Lydia Michael, Owner | Lead Consultant
“BY CREATING MY OWN PATH, MY MISSION IS TO INSPIRE WOMEN ALONG THE WAY TO DO THE SAME.”
Lydia is an entrepreneur, speaker, and published author. She was born and raised trilingual in Germany, and began her career focusing on digital media and marketing at the Detroit Jazz Festival. There, she worked on the creation of the first U.S. Jazz Festival app while managing marketing and media campaigns. She eventually transitioned to a Detroit- and Los Angeles-based Artist Relations & Management firm and its independent record label, where she honed her skill set in the entertainment and music industry. While guiding these ventures from inception to growth, she also spearheaded Global Marketing and Operations Management efforts for five years where she developed, marketed, and managed Grammy-winning artists and their brands internationally. Her time in Germany opened the door for projects with Deloitte and L’Oréal in Düsseldorf.
Launched in 2017, the inspiration for Blended Collective and Lydia’s vision of enriching brands and experiences through culture and emotion, was a result of her multicultural upbringing and international work experience. Since then, Lydia continues to work with small businesses, nonprofits, corporations, and government entities to develop and guide their marketing and brand efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she consulted and worked with 50+ businesses through business support programs to help them pivot as they experienced various business and marketing disruptions. She also serves as a regular speaker nationally and service provider at organizations to educate businesses on marketing and branding through 1:1 consulting sessions, workshops, and webinars.
In her first book Brand Love – Building Strong Consumer Brand Connections published by Kogan Page, Lydia breaks down the process of building emotionally strong, long-lasting consumer-brand relationships. Offering insight into the use of emotional and rational drivers, she introduces a “brand love” model designed to inspire brand loyalty and advocacy by featuring case studies, exclusive interviews with brands, and multicultural insights. She also shares her journey of entrepreneurship and building her own business. The book is available on Amazon and everywhere you can find books.
Lydia enjoys being involved in the arts and culture community, and is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She holds a B.S. in Marketing from Wayne State University in Detroit and an M.B.A. in International Management from Pforzheim University in Germany. Lydia is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Her work has been recognized with diversity and marketing centered awards. For more about Lydia or to invite her to speak, click here.