Mary Lou Quinlan

Mary Lou Quinlan is the founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, the leading women’s marketing company in the U.S.  Through her 30 year career, starting with her dynamic rise from director of advertising for Avon to CEO of major NY ad agency NW Ayer to entrepreneur, she’s built a national reputation as a marketing strategist, compelling speaker, successful author and TV personality thanks to her obsession with asking what women want.

Since its founding10 years ago, Just Ask a Woman has personally interviewed nearly 15,000 women to develop breakthrough strategies and innovations for 90 plus blue chip brands and companies, such as IKEA, Westin, Procter&Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Pepsi and Walmart.

Mary Lou is the author of “Just Ask a Woman, Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy” (Wiley, 2003) and “Time Off for Good Behavior, How Hardworking Women Can Take a Break and Change Their Lives” (Broadway Books, 2005). She shares her latest insights in her third and newest book (written with Just Ask a Woman partners, Jen Drexler and Tracy Chapman) launching November 2009, “What She’s Not Telling You, Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It.’

American Idol’s Simon Cowell cast Mary Lou as the only female judge in the ABC-TV reality competition, "American Inventor," and she’s appeared as a women’s correspondent for The CBS EARLY Show. She’s been a columnist for U.S. women’s magazine MORE and has written for O, the Oprah Magazine, Redbook, Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire.

Mary Lou has received the Advertising Woman of the Year award from Advertising Women of New York and the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications.  She holds an honorary doctorate in communications from her alma mater, Saint Joseph’s University of Philadelphia and is a member of the board of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. She lives in New York City with her husband, Joe Quinlan.

Just ask Mary Lou

What’s your role at JAAW?
"I think my role is to lead us to be brave. Our success as a business came one breakthrough at a time. We’re not afraid to take some risks because we know that we have only one boss to answer to: women. I’m also the conscience of our company since I’ve been through the good and bad of business and am determined to keep Just Ask a Woman not only profitable and successful, but happy."

Why are you so into listening?
"I learned to eavesdrop from my mother. She gave me incredible sensitive antennae and empathy for others. And my Dad was always the best diffuser of bad customer situations, so I learned to pick up early on the unspoken signals of client distress…and to figure out how to fix it."

What do you love most about what you do?
"The women I work with. The women we listen to. The clients who listen to them. And making a real difference because we tell women’s truth to people who can do something about it. Personally, I get a huge charge out of speaking onstage. A live audience lets you know where you stand, every minute. Best of all, since starting the company, I can put my head on the pillow every night, knowing that we told the truth. I know that we improve our clients’ business with women, but I also know we improve women’s lives. That’s probably the best bonus of all."