Cimone Key is the founder and chief executive officer of Cimone Key Creative Studio, an award-winning branding and digital marketing agency. Growing up from coast to coast, with roots extending back to Germany, Cimone is well-traveled and well-versed in the world of design, connection, and entrepreneurship. It was her passion as a young girl, knowing in her heart she was born to utilize her perspective in a profound way, that inspired Cimone’s unique journey to open her own design studio.

It all began with her investment as a student at The Art Institute of Dallas, which propelled her into the world of design. Here, she was awarded the best portfolio of her graduating class, which recognized her engaging style and elegance. While growing up, Cimone battled with her eyesight and was declared legally blind at the age of 21. She knew this wouldn’t define her, for her purpose was much bigger than eyesight.

After undergoing laser surgery, she miraculously regained 20/20 vision and it changed her life forever. Soon thereafter, Cimone’s professional career advanced quickly into Corporate America, where she served three different Fortune 500 advertising agencies within the first 3 years. In 2015, she was unexpectedly fired and thus began her journey to start a business. Within her first year in business, she then pursued a Web Design Certificate at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in order to offer her clients an array of services.

These experiences, combined with her faith and action, ultimately brought to fruition a full-service agency located in the prestigious Design District in Dallas.

As of today, CK Creative Studio is the agency that DEI (Diversity and Inclusion) brand managers from large corporations trust with their visual marketing presence, and for small businesses who objectively seek out a boutique agency to handle all of their needs.

Additionally, in early 2020, Cimone made the decision to integrate an innovative shared office space for creative entrepreneurs in the Dallas area to work together, learn from each other, and ultimately grow their skills in a collaborative, supportive environment.

CK Creative Studio has become a creative hub for entrepreneurs who need a place to grow their skills, collaborate, and have a supportive clique.

Christian Lowe is the founder and creator of The Green Book Project. A mobile app that helps people from marginalized groups find inclusive businesses and avoid discrimination. Prior to founding The Green Book Project, Christian worked as a software engineer at Change.org, where he developed digital tools that help everyday people create the change they want to see. In addition to his work at The Green Book Project, Christian also sits on the Board of Trustees for Semester at Sea and is a loud and proud graduate of Texas A&M University. When he's not working on The Green Book Project, Christian can be found strumming tunes on his acoustic guitar or playing Dungeons and Dragons with his friends.

Warren Jones is an entrepreneur, creative strategist and experience curator currently assisting brands in their efforts to engage diverse communities in meaningful, impactful ways. He is the Co-Founder of Toasted Life, a community-based experiential brand that specializes in designing 360 lifestyle experiences and engagements that center the needs of multicultural audiences through events, activations and cultural programming. Prior to becoming a full-time entrepreneur and consultant, Warren managed cultural programs for Airbnb's design team in their SF headquarters helping to establish creative equity, advocacy and belonging within the organization's culture. Prior to Airbnb, Warren managed diversity programs at Apple Inc. where he served on the Inclusion & Diversity team with an emphasis on recruitment and retention strategy. With a bachelor degree in marketing from Morehouse College, Warren's journey from brand strategy in advertising to cultural advocacy in silicon valley has been a catalyst for his entrepreneurial pursuits and passion for the advancement and holistic wellness of marginalized communities. When not in the lab, Warren enjoys connecting with other creators and founders, being in nature, traveling, and spending time with his tribe.

Annie Jean-Baptiste is the author of Building for Everyone, the first book about building inclusive products across the intersections of 12 dimensions of diversity.

She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania  with degrees in International Relations & Political Science. She is an avid Boston sports fan & loves to bring her dog Hercules to work.

