Madelyn Postman

Madelyn Postman connects head and heart—as a public speaker, writer, and a sustainability consultant. 

After studying Visual Arts and Art History at Brown University, Madelyn began work as a graphic designer in Bologna, Italy, which soon landed her a position as an art director at Gucci. That job brought her to London in 2000.

In 2002, Madelyn left Gucci Group to co-found a design studio, working with clients including Burberry and Nokia. She joined Grain, her husband’s branding and design consultancy, in 2010. Over the years, to align with their personal values, the pair shifted their focus more and more onto sustainability. Grain’s mission is to help companies champion people and the planet. The business is a longstanding member of 1% for the Planet, for which Madelyn serves on the board. Grain is a B Corp and supports other companies to achieve the certification that demonstrates that they use business as a force for good.

In 2017, Madelyn began writing Staring into the Sun: Sixteen Stories, a short story collection that links memoir with a family’s intergenerational tale — the tragedies and triumphs of Chinese and European Jewish immigrants to California. The first story in the collection, “Things My Dad Told Me,” will be published in The Hope Prize anthology by Simon & Schuster Australia in December, 2024. Her stories have been longlisted in Flash 500 Short Stories 2024 and her work has been featured on The Failing Writers’ Podcast.

A regular speaker at conferences and for universities, Madelyn has appeared multiple times on BBC News commenting on branding and business. She holds an honorary MBA from the University of West London’s Claude Littner Business School, unanimously voted Business School of the Year in 2019 by Times Higher Education.

Madelyn was born in Reno, Nevada and lives near London with her husband, two teenage children, Lele (short for ukulele) the Labradoodle, and Smokey the black cat.