Grace Gong is the founder of Smart Venture Media and the host of two well-known VC podcasts: Smart Venture Podcast (SVPpro.com) and Venture with Grace, a daily show. She is an angel investor in the AI sector, a super angel & venture scout for Alumni Ventures, Advisor at Berkeley SkyDeck. 

Her podcasts have featured high-profile guests such as C-level executives and VPs from companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Sephora, Dunkin' Donuts, Chipotle, Adidas, Pepsi, Instagram, Deloitte, Reddit, DoorDash, Pinterest, Cisco, Salesforce, NVIDIA, Snowflake and more. Additionally, she has interviewed Managing Partners from top funds, many of whom have appeared on the Forbes Midas List, as well as unicorn founders from companies like Craigslist, Square, Loom, and Glean. Grace regularly posts about technology, venture capital, and entrepreneurship and has been recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Finance. She is also a #1 Bestselling author in the VC category on Amazon New Release. Before founding Smart Venture Media, she worked in venture capital and private equity. If you share her interests, feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn @GraceGong.


2025: Spoke at AWS, Seattle Startup Summit, event collab w/ various funds. Hosted Smart AI Leadership Summit and Smart AI 100 Summit SmartVentureMedia.com (10M+ impressions/ yr) Companies/ funds we have worked with including Microsoft, Snowflake, Sequoia, Vercel, Alumni Ventures, Amazon AWS, Auth0 among others.
2024: Venture with Grace daily live podcast (top 10%) features top GPs, LPs, execs, and founders. Angel investing in the AI space. 1.5M+ impressions in 7 days end of 2024.
2023: Spoke at LinkedIn HQ, ads clients: VC funds, startups, big tech.
2022: LinkedIn Top Voice in Finance, LinkedIn's creator accelerator fellow; clients including big tech & unicorn startups, speaking engagements: Dell, Microsoft
2021: CEO of Smart Venture Media (monetized, joined VC fellowship)
2020: Podcast - Smart Venture Podcast (top 1.5% among 3.4M podcasts globally, listeners in 100+ countries)
2019: PE 
2018: VC  
2017: Book 2 - How To Be A VC (No.1 new release on Amazon VC category; ft. 22 investors on the Forbes Midas List - investors who invested in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Apple, etc) 
2016: Book 1 - The Last Key To Success (ft. 21 founders on Forbes 30 under 30)
2014: Master's + PE
2013: UIUC

🤓 svppro.com
🚀 Stay connected: https://linktr.ee/gracegong115
💼 Book an ad on my podcast | Book me to speak at your conference/ events: 
grace@smartventurepod.com
💰Book to chat with me: https://intro.co/gracegong

Grace Gong

CEO CLUB is officially live! 

20 handpicked founders and VCs in the room: Founder who raised $100M at seed/Series A. VCs who backed the hottest companies in Silicon Valley like Higgsfield and Micro1. Big tech SVP. W26 Y Combinator companies we knew would be the ones to watch.

Mid-dinner, a founder pulls out his laptop—because the work doesn't stop.
That's CEO CLUB.

Michelin-trained chef. Private venue. One minute you're talking about Disneyland, the next you're solving a bug so your customer can process million-dollar transactions.

This isn't another founder dinner where people swap LinkedIn profiles and ghost each other by Tuesday.

It's a curated series connecting the sharpest founders with the VCs writing meaningful checks and the builders who need what you're making. Breakout sessions. Real intros. A community that actually picks up where dinner left off.
You weren't in the room. But next time? That could change.

↓ Apply below ↓

CEO CLUB by Venture with Grace.

None of this happens without our incredible partners Vanta and WilmerHale.
 
Thank you for believing in this vision and making CEO CLUB possible. 🙏

#CEOClub #VentureCapital #FounderDinners #SiliconValley

Just saw Guy Kawasaki in Hawaii.

The guy who made the Macintosh a religion before anyone called it “evangelism marketing.”

40+ years in tech and still going.
That’s the game. Longevity isn’t about one big win. It’s about showing up for decades.

