While at DePaul, Kelli broadened her global perspective through study abroad international business seminars in Chile, Argentina, and India. These immersive experiences played a major role in shaping her worldview and deepening her understanding of international markets. Throughout her master’s program, she explored multiple career paths, including internships in fashion, PR and advertising, and even managing social media for a congressional campaign. However, her passion ultimately brought her back to the family business, where she joined Bell full-time after graduation.

“Creativity can drive emotional engagement and differentiation, while practicality ensures that the idea can be executed effectively and with impact.”

Bell Flavors & Fragrances is a global company offering a wide range of flavors, fragrances, botanicals, and aroma chemicals for personal care, home care, food, and beverage industries. Their Belltanicals® brand offers high-quality botanical extracts, from certified organic to essential oil blends, designed to enhance product experiences and consumer satisfaction. The company is known for its commitment to innovation and quality, supported by state-of-the-art extraction and distillation equipment, and a global network that provides localized support and logistical flexibility. Kelli quickly aligned with Bell’s mission to deliver custom, consumer-focused solutions that blend functionality and sensory excellence. Early in her career, she was promoted to Marketing Communications and later to Director of Marketing & Industry Affairs in 2014. Around that time, she also became actively involved in several key industry associations. She chaired the program committee for the Flavor & Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) from 2013 to 2019 and joined the Women in Flavor & Fragrance Commerce (WFFC) Chicago Chapter Board in 2012. Her involvement expanded with the International Fragrance Association of North America (IFRANA), now known as the Fragrance Creators Association (FCA), where she was elected to the Board of Directors in 2018.

By 2017, Kelli began her executive education journey at Harvard Business School through the Program for Leadership Development. This experience elevated her business acumen and broadened her international network through collaboration with professionals from more than 45 countries. She completed the program in 2019 and now serves on the Harvard Business School Club of Chicago Board of Directors. During this time, in 2018, she was promoted to Vice President of Marketing & Industry Affairs at Bell and nominated to the Board of Governors for FEMA (Flavor & Extract Manufacturers Association).

Her leadership style is marked by collaboration, innovation, and global alignment. She works closely with Bell’s regional marketing teams across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, China, the Middle East, Mexico, and Colombia to streamline strategies and align brand messaging. In 2024, Kelli expanded her impact by joining the Breakthrough Board for cancer research, driven by a desire to contribute to causes beyond her industry. One of her proudest professional accomplishments is being named the “Outstanding Female Marketing Leader of the Year.” The recognition validates her dedication to building successful marketing strategies and highlights her role in creating inclusive spaces for women in leadership. For Kelli, it’s not just a personal milestone-it’s a symbol of collective progress and a reminder of the mentors and trailblazers who came before her. It motivates her to keep pushing forward, mentoring others, and staying committed to excellence.

A key milestone in her marketing career has been the development of Bell’s trend platform, Spark. Launched in 2015, Spark was designed to ignite creativity and serve as a hub for flavor and fragrance inspirations. This unique trend forecasting program draws on multiple sources: global insights from Bell’s international teams, industry innovation, market research data, and extensive literature reviews. Spark identifies both macro and micro consumer trends, allowing Bell to remain ahead of the curve and deliver standout products across global markets. The Spark program has become a central component of Bell’s marketing and R&D collaboration. It serves as an internal guide for product development and a tool to inform customers of the latest innovations in the marketplace. In 2020, the program expanded globally, with all marketing teams aligning under five key macro trends while developing region-specific micro trends. Spark embodies Bell’s core belief in consumer-centric innovation and creativity as a pathway to future growth.

Throughout her career, Kelli has encountered many challenges that have ultimately shaped her leadership style. One memorable moment came when she had to juggle a major client presentation with a once-in-a-lifetime family moment. After spending weeks preparing a customized 100-page trend book for one of Bell’s largest customers, she learned her father would be receiving a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the FCA. As a board member of the organization, Kelli was asked to introduce him at the award ceremony in New Jersey-scheduled the night before her big presentation in Louisville. With grace and determination, she delivered the speech, caught the last flight to Cincinnati, and took a two-hour Uber ride to make it to Louisville. Her presentation the next morning was a success despite the lack of sleep, and the experience underscored the importance of balance, sacrifice, and resilience.

