Speaker Bios
Bridget Brennan
CEO
Female Factor
Author, Why She Buys
@bridgetbrennan
Bridget Brennan is a pioneer in developing business strategies that appeal to women, the world’s most powerful consumers. She is the CEO of business strategy firm Female Factor, and author of the acclaimed book Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World’s Most Powerful Consumers (Crown Business, July 2009). Her book was called “essential reading” by The Wall Street Journal and “required reading for anyone burdened with a Y chromosome” by Fortune Small Business. It was named a “Top 10 Marketing Book of 2009” by MediaTrust. A recipient of numerous industry awards, Bridget was named U.S. Public Relations Agency Practitioner of the Year by PR News for her work in applying gender psychology to communications.
Bridget has served as an instructor at Northwestern University’s Graduate Program in Marketing Communications in the Medill School, and has guest lectured at the Kellogg School of Management, the top-ranked business school in the U.S., and at industry conferences worldwide. She is a member of the Forbes Executive Women’s Advisory Board and is a contributing writer for Forbes on the subject of marketing and selling to women.
She developed her expertise as an agency executive, creating programs for major clients such as Whirlpool Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Pizza Hut, Colgate-Palmolive, United Airlines and AT&T, among others. Previous to founding Female Factor, Bridget ran the consumer marketing practice of Edelman’s Zeno Group, and founded that agency’s Speaking Female division. Bridget is a founder of the Marketing to Moms Coalition, a member of the Network of Executive Women and the National Speakers Association. A graduate of Texas A&M University, she is based in Chicago.
Pepper Miller
President
The Hunter-Miller Group
Author, Black (Still) Matters In Marketing
@nsightguru
Pepper Miller founded The Hunter-Miller Group (HMG), a leading edge market research and strategic planning firm in 1985. Since then, Pepper and her company have provided real (vs. invented) insights that have helped many Fortune 500 companies effectively and positively connect with Black America. Some of these companies include: American Airlines, Allstate, AARP, General Mills, Ford Motor Company, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Procter and Gamble, Radio One and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
In 2005, Pepper and the late Herb Kemp authored What’s Black About It? Insights to Increase Your Share of a Changing African-American Market, which is considered by many to be the most important book on African-American cultural marketing insights.
Black (Still) Matters In Marketing, Pepper’s newest book, invites marketers to raise their cultural IQ about Black America for brand survival.
Pepper has been an invited speaker at many corporations and importantly is delighted to be welcomed back to the M2W® stage, where she was the recipient of the 2006 and 2012 Take the Cake Best Speaker Award.
Kathy Oneto
Vice President, Brand Strategy
Anthem Worldwide
@AnthemWorldwide
At Anthem Worldwide, Kathy Oneto leads client and brand engagements across a range of industries from consumer packaged goods to retail to technology. These engagements can include brand positioning, portfolio and range architecture, innovation, and facilitation. Kathy is also responsible for thought development, including Anthem’s Sightings, quarterly reports on trends in marketing, innovation, branding, and design. In the last year she wrote the paper “Today’s Women: Newfound Power, Persistent Expectations,” from which her talk will be inspired.
Kathy brings to her role a blend of client-side brand marketing and general business management knowledge, complemented with consultative experience. Prior to Anthem, Kathy co-founded and was Vice President of Marketing of a natural food start-up where she was responsible for defining the brand and business proposition and was instrumental in bringing the business to life. Before that at Clorox, she developed a solid grounding in base brand management, new product innovation, and retailer marketing. She managed the Kingsford base brand where she drove the new business strategy process resulting in a revised brand strategy and positioning. She developed the first truly collaborative co-marketing program with Wal-Mart in her retailer marketing role, and she led innovation on multiple brands including Glad trash and Fresh Step cat litter. Earlier in her career, Kathy worked at A.T. Kearney, Young & Rubicam, and Burson-Marsteller.
Kathy graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Commerce and has an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Michele DeKinder-Smith
Founder
Linkage Research & Consulting
Author
Billions In Her Briefcase
Michele DeKinder-Smith, founder of Linkage Research & Consulting, has conducted strategic marketing research with Fortune 500 clients and their agencies for the past 20 years. She has also conducted a large body of research with the entrepreneur market and has interviewed over 5,000 women business owners on a variety of topics and has segmented the market based on their goals and needs.
Michele is a sought-after speaker at entrepreneurial conferences and has authored two research-based books for women business owners: See Jane Succeed: Five Types of Entrepreneurial Women Reveal What it Takes to Win in Business and in Life and co-authored See Jane Collaborate: Your Essential Guide to Joyful and Prosperous Business Partnerships. Her upcoming book, Billions in Her Briefcase: Building a Brand Women Business Owners Love, shares groundbreaking research companies can use to engage this growing market.
Michele holds a Master of Marketing Research (MMR) degree from the prestigious program at the Terry College of Business, University of Georgia and maintains an expert-designation Professional Researcher Certification (PRC).
