Bozoma Saint John
- Former CMO at Netflix and Endeavor, CBO at Uber, and Marketing Executive at Apple Music and PepsiCo
- Previously named Forbes’ “#1 Most Influential CMO”
- Offers organizations a rare perspective on building brands that shape culture, inspire loyalty, and drive lasting business impact.
Bozoma Saint John Speaker Biography
Bozoma Saint John is a Hall of Fame inducted Marketing Executive, author, entrepreneur, and general badass.
Boz got her start in her marketing career at Spike Lee’s ad agency, SpikeDDB. She then went on to manage brands in the PepsiCo beverages portfolio, before becoming Head of Music and Entertainment Marketing at the CPG giant. After that, she led Global Consumer Marketing at Apple Music & iTunes; before serving as Chief Brand Officer at Uber; she then took on the Chief Marketing Officer role for Endeavor (including WME, IMG, UFC, Miss Universe etc.); after which served as the Global Chief Marketing Officer at the entertainment behemoth, Netflix.
In an exciting new chapter, Bozoma left her traditional corporate tenure track to publish her memoir The Urgent Life and has now taken her fierce personality and unmatched flair to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as a full-time cast member.
Beyond her solo ventures, Bozoma brought her signature brilliance and cultural expertise to the airwaves as a co-host of the premiere season of NBC’s On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, seamlessly bridging the worlds of business, branding, and entertainment while guiding entrepreneurs through the high-stakes challenges of building impactful brands. In 2024, Bozoma also launched Eve by Boz, a hair and hair care line created to revolutionize the hair extension industry with a unique approach that blends cultural authenticity and premium quality.
Bozoma’s work has been widely recognized and celebrated across the industries in which she has made her mark. She has been inducted into both the American Marketing Association Hall of Fame and the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. Forbes named her the #1 Most Influential Chief Marketing Officer in the world. Additionally, she has been inducted into Billboard’s Women in Music Hall of Fame after being listed among the Most Powerful Women in Music for 10 consecutive years, and she was honored as Executive of the Year. Bozoma has graced the cover of Adweek, where she was described as “one of the most exciting personalities in advertising.” Boz was also recognized as the Woman of the Year by iHeart Radio. She has also been featured on an array of prestigious lists, including The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100, Fast Company’s and Ad Age’s Most Creative People, Ebony’s 100 Powerful Executives, Black Enterprise’s Most Powerful Women in
Business, and Fortune’s Most Influential CMOs.
Harvard Business School published a multi-media case study on her career, titled “Leading with Authenticity and Urgency”; through which she developed and taught a program at the University aptly named “The Anatomy of a Badass.” Boz has also created a public online class, “The Badass Workshop” to teach the nuances of achieving success and building your life on your own terms.
Boz has expanded her service outside of the US and was named as an Ambassador for the African Diaspora and Special Envoy to the former President of Ghana, His Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo. Boz also serves on the boards of Vital Voices and Soho House; and in 2021 Bozoma became a founding member of the Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA.)
All of that said, she counts her highest achievement as being a mother to her daughter, Lael.
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Speech Topics
The Brand Blueprint: Leading with Authenticity and Urgency
Harvard Business School doesn’t write case studies on ordinary leaders. Bozoma Saint John’s leadership philosophy became the subject of a Harvard Business School case study because it challenged conventional ideas of executive leadership. She demonstrates that authenticity and urgency are not just personal values—they are catalysts for innovation, resilience, and lasting impact.
Drawing on her experience leading marketing at Apple Music, Uber, Endeavor, and Netflix—and shaping PepsiCo’s groundbreaking music and entertainment marketing—Boz shares the principles that have defined her extraordinary career, revealing how embracing your authentic voice, leading with courage, and acting with urgency empower leaders to reframe failure as an opportunity for growth, build cultures of belonging, and inspire teams to achieve extraordinary results.
Too Much? Good. That’s Exactly What Got Me Here.
Throughout her career, Bozoma Saint John has been called “too much”—too bold, too loud, too ambitious. She believes those weren’t criticisms; they were the very qualities that fueled her success. In this empowering keynote, Boz challenges audiences to stop shrinking themselves to fit systems that weren’t built for them and instead embrace authenticity as their greatest competitive advantage. Sharing hard-earned lessons on self-advocacy, personal branding, and owning your narrative, she reveals how confidence, visibility, and the courage to stand apart can open doors, amplify influence, and create a career defined on your own terms—not someone else’s.
Beyond the Dashboard: Why the Best Marketing Starts with Intuition
Today’s marketers have more data than ever before, yet breakthrough ideas are becoming harder to find. Bozoma Saint John challenges audiences to rethink their relationship with metrics, arguing that while data should inform decisions, it should never replace human intuition. Drawing on decades of experience building culture-defining campaigns, she shares why the most memorable brands aren’t created by chasing KPIs—they’re built by leaders with the courage to trust their instincts, embrace bold ideas, and create work that people truly feel. Inspired by her TED Talk, Boz empowers marketers to use data as a tool, not a crutch, and rediscover the creativity that drives lasting impact.
