Catherine Kaputa

From Madison Avenue to Wall Street to the halls of academe, Catherine Kaputa perfected her ability to market products, places, and companies. She first learned brand strategy from marketing Hall of Famer Al Ries, and then led the award-winning “I ♥ NY” campaign at Wells, Rich, Greene. For over ten years she was SVP, Director of Advertising and Community Affairs at Citi Smith Barney, and she taught branding and advertising at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Yet Catherine has discovered that the most important use for branding is not for products  — it’s for individuals to define and own their career identity and create their own performance success.  

That’s why Catherine launched SelfBrand, a New York City-based personal branding company and wrote the award-winning book, You Are a Brand How Smart People Brand Themselves for Success, winner of the Ben Franklin award for Best Career Book. Her new book is: “The New Brand You: How to Wow in the New World of Work, out in November 2022. She has been recognized multiple times as a Top 30 Global Guru in branding.  

Catherine has spoken at a wide range of corporations and organizations as part of talent development, sales training, meetings, and diversity and women's initiatives - organizations focused on developing leadership particularly important in the new world of work with hybrid, remote and in-person working.Then there are the opportunities and threats from AI.  She has been featured on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and Fortune.  

Her speaking and workshop clients include Google, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Intel, Citigroup, State Street Bank, UBS, Whirlpool, Cardinal Health, Unilever, BNY Mellon, Harvard University, Northwestern University, Merck, RTI International, Glaxo Smith Kline and others. In her talks, Catherine is known for her interactive style combining real-world stories, branding principles and humor tailored to each audience.