Becoming a Sage: A Conversation with Mary van de Wiel

Her exuberance as a non-linear thinker and visionary in the brand intelligence space has always taken center stage. But Mary van de Wiel, dubbed brand psychologist and master provocateur by her corporate clients, brings 35 years of multicultural experience redefining brands and bringing emboldened thinking to organizations.

As Founder, CEO and Executive Creative Director of an independent branding & design agency with offices in New York and Sydney, she steered award-winning campaigns for Fortune 500 clients.

Since successfully selling her agency (on her own terms), Van launched her Brooklyn-based brand laboratory for serious play — consulting, coaching and leading her signature workshops. And right now, she’s moved her practice to central Mexico where her other top creative priority is her fashion and lifestyle brand called Black Line Crazy (BLC). In her Limited Edition Collection of wearable art and homewares, each piece is based on her bold abstract paintings. The Museum of Contemporary Art CHICAGO has already purchased BLC pieces for its Design Shop.

Also dedicated to helping university students identify their point of difference in an ever-changing employment landscape, she’s been a guest lecturer on branding at UCLA, The University of Sydney Business School (and many others) where she loves speaking about mixing the rigor of her vast business experience and the whimsy and joy of artistic pursuits.