Paula Abdul, Luncheon Keynote
Jill Blashack Strahan, Breakfast Keynote

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Paula Abdul
Choreographer / Dancer / Singer / Entrepreneur

Paula Abdul was inspired at an early age by the film Singing In The Rain, and as a young girl her ultimate ambition was to be a successful dancer like her idol Gene Kelly. From the age of nine she undertook dance lessons, where she impressed her teachers with her natural ability to dance and entertain.

Following graduation, Abdul appeared on the small screen when she was just sixteen years old in the 1978 movie/musical Junior High School. However, her sole dream was still to be a dancer.

In the early 1980s she earned a spot on the LA Lakers cheerleading team. Her unique and dynamic dance style stood out and she was asked to take the coveted position of choreographer. The mark she left on the cheerleading industry has been credited with revolutionizing the entire industry.

It was whilst choreographing the LA Lakers that she was spotted by The Jackson Five and she was hired by Janet Jackson to choreograph the smash hit video "Nasty." After that, her reputation spread like wildfire throughout the showbiz world, and she was being hired by superstars of the 1980s like George Michael, Debbie Gibson, Duran Duran, INXS, and ZZ Top. She quickly became recognized as one of the most talented, up-and-coming choreographers in Hollywood and is credited with the choreography of the films Private School and Coming To America. She also choreographed routines for the highly popular TV series The Tracy Ullman Show.

By this time Abdul had accumulated a respectable amount of money and decided it was time to make the step up from background choreography to the limelight of stardom. She used her money and connections to record a demo tape, which persuaded Virgin America to record an album. In May 1988 she recorded and released her single, "Knocked Out" peaking at #41 on the Hot 100 List. A month later, Virgin America released her debut album, Forever Your Girl.

Despite the initial poor sales, a third single "Straight Up" was released in February 1989 and proved to be Abdul's breakthrough to fame and fortune. "Straight Up" went straight up to number one. Buoyed by this success, "Forever Your Girl," "Cold Hearted," and "Opposites Attract" all peaked as number one hits. To this day she remains one of the few female artists to have four number ones from her debut album.

The Forever Your Girl album sold over ten million copies, going multi-platinum and making her a household name worldwide. In May 1990, "Shut Up And Dance," a collection of dance remixes from Forever Your Girl was released as a follow up to its initial success.

Abdul's second album Spellbound was released in 1991, and it appeared that her success would start where Forever Your Girl left off. The first single from Spellbound, "Rush Rush" went to number one for an incredible five weeks. Her second single "Promise of A New Day" also went to number one in September. Her third single "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" peaked at number six in February 1992, marking the down point in Abdul's commercial success.

In 1992, she continued to make headlines with her highly publicized marriage to Hollywood Brat Packer, Emilo Estevez, which eventually ended in 1994, citing irreconcilable differences. It was around this time when problems in Abdul's personal life began to cloud her career. She confessed to suffering from the eating disorder bulimia and checked herself into a clinic. Her reputation was damaged when backing vocalist Yvette Marine claimed she, and not Abdul, had sung the main vocals on several tracks from the Forever Your Girl album. Abdul and Virgin eventually won the case. However, by 1995 Abdul had successfully overcome her demons and prepared to return to the spotlight. In the summer of '95 she released her third album Head Over Heels, peaking at just #18 on the Billboard 100 List.

Venturing into TV, she made her adult acting debut with ABC's 1997 Sunday Night Movie, Touched By Evil, the true story of a woman recovering from a brutal rape. She went on to make appearances on Spin City and The Wayan Bros. More recently, she has appeared on NBC's Mr. Rock & Roll: The Allen Freed Story, the cable TV movie The Waiting Game, NBC's Saturday Night Live, and ABC's Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

However, Abdul had not given up on the dancing and the music. In 1998 she released her aerobic video Cardio Dance, a follow up to her critically acclaimed Get Up and Dance video released in 1995. She has also established her own company, Co Dance, which has just held its first national championships.

More recently, Abdul is probably best known as one of the judges on Fox's hit reality show, American Idol, alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. In addition to her enormous success in entertainment, Abdul has also started her own clothing line, Skirtz, as well as her signature jewelry line, Innergy.

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Jill Blashack Strahan
Founder & CEO, Tastefully Simple

Jill Blashack Strahan, Tastefully Simple Founder & CEO, is a top female entrepreneur and an inspiration to women across the nation.

Blashack Strahan grew up on her family’s farm in rural Minnesota during the 1960s, where she was inspired by her father’s work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. Following her high school graduation, Blashack Strahan set off to college, but after an unsettled year at the University of Minnesota-Morris, she moved back home and enrolled at Alexandria Technical College (ATC), uncertain of her career and life direction. However, this would soon change.

As an ATC project, Blashack Strahan developed a state award-winning business plan, leading her to discover her passion: business – more specifically, entrepreneurship. After graduating from ATC in 1979, Blashack Strahan began managing her father’s local café and in 1989 opened her first entrepreneurial effort: a retail gift basket shop.

In 1993, she liquidated her retail business but continued to sell gift baskets to corporate and direct-mail clients. Blashack Strahan then got an opportunity to promote these baskets in a holiday crafters’ home tour. She set out samples of gourmet food items and experienced remarkable sales. When the same results occurred later, she realized the power of sampling and the idea for Tastefully Simple was born.

In 1995, Tastefully Simple became the original national taste-testing party company offering delicious, easy-to-prepare foods and gifts. It wasn’t a simple start. Blashack Strahan and her young family had no money to risk on such a venture. Determined, she bootstrapped the business with personal savings, a $20,000 Small Business Administration loan and an investment from acquaintance Joani Nielson, who became Blashack Strahan’s silent partner.

Blashack Strahan spent the first year juggling the responsibilities of home, motherhood and entrepreneur — managing business tasks by day and holding taste-testing parties by night. She operated out of Nielson’s 1,200 square-foot shed with no running water, packing orders on a pool table.

Just three years into developing the company, Blashack Strahan and Nielson were beginning to see the potential of Tastefully Simple. However, that same year, Blashack Strahan was rocked by tragedy. Her brother was killed in a fall and only a few months later, her husband died suddenly. Blashack Strahan was faced with raising her 5-year-old son and the decision of whether (and how) to continue a business that engulfed most of her time, energy and resources. She chose to persevere, using the deaths of those she loved as inspiration to live her dreams.

Today Tastefully Simple is a multiple award-winning $100 million-plus company with more than 350 employees and some 28,000 independent consultants. Blashack Strahan is recognized as an exceptional CEO, having won numerous awards for her achievements and unique philosophies of positivity and abundance. In 2007, Blashack Strahan also published a book about her life lessons and inspirational journey with Tastefully Simple called Simply Shine: Stories That Stirred the Fire.

Blashack Strahan is an inspiration to thousands of women across the country and began taking her stories and lessons on the road as a professional speaker in 2008. Her down-to-earth nature and charismatic approach make her someone women believe in, and most importantly — someone who enables them to believe in themselves.