Hashtag Influencer

I remember my days in corporate America and can say with conviction that nothing compares to the tactical training you receive in a large enterprise. Our guests today, Ilene Rosenthal, is an industry veteran who took her experience working at Young & Rubicam to carve out a niche consulting practice. Ilene now offers fractional CMO services through her agency, White Space Marketing.

Ilene Rosenthal is the Owner and CEO of White Space Marketing Group, LLC—a career culmination of her experience in the marketing and advertising arena. Ilene’s extensive history as a hybrid marketing expert is the foundation for the proven, on-the-ground, in-market marketing strategy and planning for mid-market B2B and B2C companies.

Ilene’s accomplishments span the healthcare, financial and tax services, building and manufacturing, human resources, and not-for-profit industries. Her brand resume includes Kraft Foods, AT&T, Merck, J&J, Pfizer/Warner-Lambert, SAP, American Home Products—among others. Ilene received a Bachelor of Arts in Government Studies from Clark University and an MBA in Marketing from New York University-Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

I first reached out to today's guests in 2011, when she was the brand manager working on the Skinnygirl Shapewear collection. I've been following her ever since. Ranu Coleman now spearheads marketing for Azazie, the leading bridal apparel retailer, and one of the fastest growing apparel merchants online.

About Ranu Coleman

Ranu Coleman is a seasoned marketing and communications leader with deep experience in the retail/fashion space. She serves as the CMO of direct-to-consumer bridal and bridesmaid dress company Azazie and their sister company and new fast-fashion e-tail brand Blush Mark. These digitally native fashion brands focus on high-quality, size inclusive (0–30 & XS-3X) and affordable styles — marrying innovative technology with online shopping. She joined Azazie in February 2018, and since, has been leading the marketing team in implementing brand strategy, driving awareness of Azazie’s product offerings and engaging consumers with the brand to bring them into one of their most successful years yet.Prior to her work with Azazie, Coleman was a senior program manager consultant, store designer for Sephora, where she led the rollout of a new urban location prototype, Sephora Studio. She has held various marketing managerial positions at apparel brands, where she has negotiated and shepherded strategic partnerships with national brands including Nicole Miller, Skinnygirl by Bethany Frankel, Playboy, XOXO and Laura Ashley.Coleman began her career as a brand manager for Earthbound LLC and received her bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Irvine and professional designation program-visual communications degree from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). Ranu Coleman is married with two children and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and today's guest is the perfect example. Shalini Shamtani is the founder of Open the Joy, which partners with Spread the Joy Foundation aims to brighten up the lives of kids who are hospitalized and fighting major pediatric illnesses.

Although Shalini Samtani has a diverse background in law, real estate and interior design- her true passion lies in bringing joy to hospitalized children.

Through her youngest child’s repeated hospitalization, she experienced first hand the toll that childhood diseases have on children and their caregivers. As CEO of Open the Joy and as the President of the Spread The Joy Foundation, her mission is to change the perception and dialogue about childhood diseases to a more positive, joyful and purposeful one.

Joining us today is Monica Klausner, co-founder of Veestro, the premier plant-based meal delivery services company. Born and raised in Costa Rica and now pioneer in both vegan and subscription-based spaces, we're thrilled to have Monica with us on the show today.

In this episode learn about how this plant based business got its start as a brother and sister team and how growing up in Costa Rica shaped the business. Family dynamics are interesting in any business.

Veestro has a number of different plan options with a variety of meals catering to different lifestyles. Monica talks about choosing a la carte options or their chefs choice. You'll also want to find out which of their meals is a customer favorite.

Sherri asks the tough questions like, why are meal delivery service businesses so hard? Frozen foods pose a number of challenges for the food delivery business that Monica helps us understand.

Coming up with food ideas means partnering with the right culinary expert and Monica explains how they found their chef.

You won't want to miss Monica's advice to entrepreneurs or startups seeking to take their business to the next level. From customer acquisition to how they launched the business with influencers there is so much to learn from Monica at Veestro. 

Get the full transcript at https://babbleboxx.com/podcast/.

About Veestro

Mark and Monica had grown up in Costa Rica, where fresh, home-cooked meals with tons of vegetables and fruit were the daily normal. It’s also where that happy, healthy outlook called pura vida was a way of life.

Now, Mark and Monica are bringing some of that pura vida to modern American life. Veestro is about what feeds us, body and soul—delicious, organic, healthy, sustainable, from plants. And it’s fully prepared for any time we need to eat it. Mark and Monica like to think of Veestro as pura vida, right to your doorstep. And feeding your happy makes them very happy.  

