” said Graber. “Our team can offer organizations a path to not only meet their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals but better engage and inspire their employees, better serve their clients, and the communities where they work—the whole value chain.” 

The combination will also bring opportunity for growth. The firm announced three new hires including and one promotion: 

• Samantha LaVoi as an insights researcher.
• Elizabeth Lemmonds as venture director. 
• Harvey Kay as director of new business.  
• April Steele as insights manager. 

About Southern Growth Studio

The Southern Growth Studio has a highly successful 15-year history of providing world-class Insights, Strategy, and Innovation services for an impressive roster of more than 250 corporate, non-profit, and municipal clients (including Hilton Hotels, Claritin, Rheem, Jack Nicklaus, Kimberly-Clark, Discover, and others). Leaders human design, innovation, strategy, and sustainability, the Studio launched its Purposeful Transformation Framework in 2021. 

About Pedal

As East TN’s premiere human-centered design firm, Pedal is a diverse group of designers, engineers, artists, business people and social scientists connected by a passion to help visionaries build a better future.

About Epic Pivot 

Epic Pivot is on a mission: make business a force of good in the world—and show organizations how they can thrive through purposeful transformation. Through a mix of human-centered design, insights, organizational design, and strategic methods, we work with companies who want to make a positive difference in the world and do well by doing good.