If you work in advertising, Broadway, film, or even fashion, you likely know of this power couple, Chris and Ashlee Clarke.

Ashlee Clarke is known for her quick wit, intelligence, beauty, and ability as a CEO to lead and motivate high-performance teams. While her husband, Chris Clarke, is regarded as one of the most significant advertising thought-leaders and entrepreneurs of all time; now supporting Ashlee in her role as CEO of Empower Media, America’s most extensive woman-owned media and creative agency.

Ashlee Clarke, CEO and “IT Girl”

This couple can do it all: Tony Award Winning Broadway Producers and film producers. Ashlee is also one of the fashion “IT Girls”; with houses like Hermes, Fendi, and Dior wanting her at their events, she makes limited appearances. Her focus is to build her media empire that supports positive programming, and when she is not working 14 hours a day, it’s to be there for her family or those in need.

Today, Ashlee Clarke is CEO and majority owner of America’s biggest woman-owned media agency; however, Clarke feels she has a long way to go. Ashlee is ambitious for Empower Media. Clarke says, “I will not accept anything but excellence because that’s what people can expect from me.”

Driving Change

Ashlee is a change agent, known to be demanding but also an inspiring leader. Hailing from Georgia and still maintaining her southern drawl, Ashlee is the new wave of media and entertainment moguls, an outsider with a fresh perspective of developing great work without the confines of traditional orthodoxy.

So, it’s no surprise to many in the industry that under Clarke’s strategic leadership, Empower has developed and launched Empower One. This cutting-edge platform is regarded as one of the impressive Robotic Process Automation media buying platforms in advertising today.

One of the most successful advertising entrepreneurs of all time

Her husband, Chris Clarke, is regarded as one of the most successful advertising entrepreneurs of all time, and he is credited with establishing guerilla marketing. A decade later, he founded Nitro, later merging to create SapientNitro, where, in his role as Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, he led the company to become the most prominent digital advertising agency in the world, with 14,000 people, 36 offices, that he later sold to Publicis for $3.7billion.

Chris and Ashlee Clarke
Chris and Ashlee Clarke

Their partnership has been instrumental in Empower Media’s recent growth and success under Ashlee’s new leadership, including the new business wins of Just Capital, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Freshpet.

Ken Hicks, former CEO and Chairman of both Footlocker and Academy Sports & Outdoors, said, “Chris and Ashlee are the most talented advertising executives I’ve ever worked with. Their talent and partnership are unique, reflected in the work and the results they consistently get for their clients.

Last week, Wall Street’s most respected and influential non-profit, Just Capital, announced that they are launching their inaugural 2024 marketing campaign. The powerful Just Capital board made up of the who’s who of the business elite, could choose to work with any agency, yet they hired Empower Media.

Martin Whittaker, CEO of Just Capital, says, “Empower Media is an innovative creative and media agency, with the best in class creative and strategic thinking, plus an extremely advanced Robotic Process Automation Buying Platform. Chris and Ashlee are great leaders who are a force for good, who align with Just Capital’s mission, to support businesses to do good in the world.”

Article presented by Shannon Sparks

 

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