Amy S. Hilliard is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and a former senior corporate executive. A native of Detroit, she is an honors graduate of both Howard University and the Harvard Business School and is also certified in Digital/Social Marketing by Columbia University. For over 25 years, The Hilliard Group, her strategic marketing consulting firm has worked with clients including Nielsen, IBM, Pandora Jewelry, BET Networks, American Express, HBO, The GAP, Aetna, PepsiCo and others. In 2001, she founded The ComfortCakeÆ Company, makers of “Pound Cake so Good it feels like a Hug “, which gained distribution with United Airlines, Walmart, a McDonald’s test market and Home Shopping Network among others using Amy’s own pound cake recipes. Amy now licenses ComfortCake’s intellectual property and Sugarless Sweetness®, a patent-pending sugar substitute.
Formerly President of Fashion Fair Cosmetics, the global legacy cosmetics company focused on women of color, Amy is also a former retailing, senior marketing and advertising executive with Bloomingdale’s, Gillette, Pillsbury, Burrell Communications, and L’Oreal/Soft Sheen. Her marketing innovations to build Gillette’s White Rain brand into a $100 million-dollar business were documented in a case study for the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School. Amy also is an Executive Lecturer at Loyola University’s Quinlan School of Business.
A proven thought leader on entrepreneurship, empowerment and marketing, Amy has been profiled in national media including Fortune, Success, Entrepreneur, CNN, Black Enterprise, Essence, Ebony and NPR. An international speaker, she is also the author of “TAP INTO YOUR JUICE — Find Your Gifts, Lose Your Fears and Build Your Dreams” – endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Her blog, “Sizzling After 60 – Thriving at Every Stage of Your Life” is popular among all ages. Her next book will be on Reinvention and Resilience.
Based in Chicago and passionate about mentoring, community advancement and health/wellness, Amy is the proud mother of two young professionals. Amy served two terms as a Trustee of Howard University, thirteen years on PepsiCo’s Multi-cultural Advisory Board, and sits on the LeanIn.org Advisory Board with Sheryl Sandberg. Her website is www.amyshilliard.com.
