ABOUT
We’re Ann Neale and Brian Neale, partners in business and life. We met almost 20 years ago in a conference room at Cars.com, where we were both early employees, helping build a startup that went on to become a big Chicago success.
We joined forces as The Neale Group six years ago, leveraging our deep experience in Corporate America to provide mission-critical consulting services for our clients.
Brian Neale
Partner & Product Principal
Ann Logothetis Neale
Partner & Experience Principal
Brian is a product and user-experience specialist who began his online-focused career during the Internet 1.0 era. From the day he traded his first tape on an AOL chatroom, Brian was hooked on the power of the web and social networks.
Since then, life has been a blur of product launches, A/B tests and deep dives into his customers’ unmet needs on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
He produced some of the Chicago Tribune’s first digital content in the late 90s before shifting gears to focus on the company’s online advertising strategies.
In 2000, Brian moved to Cars.com, where he led and cultivated the company’s editorial, design, user-experience and product divisions. In his 14-year career there, he was fortunate to lead dozens of people through a period of rapid growth, from clever startup into a $3+ billion company.
In that time, he ushered in the company’s enduring principles of user-centered design and launched one of Chicago’s first full-time user-research labs.
In his later career, he transitioned the company to Agile development and oversaw the first great waves of mobile and social, while never losing sight of the company’s original mission to re-invent the consumer experience of car shopping.
In 2014, Brian left Cars.com to start The Neale Group, with the vision of building a hyper-focused boutique consultancy that helps companies listen to their customers and develop delightful product experiences.
Since then, his quest for product nirvana has taken him in multiple directions, all united by the simple premise of serving customers' needs first.
Ann is a customer-experience and marketing ninja who is passionate about helping her clients win through her work at The Neale Group.
Ann started her career in New York City as part of the 6-person start-up team at Kate Spade, which was just breaking into the national fashion scene. She was soon drawn to the world of advertising to earn her marketing chops at Wunderman and Y&R on iconic brands like American Express and Citibank.
As a Midwesterner transplanted in NY, Ann’s adventures fueled a lifelong curiosity in consumer behavior and the ability to translate these insights into powerful business and marketing strategies.
Ann’s entrepreneurial spirit brought her to Cars.com, where she helped position the start-up as a leading digital automotive marketplace that went on to become one of Chicago’s biggest e-commerce success stories. As the mobile industry took off, Ann joined U.S. Cellular, where she designed and advanced industry-leading communication initiatives built around an elevated customer experience.
Today, Ann applies her passion for “great experiences” to the world of competition BBQ, where she is Head Cook for Smoke Freaks Championship BBQ team. Ann brings that same winning passion and spirit to her consulting work at The Neale Group, helping clients solve mission-critical problems.