The term “genius” gets thrown around a lot, but Stephen Reily just might fit the bill. Yale summa cum laude star and Stanford Law grad? Check. Former clerk for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens? Check. Marketing guru, award-winning speaker at leading licensing events, Director of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, and chicory-and-coffee aficionado? Check, check, check, and check. Connecting his legal expertise with a passion for new products, Stephen co-founded IMC in 1997 and positioned it as a global brand licensing agency that nurtures long-term relationships with companies. (You may have heard of some of them — Dole, Valvoline, Kraft Foods, S. C. Johnson.) Stephen says that he inherited his love for consumer products from his great-grandfather, who started a branded food business 110 years ago in New Orleans that the Reilys still run. “Yeah, yeah, but he’s a corporate suit,” you’re thinking. Right? Wrong. When Stephen realized that many people who had paid their debt to society still couldn’t get good jobs or buy houses or vote, he started the Reily Reentry Project, which is responsible for a majority of all expungements in Kentucky over the last two years and has helped give thousands of people the chance to be full citizens again. So, “genius” might not be right. “Person of high intellectual and ethical standards” is more like it. Stephen’s a singular fusion of principled and professional, and he loves meeting new clients over a cup of coffee — with a dash of chicory added to the mix.
