She Runs It The Podcast: Recent Episodes
She Runs It
Lynn Branigan, President and CEO of She Runs It, explores the state and future of the industry with marketing leaders who are shaping the future. In these candid conversations and in-depth interviews, innovators share their strategies for building brands and businesses, pursing inclusion and diversity, balancing life and work, mastering technology, helping the planet, and more. Tune in for these fearless and forthright conversations with modern marketers who are building brands, pursuing equity, and changing the world.
A Chart-Topping C-Suite Meet
She Runs It is proud to feature Dana Droppo, Billboard’s Chief Brand Officer, in a C-Suite Meet fireside chat on May 9th moderated by Alli Webb , Founder of Drybar and N.Y. Times Bestselling Author. The two will discuss Dana’s career journey, her passion for supporting women in media, and how she has learned to go slow, take breaks, and never quit. Throughout her career as an executive, media producer and writer, Dana has become an industry leader in multi-platform storytelling with a laser focus on revenue-driving partnerships and innovation. She energizes the people around her to work hard and enjoy themselves along the way. This dynamic and candid conversation will be off the charts. Don’t miss it.
Inclusion in Leadership and Corporate Culture. The marketing industry continues to make progress against DEI goals, but a particular gap prevails at the senior most level of our organizations, where women and people of color are underrepresented. In a recent conversation to honor Women’s History Month, She Runs It President and CEO Lynn Branigan spoke to Publicis Groupe’s Renetta McCann and MilkPep’s Yin Woon Rani about the role of corporate culture in lifting underrepresented leaders to the C-Suite and beyond, with an emphasis on strategies and actions that can break down the barriers.
She Runs It. He Gets It.
Often the greatest accelerants for women into leadership roles are sponsors who already reside in the C-suite – currently 70% white men – who recognize the value of gender parity at the top. This often results in the formation of Dynamic Duos: women leaders with collaborative male counterparts who support and lift each other. In this conversation that celebrates Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day theme “Inspire Inclusion”, Renee Appelle, Head of Global Partnerships and Strategy at Vox Media; and Peter Naylor, VP of Ad Sales at Netflix, talk about the give-and-take of partnership, the journey to leadership, and the lessons learned along the way.
Today, We Sit down with Ronnie Dickerson Stewart and Michele Prota to celebrate Women's History Month the topic "Recruiting, Retaining, and Developing Female Talent". The marketing, media and tech industries have witnessed a significant change in the composition of the workforce. Prior to 2020, half of all entry level people were women (50/50), but by 2022 women only comprised 35% of our industry at entry level, and still only 37% in 2023. We often hear the next generation of leaders is looking for something other than “their mother’s career” experience. They want to tap into passions, achieve greater work/life balance, etc. In this Women’s History Month conversation, Lynn Branigan speaks with Anomaly’s Global Chief Talent Officer Michele Prota and leadership coach Ronnie Dickerson Stewart of OhHeyCoach, about what it might take to have more women return to the industry.
One in ten women live in extreme poverty, but there are many things that individuals, companies and leaders can do to lift them. In this conversation in honor of Women’s History Month and the International Women’s Day theme “Inspire Inclusion” She Runs It President and CEO Lynn Branigan talks to Michelle Milford Morse, United Nations Foundation's Vice President for Girls and Women Strategy, about the actions and strategies that can change the trajectory for women in the office and around the world.
In honor of Women’s History Month, and adhering to the theme of International Women’s Day, which is Inspire Inclusion, Lynn Branigan invited two She Runs It Board members to discuss the role of culture in equity and inclusion.Listen to hear inspirational words of wisdom and encouragement from Lynn, Meb Francisco from EssenceMediacom, and Bridgette Scales from Seramount, as they discuss pay equity, workplace culture, and how to overcome challenges that can prevent women from achieving their full potential.