Jennie Purtell
SVP, Group Account Director
TRIS3CT
Jennie Purtell oversees the Kimberly-Clark team at TRIS3CT, leading and shaping brand strategy and program development across Scott, Cottonelle and VIVA. Trisect is AOR for all three brands. With more than 12 years of experience working on brands such as McDonald's, Herbal Essences, Olay and MillerCoors, Jennie also leads the agency’s Business Development function and is responsible for new business and growth. Trisect’s active client roster includes Kawasaki, Kimberly-Clark, ConAgra Foods, Newell Rubbermaid Office Products, DeVry University, and US Cellular.
Jennie is a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with an MBA in Marketing, Management and Strategy and Entrepreneurship. She also holds a BA from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Jennie is thrilled to be speaking; this marks her first appearance at the M2W® conference.
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Fatima Whitaker President and Founder Whitaker International |
Fatima Whitaker has worked in many areas of the fashion industry as a designer and trend forecaster. She is the founder of Whitaker International, a retail strategic planning firm based in New York City since 1992. Whitaker International has a unique vision of consumers based on style preferences rather than “fashion” demographics or statistics alone, finding new potential growth opportunities for their clients. The company’s proprietary Lifestyle Method, workshops and product development bring integration and clarity to all areas of their client’s business based on the question “Who is the Customer?”.
Fatima became actively involved in studying and developing collections for private brands targeting to the global consumer. International clients include Wal-Mart International, Macy’s, Nordstrom, J.C Penney, L.L Bean, Ralph Lauren Home, Coin, El Corte Ingles, Printemps, Tangs, Renner, Pernambucanas, Hering and Grendene.
Fatima has been invited to speak at several conferences around the world, including the International Council of Shopping Centers, International Association of Department Stores, National Retail Federation, Global Salon Business Awards, Cosmoprof and World Future Society, among others. Fatima and her partner, Inge Lehmann, have taught a full semester course entitled "Visual Aesthetics and Style in Retail Merchandising", at the Wharton Business School. She is a graduate of Studio Berçot in Paris.
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Ann Willoughby
Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Willoughby Design
@willoughbykc
Ann Willoughby is the founder and chief creative officer for Kansas City-based Willoughby Design (est. 1978), a strategic brand innovation and design firm that has developed brand identities and campaigns for national and international companies such as Kauffman Foundation, the United Nations, Hallmark, Lee Jeans, Hershey’s and Einstein Bros. Bagels.
A nationally-recognized figure in the design community, Ann has been a co-chairperson of the AIGA Business and Design Conference in New York; served on the National Board of Directors for AIGA; and was a founding board member of the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design. She also was Kansas City’s first national AIGA fellow (AIGA is the professional organization for design).
Ann also was recognized as one of the top 20 international identity designers in the book Masters of Design: Logos and Identity – A collection of the most inspiring brand identity designers in the world published in 2008 by AIGA. Most recently, she was named Joyce C. Hall professor of design by the Kansas City Art Institute. Ann is the mother of two grown children and a lifelong champion of women in business, mentoring women at Willoughby and through various teaching positions.
Jennifer Nobui
Brand Manager, Huggies
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
With 12 years of experience in brand management, mergers and acquisitions, accounting and corporate finance, Jennifer Nobui has a proven track record of turning innovation into financial delivery. In her current role as a Brand Manager on the Huggies brand at Kimberly-Clark, Jennifer is responsible for driving innovation and category growth on the baby wipes business. Working on brands such as Cottonelle, Scott and Huggies, Jennifer has a detailed understanding of women and their unmet needs. Jennifer holds a bachelors in business administration and a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Business.
Melissa Routhier
VP, Group Creative Director
TRIS3CT
@tris3ct
Melissa Routhier currently leads the Kimberly-Clark creative team as Group Creative Director, managing all creative development across rolled paper products for VIVA, Scott and Cottonelle. With more than 15 years of brand marketing experience, she specializes in marketing to women by way of clients including Disney, Hallmark, Kellogg’s and Procter & Gamble. Trisect’s active client roster includes Kawasaki, Kimberly-Clark, ConAgra, Newell Rubbermaid Office Products, DeVry University, and US Cellular.
Mel comes from a military family and grew up in Europe, where she became fluent in German. She graduated from the University of Texas in Austin, securing a BS in Advertising. Mel is thrilled to be a part of this conference, as this is her first speaking opportunity with M2W®.
Megan Stephens
Principal
Willoughby Design
@megapop
Megan Stephens is principal in charge of brand strategy and voice at Willoughby Design, a woman-owned brand innovation and design firm. With a focus on brand identity, retail experience and packaging, Megan specializes in people-centered design thinking to create the stories and visual languages that define, express and emotionally position brands in the marketplace.
Over the past few years, Megan has played a key role in positioning Willoughby for the future around the firm’s core expertise and passion, designing brand experiences that delight and inspire everyday life – especially for women. She has directed work for a range of clients including Panera Bread, Hershey’s, Wonder Bread, Kohl’s, Lee Jeans, Buckle, EK Success and the United Nations.
Megan's award winning work has appeared in Graphis, Communication Arts, HOW, Print, AIGA Design Competitions and the ADDY Awards. She has been with Willoughby for 15 years and lives in Kansas City with her husband, two sons and dog, Gordon.
