First look at our 2025 speakers!

2025 Speakers

MJ Carlson

Electric Picks is so much more than a jewelry brand; it's a community. Founded by MJ Carlson in 2011, the brand began with a simple idea: jewelry should feel like it's part of your story. MJ, a lifelong collector of charms and vintage trinkets, transformed those inspirations into affordable yet high-quality layerable pieces you’ll never want to take off. Today, Electric Picks has grown from a kitchen-table passion project into a cult-loved brand with a focus on building community. Their pieces have been spotted on celebrities (hi Hailey Bieber & Kelsea Ballerini), style icons, and anyone who believes the best accessories are the ones that feel personal. EP is literally jewelry for everyone—as it should be.

Sarah Gibson Tuttle

Sarah Gibson Tuttle is the Founder/CEO of Olive & June, the first-ever consumer-focused DIY nail brand bringing salon-quality results home. Since launching in 2013, she has revolutionized the nail industry, making beautiful nails more accessible and empowering millions to feel confident, one mani at a time.

Before founding Olive & June, Sarah spent a decade on Wall Street, an experience that shaped her entrepreneurial mindset and gave her the drive to build something entirely her own. Under her leadership, the brand grew into a household name, available in over 8,000 stores including Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Amazon.

In December 2024, Olive & June was acquired by Helen of Troy in the only strategic beauty deal of the year. A $240M milestone that cemented Sarah’s place as a leader in modern consumer brands. She was named to Inc.’s Female Founders 100 and continues to mentor and invest in rising CPG startups.

She lives in Los Angeles with her daughter. Sarah is passionate about helping the next generation of founders believe that anything is possible - with the right pep talk.

Jess Jensen

Jess Jensen is the founder of Co-pilot Communications, a Portland-based advisory helping bold executives and founders build digital brands that actually sound like them. After 20 years inside Fortune 100 companies (Microsoft, Qualcomm, Nestlé, and Adidas), Jess stepped out of corporate to help leaders stop playing small online and start showing up with clarity and confidence.

Co-pilot works with curious, values-driven leaders who are tired of generic content and ghostwritten fluff. Jess believes that building a professional brand isn’t just smart—it’s your moat. Through sharp messaging, editorial strategy, and smart use of platforms like LinkedIn and podcasting, she helps her clients earn trust and build rapport in places where their stakeholders already spend hours every day.

Jess launched Co-pilot in 2024 to amplify the kind of leadership the world needs more of—clear, grounded, and human. She’s on a mission to help leaders take back the mic and shape their own narrative before someone else does.

Follow her: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicakjensen/

Subscribe to her monthly newsletter: https://newsletter.copilotcommunications.com/subscribe

Tiffany K. Guillen

Tiffany K. Guillen is a writer-director and entrepreneur. She is a DGA Jury Award winner, Emmy Nominee, published playwright, Miami Herald's Silver Knight Winner, HollyShorts Award Winner, and was recently listed on Forbes 30 under 30.

A graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University and USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Tiffany has directed numerous projects, including Welcome Back, which premiered on HBO Max. Most recently, she was announced as one of the directors for Season 2 of Cross on Amazon Prime.

Tiffany is also the co-founder of Creative X Entertainment, a media company with clients including Netflix, Starbucks, CeraVe, Shondaland, and Hollister. Most recently, CXE Studios launched Anatomy of a Dream, a series hosted by Tiffany that shares powerful stories of people who’ve achieved extraordinary goals through dedication and resilience.

Alisha Gupta

Alisha Gupta is a keynote speaker, creator, professional dancer, and founder of Beauty in Balance, a community for multi-hyphenates to align passion with profession. A strategy consultant by day and artist by night, Alisha is no stranger to balancing dual identities. Her platform helps others embrace the “and” — the in-between stage before quitting a 9-to-5 or raising a first round — where creativity and career can meaningfully coexist.

Alisha’s journey began in youth empowerment and social impact. While working with Ashoka, she spoke at Arizona State University to help shape a nationwide changemaking curriculum. As a podcast host with Humanity Rising, she created What Cause Inspires You, spotlighting student and professional changemakers and reaching over 100K listeners — earning recognition from NBC and an interview with actor Rainn Wilson. She’s since spoken on topics ranging from identity to mental health at Peace Day Chicago, on WGN TV, and at Google’s Leadership Symposium, where she addressed hundreds of students about imposter syndrome and non-traditional career paths.

