Karen Kaplan joined Hill Holliday as a receptionist, hoping to save enough money for law school. Four decades later, she’s had just about every job there is to have at an agency, gaining valuable insight into how to approach each business challenge with a fresh perspective.

A key player in Hill Holliday’s significant growth as a national powerhouse, Karen is now Chairman & CEO overseeing the network of three agency brands: Hill Holliday, EP+Co, and Trilia Media. With an executive team composed of over half women, Karen is also one of the few female agency chairmen in the country. Honored by both Business Insider, Campaign US, and Ad Age as one of the most influential women in advertising, she’s helped the agency develop a proven ability to help brands fight a daily share battle in the noisiest categories. The proof lies in the success of brands such as Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, and Dunkin’ Donuts. 

She has been a contributor to and featured in numerous publications including Ad Age, Adweek, Forbes, Fortune, and Inc. She serves on the Boards of Trustees of Brigham Health, the Ad Council and several other civic and professional organizations and is a Trustee of Fidelity Investments’ Strategic Advisers Funds and a Director of The Michaels Companies.