NACS Human Resources Forum

Matt Havens is an international keynote speaker, former corporate leader, son of a comedian, and firm believer we overcomplicate work by overthinking the solutions. Matt’s high-energy, engaging presentations deliver insightful, actionable strategies – all with a surprisingly entertaining twist.

With 14 years of leadership experience in finance, sales, and customer service at a multi-billion dollar company, Matt gained invaluable in-the-trenches experience that informs his approach to solving business challenges and ensures his message relates with his audiences. Whether tackling change management or building dynamic team cultures, Matt has done it firsthand – including leading a massive strategic overhaul which transformed one of America’s most iconic brands.

Those experiences also taught Matt something was missing in the working world. As the son of a headlining comedian, Matt grew up in the back room of comedy clubs around the world, where he witnessed the infectious impact of laughter. He believes business growth and fun don’t have to be mutually exclusive – a philosophy which has made him a trusted partner for organizations like RE/MAX, Lockheed Martin, Baker Tilly, and Allstate, as well as countless government and industry associations from nearly every trade.

Matt doesn’t just speak about personal and professional growth – he lives it. He recently checked off a major bucket list item by completing an Ironman triathlon, cheered on by his wife and twin daughters. They currently reside in Dallas, TX.

Julie joined Casey's in 1994 as Legal Counsel as its first employment law counsel. She became Vice President of Human Resources/Legal Counsel in 2003 with oversight, in part, of the departments of Human Resources, Payroll, and the Child Development Center. In 2010, Julie was promoted to Senior Vice President, Corporate General Counsel and Human Resources. In August of 2015, her area of focus changed slightly to align with her last position of Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary where she oversaw the Company’s legal, compliance, regulatory and risk areas housed primarily in the departments under her direct supervision of Legal, Enterprise Risk Management, Risk Management (including Worker’s Compensation, Security and Food Safety), and the Project Management Office. She also served as the Company’s secretary with oversight of SEC compliance and coordination of Board matters. Julie served on the NACS Board of Directors for many years culminating with the position of Chairman from 2020-2021.

Before joining Casey's, Julie was an attorney for Shearer, Templer, Pingel &Kaplan. Julie has been active in a number of organizations including the Association of Corporate Counsel (Iowa Chapter), Iowa State Bar Association (past chair of the Corporate Counsel Section), Drake University Law School Board of Counselors and Delta Theta Phi International Law Fraternity, where she served four years as its president. She currently serves on the non-profit Boards for the Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa, the James Arthur Albert Foundation, and the Affiliated House Corporation of Gama Phi Beta at Iowa State University. She is also a board member of SuckerPunch Gourmet LLC.

Julie earned a J.D. from Drake University Law School and a B.A. in political science from Iowa State University. She and her husband Tom are the parents of four children and 1 granddaughter.

About Casey’s: Headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, Casey’s General Stores, Inc. operates more than 2,400 convenience stores in 16 Midwestern states. Casey’s offers self-service fuel, a wide selection of grocery items and an array of freshly prepared food items. Among the most popular of Casey’s prepared food are its made-from-scratch pizzas, donuts, subs and sandwiches. Casey’s operates from three company distribution centers, enabling an approximate delivery of 90% of in-store products as well as 55% of fuel.

Couche-Tard is a global leader in convenience and mobility, operating in 29 countries and territories, with close to 17,000 stores, of which approximately 13,000 offer road transportation fuel. With its well-known Couche-Tard and Circle K banners, it is one of the largest independent convenience store operators in the United States and it is a leader in the convenience store industry and road transportation fuel retail in Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Belgium, as well as in Ireland. It also has an important presence in Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, as well as in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Approximately 146,000 people are employed throughout its network.

Since 2022, Kristian has been a Director of Strategic Projects in North America with Circle K. He is responsible for identifying and executing high impact people and operations related projects across all North American Business Units with focus on improving store performance, team engagement and employee retention.

Kristian was responsible for the global roll out of gamified training across all stores in Europe, US and Canada. For this effort Circle K was awarded Best HR Technology Strategy by HR Excellence awards and was featured on the cover of NACS magazine in 2021.

Laura Varn has more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in the energy industry, focused on Human Relations and Corporate Communications.

As the former VP of People & Culture and Communications and as a member of the Parkland USA executive leadership team, she helped grow the US division tenfold, growing the employee base from 300 to 3000 via 20 acquisitions and organic growth, while building the US HR and Communications divisions from scratch and shaping the culture and systems.

Previously, she served as an executive with South Carolina's largest electric utility and also served in leadership roles with Delta Air Lines and Southern Company. She served as a spokesperson for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta with MARTA.

Varn is a Past Chairman of the Board of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. She is an Aspen Institude Liberty Fellow, a Leadership South Carolina alumnus, a 40 Under 40 award winner and serves on several community boards.

She retired from Parkland USA and formed Laura Varn & Associates to help energy companies solve their HR and communications challenges.