2026 is going to be wild for Smart Venture.
Can’t announce what we’re building yet, but it’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done.

More soon. ☀️

#VentureCapital #Startups #AI #Marketing #Entrepreneurship

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My top takeaways from Denise Persson, CMO at Snowflake:

Sales and Marketing are “one brain in two bodies.” The classic friction between these departments is a growth killer. At Snowflake, they functioned as a single unit. Marketing doesn’t "hand off" to Sales; they co-pilot the entire revenue journey.

Kill the MQL; focus on Pipeline. Stop celebrating 20,000 leads if they don’t convert. Denise’s team measured success by qualified meetings with the specific accounts Sales actually wanted. Align your metrics with business outcomes, not department vanity.

Say “Yes” before you’re ready. Denise accepted a Global Head of Marketing role at 27 while feeling completely unqualified. Don’t wait for the "perfect" moment of readiness. If a leader you respect bets on you, bet on yourself and learn on the fly.

Positioning must be “Believable” for the stage. Snowflake didn't start by claiming to be a "Data Cloud"—no one would have believed a tiny startup. They started with "Data Warehouse built for the cloud." You earn the right to a massive category by winning a specific, high-pain wedge first.

Verticalize to win the Enterprise. To scale from millions to billions, you must stop "selling technology" and start "selling business outcomes." Speak the specific language of finance, healthcare, and retail. Generalists get ignored; specialists get hired.

AI is about “Hyper-Personalization at Scale.” AI won't replace great marketers, but it will replace the manual drudgery. The goal is a closed-loop process that serves the right message to the right person in real-time, without a human pulling every lever.

Preserve a “Truth-Telling” circle. Success creates an echo chamber. You need a board of advisors (or a partner) who will ground you and tell you the painful truth about your strategy. Feedback is a gift you have to earn through radical trust.

None of it matters—and that’s liberating. We’re on a blue marble drifting through space. Play the sport with everything you’ve got—be intense, be world-class—but never forget it’s just a sport. That perspective is the backstop that makes the intensity sustainable.

Full pod link in first comment. 

#VentureWithGrace #Snowflake #GTM #MarketingStrategy #TechLeadership #SaaS

10pm work call. Walking out of the airport. Rainbow waiting.

January 1st.

Everyone’s posting their crazy goals today. I’m thinking about something different.

You don’t need the perfect plan on day one.
You just need to walk through the rain.

The rainbow shows up when it shows up. Not before. Not because you manifested it or built the perfect strategy deck.

Because you kept walking.

2026 isn’t about the goals you set today. It’s about what you do when it’s 10pm and you’re tired and it’s raining and you still show up.

The rainbow shows up when you keep walking.

#Entrepreneurship #StartupLife #FounderJourney #VentureCapital #2026

Never thought I’d be so important that people are DMing me to “go back to work” 😂

I’m on vacation til Friday. But let’s be real - work doesn’t wait.

I work through every vacation. Last one? 10 days before our conference, grinding til 2 AM every night.

I don’t believe in work-life balance.
If you want to build something that matters, you have to go ALL IN.

But here’s what I DO believe in:
Building something so meaningful that “work” stops feeling like work.

When the mission is clear, vacation becomes optional.

The grind becomes a choice, not a burden.

That’s the difference between building something you tolerate and building something you can’t stop thinking about.

#founder #startup #entrepreneur #business #ceo

Allison Baum Gates is a General Partner at SemperVirens VC, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in healthcare, fintech, and enterprise SaaS. An experienced technology investor, author, and speaker, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from global LPs and backed more than 70 companies—with nine unicorns, 24 exits, and 10 board roles among them. Previously, she co-founded Fresco Capital, invested at Trinity Ventures, and was an early team member at General Assembly, acquired by Adecco for $413 million. A Harvard graduate and former Goldman Sachs trader, Allison has lived and worked across five countries, lectures at Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley-Haas, and is the author of Breaking into Venture (McGraw-Hill, 2023), a guide to understanding and entering the VC industry.

