About Us

Michael has over 20 years of experience advising companies on the customer, brand, and go-to-market strategies, as well as the communication and design systems driven by those strategies. Michael’s ability to solve a broad set of underlying business challenges comes from his extensive knowledge of insight methodologies, strong conceptual and strategic skills, a knack for identifying what matters to executives, and acute sense for clarifying the complicated while unearthing critical issues.

Michael has successfully led multiple engagements for a wide variety of B2B and B2C Fortune 500 clients including GE, IBM, DuPont, Boeing, CDW, Cargill, Textron, KeyCorp, Kohler, and United Airlines, as well as mid-sized companies, such as the College of American Pathologists, Sea Ray Boats, the Syfy Channel, and the Blue Bird Bus Company. He has designed, conducted, and analyzed extensive market research; developed comprehensive customer and brand strategies; managed large teams toward far-reaching solutions; and guided executives toward consensus and clarity around contentious strategic issues.

Most recently, Michael was a partner at VSA Partners, a 300-person brand agency, where he built and led the strategy practice that grew under his guidance to a 15-person team. At VSA, he was responsible for extending the firm’s offer to address broader business issues of its clients, mentoring the team, and building capabilities. Prior to VSA, Michael spent ten years as an associate partner at Prophet, a management consulting firm focused on strategic brand and marketing issues. While at Prophet, Michael managed a multi-year relationship with GE Healthcare and developed rigorous customer targeting, innovation, brand portfolio, and brand architecture strategies. Prior to Prophet, Michael was a director at Landor Associates at its then-headquarters in San Francisco where he led several large brand identity engagements with top-tier creative teams.

Michael has guest lectured on branding and strategy at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and Haas Business School at the University of California, Berkeley. He has facilitated workshops for the American Management Association, was a panel member for high-ranking business schools, contributed to thought-leading writings, and has frequently spoken at board meetings for his clients.

In addition to holding a B.A. from the University of Colorado with concentrations in architecture and business, he completed graduate studies at Northwestern University where he earned an executive business certificate from the Kellogg Management Institute.

Michelle has over 18 years of experience advising leading companies on brand and marketing strategies that deliver tangible top and bottom-line growth. Her work focuses on developing innovative brand positionings, actionable customer segmentation models, customer journey mapping, brand architecture, new product development and optimizing brand portfolios.

Over the span of her career, Michelle has led consulting engagements for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 50 industry leaders, with a diverse set of clients including: ConAgra Foods, Reynolds, Oakley, Kohler, Walgreens, GE Healthcare, Illinois Tool Works, GHX (Global Healthcare Exchange) and the NFL.

Michelle is a seasoned management consultant with experience at Kuczmarski & Associates, Prophet as well as other boutique strategy consulting firms.  Her experience in brand management includes working on new products with the air care division at S.C. Johnson & Co (SCJ).  While at SCJ, Michelle led new product initiatives including launching a new brand and originated marketing programs that resulted in share leadership in a growing product category.

Michelle earner her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  She received her BS with high honors from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

With over 25 years of consulting, account management, sales and marketing experience, Verna understands both the client and agency sides of business. She is a seasoned consumer insights-driven strategic marketer and brand builder. Verna served as the Associate Vice President for Marketing Strategy and Branding at DePaul University.  At DePaul, she spearheaded the university’s first integrated marketing initiative including brand identity research, brand architecture, and brand positioning. Over her 10+ years at DePaul, Verna built the university’s reputation as a branding leader in the higher education industry.  She also assembled a team of marketing professionals which provides consulting services on many significant university initiatives including strategic planning, academic partnerships, campus expansion and building new and existing markets.

Verna started her career at Information Resources Inc., an international consumer market research firm, working in account management, marketing, and product management.  She last served as Vice President for New Product Solutions before she made the move to DePaul University.

Verna holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from The University of Iowa and a Master’s Degree in Advertising from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. 

Judy has over 20 years of experience helping to position companies for marketplace success. Her thought leadership and insight have driven top- and bottom-line impact for clients like J. Crew, Angie’s List, Outward Bound, Kaiser Permanente, and McKesson.

As a member of the senior leadership teams at multi-channel retailers and leading consulting firms, Judy gained line operating and P&L experience. At Illuminations, she was SVP of e-Commerce and Catalog and launched the company’s web channel and online marketing. At Patagonia, Judy was Director of Corporate Strategy and led the company’s exploration of profitable paths to growth.

In addition to retail, Judy is a seasoned management consultant with significant experience at The Boston Consulting Group, Accenture Retail, and Prophet Brand Strategy. She founded Pure Gravy LLC to do hands-on insights, strategy, and implementation consulting and training with clients in health care, high tech, CPG, retail, and other industries. With Brand Amplitude partner Carol Phillips, she co-authored The Brand Strategy Toolkit and numerous articles and whitepapers on brand and marketing that have been published on Brand Strategy Insider, Fortune, and elsewhere, and are available on www.brandamplitude.com.

