Bozoma Saint John bets on herself.
The multi-hyphenate talent has held top marketing posts at Pepsi, Apple, Uber, and Netflix—all before publishing a memoir, joining the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, launching her own line of wigs, and most recently, teaming with Jimmy Fallon to co-host the new marketing competition series On Brand.
Throughout it all, the 48-year-old talent has been guided by her own intuition and bravery—no one else’s.
“I don’t know that I’ve had many advocates in my career anyway,” she told a packed room at Brandweek 2025 in Atlanta on Monday. “Being a Black woman in this business, there aren’t very many spaces where I depend on other people to champion me. I’ve had to figure out my own championing.”
One moment that defined her ability to do so came in mid-2017, when Travis Kalanick, founder of Uber, was forced by the company’s board to resign from his post as CEO after a series of scandals. Kalanick had just hired Saint John as chief brand officer.
She found herself in the unexpected position of leading a brand with no leader. Though Kalanick’s departure rattled the business, Saint John was determined to identify a path forward for the beleaguered rideshare app.