:Amy Balliett

Amy Balliett was born in October 1982 in Cleveland, Ohio.{{cite web |last=Messer |first=Katie X. |date=2008-11-12 |title=Prop 8 Exclusive: Young gay marriage activist leads national protests |url=http://www.365gay.com/features/prop-8-young-activist-urges-join-the-impact/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121175951/http://www.365gay.com/features/prop-8-young-activist-urges-join-the-impact/ |archivedate=21 November 2008 |accessdate=2008-11-14 |publisher=365Gay}} At age 17, Balliett became the manager of the Linwood Park Stand. The stand was already an established penny candy store and ice cream parlor in the center of the park.{{cite web|url=https://thefutur.com/podcast/ice-cream-parlor-to-design-studio|last=Do|first=Chris|title=From ice cream parlor to design studio|date=2020-06-06|publisher=The Futur|access-date=2021-07-23}} Balliett managed the business for two summers before attending college at Wright State University for two quarters. In the spring of 2002, Balliett transferred from Wright State to Cleveland State University to attend CSU's First College program. In just two and a half years, she graduated with a four-year BFA in cinematography with a minor in diversity marketing.{{cite web|url=https://gdusa.com/peopletowatch2017/amy-balliett|title=Amy Balliett|date=2017|publisher=GDUSA|access-date=2021-07-23}}

Upon graduation, Balliett moved to Seattle, Washington in 2004, where she started working in motion-picture marketing before fully moving into marketing. She has headed SEO at several companies.{{cite web|url=https://killervisualstrategies.com/meet-the-team/meet-amy-balliett|title=MEET AMY BALLIETT About Amy|date=n.d.|publisher=Killer Visual Strategies|access-date=2021-07-23}} She and Nick Grant started the 7 Figure Project under which they created ZippyCart.com and OurtBeat.com, both of which were eventually sold.{{cite web|url=https://www.keltonglobal.com/perspectives/qa-with-amy-balliett-killer-infographics-ceo-and-co-founder/|title=Q&A With Amy Balliett: Killer Infographics CEO and Co-Founder|date=2019-05-21|publisher=Kelton Global|access-date=2021-07-23}}{{cite web|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2019/startup-tips-acquisition-killer-infographics-founder-amy-balliett-talks-bootstrapping-female-ceo-making-mistakes/|last=Soper|first=Taylor|title=Q&A: The bootstrapping CEO of Killer Infographics on celebrating mistakes and why she sold her firm|date=2019-01-29|publisher=GeekWire|access-date=2021-07-23}}

Balliett made news in 2008 as the person responsible for starting the Join the Impact organization with friend Willow Witte in response to the passage of Proposition 8 in California during the 2008 US elections.{{cite web|url=http://seattlegayscene.com/2008/11/jointheimpact-is-today/|title=JoinTheImpact is Today!|date=2008-11-15|publisher=Seattle Gay Scene|access-date=2021-07-23}} Join the Impact organized the National Day of Protest on November 15, 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2008/11/17/hundreds-protest-prop-8-in-providence/|last=Hannah|first=Moser|title=Hundreds protest Prop. 8 in Providence|date=2008-11-17|publisher=The Brown Daily Herald|access-date=2021-07-23}} The protest took place in more than 400 cities in every state in the country and in ten countries around the world. The protest was attended by an estimated one million people worldwide.{{cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/news/2009/01/13/2008-people-year-amy-balliett|last=Garcia|first=Michelle|title=People of the Year: Amy Balliett|date=2009-01-13|publisher=Advocate|access-date=2021-07-23}}

Balliett is included on a list of out influential people in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/issue_story_ektid82034.asp|title=Forty Under 40: Activism|date=2009|publisher=Advocate|access-date=2021-07-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510072537/http://www.advocate.com/issue_story_ektid82034.asp|archive-date=2009-05-10}}

