I started my career working at high-growth, fast-paced digital start-ups in New York and Chicago such as Agency.com, Modem Media, and Critical Mass, the first generation of firms to build modern websites. I found my true calling at Critical Mass Chicago where I arrived just in time to build their Business Development and Corporate Marketing practices from the ground up, working alongside some terrific people. My nine years there involved countless pitches, late nights, and more than a few losses but luckily, even more wins. After repeatedly achieving pitch win averages of 60% to 70% versus the industry average of 25%, I saw Critical Mass triple its revenues and become named the top interactive agency according to Forrester Research three years in a row. I then retired from the all-night business development treadmill and moved to New York City in 2009 to take a break for a while. Or so I thought. Mid-sabbatical, I met with Jane Praeger, a media coach and founding faculty member of Columbia University's Graduate Program in Communications, who I had once hired at Critical Mass. She invited me to help her teach graduate school classes in Strategic Storytelling at Columbia University. I accepted the offer on the spot and taught graduate school classes at Columbia for three years, eventually becoming an adjunct instructor. Around that time, I decided to join forces with Jane at Ovid, a strategic communications firm. Over the last 13 years, I've flown around the world to teach executives at companies ranging from Bloomberg to Lindt to AT&T how to master the art of persuasion and storytelling to become better presenters and communicators. (www.ovidinc.com)When not working, I enjoy interior design, gardening (see my garden's website at www.capecottagegarden.com), and family life as a wife and mother of two boys, plus I volunteer as a member of my college class leadership team. A graduate of Princeton University, I enjoy living with my family back in my picturesque college town where every square of sidewalk holds a memory.