Education has played a major role in Kelli’s personal and professional development. Her journalism training sharpened her writing and analytical skills, allowing her to approach marketing with a clear, consumer-focused lens. Harvard Business School further challenged her to grow as a leader and develop strategies grounded in real-world application. The combination of creativity, critical thinking, and business rigor has helped her navigate complex projects and lead teams with confidence.

Kelli’s career has also been shaped by unexpected detours. During her master’s program, she originally planned to study abroad in Japan. Just days before departure, the 2011 tsunami hit, and the program was canceled. Instead, she opted for a summer program in India, which turned out to be one of the most transformative experiences of her life. There, she met a customer-turned-mentor who encouraged her to apply to Harvard. That twist of fate ultimately led her to pursue executive education and elevate her leadership trajectory. She often reflects on how life’s setbacks can redirect us toward unexpected opportunities and growth. Kelli is also known for her ability to bridge tradition and innovation. As a third-generation leader at Bell, she honors the company’s legacy while pushing forward with fresh ideas. She draws inspiration from both heritage and modern trends, blending timeless principles with cutting-edge marketing strategies. Whether she’s leading a trend forecasting session or representing Bell at a global conference, she brings energy, curiosity, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior to every interaction.

In addition to her work at Bell, Kelli continues to serve the industry in multiple leadership capacities. She is currently the WFFC Chicago Chapter President as well as sits on the new National WFFC Board. Kelli will assume the role of FEMA President in May 2025, being the youngest and 5th female President for FEMA in history. These roles reflect her commitment to supporting industry growth and fostering a strong, inclusive professional community. Her story is also one of resilience in the face of adversity. From navigating natural disasters during her college years-like Hurricane Katrina while attending Tulane and the Japan tsunami that rerouted her study abroad plans-to building a career that spans continents and disciplines, Kelli has proven that flexibility, focus, and passion can carry you through any challenge. Her friends often call her “Jetset Barbie,” and it’s easy to see why. Whether flying across the country for a customer meeting or speaking at international trade shows, she’s always on the move, leading with purpose and authenticity.

Her vision for the future remains centered on innovation, collaboration, and impact. She continues to champion creativity through marketing while encouraging others-especially women-to rise in the industry. Her leadership at Bell and within the wider flavor and fragrance community is defined by her ability to connect people, ideas, and markets. She brings together cross-functional teams, global regions, and diverse voices to create marketing strategies that are not only effective but also meaningful.

Kelli Heinz is a marketing leader known for her thoughtful strategies and people-first approach. With a passion for innovation and a deep understanding of consumer behavior, she brings a mix of creativity and data-driven decision-making to every campaign she leads. Her philosophy is rooted in building genuine connections-between brands and consumers, between team members, and between trends and the evolving needs of the marketplace. At the heart of Kelli’s marketing approach are a few core strategies she believes are essential for campaign success. First and foremost, setting clear and measurable goals gives campaigns purpose and direction. She ensures that every initiative starts with a focused objective, whether it’s to build brand awareness, drive conversions, or nurture customer loyalty. Just as important is understanding the target audience-not just knowing their demographics but deeply studying their behaviors, needs, and emotional drivers. This allows her to craft messaging that resonates and feels authentic.

Messaging, in Kelli’s view, is the soul of any campaign. It needs to speak to the customer in a way that’s honest, empathetic, and aligned with the brand’s voice. She believes great messaging solves a problem, sparks curiosity, or tells a meaningful story. She’s also a big believer in using a multi-targeted approach-reaching customers through multiple platforms to create a cohesive experience. Whether through social media, traditional media, or digital advertising, she integrates each channel to amplify reach and impact. Content creation plays a central role in Kelli’s campaigns. She leads teams in producing high-quality, engaging, and visually compelling content that informs, entertains, and inspires. Her creative instincts are matched by her dedication to data, and she emphasizes the importance of tracking metrics throughout a campaign’s lifecycle. From engagement rates to conversions, she monitors the numbers closely to learn what’s working and optimize in real-time.

