Joel Pennington

Joel Pennington is the Founder and CEO of Blackdot, a tattooing company based in Austin, Texas. Joel has been leading the company in developing innovative technologies and promoting tattoo artistry since 2018.

Prior to Blackdot, Joel worked as part of Bellwether Coffee, the fastest-growing coffee company worldwide. Joel was responsible for customer development and played a crucial role in refining the company's pricing model and go-to-market strategy.

Joel also founded Slow Turtle Wines, a social impact project that provided co-branded custom wines to establishments while investing a significant portion of the profits in helping entrepreneurs start businesses. Joel put the project on hold to focus on Blackdot.

Before their roles in the coffee and wine industries, Joel worked at Cisco Systems. Joel served as the Head of Global Business Development for Industrial Cyber-Security and later as the Head of Global Sales for Connected Home Services & Management, after the ClearAccess acquisition.

Joel is also closely associated with ClearAccess, a cloud-based remote home networking management platform. Joel played an integral role in the company's growth, holding various positions such as Founder, Managing Director for EMEA, Senior Director of Business Development, and Director of Marketing & Business Development.

During their career, Joel had a brief stint at BearingPoint, where they worked as an Alliance Manager for Australia and New Zealand. Joel also worked as a Senior EMEA Sales Engineer at Jetstream Communications and participated in the Access Networks Leadership Development Program at Nortel Networks.

Joel Pennington attended Clemson University from 1991 to 1995, where they pursued a degree in Computer Information Systems with minors in Marketing and Business. In 2003, they enrolled at Deakin University and completed a Masters in Commercial Law along with an MBA in International Business from 2003 to 2005. During their MBA program, they also participated in a study abroad program at East China University of Political Science and Law, focusing on International Business. Additionally, in 2014, Joel obtained a certification in Winemaking from Texas Tech University.