Her superpower is simplifying the complex. Her accomplishments include growing Target’s food and beverage sales by $5 billion. Her focus is on empowering her team to creatively advance the brand and business. And her shopping cart is typically dominated by snacks and drinks to fuel her two athletic kids. Meet Lisa Roath. This 17-year Target veteran recently took the reins as EVP/Chief Marketing Officer, spends her lunch hour with Lynn Branigan and the rest of She Runs It on January 18th 2024. Listen as she shares her career journey and how she thinks about stewarding one of the world’s most well-known and well-loved brands. Hear how she and her team deliver on Target’s purpose of helping all families discover the joy of everyday life while navigating the ever-evolving retail landscape and balancing life in the process.
The Power of The Collective: Igniting Change & Accelerating DEI in 2024
In 2020, corporate America responded to crises with pledges, promises and DEI practices designed to address racial inequity and push toward a more inclusive and diverse workforce. The #Inclusive100 results from 2021 indicated encouraging growth in DEI teams and funding, but the headlines from 2023 suggest a significant retraction. She Runs It’s Multicultural Bootcamp is being curated to unpack and undo these alarming trends. Join The Collective – a braintrust of people determined to use the power of passion to transform inclusive efforts into an enduring movement rather than a fleeting moment – for a day of critical conversation and action-oriented discussion focused on solutions for the coming year.
1:00pm ET
Fireside chat:
Lynn Branigan, President and CEO, She Runs It
Mita Mallick, Author ofReimagine Inclusion & Head of DEI, Carta
1:30pm ET
The Power of AI to Impact DEI: A Conversation with Leading Experts (Panel)
Can bias and exclusion be eliminated in AI? Will it help companies more successfully attract, recruit, develop and retain diverse talent and create more inclusive cultures? Or does it perpetuate stereotypes and flawed thinking by relying on historical data to inform future ideas and actions? The impact of AI on DEI is a complex and rapidly evolving issue, so She Runs It is bringing a team of experts together to discuss the latest research and trends in this area. Learn how to harness AI to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and how to mitigate the risks of bias and discrimination.
Moderator:
Mackenzie Price, PhD, Director, Anti-Bias Initiatives, Dotdash Meredith
Speakers:
Janelle A. James, Senior Vice President, Ipsos UU
Tanmay Manohar, Vice President, People Analytics & Workforce Planning, Paramount
Donna Schut, Head of Technical Solutions Management, Generative AI, Google
2:10pm ET
Break
2:30pm ET
#Inclusive100: The Power of Measurement to Create Progress
For six years, She Runs It has partnered with Seramount and about 50 brands, agencies, publishers, and tech companies to measure progress against DEI goals through an initiative and survey called #Inclusive100. The journey has created some successes, illuminated some persistent challenges, and identified powerful actions that help companies pursue their DEI objectives with greater intention. This session will reveal the results of the 6th annual #Inclusive100 survey, which pivots on the Seramount Inclusion Index. The panel will also discuss the newly designed and streamlined survey that will launch in December, and which has been tailored specifically for companies across the marketing, media, and ad tech industry.
Moderator:
Lynn Branigan, President and CEO, She Runs It
Speakers:
Carol Watson, Global Chief Inclusion Officer, BCW
Ronnie Dickerson Stewart, Founder & Principal, OhHeyCoach
3:00pm ET
The Power of Building your Inclusivity IQ (Workshop)
The Audience, Impact & Intelligence team at Paramount will lead this guided and interactive workshop that is designed based on the findings from Paramount Advertising’s latest study Industry in Progress, a studydesigned to help marketers unlock the power of inclusive advertising.
Workshop participants will be able to walk away with:
- Knowledge on the current state of representation in advertising
- Strategic implications on how to be a more inclusive marketer and advertiser
- A toolkit and framework designed build your Inclusivity IQ and become change agents in their companies
Facilitators:
Mary Kate Callen, VP Audience Impact & Intelligence, Paramount
Karen Vega, VP Audience Impact & Intelligence, Paramount
Denya ChinQuee, Senior Director Audience Impact & Intelligence, Paramount
Shivani Gorle, Senior Manager Audience Impact & Intelligence, Paramount
Michelle Green, Manager Audience Impact & Intelligence, Paramount
3:45pm ET
The Power of the ERG: A discussion on the value of reinvigorating these vital teams (Panel)
Employee Resource Groups exploded during Covid as companies raced to foster healthy cultures and keep employees engaged and connected to one another in a remote environment. While ERGs have struggled post-pandemic to stay engaged, active, and funded, the benefits they provide to a company and its workforce are well documented. In this session, a team of ERG leaders will share their successes, challenges, and current best practices for keeping ERGs vital, vibrant, and supported by leadership.