Another key element she incorporates into every campaign is a strong call-to-action. Whether encouraging customers to make a purchase, explore more, or engage with the products, her CTAs are designed to be intuitive and effective. She also leverages user-generated content to build trust and authenticity. Kelli understands the power of social proof, and she uses it to turn audiences into advocates.

Personalization is another theme in her work-she’s seen firsthand how targeted messages and offers can transform engagement. By tailoring experiences based on customer data, she makes people feel seen and understood. And she doesn’t believe the job ends with one campaign. Ongoing follow-up and nurturing are key to her long-term strategy, as she sees marketing not as a single moment, but as a continuous relationship between the product and the customer. Staying ahead of trends is a challenge Kelli embraces with enthusiasm. She has a strong commitment to lifelong learning and carves out time regularly for research and professional development. Whether it’s reading industry insights, attending webinars, or participating in conferences, she’s constantly feeding her curiosity. She’s also deeply engaged with other creatives-finding energy and inspiration through collaboration and idea-sharing.

 “Constraints push the team to think more resourcefully, often resulting in highly creative solutions that are still practical to implement.”

Experimentation is part of her process. From testing new platforms to exploring emerging technologies like AI, augmented reality, or interactive media, she believes innovation happens through doing. Monitoring consumer behavior is another way she keeps a pulse on what’s next-she relies on tools like Google Trends and social listening platforms to see shifts as they happen. Kelli finds inspiration in unexpected places, too. She believes creativity comes from observing the world-whether through art, fashion, technology, or even nature-and then connecting those insights back to her marketing work. This openness is part of her growth mindset. She welcomes change and uses it as a springboard for personal and professional development. Listening to the audience is equally important; by paying attention to what customers are saying and how they’re responding, she stays relevant and resonant in her messaging.

One campaign she’s especially proud of is the development of her company’s proprietary Spark Trends program. This initiative has become a cornerstone of how they predict and act on trends in flavors and fragrances. By blending creativity with a scientific approach to forecasting, the Spark Trends program allows Kelli’s team to stay a step ahead and shape conversations in the industry, rather than just follow them. Kelli relies heavily on data and analytics in all her decision-making. These tools help verify consumer interests, map emerging patterns, and guide strategic direction. She blends this data with qualitative feedback to ensure her campaigns are grounded in both evidence and empathy.

When it comes to building and leading a marketing team, Kelli is focused on creating an environment where people feel empowered and excited to contribute. She starts by hiring people not just for their expertise, but for their passion and potential. She looks for team members who bring different perspectives and who balance each other’s strengths. She ensures everyone is aligned around a shared vision and clear goals. By regularly communicating the “why” behind their work, she helps the team stay connected to a larger mission. She believes in giving team members the autonomy to make decisions, trusting them to take ownership and bring their creativity to the table.

Collaboration is central to how she leads. She creates space for open dialogue, encourages brainstorming, and values feedback. Her teams learn from one another and build on each other’s ideas. She also champions continuous learning-making sure her team has access to tools, training, and growth opportunities. Whether it’s mastering a new platform or attending an industry conference, she sees education as a key part of keeping the team sharp and motivated.

 “Creativity should never be an exercise in abstract ideas-it needs to serve a purpose.”

Kelli sets clear expectations and supports accountability through regular check-ins and feedback. She celebrates wins-big or small-and believes recognition is a powerful motivator. Her leadership style is inclusive and supportive. She encourages innovation, embraces risk-taking, and fosters a culture where trying something new-even if it doesn’t work out-is a valuable step in the learning process. Her leadership also includes a strong focus on wellness and culture. She prioritizes work-life balance and makes sure her team feels respected, heard, and inspired. She leads by example, showing up with humility, consistency, and a passion for excellence. This helps her build teams that are not only high-performing, but also genuinely enjoy working together. Customer experience is another cornerstone of Kelli’s marketing philosophy. She sees it as not just a marketing priority, but a company-wide mission. She ensures her team approaches the customer journey with a 360-degree perspective-understanding the experience from the customer’s first interaction all the way through post-purchase engagement.

