Michelle D’Attilio
Chief executive officer and co-founder
s¯osh
Milwaukee
www.getsosh.com
Employees: 14
Michelle D’Attilio was 25 years old when she was presented with an opportunity to start her own business. Though she didn’t realize it at the time, entrepreneurialism was part of her DNA. Her late grandfather, as well as her father and her brother, have owned their own businesses.
D’Attilio, chief executive officer and co-founder, and Jeannette Pham, chief operating officer, established Corporate Identity Solutions, a company dedicated to online branding and website development for small to mid-size companies, in 2000.
“It was right when companies were starting to get online,” D’Attilio said. “Our focus was to provide small to medium sized companies a unique opportunity to market and brand themselves in a new space. Our goal was to help entrepreneurs and companies grow.”
That was 15 years ago. Today, the company continues to thrive and D’Attilio and Pham continue to grow and adapt the business to serve the needs of the business community.
“Six years ago, we transitioned the company to focus on social media,” she said.
They changed the company name to s¯osh, and moved to a new downtown Milwaukee location.
“We started out helping small to medium size companies get online to develop their reach and relationships. We’ve come full circle, because now we’re helping larger companies connect one-on-one with consumers through social media,” D’Attilio said. “We’re helping them be more personal, and do business like small to mid-size companies.”
Relationship building is key to her leadership style and to the company’s success, she said.
s¯osh recently expanded to include a communications department. D’Attilio believes the social landscape is going to transition back into a more personal, face-to-face approach. s¯osh plans to be ready, she said.
