
She spent 14 years selling other companies' ideas before she got to shape one of the world's biggest tech brands. Now she is trying to teach a 70,000-person company to market like it grew up online.

Stacey Paynter is the founder and CEO of Strategic Connections, LLC, a San Francisco Bay Area strategic planning and brand consultancy she launched in 2004 after a career spanning some of the largest names in global advertising. As former CEO of Publicis Dialog's San Francisco office and COO of EvansGroup, she co-authored the 'Holistic Communications' framework later adopted worldwide by Publicis Groupe. Today she advises C-suite executives on brand strategy, customer acquisition, and operational transformation — and serves on the board of the OSET Institute as a Brand, PR & Media Advisor.