Topics: 

- Pattern recognition at scale: what actually separates durable venture returns from hype cycles

- Building and managing institutional LP relationships across geographies and fund vintages

- Board dynamics, power, and governance in venture-backed companies from seed to exit

#VentureCapital #InstitutionalInvesting #BoardGovernance #StartupScale #SmartVenturePodcast

Allison Baum Gates, SemperVirens GP on Future of Work & HR Tech

How to land a whale 🐳 in B2B sales.

You don’t chase it.
You don’t rush it.
You don’t scare it away.

Whale watching made this painfully obvious.

The biggest deals surface when buyers are ready — not when your quarter needs help.

#B2BSales #EnterpriseSales #Startups #Founders #GoToMarket

I've chatted with 200+ AI founders backed by a16z, Sequoia, Lightspeed and other top VC funds on my podcast and at my dinners. Here's what actually happens in 2026.

I'm joining Matt Wolfe (800k+ YouTube subs), Jeremiah Owyang (GP at Blitzscaling Ventures), and Chappy Asel from The AI Collective for a forecasting session where we're actually putting money down.

What we're betting on:
→ Who's the best AI lab by Dec 31st: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or xAI?
→ Does anyone claim AGI in 2026?
→ Will AI close a $50k+ deal on its own?
→ Can AI actually ship code without breaking everything?
→ What are we all missing?

Here's what I know: The gap between AI demos and actual revenue is massive. 

Every founder I talk to is building agents. Almost nobody's buying them at scale yet.

That changes in 2026. Or it doesn't.

Hosted by our friends at The AI Collective (150k+ AI builders), Kalshi (regulated prediction markets), and Roam (AI-powered virtual HQ).

See you there.

#AI #AIAgents #AGI #TechPredictions #Startups

David Zeng is Co-Founder and CTO of Beacons AI, the Y Combinator-backed all-in-one platform powering 9M+ creators with AI-native tools for link-in-bio pages, websites, email marketing, ecommerce, and monetization across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more—helping solopreneurs turn brand deals, affiliates, and digital products into sustainable businesses without tech headaches. A Stanford PhD in signal processing and machine learning whose medical imaging research deployed globally in hospitals, David previously led ML at Azumio (launching Calorie Mama AI) and interned on computer vision at Google, bringing hardcore AI engineering to the $250B creator economy where Beacons handles unique creator mixes on every major US social network.

Topics:
  - Using ML signal detection to spot viral patterns before platform algorithms react.
 - AI link-in-bio 3x's conversions – predicts TikTok/IG/YouTube audience overlap
 - Why the creator economy needs AI-native tools, not more dashboards

 #CreatorEconomy #SaaS #Startups #YC #TechInvesting

David Zeng, Beacons CTO on AI Tools for Creator Economy

Joseph Ros is a Partner and General Manager at Entrepreneur First(EF), the pioneering global platform that invests in exceptional individuals before they have an idea or co-founder. Based in San Francisco, Joseph has backed early-stage technology companies across AI, biotech, robotics, hardware, and climate tech in markets including Singapore, India, Europe, and North America. At EF, he leads talent investing and follow-on capital while driving EF’s global pipeline that connects top technical talent from Europe and India to Silicon Valley. Before joining EF, Joseph was a founder and self-taught engineer, building and scaling consumer web products that reached millions of users across industries like gaming, legaltech, and edtech.

Topics: 
- Talent-first investing: Why backing individuals before ideas produces outlier companies
- How EF evaluates founders at day zero (signal, grit, and technical edge)
- Building global founder pipelines: Europe & India as the next AI power centers

#VentureCapital #TalentInvesting #EarlyStageVC #AIStartups #GlobalFounders

Joseph Ros, Partner at EF on Talent-First Investing & Global Scale

Distribution for startups 101.

Stripe didn’t buy growth — they embedded into platforms that already had users.

