Tune in to hear Elizabeth Johnson's remarkable journey that led to the founding of one of the leading market research and branding firms for higher ed today.
Zach is out at a leadership retreat this week, so we’re featuring our most recent Starter Stories episode on the pod! Get ready to meet Elizabeth Johnson — Co-Founder and Chairman at SimpsonScarborough, one of the leading market research, branding, and design firms serving higher education today.
In her senior year of high school, Elizabeth thought she’d go and study psychology in college. But, after a conversation with her father who was footing the bill, she learned that she had two different major options before her — pre-med or mathematics.
And while she chose the latter, her favorite college class was actually an art history course! After graduating, she went to work at a small market research firm before joining Carnegie Communications, now Carnegie Dartlet, where she worked for 10 years and served as COO until she received a phone call that would change her life forever.
Christopher Simpson, the former Vice President and Spokesman for Indiana University who had been in charge of handling Bob Knight’s departure as a Hoosier back in 2000, asked Elizabeth to lunch to discuss an idea he had.
That idea would lead to the founding of SimpsonScarborough. Elizabeth didn’t know it at the time, but just a few months after the company was founded, Christopher received a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Tune in to hear the inspiring, challenging, and remarkable story of the birth and growth of SimpsonScarborough.
Learn more about this episode and about our sponsors in our show notes. And hear more founder journeys on our Starter Stories podcast.