Strategic Marketing and Change Management
Partners for Visionary Leaders

Kick-start the kind of change that can move markets, ignite a movement, and define legacy.

It starts by maximizing your impact in the moments that matter most. Moments like launching a product, starting a new role in the c-suite, making an acquisition, or implementing a new strategic direction or culture reinvention. These are high-risk, high-reward moments that are becoming increasingly more complicated to get right given the dynamic and rapid social, business and technological changes at play.

These moments must go well.

They demand you to be at your best. They demand your team to be at their best. They also demand an experienced partner with a proven track record of guiding executives and their teams through massive change - one who has done this before by pairing bold, creative solutions with a collaborative, disciplined approach.

“Jill is a sophisticated communications leader who creates clarity and generates energy for big ideas. She is particularly instrumental in our pursuit to refresh Microsoft’s culture.”

– Satya Nadella

CEO of Microsoft

“Mike is a top-tier strategist, marketer and leader. He helped re-energize and transform Xbox, from refocusing the brand on earning fans to being the driving force behind the business’s evolution to an e-commerce and subscription model.”

– Chris Capossela

Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft

“Jill is insightful, creative and tenacious. Her ability to bring ideas and people together to create compelling communications makes her an invaluable partner.”

– Steve Ballmer

Owner of the Ballmer Group and former CEO of Microsoft

“Jill has the passion and expertise to guide leaders during times of major transitions and ultimately help them communicate their vision and spark change.”

– Patrick Spence

CEO of Sonos

“Jill’s ideas and perspective were hugely valuable as I took on the CEO role. She effectively applied her experience in executive communications and change management to our unique business and culture, which helped the team and me to hit the ground running at an important moment for the business.”

– Patrice Louvet

President and CEO of Ralph Lauren Corp.

“Jill quickly assessed the essential elements of our culture and strategies and helped us create dynamic and inspiring communications to accelerate our mission. She is incredibly collaborative and knew when to challenge me and help me be a more effective CEO.”

– Dr. Jeff Sperring

CEO, Seattle Children’s Hospital

Jill Tracie Nichols

Jill Tracie Nichols is founder and chief executive officer of the Tracie Group – an agency that develops strategic marketing and change management solutions for visionary leaders.

She is also a New York Times bestselling author. Jill partners with top CEOs and other leaders across industries to help them kick-start change during the moments that matter most.

Prior to founding the Tracie Group, Jill was chief of staff to Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella. She spearheaded Nadella’s transition and launch, built the Office of the CEO and was accountable for all of Nadella’s global communications. Jill also partnered closely with Nadella and his leadership team to reinvent Microsoft’s culture and in turn, spark a new era of growth. Before this, Jill directed the prior CEO, Steve Ballmer’s, communications while leading the company’s media influence and strategy efforts. Prior, Jill spent 10 years in Human Resources at Microsoft, Avaya and Lucent Technologies where she designed and implemented a variety of people programs and led broad scale global change initiatives.

Jill grew-up in Edison, NJ and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Houghton College where she studied Creative Writing and Communications. She is co-author of Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone. Years ago, Jill adopted two teenage girls and developed a passion for helping young women reach their full potential. Jill and her husband Mike currently call Los Angeles, CA home.

Mike Nichols

Mike is a seasoned executive with a track record of building businesses and developing exceptional teams. He is an award-winning chief marketing officer and experienced product leader skilled at architecting innovative business strategies, bringing new products to market, building iconic brands, and growing global businesses.

Prior to his work with clients of the Tracie Group, Mike was an executive at Microsoft.

Most recently he was the Corporate Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Gaming division, where he helped deliver record reach, subscribers, revenue and profit. In his role he was responsible for business strategy, brand management, marketing communications, distribution strategy, consumer insights and business performance for a diverse portfolio of popular brands (e.g., Xbox, Minecraft, Halo) and product lines (e.g., subscriptions, games, hardware) which he helped grow to exceed $10 billion in annual revenue. During his tenure he helped re-energize and transform the business to be a leader in digital gaming, he architected strategies which helped make Xbox one of the world’s most valuable brands, and directed the creation and go-to-market of industry-shaping products like the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Earlier in his career, Mike was the Corporate Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Search division at Microsoft where he developed the go-to-market plan for Bing and grew a multi-billion dollar business with approximately 20% of U.S. market share in that highly competitive category. Before that, he held a variety of marketing and engineering roles for other projects at the company as it transitioned its focus from desktop software to online services.

A native of southern California, Mike attended the University of Michigan where he earned a business degree along with an obsession with championship-caliber football.

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