# Mae Karwowski

> Mae Karwowski is the founder and CEO of Obviously, the technology-led influencer marketing agency she bootstrapped from a New York apartment into a global operation before its 2023 acquisition by WPP. A philosophy graduate who began her career managing Facebook pages for Bravo shows and Coca-Cola, she built her company around a durable idea: creators should be treated as people and brand relationships should work at both human and measurable scale.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Obviously
- **Organizations:** Obviously, VML, WPP, Gilt City, Gilt Groupe, 360i
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- **Known for:** Bootstrapped Obviously without outside investment and grew it into a profitable global influencer marketing agency., Built Obviously around proprietary technology for campaign workflow, creator identification, analytics and reporting., Led Obviously through its 2023 acquisition by WPP and continued as CEO.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and entered the fast-growing social-media field.
- **2008-2010s** — Worked at 360i, overseeing social execution for accounts including Bravo and Coca-Cola; later directed social media for Gilt City.
- **2013-2014** — Began building Obviously from her three-bedroom New York apartment; company and WPP materials identify 2014 as the official launch/founding year.
- **2016** — Obviously was profitable and sustainable without outside investment, with a New York headquarters and a new San Francisco office.
- **2019** — Obviously ranked No. 2 among the fastest-growing influencer agencies in the United States and No. 3 worldwide on Adweek's list; Karwowski also received a Campaign Female Frontier Award.
- **2021** — Obviously ranked No. 33 on the Inc. 5000 Regionals list for the New York metro area.
- **2023** — Led Obviously through its acquisition by WPP; the nearly 100-person team joined VMLY&R, later part of VML.
- **2026** — Continued as CEO of Obviously, discussing creator ROI, niche expertise, AI and integrated creator strategy in interviews and industry events.

## Achievements

- Bootstrapped Obviously without outside investment and grew it into a profitable global influencer marketing agency.
- Built Obviously around proprietary technology for campaign workflow, creator identification, analytics and reporting.
- Led Obviously through its 2023 acquisition by WPP and continued as CEO.
- Won a Campaign Female Frontier Award, according to her official biography.
- Led Obviously to the No. 2 U.S. and No. 3 worldwide influencer-agency positions on Adweek's 2019 fastest-growing-agencies list.
- Led Obviously to No. 33 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals list for the New York metro area.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Appeared on The Talktrack Podcast to discuss bootstrapping Obviously, scaling the company and the timing of its acquisition.
- **2026-05** — Spoke at Marketing Brew's New York event on creator ROI and discussed scale, experimentation and niche creators in a published interview.
- **2026-01** — Appeared on NEXT with Michael Sonnenfeldt to discuss entrepreneurship, founder partnerships, pricing and knowing when to sell.
- **2026-01** — Reported that Obviously's 2025 business grew more than 25%, with 700-plus campaigns and 3.8 billion views.

## Links

- Website: https://www.maekarwowski.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maekarwowski
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/maewow
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maewow/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/mae-karwowski
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-22