Thursday, October 18, 2018

10:45 AM - 11:45 AM

Track II: Haas Conference Center, Room 171

Women Entrepreneurs: Sharing Experience - Real Life Stories - Building the Brand, the Personal and the Company Identity

Elizabeth Barrutia, CEO, BARU Marketing & Media

Jameela Jackson, Director, Startup Grind powered by Google

Erin Kapczynski, SVP Marketing, Kontrol Media

Heather Blair, President, Heather Blair Consulting (a division of OuiMarket4U,Inc)

Natasha Miller, Founder/CEO, Entire Productions

Jen Proctor, CEO, Cultivated Entertainment

Linda Sherman, Co-Founder, The Courage Group, Moderator

Jameela Jackson: Founder, Hustle x Glow / Director, Startup Grind Hollywood: Jameela Jackson is a bustling entrepreneur and single mother making moves. A Los Angeles native who grew up in Pasadena, she balances life as an accomplished PR strategist, community leader, and digital media founder. Her new startup venture is Hustle x Glow, a multi-media platform that produces content for female entrepreneurs and influencers. Jameela is also Director of Startup Grind, a global startup community and event series powered by Google for Entrepreneurs. Her passion for connecting and serving others inspired her to launch a chapter in Hollywood to promote growth and expansion in the city’s

ecosystem. As Director of the Hollywood chapter, she also moderates their monthly live interviews with the business world’s most prominent innovators. Prior to that, Jameela led a successful career in the entertainment industry – she has managed high-profile Publicity and Marketing campaigns and events for iconic brands like Disney, FOX, Sony, Toyota and more, as well as private events for celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Russell Simmons and more. Earlier on, she worked in the music industry and as a personal assistant for singer/songwriter Robin Thicke and actress Paula Patton.

Natasha Miller sits at the helm of Entire Productions , but she isn’t your average CEO - She is a hyphenate entrepreneur who began her career in entertainment as a celebrated jazz artist with seven records released on her own label, Poignant Records .  Having founded Entire Productions in 2000, when she was still performing, this single mother and Des Moines, IA native single-handedly built a multi-million dollar company. Today, Entire Productions is the go-to experience design and entertainment booking company in San Francisco and has expanded to Los Angeles and London. Their client base is growing exponentially and Natasha’s vibrant personality and client management prowess are at the core of it all. With the support of her amazing staff handpicked by Natasha, Entire Productions’ trusted expertise is relied upon to execute a slate of high-end social and corporate special events for an enviable roster of clients including Apple, Google, Gap, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Salesforce and more. Natasha and Entire Productions are no strangers to media, either—they have each garnered press in their respective genres. In addition to performing as a jazz vocalist, Natasha employed her training as a classical violinist in the role of concertmaster for various orchestras and performed with her own Sapphire String Quartet  until 2009. Her talent has been recognized by the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Wall Street Journal. Likewise, Entire Productions has been featured in Modern Luxury, Bizbash, and more. In 2017, Entire Productions was also named on The Knot Wed 100 list, which includes the most amazing wedding pros in the country. Natasha’s passion and commitment to giving back drive her invariable contributions and participation with numerous charitable organizations. She founded and supports the Bobby Sharp Scholarship Fund at Blue Bear School of Music , in memory of her beloved mentor who was best known for writing Ray Charles hit song Unchain My Heart .  She has also served on the boards of the Symphonix Advisory Board and the International Live Events Association (ILEA) while volunteering and donating to numerous charities including Bread and Roses, Alameda Education Foundation, Little Kids Rock, Relay for Life, Alameda Hospital, Sophia Project, Midway Women’s Shelter, Music In Schools Today (MUST), and the Red Cross. While Natasha maintains an active full plate, she always makes time for professional and personal enrichment. She is a proud graduate of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, the ultimate business, and management education program. Her other prestigious industry memberships include The Recording Academy (Grammys), ASCAP ,  SF Travel, and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). She resides in San Francisco, CA and splits her time between there and Los Angeles.