#startups #founders #distribution #growthstrategy

entering my villain era 😈

#2026 #founder #ceo

🎉 Week 102 Recap — Venture with Grace  

Week 102 explored cutting-edge AI infrastructure, VC investment strategies, GTM mastery for SaaS, causal AI innovations, and usage-based billing revolutions — unpacking commercialization, diligence, scaling, and growth in tech.

Week 102 lineup:

Deepak Prasad, Qualcomm Director: Qualcomm's US tech deals, long-term technical advantage, cloud-to-edge diligence

Priya Ramachandran, Foster Ventures Founder: GTM for international SaaS, proving PMF for cross-border founders, operator investor eval

Ray Wu, Alumni Ventures Managing Partner: Global AI & SaaS investing, corporate venture lessons from HP & Cisco, building startups across markets

Abby Kearns, former CTO of Alembic Technologies on AI and OpenSource: Modernizing Puppet to cloud-native, causal AI for marketing ROI, scaling global eng teams

Scott Woody, Metronome CEO: Usage-based billing as core infra, scientific modeling in SaaS, Dropbox-scale lessons for startups

Week 102 delivered battle-tested insights on turning research into VC-backed reality, diligencing edge tech, and fueling SaaS growth amid 2026 shifts. The big theme: Builders and investors are redefining infrastructure for an AI-driven world.

See you live next week for more exciting episodes! 👋

#VentureWithGrace #AI #startups #founders #vc

Vignesh Ravikumar is a Partner at SIERRA Ventures. Vignesh Ravikumar joined Sierra Ventures in 2013 and focuses on investments in Enterprise SaaS, Vertical SaaS, and Digital Health/Healthcare IT. Vignesh has a background in M&A transactions for enterprise software companies, having worked at AGC Partners, a Boston-based investment bank. Vignesh holds a BS in Management Science (cum laude) and a Minor in Math from UC San Diego. 


Topics: 
- Underwriting AI-heavy SaaS when infra, pricing, and competition shift
- Pricing and packaging playbooks for AI-native SaaS at seed/Series A
- Vertical SaaS 2.0: deep workflow, compound products, and moats

#VentureCapital #EnterpriseSaaS #VerticalSaaS #DigitalHealth #HealthcareIT

Vignesh Ravikumar, Dhanush Ram and 5 other attendees

Vignesh Ravikumar, Sierra Ventures Partner on Enterprise & Vertical SaaS

Aaron Cannon — CEO of Outset — on Venture with Grace, sharing how AI is reshaping the pace and depth of research.

Aaron walked through how this approach unlocks faster understanding without sacrificing nuance, helping teams learn more, sooner, and make better decisions with confidence.

Episode is live now — a compelling look at how AI can accelerate research and insight at scale. Link in Bio.

#AIResearch #UXResearch #ProductDiscovery #QualitativeResearch #QuantitativeResearch

Scott Woody is Co-Founder and CEO of Metronome, the leading usage-based billing platform empowering SaaS companies to model flexible pricing strategies, iterate rapidly without engineering bottlenecks, and turn billing into a growth engine amid 2026's shift from seats to consumption models. With prior stints as CTO at Metronome since 2019 and Director of Engineering at Dropbox where he scaled core infrastructure for 12 million+ users, Scott brings hands-on builder credentials from co-founding Foundry Hiring—an ultra-simple ATS that handled full-stack from marketing to code. A Stanford grad whose computational biology research spanned protein folding simulations, DNA mutations, and motor protein assays, he bridges academic modeling rigor with enterprise software at scale, having engineered Dropbox's evolution from startup to public giant before tackling SaaS monetization's biggest pain point.

Topics
- Why usage-based billing is becoming core infrastructure, not a finance feature
- How a scientific modeling background shaped a SaaS infrastructure founder
- Lessons from Dropbox-scale systems applied to early-stage startups

#UsageBasedBilling #SaaSGrowth #PricingInfrastructure #FounderInsights #BuildInPublic

Scott Woody, Metronome CEO on Usage-Based Billing & SaaS Growth

How to build distribution for your startup (without burning cash).

