Branding

Achelle Richards has over 18 years of CPG senior leadership experience. She was one of the founding five employees that grew the e.l.f. Cosmetics brand from an entrepreneurial startup to a $1.2B valued publicly traded company and top loved beauty brand amongst Gen Z’s. She has since launched PYT Beauty, a clean and sustainable beauty brand utilizing first to market bio technologies while also helping other CPG brands build their business. Achelle offers an array of advice on how to scale businesses as a trend identifier, strategist, brand builder, product innovator, marketer, and more.

Alexandra Zatarain is the Co-Founder and Vice President of Brand and Marketing at Eight Sleep, the world's first sleep fitness company. Eight Sleep solves sleep's most pressing issues through innovation and cutting-edge technology. The Pod, its best-selling product, has a cult-like following among business leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and professional athletes. Among many others, the Pod is the preferred sleep accessory of CrossFit 2021 and 2022 champion Justin Medeiros and the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team. The company has raised $160 million from investors such as General Catalyst, 8VC, Founders Fund, Craft Ventures, and Khosla Ventures among others. Alexandra was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in Consumer Tech in 2017, and to Inc.'s Top 100 Female Founder's list in 2020.

Mikael Makinen is the Co-Founder of Four Sigmatic, a functional foods company especially known for its mushroom coffees. Mikael was responsible for growing Four Sigmatic's retail business from scratch to 8 figures profitable revenue and +5,000 retail doors in over 20 countries with the main focus in the United States. In the process, he hired and managed an internal team from the ground up, and sourced tens of distributors, and hundreds of external sales reps. Mikael stepped down from his operational role after 11 years and remains an active board member of the company. Mikael is an expert in B2B sales, profitability, fundraising, international business, and CPG strategy and operations. 

Josh Campbell is the founder and CEO of protein supplement brand Human Improvement and wine brand So Gay Rosé. Formerly a Starbucks Executive and President of cannabis wellness company Dosist, Josh has founded, funded, built, and exited multiple startups in the consumer packaged goods space. He is passionate about mentoring up and coming founders and entrepreneurs, whether it be on topics like turning unconventional ideas into successful companies, finding investors, digital marketing, growth hacking, and building a team, or simply coping with the myriads of challenges and stress that comes with being founder and turning it into something positive.

Lisa Curtis is the founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli, the leading brand pioneering the superfood moringa in the US market. She began working on Kuli Kuli while in the Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa. As a volunteer in her village’s health center, she gained an understanding of nutritional challenges in West African villages and how moringa can help. Prior to Kuli Kuli, Lisa served as the Communications Director at Mosaic, wrote political briefings for President Obama in the White House, and worked at an impact investment firm in India. Lisa has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 leader, a Udall Scholar and a 'dedicated humanitarian' by the Muhammad Ali Center. Lisa is a frequent speaker at social impact and natural food conferences on topics such as supply chain transparency, building buzz, fundraising and millennial entrepreneurship.

Navid Mcilhargey has been a studio executive and producer for over 20 years. He has produced and supported movies such as White Chicks, Peter Pan, Tears of The Sun, Blackhawk Down, XXX and Anger Management. During his time with entertainment agencies, Navid worked at Silver Pictures and New Regency who were most known for features like Echelon Conspiracy, Hot Wheels, The Darkest Hour and Broken City starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. Most recently, he produced Modern Love for Amazon and teaches film at USC.

Sasha Tan is the founder of C.riously, a company that makes nutritious health snacks. She previously founded Favful (a personalized beauty care platform), which was backed by Segnel Ventures, Gobi Partners, and 500 Global before it was acquired by iMedia in 2022. She is a serial entrepreneur, having founded her first F&B business in Singapore at the age of 21. She is also experienced in growing internet businesses, having served as a founding team member and VP of Product at HappyFresh, Southeast Asia's leading online grocery delivery service. In addition, she was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 leader (Asia) for Retail & Ecommerce in 2017.

Described as a "creative dynamo" by Inc. Magazine. A recognized expert in marketing and entrepreneurship, Dan Bauer founded The MBA Exchange education and career advisory firm ranked among the Inc. 5000. Since then, as head of Bauer & Associates, he has delivered high-impact, marketing guidance to clients ranging from Fortune 100 to startups in 30+ industries. Previously, he was SVP of Global Debit Marketing & Sales for MasterCard International and as VP of National Marketing for Citicorp. His career includes account management at DDB Needham and Ketchum Advertising. Bauer earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in general management and marketing. He ranked in the top 15% of his class in industry and competitive analysis.

William (Billy) Bosch is a consumer products entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience launching products, scaling into retail and e-commerce, and raising money. He is most known for founding ICONIC – one of the largest natural protein supplement brands in the United States. Starting with a humble idea to create protein supplements free of hormones and unethical farming techniques, Billy has scaled ICONIC to more than 5,000 retailers across the US including Whole Foods, Walmart, and Macy's, and has raised millions of dollars from private equity investors.

Robin is a three-time CMO with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and growth leadership roles at companies like Salesforce, Box, LinkedIn, Matterport, and WeWork. He's done 3 IPOs, several acquisitions, and led companies through hyper-growth to become household names. Robin now works as an advisor, speaker, and motivator to fast-growth companies around the world.

Martin "Marty" Okner is an experienced executive and former President and COO of dpHUE from 2017 to 2022. Under his leadership, the company grew annual net sales 10x and increased profitability through groundbreaking influencer marketing strategies, product innovation, and direct to consumer/retail channel expansion. Prior to dpHUE, Martin had extensive Fortune 500 experience with Revlon and Cadbury, and he co-founded the strategic advisory firm SHM Corporate Navigators. Martin also served as Chairman of the Board of The Association for Corporate Growth from 2020 to 2021.

Blasko has been a recording and touring musician since he was 16 years old. His credible career began with the seminal hardcore thrash band Cryptic Slaughter signed to Metal Blade Records in 1985. The band released 3 records for the label between 1986 and 1988. In time he eventually went on to become the bass player for such heavy metal heavy weights as Danzig, Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne. He founded a boutique artist management company in early 2005. He currently manages the careers of Black Veil Brides, Black Label Society and guitar legend Zakk Wylde who currently plays guitar in Pantera. He previously sat in the interim chair position for the Music Business Program at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA.

Rogelio "Ro" Choy is the CEO of Cars & Bids, . Previously he was the CEO of Eaze from 2019 to 2022, a cannabis-focused on-demand marketplace, where he led it's growth from less than $2OM to $2OOM+ in revenue. Prior to Eaze Ro was the CEO of BitTorrent (acquired by TRON blockchain), CBO of Luxe (on-demand valet parking app, acquired by Volvo), Director of eBay's Auto Group, and Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company.

Lauren Gallo is an award-winning, industry-leading marketing executive with expertise in global brand marketing and creative development. She has grown, defined and redefined some of the world’s most iconic brands, from Soho House to Apple to Snapchat to Nike. A proven leader, one of Lauren’s greatest skills—and greatest professional joys—is building and guiding high-performing, complex, multi-discipline teams. As a Forbes 30 under 30 Marketing & Advertising honoree, Ad Age 40 Under 40 and AdWeek Executive Mentor, Lauren is looked to as an industry thought leader.