Regan Mik
Senior Planner, Planning & Activation
The Pert Group
@thepertgroup
From ideation to activation, Regan Mik creates a forward-thinking environment for brands to innovate, differentiate and evaluate. No matter what business challenge is being addressed, Regan works toward creative solutions that meet the clients’ needs. Regan’s holistic perspective – combining her social psychology background with secondary, quantitative and qualitative research experience – leads to actionable insights for clients and a clear roadmap for accelerating growth. An active blogger, you can find her series on “The Business of Women” on The Pert Group blog. Regan holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY Potsdam and a master’s degree in social psychology from the University of Connecticut.
Jim Lucas
EVP, Global Director, Insights and Strategy
Anthem!
Anthem Worldwide
@AnthemWorldwide
As Global Director of Global Insights and Strategy, ANTHEM!, Jim’s focus on motivations and barriers has helped retailers, manufacturers, and service providers to deliver value-added experiences. The acknowledged founder of the science of retail ecology, he is internationally recognized as an experienced marketer and leading retail expert. Jim brings more than two decades of experience to today’s changing retail landscape. He is one of the industry’s foremost practitioners and known as a leading authority on the science of understanding how consumers interact with brands and how they behave in retail environments.
During his more than 20 years in the marketing industry, Jim has served as director of strategic planning and research at Draft Chicago, director of planning and research at Frankel in Chicago, and director of analytics and modeling at Krumm & Associates LLC. His clients have included, among others, Beiersdorf, Burger King, Coca Cola, CVS, DelMonte, Kellogg, Kmart, Kraft, McDonald’s, MilkPep, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, SC Johnson, Target, USPS, Walgreens and Yum Brands.
Lucas has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and University of Chicago. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago and his MA from Loyola University in Chicago. He is a frequent speaker at leading industry forums including the Cannes Int’l Advertising Festival, Cosmeceuticals Conferences, In-Store Marketing Institute and POPAI.
Judy Molnar
Vice President
Iron Girl
@JudyMolnar
@TheIronGirl
Judy Molnar has had the unique opportunity to find balance between her passion and vocation by making a difference in women’s lives through what she has accomplished personally and leveraged professionally with the development of the Iron Girl brand and event series.
Judy's own personal pursuit of a healthy lifestyle came after many years of failed diets and struggling with her weight. One day, she noticed on a doctor's checkout sheet that she had become a statistic: morbidly obese. It was at that moment that Judy's weight was no longer about a certain dress size, vanity or how she looked to others. Since that day, Judy has lost over 100 pounds. Still a plus-sized, full figure woman, she continues to work on losing more.
When Judy launched the Iron Girl event series, the mission was to lead the Iron Girl brand in a new direction from just triathlon clothing to a lifestyle brand that focuses on women’s events and all the products and services that support that lifestyle.
She has participated in over 35 triathlons and numerous 5K, 10K and marathon events. In 1998, Judy attempted the Ironman Triathlon World Championship (2.4 mile swim/112 mile bike/26.2 mile run), recognized as the world’s most challenging endurance event, but did not finish. Judy returned to Hawaii in 1999 where she accomplished her goal.
Judy is the founder and former coach of the Chub Club, as seen on the Rosie O’Donnell Show in 1999 where she inspired and motivated more than 300,000 people to follow her mantra: "Eat less move more.”
Judy was employed for eight years at a nationally-ranked sales promotion and marketing firm as a Senior Account Executive, handling Fortune 500 consumer brand accounts. She is a graduate of Clemson University with a degree in Political Science and Theatre. She holds a professional certificate from the University of California San Diego in Fitness Instruction/Exercise Science, is a Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant and Personal Trainer from the American Council on Exercise. Judy is also a USA Triathlon Level 1 Certified Coach and author of the book You Don't Have to be Thin to Win.
She currently lives in Florida with her husband Rick and their famous dog model.
Doug Levy
Founder and CEO
MEplusYOU
Co-Author
Can’t Buy Me Like
@MPYagency
@DougLevy1
Doug Levy is co-author of Can’t Buy Me Like: How Authentic Customer Connections Drive Superior Results, to be published by Penguin in March 2013, and founder and CEO of MEplusYOU, a leading strategic and creative agency. Doug believes that businesses can outperform their competitors by building more authentic customer relationships. He sees marketing as a powerful but largely untapped force, undermined by the prevalent orientation of persuasion.
Through his agency and speaking engagements, Doug shows companies and their leaders that the most successful marketing draws on a different mindset – an orientation around fostering authentic and sustainable relationships. Simply put, he’s helping companies thrive in an environment where the winning formula has changed.
Doug and his agency’s client portfolio span many industries and include some well-known companies, such as Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Pizza Hut, Louisville Slugger, Dannon, and Sallie Mae.
Bob Garfield
Advertising & Media Industry Critic
Editor at Large, MediaPost
Co-Host, NPR’s On the Media
Co-Author
Can’t Buy Me Like
@Bobosphere
Bob Garfield is probably the most prominent commentator and analyst of advertising and marketing who has ever lived, although bear in mind he personally wrote this sentence. His weekly MediaPost column explores the frontiers of 21st-century marketing and media. His bi-weekly column for the Guardian does the same but adds a “u” to “labour.”
