I first met Shelley Zalis when I was working for Unilever and she was invited to speak at an offsite meeting.  She broke two rules during her presentation; 1.  She divulged her age and 2. She quoted Yoda.  Most women don’t do those kinds of things; then again, most women aren’t Shelley Zalis.

I was excited to catch up with Shelley in the private lounge of the Ritz Carlton hotel overlooking Central Park. Today she is the CEO of Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange; a product of Ipsos’ 2010 acquisition of her former company OTX Research (listen to the podcast to learn how this came full circle for Shelley).

If I could use only one word to summarize Shelley, it would have to be passionate.  When Shelley has an idea stuck in her head, she pursues it until it becomes a reality. If someone tells her it can’t be done, that only motivates her more to make it happen.  Listen up as Shelley discusses her career path and the lessons she has learned along the way (like how to speak EBITDA).

I will forewarn you that there is a lot of industry talk in this podcast (and a few F-Bombs).  If you stick with it though you will get a glimpse at the softer side of Shelley Zalis.

Given that it is Spring, this episode pairs well with a nice New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; might I recommend Kim Crawford?

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