Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

10:45 AM – 11:45 AM

Track III: Haas Conference Center, Room 171

Living the Life: Entrepreneurs, Lifestyle Innovators and Disrupters

Cam Kashani, Godmother of Silicon Beach

Heidi-Marie Ferren, Award Winning Writer and Content Creator

Nechelle Vanias, Chief Solutions Officer, Six Degrees of Influence

Katharina Baron, Founder & Owner, House of Baron

Renee Rossi, founder and CEO, Relativity Ventures

Michelle Wong, Managing Partner, Dailey

Tess Cacciatore, CEO, Global Women’s Empowerment Network (GWEN), Moderator

Heidi-Marie Ferren is an award winning writer and content creator. She has directed and written for Comedy Central Stages and is the producer, director and head writer for Defiance Theatre Company’s award winning sketch comedy series. She is a founding member of ValleHo Productions and her content has been featured on Funny or Die, YouTube and a number of streaming platforms. For six years she served United States and Allied Servicemembers and Veterans as Miss USO, performing and speaking across the globe as an ambassador and steward of gratitude. She has performed and lectured in over 1,000 venues including performances at CitiField, Nassau Coliseum, Madison Square Garden,

and President Clinton’s Inauguration. As a country, jazz and gospel recording artist, Heidi’s credits include performances with Taylor Swift, Joan Jett, Patti LaBelle, Lee Greenwood and Tony Orlando. Heidi is currently in pre- production for a major feature franchise and series slated to premiere at Cannes in 2019. She is a resident writer for two production houses in Los Angeles and a songwriter for the Roundtable. Heidi has her BFA from Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and her MFA from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program. She is currently recording her second album to be released early 2018 as well as preparing for the launch of her latest speaking series and book. Heidi also continues her work in support of service members through time, song and service as an Ambassador, Performer, and Volunteer.

Michelle Wong, Managing Partner, Dailey LA: Los Angeles native Michelle Wong began her unlikely career path when, at age 7, she became an actor in commercials, films and as a series regular on network television. A foodie to her core, she graduated with a Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu in London before embarking on her advertising career. She started at Leo Burnett in Chicago, then worked at FCB Chicago before moving back to L.A. to work at M&C Saatchi. She has been at Dailey for ten years and is thrilled to be Managing Partner of the agency. Michelle’s career has spanned major brands such as Philip Morris, SC Johnson, The Getty, City National Bank and Nestlé. She shared her thoughts on the benefits of diverse leadership with SXSW this past March.

Renee Rossi is the Founder and CEO of Relativity Ventures, specializing in global strategic media, corporate brand positioning, creative campaign building, and strategy development. Her key clients have included top companies across the entertainment, media, consumer, and technology industries, including DreamWorks Animation, Samsung, Flipboard, ArcLight Cinemas, Intel Media (pre-acquisition to Verizon), Plum Organics, Mondelez, Fender, and Fast Company Magazine. She is also the co-founder of Women in Entertainment, an organization dedicated to the advancement of women and girls working in and aspiring to work in the entertainment industry. Women in Entertainment has grown to launch networking evenings, mentorship programs, a WIE Network, and a series of workshops to provide women the tools to succeed, partnering with esteemed organizations including the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Women In Film.

Nechelle Vanias has the gift of recognizing untapped opportunity and a lust for business. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Nechelle started an online music industry magazine at a time when the entertainment industry had yet to launch their own internet presence.  She was ahead of the curve and able to consult on what the early days of the internet offered in regards to marketing and brand exposure. By the age of 25, Nechelle had built a million dollar web development firm with clients such as Microsoft, Showtime, Citibank, Bad Boy Entertainment and many others. Her ever driven mind did not stop there. While on bedrest with her third child, she ventured into the real estate market on eBay turning it into a multi-million dollar international real estate investment firm. Vanias has acquired twenty plus years of experience in digital marketing, branding, consumer engagement, sales and operation, and media. Now with decades of business experience and a determined mindset leading the way, she is adding another million-dollar business under her belt.  Pairing her coveted blend of corporate knowledge and entrepreneurial experiences proves that her track record of building brands and businesses is no fluke and she continues to make her mark on the business industry today. Vanias now holds the title of Chief Solutions Officer for what has now become one of the leading influencer, brand and talent agencies, Six Degrees of Influence (SDI). SDI is a full service development and talent agency that works with actors, artists, and social media influencers. The company creates social media campaigns for brands as well as develop and represent the talent that executes these campaigns. Nechelle is a woman with a motherly spirit that takes pride in being a home base for her clients especially those that are not originally from Los Angeles. The company culture is organically more like family that sets the tone for a very creative space within the home. Nechelle lives in Calabasas, CA with her husband and six talented children who are also integrated into the business and industry.

