RISING ICON #102: Garrio Harrison


An interview with Garrio Harrison, founder of Forage:

What name do you prefer to be called?
I prefer to be called Garrio, but those close to me call me G.

What are your pronouns?
My pronouns are he/him.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Spanish Town, Jamaica.

What city are you currently based in?
I’m currently based between Minneapolis and St. Paul.

What’s one thing you wish more people knew about you?
One thing I wish more people knew about me is that I'm a pragmatic optimist. I see the world as it is—acknowledging the challenges and imperfections—but I also believe that with intention, we can change things for the better.

This belief comes from my mother. She often said, “I’m planting seeds for fruit I might never see.” As a child, I didn’t fully understand what she meant. But when my son, was born, those words took on a new meaning.

Suddenly, I saw the work my parents’ generation did as the foundation for what we’re building today—a foundation that will support the generations to come, including my son’s .

This perspective shapes every conversation I have, whether the conversation is personal or professional. Because I believe that, together, we can plant seeds for a future that’s better than the present.

Who do you help?
I help Founders, Non-Profit Executives, and Leadership Teams. I assist them in establishing a strategic digital presence that they can use to communicate with their stakeholders and move their business goals forward. My focus is primarily on working with companies that are familiar with or run on EOS.

What are you building now?
Today, the way we do business—whether it’s sales, marketing, fundraising, recruiting, or product development—comes down to how we strategically communicate with our stakeholders. Both online and offline, our digital footprint and our ability to reach stakeholders with the right narrative have never been more important.

Yet, this is a muscle that many organizations, founders, nonprofit executives, and leadership teams don’t have. That’s why I’m building a strategic communication consultancy to help organizations bridge that gap.

We have three ways we can support organizations:

First, we work primarily with organizations that are familiar with or run on EOS. We can come in and take the marketing seat to tackle marketing in general.

Second, we help key leaders in the organization establish a digital footprint and strategically communicate with their stakeholders by ghostwriting for them.

Third, we run working sessions for teams to build the muscle of online strategic communication within the organization.

What excites me most is that we’re leveraging generative AI as part of our internal operations. Historically, this level of service would only be available to large companies that could afford expensive consultants. But by using AI to streamline our processes and make our operations more efficient, we’re able to pass those cost savings directly on to our clients. This makes high-quality strategic communication services more accessible to early-stage companies, small businesses, and nonprofits.

As AI becomes even more prevalent, this approach will be essential for helping organizations communicate effectively and stay competitive in an increasingly digital world.

What were you building ten years ago today?
Ten years ago, I was working at one of the largest independently-owned co-working spaces in the Midwest. I was building a repeatable sales and marketing system that would take insights from sales conversations to inform marketing investments at each stage of our sales pipeline.

The goal was to be more efficient with our marketing investments, and the system was designed to be part of a franchise offering for a national rollout. Today, this approach is known as RevOps—but I was doing it before it was cool.

What do you predict of yourself 10 years from now?
In 10 years, my son will be 19. By then, I will have laid a foundation that provides him with three key things: optionality, an amazing network, and the belief that he can be himself while challenging the status quo.

Through my work and the impact I’m able to have, I want my and his friends will see that it’s possible to challenge norms, and to normalize entrepreneurship—whether that’s starting a company or having an entrepreneurial mindset within a large organization.

Tangibly, this means growing my agency beyond seven figures and creating a blueprint that early-stage founders, capital allocators, and companies running on EOS turn to for success.

I’ll also continue my work with young people, making the skills and services we provide accessible at a much earlier age. Throughout this journey, I want my son to have a front-row seat—to see all of this being built and to build relationships with those who are part of the journey, both personally and professionally.

What’s a fact or statistic you wish everyone knew about your industry?
As of 2024, there are approximately 207 million content creators in the creator economy. This includes over 45 million professional content creators and 162 million amateur content creators.

The creator economy is currently valued at $250 billion and is projected to reach $480 billion by 2027. This growth highlights that the internet is increasingly being restructured around people.

To assume that your employees, stakeholders, and competitors are not among these content creators, using personal platforms to move their business goals forward, and therefore not worth an investment from your organization, is a recipe for being left behind.

Why do you believe the work you do matters?
I believe the work I do matters for three key reasons.

First, we’re on the brink of what I see as an incredible renaissance of technology-fueled human creativity. AI is as disruptive as mobile, social media, and the internet combined.

Second, for the first time in history, generative AI makes access to education and contextual information more accessible than ever before. This opens up a world of opportunities. Imagine a founder from an underrepresented or underestimated community having access to the mentorship of a Fortune 500 CFO—available 24/7 and patient enough to guide them through building the financial projections needed to secure funding. Now, imagine that same level of access for every scenario where a strong network could make all the difference. And imagine that being accessible to everyone.

