Stefanie Santos McLeese, Owner/CEO

Stefanie spent the first eight years of her career in corporate communications roles with global brands (oil & gas; automotive; non-profit) based in the Dallas market and has been independently serving clients across the globe since 2011, now based in Central Illinois.

Stefanie builds brand equity for her clients by providing strategic counsel to operationalize their brand, giving stakeholders consistent brand experiences at every touchpoint. Leaders often contract her during times of change, transition, growth, and evolution. She also operates in fractional branding or communications leader roles to contribute and work as an extended member of an in-house team, often helping develop emerging leaders.

Most recently, Stefanie partnered with NFL Legend, NFL Network analyst, and co-founder of Belen Creative Robert Turbin to also offer branded merchandise with products from Nike, Callaway, Puma, Stanley, Carhartt, and more. Drawing on 20 years of experience, Stefanie expertly guides executives and teams through transformative journeys, from focused workshops to immersive retreats throughout the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

*Clifton Strengths Finder top 5: Strategic; Intellection; Futurist; Empathy; Relator

SCHEDULE NOW

Corporate Communication

We are dedicated to building and maintaining a strong reputation for your company. Leveraging the PESO (Paid. Earned. Shared. Owned.) Media Model, we layer consistent messaging across your communication platforms, building trust and credibility with stakeholders along the way. We work diligently alongside your in-house team, to ensure clear and consistent internal and external messaging, using your brand as our core filter for campaign development. Our team consults on a variety of approaches, including community relations, employee and executive communication, change communication, and crisis communication. We collaborate with key stakeholders to develop and implement strategic, creative, and compelling communication solutions that align with your business objectives, budget, and timeline.

Brand Strategy

We elevate brands to drive business growth. Through our collaborative approach, we craft comprehensive brand strategies that capture your company's unique essence. Our approach considers every brand's four core dimensions: emotional benefit; character; community purpose; and visual identity. We start with a discovery phase to explore your competition, your customers, and your own unique value proposition. With these insights in mind, we then develop data-driven brand strategies designed to capture the hearts and minds with all who come in contact with your brand. A clearly defined brand serves to inform not only creative campaigns, but also empowers leaders to operationalize the business in a way that authentically and consistently delivers on mission, vision, and values, i.e., your brand promise.

Facilitation

From young, budding entrepreneur groups to executive clubs, conferences, and individuals, we love sharing and engaging with people who are invested in developing their leadership skills. We have a few sessions to choose from, but we really enjoy tailoring workshops to meet individual and team needs while supporting personal and organizational goals. Our workshops are intentionally interactive, conversational, comfortable, and consistently receive high praise in post-event surveys. We work virtually, in-person, or we can host at our retreat center in Puerto Rico.

Workshop Options

Authentic Brand Identity Development
Branding through TMD: True. Meaningful. Different.
4 Brand Dimensions: Defining your Brand Promise
15 Commitments of Conscious Leaders
Roadmapping Your Way to “Zone of Genius”
Storytelling for Business
Spokesperson Development
Workplace Writing: Tighten it Up and Level Up