Through Beauty in Balance, Alisha curates newsletters, toolkits, and live events to help multi-hyphenates build clarity and confidence. In just 8 months, she’s grown a 32K+ engagement community, launched a bi-weekly newsletter, partnered with 16+ brands, and hosted three sold-out creator events. Whether she’s moderating a film premiere or performing on tour, Alisha leads with the belief that passion and profession aren’t mutually exclusive—they’re meant to fuel each other.

Mikayla Nogueira

Boston native Mikayla Nogueira took social media by storm when she began uploading makeup tutorials on TikTok during the pandemic. Quitting her retail job at Ulta to pursue content creation full-time, Mikayla has since unapologetically invited fans and followers alike into her day-to-day life, with a level of vulnerability only she makes relatable. Her expert artistry, coupled with her unmistakable charm accented by her Boston pride, has earned her career-defining moments, such as sold-out meet-and-greets and collaborations with contemporary favorites from ELF Cosmetics to Glow Recipe.

With a following amassing over 21 million, Mikayla has taken her loyal audience through her various epochs, such as marriage and expanding her family with two adorable pugs, Chouriço and Lulu. From make-up to mental health, her followers relate and empathize with her as she pulls back the curtain on being an influencer. She truly has mastered the art of making makeup accessible and fun for people of all backgrounds.

Riana Lynn

Riana Lynn, MPH, is a visionary entrepreneur, storyteller, and AI consultant, dedicated to transforming the global food system through entrepreneurship and experiences. As the founder and CEO of Journey Foods, she leads the development of innovative, data-driven solutions that address critical nutrition and supply chain challenges that affect billions of people globally. Her work has earned her recognition as a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, Google Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and has led to over 230 speaking engagements at prestigious forums and universities, including Harvard, MIT, and the Dubai World Expo.

As the inventor of the first AI patent for generative recipes, her vision is ahead of its time. She is also one of the first women with an AI software patent. Under her leadership, Journey Foods and Journey Labs are setting new industry standards and paving the way for a more nutritious, fair, and efficient food system worldwide.

Riana’s commitment to business challenges is deeply intertwined with her focus on creative community building, ensuring that the future of food technology benefits everyone. This is seen in her work as a member of the Board of Directors for Adult Science Fair and StartOut. She holds degrees and formal training in Biology, Chemistry, Anthropology, Black Studies, Public Health, and Artificial Intelligence from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Columbia University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Denise Woodard

Denise is the Founder and CEO of Partake, a natural food company that was inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Launched in 2017, Partake’s first product — delicious, allergy-friendly cookies — can now be found in more than 18,000 retailers including Target, Kroger, and Whole Foods Market. Partake's offerings have since expanded to include graham crackers and vanilla wafers.

Denise is the first Black woman to raise more than $1 Million publicly for a CPG food startup. To date, the company has raised over $30M from investors including HER, Rihanna, FF2032 and Marcy Venture Partners.

Prior to launching Partake, Denise spent a decade in consumer packaged goods at various Fortune 100 companies. She is also the founder of 501c3, Black Futures Fellowship, an annual program that matches active HBCU students with paid internships in the CPG food & beverage industry. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeremy, and daughter, Vivienne. She graduated with her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Clare Vivier

After noticing a lack of functional yet stylish laptop cases while working as a journalist for French TV, Clare Vivier decided to create her own line of handbags and accessories. Since 2008, Vivier has cultivated an identifiable aesthetic all her own, recognized worldwide as a style influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers across social media. After more than a decade, the Clare V. brand has grown to include 14 physical retail locations, over 100 wholesale partners around the globe, and a robust ecommerce business.

Ashley Leftwich

Ashley Leftwich is the CEO of Rock The Street, Wall Street, a nonprofit that empowers high school girls and university women by bringing the M in STEM to life through Financial & Investment fundamentals. Under her leadership, RTSWS provides industry access and guidance to students and alumni, supporting their journey from classrooms to careers. Ashley drives this mission forward by expanding opportunities, deepening engagement, and fostering greater participation in the capital markets.

With a strong foundation in mathematics, Ashley’s career began at a Fortune 100 company, where she quickly recognized the disparities women face in math-focused fields. Her passion for advocacy and systemic change has driven her professional journey, propelling her from COO to CEO at RTSWS. During her tenure, RTSWS expanded its reach to over 50 schools in more than 25 cities across three countries, impacting the lives of over 8,500 students. Ashley’s efforts have enhanced RTSWS’s programming in financial and investment literacy, incorporating mentoring and leadership access, enabling young women to pursue finance-related degrees at five times the national rate for female university students.