Lastly, as these changes unfold, storytelling and our human identity will become even more vital. Our ability to build businesses, tell compelling stories, and create digital footprints that allow us to directly communicate with our stakeholders will be crucial. Given these three trends, I believe it’s essential to lay a strong foundation now to take full advantage of what’s to come.

Who is your mentor and what is the best advice they’ve given you?
I don’t think of mentors in the traditional sense. Instead, I proactively invest in relationships with those who have earned wisdom—learning from their lived experiences and insights gained over the years, both personally and professionally.

In the same way, I’m proactive in sharing what I’m learning and how I’m applying that earned wisdom in today’s environment. It’s more of a flywheel of shared insights, where I also go out of my way to pass on what I’ve learned to the next generation. If done correctly, this exchange of knowledge moves us all forward.

If I were to pick one piece of advice that has stayed with me, especially since the pandemic, it’s the value of pragmatic optimism—the belief that with intentional investment, the future can be better than today, but it also requires an honest assessment of all the variables to be intentional with the solutions.

What piece of content about you or your company are you most proud of?
The piece of content I’m most proud of is an article titled “Activating the Next Generation of Minnesota-Based Angel Investors” published on Forge North. It encapsulates the work we’re doing to empower the next wave of investors and highlights the broader impact we’re aiming to make within the community.

What publication do you hope to appear in next?
I want to appear in publications that accomplish two things:

First, I’m looking for platforms that make the principles behind this new approach to strategic communication more accessible to as many people as possible, particularly entrepreneurs in underrepresented communities.

Second, I want to be featured in outlets that allow me to provide a blueprint for the next generation of leaders, showcasing what’s possible and inspiring them to challenge the status quo.

Publications like WIRED, AD, ADWEEK, and Inc. come to mind as ideal places to share these ideas and inspire others.

Who would you love to be interviewed by?
I think I would enjoy having a thoughtful discussion about the impact of executive online platforms becoming the standard for corporate strategic communication with Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher on their Pivot podcast.

If you had to give a TED Talk tomorrow, what would the title be?
"From Commanding the Room to Curating Your Narrative: The Evolution of Executive Presence in the Digital Age."

What award would mean the most to win?
I haven’t given much thought to awards, as I tend to measure success by the tangible impact I’m able to create. However, if I had to choose one, it would likely be Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Mainly because of the opportunity for visibility it creates, particularly for my son and his generation, allowing them to see what’s possible from a much earlier age.

What makes zero sense to you?
What makes no sense to me is that we have clear data—both qualitative and quantitative—showing the need for change. Yet, there are those who actively go out of their way to justify keeping things as they are, often at the expense of progress.

What’s a word in your industry you hope gets re-evaluated?
I’d say the term "personal branding" is outdated and limits the investment needed to truly see the value of establishing a platform to communicate with stakeholders. In today’s environment, the goal extends beyond marketing—it’s about strategic communication and leadership. The results should be treated as an extension of one’s executive presence, encompassing strategic communication, marketing, and stakeholder audience development.

What game are you changing?
We’re entering a new era—a renaissance of innovation fueled by AI and the restructuring of the internet around people, also known as the creator economy. With this shift comes significant change and opportunities to level the playing field for entrepreneurs and small business owners. I’m excited to help make these opportunities more accessible, empowering them to embrace this new landscape and thrive in it.

What’s the next thing you’re a part of that you want to invite more people to participate in?
I’m committed to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs—not just startup founders or small business owners, but also non-profit executives who are dedicated to doing things differently. To make this happen, it’s essential for public and private sector institutions, along with ecosystem builders, to align their efforts around a shared vision for the future.

Where can we follow you online?
I’m most active on LinkedIn and Threads:

What’s one thing that makes every leader better?
I believe the one thing that makes every leader better is embracing and modeling pragmatic optimism—starting with themselves and extending to their teams, customers, families, and colleagues. It’s about acknowledging the reality of the world and the circumstances as they are, while remaining hopeful that solutions can be found to move our missions forward.

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We’re grateful to each RISING ICON for their transformative work. Thank you, Garrio, for sharing your story!

LAUREL is a media relations partner for bold leadership. For nearly a decade, we’ve helped leaders build effective strategies for scale and growth specializing in key opinion leadership and go-to-market strategy for emerging brands. To follow along with the RISING ICONS series, nominate a leader or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter. To accelerate your own rise, get our free guide to elevating your leadership profile, FIT(lite). RISING ICONS is made possible by grant funding from Knight Foundation


We’re entering a new era—a renaissance of innovation fueled by AI and the restructuring of the internet around people, also known as the creator economy. With this shift comes significant change and opportunities to level the playing field for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
— Garrio Harrison

Notice: It’s important for our readers to understand the origin of the interview content. The featured ICON contributed responses that were not edited from the original submission. All claims are made solely by the contributor and do not reflect the views of LAUREL or its partners. Thank you for supporting innovation leaders. We’re convinced, the future is bold.

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RISING ICON #103: Sabrina Rucker

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RISING ICON #101: Jacob Miller