Judy is also on the Marketing faculty at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business where she teaches Brand Strategy & Management and serves as the undergraduate faculty advisor for Marketing. She earned a B.A. in Political Science/Public Service from the University of California at Davis and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Todd is the founder and creative director of All-Good – a nimble, industry-leading design firm that is dedicated to combining art and strategic insights. Throughout his 20 years in the industry, he has delivered fresh thinking that solves problems, shifts markets, and leads to long-term results.

Todd's ability to tailor his design approach to fit the needs of clients, both large and small, has helped develop a diverse roster of clients, including: 3M, Aldar, AllState, American Eagle, Argo Tea, Best Buy, Blue Bird, Cargill, Coca-Cola, Cole Haan, Coors, Entertainment Weekly, Fiat, Fossil Watches, Fox Sports, GE, Heidelberg, IBM, IFC, Isuzu, ING, Levi’s, Mack Trucks, New York Times, Nike, Nissan, Pantone, Paramount Pictures, Pepsi, Pottery Barn, PTT Telecom, RCA Records, Redbox, Rodale, Sea Ray, Sony, Target, Taylor Guitars, Tiger Woods, Time Magazine, Timberland, Tishman Spire, Turner Classic Movies, Urban Outfitters, Warner Brothers, Williams-Sonoma, World Cup Soccer, and Yahoo.

Prior to opening All-Good, Todd was responsible for design development, creative direction, and team building for VSA Partners’ Minneapolis office. His involvement in the creative direction for major design programs helped expand the firm’s portfolio and sharpen its focus on brand identity and package design.

In addition, Todd was a partner and creative director for the Charles S. Anderson Design Company. During his tenure, the four-person design firm was named one of the “Top Ten Most Influential Design Firms” in the world by Graphis Magazine.

Todd has worked internationally with the design firm Hard Werken in the Netherlands and a client base that spans the globe. Todd has also done numerous lectures on his approach to design, judged national and international design competitions, served as an adjunct professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and is a current member of the Leadership Board of Directors and the Iowa State College of Design.

Throughout his career, Todd has accumulated over 200 awards – then stopped counting – from the following: Ad Week, Adobe Magazine, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Communication Arts, Graphis Magazine, How Magazine, ID Magazine, New York Art Directors, Print Magazine, STA100, The One Show, Type Directors Club, Museum of Modern Art – New York, The Smithsonian Institution, Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum – New York, Institute of Contemporary Arts – London, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection.

Cynthia Opie has almost 20 years of experience in helping companies use research insights to improve the way they deliver on and leverage their brands. She uncovers employee and customer insights using a variety of research techniques including in-depth interviews, focus groups, online bulletin boards, and quantitative surveys. Her experience includes work across many industries, including education, insurance, financial services, energy, consumer products, and healthcare. 

Previously she was an Engagement Manager at Prophet, a leading brand and marketing strategy consulting firm. At Prophet, she helped clients with brand strategy development and implementation by creating unique customer value propositions, ensuring employees delivered on the brand promise across all customer touchpoints, and through developing go-to-market strategies. Some of Cynthia’s past clients include DePaul University, ACT, Maidenform, Sempra US Gas & Power, and Northwestern Medicine.

Cynthia received a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA in marketing and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Over the past 25+ years, Deborah has been helping companies drive growth through strategic consumer branding, product development, organizational development, and lead generation. She has led highly successful consumer marketing initiatives in consumer packaged goods, higher education and agency settings.

At Columbia College Chicago, she built a centralized marketing team of over 30 marketing communications, design, web development, and public relations professionals. In this role, she developed and implemented the college’s first brand strategy, creating a brand architecture, visual and messaging strategy that highlighted Columbia’s unique position as an arts and media college for students who see the world through a creative lens.

After getting an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Deb started her career at Helene Curtis (now part of Unilever), leading and developing innovative products for large and successful brands, including Axe, Dove, Degree, and Suave. 

Deb is a sought-after speaker and blogger. She is a regular contributor to Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action blog, and was on the faculty of the annual CASE Branding Conference in June, 2017.

Nancy Wulz is a digital content marketing professional with over 20 years of corporate and agency marketing experience. Nancy has extensive experience in creating, managing, and executing digital marketing campaigns across a variety of industries, including technology, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and retail. In her previous roles, she has worked with leading B2B and B2C brands, developing digital content and marketing strategies that engage customers and drive results.

Nancy has a deep understanding of how to create and execute effective marketing campaigns that achieve business objectives and is an expert in developing content strategies that align with business goals and objectives. Her approach to content marketing is data-driven and results-oriented, and she is passionate about creating great content that engages audiences and drives conversions.