14 Jun June 14, 2023 – 18 Year Old Entrepreneur Joann Zehenni and Building Authority Rusty Shelton
Joann Zehenni – Founder and CEO of Gemini Beauty Products
A lot of the products in the Gemini Beauty line were influenced by my
Ukrainian and Lebanese heritage. I learned how to make skin care products
from fruits and vegetables from my grandmother. She inspired me.
Joann Zehenni
Joann Zehenni is the Founder and CEO of Gemini Beauty Products. At 15 years old, when Joann Zehenni couldn’t find a skincare solution for her and her family’s struggle with Lupus, she set out to create her own formulations and Gemini Beauty was born. Now 18 years old and freshmen at Loyola Marymount University in Southern California, Joann has created a successful skincare business dedicated to helping individuals become more comfortable and confident in their own skin. Gemini Beauty takes a natural approach to cultivate that dewy, fresh look using fruits and vegetables (inspired by her Lebanese & Ukrainian heritage) that are safe for all skin types. It’s free of gluten, oil, phthalates, sulfates, and parabens. A percentage of Gemini Beauty’s profits are donated to Lupus LA, a non-profit organization that provides a variety of support opportunities for patients in all stages of Lupus.
Rusty Shelton – Founder of Zilker Media and Co-Author of “The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego“
I had a job in a business for the first seven years of my career, and I
don’t think I would have been able to start my first business unless
I had those seven years’ worth of relationships and experience.
Rusty Shelton
Rusty Shelton is the Founder of Zilker Media and Co-Author of “The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego“. Rusty Shelton first spoke at Harvard on the changing world of marketing and PR at the age of 23. He is a bestselling author, dynamic keynote speaker and successful entrepreneur who has focused his career on helping leaders build thought leadership focused on impact, not ego, writing three acclaimed books and speaking around the world to a variety of audiences, from YPO to SXSW Interactive to Forbes. He is Chairman of Zilker Media, an award-winning agency based in Austin, TX that builds people-driven brands and Senior Marketing Strategist at Forbes Books. Rusty’s keynotes blend humor and targeted examples to challenge assumptions about personal branding, showing audiences how to build authentic thought leadership focused on impact, not ego. He’s known for a mix of story-telling, candor and practical, put-it-into-action-next-week guidance – showing leaders how to make an impact and build trust in an increasingly skeptical world – and have a lot of fun along the way. He has shared the stage with Steve Forbes and Alan Mulally, spoken for YPO, EO, SXSW Interactive, the University of Texas, numerous Fortune 1000 companies and served on the faculty at more than 20 Harvard Medical School CME courses. He is the co-author (alongside Adam Witty) of The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact, Not Ego (ForbesBooks, 2023), which features a foreword from David Meerman Scott, Authority Marketing: How to Leverage 7 Pillars of Thought Leadership to Make Competition Irrelevant (ForbesBooks, 2018), which features a foreword from Steve Forbes, and co-author (alongside Barbara Cave Henricks) of Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset (Berrett-Koehler, 2016). An avid Texas Longhorns fan, he sits on the University of Texas Texas Exes PR Committee and is a proud member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) in Austin, where he serves on the board. He lives just west of Austin in Spicewood with his wife, Paige and three children (Luke, Brady & Sadie) and their very rowdy black lab, Charlie. Rusty loves to play golf, fish, coach his sons’ sports teams and is the QB for Lake Travis’ top “old man” flag football team.