She formerly served as an intrapreneur in residence at the University Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, a facilitator for Penn’s Chief Learning Officer Business Acumen program  and a member of both the CTA Health Equity and Access Leadership (HEAL) Coalition and sits on the IEEE's Executive committee, Ethically Aligned Design committee and co-chairs the DEI committee. She’s been inducted into the Haitian Roundtable’s  1804 society as “One to Watch” and inducted as one of the 30 Black Stars for Face to Face Africa in 2019. Annie is a former American Heart Association spokesperson and a One Young World ambassador, focused on healthy lifestyles in underserved communities. She is also a former Hack the Hood mentor.

Annie is also the Head of Product Inclusion at Google. She leads Product Inclusion strategy across the company and consults with various Alphabet companies, including consultation, communications, scale and research and created the movement 3 years ago as a way to ensure historically marginalized users felt validated throughout the product design process.

She formerly created programs related to Diversity talent management and career development within several technical product areas within Google. Annie is passionate about making the web work for underserved communities while ensuring that Google is a place where everyone shines for their differences.

She’s been covered in Vogue, Essence Magazine, Business Insider, Teen Vogue, InStyle, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, Cheddar, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, the Root, the Council of Fashion Designers of America Annual Report, The Miami Times, Bustle,Boston Globe and Fortune Magazine.

Her book, Building for Everyone, is available now. Connect with her on social media: @its_me_ajb.

Natasha Aarons is an award winning marketer and AdAge 40 Under 40 class of 2020 honoree, with a deep expertise in crafting marketing strategies and campaigns at the intersection of culture, entertainment and technology. Currently she is the Vice President of Brand Marketing for BET+. Most recently, she was at DoorDash as the Director of Marketing for Caviar. Prior, she led US Multicultural Marketing for Google Devices & Services, overseeing marketing strategies targeted underrepresented consumers and prior, led Influencer & Experiential Marketing for Google Mobile Hardware, where she cultivated marketing partnerships with celebrities, mid-tier and micro-influencers and manages brand experiences that amplify consumer engagement. Previously, Natasha was the Music Industry Marketing Manager at YouTube, where she lived out her passion of empowering artists careers' with technology and led YouTube’s marquee activations at SXSW, Grammys, Latin Grammys and BET Awards. Prior to joining YouTube/Google, she worked at Verizon Wireless where she developed advertising marketing strategies and led multicultural social media and digital strategy. Natasha started her career in the music industry, aiding the development of artists' careers, at Bad Boy Records in Marketing and then Jive Records/Sony Music as a Manager of Video Promotions. She is a native New Yorker and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Natasha received her BSBA from Georgetown University and MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Myles Worthington is the Founder and CEO of WORTHI, an ethnographic marketing, communications and content company. Ethnography is the study of human cultures, and that’s what WORTHI does – steeps themselves in the behaviors of various people around the world, and creates the cultural relevance between their unique needs, and a brand’s unique story, to create a lasting bond.

As the company CEO and principal strategist, Myles partners with major brands like Paramount+, Lionsgate, Peloton and P&G (to name a few) to build and execute upon strategies that keep these brands relevant and resonant for traditionally underserved communities of people, including Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Asian and Pacific Islander, People with Disabilities, and every intersectionality in between.

Prior to building his own foundation with WORTHI, Myles held various roles at multiple communications agencies before coming to Netflix and starting the Multicultural PR practice in 2016. He later moved to the marketing org to start (and eventually lead) the multicultural Brand & Editorial team. His efforts are responsible for pioneering initiatives like Strong Black Lead, Con Todo, Most and Netflix Golden which were sub-brands and digital communities that focused on creating content and conversation for Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+ and AAPI audiences respectively. He built those teams and the internal corporate energy towards audience related work from scratch, and proudly led that organization until he left the company in April 2022.

Myles’ professional purpose is simple: to change the industry for the better, and to destroy the common misconception that niche tactics will yield niche results. Specificity should be seen as a secret weapon.

Myles is also a husband, father of three, lover of the outdoors, avid swimmer, and big time car buff.

