Julie is founder and CEO of BrandTwist, a brand consultancy that helps entrepreneurs and corporations build their brands and leverage them as actionable business assets. Julie was the VP of Brand at Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, overseeing branding strategy for new and established Virgin companies in North America. Prior to joining Virgin, Julie served as Executive Director of Consumer Branding at Interbrand as well as a VP Management Supervisor at Grey Worldwide in both the US and France. She has been an Adjunct Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at Columbia and Cornell and a frequent commentator on brand strategy and innovation through her blog www.BrandTwist.com, on Twitter at @jcottin and in top business media such as Forbes.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, and American Express Open Forum. She is also the creator of a unique and impactful online branding class for entrepreneurs www.BrandSchoolOnline. com. Julie lives in Westchester NY with her husband and two children.