Pickles Group is a nonprofit founded by wonderful friends of mine from childhood/high school, Mark and Carolyn Agnew, following Mark’s cancer diagnosis. Mark was the quarterback of our high school football team, and his beautiful wife, Carolyn, was one of my most cherished dancers in a piece I choreographed in high school.  I have known and admired them for decades, as do so many in our community. Given their resilience as people, it is no surprise they battled valiantly through Mark’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, as did their family. Mark remains a fellow faculty member at Booth today. 

In true Agnew family form, they decided to leverage their experience to improve the lives of other families dealing with the fear and trauma they were that cancer presents. Mark and Carolyn felt there were inadequate support resources for their children in the cancer coping process, and being the great entrepreneurial leader and artistic creators that they are, they set out to build and fund the solution in founding Pickles Group.

When one of my Booth students, and Mark’s, Cassy Horton, joined Pickles as their Executive Director, it put a big smile on my face. Great people deserve to work together.

Now Mark’s longtime friend and co-teacher of Entrepreneurship via Acquisition (the “search fund class” at Booth), Brian O’Connor, is completing a 36-hour “Everesting” feat—climbing 29,029 ft, the height of Mt. Everest—to raise $29,029 for Pickles.

To support Brian’s efforts, Mark’s journey, and great women leaders like Cassy, let alone all the deserving families Pickles supports in remembering that “they are not alone,” you can learn more and share their story here.

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