Gita Chari
President & CEO
Gita is a branding and marketing strategy consultant with extensive experience working with a range of companies in senior leadership and advisory roles. Gita has successfully led brand strategy and commercialization for powerhouse brands like Victoria’s Secret, Timberland, and Kellogg in addition to leading engagements for clients such as Procter & Gamble, T-Mobile, Luxottica, and The Art of Shaving.
As a past practitioner, Gita brings with her a sense of actionable planning for maximum results. Her experience across a range of industries has earned Gita a reputation as a creative thinker, innovative problem-solver, and pragmatic advisor focused on driving consumer engagement and sustainable business growth.
Rachna Chari
Creative & Design
Rachna Chari is a designer and art director with 10 years of experience that spans print and interactive, as well as editorial and promotion. She is befittingly named रचना, or creation in Hindi, and loves all types of artistic creation, especially if typography, composition and color are involved. She has been nicknamed Art Director even in her kitchen, as she likes the colors in her cooking to look balanced! She is passionate about using her design skills for strategic, impactful brand storytelling, and her clients have included Disney, Trunk Club, Barclays, Columbia University, and more. She has an MFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute and has also held an adjunct professor position at the Robert Busch School of Design at Kean University.
Jeanne Comar
Creative & Design
Jeanne led Design and Production of Packaging, Merchandising and Print for the Kellogg Company. In this capacity, she oversaw a highly strategic and shopper centric internal team as well as Design agencies and pre-media experts. Her recent work includes successful rebranding of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Cheez-It and Special K
Amy Connor
Branding & Strategy
Amy Connor is a P&G-trained marketing executive with a track record of delivering sustainable revenue, market share, and profit growth in both large and entrepreneurial organizations. In her over 20 years experience, Amy has successfully driven results by quickly assessing business opportunities and setting the strategic roadmap for brand growth.
Amy has held leadership positions at LensCrafters, Procter & Gamble and The Iams Company.
Denise Cowden
Creative & Design
Kathleen Day
Creative & Design
Kathleen Day is a creative director with experience at creative icons in the fashion world. From TV writing to “naming and claiming”, along with both fashion and food styling, her work at brands like Nordstrom and Macy’s has given her a distinct experience and point of view on the creative process. A disciple of “The Brand Gap”, she knows there are definitive rules for copy and design, but she doubts that truly great creative can be “taught”. “It’s in your genes,” she says. It’s also in her jeans. From Anthropologie to Barney’s NY, her favorite brands have bit of bohemian chic. And great jeans. These days, a great fashion brand must have great jeans, she says.
Suzanne Faber
Branding & Strategy
Suzanne is a nationally recognized leader in marketing and an expert in strategic brand innovation, brand management, and overall business growth strategy. She brings over 18 years of experience in the Consumer Product Goods, Entertainment and Retail industries and has a proven track record of developing consumer insights and new product innovations that help drive business growth to the next level.
Suzanne began her career in Brand Management working on the iconic Corn Flakes brand at Kellogg’s. She then went on to lead marketing teams at both Starz Home Entertainment and Entertainment One where she launched and managed such high profile brands as Thomas the Tank Engine and Peppa Pig, propelling the growth of each of these business units over 7-fold.
Aida Flick
Branding & Strategy
Aida is a seasoned marketing executive with over 20 years’ experience in consumer packaged goods. From leadership to challenger brands skilled in building brand strategy, positioning, new product development, innovation pathways and portfolio management. Extensive experience in retail customer planning and new product launches. Well versed to ground strategy and plans on consumer learning, working closely with agencies to deliver and build meaningful consumer experiences and strong business results.
Home is filled with love and activity keeping up with husband Dan, and three wonderful dogs.
Carol Gsell
Branding & Strategy
Carol Gsell’s passion is understanding consumer needs and perceptions, then developing brand positioning and strategies that come to life in the market. Her client-side experience at companies like Coca-Cola and Pizza Hut fueled this lifelong drive. She honed her consulting skills at McKinsey & Company and has applied her expertise with clients including ConAgra Foods, Dawn Foods, Wrigley, Domino’s Pizza, and McDonald’s.
