Elevate Your Brand

Tori is head of operations at Cloud Paper and lives in Seattle, WA. Tori graduated from Cornell University in 2014 and began her career at BlackRock and Convoy before joining Cloud Paper as its first employee in 2019.  Ryan is a Co-Founder at Cloud Paper and based in Seattle, WA. Ryan graduated from the University of Washington in 2012 and almost immediately went into startups. He was previously a...

Merrilee Kick is the CEO/Founder of BuzzBallz, LLC/Southern Champion, located in Carrollton, Texas. She was a high school teacher working on her master’s degree when she invented her flagship product, BuzzBallz®, a premium, premixed cocktail made with natural juices or creams, contained in a unique plastic can. Today, Merrilee owns the only Women-Owned distillery, winery, and brewery combination i...

In September of 2011, Corey Tolkin graduated with a Masters of Education. Although she loved teaching, she knew there was something else out there for her. She had always enjoyed baking with her mom, Julie. Julie, a nursery school teacher at the time, was at a crossroads and decided to take life by the bootstraps and start a business, Whipped Up, with Corey.  They are a mother/daughter team who th...

Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Angela Ruggiero has held several leadership positions at the highest levels of sport, including the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee and Chief Strategy Officer of the 2028 L.A. Olympic bid. She also leads Sports Innovation Lab, a leading sports research revolution, and holds both a B.A. and an M.B.A. from Harvard Un...

Imelda Walavalkar is the CEO and co-founder of Pure Beauty. She has a Masters in Public Health and International and Public Affairs from Columbia University. Before Pure Beauty, she owned and operated Five Spice, a catering company in NYC focused on sustainable and eclectic ingredients. And prior to her foray into food and weed, Imelda focused her efforts on social justice, including work with pos...

Pete Maldonado, a former Personal Trainer, is the Co-founder and CEO at Chomps, the fastest growing natural meat snacks brand in the category.  Chomps was started in 2012 as an eCommerce brand focusing on DTC and Amazon but has since made its way onto the shelves of 8,000 Natural and Conventional Grocery stores across the US including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Walmart, Safeway/Albertsons...

Katie Wilson, former celebrity matchmaker and current IBS-sufferer, spent years struggling with gut health and discomfort. Recognizing the need for more delicious, low-FODMAP, gut-friendly snacks that can be eaten anytime and anywhere Katie and her husband Nick created BelliWelli, one of the only low-FODMAP, gluten-free, vegan, gut-friendly snacks on the market. Katie's mission is to educate...

Bella Hughes is the Co-founder and President of Shaka Tea, the first line of Hawaiʻi-grown, RTD iced teas on the market. Born and raised in Oʻahu, Bella was inspired to brew tea with māmaki, an ancient, adaptogenic superleaf that’s only found on the Hawaiian archipelago. She founded the company with her husband in 2016 out of a love for her home and a desire to bring a healthy and authentic Hawaii...

Bina Motiram and Dana DuFrane formed a friendship in the corporate world and soon after launched SugarRoti, a start-up that provides innovative products that modernize cooking without compromising tradition and flavor. SugarRoti is committed to sustainability every step of the way, from its compostable packaging to its sustainable sourcing in the supply chain to using organic ingredients wherever...

Cody Derner and his wife founded KrackCorn in January 2020 from their home kitchen, launching on retail shelves in August of 2020 around the Denver, CO metro area. They have since expanded into their production facility, grown distribution lines regionally and have upcoming launches with Kroger and Safeway/Alberstons among others in select regions (Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, D...

Sarah Alter is president and CEO of the Network of Executive Women, a nonprofit learning, leadership and gender equality advocacy organization of 13,500 members (representing nearly 900 organizations), 300+ national and regional corporate partners, and 22 regional groups in the United States and Canada. NEW advances gender equality and diversity in the retail, consumer goods, financial services an...

Jesse Lyon is the founder and chair of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s multi-discipline, nationwide Food + Beverage practice group. He has devoted his legal career to serving high growth businesses in the food and beverage, new school agriculture, and alcohol supplier sectors.  He is especially recognized for his own work counseling clients in joint ventures, strategic alliances, and M&A transacti...

