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Chad Easterling

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  • Co-Founder and CEO of Obsidianworks - a culture-powered marketing agency
  • Client Roster Includes Target, Legacy Classic, Meta, Marriott and More
  • Worked at Nike for a Decade - spearheading disruptive campaigns
  • Expert in Cultural Connectivity Through Brand Strategy, Digital and Social Impact

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The fastest-growing audiences in America are reshaping the market, and Chad Easterling helps brands keep up.

As co-Founder and CEO of Obsidianworks, the agency he launched with Michael B. Jordan, Easterling operates at the intersection of culture and commerce. His work with brands including Target, Marriott, Coach, Meta, and Jordan Brand reflects a clear thesis: growth follows cultural fluency. Drawing on more than a decade inside Nike and Jordan Brand, where he led global moments and shaped strategy for signature athletes, Easterling brings both enterprise experience and lived perspective to every stage.

In his speaking engagements, he offers leaders a direct lens into the economic power of emerging audiences and the discipline required to earn trust in a shifting marketplace. Audiences leave with sharper insight into relevance, resonance, and what it truly takes to build brands that move with culture rather than chase it.

 
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Talks & Conversations with Chad Easterling
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Impacting the Culture in an Uplifting Way

In keynote remarks followed by an insightful moderated conversation, Obsidianworks CEO CHAD EASTERLING shares key takeaways on creating a mission-driven strategy. Easterling illuminates how internal team and workplace culture reflects external goals for impact, offering guidance on how to build an u ...

In keynote remarks followed by an insightful moderated conversation, Obsidianworks CEO CHAD EASTERLING shares key takeaways on creating a mission-driven strategy. Easterling illuminates how internal team and workplace culture reflects external goals for impact, offering guidance on how to build an uplifting workplace that embodies your organization’s mission.

The Importance of Representation

In this program of keynote remarks followed by a moderated conversation, CHAD EASTERLING – marketing expert and CEO of Obsidianworks – unpacks how feeling represented is just as important as seeing representation, because to see and feel it means that you are being heard and acknowledged. ...

In this program of keynote remarks followed by a moderated conversation, CHAD EASTERLING – marketing expert and CEO of Obsidianworks – unpacks how feeling represented is just as important as seeing representation, because to see and feel it means that you are being heard and acknowledged.

Welcoming Diverse, Multicultural Perspectives in Branding

In this informative and engaging talk, CHAD EASTERLING reveals why brands need to begin to not only look at the demographics, but the psychographics as well. Easterling, the co-Founder and CEO of Obsidianworks, shares that no one race is monolithic and empowers audiences to transform their storytell ...

In this informative and engaging talk, CHAD EASTERLING reveals why brands need to begin to not only look at the demographics, but the psychographics as well. Easterling, the co-Founder and CEO of Obsidianworks, shares that no one race is monolithic and empowers audiences to transform their storytelling in marketing and branding to create more impactful ads and campaigns through diverse, multicultural perspectives.

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Press & Media
Marshawn Lynch Teams With Endeavor and Overtime to Introduce Student Athletes to Industry Careers - THR
Michael B. Jordan’s Black-Owned and Led Marketing Agency, Obsidianworks, to Partner With Endeavor’s 160over90 - Variety
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Ideas for the Meeting Planner
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Biography

Chad Easterling is the CEO and co-founder of Obsidianworks, the marketing agency built for the rising generation of multicultural affluence. Founded in 2020 with Michael B. Jordan, Obsidianworks brings together enterprise-level scale, cultural fluency, and creative excellence to help brands earn relevance with the audiences shaping today’s economy.

Grounded in purpose and reflective of the founders’ diverse upbringings, Obsidianworks was created to help brands authentically connect with younger, more diverse, and more dynamic consumers. With cultural edge, strategic discipline, and creative swagger, the agency enables clients to break through with work that resonates deeply with the communities driving today's cultural and economic momentum. Brands including Target, Marriott, Coach, Meta, and Jordan Brand turn to Obsidianworks to navigate market dynamics, build genuine affinity, and bring to life powerful storytelling that earns a place within culture.

Prior to launching Obsidianworks, Easterling built a dynamic career at Nike, where he held multiple leadership roles across categories and territories within both Nike and Jordan Brand. Over more than a decade, he led iconic brand moments and disruptive campaigns, including the World Basketball Festival, All-Star Weekends, and Basketball Never Stops, while shaping brand strategies for signature athletes including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, and Zion Williamson. Recognizing Nike’s profound influence within inner-city communities—and the influence those communities have on culture—Easterling championed grassroots initiatives that deepened the brand’s presence across Summer Leagues, high school basketball, and the NBA.

A proud graduate of Hampton University, Easterling earned a degree in Sport Management and played on the university’s basketball team. His career continues to reflect a lifelong passion for sports, culture, community, and elevating the voices shaping the future.

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