For 25 years, his AdReview column in Advertising Age evaluated, vetted, parsed, deconstructed and offered uncanny prognostications for thousands of ads from hundreds of agencies worldwide based on such criteria as strategy, communication, taste, ethics, brand relevance, cultural relevance and craftsmanship. Over the past decade, he has also famously – and presciently – chronicled the digital revolution, culminating in his landmark 2009 book, The Chaos Scenario. His previous book, the 2003 manifesto on advertising, And Now a Few Words from Me, is published in eight languages – including, of course, Bulgarian.
In another life, Garfield is co-host of National Public Radio’s weekly Peabody Award-winning magazine program “On the Media”. For many years, Garfield was the advertising analyst for ABC News. He’s been a regular on the Financial News Network, CNBC’s “Power Lunch” and “Adam Smith’s Money Game” on PBS. He’s been a contributing editor for The Washington Post Magazine, Civilization and the op-ed page of USA Today. He has also written for The New York Times, Atlantic, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Wired, and many other publications.
As a lecturer, panelist and emcee, he has appeared in 37 countries on six continents, including such venues as the Kennedy Center, the U.S. Capitol, the Rainbow Room, Broadway’s Hudson Theatre, the Smithsonian, Circus Circus casino, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (Grand Ole Opry), the Federal Trade Commission, the United Nations, Harvard, Columbia and Princeton Universities and, memorably, a Thai kickboxing ring in Cape Town, South Africa.
Julie Cole
Co-Founder and Vice President
Mabel’s Labels
@mabelhood
@juliecole
Julie Cole is a mother of six and co-founding VP of Mabel’s Labels, the leading provider of labels for the stuff kids lose!® After her eldest son was diagnosed with autism, she shelved a legal career to monitor his therapy and launch a business that would strike a better work/life balance. Mabel’s Labels has since grown from basement start-up into an award-winning, celebrity-loved phenomenon, featured on The View, Today, The Early Show, Rachael Ray, LIVE! with Regis and Kelly, People. com, Forbes.com, and in Parents, In Style, Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, and countless other media outlets. It was named to Inc.com’s list of 20 Awesome Facebook Fan Pages and Hubspot’s The 15 Best Facebook Pages You’ve Ever Seen. As company spokesperson, Julie is well known amongst North American mom entrepreneurs, with her dynamic personality making her an in-demand speaker everywhere from university business classes to TV and radio shows, including a regular spot as parenting expert on HLN’s Raising America (Atlanta) and CH Morning Live. In addition to interviews and articles in major print publications, she is a syndicated blogger whose writing has also appeared in Chicken Soup For the Soul - Power Moms and numerous websites.
Rebecca L. Harris, PhD
Social Media Strategist
General Motors Communications
@GM
Rebecca L. Harris leads the social media team at General Motors Corporate Communications. Her team is responsible for the GM Corporate Facebook and Twitter engagement, video strategy, brand social media strategy and blogger outreach.
Previous to this, Rebecca led the Communications Research and Measurement Strategy team. This team turned data into information and provided strategic counsel to stakeholders, executed surveys and analyzed media.
During her 23-year career at GM, Rebecca has held many different leadership positions. She’s led media integration efforts during major Communications events such as global auto shows, GM’s Centennial in 2008, and numerous product showcase activities. The value she brings focuses on integrating and extending outreach and coverage, specifically in the non-traditional automotive media space.
Working as a “match-maker,” Rebecca marries outreach and coverage in this space. She continually draws on her experiences to provide insight and drive improvement into processes, including bringing new and improved tools and integration to better meet the strategic needs of the organization.
Rebecca’s audience familiarity goes far beyond media. She has also worked in the areas of corporate reputation; employee and dealer communications; service and parts; divisional/brand/marketing; and manufacturing at GM.
Similar to Rebecca’s experience at GM, her academic credentials are many and far reaching. In 1989, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in communication from Saginaw Valley State University. Rebecca earned a Masters degree in business with an organizational communication concentration from Central Michigan University in 1992. While working full-time, she completed her PhD in organizational communications from Wayne State University in 2002.
Verena Sisa
VP/Chief Strategy Officer
Conill
@Conill
@ARGENTINAenLA
As Conill’s senior brand strategist and consumer insights guru, Verena Sisa works across the agency to set the direction of its account planning and consumer understanding efforts for all client businesses.
Since Verena joined Conill, it has been the most awarded agency at the Hispanic Account Planning Excellence Awards for two years running. Her work has been also recognized with Effies and made Jay Chiat Planning Awards’ short list.
Verena has helped brands establish long-lasting and meaningful connections with consumers in diverse categories for clients such as T-Mobile, Toyota, P&G, jcp, Alaska Airlines, The California Milk Processor Board (Got Milk?), Dos Equis/Heineken, Foster Farms, Nissan, Aflac, Volvo, Target, Valvoline and Comcast among others.
