Meet your instructors
Michael Graber
Michael is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Southern Growth Studio. Michael leads the qualitative team with a particular focus on innovation, to deliver high-impact go-to-market strategies and product launches. Michael has more than twenty years of experience leading marketing and innovation efforts. He previously founded Johnson|Graber, a successful interactive marketing firm that was acquired by Memphis-based Lokion in 2004. Also an accomplished brand strategist, Michael has advised a myriad of clients on the positioning strategy and value proposition. A published poet and musician, Michael is the creative force that compliments the analytical side of the house. Michael speaks and publishes frequently on best practices in marketing, business strategy, and innovation.
Sarah Donovan
As Manager of Insights and Innovation at Southern Growth Studio, her primary roles include overseeing human-centered insight collection and generation as well as leading innovation embedment engagements in which she uses ethnographic methods to understand organizational cultures to aid in embedding innovative practices and transform organizational mindsets and strategies. Sarah’s work at the Studio has spanned industry sectors including product manufacturing, consumer retail, food packaging, and consumer healthcare, including facilitating CoCreation sessions exploring target customer preferences, desires, and expectations for product delivery, packaging, and benefits as part of several engagements with Bayer Consumer Care.