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Melissa Dawn Simkins

Melissa Dawn Simkins

CEO of Velvet Suite; Founder of She-Suite & The Brand Leadership Institute

Melissa Dawn Simkins, affectionately known as "The First Lady of Personal Branding".

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Full Bio

Melissa Dawn Simkins, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Personal Branding,” is a pioneer in personal brand leadership with a proven track record of advising Fortune 100 companies, CEOs, C-suite executives and influencers. She is a sought after strategist on how to lead change in the face of adversity.

She is CEO of Velvet Suite® an award-winning leadership innovation firm unleashing purpose-driven leadership as the uncontested catalyst to growth. She is also the Founder of The She-Suite®, the female focused leadership and lifestyle platform of Velvet Suite on a mission to reset the standard for working women to boldly lead with purpose in work, well-being and beyond. The She-Suite Brand Leadership Institute (BLI), is the only online personal brand leadership readiness platform built to scale for the enterprise to ready, retain and advance all women & women of color. Simkins is a sought-after keynote speaker on leadership innovation, the future of work and well-being for women.

Simkins is a former contributor to Inc.com and has been a frequent guest on media outlets such as CNN, CNBC and more. She is the author of Brand Me. Make Your Mark: The Ultimate Playbook for Personal Branding.

As an innovator, Simkins was the first African American female advisory board member for the World Brand Congress. Velvet Suite created the National Football League (NFL) Player Brand University in partnership with the NFL, the first personal brand development academy of its kind in all professional sports. Other Velvet Suite clients have included: Boston Scientific Corporation, Google, Allstate, Home Depot, UBS, the National Basketball Association, CEOs, C-Suite executives, celebrities, pro-athletes.

Simkins is a graduate from Otterbein University with a BA in Public Relations and a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Society of Human Resource Management Foundatio (SHRM-F) and a is former Trustee for her alma mater, Otterbein University. Simkins is a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a high-quality support network of 14,000+ like-minded leaders across 61 countries.

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Topics

Topics

An Evening With Melissa Dawn Simkins 

Videos

Videos

Welcome to Melissa Dawn Simkins
Welcome to Melissa Dawn Simkins | Brand A Beautiful Life

Books

BRAND ME MAKE YOUR MARK
BRAND ME MAKE YOUR MARK

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The American Psychological Association was thrilled to have Dr. Antonia Novello as our speaker for the 2024 APA Convention. Dr. Novello was fantastic, and her presentation was a tremendous success. Thank you, Peter, for all your hard work in making this event such a resounding success.

American Psychological Association

For our annual Native American Heritage Month celebration, PDA Group arranged for John Echohawk to join us for a virtual moderated discussion. The program was thoughtful, engaging, and highly impactful for our audience of lawyers and professional staff. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to working with them again.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

We have partnered with PDA Group on multiple successful events, including our charity luncheon with Lisa Edelstein and our Women’s Philanthropy Kickoff Event featuring Allegra Goodman. Their professionalism, expertise, and commitment to excellence make them an outstanding partner. Thank you for your exceptional work and continued support.

UJA-Federation

We have received so much fantastic feedback following our virtual event. It was an absolute success, and Sylvia Fowles was excellent. Thank you again to Sylvia and the entire team for your partnership!”

U.S. Bank

Kurt Warner was spectacular—he completely wowed the audience and solidified major leadership points. He was an amazing partner, and we will be talking about this experience for years to come. We will definitely leverage the PDA team for all of our speaking needs!”

Sysco Corporation

The events over the past two years went very well — everyone had a great time with Dr. Mark Esper in 2025, and Sam Hinkie led a very engaging Q&A with our Principal, Jean Reynolds, in 2024. Thank you for working with us these last two years; your support has been instrumental to the success of our programs!

Investcorp Strategic Capital Group

It was an absolute privilege to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta as our keynote speaker for the 2026 GME Leadership Conference. He delivered an outstanding address that resonated deeply and left a lasting impression on everyone in the room. The entire planning process was seamless and collaborative. It was a pleasure working together, brainstorming suggestions, and ultimately selecting the perfect fit for our event. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

HCA Healthcare

We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

Salt Lake Community College

It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

Western Michigan University

On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can’t wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

Ferris State University

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