|
Shelly Lazarus has been working, as she would say it, "in the business I love," for more than three decades, almost all of that time at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Shelly started at Ogilvy at a time when legendary founder David Ogilvy still walked the halls, and personally preached that the purpose of advertising was to build great brands. Ogilvy's belief that deep consumer insight, coupled with big creative ideas, are the twin engines of brand building was ahead of its time. But it made sense to Shelly, who had studied psychology as an undergraduate at Smith College and then earned an M.B.A. in marketing from Columbia University (one of only four women in her class). The path to the Chairmanship of Ogilvy was certainly not a foregone conclusion given Shelly's rather unconventional career path. After rising through the account management ranks, and playing pivotal roles on many of the agency's signature accounts such as American Express, Kraft and Unilever, Shelly took the surprising step of leaving the advertising company to become the General Manager for Ogilvy & Mather Direct in the U.S. Her success at Direct led to roles of increasing responsibility - from President of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising in New York (1991), to President of Ogilvy North America (1994), to Chief Operating Officer and President of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (1995). She was then named CEO in 1996, and became Chairman in 1997. All this success has not gone unnoticed. Advertising Women of New York named Shelly Advertising Woman of the Year in 1994. She was a recipient of Women in Communications' Matrix Award in 1995 and was named Business Woman of the Year by the New York City Partnership in 1996. She has been listed in Fortune magazine's annual ranking of the 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business since its inception in 1998. And most recently, she was given Columbia Business School's Distinguished Leader in Business Award, the first woman to be so honored. Shelly serves on the boards of a number of business, philanthropic and academic institutions, including General Electric, Ann Taylor Stores, New York Presbyterian Hospital, American Museum of Natural History, Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, The September 11th Fund, and the World Wildlife Fund. She just recently ended her 5-year tenure as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Smith College, while continuing as a special representative to that board. She is a member of Advertising Women of New York, the Committee of 200, the Council on Foreign Relations, The Business Council, Women's Forum, Inc., Deloitte & Touche Council for the Advancement of Women and Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy. She has also served as chairman of the leading industry trade group, the American Association of Advertising Agencies - only one of two women to do so. | 