Courage is the product I sell.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
I believe most people quit one step before the thing they were building was about to work. I don't. I was raised on the belief that a hard no is information, not a verdict, and that showing up again the next day, and the day after that, isn't a personality trait, but rather, a decision you make on purpose, repeatedly. Rejection doesn't scare me. Staying small does.
I see what a brand can become before it can see it in itself. Most people evaluate a company by what it currently is: its size, its budget, its category. I evaluate it by what it's capable of becoming once imagination and logic stop competing and start arguing productively instead. I've never met a brand too small, too early, or too unknown to lead its category, only brands that haven't yet been shown how.
I don't believe in the flashy campaign that gets everyone excited for a quarter and forgotten by the next. I believe in the slower, harder, more relentless work of building something real underneath the excitement, because that's the only thing that survives contact with an actual market. Sustainable success has never once come from a shortcut, and I stopped looking for one a long time ago.
I believe courage is the actual product I sell. The willingness to make the move you've been talking yourself out of, to say the uncomfortable thing your category has been avoiding, to bet on distinction when the safe move is sameness. Stepping fully into who you're meant to become demands consistent courage, and instilling that courage in other people is what gets me out of bed every day.
I've spent my career championing the underdog: the founder nobody's betting on yet, the brand written off as too small to matter. Startups in the wellness, lifestyle, tech, hospitality and spirits categories. And I've also helped to reinvent some of the biggest brands in the world like HP, McDonald's, Verizon, Procter & Gamble and IHG Hotel Group. My deepest professional belief, the one I ended up writing a book about, is that regardless of size or notoriety of a brand, the real test was never whether people notice you. It's whether they'd miss you if you were gone.
That belief was built the hard way: growing up in New York, cutting my teeth inside some of the world's most recognized global advertising agencies (the unforgiving kind, where only the most creative and inventive survive) and eventually becoming one of the first strategists to move from leading advertising into leading PR at the executive level, before founding integrated marketing agency Sēd, to build brands the way I actually believe they should be built. Although I've received recognition from the industry and beyond, the hardware on my desk is not what I'm most proud of. It is the success of the brands that customers across the globe have brought into their lives because of something I contributed.
Focus areas
Background
2020–Present
Founder
Loretta launched marketing communications agency Sēd in 2020 to exclusively support startup brands and as the agency has grown, it has evolved to service brands of all sizes. Loretta has a passion for the startup industry and their innovative, bold and nimble approach to their respective verticals. The startup world has changed the game for legacy brands who tend to be more conservative and less likely to move quickly, and Loretta's experience with legacy brands allows her to offer a unique perspective to startups looking to compete with them. Loretta's brand of marketing is the inspiration for the ethos of Sēd: differentiated, strategic and brave. It is this combination that allows Sēd to help startups kick-start hypergrowth. Since its inception, Sēd has increased distribution and adoption for startup clients in the beauty, wellness and technology sectors such as Gladskin, Tesport, and Get Joy +Co., but through its successful campaigns, has attracted large enterprise clients like Diageo, Ford, Merck and Novartis.
2015–2020
Chief Strategy & Creative Officer
Led a global team of 30+ creative, strategy, and social media leaders across DeVries' entire client roster — including IHG's Luxury Portfolio, SK-II, Essentia Water, Zippo, Secret Deodorant, and Celebrity Cruises. Repositioned the agency around “cultural decoding” and built the proprietary DeVries Creative Collective, DeCoder, and Culture Circles tools used worldwide. Represented the agency on industry stages, coining the term “Brandbiguity.” Added clients including IHOP, IHG, Staples, Sephora, Walgreens/Boots, Method, and Pandora; sustained a new-business win rate 20%+ above industry benchmark (peaking at 68% in 2017); delivered double-digit growth in 2019 for the $35MM agency.
2010–2015
EVP, Global Creative Strategy, Analytics & Planning Director
Led creative strategy for the agency's marquis account, Hewlett Packard ($230MM globally), while growing the firm's creative/strategy/analytics function across Procter & Gamble, Braun, and Novartis. Launched PN+ and the Influence Modeling PR mix model; managed a team of 10 strategists supporting 75 communications professionals worldwide. Named to PRWeek's 2013 “40 Under 40” list.
2007–2010
SVP, Senior Strategic Planning Director
Led global strategic planning — research, segmentation, insight mining, creative testing, campaign development — for Verizon, Black & Decker, Cadbury, Pfizer, and Galderma. Built an Integrated Marketing training module adopted agency-wide.
1998–2007
Earlier career
The decade that built the strategic and creative foundation for everything since.
Along the way: a 4A's Jay Chiat Award and multiple Effie, Cannes Lion, Sabre, and PRSA honors.
Selected work
Category experience
- Spirits, Wine & Beer
- GuinnessSmirnoffJohnnie WalkerCrown RoyalSauzaAbsolutTanquerayKahluaDon JulioMoët & ChandonDom PérignonSanta MargaritaHarpBassRed StripeLevel
- Beauty, Cosmetics & Haircare
- OlayPanteneAussieNo.7ForeoWellaGladskin
- Technology (B2B & B2C)
- HPSamsungT-MobileJiboHelloOtter
- Consumer Packaged Goods
- Essentia WaterPepsiCokeLay's7-UpDentyneMethodMucinexAirborne
- Durables
- Black & DeckerZippoShark Ninja
- Healthcare
- PfizerNovartisGalderma
- Luxury & Travel
- IHG Luxury PortfolioPandoraSK-IICelebrity Cruises
- QSR & Retail
- McDonald'sIHOPSephoraStaplesBJ's
- Personal Care
- TrojanDurexK-YCarefreeLivFreshMentadent
- Telecommunications & Media
- VerizonHBO
- Automotive & Gaming
- FordIGT
- Other
- Lucky StrikeKoolMSculptCenter on Addiction
Building RAIN™ at Sēd, and writing the book.
My latest work sits at the intersection of brand strategy and how AI systems discover, understand, and recommend brands — the same thinking now shaping this website's own architecture.