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Before Bozoma “Boz” Saint John made her name as a cast member of Beverly Hills’ Real Housewives, she had made marketing magic happen in the boardrooms of Netflix, Pepsi Co., Apple and Uber.
Currently, she is a brand with Jimmy Fallon and shares her expertise with enthusiastic contestants at the new NBC competition show. It’s a perfect circle moment when she can’t even wrap her head completely.
After 25 years of working in C-Suite marketing as an executive, Saint John, 48, left “traditional corporate life” several years ago. She decided she wanted to follow the entrepreneurial route by publishing her memoirs and starting Boz’s Eve, a hair and hair care company. “I famously said, I haven’t written a five-year plan or a ten-year plan. I don’t even write a one-year plan because I think I should follow the intuition of what I’m supposed to be doing,” she says only to people.
Following her instincts is always rewarded for her. However, once she became interested in joining Rhobh, she was warned that Bravo’s reality show might “smash” everything she accomplished. “I was like, ‘No, it doesn’t have to be that. It doesn’t have to be a bad experience. You can make your own experience accurately.’ I’ve done it for 25 years and it has proven to be true. ”
If you’re lucky, being part of the Housewife Universe (she took part in for Season 14 last year) actually brought her to her next gig with the brand.
David Holloway/NBC
“Jimmy was selling the show two years ago, trying to find a co-host, and saw a lot of CMOs, but no one really clicked,” St. John tells people. “So when (Fallon’s wife Nancy Juvonen) suggested, “Hey, I’m a real housewife and I just saw this woman and you might want to check her out.” He was like, “What, that’s not the atmosphere I go to.” But he did his research and he bought my book (The Emergency Life: A Tale of My Love, Loss, and Survival) and heard it. ”
“And I’m very surprised at how everything went well, but for me, if I’m listening to people who said, ‘Don’t be a housewife, don’t do it…”, I’m not sitting here right now, so that’s the only way.
She hasn’t seen Juvonen yet, but Boz admits that she “owes Nancy a big hug.”
In its debut season, Brand will follow 10 creatives at Fallon’s marketing company, pitching and conceptualizing ideas from top tier brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Marshalls and Southwest Airlines. The show (premiered on September 30th) has already become the first unscripted show on TV in the slots at the time.
Kwaku Alston/NBC
Despite the show’s competitiveness, St. John says it gets emotional. “I think about marketing that is sometimes overlooked, it’s like sales, sales, sales, and sales. And it’s not. It’s real storytelling,” she explains. “You connect with people with products and ideas that they feel are personally connected to, and that’s the magic of marketing.”
In fact, St. John bullies Fallon when he gets “very emotional” this season. “He cares very deeply about ideas,” she says, adding that she loves the way she balances each other. “I was in the seat where I had to give sharp, critical feedback, because even if you waste time with bad ideas, it costs a lot of money. It’s balanced with Jimmy’s excitement and passion and trying to make all the ideas work.”
She has many tips to pass. One of the many meaningful campaigns she worked on during her tenure was the one that introduced Netflix’s hit squid game around the world.
“The creator of Squid Game was trying to sell the show 12 years before that moment on Netflix,” Saint John said. “And I took a large portion of my budget and put it behind his show, this little Korean odd drama/comedy/horror. It was such a great victory to be able to make that decision and make it a success.”
More recently, she has enjoyed planning her wedding (suggested by her fiancé Keeley Watson on August 29th).
As for what’s next in her career… she’s not too worried.
“I didn’t do that, so I feel like people gave me credit by having strategies that aren’t suitable for my career. And I preach about my intuition, chase your feelings and your desires, and don’t listen to people’s galleries,” she says.
“My sisters or my best friend, they’ll tell you that I don’t ask them for career advice. Sometimes it’s your loved one who tells you not to work or leave. “But in many cases, the risk of moving is what actually drives you forward in your career.”
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She said, “If people are looking at me and saying, ‘Oh, I want to have such a successful career,’ I’m hoping. Or, “I want to pattern my career around it” I say, “No, don’t do that.
You can stream on Peacock on new episodes of Brand Air on Friday at 10pm on NBC and 8pm on Friday.