Verena’s background spans borders, languages, cultures and consumer markets. She has held strategic planning positions in the U.S. general and African American markets, and in Latin America. Most recently, she was Director of Planning and Research at Grupo Gallegos, where her efforts resulted in most-awarded agency honors at the Hispanic Account Planning Excellence Awards for four consecutive years. She has also held senior strategy posts at Euro RSCG (now Havas Worldwide) and the True Agency.
Verena has taught at the Austral University, one the most prestigious universities in Argentina. She has also made appearances in a variety of media including Forbes, CNN en Español, Univisión and HITN, among others.
Jasper Nelissen
VP/General Manager – Miami
Conill
@Conill
@JJNelissen
A member of Conill’s senior management team, Jasper Nelissen is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency’s Miami office. An inspirational leader with a penchant for unleashing the potential of people, Jasper works across the office’s business portfolio to ensure best-in-class work, strategy and services for clients that include Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Aflac, among others.
Under his leadership since 2010, Conill’s Miami office has accelerated its growth and added several brands to its roster.
Prior to joining Conill, Jasper served as Director of Global Reinvention for the agency’s parent organization, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide. In that role he helped design the network’s signature process of working and developed transformation programs to raise productivity, while igniting creativity. He has trained and developed Saatchi people across Europe, Asia and the United States. Jasper has also managed organizational change in a number of key markets, including Germany and the Netherlands.
Before embarking on his agency career, Jasper was a Project Manager for a consulting firm in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he managed projects ranging from housing to organizational change for companies in the private and public sectors. Jasper holds an MBA from Cambridge University, where he remains actively involved with the Judge Business School, teaching and lecturing at its annual Creativity Workshop. He is also an elected member of the school's Alumni Advisory Council.
Kathy Sheehan
Executive Vice President and General Manager
GfK Consumer Trends, Roper Reports®
Kathy Sheehan is Executive Vice President and General Manager of GfK Consumer Trends, a unit of GfK Custom Research North America. GfK is the fourth largest market research company in the world, with offices in 100 countries and more than 12,000 employees globally. In her current role, Kathy oversees GfK Consumer Trend’s premier consumer trends services -- Roper Reports®, Roper Reports® Worldwide, and the GfK Roper Green Gauge® study on the environment. Together, these services help clients turn insight into inspiration and foresight into advantage worldwide.
Prior to joining GfK, Kathy was the Associate Director of Customer Knowledge at OgilvyOne Consulting, a unit of Ogilvy & Mather. Before joining Ogilvy & Mather, Kathy held several different roles at The Columbia House Company, most recently as Manager, Marketing Planning and Analysis.
Kathy has been an adjunct professor in the Marketing department at LIM College in New York City and has also been a guest lecturer in the Masters in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing program at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) as well as the MBA program at Baruch College. Kathy speaks frequently at various trade events, including the SmartMarketing Conference and a keynote at the American Marketing Association’s “Mplanet” and a Marketing to Women in 2012. In addition, Kathy is also a spokesperson for GfK Roper Consulting and has been quoted widely in various media, including CNBC Business Center, BrandWeek, Advertising Age, and The New York Times.
Kathy received her MBA in International Business and Marketing from Baruch College and her MA in International Political Economy from New York University. As part of this MA program, Kathy spent a summer studying at MGIMO, the Moscow Institute of International Affairs in Russia. Kathy holds a BA from Rutgers University with a double major in Political Science and English and a Russian language minor.
Shea Vaughn
Founder
Healthy Initiative Foundation
@SheaNetics
Shea Vaughn is a corporate trainer in health, wellness & fitness, an author, speaker, master instructor & trainer, life coach, and a recognized spokeswoman for creating individual and business well-being. She is the well-known creator of SheaNetics®, a doctor endorsed revolutionary wellness and exercise lifestyle practice; and the founder of Healthy Initiative, a charity that champions disease prevention through awareness, education and sustainable solutions for building healthy and joyful lives. She hosts SheaNetics® certifications, speaks internationally and has appeared on numerous TV programs including Ellen, The Marilyn Dennis Show and is a regularly featured health & fitness expert on Windy City LIVE and The Best Ever You Network. Her Healthy Initiative Foundation is championing disease prevention with awareness, education and solutions for building healthy and joyful lives. Beginning in Chicago, it is a nationwide strategic partnership effort with the help of supporting corporations, civic leaders and medical and wellness professionals. The goal is to defeat obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and other lifestyle diseases in children and adults with transformational ideas and sustainable programs.
Fara Warner
Editorial Director
AOL
Business, Technology and Entertainment Group
Daily Finance
@FaraWarner
Fara Warner is the editorial director of AOL's Business, Technology and Entertainment Group overseeing editorial strategy for brands including DailyFinance, Moviefone, TechCrunch, and Engadget. She was formerly the editorial director of international special editions at Newsweek/DailyBeast. Fara is the author of The Power of the Purse: How Smart Companies Are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers – Women. She was the Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Michigan from 2007-2010 and is a former senior writer for Fast Company Magazine and staff writer for the Wall Street Journal. Fara holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She was the winner of the Take The Cake Best Speaker Award at M2W® 2006. Fara lives in New York City.
Gemma Cernuda-Canelles
Founder and CEO
Peix & Co.
