Kendra Bracken-Ferguson

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson is an internationally acclaimed thought leader, award-winning executive, and best-selling author. Recognized for her strategic vision and ability to scale sustainable brands, she is a sought-after speaker, C-suite advisor, venture capitalist and board member.

In May 2025, building on her over two decades career in consumer packaged goods and retail, Bracken-Ferguson saw the whitespace in the market for alternative retail channels to help brands scale and grow and co-founded LumiNicole Beauty, a next-generation retail marketplace that places curated beauty and wellness brands in high-traffic, non-traditional spaces— airports, hotels, college campuses, and live events.

She is the former CEO of Carmell Corporation and the Founder of BrainTrust, which encompasses BrainTrust Agency -- a digital marketing and brand development consultancy -- BrainTrust Founders Studio -- the largest membership based platform for inclusive founders in beauty and wellness -- and BrainTrust Fund I, a traditional $15MM venture fund. Bracken-Ferguson has the distinction of being one of the first 100 Black women to have raised over $1M in investment for her first company and since then has raised over $30MM for her own ventures. She is a transformative brand builder, visionary leader and a proven secret ingredient in guiding and monetizing more than 200 influencer-driven brands which have collectively generated more than $100M in revenue. In 2024, she became a bestselling author with her book, "The Beauty of Success: Start, Grow and Accelerate Your Brand," becoming the #1 New Release in Business Entrepreneurship on Amazon.

While her career has spanned brand development, strategic partnerships, and C-suite leadership, Bracken-Ferguson is a pioneer in the digital media space. She has spent her career focused on building data-first lifestyle, beauty, and wellness businesses which have given her a unique understanding of what it takes to engage and convert communities into consumers. She has continued building revenue-generating brand partnerships ever since 2003 when she launched the first mobile music studio licensing and revenue share deal between Myspace, Cingular Wireless, and unsigned music brands.

Before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey, Bracken-Ferguson was a member of fashion designer Ralph Lauren’s team, responsible for helping to establish the brand’s social media footprint as the company’s first Director of Digital Media. Previously, she honed her digital media expertise at Fleishman Hillard, where as Vice President of Digital, she led the digital consumer team and advised brands such as AT&T, P&G, Reebok, and Mary Kay on their social media strategies.

In 2010, Bracken-Ferguson took a leap of faith, guided by her mantra, “Carpe Diem,” and created Digital Brand Architects (DBA) alongside Karen Robinovitz. DBA was the first American blogger management company that eventually grew into a global powerhouse. By 2019, when DBA was bought by management firm UTA, it had achieved a collective reach of 200 million viewers.

After exiting DBA, Bracken-Ferguson founded BrainTrust, from which BrainTrust Founders Studio and BrainTrust Fund 1 were born. BrainTrust is a brand development and social media agency that drives brand strategy and online media presence for talent and global brands. Clients have included Halle Berry, Kelly Ripa Home, Dear Drew by Drew Barrymore, Revelations Entertainment by Morgan Freeman, Sally Beauty Company, Cantu Beauty, Under Armour, and many others.

Bracken-Ferguson has served as a mentor to numerous entrepreneurs throughout her career. She believes that two brains are always better than one, and more can be accomplished together than alone. She has endowed a Communications scholarship at her alma mater, Purdue University, for a Black female freshman student to help increase the number of Black students at the university. She is a co-founder of BeautyUnited, a non-profit focused on diversifying the beauty and wellness industry, and sits on the board of Blushington, G&B, and Cayton Children’s Museum as well as the Amazon Black Business Accelerator Advisory Council. She is a member of DealMakeHers and Female Founders Collective. Bracken-Ferguson is also the host of Business and the Beat, a beauty and wellness podcast focused on the business of the beauty and wellness industry highlighting founders and senior executives.

Her list of awards and accolades is ever-growing. Bracken-Ferguson was named as one of Essence Magazine’s “17 Inspiring Black Executives Redefining the Face of Beauty” in 2020. In 2021, she was named to the Glossy 50: The Collective that Shaped the Beauty and Fashion Industry; named to Ulta Beauty’s MUSE 100: A Celebration of 100 Inspirational Black Voices Making Beauty in Our World Possible; and was included in LA Style’s Most Influential List.

Bracken-Ferguson happily resides in Las Vegas with her husband, daughter, an English bulldog, and turtle.

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