Moderator:
Lukeisha Paul, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, GroupM US
Speakers:
Pilar Mera, Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, NBCUniversal
Brandi Rand, VP, Group Account Director, Digitas & National Lead for Onyx (Business Resource Group for Black Employees and their allies)
Keith Sherman, (He/Him), Logistics Inbound Coordinator, HelloFresh & Chair for FreshPride, (LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group)
4:30pm ET
In-Person reception begins/Virtual event concludes
Join She Runs It to celebrate our60th Annual Women of the Year – honoring some of the most accomplished and inspirational women in marketing, media and tech. This year we’ll recognize remarkable leaders whose body of work warrants admiration and imitation. We will honor the uncanny ability of these leaders to achieve equal measures of business success and social responsibility.
Honoree, Jeremi Gorman, President of Worldwide Advertising, Netflix
Honoree, Lisa Osborne Ross, Chief Executive Officer, Edelman US
Honoree, Susan Vanell-Charpentier, Senior Director of Purchases, Global Data, Analytics, Media, Marketing Tech and In-store, P&G
Hear from one of the most respected leaders in our industry as Jo Ann discusses her ground-breaking journey to becoming the first woman to run an ad sales organization, the role models who influenced her, leading through failure, and how she’s supporting the next generation of rising media leaders.
Companies are having a hard time creating a culture with so much change. It is more important than ever to find your voice, create your path, speak up for yourself and your needs.
She Runs It and our Midwest Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee proudly present the 11th Annual Multicultural Bootcamp. Join us April 26th, from 1:00 pm-5:30pm CT, for an afternoon of inspiration, instruction, and networking as we seek to create change and shape corporate cultures that proactively invite people of color to join and succeed in our industry.
Alycia Mason is U.S. Chief Customer Experience Officer for McDonald’s and is cited as the reason why McDonald’s can now thank some of its customers by name. A key force behind MyMcDonalds Rewards, Alycia is famous for delivering elevated, memorable, and seamless in-store experiences. She’s also celebrated in her hometown for opening Candycopia, a retail store that sells an array of favorite and small batch treats in Oak Park, Illinois.How does this C-suite exec balance her passions so brilliantly? She’s going to share her playbook with the She Runs It community in a hybrid C-Suite Meet on January 19th. Join us to hear about her strategies (which include exceptionally early wake-up calls), successes and stumbles.
She Runs It has turned the science of mentoring into an art, operating the marketing industry’s most enduring and robust mentoring program. Nearly 500 mentoring pairs participate every year through twice-annual sessions that include live, virtual, and group options available to all She Runs It members. In this conversation, seasoned members (and former chairs) of the mentoring committee – Hanna Gryncwajg, Janine Martella, Allison Doluisio – discuss how the program works, how to get involved, and what benefits await the mentees and mentors who participate.
How does a ninth-grade biology teacher reinvent herself to become the first woman chief marketing officer for one of the world’s largest financial services companies? It took more than an open mind, aptitude, and a well-placed internship for Elizabeth Rutledge to propel herself into a C-suite role at American Express. In this conversation, Elizabeth talks about her journey from Princeton, to a high school teaching role, to the fourth largest card network in the world.
Elizabeth Rutledge, Chief Marketing Officer, American Express
Twenty years ago, Alicia Waters parlayed an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a passion for style and design, and a curiosity about human behavior into a marketing career that started with Gap. Today, as CMO for Crate & Barrel Holdings, Alicia applies a digital-first approach across the company’s product portfolio that spans adults, kids, baby, gift registry, and trade, as well as sister company Hudson Grace. How does a girl from the Chicago suburbs evolve from ice cream scooper in high school to CMO for one of the world’s most respected retail brands … with a two-year stop-over in Paris? Listen to learn how Alicia designs her career, balances her life, activates unexpected partnerships, and embraces new tech platforms.
