Bozoma Saint John

Bozoma Saint John
Born Bozoma Arthur
(1977-01-21) January 21, 1977
Ghana
Residence Los Angeles
Other names Boz
Education Wesleyan University
Occupation Marketing executive
Employer Uber

Bozoma "Boz" A. Saint John (née Arthur)[1] (born January 21, 1977)[2] is the Chief Brand Officer at Uber.[3] Until June 2017, she was a marketing executive at Apple Music after joining the company in its acquisition of Beats Music.[4][5]

Early life

Saint John was born in Ghana to Rev. Dr. Appianda Arthur and Aba Arthur (née Enim).[6] The family moved to Colorado Springs when she was 14. Her father was a clarinet player and member of the Ghanaian army before emigrating to the United States to attend graduate school. Saint John cites her father as her biggest inspiration.[7] In 1999, she graduated from Wesleyan University with an English major. Her father received a PhD in ethnomusicology in 1977, also from Wesleyan.[8][9][10]

Career

After college, Saint John worked at the advertising agencies Arnold Worldwide and Spike Lee’s Spike DDB, as well as the fashion brand Ashley Stewart, where she was Vice President of Marketing.[3]

Saint John led PepsiCo's foray into music festival-based marketing as head of the Music and Entertainment Marketing;[3] the division itself came from her suggestion that the company sponsor music festivals and award shows. She remained with the company for almost a decade before joining Beats Music in 2014; when Jimmy Iovine of Beats personally recruited Saint John based on her experience in music marketing,[11] Saint John moved from New York to Los Angeles to lead marketing for the company.[12]

Beats was purchased shortly thereafter by Apple[3] and Saint John became the head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music, commuting between Los Angeles and Apple's Cupertino headquarters several times a week.[7] Journalists described Saint John's presentation of the redesigned Apple Music onstage during the 2016 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as her breakthrough moment, with a captivating "passion" and persona that captivated both local and online audiences.[7][13][14][15] Biz Carson of Business Insider said that her appearance helped to emphasize Apple's complete rebuild of its Apple Music software. For instance, she attempted to have the audience sing along with on-screen lyrics, a feature in the redesigned app.[7] Buzzfeed wrote that she was the "coolest" person to ever take the stage at an Apple keynote.[16]

Magazines recognized Saint John's work in superlative lists including Billboard Magazine's list of the top women in music, Fast Company's 100 most creative people, and AdWeek's most exciting personalities in advertising.[10]

On June 6, 2017, Saint John became Chief Brand Officer at Uber.[3]She has been given the task of turning Uber into a brand that people love as much as Apple.[17]

Personal life

Saint John was married to Peter Saint John.[1] They had one daughter.[14][18]

Honors

References

  1. 1 2 "Peter Saint John". Burkitt's Lymphoma Society. 2013.
  2. ↑ "Bozoma A Saintjohn United States Public Records". FamilySearch. 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Aswad, Jem (6 June 2017). "Bozoma Saint John Talks About Her New Role at Uber: ‘I Consider Myself a Change Agent’". Variety.
  4. ↑ Bhuiyan, Johana (6 June 2017). "Apple marketing executive Bozoma Saint John is joining Uber as its chief brand officer". Recode.
  5. 1 2 3 Alba, Davey (13 June 2016). "Bozoma Saint John Was Badass Long Before Apple". Wired.
  6. ↑ "Ghana news: Bentsifi’s Tattle, A guy about town". Graphic. 17 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Carson, Biz (13 June 2016). "Meet Bozoma Saint John, the Apple executive who stole the show at WWDC". Yahoo! Finance.
  8. ↑ Drake, Olivia (18 April 2016). "Class of 2020 Explores Wesleyan during 3-Day WesFest Celebration". News @ Wesleyan. Wesleyan University.
  9. ↑ Rockwell, Cynthia (25 April 2016). "Apple Music’s Saint John ’99 Recalls Formative Wes Moments in WesFest Keynote". News @ Wesleyan. Wesleyan University.
  10. 1 2 Harrison, Olivia (13 June 2016). "Who Is The Woman Who Rocked Apple's Keynote?". Refinery29.
  11. ↑ Trakin, Roy (2 April 2014). "Former Pepsi Exec Bozoma Saint John Named Beats Music Global Marketing Head". The Hollywood Reporter.
  12. ↑ McBride, Kiah (5 March 2017). "Bozoma Saint John: Why This Apple Music Exec Is A Badass Boss". xoNecole.
  13. ↑ Clark Thompson, Ashlee (13 June 2016). "Breakout star of Apple's WWDC 2016 Bozoma "Boz" Saint John calls out developers for lack of rhythm". CNET.
  14. 1 2 Weatherford, Ashley (13 June 2016). "A Black Woman Spoke at Apple’s Tech Conference and Twitter Went Wild". New York The Cut.
  15. ↑ Opam, Kwame (13 June 2016). "Apple's Bozoma Saint John is my hero". The Verge.
  16. ↑ Misener, Jessica (13 June 2016). "Bozoma St. John Is The Coolest Person To Ever Go Onstage At An Apple Event". BuzzFeed.
  17. ↑ "Apple Executive, Bozoma Saint John as the Public Face of Uber - Biznespreneur". Biznespreneur. 2017-06-10. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  18. ↑ "In Memory of Peter Saint John – Obituary". Walter B. Cooke Funeral Home. 11 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Women In Music 2015: The 50 Most Powerful Executives in the Industry". Billboard. 3 December 2016.
  20. ↑ Halperin, Shirley (5 December 2016). "Women In Music 2016: Bozoma Saint John Named Executive of the Year". Billboard.
  21. ↑ "14: Bozoma Saint John, 39". Fortune. 22 September 2016.
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