Before Dow Jones, she was a founder of Omnicom Group’s We Are Unlimited, the first of its kind, collaborative agency model that has inspired an industry-wide shift in agency structuring. Graceann is a revered speaker and thought leader who has presented her work at SXSW, Sustainable Brands, NYU Stern School of Business, Cannes Advertising Festival, GreenBiz Forum, TEDxHarvard and the United Nations Foundation for Social Change. She has been a featured expert for media outlets including Fortune, The New York Times, Ad Age, CNN and NPR. Graceann has served on the advisory board of Attivio, a global business intelligence company and as Global Ambassador for The SmartWoman Project -- a venture using mobile technology to empower women with education and social connectivity. She is also a member of The WIE Suite.
My last two corporate jobs pushed me to the edge, where I realized I wanted to take my skills and create value outside of a big company. I was fully confident I could add value, so it was easier to take the leap. I also felt out of alignment on a physical and spiritual level – I need to reconnect to my soul and what made me come alive.
How much people can lie with it. Data is helpful, but it needs to be interrogated and is only as good as the questions you ask it and your analysis. A lot of people are just looking to confirm what they believe and don’t really look at data objectively.
The next big trend in data is resonance — not just understanding what people do, but what moves them. AI is what makes that possible. It’s how we stop treating data like a static archive and start listening to it like a living rhythm.
With AI, we can uncover emotional signatures, patterns of longing, signals of alignment — the moments when people don’t just click, but connect. It’s empathy at scale, powered by algorithms and made meaningful by human insight.
In this new era, data isn’t just about information. It’s about energy. And AI is how we tune in.”
The more I’ve leaned into who I truly am — not who I was told to be or trained to become — the more aligned and expansive my work has become. Success, for me, has come from getting clearer and clearer on my own frequency and learning to trust my inner signals.
When I get more real and honest with myself and am practicing embodying my true self, I make better decisions, attract the right opportunities, and create work that resonates on a deeper level. Authenticity isn’t just about being “real.” It’s about being in integrity with my own knowing. That’s the secret. And the practice.
I love Dolly Parton.
She’s brilliant — not just in talent, but in intelligence, strategy, and self-awareness. What I admire most is her unapologetic authenticity. She knows exactly who she is and never asks permission to be that — yet somehow she manages to stay completely humble while being absolutely kick-ass.
Dolly doesn’t play small to make others comfortable, and she doesn’t perform power to prove a point. She simply is — and that, to me, is the highest form of feminine leadership. She reminds me that you can be soft and fierce, sparkly and smart, funny and deeply wise — all at the same time.
Dancing.
I am most myself on the dance floor. It’s where I feel free, fully expressed, and deeply connected — not just to music, but to other people. Some of my favorite relationships — in life, love, and even work — have started with dancing.
There’s something powerful about connecting non-verbally, energetically… without LinkedIn profiles, job titles, or agendas. Dancing is an honest exchange. You feel someone’s presence, their rhythm, their openness — and in that moment, you meet at a soul level. I live for that.
AI — and more IRL time.
It might sound like a contradiction, but I think the rise of AI is actually creating a hunger for deeper, more meaningful real-world connection. As we delegate more of the mechanical, repetitive tasks to machines, we’re being invited back into our humanity — our creativity, our intuition, our relationships.
I’m excited to see AI help us become more human — not less. And I think the smartest brands and creators will use it to amplify soul, not just scale. That means more space for face-to-face connection, shared energy, and time well spent — online and off.
Rushmore by Wes Anderson.
It’s quirky, brilliant, and emotionally raw — a reminder that ambition and vulnerability often live side by side. I love how it celebrates outsiders, overachievers, and the beautifully messy process of figuring out who you are.
Max Fischer is a wildly imperfect character, but he throws himself into life with full force — he creates, he connects, he fails spectacularly, and he keeps going. That spirit has stayed with me. Rushmore taught me that reinvention is part of the journey, that obsession can be a superpower, and that originality always wins in the long run.
