Speaking Topics
From Storytelling to Storyliving: Building Brands Worth Inhabiting in the Age of AI
Most brands dedicate the lion share of their budgets to product marketing. Faster. Lighter. More durable. They catalog the benefits but fail to articulate a more meaningful narrative.
Great brands stand for something more. They help their customers connect to their purpose and values through immersive storytelling that pulls at the heartstrings and inspires loyalty. The best brands, who are true masters of the craft—Ralph Lauren, Patagonia, Airbnb—go further still: they create aspirational worlds you want to inhabit.
Drawing on 25+ years leading marketing teams at Salesforce, Logitech, and Airbnb, this talk explores how the most compelling brands maintain a singular vision across decades and channels, turning customers into community members and advocates who share a sense of identity and belonging.
With AI making it simple to generate content at scale, maketers who are deliberate and cautious in their use of the tools, who take the time to carefully craft their story– will build brands that endure. This talk aims to inspire marketing leaders to persevere– in building narratives, shaping culture, and creating meaning.
Target Audience: C-Suite Leaders, Marketing and Communications Professionals
The Power of Yes: Personal Development and Career Growth
In today's competitive talent landscape, companies that actively foster internal networks and mentorship see higher retention, stronger leadership pipelines, and more innovative teams. But the "Power of Yes" is a concept that can help anyone move towards their goals. It’s an idea that takes into account the importance of relationship-building and how to foster a culture of mutual support — two things that we all need to succeed. As a media and marketing executive who has led teams through challenging times– including the isolation of remote work– I've seen firsthand how saying "yes" to mentoring, connections, and IRL experiences delivers personal and career growth. Being connected to one another is what makes us human, it’s what inspires us, it’s what lights up new areas of our brain— and it’s more important now than ever before. In this talk, I’ll share some frameworks that have helped me build meaningful relationships, uncover new opportunities, and embrace ambiguity.
Target Audience: Women at all levels of a company, Community Groups, Employee Resource Groups
From Beat Generation to AI Revolution: The Cultural DNA of Silicon Valley
From the counter-cultural roots of the Beat Generation to the distributed and loose networks of early Silicon Valley, the spirit of innovation in the Bay Area is deeply rooted in myth and culture. In this talk, we’ll dig in– to examine how iconic brands like Apple, and leaders like Steve Jobs– helped shape culture with their novel approaches to products and brand building. We’ll look at how the concept of the “crazy ones” who “think different” has shaped today’s technology leaders and the role that San Francisco plays in the culture of tech innovation today. How has the spirit of the American West, embraced by Jack Kerouac, and the sense of place–-specifically, San Francisco— influenced successive waves of technology founders and leaders? After all, it is here in this “great experiment of living” where the people “crazy enough to think they can change the world” are the ones who actually do.
Target Audience: Entrepreneurs, Product, Creative and Marketing Teams, Innovators