Katharina Baron, Founder & Owner, House of Baron: KATHARINA HAS WORKED FOR CLIENTS SUCH AS MERCEDES-BENZ, SWAROVSKI, VW, SMART, STYLEBOP, INTERVIEW MAGAZINE, OYSTER, VOGUE OR SOHO HOUSE AS A CREATIVE DIRECTOR, EDITOR IN CHIEF, WRITER, PRESENTER, PRODUCER, BRAND AMBASSADOR AND FILMMAKER. KATHARINA ALSO STARRED IN THE MOVIE JOY DE V ALONGSIDE CLAUDIA CARDINALE AND THE FRENCH MOVIE ARLETTY WITH LAETITIA CASTA. SHE STUDIED WITH JACK WALTZER AND SUSAN BATSON FROM THE ACTOR'S STUDIO. KATHARINA HAS DIRECTED & WRITTEN A NUMBER OF SHORT FILMS THAT HAVE BEEN FEATURED AT CANNES, HOFER FILMFESTSPIELE AND ROME INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL. SHE WAS RECENTLY CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND FASHION EDITOR FOR SWAROVSKI MAGAZINE AND THE FACE OF THE GERMAN AND FRENCH CRYSTAL BLOG - SWAROVSKI’S BRAND BLOG THAT CONSISTS OF A VAST NETWORK OF HIGH-PROFILE  CONTRIBUTORS. KATHARINA HOLDS A MBA IN BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATION AND HAS STUDIED AT THE CELSA SORBONNE IN PARIS AND FU BERLIN. HER THESIS PRIME-TIME FOR SCIENCE WAS PUBLISHED WITH SPRINGER RESEARCH. BEING FLUENT IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, POLISH AND SPANISH AND HAVING LIVED IN BERLIN, LONDON. PARIS,  SHE HAS DEVELOPPED AN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER TALENTS IN THE ART, FASHION. AND FILM WORLDS. KATHARINA LIVES AND WORKS BETWEEN NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES.

Cam Kashani is known as the "Godmother of Silicon Beach", she's an Expert Speaker with US State Department, a 3x founder, Inc. Magazine's "30 Inspirational Women in Tech", and single mom of twin boys. She's worked with 4000+ Entrepreneurs and 700+ startups and is on a mission to humanize business with a vision of a global economy that thrives on WE, not ME. Today she is on her third company, COACCEL: The Human Accelerator. A unique and powerful coaching program, that focuses on building badasses. Previously, Cam cofounded the first coworking space in Los Angeles for technology startups and entrepreneurs in 2010, Coloft, which was infamously referred to as ground-zero for the LA tech ecosystem. During her four years there, Coloft had over 1800 alumni, including Uber LA, Instacart, Fullscreen and so many more. While Cam works with men and women, she is specifically passionate about working with women because she believes that if women embrace their own deeply rooted power, they can collectively shift the energy in business and ultimately create a harmonious environment for us all.

Tess Cacciatore is an award-winning producer, videographer, journalist and social entrepreneur who has dedicated her life advocating for peace, justice and equality around the globe.Prior to joining GWEN, Cacciatore was the founder and executive director of the World Trust Foundation, an organization that mentors youth to become future leaders working for a sustainable world. Throughout the past decade Cacciatore has traveled the globe connecting youth-focused non-profit organizations, inspiring youth to learn, think and take action for positive change in their lives, in their local communities and in the global community. Cacciatore has spoken regularly at the United Nations (Geneva and New York) and other international platforms on behalf of children and the important use of media and technology to bridge the cultures of the world. She has addressed thousands of people through numerous conferences, workshops and festivals, and millions through radio and TV appearances. Media appearances include: “The Today Show,” “Prime Time with John Stossel,” “Waking Up in America,” “The Lisa Garr Show” and several cable talk shows. She has also appeared in such publications as: Family Circle, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Des Moines Register, and Parenting Magazine. Cacciatore hosted a weekly radio show called “Live Feed” to raise awareness of the FEED 333 program under the World Trust umbrella that spanned each holiday season from 2005-2008. She recently appeared in three feature films about her work (“The Millionaire Mind,” “The Peace Project,” and “Voices of Women”). Cacciatore’ s career as a producer in the entertainment and technology industries has spanned more than 20 years, and drives the global productions through GWEN. Productions and events include: Earth Day LA, Human Rights Symposiums for Youth, live-streamed broadcasts connecting world leaders at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and fundraising programs that have served the homeless and needy globally. Cacciatore was an instrumental part of raising funds to feed 1.3 million children in 33 days through social networking and build 38 homes in Sri Lanka in answer to the 2005 tsunami. She has traveled the United States and abroad to conduct empowerment camps, workshops and mentorship curriculum, to name a few. Cacciatore has participated on many boards over the years including Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) where she held the position of vice president and interim president of the Los Angeles Chapter. She also served on the board of Offbeat Prodigies (an organization that mentors gifted children with special needs).  She is also a founding member of the Women’s Speakers Association. In 2003 Cacciatore was awarded the Fete d’ Excellence within the Sub-Commission for Human Rights at the United Nations (Geneva, Switzerland) for her work in educational entertainment.