About Kayla
Culture moves first. I help brands catch up.
I'm Kayla Griffis, a Dallas-based brand and cultural strategist, writer, and speaker. My work sits where culture, consumer insight, and data meet: figuring out why people do what they do, and what that means for the brands trying to reach them.
I've always been drawn to the gap between what people say and what they actually do. That tension, the everyday contradictions behind how people live and buy, is where the most useful insights hide. I pair cultural fluency with data-backed rigor to turn those insights into strategy that feels human, not forced.
Too many stories, especially those from marginalized and historically silenced communities, get pushed to the margins or left out entirely. That's not just an ethical miss; it's a strategic one. Much of my work focuses on helping brands see the audiences they've overlooked and speak to them with real understanding.
Where I've done the work
I'm currently a Senior Experience Strategist at RAPP, and before that I spent three years as a Senior Strategist at Saatchi & Saatchi. Across agencies, I've led strategy alongside creative, web, SEO, and PR teams, built CRM journeys and Dynamic Creative Optimization frameworks, and run research programs with partners like Kantar, YouGov, Circana, and Qualtrics.
I'm also hands-on with AI in strategy. I build persona agents from audience data to pressure-test ideas and represent multicultural audiences, always grounded in primary and secondary research. I've trained teams on how to use these tools well, and how not to.
I hold a BA and an MA in Advertising from Southern Methodist University.
Where to find my thinking
I write Culturally Curious, a Substack about the cultural shifts happening right now and what they mean for brands. If you want a regular dose of what's next and why it matters, that's the place.
Book me to speak
I speak on cultural trends, consumer insight, inclusive marketing, and practical AI for strategists, as a keynote speaker, panelist, workshop lead, or podcast guest. See where I've appeared on the Podcasts page.