Ayelet Hargash
Branding & Strategy
Ayelet Hargash is recognized for her ability to develop power brands and grow businesses in fast-paced environments. She has extensive background in the international market, both in global corporate and in agencies. She has led transformational brand-building capabilities for brands in the digital world and is passionate about making a meaningful difference in people’s lives, resulting in sustainable and profitable business growth. Ayelet has led breakthrough award-winning brand innovation and commercial programs for world-class brands, among them Huggies, Kotex, Poise, Depend, Pull-Ups, Danone, and Theraflu, and has won the highest recognition – Grand Effie Award, 2 Gold Effie awards, and Global AME Platinum Award.
Melanie Henson
Branding & Strategy
Melanie Henson is a branding and marketing strategy consultant with twenty years of experience on national consumer brands in senior leadership and advisory roles. She has over a decade of experience on national fashion apparel brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Hanes, Champion and Bali, and has led brand strategy and commercialization for other powerhouse brands like Sears and Lowe’s Home Improvement in addition to leading engagements for clients such as T-Mobile and LensCrafters.
Shivani Jani
Branding & Strategy
Romanee Jay Minahan
Analytics & Insights
Romanee is a passionate and creative Strategic Consumer Insights and Experience professional. Digging deep into the “why’s” of consumer behavior is her passion and part of her DNA. She has led Consumer Insights functions in Fortune 500 companies and has held leadership Marketing roles in the Consumer Durables and Premium Workplace/Office Furniture Industries. She has consulted with a broad range of clients in the Consumer Packaged Goods, Consumer Durables, Healthcare, and Education Industries. Among her clients are brands like BISSELL, Samsung, X-Rite/Pantone, and Aquinas College (Michigan).
Romanee believes in “being present “. Mindfulness is the art of paying attention with an open and curious mind to present-moment experiences. She lives this sentiment in her personal and professional relationships, and it is the inspiration for the creativity and focus that she brings to her work.
Genny Tuggey
Analytics & Insights
Genny is a hybrid “marketer/strategist/researcher” with 20+ years experience in building and growing B2B and B2C brands. Her passion lies in understanding the functional and emotional needs of customers, and designing the right market research to inform business decision-making. Across her career, she has worked as a supplier, client, and consultant, giving her the unique ability to “plug and play” in any role, at any stage of a project, with sensitivity and a creative and efficient drive for action.
Her work experience spans food and beverages, travel, automotive, consumer electronics, health care, technology and retail for companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Chick-fil-A, The Home Depot, Cox Automotive Group, Michelin and Ciba Vision. And when she’s not mining for growth opportunities, she cherishes her time with her husband, three children, and the best ball-retrieving Labrador ever.
Kelly Uihlein
Branding & Strategy
Kelly Uihlein is a senior marketing director who has worked on both the agency and client side of the advertising business. She has held leadership roles in financial services, telecom and retail, working with companies like Wachovia Bank, Cincinnati Bell and Sears and with retailers like LensCrafters and Banana Republic.
Kelly's passion is people - whether it's leading internal teams to launch brand initiatives or partnering with operations and sales teams to deliver the best possible customer experience in your stores, Kelly's focus is on the customer experience and building true advocates of your brand. Customer loyalty isn't about your CRM/EDM initiatives - it's about the personal connection you make with your front end associates and the experience you enable them to make with your customers - each and every day - online and in your stores.
Kelly has recently relocated to Chicago to fulfill a life-long dream and move closer to her Milwaukee roots. Kelly is actively involved in charity work, specifically for the American Cancer Society, and was recognized by VENUE and LEAD Magazine as a Women of Influence Honoree for her professional achievements and volunteer contributions in the Cincinnati community.
Rhonda Aley
Creative & Design
Rhonda served as Director of Brand & Packaging at Meijer across all business types – food, hardlines, softlines, and drugstore. She has in-depth expertise in graphic artwork production, pre-press, and printing processes for a track record delivering accelerated speed-to-shelf and sales growth