Nike didn’t hire Kim Kardashian. They partnered with her company SKIMS. 

Here’s how. Follow me so your startup doesn’t die.


#startups #founders #distribution #businessstrategy #entrepreneurship

Aaron Jacobson  — Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) — on Venture with Grace, spotlighting the next major frontier in cybersecurity.

As devices, applications, and data become more secure, identity is emerging as the critical layer left to solve. With agents operating across systems, knowing who has access — and proving it in real time — matters more than ever.

Aaron shared why identity sits at the center of modern security and how real-time verification will define the next generation of protection.

Episode is live now — a sharp conversation on cybersecurity, identity, and what comes next. 

#Cybersecurity #Identity #EnterpriseSecurity #VentureCapital

Howard Wright — VP at NVIDIA — on Venture with Grace, sharing a simple but powerful leadership habit.  

Being fully present when someone is speaking sounds obvious, but in a world full of notifications and constant distraction, it’s a rare skill. Howard framed deep listening as a sign of respect — and of quiet confidence.  

He shared how leaders who truly listen build stronger trust, make better decisions, and lead with humility.  

Episode is live now — a thoughtful reminder on presence, leadership, and the power of listening.

#Leadership #ActiveListening #Management #ExecutivePresence

Lior Susan  — founder & CEO of Eclipse — on Venture with Grace, sharing a framework for spotting the next wave of disruption.

To find industries ready for transformation, Lior looks bottom-up: study how work actually gets done, layer in the macro forces at play, and examine the technologies powering the ecosystem today.

He pointed to how e-commerce reshaped logistics as a reminder that when technology meets the right market conditions, entire industries can change — raising the question of what’s next.

Episode is live now — a thoughtful conversation on innovation, venture investing, and identifying inflection points.

#VentureCapital #Innovation #Disruption #EmergingTech

The Brands And Bands Strategy Group

Financial planner and educator, empowering individuals, organizations, and financial institutions to make informed financial decisions and build a more secure financial future. Advice- Only, Flat Fee.


Brand Partnerships: Public Invest, Commonwealth, Meta 
Served as an Invest Mentor within the Pilot 6- Month Program (Public/Commonwealth)
“Women +Investing” Meta Audio Room w/ Angela Yee
Speaker: "Your Money, Your Future, Your Legacy: A Fresh Path To Financial Empowerment" (National Urban League) “Financial Wellness” (Public); “More Than Memes” (Public); “Women + Investing” - Columbia Women's Business Society (Public); Retooling Your Finances 1+2 (SheWhoBuilds)

Financial Planner & Educator

As a freelance content creator, writer, and brand partner, I help companies connect with their audiences through engaging storytelling, user-generated content (UGC), and strategic partnerships. 

My work—both paid and organic—has been featured on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where I create content that resonates, whether it’s social media videos, educational posts, or campaigns that drive engagement and trust.

Content Strategist

CapWay

Wrote, edited, and produced content/stories on Personal Finance, Cryptocurrency/ Blockchain Investing, and other
Finance topics. Assisted with content strategies to grow readership and define industry-leader content within the company
catalog.
- Worked independently with meticulous attention to detail to provide insights and content for segmented
audiences.
- Researched and analyze trending topics to align for digital and internet-based conversion.
- Increased engagement and page views by 43% on content consecutively.
- Provided thought leadership on other contributors' stories based on insight, research, and experience.

Writer and Content Contributor

Zoom Marketing Partners

Lead a team of fifteen marketing and consumer experience managers in the implementation and execution of campaigns, partnerships, and scaled experiential activations (SXSW, BET Awards, festivals, etc.). Coach and mentor managers and junior staff to optimize performance and professional development. Restructured KPIs to show segmented growth. Responsible for development and management of content syndication, growth strategies, product launches and influencer partnerships for brand/client roster. Worked with agency partners to build the customer journey by segment and product mix. 
-Streamlined ideation  and execution of brand and marketing strategy for product and initiative launches for client roster with programing ranging $700K-$1M+ per brand (4).
-Built scalable e-commerce marketing campaigns and multi-touchpoint content execution that drove online conversion from website and social media platforms. 
-Analyzed and assessed performance of campaigns, and partnerships to translate quantitative and qualitative data into recommendations and plans for revision of overarching brand strategy within Multicultural markets. Averaging 36% growth in key markets. 

