Special Edition
With the back to school season coming in as the second biggest spending season of the year (after Christmas), how can brand leaders pivot their messaging, products and offering to ensure what they provide is in line with consumers’ new needs?
With speakers ranging from retailers to tech brand leaders, to educational organizations and many more, join us as we deep dive into their back to school strategies heading into the fall of 2023.
Featuring…
- Amanda Bopp, Vice President, North America Marketing & E- Commerce, Kate Spade
- Amit Sevak, CEO, ETS
- Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, VaynerMedia
- Mindy Scheier, Founder and CEO, GAMUT Management and the Runway of Dreams Foundation
- Sophie Bambuck, CMO, The North Face
- Zubin Mowlavi, EVP, Commerce, VaynerX
- Mindy Scheier, Chief Executive Officer, GAMUT Management
- Laura Gassner Otting, Bestselling Author, ‘Wonderhell’ and ‘Limitless’
- Ivan Heredia, CMO, National 4-H Council
What is Marketing for the Now?
Our content series designed to give business leaders, marketers, influencers and culture shapers a ‘view in’ on what they need to be thinking about and how to take action right NOW.
More about our
speakers
Author, Catalyst, and Executive Coach Laura Gassner Otting inspires people to push past the doubt and indecision that keep great ideas in limbo by helping audiences think bigger and accept greater challenges that reach beyond their current, limited scope of belief. She delivers strategic thinking, well-honed wisdom, and perspective generated by decades of navigating change across the start-up, corporate, nonprofit, political, as well as philanthropic landscapes. Laura dares audiences to find their voice and generate the confidence needed to tackle larger-than-life challenges by helping them to seek new ways of leading, managing, and mentoring others. Laura’s rebellious and entrepreneurial edge has been well-honed over a 25-year career that started when she dropped out of law school to join an unknown southern governor’s presidential campaign and ended up as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, where she helped shape AmeriCorps. She left a leadership role as the youngest Vice President at a nationally respected search firm when she realized that her boss’s definition of success didn’t align with hers and, instead, founded and ran one of the fastest-growing search firms in the country, partnering with the full gamut of mission-driven executives, from start-up dreamers to scaling social entrepreneurs to global philanthropists. In 2015, Laura sold that firm to the team who helped her build it, both because she was hungry for the next chapter and because she held an audacious dream of electing our nation’s first female president. (Whomp whomp.) Since that time, Laura has appeared regularly on Good Morning America and the TODAY Show, and her writing has been seen in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, HR Magazine. She is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of three books, including Wonderhell: Why Success Doesn’t Feel Like It Should… and What to Do About It, Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life, and Mission-Drive: Moving from Profit to Purpose. Her books have been translated into five languages. Through her own commitment to give back, Laura has helped build a local Montessori school, co-founded a women’s philanthropic initiative, advised a start-up national women’s PAC, grew a citizen-leadership development program, and completed five charity-inspired marathons, projects emblematic of her passions and values. She’s turned on by the audacity of The Big Idea and that larger-than-life goal you just can’t seem to shake.
For 20 years, Zubin combined his passion for technology, music, and human interaction to
launch and grow Lucid Fusion, a leading global eCommerce tech agency. In 2020, VaynerX
acquired Lucid Fusion, launched VaynerCommerce, and appointed Zubin as President.
Currently, Zubin leads VaynerCommerce and advises select direct-to-consumer, retail, and
technology companies.
launch and grow Lucid Fusion, a leading global eCommerce tech agency. In 2020, VaynerX
acquired Lucid Fusion, launched VaynerCommerce, and appointed Zubin as President.
Currently, Zubin leads VaynerCommerce and advises select direct-to-consumer, retail, and
technology companies.
As CEO of ETS, Amit Sevak leads the world’s largest private educational assessment organization.
Sevak has been a driving force in education, learning and workforce development around the globe. Throughout his career his transformational leadership consistently led to innovation, better learning and improved job prospects for hundreds of thousands of students and workers.
Sevak has been a coach for edtech CEOs, served on nonprofit boards, and in 2017, he founded Mindset Global, an education investment firm.
Sevak earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Chicago and earned his master’s in business administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
Sevak has been a driving force in education, learning and workforce development around the globe. Throughout his career his transformational leadership consistently led to innovation, better learning and improved job prospects for hundreds of thousands of students and workers.
Sevak has been a coach for edtech CEOs, served on nonprofit boards, and in 2017, he founded Mindset Global, an education investment firm.
Sevak earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Chicago and earned his master’s in business administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
Before starting the Runway of Dreams Foundation in 2014, Mindy spent 20 years working in fashion as a designer for the INC collection and as a stylist for Saks Fifth Avenue. Mindy was inspired to start Runway of Dreams after her son Oliver, who has Muscular Dystrophy, dreamed of wearing jeans like everyone else. After using her design skills to adapt jeans that met his needs and increased his confidence, she went on to conduct extensive research as to the modifications required to mainstream clothing to meet the needs of the largest minority in our world- people with disabilities.
Co-Founder and CEO of VaynerSpeakers, Zach Nadler has built a career helping luminaries share their stories of impact and inspiration. With his longtime client, and now partner, Gary Vaynerchuk, Nadler founded VaynerSpeakers in 2018, a speakers bureau for the modern event planner. He represents bestselling authors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, thought leaders, and tastemakers, negotiating innovative deals for his clients on stages and screens around the world.
Zach spent over nine years serving as a leading agent in the Speakers Department at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) working with the world’s most recognizable talent from entertainment, sports, business and politics. Nadler also established a leading comic convention practice, and developed tours including “AC2 Deep Talk and Shallow Tales with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.”
His journey representing talent began in 2007, as Vice President of Sports & Entertainment Marketing for Premier Management Group, representing Olympians during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where his clients brought home over 20 gold medals.
A graduate of New York University, his career began working in operations for the Celebrity Players Tour, coordinating international golf tournaments featuring celebrities and raising millions of dollars for nonprofits.
A native of Longmeadow, MA, Zach resides in New York City with his wife, daughter, their puppy Lucy, and his hundreds of classic vinyl records.
Sophie Bambuck is Global Chief Marketing Officer for The North Face. She joined the brand in Fall 2022 following a dynamic and powerful background in Global and integrated marketing strategy stemming from her more than 20 years of experience across several brands, including Everlane, Nike, Converse and more. She is passionate about shaping brand strategy, youth culture, and digital experiences by combining art and science to build brands, inspire teams and consumers, and drive organizational growth.
Ivan is the CMO at 4-H, the largest youth org in the U.S. impacting 6 million kids. Leading a team spanning Digital Media, eCommerce, Events, Creative, PR and Comms – he champions the mission of “opportunity for all.” In just two years, he’s engineered a modernization effort that has driven increased engagement for the iconic 120-year brand. Prior to 4-H, Ivan honed his skills at Disney, Viacom, and Warner Music.
Amanda Bopp joined Kate Spade New York in 2019 as Vice President, Digital Marketing & CRM. In this role, she was responsible for full funnel digital strategy across brand and performance tactics, as well as CRM and insights. Recently, her scope was expanded to include brand strategy and to provide leadership for North America Marketing & eCommerce. Prior to her time at Kate Spade, she held roles at Michael Kors and Nestle. Ms. Bopp holds a Master’s in Cosmetics & Fragrance Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she is also an adjunct professor of digital strategy”.