Barbera Feigin
Barbara Sommer Feigin is a trailblazing advertising executive and master storyteller whose inspiring journey from a young German-speaking refugee to a visionary leader in the business world is nothing short of remarkable. Fleeing Nazi Germany with her parents in 1940, Barbara spent her formative years in Chehalis, Washington, where she yearned to become an “authentic” American girl. Her parents instilled in her the power of education as a gateway to opportunity. With the help of scholarships and work grants, Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Whitman College. She then completed a groundbreaking graduate program in business administration run jointly by Harvard Business School and Radcliffe Graduate School at a time when women were not admitted to Harvard Business School. Encouraged by her parents’ motto to “dream big, work hard, and never quit,” Barbara broke through the male-dominated advertising industry, becoming a pioneering executive at Grey Advertising (now Grey Global Group). Over her illustrious thirty-year career, she solidified her reputation as a visionary thinker, often being the only woman in the room. In 2017, Grey recognized her as one of the century’s Legendary Pioneers.