Ashley focuses on driving innovation, forging strategic partnerships, and amplifying RTSWS’s global impact. Her work with industry leaders, sponsors, and volunteers positions RTSWS as a transformative force in closing gender and racial gaps in finance. With over 1,000 alumni poised to enter the workforce, Ashley ensures the continuity of support through the RTSWS Career Center, empowering these young women to thrive in early financial careers.

Emily Blair

Emily Blair has been navigating the cutthroat entertainment industry since she was in high school, following a chance encounter with a reporter at Us Weekly magazine. By the time she was a senior at Chapman University, majoring in Strategic and Corporate Communication, Emily simultaneously worked as a full-time journalist at Us Weekly, balancing a schedule of final exams and Oscars red carpets. Following graduation, on the brink of the pandemic, Emily noticed a huge shift in the world of celebrity, and understood that a new wave of digitally-native talent was rapidly emerging - and unfortunately, so many of her colleagues were uninterested in covering them, and publicists she’d come to work with didn’t understand how to represent them. With her veteran understanding of the evolving editorial landscape, matched with her growing enthusiasm in the creator economy, Emily reverse-engineered the journalist-publicist relationship and launched Emily Blair Media.

EBM's roster includes global top-charting podcasters, reality television stars, athletes, musicians, fashion bloggers, below-the-line artists, and D2C brands across beauty, lifestyle, wellness, fashion, and tech. Within the past six years, Emily has won multiple accolades and awards, expanded internationally, become one of the youngest editorial producers for Vogue, and employs a team of 25 women. As a PR professional with extensive experience in crisis management, media relations, and brand development, Emily has been pivotal in guiding her clients through crises — from digital backlash to public relations pitfalls. Her tenure as a journalist uniquely enables her to forecast media response and to halt and strategically mitigate a crisis in its tracks. Her insights into navigating high-stakes situations and successfully acting amidst unexpected challenges have made her an invaluable asset to her clients’ communication teams, and have saved many of them who boast several million online followers from “cancel culture,” negative press, and severed partnerships. Her savvy approach to thinking critically and creatively, and her ability to handle each client’s publicity with a unique and authentic outlook, have positioned her as an industry leader across many competitors and colleagues with decades of experience under their belts.

Jessie Randall

Jessie Randall is the co-founder and chief creative officer of Loeffler Randall, a New York-based fashion brand established in 2004. Founded with her husband, Brian, in their Brooklyn apartment, Jessie’s eponymous line (Loeffler is her middle name) arrived on the shelves at Bergdorf Goodman less than a year after its inception. Jessie’s work earned her the CFDA’s Swarovski Award for Accessory Design in 2007. Inc. Magazine named Loeffler Randall one of America’s 500 fastest-growing companies shortly after, and in 2022, the brand’s cult-favorite Camellia heel was named “one of the best-selling bridal shoes in the world” by British Vogue.

The brand has grown beyond footwear to include handbags, accessories, and ready-to-wear, with pieces available worldwide. Loeffler Randall remains driven by Jessie’s founding ethos and unique aesthetic. Jessie and her team design each silhouette to delight the wearer, curating a balance of “wow” and wardrobe icon styles for making every day more beautiful. The collection is sold at 140 stockists, including prestigious retailers Net-a-Porter, Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman, and Moda Operandi, as well as the brand’s own brick-and-mortar boutiques in New York City and Charleston, South Carolina. Jessie still resides in Brooklyn with Brian and their three children. When not designing, Jessie is happiest playing tennis, crafting, and writing her Substack newsletter, “Jessie Loves.”

Jenny Frankel

Jenny Frankel is a chemical engineer and beauty industry innovator with over 20 years of experience creating iconic products, including MAC Cosmetics’ Lipglass and Studio Pro Foundation, and co-creating complexion brand Cover FX.

In 2014, Jenny launched Nudestix with her daughters, Taylor and Ally Frankel, driven by a shared vision for minimalist, multitasking, clean beauty. Built on a “less is more” philosophy, Nudestix quickly captured attention, pioneering its crayon-format products designed for effortless, natural looks.

