Gail
Blanke
President, CEO -- Exuberant Living
Media
President, CEO -- LifeDesigns, LLC
Gail Blanke is founder, president, and
chief executive officer of Lifedesigns, LLC, and
Exuberant Living Media, companies whose vision is to
empower men and women worldwide to embrace change and
life re-invention to live truly exceptional lives.
A best selling author, Ms. Blanke’s last
book, In My Wildest Dreams, Living the Life You Long
For has appeared on Amazon.com’s Best Selling Books
list and the New York Times Business Best Seller
List. Ms. Blanke was the sole guest on the Oprah
Winfrey Show where she used concepts from her book to
empower audience members to create the lives they longed
for. Ms. Blanke’s first book, Taking Control of Your
Life: The Secrets of Successful Enterprising Women,
sold more than a half million copies. Her latest book,
Between Trapezes: Flying into a New Life With the
Greatest of Ease will be published by Rodale in
August.
A renowned executive coach and
presentation skills trainer, Blanke has advised CEO’s,
presidential candidates, college presidents – and even a
jazz musician. A recent presidential candidate, Senator
Bob Graham from Florida, wrote, “Gail, you’ve enabled me
to find qualities in myself I didn’t know I had and
express myself with power, grace and persuasion. What a
difference you’ve made.”
Considered one of the finest motivational
speakers in the country, Ms. Blanke has delivered
keynote addresses for many corporations and at events
such as the “Global Summit of Women” in Taiwan, the
“Decade to Democracy” conference in Budapest and Cornell
University’s symposium, “Contracting Out: Danger Signal
for Working Women and Men” chaired by Betty Friedan.
She’s also delivered keynotes for students at Beijing
University, the University of Virginia, Columbia
University and the Stern School of New York University.
In addition to the Oprah Winfrey Show, Ms. Blanke has
appeared on CNN, FNN, CNBC and Fox TV. Articles about
Ms. Blanke and her company have appeared in Newsweek,
Business Week, Ladies’ Home Journal,
The Wall Street Journal, Redbook and Self.
Ms. Blanke was one of the youngest female
senior vice presidents of Avon Products, Inc., where, in
addition to her responsibilities as global head of
corporate affairs, she motivated and inspired Avon’s two
million sales representatives to live the lives of their
wildest dreams. A member of the Chairman’s Executive
Council, she led the re-positioning of Avon as the
world’s premier direct selling company for women and
launched the widely acclaimed Avon Breast Cancer
Awareness Crusade, which has raised more than $350
million for community outreach programs.
A past president of the New York Women’s
Forum. Ms. Blanke was the first member to hold that
position for two terms. She is a past chairman of the
board of Fashion Group International and is a corporate
director of Sweetheart Paper Holdings, one of the
country’s leading paper suppliers.
Ms. Blanke has received the Women Who
Make A Difference Award from the International Women’s
Forum Conference, the Matrix Award for Public Relations
presented by New York Women in Communications and the
Star Award presented by the New York Women’s Agenda. In
2003, Ms. Blanke was named president of the New York
Women in Communications Foundation which provides
college and graduate school scholarships for deserving
young women who are interested in the communications
industry.
Ms. Blanke is a graduate of Sweet Briar
College in Virginia , and majored in acting at Yale
University Graduate School of Drama. She and her
husband, F. James Cusick, a writer, live in New York
City with their two daughters, Kate and Abigail.
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