Lauren Bello (opening remarks), Principal, Ready Set Rocket
Lauren is Principal and VP of Client Services at Ready Set Rocket. In her multi-faceted role, she approaches every new challenge with a strategic and creative lens. She is the force behind fostering client relationships and bringing new creative ideas to the table in real-time client conversations — just two of the ways she has singlehandedly grown the agency’s business. As part of her role, Lauren collaborates closely with the creative team by providing fresh ideas and perspective. Beyond her day-to-day, she helps nurture the agency’s culture by hosting a monthly women’s leadership and empowerment event that provides women the opportunity to openly discuss topics like delivering powerful presentations, overcoming career-related insecurities and seeking equality in the workplace. In 2015, she was named to Folio Magazine’s Annual Top Women in Media list among leaders from Forbes Magazine, Marie Claire, Mashable, Refinery29, The New York Times and notable others.

PANEL

Anastasia Kuznetsova, Art Director, Ready Set Rocket
Anastasia is an experienced Art Director at NYC-based digital agency, Ready Set Rocket. She leads the design team and expertly translates a vision into reality through her use of imagery, typography and in-depth knowledge of user experience. Since joining the team in 2012, she has launched award winning work for Univision, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and Seagram’s Gin. In 2016, she was named to Folio Magazine’s Top Women in Media in the Rising Star category. She is also a board member and lead designer of the mental health awareness and advocacy non-profit, IntrusiveThoughts.org. Anastasia graduated from Parsons, New School for Design, with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration.

Bree Casart, VP eCommerce & Digital Marketing, west elm
Bree is an eCommerce and digital marketing executive who works with retailers to build engaging consumer experiences online. With over 10 years of retail experience, Bree believes in creating customer journeys that are born through data driven experiments and centered on the individual. Currently at west elm, Bree has helped to significantly grow the brand’s customer base and increase revenue from $250M to $1B in sales. With experience in merchandising and inventory planning, Bree has a solid foundation in the fundamentals of retail and her background in management consulting keeps her focused on delivering results. Bree holds an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BA in International Political Economy from The Colorado College.

Isadora Bailly, Senior Brand Manager Seagrim’s Gin, Pernod Ricard
Isadora is currently the Senior Brand Manager on Seagram’s Gin for the US at Pernod Ricard USA — one of the leading Wine & Spirits companies in the world. Her main mission is to reposition the brand in the US through a new brand vision and strategy. Isadora graduated from the ESCP-EAP with a master in Entrepreneurship and has also worked on luxury brands such as LOUIS XIII and Remy Martin, both on the sales and marketing side.

Jennifer Ball, EVP Content Distribution Marketing and Partnerships, Univision Communications, Inc
Jennifer is executive vice president of Distribution Marketing and Content Partnerships at Univision Communications, Inc. (UCI), the nation’s leading media company serving Hispanic America. In her role, she oversees UCI’s Distribution Partnership Marketing Group (DPMG), which her team launched in 2011. Jennifer has been recognized with numerous awards from CTAM, PROMAX and other industry organizations for marketing excellence. She has appeared on CableFax’s “Most Powerful Women in Cable” and Multichannel News’ “Wonder Women.” She participates in several industry organizations and currently serves on the Board of Directors of WICT New York Chapter, has served as the chair of the CTAM Mark Awards Committee and completed the industry recognized Betsy Magness Leadership program. She received a BA from Clark University in sociology and communications.

Gina Soloperto (moderator), Founder, Glue NY
Stress and pressure is not always a bad thing. Often they are signs of growth. Gina is a creative operations leader and high performance coach with 22 years of experience developing and activating workflow and performance programs for curious, forward-focused individuals and companies of varying shapes, sizes and industries. She is passionate about motivating individuals, teams and organizations through the tough times en route to greatness.Gina partners with clients to understand their business objectives and co-creates high-impact development programs that facilitate sustained behavior change that produce the desired results.