Leadership
Angelia McFarland
Founder | Technology Executive | Board Member | Entrepreneur
Summary
Angelia McFarland is a serial innovator who has created and led innovation and reinvention in Fortune 50 corporations, startups, nonprofit organizations, and entrepreneurial ventures. A master at implementation, Angelia has been recognized for architecting plans that overachieve short-term objectives and continue to deliver lasting value.
Angelia currently serves as Founder and CEO of EOP Media, an idea studio that helps individuals and growing businesses harness the benefits of innovation. She is also the Founder and CEO of a stealth startup developing solutions for the future data economy, co-founder of Pearl’s Girls Publishing, and board member and development committee chairperson for Austin Partners in Education. A long-time proponent of the future of work, Angelia is engaged in connected activities that extend beyond roles and titles to create real value personally and in the communities she serves. She is recognized as a marketing, entrepreneurship, data, and web3 thought leader. And is the co-host of a seasonal podcast exploring the future of marketing and technology called The Tech Aunties.
Corporate
Angelia’s vision for the future economy is informed by a history of opportunity and innovation that started with her tenure at Xerox Corporation, where she created one of the first invoice-tracking systems using the Xerox Star. She continued to grow and expand her skills at IBM Corporation, where she helped to create the software channel and developed one of the first marketing architectures for software to help drive understanding of IBM’s client software portfolio. The architecture definitions Angelia introduced are one of her lasting contributions to the IT industry. Angelia is responsible for many more innovations during her tenure at IBM, including the first remote training class and one of the first community newsletters for technical professionals. She is also a pioneer in solution messaging and the developer of the first solution and industry-focused product communications for IBM Server and Services.
During the development phase of the mobile computing industry, Angelia helped PSION Dacom, PLC, then a leader in wireless computing software, build brand recognition in the US market. While PSION was a leader in technology, they were a niche player in the US market. Angelia’s marketing and branding strategies helped position PSION as a global player, opening the door to invitations for company leaders to sit on panels with other international brands like Palm, Nokia, Ericsson, and Blackberry.
Angelia started at Dell Technologies during a time of rapid acquisition. She served in many different capacities during her tenure there and helped to deliver significant revenue gains. As a marketing lead for the EqualLogic product brand, Angelia’s strategies, including leadership of one of the first Twitter communities, helped to build brand recognition for the EqualLogic portfolio enabling rapid growth, reaching $1 Billion in revenue in less than three years. Angelia has also driven innovation at scale as the management lead for several cross-portfolio launches responsible for driving over $1B in enterprise pipeline.
Nonprofit
Angelia’s ability to implement innovations extends to the nonprofit and community service sector. As the Vice-Chairperson of the ABDNG, Angelia developed, managed, and implemented a strategic plan for the recognition, skill development, career planning, and mentoring of Black employees at the IBM site, increasing participation by fifty percent in two years. Also, Angelia developed a unique outreach program during her tenure with ABDNG. In partnership with Austin Partners in Education (APIE), the program leveraged the teachings of Uri Treisman, Ph.D., for group learning. She worked with IBM, ABDNG, and APIE leadership to develop the program and launched it at two Title 1 schools in the Austin area. Each school was supported by volunteers from the ABDNG. APIE has evolved and expanded this program since its inception, and it continues to serve students in the Austin Independent School District today.
Entrepreneurial
Angelia has been an entrepreneur at heart and in practice for most of her career. She started her first venture in 1997, a small boutique agency called Market Now in Raleigh, North Carolina. The agency was established to provide marketing services to small and medium-sized businesses.
Although no longer in business, that experience inspired and taught Angelia the best practice and risk management skills to found EOP Media, LLC, a startup venture and product marketing consultancy in Austin. With over 30 years of technology, marketing, and business acumen, EOP Media prioritizes innovation and transformation by pushing the boundaries of accepted systems. Since its founding, the agency has investigated and introduced several startup ventures.
- In 2007, EOP Media built and launched Essence of Pearl, a community for young girls to embrace their unique differences and come together to celebrate their accomplishments.
- Expressions of Purpose, a sister company, helped teachers and students access internet technologies for writing and blogging.
- In 2014, EOP Media identified an opportunity in Williamson County, Texas, and established a retail food service business in partnership with Chef Brian McFarland. The Sweet-N-Cheezy Food Trailer was the county’s first successful food trailer business. In collaboration with Bluebonnet Beer Company, Sweet-n-Cheezy helped open the city of Round Rock and later the county of Williamson to the mobile food service craze.
- The consulting division of EOP Media has served organizations and assisted individuals in achieving their goals. We have helped public, private, and startup clients, including The City of Austin, the Austin Independent School District, Phunware, Thought AI, and the Sacred Wordsmith Raja Rao Memorial Literary Endowment.
While Founder/CEO are impressive titles, Angelia is most proud of her role as a human and mother. She has made many sacrifices in an attempt to “have it all.”. Through these experiences, she learned that you can “have it all” but not at the same time.
Angelia received her Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the State University of New York at Albany, Regents College.
Social
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeliamcfarland/
Instagram: @am_mcfarland
