K2 Managing Partners
Lisa Gallagher
Managing Partner
After realizing that the life of a CPA wouldn’t give her the same thrill as her Pipeline surfing contests, Lisa left her wetsuit behind and headed to the University of Michigan to get her MBA in Marketing. She emerged with a unique combination of skills that give her a sharp ability to quickly assess situations, a fact-based approach to growth, and an eye on the bottom line. Lisa has been in the client’s seat for years at industry leaders like General Mills, Wendy’s and McDonald’s, and is proud of her work on national launches like McGriddles and the McCafe – two of the most successful launches in the QSR segment. She is a dedicated college football fan, addicted to real estate reality shows and an avid runner. Lisa lives in Cincinnati with her entrepreneurial husband, her son and their rescue animals – Bogey the Black Lab and two cats, Birdie and Putter… ironically all named for another hobby she and her husband never seem to have time for. It’s because of Lisa’s competitive yet focused and compassionate spirit that she is able to tackle any challenge.
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Kelly Katien
Founder & Managing Partner
As a leading consultant and former client at some of the biggest CPG companies, Kelly got plenty of chances to ask questions, and more importantly, find answers. Her biggest question in 2005 led to the best answer: “How can I better help inspire fresh thinking while pushing brands to reach for deeper emotional connections with target consumers?” That’s when K2 Thinking was born. With 20+ years of marketing and branding expertise, along with “real world” experience in long-range strategy, positioning, development, innovation and consumer understanding, Kelly has a good foundation for strengthening brand equity and driving success. She has asked the right questions and uncovered the right answers for an impressive roster of clients including Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, Sazerac, Avon and Sara Lee, to name a few. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a BA in Business Psychology and an MBA from Xavier University, Kelly is a recovering Canadian who enjoys fulfilling her passion for world travel with her husband and young son. With so much energy, Kelly even rolls up the sleeves of her pajamas, so listen for her favorite question: “When can we get started?”
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Christine McGovern
Managing Partner
Christine has 17+ years of CPG experience running brands such as Crest, Scope, Oral-B, Jergens and Curél at Procter & Gamble & KAO. She also held roles leading innovation both globally and regionally, running shopper/in-store marketing, leading commerce strategy, licensing, OEM and marketing/selling to professionals. Christine is a die hard Cincinnati girl and dedicated fan to the Bengals and Reds. Her passion is watching her daughters dance on stage, both on their competitive dance team and in school musicals.
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K2 Key Partners
Elizabeth Miller-Tyson
Key Partner
Elizabeth is an integrated marketing specialist savvy in developing impactful brand strategy and communications for all brand life-stages. Whether it be nurturing insights for new product development, reviving/rebranding a sleepy product, or fueling a challenger brand, Elizabeth focuses on finding the intersection between art and commerce for brands. Elizabeth has 20+ years of experience in both agency-side and client-side management positions for brands such as Jockey, Kraft Heinz, Gatorade, Tropicana, Hillshire Farm and Supercuts. She and her wind energy executive husband love to travel, especially when it brings their passion for snow skiing and European travel together.
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Alli Parlin
Key Partner
Alli is an analytical, curious and energetic brand strategist and researcher with over ten years of industry experience in brand strategy and consumer insights. She has expertise in holistic brand building through consumer understanding, impactful findings and strategic design. Alli focuses on gathering and translating consumer insights to improve brand, design and human interaction on both emotional and functional levels. She has worked with both big and small brands such has 3M, Avon, Planters, Nestle, MaraNatha, Kellogg's, Pantene and Serta. She loves being active with her two young daughters and is always up for trying a new recipe!
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Charlotte Horseman
Key Partner
Charlotte is a classically trained market researcher with a creative side and a passion for developing innovative approaches to uncover real, fresh, game-changing consumer insights for businesses and brands. Charlotte has 23 years of experience on both the client and supplier sides of the insights world, synthesizing diverse inputs to find the true “big ideas” for topics including financial services, healthcare, technology, health and beauty, and a wide range of food products from kids meals to pet food! She has worked with some of the world's largest brands, including Kraft, Kellogg's, Wrigley, Estée Lauder, Avon, PNC Bank, Cintas, Microsoft and many others. A love of yoga, reading, and little league baseball with her 11 year old son keeps her focused and ready for any challenge!
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