Author
Ellas Deciden… (Pero Ellos Todavía Mandan)
@PeixCo
Gemma Cernuda-Canelles is Founder of Peix&Co, the first marketing to women company in Spain. Peix & Co. develops communication strategies using quotations from women. Through this unprecedented channel, the company has positioned itself in the ever more competitive world of communication.
As a marketing to women consultant, Gemma writes on branding for publications and takes part in several radio programs. She is the first woman to form part of a number of Spanish associations linked to enterprise, such as CECOT Employers Association and the Chamber of Commerce of Terrassa. Gemma held the position of Vice President of the Advertising Business Association (Associació Empresarial de Publicitat) from 2008 to 2010. She has also been President of the Board of Directors of Asociadis de Inversiones SL since 2007, and she is the Vice President of the European Women's Management Development International Network - Spain.
She is the creator and director of the RETHINKHER Conference, the first international forum on communication and branding focused on women’s purchasing power. She has created leading Spanish market brands, such as “La Sirena” frozen foods.
In 2004, she published En Pocas Palabras (Ed. Lumen), the first anthology ever published in Spain of quotations by women authors from all over the world. Her second book of quotations, 24h/7d Mujer (Ed. Lumen), was published in 2006. The third was published in Spain and Latin America 366 Frases Que Toda Mujer Debe Saber (Ed. Martinez Roca), February 2011. Her fourth book, Gracias, came out last year in Spain (Plataforma Editorial, 2012). Now she is working on the first book on marketing to Women and Feminine Branding in Spain and Spanish; ELLAS DECIDEN… Pero Ellos Todavía Mandan (We Decide… But They Run The Business), to be published late 2013.
As an expert in branding, she has developed an innovative brand mapping through which she suggests new values to analyze the usual brands. She has also created the Manifesto of Feminine Communication, and is the author of the first Spanish-language blog in feminine communication, Ellas Deciden.
Gemma believes feminine communication is based on values. And such values, once strategically put across through our marketing, communication and branding action, will bring about an innate acceptance of the feminine target and of the feminine side that we all, as human beings, have. It is an inclusive, transparent, emphatic, complicit communication... and it reinforces “the importance of being gray” (neither black nor white).
Gemma holds a Master’s degree in Communication Management from the University of Barcelona, Spain and two diplomas from the Columbia Business School, New York.
Marti Barletta
Founder
The Trendsight Group
Author
Marketing To Women and PrimeTime Women
@MartiBarletta
Marti Barletta is the world’s foremost expert on today’s mightiest market – women.
To The Huffington Post, she’s “the High Priestess of Marketing to Women;” to TIME magazine, “the Chief Rabbi of the Sheconomy.” Renowned business guru Tom Peters calls her “the First Lady of Marketing to Women” and says she “is one of the best presenters, male or female, I’ve ever seen.”
Marti Barletta shows you how to get more customers, make more money per customer and keep customers loyal longer - simply by getting smarter about women. Her first book, Marketing to Women, is available in 19 languages,” and her latest book, PrimeTime Women, focuses in on the market’s high-spending sweet spot - Boomer women in their mid-life prime – and shows marketers how to use this prime segment’s growth, size and buying power to propel their business for the next 20 years.
As the go-to authority on marketing to women, women in leadership and women’s growing role in shaping the 21st century, Barletta has been quoted on CBS, ABC, MSNBC and NPR, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, USA Today, Fast Company, TIME, Business Week, Inc., and many other publications worldwide.
Ms. Barletta’s F500 consulting clients have included Diageo, Ford, GE Appliances, Logitech, Pfizer, Volvo and others. Entrepreneurial clients can access her ideas through webinars, self-study seminars and coaching programs.
A popular speaker internationally, she has enjoyed rave reviews on every continent except Antarctica, including in Australia, Chile, Dubai, Japan and Sweden. She has spoken for hundreds of companies, conferences and associations; and across dozens of industries, including consumer products, financial services, travel and tourism, retail and real estate development, to name a few. She is proud to say that numerous clients have booked her for return appearances.
Her dynamic style, command of her subject and passion for her topic make her a popular speaker. Audiences love her practical tactics tailored to the interests of each audience, her lively style and sense of humor, and her memorable stories about men, women and marketing.
Meredith Darnall
VP, Research and Strategy
General Growth Properties Inc.
@GeneralGrowth
Meredith Darnall serves as VP, Research and Strategy for General Growth Properties in Chicago and is responsible for directing the analysis of market and consumer dynamics as well as partnering with the Leasing management team to develop long-term growth strategies for national retailers. Previously, she served as Sr. Director, Market Research, in which she managed retail research in support of market strategies and mall merchandising plans as well as leasing support for all retail assets.
Prior to joining GGP in 2006, Meredith managed site selection and market research for Nordstrom Inc. in Seattle, which included evaluating the potential location strategy for Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores, developing sales forecasting tools and conducting merchandising analysis for the existing store base. Meredith also held positions in the areas of business strategy and planning as well as marketing and public relations while at Nordstrom Inc.
Kerry Lyons
SVP, Marketing
House Party, Inc.
