Bachelor of Arts
Humanities/ Art History
American & Italian Art
Purchase College/SUNY

Women’s Leadership Development Programme
Oxford Saïd Business School 2022

Innovation Through Design Thinking
London Business School 2022

Digital Marketing
Columbia Business School 2022

Data Privacy Fundamentals
Northeastern School of Law 2021

Strategy of Content Marketing
UC Davis 2020

Stories drive culture. Whether you’re launching a brand, setting up a new medical practice, writing your memoir or crafting the next Netflix series, you’ll need to get your story straight if you want to succeed. That’s where I come in. I’m Jenifer Vogt, a creative and sensitive soul with an adventurous spirit. I’m passionate about shaping the marketing narrative for my clients and moving them forward.

I’ve always been a dance-to-the-beat-of-your-own-drummer person. I bet you are, too. That’s why you found me. I bet you know you, or your product or service, are special, but you don’t know how to get other people to see it, too. I do. I’m a storyteller and self-proclaimed marketing therapist. Not all marketers listen to understand, but I’m a great listener. The first thing I remember wanting to be was a therapist. Now, I’m a marketing therapist. Clients find me when they’re stuck. They’ve either invested too much in marketing that hasn’t worked, or they’re on to something big and don’t know how to market it.

My job is to help them move forward. I listen carefully and then diagnose their marketing problems. I’m good at what I do because I’ve worked in marketing communications for my entire 20+ years career, both with global organizations, and with my own freelance business. After I understand a client’s marketing challenges, I formulate a strategy. I don’t waste time or money.  I will bring your vision to life as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible.

Not all marketers can tell a good story. Though anyone can become a good writer, storytellers are born, not made. Our lives are shaped by experiences that hone our intellect and intuition. They’re usually not apple pie and white picket fence. Depth gained through tragedy, trauma and grief are common threads in the lives of meaningful writers.

Exhilarating, interesting and poignant stories have found me for as long as I can remember. When we meet, ask about my night in an upstate New York ER with the California Raisins, or the witch who lived in a converted church I adopted kittens from, or the schoolmate I rescued from a pedophile when I was 11.

I like to help my clients. I want to contribute to their success. I want them to feel positive about themselves and their business.  I think it’s important to train yourself to believe — no matter at what age or stage you’re at in your life – good things lie ahead. Everything sounds better in Italian, don’t you think? Il meglio deve ancora venire. The best is yet to come!

2021 Improving Your Business Through a Culture of Health | Harvard X

2020 Compassionate Leadership | The Garrison Institute

2020 Mindfulness & Resilience to Stress at Work | Berkeley X2020

2020 Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader | Marc Lesser

2020 The Science of Well-Being | Yale

Where I Grew Up

Yonkers, NY. The best city in the world. (Mary J Blige and Steven Tyler grew up there, too)

Heritage

50% Italian 25% Irish 25% Polish. My birth last name was Mangione.

Favorite Film

Moonrise Kingdom

Favorite Bands

Bon Iver, Erykah Badu, The Black Crowes, Dave Matthews Band, The Spinners

Favorite Books

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Italians by Luigi Barzini, Decline & Fall and Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star by Jenna Jameson (It’s actually her autobiography, not an instruction manual.)

My Friends Say I’m Never Boring

I like to do things that are out of the ordinary. For example, when I was in High School, rather than go to after-parties, I took my prom date — a friend who attended an all-boys Catholic school —  into New York City to see Bobby Short play at the Cafe Carlyle.  We were two awe-struck teens amid a crowd of gray-haired WASPs while my classmates were at house parties, or drinking beer in a parking lot.  My prom date loved every minute of it! That’s what life’s about – having experiences, making memories.

Views on Faith & Spirituality

I consider myself a Zen Christian, a phrase I first heard in Phil Jackson’s book, Sacred Hoops. My Christian faith is important to me,  but I’ve also studied Buddhist philosophy, and I respect all faiths and I love learning about them. I  honor peoples’ rights to love who they love and how they love as long as it doesn’t hurt other people. I’d rather someone embrace an open marriage or polyamorous relationship than cheat on their partner.

Character is Not Defined by Party Affiliation

When I studied Buddhism, I learned about “The Middle Way” a more enlightened view of life that rejects extreme viewpoints. That’s why I’m not affiliated with a political party and I try to understand both sides of an ssue.

Worst Trait

I used to react, rather than respond, in stressful situations and this caused personal and professional problems. So, I took responsibility and got help seven years ago, working with therapists and coaches who helped me understand the link between emotional control and unresolved trauma. I was diagnosed with PTSD and clinical depression, a mental illnesses that I now successfully manage. What helped most was obtaining my Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) certification and becoming a meditation facilitator for Mindful Leader. Now, I’m chill.

Maya Angelou said, “People do the best they can until they know better. Then they do better.”

Best Trait

Empathy. I’m understanding of other peoples’ challenges and limitations and they feel comfortable opening up to me. I’ll take their secrets to the grave, unless they’re hurting themselves or someone else. This trait is hard when the supermarket checkout clerk starts telling me her life story and the people in line behind me get pissed! However, it makes me a good friend and colleague because I’m the first person to jump in and help someone dealing with a personal or professional crisis. I’ve got your back.

Starbuck Order

Venti Soy Chai Latte with 3 pumps of syrup instead of 5

Most Recent Trip

My mother took me to Amelia Island (FL) for their Charles Dickens holiday festival as a Christmas gift. She’s the best gift giver. It was a great time. Don’t miss it!

Favorite Actor

Donald Sutherland

My Bill Murray Story

When I was in college, I did an internship at Christie’s auction house in NYC. One day, I walked out the front door onto the Park Avenue sidwalk and right into a film crew. I began talking to some of the film techs and one of them liked me because I was young, tall and blond and he was hoping to get lucky. He told me Woody Allen was doing a scene for his film, Alice, and invited me to stay and watch, which I did. When the scene wrapped up he came back over to chat me up, but Bill Murray walked over. He’s not in the film, so I guess he was just visiting friends on set. The tech guy introduced me and said I worked at Christie’s. Bill Murray– who is really tall – (and I’m almost 6′) — looked down at me with that adorable twinkle in his eyes and smirking grin and asked, “So, can you get me any good art?” Right as he was saying this, Brian Dennehy and Robert Greenhut showed up. (Yes!).  I was in a huddle of film industry heavyweights. They invited me for drinks, but I was too shy to go (Yes, I know, I know…) and that techie never got lucky.

Life-Changing Moment

After a trip to Haiti in 2008, I never took for granted again things that we have so abundantly in America, like access to good healthcare, sanitation and running water. I never could have imagined poverty like what I saw.  The people were remarkably beautiful and kind, even though they had nothing. I never forgot that, and Haitians have a special place in my heart.

This photo was taken on the roof of a food bank. Haitians were lined up for miles, waiting hours for food. Haiti is a dangerous place due to political instablity. Hence the barbed wire, and guards armed with automatic rifles were stationed at the doors.

Photo of Mom and Gram, the two women who raised me, in 2001, shortly before my grandmother passed away. I love this photo because my mom’s comedic, Lucille Ball-like personality is evident.

Neither my grandmother or my mother had an easy life. Things were very difficult for my mom raising me as a single mother after the divorce. My father either couldn’t or didn’t pay child support and rarely visited. We struggled financially. My maternal grandmother moved in with us, but shortly after was diagnosed with and began a battle against colon cancer she’d eventually win, but it added to the stress on my mother and I.