Shonda Rhimes, Tyra Banks and Lisa Ling to Speak at QuickBooks Connect

Shonda Rhimes is the prolific writer, executive producer and creator of the hit ABC series “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Scandal,” and the executive producer of “How to Get Away with Murder.” In August 2017, Rhimes partnered with Netflix via her successful and celebrated production company, Shondaland, entering into a multi-year deal to create and produce new content. For her collective work, Rhimes is the recipient of a Golden Globe for Outstanding Television Drama, a Peabody Award and a Television Producer of the Year award by the Producers Guild of America. Rhimes has twice been included in TIME Magazine’s 100 list of the most influential people in the world, and has also been included on Fortune Magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business,” and Glamour Magazine’s “Women of the Year.”

Rhimes recently expanded her brand with the launch of Shondaland.com, a digital storytelling platform that will feature first-person essays, exclusive interviews, reported features, advice, podcasts, and videos. Shondaland.com launched with its first newsletter in May 2017 and the full site was revealed in September 2017.

Tyra Banks is the Supermodel, Super Entrepreneur and Super CEO of our time. As an original Victoria’s Secret angel, the first African-American model to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and the creator/executive producer of the longest-running fashion-reality show, “America’s Next Top Model”(ANTM), Tyra has made it her life’s mission to expand the definition of beauty. As Tyra continues to grow her own brand, she commits herself to empowering women everywhere to advance their own brand as well; ultimately becoming the CEO of their own lives. In 2012, she graduated from the Owner/President Management program at Harvard Business School and in spring of 2017, Tyra shared her expertise and knowledge of personal branding as visiting professor at Stanford University Business School. She will return to the university to teach another two week intensive course in Spring 2018. Most recently, Tyra took on the role of America’s favorite host on NBC’s America’s Got Talent (AGT), which was its highest rated season in 6 years. Tyra ranked #1 on the Hollywood Reporter’s Top TV Personalities in an unprecedented eight week straight run during the AGT season.

Lisa Ling will join the conference as emcee and host, moderating panels and interviewing speakers. Ling is the executive producer and host of This is Life on CNN. For five seasons prior, Ling executive produced and hosted Our America on OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network. As the former field correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show and contributor to ABC News’ Nightline and National Geographic’s Explorer, Lisa Ling has reported from dozens of countries around the world. She is the co-author of Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood and Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, which she penned with her sister, Laura. She is a co-founder of www.SecretSocietyofWomen.com and a contributor to www.iVolunteer.org.

Rhimes, Banks and Ling will join the 2017 lineup of main stage speakers which includes entrepreneurs and business leaders such as Julie Rice, co-founder of SoulCycle, entrepreneur, and co-founder of LifeShop; Nate Berkus, award-winning interior designer and best-selling author; and entrepreneur and Dave Gilboa, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker.

Pre-Event Small Business Hackathon

The 2-day Hackathon is a pre-conference event specifically focused on designing and building apps to solve problems for small businesses. Join QuickBooks and Intuit Developer to create new innovations that help small businesses save time so they can get back to their passions. The QuickBooks Online platform has open APIs that give you direct access to small business data so you can streamline the work they do and provide valuable insights. The QuickBooks App Store, available both in product and online at apps.com, gets your solution in front of more than 2.3+ million customers worldwide. At this hack, participants will be challenged to create a brand new solution that saves a small business time or money for a chance to win $5,000 USD and other great prizes. The Hackathon will take place on Saturday and Sunday, November 11-12, 2017 at Intuit’s main campus in Mountain View, California with winners announced on November 12. For more information and to get free tickets, visit www.smallbizhack.com.