AVP - Brand Strategy: 
Developed and executed brand strategy and identified value propositions and key messaging for all of the agency’s marketing campaigns. Cultivated experiential experiences for lifestyle-facing brands and their audiences through activations, digital/social media, influencer/content marketing. Utilized historical data throughout brand elements and growth strategy.

VP, Brand & Digital Strategy

Bank of America

Lead the execution of regulated small business channel digital marketing programs and audience segmentation messaging focused on increasing sales of quality deposits accounts and consumer engagement within deposit account features, including digital placement, landing pages, email funnels and social media ads. Curated core content strategy to align with collective LOB and aligning with cross-sell opportunities through brand and affiliate marketing partnerships. Initiated large scale enterprise level marketing channel trafficking initiatives and supports projects; development of digital experience strategic roadmap. Partnered with the UX team to craft better customer journey implementing data.

Digital Marketing Program Manager

MetLife

Redesigned product and customer experience within regulated annuities and wealth security products. Led cross-channel holistic digital and marketing projects/campaigns utilizing cross-functional teams. Developed and implemented a unique digital advisor funnel to drive user experience. Partnered with Legal/Compliance to help with regulated marketing 
collateral and distribution to decrease risk outlined by FINRA/SEC.  Collaborated with cross-functional teams (Market Research/Data, Product, Procurement, Wholesale) to streamline the product launch journey (full cycle).

-Led integrated marketing campaigns and multi-touchpoint roadmap; Drove digital and innovative initiatives which incorporated targeted user experience-based elements (A/B testing, e-mail, social media, CTRs/impressions, Voice of Customer) for a stronger digital footprint for products.
- Strategist for the working team for the Global Enterprise Social Media Campaign, #WhoILiveFor, increased SEO of Life products and brand awareness with Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter; generated over 100K YouTube views and media coverage (NYTimes, AdWeek)
-Partnered with other LOB to develop core cross-promotion to drive segmented customer retention and consistent brand messaging.

Product Marketing Consultant

American Marketing Association - Charlotte Chapter

Duties include execution of outreach, curate and write daily social media content, and build of 'Social Reach' through Social Media Properties for CAMA (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Fan Page, and more) and Website (Content Management System- CMS). Engaged Marketers on chapter events, industry trends and more to build community. Monitor, track and address marketers messages, suggestions, comments and posts from communities and escalate topics as necessary (community moderation, community development and evolution).
•Grew Chapter to be one of the ones (within International Chapters of AMA) to watch based upon Digital Engagement and Restructure. 
•Created Social Media & Digital Marketing Policy which increased membership interest/ retention (CAMA). 
• Grew Chapter Audience within the Digital Space over 92% and increased Point- Per- Click Engagement for Member Interest and Events over 62%. 
...and more!

Social Media & Digital Community Manager

Assist in the creation and execution of marketing and communications efforts for a chapter of 200+ marketers and newsletter subscribers of over 3500+. Develop content and marketing collateral (direct mail, e-mail, and social media/ digital) to boost membership regimentation and non-member interest.
•During Chapter's website rebrand, served as Project Manager over executing website content rebrand progress. After this project, the website has seen an average of 3K organic website visitors.
•Created a strong following of Job Board Digitally (#CAMAJobAlert) that attracted high caliber talent for local companies using a traditional job board in a digital format. 
• Developed new format for Chapter Newsletter that integrated new format, content development.

VP Marketing Communications

Lowe's Companies, Inc.