@housepartyinc
@LyonsDenMom
Kerry Lyons manages the House Party brand, online and off.
Kerry joined House Party in 2011, determined to strengthen internally what the company excels at doing for its clients – building brand and driving sales – by infusing the House Party personality into all client and consumer touch points.
Before joining House Party, Kerry’s passion for building brands grew over a decade at some of New York’s leading advertising agencies where she worked on some the world’s best-known brands, including Kellogg’s, British Airways and Johnson & Johnson.
Peter Storck
SVP Research & Analytics
House Party, Inc.
@housepartyinc
@pstorck
Peter Storck oversees strategic research for House Party, an experience-driven social marketing company that drives consumer recommendations, at scale, to build brands and increase sales. His focus at House Party is analyzing the effectiveness of House Party programs and helping marketers see how to use them to strengthen their marketing mix.
Peter has been at the forefront of studying technology’s impact on marketing for over eighteen years, starting at Jupiter Research, where at the advent of the consumer Internet he launched the firm’s online advertising practice, the first of its kind in the world. He later became President of Jupiter, which he helped build into a $65 million syndicated research business. After that, Peter founded and led Points North Group, providing strategic research and insights to top tech, media and marketing companies such as Google, Disney, Dell and many others, blue-chips and startups alike.
Prior to his work in digital marketing, Peter served on state and national political campaigns dating back to 1984 and as an advisor in Congress. He also taught writing at Columbia University.
Peter is a member of the Board of Directors of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and has served in various advisory roles over the years. He has appeared as a digital marketing expert at many industry conferences, as well as in media such as CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Advertising Age. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Bonnie Ulman
President
The Haystack Group
Author
Hustle: Marketing to Women in a Post-Recession World
Co-Author
Trillion-Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers
Understanding the ‘why’ behind the ‘y’ – chromosome, that is – has been a career-long passion for Bonnie Ulman. Once tagged “the quilt” by a colleague, Bonnie can’t think of a better way to describe her eclectic background. From chatting it up with women in carpool lines and grocery store aisles to weaving well-crafted communications and marketing solutions for clients of her firm, The Haystack Group, the thread throughout has been Bonnie’s passion for marketing to women.
In addition to leading her agency, Bonnie, along with colleague Sal Kibler, is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, “Hustle: Marketing to Women in a Post-Recession World,” that examines the long-lasting effects of the Great Recession on women and the impact on brands today. She is co-author of “Trillion-Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers.” She was been a multi-year spokesperson for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, designed and led the first account planning department for MS&L, led the brand group for Ketchum/Atlanta and did a stint at CBS Radio Networks in New York.
Rory Olson
Founder and CEO
WallStreetSurvivor.com
@WallStSurvivor
Rory Olson is a serial tech entrepreneur and angel investor. Currently, Rory is the Founder and CEO of Wall Street Survivor, among the largest interactive financial education sites online. Wall Street Survivor is designed to demystify investing and personal finance, in order to empower the average American to make more educated financial decisions.
Prior to founding Wall Street Survivor, Rory was Founder and CEO of several highly regarded companies, includingTotal.Net, Canada’s largest independent dial-up Internet Service Provider. He was COO of MPACT Immedia, a pioneer in the provision of electronic commerce solutions. When MPACT Immedia merged with Bell Canada’s business unit, Emergis, to form BCE Emergis, he assumed the role of EVP Business Development. He then became a partner and COO of Airborne Mobile, which was sold to Cybrid, a Japanese mobile entertainment company. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of SureFire Commerce, one of the leading card-not-present payment processing companies.
Jen Colton
VP, Director Strategy & Analysis
Starcom
@Starcom_USA
Jen Colton leads the Chicago Strategy & Analysis team at Starcom for Bank of America. Her day-to-day includes managing a team of 20 and overseeing everything from campaign optimization & reporting to advanced analytics to strategic POVs. While her role is rooted in digital, it spans across all channels as the marketing world converges and lines between channels blur.
With 13 years of experience, Jen tried a range of roles before deciding that Strategy & Analysis was her calling. Starting her career as an Engineer, she quickly learned she enjoyed the technical and problem solving aspects but was missing the human connection. After getting her MBA from Georgetown, she joined Tribune Interactive first as a strategic marketing analyst then shifting into product development as a Product Manager responsible for Mobile & Video development. Jen also has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Terry Banet
Chief Investment Officer
SigFig
@SigFigInsights
Terry Banet is an Investment Professional with more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of investment management and private banking including: portfolio management, asset allocation, product development, due diligence, team management and client coverage. Prior to working with SigFig, Terry led US Trust's investment business for the Western Division (approx 90 investment professionals managing in excess of $20B). She also spent more than 20 years at JPMorgan with senior leadership roles including the Chief Investment Officer for the fiduciary business. Terry earned a BS in Accounting from Lehigh University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stephanie Schwab
CEO
Crackerjack Marketing
@StephanieS
Stephanie Schwab, the founder and CEO of Crackerjack Marketing, is a long-time corporate social media practitioner with specific expertise in working with brands focused on women, parents, and teens and tweens. In her 15 years’ experience in digital media, with the last eight focused in social media, she has worked with well-known parenting and lifestyle clients including Target, Graco Baby, Lion Brand Yarn, Kabongo and Skype.
