I think diversity and having women and people of color in key positions is really important.
Marketers sometimes get caught in this lie that you must talk to people only in the voice that they recognize.
For me, pop culture is very fluid: it's music, it's movies, it's books, it's art, it's tech, it's so many things - and as marketing and brand advocates, we should be able to to take products and services and match them to what's happening in pop culture.
I've always been a black woman in corporate America. I've faced my share of issues.
I'm a woman. I'm black. I am passionate. I am transparent.
I really did enjoy my time at Apple - it's a great company, and I really loved building Apple Music.
Mentors are like friendships.
Don't let the myths make you believe that women don't support other women.
I've worked hard for my life. No one gave me anything.
We need better corporate environments. We need better workplaces everywhere.
Six months after I was born, we moved to Ghana. The first five years of my life were there. In 1982, when there was a coup d'etat, my family left because the government was overthrown, and my dad was involved in politics.
When I was in the 10th grade, I decided to run for a position on the student council with the campaign slogan 'Nuthin but a Boz thang,' so you might say joining Beats Music is like coming full circle.
I'm always trying to do things better than I've done them before, do them faster than I've done them before.
I'm such a brand nerd.
I'm bold in personality, I'm hella tall, and I'm hella black.
I've never made a move that I didn't feel was right in my gut.
I'm following the path that was destined for me.
We should all be allies to ideas or people or initiatives that we don't necessarily have a real knowledge in.
I love Apple Music. I helped build Apple Music. It will always be a very, very big part of my life and part of the journey.
I don't have to be an engineer to understand we need female engineers.
I don't think it's any secret that there's a lack of diversity in Silicon Valley. But that, to me, is actually quite beautiful. It allows me to be fully me because there is no one else to look at and say, 'Oh, I should be more like that.'
Everyone is going to be skeptical if they don't know what is happening.
Instagram is a blessing - I love to post about everything I'm doing. The explore page is magical.
I don't fear challenge.
Obviously, as a marketer, I love to work with brands that aren't static, that have life and personality.
I bite my nails.
I don't see a utopia anywhere for me.
Live today as if you don't have tomorrow: my husband was diagnosed and killed by cancer within six months.
When I was growing up, the brands that were most powerful were people brands, like Michael Jackson or Madonna. They stood for something that, perhaps, wasn't wholly who they were, which then became an image that they sold. That's still a brand to me.
I think it's interesting how you can associate a creative brand with a human being and use some of the good qualities of the human being and make it like a really tangible product that a lot of people can love.
Part of innovation is, fake it until you make it. Keep trying things, but it's not just the random trying.
I've never run from a job; I've always run to another one.
I've broken through many walls and glass ceilings.
There is something to be said about taking the risk. We all know that is where the greatest reward is.
As a first-generation American, my parents expected that I would go on to have pretty tactical higher-education-type jobs - doctor, lawyer, engineer. Those were the three options. My dad was not at all open to the idea that there would not be a higher education in my future.
I have known Tiffany R. Warren for many years, and we have always shared the goal to promote diversity and inclusion in the creative industries.
Bringing your whole self to work is the mantra for me as I sit in my office and do the work, and it's also the mantra as I look out at the community that I'm trying to brand for Uber.
I love sleep so much. That's the one thing I won't sacrifice. I really cannot.
I want to be something that is worthy to be bragged about.
It's our job as marketers and brand professionals to nurture the brand and calm it down when it's angry and to encourage when it's trying to grow.
I can't be in an environment that is not conducive to me as a black woman.
I am very competitive - with myself and everybody else. I'm petty, too.
There's no more exciting moment for me as a brand strategist than a turnaround.
Risk is the essence of any reward - to try the thing that no one else is willing to try.
Brands mean different things for different generations.
I've never taken the easy route. I don't even know what that is!
I feel really proud of the work I did at Apple Music, and I don't take anything away from it that's negative at all.
Being a black woman in America and the world and in corporate situations is something to be celebrated.
If you are in a hiring position, hire someone that is nothing like you. We keep looking for the commonalities, but find someone with commonalities that are nothing like you.
