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Gary designs and conducts professional development programs for client-centric companies who need support as they find their way through a work-from-anywhere reality.
He loves to help people find potential within themselves that they never knew existed.
Thanks to his practical, real-world perspective, Gary finds that it’s a big relief to his clients that he can relate to their struggles because he’s spent many years in their shoes.
After working his way up through various agency and client-side brand marketing positions, Gary spent seventeen years at MDB, a leading independent advertising agency, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President. He went on to found EmpowerBrand, LLC, a marketing consulting and corporate training firm focused on empowering brand marketers to achieve their goals.
With 25+ years in marketing and advertising under his belt, Gary was thrilled to find his true calling when he joined Wild Blue Yonder in 2015.
At Wild Blue Yonder, he works with many of the industry’s top independent and global ad agencies—including Havas Worldwide, IPG, OmnicomGroup, Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, Publicis, and WPP—as well as some of the world’s top consumer brands.
He’s a recognized thought leader and Talent Development Partner for the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), where he wrote and co-produced the curriculum for the 4A’s Account Management Fundamentals on-demand training program.
Gary lives in Washington, DC with his husband Mike and their dog Sadie. When not working, Gary and Mike enjoy taking various adventures around the globe, whether it’s on a photo safari in Africa, hiking glaciers in Iceland, or eating and drinking their way through Italy.
Sheila founded Wild Blue Yonder to work with ad agencies and other organizations that need both creativity and strategic thinking as drivers of their success.
Before starting Wild Blue Yonder, Sheila was president of her own ad agency in Washington, DC.
She has taught strategy and creativity in the MBA program at Johns Hopkins University and she conducted workshops for the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) in account management relationships and leadership for ad agency groups around the country.
When not in the midst of a pandemic, Sheila leads small groups of travelers all over the world through our sister company, Wild Blue Yonder Trips.
She spends a couple of months a year in France; she’s hiked in such places as the Sahara, the Amazon, the Himalayas, and all over western Europe; and twice she has done a solo trek across England.
Joanna works with Gary to design and lead training programs, as well as provide executive coaching to our clients. She’s a certified facilitator of EQ-i 2.0, EQ360 and Predictive Index assessments, and incorporates other key leadership assessments in her training and coaching work.
Joanna’s consulting and coaching work combines her first career in teaching and training with her second in marketing and business development. She has a talent for designing engaging training programs that resonate with participants and helping her coaching clients tap into their intrinsic strengths to achieve their professional goals.
Joanna lives in Washington, DC with her husband Stefan. When not bringing insightful analysis to a workshop or coaching session, you’ll find Joanna walking many miles through DC exploring all the city has to offer and musing over the curiosities she finds as only an expat Brit raised in the Far East could do!
Mackenna serves as a producer and facilitator of Wild Blue Yonder’s virtual training programs.
In college, Mackenna studied Education, earning her teaching certificate from the University of Vermont. Teaching has cemented her belief that each person is complex and unique, bringing skills to the table that no one else can. Since graduating she has become a bit of a nomad, residing in St. John, United States Virgin Islands; Utah; and now North Carolina. Luckily, this lifestyle complements a career working remotely.
Mackenna appreciates how the leadership and communication skills taught through Wild Blue Yonder apply to so many different career paths. In addition to teaching, Mackenna has dabbled in the restaurant world, fulfilling every role from host to manager. Those raw, high-stress situations have shown her how to think on her feet and to hone her leadership skills. She believes that every day brings a new opportunity for learning, no matter who you are.
Inspired by her mom and late grandmother, both breast cancer survivors, Mackenna dyes her hair pink every October. She hopes to encourage women to be proactive with their health, and to encourage others to get involved in the fight against breast cancer.
© 2023 Wild Blue Yonder, Inc.
Gary Duke, Managing Partner & Chief Talent Officer
202.746.6055
Professional Development Programs | On-Site & Virtual Training Programs | Leadership Development Training
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