Sofi Newmyer is the Founder and CEO of Ma’am Shoes, a new line of elevated, everyday footwear for modern women. The line was crafted for women leading busy lives who want to invest in high quality products that can take them from grabbing their first cup of coffee in the morning, to (eventually) a day of meetings, an evening event, and everything in between. Every pair is comfortable, stylish, and...

Kristopher DeSoto is the founder of Hiatus Tequila and lives by the mantra Carpe Diem. Between his passion in experiencing life beyond his borders and a career in helicopter sales and marketing, he was fortunate to travel the world, visiting more than 50 countries and even scaling Mount Kilimanjaro. Raised in Texas, he was introduced to tequila early on and, since then, has traveled throughout Mex...

Jill Koziol is the co-founder and CEO of Motherly a wellbeing brand empowering mothers thrive. She is also the co-author of "The Motherly Guide to Becoming Mama: Redefining the Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Journey" and "This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections and Practices". Jill is passionate about serving and empowering women and mothers because when mama...

Lisa Choi Owens is the Chief Revenue Officer and a Director of TED. TED is a non-profit committed to engaging with the world’s most inspired thinkers to share ideas worth spreading.  Lisa is responsible for assuring that TED continues to grow its reach and impact as a global media platform through strategic partnerships with mission-aligned organizations around the world. Her mandate is to collabo...

Jonathan Eppers is the CEO & Founder of VYBES, a functional wellness brand crafting beverages made with cannabinoids & adaptogens that improve well-being. VYBES has helped pioneer an emerging category of functional wellness beverages specifically addressing mental health using plant-derived ingredients. Prior to VYBES, Jonathan was the CEO & Founder of RadPad, an end-to-end rental mark...

Marie-Anne is a 32 year old from Paris, mom of a 2-yo little girl. She has a background in marketing and media, and joined Perifit in 2020 to help the company grow and make the product available to as many women as possible worldwide. At Perifit, Marie-Anne leads marketing, communication and distribution. Perifit is a connected solution for autonomous pelvic floor rehabilitation. It combines biofe...

Diagnosed with breast cancer at 27, Dana Donofree founded AnaOno out of her own necessity and desire for pretty, sexy, beautiful lingerie. After a mastectomy with reconstruction bras no longer fit her surgically altered body, and Dana was certain there must be more than just sports bras and camisoles. With a degree in fashion design from Savannah College of Art and Design, and a quite successful f...

Maxeme (Max) Tuchman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Caribu, an interactive video-calling platform that helps kids have virtual playdates with family and friends when they can’t be physically together. Caribu is one of Apple's 15 "Best Apps of 2020", one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions, made Fast Company’s list of World Changing Ideas, was named one of the ‘Top Ten EdTech Companies...

As Vice President of B2B Marketing at Verizon Media, Jen Whelan loves telling tech stories without the geek-speak. Jen joined Verizon Media in 2020 and brings 23+ years of marketing experience to her role, having led successful growth initiatives in advertising technology at Criteo and Innovid and across global innovation brands such as Qualcomm, Microsoft and Intel. In addition to B2B marketing,...

Jasmine Kees is the Strategic Director at Reuters Events. From the tech start-up scene to globally recognised brands, Jasmine brings together those influencing the direction of marketing, customer engagement and CX. In her role as Strategic Director at Reuters Events, Jasmine leads all marketing content and events, including the Marketing Interactive Week (June 8-11) and Strategic Marketing 2021 (...

Alex Sourry is the co-founder of Cleanli, an all natural cleansing brand. When the pandemic hit in early spring of 2020, Alex and his two friends seized an opportunity to create their own product that filled a unique need in the industry. Cleanli is not your average hand sanitizer. Designed to moisturize and cleanse with natural ingredients, this premium product offers a more luxe solution to othe...

Jenna Habayeb is the Chief Brand Officer of IPSY, the largest beauty subscription in the world. Jenna focuses on driving home IPSY’s mission of inspiring individuals around the world to express their unique beauty. Jenna concentrates on uniting three areas: community, content & commerce, with the goal of creating the ultimate beauty platform that allows people to express themselves and create...

Mother-daughter duo Diana Shneider and Alexandra Bella spent years trying to find the perfect products for their skin. The two began to lose hope in ever finding clean, non-toxic skincare products that would actually work. With a background in wellness and clean beauty, Diana began developing her own products for her and her daughter to use. Almost immediately, their skin was transformed. Feeling...