(The North Highland Company) 
Developed strategies,and content centered within Marketing, Branding and Communications for an internal department to align an with its business partners, employees/ talent and retail customers. (Lowe's Companies, Inc.- IT Transformational Communications Support)

- Supported Corporate and IT department base initiatives to ensure the message is relevant based on program activities and progress and that it is consistent with other program communications. Identified core objectives and developing brand messaging and communication assets that will enhance department brand perception and engagement; created content and vehicles for short-term/long-term messaging for multiple channels. 
- Drafted written communications and support measurement and evaluate data; designing communications, newsletters, Communities (Employee Intranet) Content, Enterprise-Level based content, Employee Engagement and Brand initiatives, and Executive Level (C-Suite Level) communications/branding and talking points for internal audience. 
 - Monitored the status and progress of activities on the communications plan/IT brand strategy, and followed up with key resources as needed to ensure they are tracking according to plan. 
 - Assisted in analyzing current communications, target audience identification and profiling and key message themes to connect to rebrand outline.

Communications Analyst (Contract)

The Hartford Financial Services

Produced strategic regulated enterprise marketing tools, e-mail communications (A+B testing/CMS), marketing strategy and audience segmentation to increase customer satisfaction, productivity, and engagement. 
•Formulated template to effectively communicate messages to internal & external customers, decreased repetitive workload by 35%
•Crafted communication strategies/presentations for a company based charity to create a 30% increase in employee/corporate contribution (i.e. Electronic Marketing Campaigns)
•Improved customer satisfaction by 30% in under 6 months by creation of Consistency Team, using project management methodologies; even trained incoming staff of department procedures

Client Relations Specialist

Johnson C. Smith University

Supported Communications Department Dean in marketing, branding and communication initiatives  of University, work included: research, copywriting, published magazine, audience segmentation and web articles.
•	Cultivated brand development, strategy, media relations for publications and public exposure.
•	End to end project management and promotion of Department brand and other work products to include: research and fact checking, copywriting, published magazine and web articles/placement. 
•      Interfaced regularly with the President’s Office, Board of Trustees, deans, distinguished alumni, faculty and media.

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Making money make sense—one plan, one person, one paycheck at a time.

I’m Nadia Vanderhall, Financial Planner, Educator, and the Founder of The Brands and Bands Strategy Group. I help individuals, families, and organizations navigate the three phases of money through Financial Planning and Education  —without jargon, overwhelm, or gatekeeping:

- Wallet Creation – Establishing a strong financial foundation through budgeting, saving, and goal-setting

- Wealth Creation – Building long-term value through investing, retirement planning, and real estate

- Wealth Management – Protecting and sustaining assets for future generations

Whether you're making under $100K or just getting serious about your finances, I specialize in breaking down complex money topics into real-life, actionable steps. Because financial clarity shouldn’t be a luxury—it should be standard. Everyone should have access to financial planning and education, not just the affluent. 

Community Builder. Speaker. Curriculum Creator.

Alongside my 1:1 and group financial planning services, I work with companies, ERGs, and nonprofits to create inclusive financial wellness programs. I’ve partnered with organizations like Public Invest, Commonwealth, and Google, helping employees gain confidence with their money —no matter their salary or starting point.

Media and Speaking Highlights:

- LinkedIn Top Voice

- JCSU 40 Under 40 Honoree

- Featured in The Washington Post, Fast Company, USA Today, Investopedia, Business Insider, Bloomberg, CBS News, and more

- Speaker at The National Urban League, Facebook, Columbia University, and others

My Why:
After working in financial services and navigating my own money journey during tough times, I realized people don’t just need more money—they need to know how to manage what they have. I use behavioral finance, marketing strategy, and real-world experience to help people feel confident and in control.

Let’s connect if you're:

- Looking to get your financial house in order

- Seeking a speaker or workshop facilitator for your organization

- Ready to grow your community’s or team’s money knowledge

Contact me at thebrandsandbands.com/contact to collaborate or learn more.

taplio

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Grace Gong

Nadia Vanderhall

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The Battle

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Nadia Vanderhall

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Grace Gong's LinkedIn Performance

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