She arrived at Brogan & Partners as a 22-year-old intern. After learning the business from nearly every angle, she became its owner - and kept the agency's most unusual promises intact.

After three decades at Campbell Marketing & Communications, the Detroit executive still prefers curiosity to certainty, teams to corporate-family talk, and the long race to the victory lap.

After 25 years inside one communications firm, Chris Heaton helped buy it, rename it and hand more authority to the people around him. His operating idea is simple enough to fit on a label: find the purpose first; promotion comes later.