The brand earned early accolades, including Women’s Wear Daily’s Prestige Beauty Brand of the Year (2015) and CEW’s Indie Brand Award (2015). After 10 years, Nudestix reached over 3,000 retail locations, generated $80 million in retail sales, and expanded into 30+ countries. Signature launches include the Nudies Hero Collection, NUDESKIN, NUDESCREEN SPF 30, and NUDEBODY.

In 2025, Nudestix entered a strategic partnership with a U.S.-based CPG group to power its next decade of growth. Under Jenny’s mentorship, co-founder Taylor Frankel was named to Forbes’ Top 30 Under 30 and Women’s Wear Daily’s Top 30 Under 30.

Jenny and Taylor continue to lead Nudestix, championing clean, science-backed, and effortlessly beautiful products for modern consumers worldwide.

Farnaz Farjam

Farnaz Farjam was named Executive Vice President, Current Programming, at Bunim/Murray Productions in April 2021. Farjam, who has been with BMP for more than 20 years, has produced many of the studio’s top series, including Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Total Divas, Total Bellas, and the studio’s recent Emmy Award-winning series Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls.

In her role, Farjam creates and develops new celeb-reality series and oversees creative and logistical needs for all of BMP’s current projects, including serving as executive producer for Lifetime’s Chrisley’s Knows Best and The Family Stallone for Paramount+, as well as the studio’s reality film Dead Hot with Vanessa Hudgens (Tubi). Farjam won a Primetime Emmy Award for her role as an executive producer on the Amazon Prime Video series Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, which won three Emmys, including Outstanding Competition Series in 2022.

Farjam, who also served as executive producer/showrunner on E!’s Mariah’s World, originally started with the studio in 2003 as Supervising Producer. Prior to joining BMP, Farjam worked in unscripted production for Vin Di Bona Productions, Scott Sternberg Productions, and Paul Stojanovich Productions. Farjam began her career as a location manager in the film industry.

Denise Hussey

Denise Hussey is a Risk Management Executive in the financial services industry, currently leading Compliance Transformation at Discover. In this enterprise-level position, she leads enterprise-wide compliance program initiatives, offering strategic oversight and expert guidance on complex regulatory and operational matters. Denise plays a critical role in enhancing the effectiveness of the compliance framework, with a strong focus on identifying, assessing, and mitigating compliance risk.

With over 20 years of experience in banking and financial services, Denise has built a distinguished career spanning compliance and operational risk management, internal audit, governance, and program leadership. Prior to joining Discover, she spent 10 years at TD Bank, where she held senior management roles and led high-impact teams charged with protecting the bank’s operations, reputation, and customers through strong risk and compliance practices.

Throughout her career, Denise has been recognized for her ability to navigate complex regulatory environments, lead through change, and build strong, cross-functional partnerships across large organizations. Denise is a Certified Fraud Examiner and holds a degree from Rutgers University. She is passionate about introducing the next generation—especially young women—to the wide range of meaningful, high-impact careers available in the financial industry, where leadership, curiosity, and a strong voice can drive real change.

Daryl-Ann Denner

Dallas-based Daryl-Ann Denner is a wife, mother of three, entrepreneur, and the co-founder and CEO of nuuds, the fast-growing apparel brand redefining everyday basics with comfort, quality, and body-positive design.

Before building a nine-figure fashion business, Daryl-Ann’s career began in a high school chemistry classroom. A graduate of Biola University with a degree in Business Administration and a pre-med background, she taught chemistry while helping with her family’s construction company. In 2015, she started a blog as a creative outlet. That move would unexpectedly set her on a new path.

Her honest, relatable content quickly resonated with audiences, and over time, she built a loyal community of more than two million followers across platforms by sharing her life and style in an approachable, authentic way. After struggling to find flattering, high-quality basics for her postpartum body, Daryl-Ann co-founded nuuds with her husband, Daniel, in 2022. The brand’s first six styles sold out in seven minutes, signaling a clear demand for what she had envisioned: elevated, flattering essentials for real bodies.

Today, nuuds operates out of Dallas and continues to expand its womenswear, menswear, and children’s lines. As CEO and Creative Director, Daryl-Ann leads with a clear mission: to create clothes people truly live in, pieces that are soft, comfortable, and thoughtfully designed to fit and flatter everybody.

Beyond her role as a business leader, Daryl-Ann is deeply proud of her titles of Mom, Daughter, and Friend. She is known for keeping things “as real as real gets,” her love of a great everyday T-shirt, and her unwavering loyalty to a large Diet Coke.