In today’s episode, Michelle Ngo, SVP of Customer Success at Gannett Media, shares her career journey and insights on authentic leadership. Tune in as she discusses the importance of staying true to your values, leading with vulnerability, and being intentionally available for your team.
In today’s episode, Michelle Ngo, SVP of Customer Success at Gannett Media, shares her career journey and insights on authentic leadership. Tune in as she discusses the importance of staying true to your values, leading with vulnerability, and being intentionally available for your team.

Michelle is a seasoned business leader with over 20 years of experience in sales, client services, marketing, and media. She has a strong track record of leading large teams, driving operational excellence, and spearheading transformational initiatives across multiple functions.

Currently, Michelle serves as the SVP of Customer Success at Gannett Media, where she leads the organization responsible for delivering exceptional service to customers across various channels. Before joining Gannett, she spent more than two decades at Yahoo, most recently as Senior Vice President, overseeing the Global Client Services and Operations organization. She began her career at Yahoo as an Account Manager and grew within the company, gaining deep expertise in client engagement and operational leadership.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Pre-Medical studies from the University of Virginia. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and can often be found cheering on her two children at the baseball field or on the volleyball court.

In this episode, we sit down with Venkata Bhonagiri, Senior Partner and Group Director of Strategy & Analytics at Mindshire. Venkat shares his incredible story, from growing up in a small, remote town in India to navigating the culture shock of moving to a major city and eventually immigrating to the U.S. Along the way, he overcame numerous challenges, including limited economic and cultural resources, and forged a path to success in the field of Advertising. Tune in to hear his inspiring story of resilience and perseverance and how he generously gives his time and wisdom to the student, immigrant and advertising community.

Bio: Venkata Bhonagiri is data strategy and analytics leader based in Chicago. He has over 15+ years of experience in media, business strategy, insights, and analytics. He developed, integrated, and scaled core service offerings, for large media organizations. In his current role, he spearheads cross channel data-driven planning, audience strategy, and implementation of bespoke data solutions for major brands across CPG, FinServ, Health Care sectors. He co-led several winning business pitches in the advertising industry.He contributed to award-winning work at Cannes Lions and has been recognized by AdColor, Cynopsis and other ad industry favorites who advocate and celebrate talent. Venkat’s accomplishments also extend to being a contributing Expert panelist, featured in Forbes, Ad Age and WARC.

Today, Yin Woon Rani shares her perspective on leadership and reveals what it truly means to 'know thy heart.'

Yin Woon Rani is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of MilkPEP, a marketing and education group funded by U.S. milk companies. With nearly 30 years of integrated experience across CPG companies and marketing agencies, Yin joined the MilkPEP team in 2019 seeking to be a catalyst for change - with a goal of both propelling the dairy industry forward while driving reconsideration of milk through strategic and meaningful programming.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore, Rani emigrated to the US to attend Yale and went on to drive integrated marketing experiences at some of the most recognizable brands in the US including P&G, Campbell's, L’Oreal, Hasbro, Smucker's, and more.

As a female AAPI leader, mother, and marketer, she is dedicated to making space for underrepresented voices and is excited to usher in a new era for dairy milk.

In this episode, we sit down with Eric Tjahyadi to hear about his journey from humble beginnings to achieving success across multiple industries. He shares how his immigrant grit fuels and inspires him to reach his goals. With all the businesses he's involved in, you'll learn what he considers his biggest highlight.

Bio: Eric Tjahyadi is a serial entrepreneur and the head of ad sales/partnerships at the Orchard x Sony Music Entertainment. When he's not at the office, he runs a few passion projects- Bone Kettle (a family operated polished casual restaurant in Old Town Pasadena) and Supa Coffee (a coffee/tea cafe mix with socially conscious and locally sourced goods store in West Los Angeles). He loves connecting with like minded peers, staying creative and active, giving back to the AAPI small business community.

In this episode, we sit down with Emily Chang, best-selling author and CEO of VML West. Emily shares stories from her book and discusses how to be more intentional in both your professional and personal life.

Emily is a global commercial leader with 25 years of experience spanning QSR, Retail, Hospitality, Creative, Tech, and FMCG industries. An acknowledged thought leader in Digital Customer Experience, Workplace Culture, and Business Strategy, Emily is a bicultural leader with proven success bridging China and U.S. cultures.

Instagram: @thespareroom.emilychang

Website: www.social-legacy.com

In this episode, we talk with Thuy-Anh Nguyen, founder and President of ECG Marketing, about her inspiring journey from being a shy Asian girl growing up in suburban Boston to building a career that many dream of. She shares her experiences transitioning from a small East Coast town to Paris, and eventually settling in L.A., offering insights into how she embraced otherism and turned it into her superpower and achieved success along the way.

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Thuy-Anh Nguyen's Bio

Thuy-Anh is Founder & President of ECG Marketing, a brand marketing consultancy that focuses on authentic story-telling and engaging targeted audiences. A seasoned marketing executive leading brands including Rolex, J Brand Jeans, Hennessy, and Louis XIII, this marketing expert has worked at the intersection of entertainment, culture, and brands for over 15 years.

Thuy-Anh has held senior roles at LVMH and Remy Cointreau, and was pivotal to helping grow the Hennessy cognac and Remy Martin brands. She brokered the first ever spirits and NFLPA partnership for Super Bowl 50, and most recently developed the FYC campaign for award-winning documentary “Let Me Be Me,” landing an Emmy nomination.

She is a respected thought leader and a Google “Luxury Insider.” And recently received the UCLA “Bruin 100” Award as one of the top 100 alumni entrepreneurs from UCLA Anderson School of Business. An advocate for AAPI representation and giving back to her community, she is a member of Asian American Collective, Gold House, Femme it Forward, and board member for API Sports & Entertainment. Thuy-Anh is committed to mentorship and helping young men and women of color navigate their careers. Culture, community, and connection lie at the heart of all she does.

Passionate about the transformative power of people, Denny Tu— previously Global CMO at IMAX in LA, and former Head of Strategy at Sky in London— paints a vivid picture of how to shake off the barnacles that may be holding you back and shares strategies for becoming your own best advocate.

Denny Tu is an accomplished marketing executive with over 20 years of global experience driving growth for leading disruptor brands. Previously as Global CMO at IMAX (NYSE: IMAX), he transformed the marketing organization, redefined the premium category, and delivered a record-breaking $1.1B+ box office in FY23. Blending strategic vision with hands-on execution, his leadership has been pivotal in growing brands in both publicly traded and entrepreneurial organizations, previously having guided three #1 brands in their category. Prior, Denny served as Head of Strategy, Brand & Creative at Sky, where he led brand growth and campaigns for Europe’s leading direct-to-consumer media company.

A dual British/American citizen, Denny is passionate about fostering inclusive, high-performance teams and is a recipient of Adweek’s CMO Award. He has been named to Equilar/Nasdaq’s “Top 50 Diverse Board Candidates List” and the Financial Times “100 Leading Ethnic Minorities Power List.” He serves as Board Advisor for Making Space, a venture backed talent platform progressing the career opportunities of disabled people and as Trustee for Ditch The Label, a leading anti-bullying charity. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and BAFTA.

This episode with Denny Tu is sponsored by Publicis Groupe.

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In this episode, we introduce our new co-host Lori Corbett, People Lead for Asians in Advertising, as she shares her story publicly for the very first time. Her journey sets the stage for a season filled with inspiring stories from our upcoming guests.