Baillett enjoys public speaking{{cite web|url=https://www.abravenew.com/podcast/amy-balliet|last=Yakovich|first=Polly|title=Establishing Your Visual Strategy, with Amy Balliett|date=2020-08-19|publisher=A Brave New|access-date=2021-07-23}} and has spoken at Adobe MAX (2013){{cite web|url=https://www.intelligenthq.com/finding-the-right-formulae-killer-infographics/|last=Richards|first=Hayden|title=Startup Killer infographics Finds the right formulae|date=n.d.|publisher=IntelligentHQ|access-date=2021-07-23}} and Cloudinary's ImageCon in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://cloudinary.com/blog/imagecon_2019_speaker_amy_balliett_on_visual_communication|last=Sarathy|first=Sanjay|title=ImageCon 2019 Speaker Amy Balliett on Visual Communication|date=2019-03-11|publisher=Cloudinary|access-date=2021-07-23}} She has lectured at institutions such as School of Visual Concepts, LinkedIn Learning,{{cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/amy-balliett|title=Amy Balliett|date=n.d.|publisher=LinkedIn|access-date=2021-07-23}} and Vancouver Community College.{{cite web|url=https://www.vcc.ca/about/college-information/news/article/graphic-designers-connect-to-raise-covid-19-funds.html|title=Graphic designers connect to raise COVID-19 funds|date=2020-08-04|publisher=Vancouver Community College|access-date=2021-07-23}}

In 2009, Balliett and her co-founder Nick Grant partnered to build lead generation–based websites. Balliett invested $750.{{cite web|url=https://seattlebusinessmag.com/executive-profiles/2020-executive-excellence-awards-amy-balliett-co-founder-chief-executive-officer|last=Smith|first=Rob|title=2020 Executive Excellence Awards: Amy Balliett, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Killer Visual Strategies|date=2020|publisher=Seattle Business|access-date=2021-07-23}} In the fall of 2010, the business pivoted to an entirely new model: visual communication design.{{cn|date=December 2023}} In the years since, Killer Infographics has become the leader in its industry, driving visual strategy and campaigns for such global brands as Microsoft, Boeing, Adobe, Nikon, Starbucks, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the United Nations. In 2019, Killer changed its name to Killer Visual Strategies.{{cite web|url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/leading-visual-communication-agency-changes-its-name-896287066.html|title=Leading Visual Communication Agency Changes Its Name|date=2019-06-18| publisher=PRWeb|access-date=2021-07-23}} Nick Grant left the company in 2017 and it was acquired by LRW Group in early 2019 in what Balliett calls a partnership.{{cite web|url=https://www.keltonglobal.com/recognition/lrw-group-acquires-killer-infographics/|title=LRW Group Acquires Killer Infographics|date=2019-01-08|publisher=Kelton|access-date=2021-07-23}}

Balliett has an older brother and sister.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/women-in-business-amy-bal_b_6984070|title=Women in Business: Amy Balliett, Co-Founder, Killer Infographics|date=2015-06-01|publisher=Huff Post|access-date=2021-07-23}} Their mom owned a fabric store and their dad sold hydraulics for a major firm in Ohio; they are both entrepreneurs.{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/print-edition/2014/09/12/40-under-40-2014-amy-balliett.html|last=Stewart|first=Ashley|title=40 Under 40 2014: Amy Balliett|date=2014-09-15|publisher=Biz Journals|access-date=2021-07-23}} Balliett met her wife Jessica Trejo in 2006 at a coffee shop concert in Seattle's Capitol Hill; the couple married in California in 2008 a month before the state stopped granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.{{cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/gay-rights-mean-different-things-to-different-generations-of-community/|last=Turnbull|first=Lornet|title=Gay rights mean different things to different generations of community|date=2009-06-27|publisher=Seattle Times|access-date=2021-07-23}}{{cite web|url=https://pridesource.com/article/she-said-106/|editor=Howard Israel|title=S/he said|date=2009-07-09|publisher=Between the Lines|access-date=2021-07-23}} She lives in Seattle, Washington.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

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Category:1982 births

Category:Living people

Category:Businesspeople from Cleveland

Category:American LGBTQ rights activists

Category:Wright State University alumni

Category:Activists from Ohio