My Story:

Mark Smalls, Founder

I have been a citizen of “many worlds” and that has formed who I am as a person, a marketing professional, an executive coach and an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. I am a kid from Mount Vernon, NY – a blue collar suburb of New York City. I am the child of two public school educators, which forged an appreciation of the importance of helping others reach their full potential. In addition to spending my formative and early working years in New York, I have spent 9 years of my life living in the South, another 9 in the Midwest and over 14 on the West coast. These varied experiences have left me with an appreciation of both the commonalities and the differences among people from various environments and backgrounds.
That’s enough about where I’ve been; you’re probably more interested in who I am. Currently I am an entrepreneur with a passion for advising organizations and individuals on how to make their “brand” as powerful as possible in an increasingly diverse world. I am also motivated to use my skills around messaging to not only help organizations effectively reach target stakeholders, but also to avoid missteps that could cause harm to their brand, thereby limiting their growth (or worse).
Before embarking on my entrepreneurial journey, I spent years working in marketing across a variety of industries including consumer package goods and financial services.  I was effective in these assignments despite (or perhaps at times, because of) being one of the few persons of color in leadership roles. In addition to my traditional marketing roles, I wound up developing an expertise in “leveraging DEI as a strength” through experiences like serving as National Ethnic Marketing Manager for Pepsi Cola and overseeing the diversity team for a global legal services provider. I can point to specific examples of helping an organization map their DEI strategy and then deliver concrete results.
I will sum up “my story” (so far) by defining myself as someone who lives in a constant state of GRATITUDE. I am extremely grateful for my family, my life experiences, and for the skills that I have been endowed with. I hope to have a chance to use those skills to assist you or your organization!