Meet Bozoma Saint John; she is a former chief marketing officer at Netflix. The seasoned Ghanaian marketing guru first joined Netflix in 2020, replacing Jackie Lee-Joe.
She has a career spanning over two decades and has had stints in several diverse industries, including Uber—where she was Chief Brand Officer—and Apple Music and iTunes, where she served as Head of Global Consumer Marketing. She once also headed the Music and Entertainment Marketing Group at Pepsi-Cola North America.
Prior to joining the American streaming giant, she worked at Endeavor as Chief Marketing Officer for almost two years. Today, Bozoma is taking her marketing skills to her own empire, Eve By Boz’s.
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The 47-year-old has ventured into the wig industry, where Black women are the consuming majority, according to Black Enterprise. The entrepreneur said she ventured into this space because there are few products that cater to diverse women.
“There’s really no voice in the production process for women of color and Black women, who are the ones who are consuming a majority of the product,” she told Fortune.
Her brand has been in the making since 2023 and she went to a hair show in Guangzhou, China, to connect with vendors. She further traveled throughout the continent to learn more about sourcing the products.
“I’ve worked for enough big companies and got a lot of stock at a lot of places,” she said. “It’s time to reinvest in myself, and that’s what I decided to do. Also, I can have total control. I don’t want anyone telling me what to do.”
Saint John was born in Ghana but moved to the United States with her father at the age of 14. Her father, whom she credits as her biggest inspiration, played the clarinet and was an officer with the Ghanaian army before he moved to the United States for his postgraduate studies. The family settled in the Colorado Springs area, and Saint John graduated from Wesleyan University, where she majored in English.
After graduation, Saint John pursued a career in public relations, working first with the advertising agency Spike DDB and then the women’s fashion brand Ashley Stewart. She later joined soft drink giant PepsiCo, where she rose to the position of head of music and entertainment marketing.
In that role, she led the company’s advertisement campaign in sponsoring music festivals and award shows. She also forged partnerships with film studios, record studios, and the sports industry for product placement and promotion. She famously closed the deals that brought global music superstars to perform at the NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show: Beyoncé in 2013, Bruno Mars in 2014, and Katy Perry in 2015.
Saint John later joined Apple, where she became the head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music. In 2016, she made global headlines at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference with her captivating presentation of the latest features on Apple’s new music app, during which she played the Ghanaian High Life hit Ye Wo Krom.
In recognition of her achievements, Saint John was named 2016’s Female Executive of the Year by Billboard and was featured in its list of top women in music. She also featured in Fortune Magazine’s Disruptors, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People, Ad Age’s 50 Most Creative People, Innovators & Stars 40 Under 40 feature, and Ebony Magazine’s 100 Powerful Executives.
