Marta Grutka

Founder, Bspoke Consultancy Pte Ltd

Since her first stint in public affairs and advertising in 1989 when she coordinated VIP customer loyalty events for American Express Bank's high-net-worth {HNW} clients and wrote readership surveys for Travel & Leisure and Food & Wine, Marta has had the privilege of working for some of the world's leading organizations and living in major media and government centers in Europe and the U.S.

Along the way, she has learnt from and worked with legendary communicators and visionaries including: Jamie Shea, former NATO spokesman; Steve Case, co-founder and former CEO of America Online, Inc. {AOL}; and the late Jack Valenti, long-time president of the Motion Picture Association of America {MPAA}.

Her fascination with the power elite's ability to change perceptions on issues that impact the lives of people around the world began while she was working on development projects in sub-Saharan Africa at the World Bank/IFC {Washington, DC}.

Over time, this became a curiosity about the tremendous pressure facing leaders to communicate genuine, compelling and real-time messages to stakeholders in a digital and global market.

She founded Bspoke in late 2008 to help create new legends by building or protecting the reputations of world-class brands and individuals, while putting a special emphasis on raising awareness about issues close to her heart such as entrepreneurship, the value of creativity and original thinking, empowering women, and protecting children and the environment. By basing the company in Singapore, where she has lived since 2004, she hopes to impart best practices to Asia's next generation of public relations practitioners and help Western executives successfully transition into the region's fast-growing markets.