Clients, Women Leaders, & Big Ideas: Thinkers50 London 2025
Marissa Eigenbrood and Sandy Smith attended the Thinkers50 London Summit & Awards Gala 2025 again this past November. Thinkers50 is the world’s most trusted resource for identifying, ranking, and sharing the leading management ideas of our time. 
At the summit, they had the honor of celebrating Smith Publicity clients’ incredible achievements while drawing inspiration from some of the most powerful women shaping the future of business. As a team here at Smith Publicity, where the majority of our 30 members are women, they were especially energized by the insights, ideas, and leadership of these female speakers who are transforming the way we work, lead, and innovate.
It was an honor to see our clients shine: Neri Karra Sillaman, Ph.D. won the 2025 Radar Award; Kate O’Neill was shortlisted for the 2025 Digital Thinking Award and named to the 2025 Newcomers Ranking; and Rebecca Homkes was shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Strategy Award. There is a reason Financial Times calls Thinkers50 the “Oscars of management thinking.”
A few highlights from some of the powerful women who spoke at Thinkers50:
💡 From Rita McGrath: “learn as fast as you can,” continue to feed curiosity with discipline, and Sandy and Marissa plan to support this vision with the team at Smith Publicity, Inc. And reminding us that uncertainty is opportunity.
💡 From Lynda Gratton: inspiring people to deeply rethink the 100-year life and what it means to your work, family, and friends.
💡 From Amy Edmondson: reminding us of the power of getting out in the “field” for mutual learning leading to deeper understanding of perspectives and problems.
💡 From Jayshree Seth: they were especially captivated and inspired by EVERY word Jayshree said, her impressive 80+ patents!!, and the warnings to management teams of the mistake of copying and pasting ideas out of context, turning complex research into buzzwords, and cherry-picking research to validate predetermined decisions. She also founded the Jayshree Seth Scholarship for Women of Color in STEM, which supports minority female students pursuing STEM careers.
💡 From Frances Frei: the value conflict and different points of view bring, learning to take up space while making room for and empowering others, and the beautiful impact of opening her office hours to hundreds and thousands of learners.
We also were able to spend time with the Wiley team, led by Shannon Vargo, who never ceases to impress with how deeply she cares about the success of her authors and her team, including Annie Knight, Alice Hadaway, and Michael Friedberg.
Marissa and Sandy are already looking forward to the 2026 Thinkers50 London and will be there to help celebrate their 25th birthday!
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