Zlato is led by a 20 year veteran of the digital space, Blagica Bottigliero. Blagica's worked on the corporate side, agency side, ran a few of her own startups and has an Emmy for her New Media work. She's also civically minded and uses her digital know-how to help local communities.

Blagica's been part of Chicago's digital thread since joining Leo Burnett's web arm, Giant Step. From there, Blagica joined Orbitz' first eMarketing team and helped build the digital practice from scratch. Post Orbitz, Blagica self-funded a few of her own startups while being a member of the NBC Chicago Street team.

 Blagica's led Edelman Digital's strategy team, oversaw Motorola Mobility's global social media practice and had a brief stint at Target. Most recently, Blagica was the Vice President of Digital Media for ModSquad, a global digital engagement company. At ModSquad, Blagica rebuilt the team's digital capabilities. From assisting well established companies with their internal web needs and communications to mentoring up and coming startups, Blagica is comfortable in any setting. 

After building The Escape Pod’s social media team, Blagica decided to get back to her love of helping small - medium sized companies grow, while using her digital skillset for local communities.

At the start of the Covid pandemic, Blagica transformed an in-person wine tasting event company, converting to one of the first virtual beverage tasting platforms, Bottles Nation. Within 10 months, the company conducted 1,000 events and had over $1MM in revenue.

Civically, Blagica was a Co-Chair on the Cook County New Media Council and on the Oak Park Civic Informations Systems Commission. She also led social media activities for Chris Kennedy’s campaign for Illinois Governor.

Read more about Blagica, her background and recent speaking engagements at blagica.com.