We sat down today with CEO’s Genevieve Bos and Judy Willis who, in addition to being serial entrepreneurs and CEO’s of their companies, also are serial power networkers. Hear their advice and wisdom on how to transform your business with a powerful network and how to be powerful in growing your own business.
Genevieve Bos is CEO and Global Connector of People and Ideas at IdeaString. An accomplished entrepreneur, she has started and sold multiple venture-backed and privately held corporations in the technology and media sectors. Genevieve has been featured sharing her success and start-up secrets in Forbes, CBS Good Morning, NBC, CNBC, WE TV and CNN. Genevieve is also known for launching and successfully running then selling the publishing lifestyle brand PINK (www.littlepinkbook.com), created exclusively for today’s professional woman that has been described as “Fortune Meets Oprah.” Genevieve’s newest venture, www.IdeaString.com is is a place where people come together to connect, collaborate and create valuable world-changing ideas. A cloud-based service, it harnesses the thinking power of groups, then manages, promotes and evaluates the best ideas for innovation and business process optimization. With her celebrated international business background and various board, executive and business interests, Genevieve is a sought after speaker for organizations like Cisco, Dell, Morgan Stanley, GE, Ernst & Young, The Home Depot, KPMG, The Coca- Cola Company, Johnson & Johnson, Harvard University, and many more. She is also a regular guest lecturer Emory University’s MBA program.
Judy Willis is the President & CEO of Judy Willis Marketing, LLC. Pulling from both sides of her brain, Judy has the ability to quickly analyze complex business situations and determine the best course of action to meet and exceed client goals and expectations. Having been a pre‐med student with a minor in fine arts undergraduate, and having earned her MBA in Marketing, Judy has been combining the art and science of marketing for over 27 years. During her career, Judy has successfully identified and solved strategic internal and customer-facing marketing challenges for hundreds of companies, including UPS, LexisNexis, IHG, Procter & Gamble, GTE, SITA, IBM, Disney, Square D/Schneider Electric, NCR, TSYS, Merck, Delphi, Per‐Se Technologies, Georgia‐Pacific, Cox Enterprises, Fujitsu, Johnson & Johnson, and United Healthcare. She has a proven track record in the areas of strategic marketing, integrated communications, social media, market research, sales support, direct marketing, business consulting, finance, and business management experience with entrepreneurial businesses, advertising agencies and design firms, as well as large Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to starting her second company, Judy Willis Marketing, LLC, Judy headed up Porter Novelli’s Consumer Practice for the Atlanta office. Porter Novelli (PN) is a global public relations firm that is part of the publically-traded Omnicom family of companies. While with PN, Judy led all new business development, business operations, P&L, market research, client services, talent management and support for the practice. Judy also directed and managed the PN Atlanta Digital & Social Media Group, and served as the Interim Chief Marketing Officer for one of Porter Novelli’s Fortune 500 clients, Asbury Automotive Group.
Prior to joining Porter Novelli, Judy was the Chief Marketing Officer of Merge Agency. Prior to joining Merge, Judy was President, CEO and Co‐Founder of Bright Impact, Inc., a strategic branding firm that specialized in business‐to‐business marketing for companies in technology, health care, manufacturing and professional services. Judy has also held a series of high‐level marketing, advertising and consulting positions with several notable companies, such as Foote, Cone and Belding (Vicom/FCB) and LexisNexis.
Judy has been on the Board of the Georgia Executive Women’s Network (GEWN) and served as Board President in 2006. Judy is also very active in the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and has served as a Judge for the Emory Goizueta Business School Marketing Strategy Competition. Judy earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology/Pre‐Med from Mt. Holyoke College, and her Master’s in Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Connecticut.