If you're in need of a pick me up, today's guest will come to the rescue with his personality and product. Avi Markus is the president of BeOn Energy Gems. Dark chocolate energy supplements, packed with caffeine so you can skip those runs to Starbucks.

Listen in to hear how Avi first got involved with the natural foods space and the other ventures he's been involved with. Avi shares his most challenging and rewarding parts of being an entrepreneur. 

From there we dive into the BeOn product line and how things have shifted in a post COVID world from retail to eCommerce. 

Avi then shares his thoughts on what its like being a food marketer that does work in the US but is based in Canada.

It's interesting to hear his thoughts around influencer marketing and the natural foods industry from his experience and what others should consider.

The events business has been hit one of the hardest since the pandemic started. To shed some perspective on the industry and how it's changing, I invited Cheryl Gentry from Glow Global Events to join us.

Cheryl Gentry is the Founder and CEO of Glow Global Events.  Named 2019 and 2018 Top People in Events by Bizbash, 2017 Top Influential Women in Meetings and 2017 Brava Award Winner Top Female CEO by SmartCEO Magazine.   In addition to being a leader in the $40-billion event industry , Cheryl is a strategic entrepreneur constantly seeking out innovative opportunities. 

Gentry has been a role model and prominent voice on entrepreneurship. Serving on the boards of Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and the Kigali Reading Center in Rwanda.  Gentry was inducted into the YWCA/New York City Top Women Executives, received the Howard University Alumni Association Golden Bison Award, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Outstanding Achievement Award to name a few. She's been featured in O, the Oprah Magazine, Black Enterprise, Huffington Post among others.

Managing a global agency, Gentry travels extensively.  She journeyed to Cuba on a humanitarian mission, summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in 5 days, skydived from 10,000 feet, trekked alongside silverback gorillas in Rwanda, walked with lions in South Africa and swam with dolphins in Mexico.

Glow Global Events, is a Certified Minority Business Enterprise (W/MBE).About Glow Global EventsGlow Global Events, recently ranked No.145 on Inc. 5000, Fastest Growing Companies in America list, is a New York-based, full-service agency specializing in dynamic, purpose-driven events.  Over the course of more than 20 years, the agency has successfully coordinated meetings, conferences, galas, outdoor events, and other special productions in the U.S., Asia, Africa, and Europe.  Glow Global serves a mix of brands, nonprofits, A-list celebrities and organization including Allianz, Shiseido,  FIFA, PGA and United Way of New York City.

So much has happened since I saw today's guest at Toy Fair 2020. I'm excited to have Rachel Griffin, founder of PlayWise Partners join us to share her industry insights and what it's like to start a business amidst a pandemic.

We discuss here latest venture, Playwise Partners and her advice to people looking to branch out on their own. 

Rachel tells us she got into the toy industry as a fluke when she landed a job working for the creator of the Power Rangers.

Most recently Rachel participated in Sweet Suite, tune in to find out what her experience is like and the benefits of virtual conferences.  We also discuss how to stay top of mind with influencers during these challenging times.

I met today's guests back in 2013 at BlogHer and she is a pioneer in our space. I'm so pleased to welcome Issa Mas, award-winning writer, influencer, and homeschooling expert who will be sharing her insights on this topic, which I'm sure is top of mind for many parents right now.

From her start as a single mom blogger in New York City to winning a Blogher award, Issa is accomplished writer with a lot of information to offer.  She leverages the power of social media, particularly Facebook groups where she founded a Keto group.  

Issa doesn't necessarily consider herself an influencer but she definitely knows what she's good at. She tells us how it's important to be both honest and authentic. 

If you're curious about what it's like to be a single mom in New York City during these challenging times you won't want to miss this episode of Beyond the Boxx. From her own experiences homeschooling her child, Homeschool Starter Set was born. 

Visit https://babbleboxx.com for more influencer marketing insights.

In the world of online dating, Amy Canaday is a PR and marketing pioneer. I know from firsthand experience that Amy is a risk taker who always thinks outside the box. 

This episode of Beyond the Boxx explores the rich history of Match.com, its portfolio of companies and it's love for influencer marketing. You'll also hear how love wins even during a pandemic and how Match.com and its users have embraced video for virtual dating.

If you' haven't heard of Miss Megan, she stepped onto the scene at the onset of the COVID pandemic and is now delighting and comforting thousands of children and parents around the world.

You can join Miss Megan's Kindergarten Camp by joining her Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/510772009639053/

Miss Megan is a former kindergarten teacher and current preschool assistant, who wanted to help add routine to In this time of uncertainty and little structure. She goes live on Facebook regularly with her morning meetings to get your 3-7 year old’s day started! We will do calendar, counting, days of the week, months of the year, weather, morning message, letter(s) of the day, some guitar playing, and it all ends with a book being read.