“The first step of any journey is knowing where you want to go. There are many roads to get there, but if you keep your eye on your north star, you will always find your way.”
– Michelle Denogean

About Michelle

Wearing a variety of hats her whole life, Michelle Denogean has an impressive resume. Still, few know that her first ambitious hat had “Writer” written across it.

While she has made herself known as a marketing guru and sought-after strategist in the business world, she spent her early years writing short stories and poems and always had a book idea in mind. “My twelve- and thirteen-year-old self wrote many coming-of-age stories,” Michelle says. “I had to put my thoughts to paper.”

Born and raised in West Hills, California, Michelle kept busy with school, dance, and writing. Always a leader, she was captain of her high school dance team. While she spent her summers working in her father’s accounting business, she had zero desire to lead in business. She noticed that her father didn’t love what he did career-wise, which kept her away from anything having to do with numbers for a long time.

“I didn’t want anything to do with business,” she says. “I was a creative, and I thought I would do something that sprung out of my internal creative resources.”

She sought and received her bachelor’s degree in Communications, with a minor in Literature Writing, from the University of California, San Diego. Throughout her studies, she began to understand the intricacies of business.

With the advent of the highly accessible internet, Michelle began to see that new companies were starting at an all-time high. She saw kids starting businesses out of their garages and people investing millions in them with little to no plan. She thought “business is business,” and someone would need to be there to pick up the pieces. That led her to Pepperdine University, eventually earning her MBA.

She entered the business sector full steam ahead and gained experience in several industries, helping start-ups achieve scalable success. With extreme curiosity, Michelle found she could not “stay in her swim lane.” Early on, she oversaw Product Development for Fastclick and Analytics and Operations at Edmunds. Over the past fifteen years, she has held the role of Chief Marketing Officer for some of the most successful B2C and B2B brands in the Automotive, Real Estate and Travel industries—Edmunds, Roadster, Side and now Mindtrip. She also served in leadership positions at eHarmony and Move.com.

Her hard work has paid off. To her delight, in 2023, Michelle received the coveted Icon Award for Top Marketer of the Year.

Combining two of her greatest passions, Michelle knew she would one day write a book about business. “Writing a book was a bucket list item,” she explains. “It was originally going to be a fiction one-up until a few years back when I began to get passionate about helping more than just the company I served.” That tied in with her reasoning for getting her MBA—she wants to be there for anyone who needs her.”

Her inability to stay in the marketing box and her passion for asking provocative questions made her the perfect resource for anyone looking to take their start-up to the next level. But she realized she could reach out to many more start-up founders with books. With three in the works, she now wears the hat “Author.”

Michelle currently resides in Newhall, California, where her husband grew up. They met seventeen years ago at the airport, where both had just returned from business trips. They now have a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. The family are avid skiers, snowboarders, and off-roaders. “My two wonderful children believe that CMO stands for ‘Chief Mommy Officer,’” Michelle says. The Denogeans make their home in Los Angeles, California.

Fun Facts

Favorite movie: History of the World II
Favorite superheroes: Deadpool and Cat Women (are they superheroes?)
Desired superpowers: Teleportation (go anywhere) & Telepathy (read people’s minds)
Favorite business books: Grow, by Jim Stengel, Drive, by Daniel Pink
Favorite animal: Puppies!!
Favorite ice cream: Vanilla (I’m a purist)
Favorite vacation spot: Maui, HI
What I wanted to be when I grew up: Creative, Psychologist…anything but business (LOL)
Mentors & what they have taught me:

• Andy Moss – Staying calm under pressure
• Rudi Thun – The power of relationships
• Kevin Eyres – Being direct with care
• Jim Stengel – Having a purpose
• Tara Nicholle Kirke – Anything is possible
• Gannon Giguiere – Seeing people’s potential