She’s proactive in collecting customer feedback and using it to improve messaging, offers, and service. She emphasizes the role of empathy in marketing, encouraging her team to think deeply about what customers feel and need. By focusing on emotional connections and authentic storytelling, she crafts experiences that feel personal and valuable. Consistency is something she always aims for-across channels, teams, and touchpoints. Whether someone interacts with the product through social media, an email, or an in-person experience, Kelli wants them to feel the same level of care and quality. She relies on data to identify areas for improvement and uses those insights to fine-tune the customer journey.

For Kelli, delivering value doesn’t stop at the sale. She believes in nurturing customer relationships long after a purchase, whether through personalized follow-ups, loyalty programs, or helpful content. Her view is that strong relationships drive long-term growth, and she’s constantly looking for ways to enhance those connections. Improvement is an ongoing pursuit for her. She tracks key metrics like customer satisfaction and uses those benchmarks to evolve the strategy. She also encourages cross-functional collaboration, making sure that customer experience is consistent and aligned across departments like sales, support, and product development. Through all her work, Kelli remains focused on what really matters-understanding people, building connections, and creating marketing that feels meaningful. Her approach is grounded in empathy, fueled by curiosity, and driven by a desire to create work that doesn’t just reach people but moves them.

Kelli Heinz believes that strong leadership in marketing starts with authenticity. For young women looking to grow into leadership roles, she encourages embracing what makes them unique rather than trying to fit into a traditional mold. In her experience, people connect most deeply with leaders who are real-those who are not afraid to lead with their own voice and personality. She stresses that leadership isn’t about being the loudest or the most polished; it’s about being honest, relatable, and consistent. When people see a leader who stays true to themselves, it builds trust and loyalty. She also advises young professionals to stay humble. Kelli is quick to acknowledge the role her team plays in her success, emphasizing that a leader is only as strong as the people supporting them. She encourages others to never forget the foundation that holds them up-whether that’s a team, mentors, or community. Gratitude and humility go a long way in leadership, and they create a work culture where everyone feels seen and appreciated.

One of the most unexpected yet meaningful influences in Kelli’s career is Elle Woods, the iconic character from Legally Blonde. While Elle might seem like an unconventional role model, Kelli admires how she led with heart, stayed true to herself, and defied expectations with intelligence and style. Elle’s story shows that confidence and kindness can coexist-and that success doesn’t require changing who you are. That message has stuck with Kelli and continues to shape how she shows up as a leader. When it comes to building effective marketing strategies, Kelli is known for her ability to balance creativity with practicality. She sees this balance as essential-not just for creating campaigns that look good, but for ensuring they actually work and deliver results. Her first step is always starting with clear goals. She makes sure her team understands exactly what the campaign is meant to achieve, whether it’s brand awareness, sales, or customer loyalty. From there, every creative idea is tied back to those objectives.

Kelli also puts a lot of focus on the audience. Understanding who you’re talking to is key in making creative ideas resonate. That means knowing their preferences, values, habits, and even their humor. She uses data and research to make sure her creative choices aren’t just stylish-they’re relevant and meaningful to the people they’re designed for.

For Kelli, creativity doesn’t mean throwing out the rulebook. In fact, she uses data to guide creative work. By studying what’s working in the market and within her company, she helps her team make informed decisions that lead to more impactful campaigns. She’s also a big believer in constraints. While that might sound limiting, Kelli sees it as the opposite. Boundaries like budget, time, or platform guidelines actually help focus creative thinking. Instead of limiting innovation, they often spark clever solutions. It’s in those moments-working within limits-that some of the most effective and original ideas are born.