Erin Kapczynski has built her career as a marketing executive in media, technology and advertising. Currently serving as consultant and advisor to leading Silicon Beach startups and mid-stage businesses in adtech, Erin is helping to grow the next wave of unicorns. She has helped the likes of Demand Media (now LeafGroup), MomentFeed, and OpenMail (now System1) with her innovative marketing strategies. Erin’s passion for marketing centers on looking at how a business can transform and grow, leveraging data and user experience, while building customer trust. Erin helps clients plan and execute customer acquisition, content creation, and branding—often tying these pieces together to generate growth.  Coming into the role via acquisition, Erin was formerly VP of Marketing for the media and technology platform Purch, where she oversaw all global consumer and corporate marketing that grew audiences and accelerated ad sales and lead-gen deals for partners to well over $100M in annual revenue.  Prior to Purch, Erin served as VP of Marketing at Panache, an early mover and market-leading digital video adtech business that was acquired by WPP.  She also held senior level marketing positions at Herbalife's HQ and Move.

Elizabeth Barrutia, CEO, BARU Marketing & Media: Elizabeth Barrutia is a female entrepreneur and the CEO of BARU Marketing & Media ( http://www.baru-ad.com/).  Elizabeth founded BARÚ in 2007 to engage untapped consumer groups. With a 20-year career in general and Hispanic markets, she is an industry innovator in multi-cultural marketing and media. Elizabeth has designed campaigns on more than 120 feature films for Walt Disney Studios, Focus Features, Universal Pictures, and more. Her category expertise also includes technology, retail, and consumer packaged goods, for brands such as Microsoft, Sears, Petco, Del Real Foods, and Treasury Wine Estates. Prior to founding BARÚ, Elizabeth held leadership positions at Arenas Entertainment, Carat USA and Focus Media. Having lived in Spain, Brazil, and Mexico, she is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. A graduate of UC Berkeley, with a Bachelors of Science in Mass Communications and Latin American Literature.

Jen Proctor: Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Cultivated Entertainment: “Lead with compassion and compassion only.” This is the mantra that fuels Jen Proctor, Founder & CEO of Cultivated Entertainment, both professionally and personally. Cultivated Entertainment is a full-service talent consulting firm that connects entertainment entities and brands with talent across campaigns, media, events, and more. Jen is an integral part of every synergy created and oversees all accounts. Compassion remains the cornerstone of her business strategy; Jen’s warmth and energy have solidified her as one of the industry’s go-to experts in talent development, casting, producing and booking. Cultivated Entertainment’s clients range from traditional television and production studios to cutting-edge streaming services and global consumer brands. For every project, Jen and her team utilize years of experience, data-driven insights and trend research to go above and beyond client expectations. Complete transparency and client collaboration throughout the entire process are of the utmost importance in all that Cultivated Entertainment does- reinforcing this compassionate mantra. Jen’s immense knowledge and understanding of talent and the entertainment industry is a culmination of all her work experience prior to the launch of Cultivated. Just before launching the company, Jen was the Head of Talent for Embassy Row, Sony Pictures Televisions’ TV and digital production company. There, she oversaw the development and booking of talent for all productions from inception to completion. She also held roles as Head of Talent for a cable network’s daily talk show, was an Entertainment field producer for Fox News and worked on the talent representation side, on the booking desks of CAA and ICM. There is no such thing as ‘off the clock’ for Jen, she is working everyday to create and cultivate new relationships. People are her utmost priority in life and business.

Linda Sherman, Co-founder, The Courage Group: An international, multi-cultural marketing pro, Linda brings a distinguished background of international subsidiary CEO/CMO to her Social Marketing expertise. These included CEO Club Med Japan, CEO Barilla Japan and CMO Wal-Mart Japan. She devised and implemented an innovative guerrilla marketing plan for ZIMA in Japan that produced a lasting, profitable success. Linda is Managing Editor of BoomerTechTalk.com and an advocate for both boomers and the older adults they support in the fields of entertainment, lifestyle and technology. She has been featured and quoted in Forbes, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and other leading publications. Linda Sherman shares her recommendations for streaming film & series, and TV on her TVReview.co website. Linda has an influential on-line presence. You can find her social profiles at CourageGroup.com including @LindaSherman on Twitter. Her deep understanding of social marketing includes experience with WordPress website production and search engine optimization. Her company, The Courage Group, provides services in personal and company branding, social marketing strategy and training.