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Bozoma Saint John

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Bozoma Saint John
Bozoma Saint John in 2016
Born
Bozoma Arthur

(1977-01-21) January 21, 1977 (age 47)
Connecticut
NationalityGhanaian
Other namesBoz
EducationWesleyan University
OccupationMarketing executive
EmployerEndeavor

Bozoma "Boz" A. Saint John (née Arthur)[1] (born January 21, 1977)[2] is the Chief Marketing Officer at Endeavor.[3] Previously, she served as Chief Brand Officer at Uber until June 2018.[4] St. John was also a marketing executive at Apple Music until June 2017, after joining the company in its acquisition of Beats Music.[5][6]

Early life

Saint John was born to Rev. Dr. Appianda Arthur and Aba Arthur (née Enim) in the United States but moved to Ghana at 6 months old.[7] The family moved to Colorado Springs when she was 12. Her father was a clarinet player and member of the Ghanaian army before emigrating to the United States to attend graduate school. Saint John cites her father as her biggest inspiration.[8] In 1999, she graduated from Wesleyan University with an English major. Her father received a PhD in ethnomusicology in 1977, also from Wesleyan.[9][10][11]

Career

After college, Saint John worked at the advertising agencies Arnold Worldwide and Spike Lee’s Spike DDB, as well as the fashion brand Ashley Stewart, where she was Vice President of Marketing.[4]

Saint John led PepsiCo's foray into music festival-based marketing as head of the Music and Entertainment Marketing;[4] the division itself came from her suggestion that the company sponsor music festivals and award shows.[citation needed] She remained with the company for almost a decade before joining Beats Music in 2014; when Jimmy Iovine of Beats personally recruited Saint John based on her experience in music marketing,[12] Saint John moved from New York to Los Angeles to lead marketing for the company.[13]

Beats was purchased shortly thereafter by Apple[4] and Saint John became the head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music, commuting between Los Angeles and Apple's Cupertino headquarters several times a week.[8] Journalists described Saint John's presentation of the redesigned Apple Music onstage during the 2016 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as her breakthrough moment, with a captivating "passion" and persona that captivated both local and online audiences.[8][14][15][16] Biz Carson of Business Insider said that her appearance helped to emphasize Apple's complete rebuild of its Apple Music software. For instance, she attempted to have the audience sing along with on-screen lyrics, a feature in the redesigned app.[8] Buzzfeed wrote that she was the "coolest" person to ever take the stage at an Apple keynote.[17]

Magazines recognized Saint John's work in superlative lists including Billboard Magazine's list of the top women in music, Fast Company's 100 most creative people, and AdWeek's most exciting personalities in advertising.[11]

On June 6, 2017, Saint John became Chief Brand Officer at Uber.[4] She has been given the task of turning Uber into a brand that people love as much as Apple.[18]

In June 2018, Saint John left Uber to join Endeavor as Chief Marketing Officer.[3]

Personal life

Saint John was married to Peter Saint John until his death in 2013.[1] They had one daughter, Lael Saint John.[15][19]

Honors

References

  1. ^ a b "Peter Saint John". Burkitt's Lymphoma Society. 2013.
  2. ^ "Bozoma A Saintjohn United States Public Records". FamilySearch. 2008.
  3. ^ a b Aiello, Chloe (June 11, 2018). "Turnaround executive Bozoma Saint John leaves Uber for Endeavor". CNBC. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Aswad, Jem (June 6, 2017). "Bozoma Saint John Talks About Her New Role at Uber: 'I Consider Myself a Change Agent'". Variety.
  5. ^ Bhuiyan, Johana (June 6, 2017). "Apple marketing executive Bozoma Saint John is joining Uber as its chief brand officer". Recode.
  6. ^ a b c Alba, Davey (June 13, 2016). "Bozoma Saint John Was Badass Long Before Apple". Wired.
  7. ^ "Ghana news: Bentsifi's Tattle, A guy about town". Graphic. June 17, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Carson, Biz (June 13, 2016). "Meet Bozoma Saint John, the Apple executive who stole the show at WWDC". Yahoo! Finance.
  9. ^ Drake, Olivia (April 18, 2016). "Class of 2020 Explores Wesleyan during 3-Day WesFest Celebration". News @ Wesleyan. Wesleyan University.
  10. ^ Rockwell, Cynthia (April 25, 2016). "Apple Music's Saint John '99 Recalls Formative Wes Moments in WesFest Keynote". News @ Wesleyan. Wesleyan University.
  11. ^ a b Harrison, Olivia (June 13, 2016). "Who Is The Woman Who Rocked Apple's Keynote?". Refinery29.
  12. ^ Trakin, Roy (April 2, 2014). "Former Pepsi Exec Bozoma Saint John Named Beats Music Global Marketing Head". The Hollywood Reporter.
  13. ^ McBride, Kiah (March 5, 2017). "Bozoma Saint John: Why This Apple Music Exec Is A Badass Boss". xoNecole.
  14. ^ Clark Thompson, Ashlee (June 13, 2016). "Breakout star of Apple's WWDC 2016 Bozoma "Boz" Saint John calls out developers for lack of rhythm". CNET.
  15. ^ a b Weatherford, Ashley (June 13, 2016). "A Black Woman Spoke at Apple's Tech Conference and Twitter Went Wild". New York The Cut.
  16. ^ Opam, Kwame (June 13, 2016). "Apple's Bozoma Saint John is my hero". The Verge.
  17. ^ Misener, Jessica (June 13, 2016). "Bozoma St. John Is The Coolest Person To Ever Go Onstage At An Apple Event". BuzzFeed.
  18. ^ "Apple Executive, Bozoma Saint John as the Public Face of Uber - Biznespreneur". Biznespreneur. June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  19. ^ "In Memory of Peter Saint John – Obituary". Walter B. Cooke Funeral Home. December 11, 2013.
  20. ^ "Women In Music 2015: The 50 Most Powerful Executives in the Industry". Billboard. December 3, 2016.
  21. ^ Halperin, Shirley (December 5, 2016). "Women In Music 2016: Bozoma Saint John Named Executive of the Year". Billboard.
  22. ^ "14: Bozoma Saint John, 39". Fortune. September 22, 2016.
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