Recapping CMC’s very first Brand Summit — 6 hours of panels, founders, and conversations!

Spending six hours at a marketing conference on a Saturday is not typically how I imagine my ideal weekend. And yet, Columbia Marketing Club’s 2026 Brand Summit somehow made it feel like a very solid life choice.

As a neuro major with negligible experience in marketing, I walked in fully prepared to “observe” and, if I’m being honest, sign up for the raffle. But the theme, “Storytelling in Practice,” pulled me in pretty quickly. 

The panels covered everything from beauty and digital branding to founder journeys and brand activations. Executives from companies like Estée Lauder spoke about keeping legacy brands relevant without losing their identity. Susanna Ly, in particular, made it very clear where she stands on the whole “Sephora kids” phenomenon,  let’s just say marketing active ingredients to middle schoolers is not the future of beauty. Founders like Isabel Deng and Lillie Sun broke down what building a brand actually looks like, not just the polished launch posts, but the long-term strategy and consistency behind it. 

One of the most resonant parts of the day came from the fireside chat with Maryam Banikarim, who, notably, is a Barnard alum herself. There was something grounding about hearing from someone who once sat in the same classrooms as so many of us. Her conversation felt especially tailored to a room full of college students who are quietly (or not so quietly) trying to map out their entire futures without making a single wrong move. She spoke candidly about career pivots, mistakes, unexpected turns, and moments where things didn’t go according to plan. And instead of framing those moments as setbacks, she framed them as universal which was incredibly reassuring. 

The highlight for me was definitely Ashley Alexander (better known to many of us as urmomashley).

I’ve watched her YouTube videos for years. Seeing her go from content creator to founding Nami Matcha has been something I’ve followed from behind a screen for a long time. Hearing her talk about building something that genuinely reflects you, and trusting that alignment will translate into success, felt very on brand for her. I got a chance to talk to her briefly afterward and also meet her boyfriend, creator Kelly Wakasa, and her sister, Amber Alexander. It was honestly wholesome. If you’ve listened to their Beautiful Twin Sisters podcast, you know their dynamic and somehow it was exactly the same in real life. 

Another underrated part of the summit was that it wasn’t just Columbia students there. Members from NYU and Brown marketing clubs showed up too, which made the room feel bigger than one campus. The cross-campus energy made networking feel less awkward and more natural like everyone was just there because they were genuinely interested.

If you’ve been debating whether to check out CMC events, clearly, I’d highly recommend them.  And if next year’s summit features another one of my long-time YouTube staples, you know where to find me!

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