Pierre Rogers is CEO and Co-Founder of FuguTech and a speaker with over 15 years of experience leading teams and presenting to audiences across financial services, technology, and professional development. He held leadership roles at Columbia Management (Bank of America) and Prudential Investments before co-founding his own company.
In 2019, Pierre's world changed when he failed to supervise his best friend and chief financial officer, received a wire fraud charge, and served 18 months at a federal prison camp. That experience became the foundation for his speaking practice, Built by Failures, where he helps organizations build cultures of accountability, resilience, and second-chance leadership. Pierre has presented for MSPAlliance, spoken on Capitol Hill, and works with HR leaders, executives, and professional associations nationwide.
2 topics · no fee, no honorarium, no mileage
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Every organization says they value learning from failure, but when someone actually fails, the typical response is termination — not development. This creates a culture where people hide mistakes, avoid risk, and quietly disengage. The cost shows up in turnover, stalled innovation, and teams that play it safe.
Pierre Rogers makes the case for building a second-chance culture — one where accountability and redemption coexist. Drawing from his own experience as a former executive who went from the boardroom to federal prison and back, he gives leaders a practical framework for coaching through setbacks, designing training that treats failure as data, and tapping into the overlooked talent pool of people who have already learned the hardest lessons. This talk is ideal for HR professionals, business owners, and leadership teams.
Pierre Rogers was a financial services executive leading teams at Columbia Management and Prudential Investments. Then he failed to supervise his best friend and CFO, received a wire fraud charge, and spent 18 months in a federal prison camp. Most people assumed his career was over. Instead, that failure became the foundation for everything he built next.
This talk is for anyone who has experienced a major setback — personal or professional — and wonders whether they can come back from it. Pierre shares the specific mindset shifts, daily disciplines, and relationship rebuilds that turned his lowest point into a launchpad. Audiences leave with a practical framework for transforming failure into fuel, not just an inspirational story.
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