CREATIVITY UNLEASHED
Connect.The.Dots Collective is a company led by women, empowered to cultivate and nurture innovative ideas, skillfully crafting them into compelling brands that deeply resonate with consumers.
Lets connect!
Meet The Collective
TERRY WHEATLEY
FOUNDER
Adult beverage industry pioneer, award winning executive leader, brand innovator, revenue generator, female executive groundbreaker.
Named to Forbes “50 Over 50” Distinguished Leader in Lifestyle along with Martha Stewart, Kris Jenner, Dolly Parton and Tory Burch; Wine Enthusiast “Innovator of The Year” Wine Star Award for trailblazing brand creation, industry and organizational leadership and charitable fundraising; named by Worth Magazine to the “Groundbreaker” list of women who have achieved the extraordinary along with Taylor Swift, GM CEO Mary Barra, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, and Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd; Fortune “Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink” Recognized for transformative impact on what we eat and drink. And most recently by Wine Industry Advisor as “Wine’s Most Inspiring People” for bringing success thought leadership and trailblazing a path for women in the wine industry.
Terry is an organizational operator, brand innovator, distributor whisperer, and fearless leader.
JESSICA KOGAN
PARTNER
A respected digital business transformation specialist, Ecommerce builder, marketer and influencer, Jessica has led exponential DTC growth for publicly traded companies and successfully launched digital native startups like Cameron Hughes Wine. She led the Webby award winning Southern Poverty Law Center Tolerance.org project and the first iteration of Charles Schwab’s trading site, Schwab.com.
In 2023, Jessica was named "Top Women In Retail Tech" by RIS a "who's who" list of digital transformation leaders, featured in Adweek’s “Marketing Vanguard” for her “Fashion To Fine Wine Journey” and celebrated in Women In Retail “Leadership Circle” for her work in “Digitally Transforming the Wine Industry.”
Prior to building digital experiences, she led the marketing launch of Urban Decay and the brand revitalization of Elizabeth Arden and created brand strategy platforms for Chevron and Hewlett-Packard.
Jessica is a digital business transformation specialist focused on the connection between the physical and digital to improve workflow, drive sales, and delight humans!
STEPHANIE MAYER
PARTNER
Stephanie Mayer is a designer, creative director, connector, and collaborator who works with individuals and companies to bring brands to life. In her early career, she worked with iconic brands, designers, and artists as branding and marketing director for Gap, E & J Gallo Winery, Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and Michael Osborne Design.
For the past 20 years Stephanie has been a design and guest experience strategy consultant helping clients manifest their vision and reach their goals by directing the creative strategy and creating constructive collaboration with their creative partners. With a particular specialty at the intersection of hospitality and retail, a passion for new products and engaging the six senses, and all things food & wine & health, she curates and directs the creative process and creative partners on a wide variety of experience, event, collaborations, and product development projects.
Her ability to connect the dots between creatives, for and with the client, is critical for stand out brands and lasting success.
LYNDA JACKSON
CONTRIBUTOR
An accomplished psychologist, speechwriter, coach and strategist, Lynda Jackson is considered the best in the world at transforming Heads of State, Presidents, CEOs and Executives into high performing public speakers and communicators. She has combined the knowledge of five degrees and over 35 years of experience working with Prime Ministers, Presidents, Royalty, Actors, and C-suite Executives to form a method that ensures communicating well and commanding any stage becomes part of who her clients are. She is also a critically important coach who helps executives formulate the right strategies to succeed.
Lynda is an expert in understanding what makes people do what they do and why they do it. Her speechwriting and performance design reflect this ability. She knows what audiences need to hear and how and why they need to hear it. These abilities enable her to not only coach public speaking with unprecedented success, they also allow her to provide expert advice on careers whilst developing the right strategies for executives to meet their career goals.
CLAIRE BALLENTINE
CONTRIBUTOR
Claire is a results-oriented digital strategist, analyst, and omnichannel expert. With her Master’s in Digital Marketing and Analytics from London she brings a robust knowledge of how to successfully penetrate the digital landscape both domestic and international. She specializes in consumer behavior data and digital optimization across both digital and physical marketing channels to create a frictionless and successful omnichannel experience. Claire had great success in leading the digital transformation strategies for large wine companies such as Copper Cane Wines, Vintage Wine Estates, and Treasury Wine Estates, as well as small boutique projects such as William Cole Vineyards and Predecessor Estate. She creates innovative and data-driven digital marketing plans that encompass a mix of SEO, SEM, paid social media, paid digital media, content marketing, email marketing, influencer marketing, programmatic, and website optimization. Claire’s passion for the consumer experience and brand message is what drives her creativity and results-driven approach to elevate brand presence and maximize ROI.
ELSIE WOLFE
CONTRIBUTOR
Elsie Wolfe is a top strategic retail leader in alcohol beverage and grocery. Her longstanding career within the Retail Industry includes roles at Target Corporation, Albertson’s Companies and Safeway where she headed Alcohol Beverage and Grocery nationally and regionally. Under her leadership, Safeway was recognized as Wine Enthusiast 2017 Retailer of the Year and Albertsons Companies was named Wine Enthusiast 2020 Retailer of the Year. Elsie is passionate about leveraging supplier and wholesaler partnerships to bring wine, spirits, and beer history to life at retail. She drives business results and creates transformation with new category and brand launches, cross-functional collaboration, financial analysis, assortment and merchandising planning, negotiations, and project management. In short, her leadership has generated award-winning, best-in-category success in financial and business planning at retail. Noted twice as a Top Women in Grocery by Progressive Grocer, Elsie holds WSET certifications in Wine and Spirits, Cicerone Level 1 in Beer, and is an active judge national wine, spirits, and beer competitions.
JEN KOWSKIE
CONTRIBUTOR
Jen is an accomplished graphic designer with a rich background spanning 18 years in e-commerce systems interaction design. Specializing in logo and identity system design, she intricately weaves color usage and typography to express the unique personality of each company or brand she works with. Jen's skill set extends beyond identity creation; she is adept at building comprehensive visual communication standards for full brand extensions, including environmental signage, marketing collateral, UI design, interactive graphics, and more. Her proficiency also encompasses crafting branding guidelines and designing wine labels, ensuring a cohesive and impactful brand presence across various platforms and mediums.
Jen has worked with clients/brands Joe Boxer, Microsoft, Razorfish, Genentech, Charles Schwab and built award-winning graphic systems and packaging design for Cannacraft, Cameron Hughes Wine and Vintage Wine Estates.