Featured: Bizwomen

As a daughter of immigrants, how did your upbringing shape the way you approach leadership and business strategy?

It shaped everything. I’m part middle America and part Central America, and when you grow up between cultures, you learn quickly that every environment has its own language, incentives and power dynamics.

That perspective became one of my greatest advantages because you learn to read systems from the outside while also understanding how to move within them. For instance, in complex industries like health care, that matters enormously because success isn’t just about marketing. It’s about understanding the ecosystem around the decision.

It also sharpened my sensitivity to story. Our work is known for authenticity and specificity, and I think that comes from always seeing multiple perspectives at once. People who learn to move between worlds often become very good at challenging assumptions about how those worlds are supposed to work. 

You built Langrand as a hybrid between a consultancy and a creative studio. What gap were you trying to fill?

I built Langrand without ever working inside a traditional agency, and in hindsight that was a huge advantage because I never assumed there was only one way to do this.

What I kept seeing was that the real problem usually wasn’t marketing. It was leadership change, institutional complexity, trust, public scrutiny or competing stakeholders. Those aren’t easily briefed problems.

So instead of waiting for clients to hand us a brief, we often help them define the real challenge first. We built a model where the same people shaping strategy are also deeply involved in execution. That creates stronger thinking and better outcomes.

More recently, we added futurists to our team because disruption is constant now, and clients need help thinking not just about today’s decisions but the forces shaping what comes next.

Women-led firms doing national agency work remain rare. What barriers did you face building Langrand?

A few years ago, women-led firms doing national work represented roughly one-tenth of 1 percent of agencies. I have mixed feelings about that statistic — gratitude for what we’ve built but also concern about what it says about the industry.

What’s interesting is that I didn’t experience every traditional barrier in the same way because I built outside that system. I created my own environment rather than climbing someone else’s ladder.

Where I notice those dynamics most is outside my company when I’m in rooms dominated by traditional power structures. Inside Langrand, we built something different, a place where intelligence, insight and problem-solving matter more than hierarchy.

You’ve been deliberate about growth rather than chasing scale. What principles shaped that decision?

One principle has always been that we need to leave things better than we found them. If a client isn’t ready for that, it usually isn’t the right fit.

We also care deeply about meaningful work. We spend most of our lives working, and I take seriously the idea that our time and talent should go toward things that matter, such as health care, education, sustainability, institutional trust.

And culture matters. If people are spending 40 hours a week here, I want this to be a place where they feel challenged, respected and genuinely glad to be doing the work.

I never built this company to maximize scale for its own sake. I built it to do exceptional work with smart people and solve meaningful problems.

What role does storytelling play in helping organizations build trust today?

It’s essential. Trust in institutions is at historic lows, and at the same time people are overwhelmed with information. Story is how you create signal in all that noise. Storytelling helps people understand not just what an organization does, but why it matters and why they should believe it.

The shift happening now is from brand promise to brand proof. It’s no longer enough to tell a compelling story. You also have to demonstrate it in lived experience. That combination of emotional connection and tangible proof is what creates trust.

How do you balance strategy with storytelling?

They have to work together. Our work is grounded in rigor — research, foresight and organizational dynamics — but data alone doesn’t move people. At some point, strategy requires a creative leap. That’s where the strongest ideas emerge, when evidence and human insight come together.

Was there a moment when you realized Langrand had reached national influence?

Recently, we were leading strategy work for a major national brand alongside several global agencies. At one point, a senior executive from another firm told me, “We can’t compete against your model. You have incredibly smart people actually doing the work, and all we care about is scale.”

That was a meaningful moment because it confirmed that staying true to our model had become a real competitive advantage.

What advice do you most often give women leaders?

Participate in the conversation. A lot of talented women still hesitate, even when they fully belong in the room. I often tell people to not put your best ideas in the chat. Instead, say them out loud. People need to hear your voice, your conviction and your thinking in real time.

What would surprise people about you?

Probably that I’m an introvert. I may come across as highly extroverted, but it takes energy every day.

And I read constantly.