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Our August edition of Marketing for the Now focused on the question, “How do you figure out what makes customers tick?” Listen in as Gary and other VaynerX leaders chat 1:1 with top CEOs, founders and marketing experts and share GREAT tips and insights on how to reach consumers in today’s market.

Featuring:

  • 12-12:10pm ET: Professional Fighters League, CEO, Peter Murray (interviewed by Gary Vaynerchuk)
  • 12:10-12:20pm ET: Blavity Inc, Founder and CEO, Morgan DeBaun (interviewed by Gary Vaynerchuk)
  • 12:20-12:30pm ET: Bobbi Brown, Makeup Artist & Entrepreneur (interviewed by Gary Vaynerchuk)
  • 12:30-12:40pm ET: Nerf, Chief TikTok Officer, Sophie Jamison (interviewed by Peter Chun, SVP, Global Head of Partnerships and Growth at VaynerMedia)
  • 12:40-12:50pm ET: WeWork, CMO, Roger Sole (interviewed by Antonia Swan, SVP, Media at VaynerMedia)
  • 12:50-1pm ET: Forbes, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Lynn Schlesinger (interviewed by Nick Miaritis, EVP, VaynerMedia)
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.

new episodes every month

More about our

speakers

Professional Fighters League

Peter Murray

CEO

Peter Murray, a senior sports executive is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Murray oversees all business strategy and operations, fighter roster, event management, production, content, and marketing for the mixed martial arts league.
The PFL is the first organization ever to present MMA in a true sport format with individual fighters competing in a Regular Season, Playoffs, and World Championship. PFL is distributed on ESPN and additionally on 160+ countries worldwide.
Before joining PFL, Murray served as VP Global Brand and Sports Marketing at Under Armour. In this role, he was responsible for category management of football, baseball, basketball, soccer, combat, and Olympic Sports. Prior to Under Armour, he was Co-Founder and CEO of Insignia Sports Agency and EVP Marketing & New Business at William Morris Endeavor. For the previous 13 years, Peter was also a senior executive at the National Football League, including roles as SVP of Business & Content Development, SVP of Global Brand Partnerships.
Blavity Inc.

Morgan DeBaun

Founder & CEO

Morgan DeBaun is a serial entrepreneur and corporate advisor. As the Founder & CEO of Blavity Inc., the leading digital media company for Black culture and millennials, Morgan has grown the company into a market leader for Black media, reaching over 100 million readers per month through a growing brand portfolio which includes: Blavity News, 21Ninety, AfroTech, Travel Noire, Shadow & Act, and Lunchtable. Under DeBaun’s leadership, Blavity has launched several leading consumer summits, including Summit 21 for Black women creators, and AfroTech, the largest tech conference for Black innovators and founders.

DeBaun acts as an advisor to influential global brands and companies including Disney, American Airlines, CES, Pantora Bridal and Rosen Skincare. She is also an angel investor in Golde, a consumer brand present in over 200 stores, and Public, which has a $1B+ valuation.

DeBaun is a recipient of Ad Color’s Innovative Award, has been recognized by Forbes in the 30 Under 30 and America’s Top 50 Women in Tech lists, and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans by The Root. Born and raised in St. Louis, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and minors in Entrepreneurship and Education.

2) Outside of work, what's something you're super passionate about?
Painting and art in general. Watercolor is my favorite medium to paint with. When I'm not working or traveling, you'll find me painting in my studio at home!

4) What's the best piece of advice you've received when starting your career?
Stop asking for permission and just do it.

VaynerMedia

Antonia Swan

SVP, Media

15+ years experience in the digital marketing space and 10+ years working in-house at Tapestry. She obsessed clients from the brand and now paired with agency experience is able to truly tie the two views together. She is specifically an expert at DTC marketing, which she thrives on fast paced nature and ability to adapt in real time. Additional experience at Nike (led digital marketing for China and Japan) and Bloomingdales (marketing analyst).
Forbes

Lynn Schlesinger

Chief Customer Experience Officer

Lynn Schlesinger was named Chief Customer Experience Officer of Forbes in July 2021. Prior to this appointment, Schlesinger served as Forbes’ Chief Marketing Officer responsible for brand marketing, demand-gen, audience acquisition, insights and strategy, sales development, design and more.

In the newly created role of CXO, Schlesinger will deliver digital transformation and growth by connecting with customers across Forbes. She will unite technology, revenue, product and editorial initiatives around a client-focused approach. Schlesinger will lead demand generation, performance marketing and activation of client paid social and lead gen programs.

Schlesinger, who joined Forbes as Group Vice President of Brand & Demand Marketing in March 2019, was instrumental in reimagining the company’s go-to-market operations, adopting new CRM tools and best-in-class practices to deeply connect marketing partners with Forbes’ coveted audiences.

