Lydia Michael is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and consultant. She works with companies and organizations to develop brands and marketing strategies. She is the founder and owner of Blended Collective, a multicultural marketing and brand consultancy. Her experience includes working with companies like Deloitte and L’Oréal during her time in Germany. She speaks to audiences about topics such as multicultural marketing, brand love, personal branding, and entrepreneurship. Her work has been recognized with several diversity and marketing-centered awards. In her first book “Brand Love – Building Strong Consumer Brand Connections,” Lydia breaks down the process of building emotionally strong, long-lasting consumer-brand relationships. Offering insight into the use of emotional and rational “Brand Love Drivers,” she introduces “The Eight Brand Love Stages” model designed to inspire brand loyalty. Her book features 100+ brands to highlight case studies and brand examples in a multicultural and global setting, where she also shares personal stories and her entrepreneurship journey while building and growing a brand. Her background includes working in the finance, insurance, retail, and professional cultural development training industries, as well as her past role in international marketing and operations management in the music and entertainment industry. There, she developed artist brands, led bi-coastal teams, and established international divisions of booking, media, touring, merchandising, and marketing. She now serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Lydia earned her B.S. in Marketing from Wayne State University in Detroit and her M.B.A. in International Management from Pforzheim University in Germany. She is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. For more about Lydia, visit lydiamichael.com and blendedcollective.com.