Collaboration is another essential part of her process. She brings together creatives-designers, writers, strategists-with practical thinkers like project managers and analysts early in the campaign planning. That way, the team stays aligned from the beginning, and ideas are shaped with both imagination and logistics in mind. It prevents that common disconnect where creative ideas look great on paper but don’t quite work in real life. Being realistic is part of her leadership approach. Before finalizing any idea, she and her team evaluate whether they have the time, tools, and people needed to make it happen. She believes that smart planning helps prevent frustration later on and ensures smoother execution. If something can’t be done well, it shouldn’t be done at all. At the same time, Kelli leaves room for flexibility. Even the best plans can hit unexpected bumps, and she’s learned the value of being able to pivot. If a campaign isn’t hitting its goals, she adjusts. She sees flexibility not as a sign of failure, but as a sign of leadership-being able to shift course without losing sight of the overall objective.

Once a campaign goes live, she focuses on tracking and measuring success. It’s not just about impressions or likes; she looks at engagement, conversion rates, customer feedback, and return on investment. These numbers tell a story, and that story helps her team grow and improve. Every campaign becomes a learning opportunity, feeding into the next one. Long-term growth is always on her mind. Even when chasing short-term results, she makes sure each campaign supports the bigger picture: building a strong product that customers trust. She wants every message and every interaction to reflect the company’s identity and values in a way that lasts beyond one campaign. One of the biggest lessons Kelli has learned in her career is that just showing up matters. For anyone trying to make their mark, especially in a competitive industry like marketing, visibility is everything. She encourages others to put themselves out there-whether that’s speaking at conferences, contributing to industry panels, or sharing ideas on social media. Being present in the professional community can open doors and create new opportunities. She sees self-promotion not as bragging, but as sharing value. If you’ve learned something or done something meaningful, talk about it. Let people see what you’re passionate about. She believes everyone is their own brand, and it’s up to each person to advocate for themselves in a respectful and confident way.

“Every leader should use their own attributes to shine in their own unique way.”

For those just starting out, Kelli recommends stepping into rooms you might not feel “ready” for. Growth happens outside of comfort zones, and sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from taking that first leap. Whether it’s applying for a new role, pitching an idea, or volunteering for a leadership opportunity, she says the courage to try is what sets people apart.

She also places a high value on mentorship. While Elle Woods was a fictional role model, in real life, Kelli looks up to leaders who lead with grace, humility, and a strong sense of purpose. She believes surrounding yourself with people who lift you up-and being that person for others-is part of how leaders are made. She often mentors younger professionals, offering advice and encouragement, and she always tries to create space for others to grow.

In her day-to-day work, Kelli encourages others to keep learning. The marketing landscape is constantly changing, and staying sharp means being curious. She reads regularly, explores new platforms, and listens to what consumers are saying. She believes inspiration can come from anywhere-movies, fashion, travel, music, art-and the best marketers know how to translate those observations into strategies.

Even with all the moving pieces of a campaign, Kelli never loses sight of the people behind it. Her leadership style is warm and empowering. She gives her team space to own their ideas and supports them with the tools and confidence they need to succeed. Recognition is a big part of her management approach-she celebrates wins and makes sure her team feels seen for their efforts. She also prioritizes wellness and work-life balance. Marketing is a fast-paced field, and burnout is real. She encourages her team to take breaks, set boundaries, and stay connected to their personal values. A healthy, happy team is a more creative and productive one, and she leads by example.

Kelli’s work reflects a blend of heart, insight, and strategy. She doesn’t believe in marketing for the sake of noise-she wants every campaign to connect, to make someone feel something, and to drive real value. Her thoughtful approach, clear communication, and steady leadership have helped her build a career where creativity and results go hand in hand.

In addition to her role at Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Kelli continues to contribute her expertise across multiple industry boards and philanthropic initiatives. She currently serves as President of the Women in Flavor & Fragrance Commerce (WFFC) Chicago Chapter and is also a member of the newly formed National WFFC Board. She sits on the Board of Governors for the Flavor & Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) and will step into the role of FEMA President in May 2025, making history as one of the youngest and only the fifth female President. Kelli is also a Board Member of the Fragrance Creators Association (FCA) and the Harvard Business School Club of Chicago. Most recently, she expanded her leadership to healthcare by joining the Breakthrough Board for cancer research. Her involvement in these organizations reflects a deep commitment to shaping the future of her industry, supporting scientific advancement, and fostering inclusive leadership.