Before Forbes, Schlesinger was responsible for media, partnership marketing and events at Neustar, facilitating connections and driving revenue for security, marketing and communications products and services. At MarketShare, which was acquired by Neustar in December 2015, Schlesinger led Global Strategic Marketing and Events.

Prior to MarketShare, Schlesinger was Vice President, Marketing & Communications at Infotrieve, and responsible for a successful turnaround of the brand and business leading to acquisition by the Copyright Clearance Center.

Before jumping into the tech world, Schlesinger held positions at Reed Exhibitions and on Wall Street at the New York Stock Exchange and Bond Market Association, building teams and leading marketing, communications and partnerships. She began her career at Business Week as an intern, where she stayed for 11 years.

Schlesinger graduated from New York University with a degree in Political Science. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two daughters and rescue puppies Lucy and Bella.

WeWork

Roger Solé

CMO

Roger Solé has been the Chief Marketing Officer at Wework since April 2020. He is a seasoned brand marketing executive, having led numerous renowned consumer-facing brands. He has more than 20 years of leadership experience in marketing, customer lifecycle management, and innovation of products and services.

Before joining WeWork, Roger came from Sprint where he was the company’s Chief Marketing Officer for five years. He was named one of the world’s most innovative CMOs by Business Insider in 2016 and 2017. He launched innovative programs, including the biggest wireless offer in U.S. history – 50% off competitor rate plans; iPhone Forever; and the Unlimited Freedom Plans. Roger also led the creation of Sprint’s new brand identity and the launch of the #ThatWirelessGuy campaign, featuring Paul Marcarelli, Verizon’s former spokesperson. The campaign was named a best advertisement of 2016 by the Wall Street Journal.

Before Sprint, Roger was at TIM Brasil, where he was the company’s Chief Marketing Officer for six and a half years. Under his leadership, TIM, Telecom Italia’s mobile carrier in Brazil, emerged as that country’s fastest-growing mobile operator by introducing new offers and services, providing innovative ways for customers to get new smartphones. Roger grew TIM to become the No.1 seller of smartphones in Brazil, with 40% market share and nearly 71 million customers. Prior to TIM Brasil, Roger spent six years at Vivo (Telefonica Brasil) – the largest operator in Brazil – where he focused on providing unique value propositions for high-value customer segments; and led all innovation at Vivo, being a key force in its turnaround.

VaynerMedia

Peter Chun

SVP, Global Head of Partnerships and Growth

Peter Chun leads global partnerships and VaynerMedia's growth strategy across new channels, scaling the agency and client impact across the fastest growing platforms of today and tomorrow.

He has over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, performance advertising, and consumer mobile, working with the world’s largest consumer Internet brands.

Before VaynerMedia, he led SocialCode's platform strategy unlocking first to market ad partnerships with Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, and others. Before SocialCode, he co-founded Swaag, the first sneaker and fashion community featured by Apple. Prior to Swaag, he was the Head of Solutions at Clickable (acquired by Syncapse) and was a Managing Director at LinkShare (acquired by Rakuten.)

Bobbi Brown

Makeup Artist and Entrepreneur

Bobbi Brown is a beauty industry titan, world-renowned makeup artist, best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and serial entrepreneur. As a professional makeup artist, Bobbi created the ten simple lipsticks that launched her billion-dollar brand, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Bobbi left her namesake brand in 2016 to return to her roots as an entrepreneur, launching her venture Beauty Evolution LLC with three innovative brands. EVOLUTION_18 is a line of wellness and
beauty ingestibles inspired by Bobbi’s certification as a health coach with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. justBOBBI.com is an editorial content platform that offers a look into the world of Bobbi. With her husband she also reimagined The George, a design-minded boutique hotel in Montclair, NJ. She is the author of nine best-selling books and host of iHeart Radio’s Beyond the Beauty podcast. Bobbi’s newest venture, Jones Road, is her collection of edited and indispensable products for all ages, skin types, and skin tones.
Nerf

Sophie Jamison

Chief TikTok Officer

Sophie Jamison, known online to her many followers as Sophie Lightning or Nerfers101, is a social media influencer and digital content creator. With a passion for storytelling, Sophie creates original, creative, and entertaining content that captivates her growing audience of over 1.8M TikTok Followers. For many years, Sophie has shared her love for the NERF brand on her social media platforms becoming a go-to source for the latest brand news. Since 2020, she has taken TikTok by storm with her timely NERF news and camera magic editing skills. Sophie is the embodiment of ‘IT’S NERF OR NOTHIN’ as her love and dedication for the NERF brand is unmatched.

In her free time, Sophie has been developing her own consulting company, focused on assisting other brands in building their online presence, as well as conducting motivational talks at schools around New England. As a motivational speaker, Sophie shares her own story, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and passion in pursuing life endeavors and achieving goals.

Sophie currently resides in Newport, Rhode Island and is enrolled as a Junior at the University of Southern Maine pursuing a bachelor's degree in business management with plans on graduating in 2022.

VaynerMedia

Nick Miaritis

EVP

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