Gail’s commitment to advocacy and social change runs deep, dating back to her experiences in the 60s as part of the first wave of Black students to integrate her hometown school system and including frontline activism in the form of protests against racial injustice, the Vietnam War and apartheid. With over 35 years of advertising industry experience, Gail has led diversity and inclusion efforts, employee onboarding, project management, creative resourcing and production and studio services at J. Walter Thompson and TracyLocke ad agencies. Her ongoing passion for diversity and inclusion is continued in her role of Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at The Integer Group. Her role spans Integer’s U.S. network of agencies, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Bentonville, Des Moines, Los Angeles and New York. Reporting directly to Integer’s CEO Ellen Cook, and working closely with its executive leadership team, Obaseki leads efforts to evaluate and enhance Integer’s strategies and initiatives, ensuring the agency’s DEI-specific mission is prioritized and inherent to its DNA. (Season 3 of “A Dose of Black Joy & Caffeine" podcast is presented by The Integer Group)

Kofi is the Chief Marketing Officer at DoorDash. He began his career at Leo Burnett Chicago & Leo Burnett London where he worked with Kellogg's, Coca Cola, and Global Giving. Prior to his role at DoorDash, Kofi was VP of Brand & Consumer Marketing at Facebook, having previously served as the company’s Head of Consumer Marketing for internet.org. Before Facebook, Kofi was Chief Strategy Officer at FCB New York. He joined FCB from Bacardi Global Brands, where he was the Global Communications Director for the Rum category and the architect for the reinvention of the Bacardi brand. As the Founder and Managing Director of Publicis West Africa, Kofi created and launched the first majority-owned network agency on the African continent. As the Senior Strategic Planner on Nike at Wieden+Kennedy, Kofi crafted the strategy for Nike’s global Beijing Olympics campaign. Kofi was a recipient of AdWeek’s CMO award in 2021, and in 2020, he was named to Business Insider's list of "25 CMO's To Watch" and honored with AdWeek's "Brand Genius" award. In September 2017, Kofi won ADCOLOR’s “Rockstar” Award, and in 2014, he was named one of Ad Age’s “40 under 40.” (Season 3 of “A Dose of Black Joy & Caffeine" podcast is presented by The Integer Group)

Mars is a Sr. Strategy Lead at EA Sports where he spearheads marketing campaigns for Madden, College Football, and PGA. Previously to this, Mars worked in partnerships at Spotify where he co-led the west coast region creative solutions department. During his time at Spotify he expanded existing programs such as Black History is Now, Fresh Finds, and Film And TV Favorites. He also initiated ongoing projects like Spotify For Brands Outside Voice series. Before joining Spotify, Mars got his start in strategy by working at creative agencies where he worked on brands such as:, , Nike, Carls Jr., Infiniti, and Adidas. When Mars isn’t working on the brands you love he’s developing musical talent with his newly launched full service artist + production management company; Hometeam Records. He is also an advocate for continuous self education where he devotes time to learning about the music business, Web3, real estate, and startups. (Season 3 of “A Dose of Black Joy & Caffeine" podcast is presented by The Integer Group)

Whitney McGowan has been working in entertainment marketing over the last 10 years, and has loved every minute of it. From medium to large networks, Whitney has been innovating how people watch and engage with a broad range of TV shows, whether it’s on social media, out of home or a streaming platform. Whitney worked at Netflix on the Global Creative Marketing team, producing creative and social media campaigns for some of your favorite Unscripted Originals. She also launched and led strategy for the brand and editorial channel: Netflix Food. Prior to that, she was the Head of Social Media at WNET: New York Public Meda. In her free time, Whitney has co-founded a community dinner series with her friends in LA and co-hosts a podcast about Black entertainment. But, she still makes time to take care of her plant babies, hang with her dog Carlitos, hike in beautiful LA and watch way too much TV. (Season 3 of “A Dose of Black Joy & Caffeine" podcast is presented by The Integer Group)

Episode Notes:

Follow her podcast: (IG) @lookatuspod // anchor.fm/look-at-us-pod/

Dinner party tingz: (IG) @sanghasocial