Stephanie is also a well-respected teacher and trainer on social and digital media; as founder of Social Media School she has trained hundreds of small business owners and executives on strategy and execution of social media. She has also trained corporate clients, including Kaplan Test Prep, Puritan’s Pride and BodyWrap, helping their teams develop their social media management skills.
Stephanie previously worked for award-winning PR and social media agencies Kaplow PR and Converseon. She has also been a management strategy consultant in the retail practices as PricewaterhouseCoopers and at LakeWest Group, a boutique retail consultancy. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Strategic Planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A serial entrepreneur, Stephanie is also the founder of the first-of-its-kind conference for digital tweens and their parents, the Digital Family Summit. Stephanie blogs about social media on the Crackerjack Marketing blog and at Social Media Explorer and is a prolific Twitter user; follow her.
Sarah Fromson
Social Media & Digital Marketing Manager, Kmart Apparel
Sears Holdings Corporation
@sfromp
@KmartFashion
Sarah Fromson is the social media and digital marketing manager for the Kmart Apparel business unit at Sears Holdings Corporation. She is responsible for driving brand consideration and engagement through kmart.com, email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and shopyourway.com across the Kmart Apparel business for categories including women’s, men’s and juniors’ apparel and accessories. As part of her role, Sarah oversees the Kmart Fashion and Stylesip social communities focusing on women ages 18-34 and juniors ages 13-17, respectively. Key brands include Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Route 66, Bongo and Dream Out Loud by Selena Gomez.
Sarah previously worked at Ketchum Public Relations supporting clients in the health and wellness division including Kellogg Company, Aetna and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Sarah is a graduate of Northwestern University where she received a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). She holds a BA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Journalism & Mass Communication with a focus on Advertising.
Laura Maness
Chief Growth Officer
Havas Worldwide Chicago
@HavasWWChicago
As US Chief Growth Officer of Havas Worldwide, Laura Maness heads up new business development, organic agency growth and strategic brand building for North America.
She joined Havas Worldwide from San Francisco- and Brooklyn-based Propane Studio, where she was the digital agency’s senior vice president. There, Laura led national business development and marketing efforts while positioning the independent agency for rapid growth.
Prior to Propane, Laura led the West Coast business development efforts for Draftfcb and spearheaded growth initiatives across the agency’s global network and client roster, notably Hewlett-Packard. Before that, she oversaw a period of explosive growth for WPP/Wunderman-owned Designkitchen, and previously held management positions with Chicago-based digital shops Giant Step (now Arc Worldwide) and Black Dog Interactive.
Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and marketing from Loyola University Chicago. In her time outside of the office, she resides with her husband in Chicago’s River North neighborhood (in between frequent visits to Cabo & London).
Kenetta Bailey
Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
TV One
Kenetta Bailey joined TV One as executive vice president and chief marketing officer in October 2011. In this role, she leads and manages all phases of marketing and advertising outreach efforts for TV One. She is responsible for brand strategy development, coordination and execution across the company, including developing creative and media strategies, and leveraging and maximizing advertising and promotional investments.
Most recently, Kenetta was senior vice president of marketing for WE tv and Wedding Central, where she launched some of WE tv’s most successful marketing campaigns, including season premiere campaigns for the hit series Bridezillas, My Fair Wedding with David Tutera, High School Confidential, and Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best, and she was instrumental in the brand launch of the linear network Wedding Central in August 2009.
Before joining WE tv in 2006, she served as group marketing director at NBC Universal’s Telemundo Network. In that role, she led the marketing and production team responsible for driving revenue with creative, client-driven marketing initiatives targeting the Hispanic audience and supporting the network’s upfront and scatter ad sales markets.
Prior to Telemundo, Kenetta spent five years in the music industry. She first served as senior director of strategic business development for RCA Records Label, a division of Sony BMG, and later as vice president of strategic marketing for BMG Music. There, Kenetta led digital, media and other branded partnerships for artists including Christina Aguilera, The Dave Matthews Band, Elvis, Kenny G and Tyrese. Earlier in her career, she held marketing positions at Pepsi-Cola Company and Kraft Foods, where she managed brands and drove consumer affinity. Kenetta’s first experience at marketing to niche audiences began at Pepsi, where she was charged with marketing the brand to the teen audience, overseeing advertising and promotional programs, including the company’s music strategy music initiatives featuring Mary J. Blige and Sean “Diddy” Combs. Kenetta started her career in public relations, and held senior account executive positions at Golin/Harris Communications and Allstate Insurance Company.
Kenetta earned her master’s degree in business administration, master’s degree in journalism, and bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She serves on the board of directors for the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). She is a member and executive mentor for Women In Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and a member of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM). In 2010, The Network Journal named Kenetta as one of its 25 Influential Black Women in Business Awards honorees. Other accolades bestowed on Kenetta have included being named by CableFAX as one of the most influential minorities in cable in 2009 and 2010 and by Multichannel News and WICT as a ‘Women to Watch’ honoree in 2008.
