2002 – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Chris Meyers is the co-founder of Corp!, which is now the largest business magazine in Michigan, with a monthly circulation of 43,000. After graduating from the University of Michigan with high honors, Chris chose to begin her career at the male-dominated Detroit Diesel subsidiary of General Motors. Later she went to work for the Hudson’s department store chain before being hired back by GM to be the advertising manager at Pontiac. She became the first woman in the world to hold that position at any major automaker. As a result of that experience, she has been a lifelong champion of working women. So much so that she was sought out to participate in the launch of Working Woman magazine. “It was an opportunity to share my belief that women can lead a fulfilling life balancing career and family,” recalls Meyers, who is the mother of 21 year old daughter Kathryn. Chris also is remarkable for leaving the security of her success at a giant corporation to start her own diversified sales and marketing company. Over the past 24 years, she has counted as clients such prestigious companies as the New York Times, Hearst, Conde Nast Publications, Readers Digest and Forbes. No wonder that Advertising Age called her one of the “100 Best and Brightest” or that Glamour magazine named her one of the Top Ten Working Women in America. Her company, Laine Meyers Inc., was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners as one of the “Top 10 Women Owned Businesses in Michigan.” Aside from her personal success, Chris is quick to say that one of her greatest satisfactions has been to give young women a start in the highly competitive field of advertising and marketing. She is recognized for pioneering the creation of women in sales in the automotive industry. In recognition of her achievements on behalf of women, she was asked to found the Michigan chapter of the International Women’s Forum which counts among its diverse members Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