The journey to the C-Suite is often marked with detours, sprints and pivots. For the DEI executive, the journey has also been complicated by corporate America’s assertive response to the tragedies of 2020. As diversity and inclusion have become business imperatives for marketers, DEI execs in the C-Suite have become artful at leveraging action, advocacy and allyship to drive corporate success. In this conversation you will hear from Sara Porritt, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Omnicom Media Group and Daisy Auger-Dominguez, Chief People Officer, Vice Media Group, DEI leaders who are guiding their companies to measurable outcomes.
Sara Porritt, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Omnicom Media Group
Daisy Auger-Dominguez, Chief People Officer, Vice Media Group
When the pandemic was in full swing, EA Games launched a new Madden mode called “The Yard” to reenergize the video game experience. Designed to recreate the impromptu, creative pick-up football games that once happened only in the “back yard,” EA delivered a new experience that let fans create an avatar, line up anywhere, and play both sides of the ball. As the official soup of the NFL, Campbell’s Chunky entered the game with “Champions of Chunky,” featuring in-game challenges for players and opportunities to win vanity. Chunky walked away with a 35% lift in brand favorability and 29% lift in purchase intent among its target audience. In this Inside Look, you will hear the creators kept their discerning audience captivated to the benefit of an iconic brand.
Ebony Jones | Director of Content, Spark Foundry
Marci Raible | Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Campbell’s Soup
Ekta Chopra already had her work cut out for her in 2019 when e.l.f. Beauty decided to pull out of brick-and-mortar stores and go all digital. She was activating a complete digital transformation when the pandemic put an end to foot traffic and closed the doors on retail stores across the world. The fortuitous transformation turned what would have been a difficult year into one that saw triple digit growth in 2020. Listen to learn how Ekta used TikTok as a marketing tool, and how this tenacious C-Suiter used curiosity, empathy and determination to strangle the Covid beast and propel e.l.f. to be the second most preferred brand for GenZ.
Ekta Chopra, Chief Digital Officer. e.l.f. Beauty
The She Runs It 2021 Women of the Year event is an incredible evening of inspiration and comradery, celebrating three leaders who have shaped or changed the course of marketing, media, and tech, and who have lifted others while they have risen. Tune in to hear about the journeys of Lynn Lewis, US CEO, UM; Kimberly Paige, EVP, CMO, BET; and Meredith Verdone, former CMO, Bank of America
Lynn Lewis, US CEO, UM
Kimberly Paige, EVP, CMO, BET
Meredith Verdone, CMO, Bank of America
Leaders who are in or approaching the C-Suite rely on a playbook of strategies for success: how to nurture a network, build a personal board of directors, advocate for elevation, and much more. In this session, three industry leaders shared lessons focused on three essential leadership skills: Diplomacy, Financial Acumen, and Sponsorship/Allyship,
Catherine Davis, industry consultant and former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Feeding America
Terri Hines, Executive Vice President, Communications, FOX Sports
Tariq Hassan, Chief Marketing Officer, Petco
The multiple crises of 2020 forced most people to reevaluate their finances: how they spend, save, invest, and earn. The new rules of pandemic life also allowed people to think differently about where they live and work, and how they allocate time and money. Some weathered 2020 as a full-time employee, others as gig workers, others perpetually seeking the next opportunity. As 2021 dawned, it demanded a “leveling up” for most people in marketing, media, and tech. This conversation explored economic strategies that still apply today.
Sally Holmes, Editor In Chief, Marie Claire, Hearst
Kara Stevens, Founder and Content Creator, The Frugal Feminista
Alexandria Streid, Chief Product Officer, Ellevest
Carrie Seifer, General Manager, GWI
At Kellogg North America, Gail oversees end-to-end consumer experiences and leads marketing transformation – including process, structure, talent, and technology. In this virtual session, Gail talked about her journey through executive creative, digital/e-commerce roles at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Time Inc., Conde Nast, Zagat Survey, and the award-winning food site epicurious.com, and how those experiences shaped her approach to problem-solving, navigating disruption, and the culture she is building among the marketers at Kellogg.